During a recent interview with Sam Roberts, WWE Superstar Titus O’Neil discussed the entertainment aspect of pro wrestling, finding ways to still be involved when he’s not booked to compete on RAW and more. You can check out some highlights from the interview below:
On embracing the entertainment aspect of wrestling: “I think that the number one thing is that I decided that I am going to go out and have fun at this job. If they are going to pay me to go out and have fun It is going to be physical at times, it is going to be entertaining at times, it is going to be upsetting at times; I know that I am going to go through this roller coaster because I am in the entertainment industry, just like a musician, who could be on top in 2015 and then 2016 you never hear nothing about them and in 2019 they are on top again. For me, it has always been about consistency. To me, it doesn’t matter if I was a WWE superstar, or a football star, or a top football coach in college; I am going to be who I am, and fortunately the person that I have become, due to the fact that people invested in me when I was a youth that I couldn’t return the favor to them, I have been able to help change a lot of lives, raise a lot of money, send a lot of kids to college, help a lot of families, and to me that is being a role model, period. As a father, son, brother, teammate, co-worker, to me it is not about being a WWE superstar, it is about being a good human being.”
On finding ways to be involved when he’s not booked to compete on RAW: “Knowing that I am a two-time College graduate, I can go do millions of other things and make more money doing other things. I have invested my money well; if I come to work and they tell me I have a match, great, if they me that I don’t have a match I go straight to the ‘dot com’ people and try to figure out what I can do on social media. The thing is, I came to work. I didn’t just come to eat catering and not do anything, or go to a hotel. I have two sons; when I first started this my sons were 3 and 5, they are now 11 and 13. I am missing Football games, missing Basketball games, birthday parties, and Christmas on some occasions. I would be a fool not to come to work everyday to not think of doing something that I can make myself better as a performer and enhance the product of the WWE.”
On not seeing his current WWE role as a step backward: “Use your platform. I know that I can cause a lot of trouble with this thing or a lot of change, it is a decision that I need to make. That trouble, 9 times out of 10 is not how I feel but how I believe. If I believe something that may not be the total belief of everyone else, that is fine, it is what I believe and I am willing going to go to whatever it is that they call a ‘career grave’ and I think a lot of people are scared to be themselves, be authentic and themselves. No matter where I go I am not going to compromise who I am for the sake of saving face for other individuals to whatever it may be.”
