By Jason Powell, ProWrestling.net Editor (@prowrestlingnet)
PWMania interview with guest Brian Hebner
Host: Lewis Carlan
Interview available at PWMania.com
What Impact needs to do to close the gap on AEW: “I just think they need a bigger platform. They need a bigger television deal. They have everything. Everything is right there. They just need a bigger deal. And I think that if they were to get on a bigger platform, I think they could be just as big as AEW. And you asked me the question about AEW being bigger than WWE. WWE is a big machine man. It’s almost like saying do you think this new beer, that somebody puts out, like Stone Cold’s beer is ever going to catch Miller Lite, it’s not going to catch Miller Lite. Miller Lite has been around forever. You know, and there’s too much money. And it’s just something that they’ll never be able to do. I mean, AEW, hovers around one million viewers every single week. I mean, that’s great, but that’s not good because they’re not growing their audience, and you got to watch it grow, it’s just not doing that.”
If we’ll ever see CM Punk back in the ring: That’s really weird. John Alba put a tweet out of something to this degree for this question and I backed it 100 percent. I’m still gonna say it, I don’t see any reason for him to get back into a wrestling ring. I think he has burned his bridge at both major companies. I don’t think nobody wants a shit disturber in their locker room and a guy who goes into business for himself. And I’m not saying that’s the kind of guy he is, but that’s the kind of guy he’s shown he is. So I don’t know. I’m sure that guy’s got money. So I don’t think there’s any need for him really to get into a ring. So to answer your question with one word as opposed to a long word of sentences, would be no.”
If he’ll ever make a return to pro wrestling: “I’m not gonna say I would never come back as a referee. But I just don’t see that. I think it’s a decision I decided and wanted to make and cement myself in. And I know a lot of people would say, well, you went to the Top Guy show in Chicago and you refereed there. I had already taken that booking before I retired, so that’s why that happened. But I don’t want to be Tom Brady. I don’t want to be yeah I’m retired and jump back out of retirement. So I want to really be serious about it. You know, and if anything were to bring me back, I don’t know what it would be, I’ll be honest with you. I don’t know what it would be. I just really don’t know what it would be to get me out of retirement. I really don’t. The only thing that I would come out of retirement to do in the wrestling business would be if I was ever offered something backstage, such as being an agent, something like that, some degree of that. But I don’t know, I just I’m very happy with my decision. I’m very happy in life. I’m with my kids all the time I’m always at their games. I sleep in my bed every night. I’m not flying around. I’m not trying to figure out how to get a hotel. I’m not trying to figure out how to get a rental car.
“And the airports have changed so much since Covid, and Covid has made it a nightmare. I don’t know if you’ve traveled lately since Covid but I can tell you it is a complete nightmare. My last trip out was, story telling that I made the right choice, me and my Dad were together we were going to Slammiversary, the 20th anniversary of Impact Wrestling, and of course our flight got all screwed up in New York City. We were stuck in New York City, we had to stay about literally five miles, which means about an hour from the airport. And it was just a complete nightmare. We didn’t get in until the day before, I mean, the day of the show instead of the day before, just a nightmare. We’ve stayed at a horrible hotel. It was just tall telling that I made the right call and it just let me know that I did make the right call because it was a travel day from hell. The show was great, everything was wonderful that day, though, and it was awesome. But it’s gonna take a lot if it ever does happen.”
Other topics include CM Punk potentially taking an Impact Wrestling deal, stories about father Earl Hebner and his uncle David Hebner, and more.
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