During a recent interview with Spencer Love, Nick Aldis commented on Trevor Murdoch’s success in the NWA, the Strictly Business faction, Chris Adonis, and more. You can check out some highlights from the interview below:
On Trevor Murdoch’s success in NWA: “One of the things that’s almost really become a calling card of the brand is we’ve taken the guys that didn’t get the chance to really showcase themselves to their fullest potential. Because of the somewhat cold-hearted nature of wrestling, sometimes, it can be kind of like you’re written off. That’s it. If you don’t happen to have the right connections, or you don’t happen to appeal to the right type of fans, it’s like your skillset can be greatly underutilized. That was Trevor Murdoch.
“I’ve known Trevor since I went to Harley’s camp in 2007, and at the time, he was on the road with WWE at that time. In my mind, I was like, ‘wow, it’s so cool that this guy’s a WWE star, and he’s taking his two days at home off the road to come and help us. That’s so cool.’ To get it to come sort of full circle – we didn’t give him anything. He took it. All we did was say, ‘I think you might be a good fit. It was literally just one of the ‘hey, what about Trevor Murdoch?’ And Billy went, ‘oh, yeah, that’s a good shout! Let’s try him!’ He walked out on that first episode of Powerrr, or I think it was the first episode, and you could just feel the people in the building go ‘oh, yeah,’ because now the shoe fits … Finally, Cinderella found the right slipper. You know what I mean? It’s like they go ‘oh, man, we kind of forgot about this guy, but yes! He’s great. He’s believable. He’s a good worker, and he fits so well in this. It was this sort of double whammy, right, this one-two punch where people went ‘oh, yeah, this guy’s legit.’
“And then, they also went, ‘oh, I’m starting to get a feeling of what this show is going to be about, and what this brand is going to be about.’ So it was this kind of one-two [punch]. As much as I represent the NWA in many different ways – a lot of people have been very kind and made some very lofty comparisons, and I won’t share those. But, I try to honor the sort of standard set by guys like [Ric] Flair and Nick Bockwinkel and Harley [Race]. As much as I sort of appeal with that particular taste, Trevor appeals on the type of tastes of people who like Dick the Bruiser, or Dusty Rhodes. That’s really what we’re about. We just want really good pro wrestlers here. Good, solid, believable pro wrestlers, and Trevor, he’s upper echelon now and I’m sure he’s going to prove it as we move forward.”
On potential new recruits for Strictly Business: “I’ve mentioned a few times that I think that Joe Hennig would be a good fit for NWA. I think he’s a guy that was presented in a way that was certainly not representative of what he offers [and] certainly not representative of his incredible lineage. But again, where we talk about our values [of] legacy, tradition, we more than respect our elders, we revere them. So, for a guy who’s part of one of the greatest wrestling lineages of all time? Hey, man, he could have a jacket. He could earn a jacket.”
On Chris Adonis: “I’ve known Chris for a long time. I first booked him in India 10 years ago. I found him to be insufferable when I first met this guy! I was like, ‘who is this guy? He’s like a complete goof! He’s so aloof. He’s like a loudmouth jock, just not my cup of tea at all. I get to know the guy, and I just go ‘no, that’s just his nature.’ But, here’s another guy – and I can relate to this – he got a massive opportunity for WWE, got pushed so young, and just was not polished and was not finished yet. He didn’t have enough reps. It just was just, he just wasn’t ready. People had just sort of written him off, you know, like ‘oh, he’s ex-WWE.’ He was in his early 20’s when he was there! Are you kidding me?
“For the most part, the guys are doing their best work in their late 30s, early 40s, because they found themselves, they’ve got respect, they’ve got a gravitas to them, they’ve got a maturity to them, they look like grown men. They’re people that appeal across the board to children and adults alike. It’s the sweet spot for wrestling, and for whatever reason, people have sort of co-opted that and tried to compare it to real sports, like, ‘what’s the big problem? What’s the major problem with the young guys?’ They’re not getting a push, because they’re not ready. They’re not getting a push, because they’ve got three years’ experience. Do you have any idea how much experience you need to be fucking good at this? It’s a lot! I’ve worked with a who’s-who of wrestling, and I didn’t even begin to find myself until I hit 30. And, by the time I hit 30, I’d wrestled Sting, AJ Styles Samoa Joe, Bobby Roode. Kurt Angle!”
