By Jason Powell, ProWrestling.net Editor (@prowrestlingnet)
Insight With Chris Van Vliet with guest Dexter Lumis
Host: Chris Van Vliet
Podcast available via Podcasts.Apple.com
I was just thinking before we hit record, this is going to be the first time that a lot of people hear your voice. You didn’t talk a lot in WWE. “I sure didn’t. It’s funny because fans come to me, like last weekend at WrestleCon, or this appearance I did in Phoenix. Randoms will come up to me and be like, ‘I loved you on Tacoma FD.’ I’m like, ‘You watched that, so you heard me speak.’ People are blown away by that. I do actually speak, I was playing a character.”
Why didn’t that character speak? “I don’t really know why they decided, hey, this is great if he just doesn’t speak. But I had my mentality on it, and I think what I was looking at is everybody talks, almost, in my opinion, too much. So how can I be different? I’m always thinking about that. How can I present myself on TV differently than everybody else to catch the attention of the fans in a different way? So I think it was striking in a way: this guy, he’s just got a cold stare, and he doesn’t speak. Then it became a challenge. Can I elicit emotion from the fans without saying a word? Can I make them feel a certain way? Can I get my emotion that I’m trying to get across to these fans without saying anything? That became kind of the goal, the mission.”
How are you feeling now, a few months removed from being let go? “I mean, I went through all the emotions, I guess you could say. But my mentality is like, okay, that’s maybe done for now, or forever. I can’t change what’s happened in the past. The right now is what I’m focused on, and the future. I don’t want to dwell on any negativity in that arena, but yeah, it’s disheartening. I was there for seven years, and I feel like I had a really unique, very fun career. I got to see the world. I was in Poland on my birthday this year, and I’m just sitting in the locker room. I had some downtime by myself, and I’m just like, this is pretty amazing. I feel like a real wrestler, like a real WWE Superstar. It’s those things that really hit you. You’re so far away from your family, but yet you still feel connected to this family.”
Does this release feel more final than that first one? “It does feel a little more final. You always hear, you know, the door could always still be open. Never say never; those types of things. But I feel like now, as opposed to back then, I got to go out and prove myself a little bit more.”
In NXT, the wedding with Indi Hartwell may be one of the most successful wrestling weddings ever. Most of them end disastrously. “This one was not disastrous.”
Yeah, it was just like you said your first words in WWE. “That’s it. ‘I do.’ That never happens. It could have gone differently. There were ideas that were thrown around that were going to go off way different, but I’m really happy with that 10-minute wedding segment. I still have a little script saved, so does Indi [Hartwell], because it was a very special thing for us. Because how many people can say they were in WWE and they had a wedding on TV that went off without a hitch, or just had a wedding in general? You got to be, I think, perceived a certain way to get that for yourself on a TV that they’re giving you that time on TV because it’s entertaining. We were entertaining enough to pull that off, and we had a connection with the fans, and we had a connection with each other. She would try and break me, man.”
She ever get you? “Close, but she was like the only one that could almost do it because she was so ridiculous. I’d have to be in character, like this stoic [person]. If we’re out there with Johnny [Gargano], for instance, and he’s having a match, and I’m just standing there watching my friend wrestle, she’d be on the apron just staring at me. I’m just like trying not to look over there. During rehearsals, I’d break, but I’m like, all right, this is the time to get it out. When the red light’s on, and we’re live, pal, you ain’t gonna break me.”
I don’t feel like you got the chance to show your full potential in the seven years you were in WWE. I feel like there’s so much more that you could do. “I agree. I don’t know what else to say about that. I feel like I could go with anybody you put me in front of. As a matter of fact, I wish Brock Lesnar wasn’t retired because that has been my absolute epitome of the match that I want.”
Why is that the dream match? “Who’s more intimidating in the wrestling business that’s still somewhat active? I know he just retired, but when that guy comes out to the ring, everybody’s just floored. There is a presence, and if he likes you, and you have a good match with him, and you show him that you can carry the ball. I feel like that’s the standard, you know. That’s the guy. You should want your career to be like his. To get the limited schedule, to get the money, to get the notoriety, to be a badass, to be legit, but also to be so giving. I’ve had conversations with Brock, and he might just be like, ‘Oh, I don’t remember that kid.’ But I feel like I was right there, and I respect the hell out of him. I’m very happy that he’s had such a great career. Oba Femi, what a great story those two had. I’m not mad. I’m very happy for that situation and Brock’s retiring and everything, but you know, I always think, ‘What if?'”
Was there something that was supposed to happen, or were you just hopeful that it could have? “Well, I mentioned Paul Heyman earlier, and it’s having conversations with him. I just didn’t beat around the bush. I just said, ‘Hey, I want to wrestle Brock Lesnar. How do we do that?’ And that’s when the conversation started shifting towards you need to be a singles guy. I wanted the Wyatt Sicks to work, but how long can it last? You always kind of got to be mindful of that.”
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