Moose is travelling as I ask my questions, and our Skype connection is sometimes feeble. I ask him how long we have for the interview, and he replies coolly - ‘As long as you want, man!’ The Impact Grand Champion is a soft-spoken man, who seems like he’s having the time of his life at Impact Wrestling.
He answered questions, one after the other, without complaints and even when the connection dropped for good, we had spoken a great deal already. Here are some highlights! Read on.
Q: Let’s start at the beginning. I was watching some old interviews of yours and you have often said how Ric Flair was your biggest wrestling inspiration. Who were some of your favourite wrestlers growing up, and what was your favourite era of professional wrestling?
Moose: My favourite era of wrestling is definitely the same for everybody. Definitely the Attitude Era. Ric Flair, Dusty Rhodes, Rey Mysterio I can name your hundreds of wrestlers. Definitely Ric Flair, definitely Razor Ramon, Dusty Rhodes. Those are the guys I looked up to, as a kid.
Q: You had a power packed match against Bobby Lashley during the India tapings. Do you think both of you brought out the best in each other?
Moose: Definitely. Me and Bobby are really good friends and I feel like when you wrestle somebody you consider a friend of yours, you bring out the best in that person and he brings the best out of me. So, to answer the question, yeah I think we definitely bring out the best of each other and I think that's why we perform high-quality matches when we work each other.
Q: How did you decide to become an athletic big man, and who are some of your influences in that regard?
Moose: It’s just like when you go to practice, you realise you can do certain stuff. I don't have any influences when it comes to being athletic. It’s one of those things you don’t realise you have unless you go to practice. You learn and you figure it out.
Q: The Impact Wrestling Grand Championship incorporates elements of MMA in a professional wrestling format. Are you also an MMA fan?
Moose: I’m a huge MMA fan and I have been a fan since I was first shown an MMA fight a few years ago.
Q: Off topic – Who do you think is winning the McGregor vs. Mayweather contest?
Moose: Honestly, I mean the hype of the fight is the trash talking they’re going to be doing before the fight. I don't think anybody believes McGregor’s going to beat Mayweather in a boxing match. That’s (kind of) like me saying Tom Brady could beat Lebron James in a basketball match. I don’t think anyone realistically thinks McGregor has a chance of winning this match. So that answers that question for you.
Q: How did you enjoy wrestling in India and do you think Impact Wrestling will come back to India?
Moose: I definitely think Impact Wrestling will come back to India. All the fans were great. Definitely very different from what I expected. The way the fans interacted was awesome, so I can't wait to come back.
Q: Who would you say is the best worker in Impact Wrestling right now?
Moose: Other than myself, we got a locker room full of really good wrestlers. We’ve got myself, we’ve got Lashley, we've got EC3, we’ve got Spud, we've got Trevor Lee; I mean I could keep naming them. We have a locker room filled with great athletes, I mean El Patron! They’re all good.
Q: What did you think of Big Poppa Pump Scott Steiner’s big return?
Moose: I think it's great, man. I’m still excited to see what he can still do in the ring. I know he has a big match coming up. Him coming back to the company is definitely good for the business. Who knows? Maybe he’ll be the Hall of Fame inductee at Slammiversary.
Q: Who do you think is a better announcer? Jeremy Borash or Josh Mathews?
Moose: (Laughs) Honestly they’re both great announcers. I just want to see them fight. Whoever wins the fight becomes the best announcer. How about that, huh?
Q: How is the new Impact Wrestling different from the old TNA?
Moose: Just watching it on TV, in terms of production values, you can tell the difference. It’s so much better now. We've got a guy in Jeff Jarrett who knows the business and was brought up in the business, running the show so that's only going to bring success.
Q: What goals do you have left in wrestling?
Moose: Right now I'm just concentrating on being World Champion.
Q: Do you get to watch much wrestling outside of Impact? Have you watched Okada vs. Omega by any chance?
Moose: I do watch wrestling outside the company. I haven’t been able to catch up with that. Heard it was good.
Q: Oh yeah, it was. Ultimately, why should we watch Slammiversary and what is the one match you're looking forward to, other than the match you are in?
Moose: I kind of want to see what the World Title Picture is gonna shake up to be. I know I am 0-2 versus Lashley, but I know I can beat Lashley and if Lashley wins the title, maybe I will put my title on the line versus his title. That would give me the motivation I need to be victorious. And if Patron wins, I’ve never wrestled him one-on-one before, so it’ll be a great first-time matchup.
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