Sonny Kiss on how AEW President Tony Khan would respond if a wrestler was uncomfortable working during the pandemic, who guides him in AEW, his upbringing, his ancestry

By Jason Powell, ProWrestling.net Editor (@prowrestlingnet)

Outside Interference Podcast with guest Sonny Kiss
Host: Kenny Herzog
Twitter: @KennyHerzog
Website: Kennyherzog.com
Interview available at Apple Podcasts

Sonny Kiss one how Tony Khan would handle someone feeling uncomfortable attending a taping amid COVID-19: “If a person said, ‘Hey, I don’t feel like this is a good idea for me to come to work at this time, Tony would be more than OK with that person quarantining and making sure their family is OK or doing whatever they need to do to come to work and feel comfortable.”

Kiss on who’s been helping guide him week to week: “That’s usually the coach. My coach lately has been mostly Jerry Lynn. He’s one of the most underrated wrestlers in the world. But with him helping Joey (Janela) and I and guiding us to be a better team every week, it’s an amazing thing. He understands my vision and knows how to tweak things that will help me move forward and portray my vision.”

Kiss on the give-and-take of expressing his vision to the executives: “You just have to explain it to them, and once you explain it, they understand it better. As far as not having anyone like me, a lot of them understand that, so even if they’re getting a suggestion and I’m not getting it and I’m explaining why it may not be for me, they start to get it. There’s a mutual understanding.”

Kiss on his varied Ancestry.com results: “I’m a Black person before anything, but it was cool to find out my ethnicities. There’s some things I’ve learned over the years. What was shocking for me was seeing it was more European than Native American.”

Kiss on his upbringing: “I do have a brother, but I also have three sisters, one of whom I call my nine-day twin, because she looks just like me, but her birthday is nine days after mine. We have different moms. Two of my sisters are from different moms. My oldest sister, she’s sporty. My dad had her with another woman, and then my dad met my mom, and then my brother and my middle sister all come from my mom and dad. My youngest and my oldest siblings are both from different parents…. I definitely faced some hardships with my family, but overall having my mom’s love and affection — and eventually my siblings and everybody just carried it along. I guess it’s scary, just because your son or your daughter is going to go out in a world where they aren’t so nice and they’re pretty cruel, but my mom’s love and affection helped mold me into who I am right now. That’s why I’m so comfortable and why I’m just the way I am.”

Kiss on how enduring in AEW and how the company assesses talent: “Everybody has their own star quality, and I feel like if that’s the vision [the executives] have for it, that person will be around for a long time. You could look at the people in the company and see that the majority will be around for the long haul. Literally, everyone is a star in their own way. So I mean it will be unfortunate if anyone left, but they have their own vision and that’s for them to decide.”