In an interview with Ring Rust Radio, Kenny King spoke about his time on WWE’s Tough Enough program. He was one of the finalists. Here are highlights:
On iMPACT! Wrestling’s move to Wednesdays: “Well I think Wednesday nights are a good night for wrestling now with everything going on. Now we have Impact and Ring of Honor, and that gives you three hours of wrestling you actually want to watch. As far as getting my belt back, this Wednesday at Destination X, I get my shot and we will see what happens.”
On ROH’s move to Destination America: “I’m a pro-wrestler and that’s how I make my money and I am also a fan of the wrestling business. Ring of Honor being viewed as being good enough to share the national spotlight with another company that’s really good for wrestling. It’s not a product that I’m unfamiliar with and the quality is unquestionable – it’s Ring of Honor. It’s hard to see it as a negative when it means there’s more places for guys to work and get exposure for guys that are really good.”
On what’s keeping him out of the World title picture: “I think it comes down to timing and everything has to be right. I am my number one fan and I would have told you that I’m ready for a title shot that day, but it might not have been the right timing. Whenever it is my time I grab it and I run with it. The thing you can say about TNA is it’s not the old guard anymore. The push to the top is there for guys who are ready and able to do it versus just name recognition.”
On his move from ROH to TNA: “The reason it got blown out of proportion was because of one person who took it personally. I never, ever treated Ring of Honor any negative way. The people that matter then and do matter now in Ring of Honor I have nothing but love for ‘em. I still love that company and have nothing against Ring of Honor at all.”
On the current state of the X Division: “Well, there’s times when the division takes the forefront and then there’s times when the guys stories can go slow. It’s kinda of one of those things where you look at the original logo for TNA is built on the X division. It’s one of the reasons TNA’s identity is tied with the X division. The fact that any given day you can put X division guys, any two of us, and give us 15-20 minutes you will get a main event quality match. That’s a testament to how strong it is and that it will always be there. Destination X is always a good time of year because it reminds everyone that we are amongst the best in the world in that style.”
On his “King of the Night” nickname: “Funny thing is I wanted to come into Impact Wrestling with that King of the Knight gimmick. They didn’t think it was right at that time and said I could pull it out later. Hopefully King of the Night is a way to reintroduce me back to the fans. The direction that it took organically with Bobby Lashley and myself showed why the gimmick worked.”
On his time on Tough Enough: “I was just gonna say don’t sleep on British Boot Camp now. Tough Enough was my entrance into professional wrestling and it’s really what made me love it and want to stay. I think it’s a great opportunity for wrestlers and to help get eyes looking at you. It gives you’re the opportunity to start in the middle versus to where guys start at the very end. I would love to see a Boot Camp version of that and get some trainers on there with some experience.”
On being trained by Nick Bockwinkel: “I can tell you this, it’s a compliment saying some of my work this year is my best ever and that is a testament to Nick Bockwinkel. Nick would come in on Thursday nights, sometimes Fridays, and we would work on promos and learning and understanding your character. You would cut your promo, Nick would watch it, then he would tell you it sucked. After that you would do it again, and again, until it was right. He really was all about practice makes perfect. I don’t know where I would be without Nick Bockwinkel.”
