"It has been a privilege working with Sting and Kurt Angle": Interview with TNA's 1st British World Heavyweight Champion Magnus

TNA recognises Magnus as the first English-born World Heavyweight Champion in wrestling history.

Nick Aldis a.k.a Magnus is one of TNA’s star wrestlers in the past couple of years. After making a name for himself in British pro-wrestling circuits, Nick was signed by Dixie Carter for TNA in 2008. He’s worked with pro-wrestling legends like Sting and Kurt Angle and held the World Heavyweight Championship until last week, when he lost to Eric Young on Impact Wrestling.

Recently, Sportskeeda caught up with Magnus as he reflected on his early days as a wrestler, TNA and his future in this business.

First of all, how big a shock was it yesterday for you, having lost the World Heavyweight Championship to Eric Young?

Well, obviously it was disappointing to lose the title after I retaining it for several months. Like it does happen in a lot of sports, especially in pro-wrestling, where a slight misjudgment could prove to be costly. Eric did well to capitalize on my mistakes and he had all the luck going his way on the night.

Was it a bit of a surprise that he challenged you ahead from the scheduled fight at ‘Sacrifice’? Did you think you were walking in under-prepared?

No doubt, it was a massive surprise. But then, MVP is doing everything he can as TNA’s Director of Operations to up upset my title reign.

Let’s talk more about how it all started for you in this industry. How were you attracted to professional wrestling? At what age did you really give a thought on becoming a pro-wrestler?

I’ve grown up watching wrestling and I thought of it as career option as a teenager. It was probably around the age of 13-14 when I had made up my mind about being a pro-wrestler. By that time, I had already started lifting weights and at the age of 17 I signed up for a wrestling school. Another year on, I was wrestling full-time on British circuits and just never looked back.

The US has this deep-rooted culture of pro-wrestling but that is not really the case in Britain. Was it difficult for you to choose this profession considering you’re also pretty good at tennis and swimming at an early age?

Well, I think it is a misconception as Britain has always had this deep appreciation for pro-wrestling. In the 1970s and the early 80s, it was a huge part of British television until it was replaced by the American product. However, the popularity, the television ratings has never failed pro-wrestling in UK for the past 3-4 decades now. Also, the love for the sport is also evident during the Live Events where we see an incredible turnout almost every single year.

Being a top pro-wrestler in the US means you have to be a complete package – Appearance, skill-set, mic skills – how tough a learning process was it for you?

Yeah! Actually, there is only so much you can learn at a wrestling school. All you need to grasp in your time at a wrestling school are the fundamentals. You develop on that know-how with some skills of your own, not to mention the showmanship aspect of the performances, and these things come naturally as you move forward in your career.

Hence, as a beginner, it is very important to hit the smaller shows, the independent wrestlers’ night, at an early age in your wrestling career. With no pressure and the cameras around it actually helps you to express yourself without any fears of committing a mistake – it is that perfect test before you find yourself performing on a grander stage in front of a huge audience.

Nick Aldis a.k.a Magnus

At the age of 21, I was working for several independent promotional events in the UK and I was a cast for the British pro-wrestling event known as the ‘Gladiators’. Because the event was renowned in the British wrestling industry, I was profiled and featured in several magazines – one of them also ran a story on AJ Styles.

Meanwhile, Dixie got to know more about me during her UK tour as she went through many of those magazine features, when she contacted their editors to get my contact details. So basically, the deal was on the table from nowhere and since then, it has went on to shape my career. And there is no doubt that Dixie has been a major influence in the success I have attained in the past few years.

What is that one unique thing that TNA as a platform has offered to you in the early stages of your career?

Well I can say this without a doubt that our in-ring product is by far the best that pro-wrestling has to offer. I truly believe that us experimenting to bring the make it the best wrestling product on television has helped us in more than one way. The storylines, the characters developed by the creative end and the freedom provided to the wrestlers in the ring makes this really exciting package.

We have a right mix of youth and experience in the roster and it sets up apart from all the other wrestling platforms around.

Having been known as Britain’s first World heavyweight Champion, do you think you’ve paved a way the budding wrestlers in UK? I mean they’d cite your example and say ‘it is actually possible!’ What do you think about that?

I don’t think my World Heavyweight Championship win would’ve necessarily opened doors for the upcoming wrestlers in the UK. There have been plenty of British wrestlers who have had legendary careers such as Dynamite Kid, the British Bulldog, and before them there was Billy Robinson. Now, you have the likes of William Regal, Wade Barrett in the WWE.

However, with me being a World Heavyweight Champion for a major promotion in the US, it does bring a change in the pro-wrestling culture that is largely dominated by the Americans. From my personal experience, in the last 5 years in the US, everything in the ring had to be about me being a Brit – and it was really annoying. I mean there was more to my character than just being British and I’m glad the audience did realize that in the past couple of years.

You’ve worked with the best in the business – the likes of Kurt Angle, Sting – have been proven competitors for quite some time. How was the whole ‘Main Event Mafia’ experience for you?

I had the privilege to work with Kurt and Sting right from the first day of my TNA career and their guidance has been invaluable. When I was told that I will be a part of ‘Main Event Mafia’, it made me feel a bit apprehensive about the whole thing. I was worried that people may not take my character seriously and it was Sting and Kurt who made sure that everything will be alright. They had the power to make or break my identity in TNA and I’m glad that they chose to make me a top guy at TNA.

You effectively ended Sting’s storied in-ring TNA career. Reportedly, he all set for his WWE debut. What do you make of that?

I’m a huge fan of Sting and I look up to him. He’s had a really successful career and a pretty lucrative one too. He’s been very smart to have preserved himself for this long in the wrestling industry. However, a huge part of his legacy is his stint with WCW that is now owned by the WWE. So, I think he’s been very good to TNA over the years and has been instrumental in developing this organization. If he chooses to move to WWE, then I’d be really happy for him.

On a personal note, where do you see yourself in the pro-wrestling world in the near-future? Do options like WWE or even UFC even cross your mind – or would you even keep those possibilities open in the future?

I can tell you right now that UFC is never happening as I have never been into that genre. And about my future, as of now, I cannot upset anyone around me. As long as I’m contracted with TNA, I will give my 110% for the company as they’ve done so much for my over the past few years.

However, I have grown up watching WWE and that’s what encouraged me to take up pro-wrestling as a career. If at some point in the future, I do get an opportunity as big as that, I will definitely consider it.

But then, I’ve also been into writing a fitness book that is due to release at the end of this year and I’ve also been on TV as a host of Britain’s Strongest Man. So, I have plenty of ideas in my head on how I want to end up in the future and it’s rather more important to know who I want to be than what I want to be.

Sony Six has acquired the exclusive broadcasting rights to TNA Wrestling across the Indian Sub-continent, with this SONY SIX will now exclusively air some of the greatest TNA programming such as TNA Impact, TNA Xplosion, TNA Pay Per View, TNA One Night Only, TNA’s Greatest Matches and TNA Unfinished Business every week along with TNA’s special events each month.

Sony Six, which is the broadcast partner for TNA, plans to have 500 hours of programming each year keeping in mind the huge sports market potential in the country.