B.J. LISKO 1 year ago

They Just Made The List: Every WIJ Wrestling Interview From 2022

2022 has been a productive year here at Web Is Jericho, and I’ve been fortunate enough to interview numerous wrestling stars from AEW to NWA to MLW and more. Here is a quick recap (with links) of who we had for exclusive chats this past year. And there will be plenty more to come in 2023!

FTR

Quoteworthy: “Some of our bosses might disagree and might not like this, but I’ve never wrestled for (star ratings). I’ve wrestled for what I feel is right. And I wrestled for what I feel the fans are going to feel, and that’s it. In that moment, I want them to feel, and then two months down the road, I want them to watch that match again and have that same feeling.” – Dax Harwood

Quoteworthy: “I’m not saying it has to be the 1980s again, but I think there are ways to make these spectacular things make sense, and so many people are lazy about that and they just care about getting the spectacular pop, so they neglect the in-between and the fundamentals. So I start thinking, ‘Man, has it passed us by? Are we just too serious about it? Do we want it to be respected too much?’” – Cash Wheeler

Matt Cardona

Quoteworthy: “In 2011, I proved that you can use the internet and social media and good old fashioned hard f*cking work to change your position in a major wrestling company. I’m very proud of that. Now, 10 years later, I want to prove that using those same things, you can be a successful pro wrestler in places besides WWE and AEW.”

Ricky Starks

Quoteworthy: “Being patient and waiting is not my cup of tea. If I don’t like my situation, I just change it. I don’t wait around for someone to offer me suggestions or solutions, I make the solutions myself.”

Billy Corgan

Quoteworthy: “The NWA has to be great from top to bottom. That’s why I’m not even a huge fan of surprises. I get it. It’s very much the modern wrestling ecosystem, ‘Oh my god, so and so is here, you’re never gonna believe what happened.’ I’m in a different mindset, which is when you look at that card for NWA74, you’ve got to believe that Harry and Doug vs. La Rebellion is gonna be worth every ounce of your attention. If you don’t, and it takes me bringing 17 people through the curtain and people exploding in mid-air, I just don’t feel that’s what’s going to be the difference maker in NWA.”

Chelsea Green

Quoteworthy: “I have an experience with NXT, and I have an experience with WWE. I had an amazing, amazing time at WWE. I was heard, or I felt heard, at least. I had meetings with Vince. I had meetings with Johnny Ace, I had meetings with Bruce (Prichard). I was heard and I enjoyed my time there. I had a really, really tough time at NXT. I didn’t necessarily feel as heard, although I had a great relationship with Triple H. I loved being able to go to him and express myself to him and what I wanted to do, but the Performance Center is a really difficult place, and it breeds insecurity in people.”

Tyrus

Quoteworthy: “Arn (Anderson) used to say, ‘If you can cut a promo, you can get *sses in the seats. It doesn’t’ matter where you are. People will come see you, and you’ll make some money.’ So that’s basically what happened. To be sitting on Fox News as 2-strap Tyrus with the 10 pounds of gold would be pretty amazing.”

Danhausen

Quoteworthy: “Well, it is a legal way of cheating. He saw The Young Bucks, and they do thumb tacks in the mouth, and then they do a super kick. That can be constituted as cheating. But as Danhausen sees it, people already have teeth in their mouths, so if you pour teeth in their mouths, you cannot get disqualified. But it might make my victim feel sick and throw up.”

Eddie Kingston

Quoteworthy: “I guess you could say I learned how to be professional over the years. I’m trying to handle things and treat it more like a job. I could tell you more, but I’m not one of these people that wants to give away too many of the trade secrets. Another insider term for you, I like to tell people, ‘Kayfabe may be dead, but that doesn’t mean we have to p*ss on its grave.’”

nZo (Real1)

Quoteworthy: “I think that a lot of it has to be a good opportunity and has to make sense. I’m just not in the mood to walk into a situation with bad people, or people who are angry, or people who are jealous, or people who have a perception about me without knowing me, or people judging me without knowing me. I’m in a very different position than I was three, four years ago.”

Wardlow

Quoteworthy: “CM Punk is one person that you just never thought you would have the opportunity to share a ring with. That was the one guy you just crossed off the list, because you thought it was never gonna happen. So, for that fact alone, it’s historical, the fact that I got to wrestle CM Punk. And then the fact that I just pummeled him, an absolute legend, the biggest star in pro wrestling, I pummeled. I think that says a lot.”

KiLynn King

Quoteworthy: “I think over the last four or five years the independent scene has started to realize the value of itself. It’s only as much as we make it. I know in my perspective ever since I’ve been working with other companies more and more, I’ve started to understand the concept that if nobody is gonna put a camera in front of you and let you tell stories and let you build and grow as a performer, do it for yourself.”

Santana & Ortiz

Quoteworthy: “It was a scary moment. At first, I didn’t know what happened. I came to the realization when I rolled out of the ring, and I saw a big puddle of blood. I was just like, ‘Oh no. Something’s really wrong.’” — Santana

Quoteworthy: “It’s a double-edged sword, our tag division, because there’s so many good tag teams that are just starting or ones that have all the experience in the world, but there’s only so much time to showcase them. I would love to wrestle every tag team on the roster.” — Ortiz

Thom Lattimer

Quoteworthy: “Well, that lightbulb moment probably went off about 100 times. When I got fired by WWE in 2012, I was very close to getting on the road and The Ascension being something really cool and big. And I’m 24. I’m an idiot. I’m still young. I’m thinking I got loads of time, everything’s fine, and there’s nothing wrong with me. Even then they said, ‘You’ve obviously got a problem.’”

Kamille

Quoteworthy: “Actually, I had a hard time not talking. I saw comments like, ‘Well, she’s probably not doing promos, because she can’t cut a promo.’ I used to be like, ‘Oh, just watch me’ (laughs).’ Then I finally got the chance.”

Hammerstone

Quoteworthy: “When people tell you, ‘You suck,’ don’t believe it. And when people tell you, ‘You’re great,’ don’t believe it. Because if you go on Twitter and listen to every little opinion, or you start to think your s*it doesn’t stink, you’re on a bad track. It’s best to be grounded and find the people you trust for advice and go to them and not get too lost in all the voices that start speaking up about what you’re doing.”

Alicia Atout

Quoteworthy: “(Selena de la Renta and I) had a talk, and it did not go well. So we’ve never seen eye to eye, and since then, we’ve turned it into ‘The Worsties.’ We’re both businesswomen, so we realized we can put our differences aside and people do like seeing us go at it and us together. Let’s try to make this work and make some coin off of it, and at the same time try to not kill one another.”

Keith Greenberg

Quoteworthy: “It’s all about the storylines. Whether it’s this period or any other period. Roman Reigns left for a while, but he certainly came out of this period more compelling than he’d ever been, because he could finally express his true personality. Fans booed him when he was supposed to be a good guy. As soon as he began showing this edge, which I believe is part of his true self, even the fans who were supposed to boo him, can’t stop watching.”