During a recent interview with the Chad Dukes Wrestling Show, Killshot discussed his time in Lucha Underground and more. Here are some highlights:
On being part of the Lucha Underground Roster: “Honestly it was a dream come true. I was in a car ride with Ricochet, aka Prince Puma, we were in a car ride together going from show to show, this was about two years ago, and he was telling me about all the stuff that they were doing. An episode hadn’t even aired yet at that time, I believe, it was a couple of weeks later the first episode aired, but he was telling me all about the experience there, the storyline writing, how the performers are treated, and it was something I just gravitated to because it was like, ‘Man, there’s nothing else being happening out there like that.’ So he was the one who got me brought into the show and just the roster from top to bottom was better than any other roster out there in wrestling, in my opinion, from top to bottom. Any one of our guys can main event the episode, or main event Ultima Lucha, or get that main event spot, or win a championship. I think that’s what made our roster so special, that’s what made the show special because there’s always another layer deep to everybody’s character, you don’t just get a very surface person, they don’t just throw you out there and go, ‘This is what you are, this is what you get.’ There’s always a purpose for that person being there. There’s always a story to why this person looks this way, acts this way, wrestles this way. There’s so much more depth to it. I’m more of a thinker than an athlete in the ring, so that just gave me all the tools to think and imagine what I could be and what the Killshot character could possibly be in the temple with all the elements it has already.”
On developing his character during season two: “After season one ended and we had that long six month break, a lot of guys on the roster weren’t sure about what was going on, I took time and just wrote a back story. I took time to add more depth to the character because after season one there was no back story, I pretty much got integrated into the system with Big Ryck and Willie Mack. So I wanted more depth and I took it upon myself to write a back story. I wrote about three different synopses for the character, I pitched it to one of the head writers and he loved it, and he took it and kind of combined all three of those ideas that I took and made it what you saw in season two, with the back story and being captured and put away for 13 months overseas. Right then and there you can understand why my character is the way with he is. He’s very to himself, he suffers from PTSD a little bit, he doesn’t like being in front of cameras, so the character doesn’t gloat a lot, he’s not a big show man to the fans, but at the same time he gives off a certain type of charisma that the fans can still understand and gravitate to. That’s why the move set is flashy at points but it’s very direct, it’s always moving, one hit strikes. It was very important for me, very intuitive for the character, the move set had to match the personality of the character. The look had to match how I move. Everything had to come full circle and I feel like in season 2, I was really able to show that to the fans and the fans understood it. We have the best athletes in the world on Lucha Underground, I can’t just be another guy who can do all the athletic stuff, I had to find another way to grasp the fans, and so I did it with character.”
On the women of Lucha Underground being on equal ground: “I think we get away with it because more so than any other promotion or any other thing going out there is because we have our own universe. If you watch the show Arrow, nobody complains about Thea Queen (Speedy) and Black Canary fighting a bunch of men and taking them out because in their universe those are super heroes, they’re highly trained women, trained by some of the best assassins and the best fighters in the world. Same with [Lucha Underground], Mariposa is one of the most dangerous women in the temple, Sexy Star is one of the most highly trained luchadoras in the world of wrestling, Ivelisse, very highly trained. All those female characters are some of the best fighters that you can get in the world of Lucha Underground so they should be able to combat other men and in their vignettes they should be able to take down the average person, but when you put them against some of the best fighters in the world in Lucha Underground, that’s a match. Wonder Woman can fight Superman because they’re superheroes. In our temple, in our universe, in our world, in that realm, I feel like fans understand that more and they can expect that more and get into it a little bit more too.”
Also, TNA agent Al Snow recently spoke with Sports Illustrated for a new interview. Here are some highlights:
On comparing OVW to NXT: “The difference between OVW and NXT is OVW was a throwback to a very regional territory. It was operated on a very local and regional basis, and under the same premise as what we used to do. I wanted to build it up when I first came in and took over. They were running two or three live events a month, and a weekly television production show every Wednesday night. We ran 186 live events and drew, on average, 400 people. The TV show became the number one rated show on the local network, and several times beat out the local news. For us, that was successful, but NXT operates on a different platform. It’s not regional or local, but it’s more of a sister company to WWE. They tour, run smaller venues, and they’re doing really, really well, which is great. Any success that allows the talent more of an opportunity to perform in front of a live audience is always a boon for the wrestling business as a whole.”
On trying to help rebuild TNA’s image: “TNA is on the right track. They’re bringing in new and different talent, and that’s the biggest thing. Everyone was talking about Cody Rhodes leaving WWE and how that was terrible, but it’s not at all. You need to put yourself in a position where you can leave on your terms. I recommend talent if I see somebody out there that I think can do business and do what a wrestler’s job really is. There is a lot of misunderstanding over a wrestler’s job–a wrestler’s job is not to wrestle. A wrestler’s job is much like a movie actor, and it’s the hardest job you can do. A wrestler has to motivate people to leave their comfortable chair in their house, drive to a building, pay a significant amount of money to sit in an uncomfortable chair around people they don’t want to sit around, to watch you do your job. That’s a tough, tough job to do.”
On whether Paul Heyman being ECW’s biggest star is a surprise: “Not at all, not one bit. Paul Heyman was ECW. Paul Heyman manufactured and created ECW, and Paul is a master of reinventing himself–that’s how he has lasted as long as he has. You only serve one of two purposes in professional wrestling. Unlike any other form of entertainment, there is no third option. You’re either the thing that sells tickets, and that’s the thing that motivated everyone to show up at the building that night or tune in on television or buy that pay per view, or you are one of the things that helped that thing sell tickets, motivate people to watch the television show, etc. There is no third option, and Paul E. has been able to adeptly function in those two roles for his entire career.”
