By Jason Powell, ProWrestling.net Editor (@prowrestlingnet)
The Two Man Power Trip of Wrestling Podcast with Colby Corino
Host: JP John Poz
Twitter: @TwoManPowerTrip
Website: www.tmptempire.com
Interview available at Tmptow.podomatic.com
On the NWA and winning the NWA Jr. Heavyweight Championship: “It was a moment of validation. It felt like for me, like I’ve always felt like that. I never felt good enough or that, like, I just, I wasn’t a good wrestler or I wasn’t good enough to make it in the professional wrestling world, but winning that championship at NWA 75 is like such a major event, the 75th anniversary of the National Wrestling Alliance and being able to be one of these pioneers that are ushering in the new era, that means a lot to me and I intend, like, if the junior heavyweight belt I have challenged for, it feels like 10 times unsuccessfully. The first time I wrestled for the belt was when I was 14 years old against Craig Classic. And ever since then, like, it’s kind of been in the back of my mind, like that major championship that’s been held by all these legends like Shinjiro Otani, Jushin Thunder Liger and Jimmy Rave and all these names. And it’s just. It feels like that moment of, I did it and I earned this and I know that I earned this and this wasn’t a fluke, this is hard work paying off.”
On NWA Samhain and Joe Alonzo making things personal: “ I don’t really care what people say about me, but, when you start talking about someone’s family, I feel, especially when my family’s not involved in pro wrestling, outside of my dad and my aunt, I really don’t think that they need to be brought up and made fun of, especially by someone who looks like he doesn’t even know someone named Jim. But if you have to resort to taking a low hanging fruit and calling out people’s family members that aren’t even in wrestling, I think it’s because you can’t cut it in the ring and you can’t make people excited for your matches by being a good wrestler. If the shoe fits, the shoe fits, you know? I don’t think there was ever a doubt in my mind that I was going to win, but I saw what Homicide did to him at NWA 75 and if he thought that was bad, it’s going to be, it’s going to be a new beginning. Homicide, he’s a tough dude, but let’s be honest, he’s a little past his prime, but I’m at the top of my game right now and I ain’t the champion for no reason. Everyone likes to talk about how hard I hit and how aggressive I am. It’s going to be on the next level with this dude.”
On failing the WWE/NXT background check: “The bridge is not burned and the door is not closed. You never say never. But for right now, I am very content being the NWA Junior Heavyweight Champion. And after that, I still got other stuff that I want to do. I want to win the world’s heavyweight championship. That’s the belt that my dad had. And, maybe after I’m done doing what I need to do elsewhere in professional wrestling. I can go to WWE and I can rest on my laurels and I can cash in on the hard work I have. There’s certain things that, just a checklist in my mind that have stuff I need to do before that. My background check took a long time to come back. And then by the time it came back, they sold the company. And while that was happening, they weren’t hiring for a while until the merger completely went through. And they told me that I could either wait or not wait. And, I just couldn’t, I couldn’t sit at home and not wrestle and with no income, you know, professional wrestling is all I do and it’s my full time career. And, when I left the NWA, that was my income gone. So I just, I couldn’t wait around. I wanted to make money and I wanted to not sit around and like now, like even the money aside though, I, I sit back now and I think that’s the best thing that could have happened to me because, I feel like this was really the right move and in a few years when, when everyone’s ready, I think maybe one day we’ll see what we create on WWE, but not right now.”
Other topics include breaking into the business, NWA, NWA Samhain, Billy Corgan, Joe Alonzo making this personal, Kerry Morton, a champion vs. champion match with EC3, his dad Steve Corino, the Corino legacy in wrestling, and more.
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