– GFW star Johnny Impact recently appeared as a guest on Ring Rust Radio for an in-depth interview, check out the highlights below:
On his GFW debut and the process of signing with the promotion: “So I’ve been in talks with people from TNA and GFW for a long time. Big John Gaburick, Taz, Lagana, Jarrett, and really what it came down to was it was a great opportunity and it didn’t feel like I was going to miss out or lose anything by signing with GFW. It’s a deal that’s been worked out with AAA where I’m still going to be on AAA and Lucha Underground and now I’m going to be on Impact and Pop TV every Thursday night too. So it seemed like a no-brainer. The circumstances under which I was approached prior to this time were not the same way. So right now it feels like I’m getting my cake and getting to eat it too. Maybe like a protein cake maybe with paleo ice cream on the side cause you know how I feel about carbs. I do have a sweet tooth. My saving grace is that I’m OCD about working out so if at night if I’m eating ice cream the next morning I’m doing cardio. That’s only thing I’ve ever been addicted to which I guess in the grand scheme of things isn’t so bad to be addicted to training.”
On if rumors of Lucha Underground not having another season played into his decision to sign with GFW: “I’m very confident that there’s going to be another season of Lucha Underground. The factor that went into my decision in going to Impact was really that it felt like it was a great opportunity for me to get to do everything. Impact, Lucha, AAA, and it doesn’t feel like I’m really given up anything. Lucha Underground was on hiatus for so long I haven’t been doing any new wrestling for a TV show in over a year and I was starting to feel a little antsy in the pantsy to get out in the ring and do something in front of national audience. This opportunity with Impact came up and I felt like I needed to jump on it. Antsy in the pantsy? Ever see the movie Super Troopers? It comes from Super Troopers with the maple syrup and they get all syrupy and antsy in the pantsy, it’s just a funny thing to say.”
On GFW’s history of leaning on well-known former WWE stars and if that played into his decision to sign with them: “Yeah man, that’s the reason I went. I feel like what I bring to the table for a company like GFW and Impact is my reputation. I never phone it in and I always leave it all out there. I have been trying to, no matter what or where I’m wrestling, to have a high quality match. I’ve been on TV with the WWE for almost 10 years, since then Lucha Underground and AAA, and I’ve been wrestling all over the world. I feel like someone like me is what the company really needed at the time that I signed which is really exciting to me because when I go somewhere I go to be the guy, the main event. It feels like I’m helping the company and that’s really what I feel like I want to be spending my time on right now in this business.”
On challenging Eli Drake for the World Championship next week: “Absolutely I feel like fans of GFW and Impact have seen a certain side of Eli Drake. In my opinion, the level of wrestling that he has done since I’ve gotten into Impact has escalated exponentially. He knows if he doesn’t bring it, I’m just going to leave him in my dust. I would expect to see a hard-working, hard-hitting, desperate, Eli Drake at Victory Road. Then even further to see that hard-working Eli Drake outclassed by Johnny Impact, because he can work as hard as he wants, but the fact of the matter is I’ve worked for 15 years and there’s no way he can catch up to what I’ve achieved and done in this business. What I’ve put in with my swag, my move set, and my psychology in this business. I would expect to see kick ass match and I wouldn’t miss it.”
On how the GFW locker room differs from other promotions such as WWE and Lucha Underground: “I really like GFW locker room. It was so cool for me to see Chris Masters. He and I go way, way, way back. He and I went to the same elementary school in Los Angeles but we didn’t even know each other back then. We were super bros in OVW when he got there in 2004. Then we got Trevor Lee and Moose who I became friends with doing independent wrestling for places like Pro-Wrestling Evolve. Then there is Bobby Lashley who is another super bro from OVW and then Jim Cornette comes back so it was like a weird flashback to 2005 at first. Lashley, Masters, and Eli Drake reminds me a lot of Rob Conway sometimes in the way that he talks and moves and performs. I got stuck with this weird sense of déjà vu a couple times. It was cool but as cool as it was, the one thing that I felt like Impact needed was a quick evolution because 2005 is 12 years ago. It’s time to do things a little bit differently because a lot of the shows that I’m doing on the weekends, what I get from the crowd is that they want faster pace stuff, they want harder hitting stuff, and because people have consumed so much wrestling some the stuff that worked back then doesn’t work the same now. You just need to update everything and I feel like that’s what Impact needed when I got there was an update.”