Petey Williams Talks Talent Requesting Releases, Says Impact Will Tape TV Monthly & More
Filed to GERWECK.NET:
Show: Interactive Wrestling Radio
Guest: Petey Williams
Date: 04/12/18
Your Host: James Walsh
This episode of Interactive Wrestling Radio is dedicated to the memories of “Luscious” Johnny Valiant and Terry Garvin Simms. Both men were guests on our show, Johnny V in 2003 and Terry in 2014. Our thoughts and prayers to the family and friends of both wrestling legends.
What are the odds that Petey Williams can win the Impact Wrestling X Division Title for the 3rd time nearly 10 years since his 2nd reign? In true Scott Steiner form, Petey theorizes he stands a solid 66 and 2/3rds percent chance of capturing the title by defeating Matt Sydal at Redemption!
Plus, Petey explains why Canadians get boo’d in the United States, discusses the new Impact regime, and more!
To Listen, View or Download this interview, please visit: http://wrestlingepicenter.com
PETEY WILLIAMS :
On recent changes to Impact Wrestling:
“I think they’ve been changing for the better. I mean, a lot of people have asked for their release and stuff like that but But, that’s ok! If I were a business owner and someone said to me, “Hey, I don’t want to work here anymore.” I wouldn’t be like, “No, you’re locked into a contract with me. You might be miserable here but we’re gonna suck the money out of ya!” No! Come on! If you don’t want to work for my company, if this were my company, then don’t be here! We want people working for us that want to be here. I think that is what boosts morale. I think it (Impact Wrestling) is changing for the better!”
On Don Callis entering a management role with Scott D’Amore:
“As for Don Callis, I first met Don when I first started like 18 years ago. I had never actually worked under him until now. I remember I cut a promo at the recent tapings, and Impact is really good with promos. They say, “You’ve got a minute and a half. Go!” I did my promo and Don was like, “Hey, you started out at a 9 and brought it up to a 10. Why don’t you start at like a 2 and bring it all the way up?” I was like, “All right.” I did it in the second take and he was like, “That was great! That was golden!” I didn’t think that it was good. But then others saw it and they thought it was good. So, Don is there to make the product better. Don Calli s has been everywhere and he’s been everywhere twice! I think it is all changing for the better and we’re on an upswing.”
On his Title Match with Eli Drake:
“It was great! All the stars lined up that night. We were in Ottawa so we were in my home country. I challenged the night after Bound for Glory. It was the Canadian Hero, if you want to call me that, against the loud mouthed heel. I have never had that opportunity before, to challenge one on one for the World Title. I really, really enjoyed the match. Eli Drake was phenomenal to work with. He’s a true professional. He’s got this cool factor about him that a lot of people don’t have in wrestling right now. He’s a stud. He’s a cool guy.”
On why Canadians are heels in the United States:
“It goes back well before that (The Hart Foundation). It goes back to Americans being very patriotic… Anything that wasn’t American, and this is going back to the 50’s, 40’s, 30’s, 20’s…. Whatever. Think about the cars we used to drive. If you weren’t driving an American car, you were shunned, pretty much! We’re not like that anymore. But, we’ve still inherited that stereotypical perception, I guess you could say, from our heritage. Now, we’re so politically correct, too boo someone from another country is like, “I don’t know if I should do that!” Nowadays, it isn’t OK to do that. But, whatever! In 2004, it was still OK!”
On challenging for the X Division Title at Redemption 10 years since his last reign:
“First off, if I do capture the X Division title at Redemption, that would be another benchmark for me because there’s never been a champion who hasn’t won it in a full decade! That would be one for the record books. As for Matt Sydal, I remember the first time I wrestled Matt Sydal in 2003. That was the first time I ever pulled out the Canadian Destroyer and Matt Sydal was the first one to ever take the Canadian Destroyer. We were young guys back then. Now we’re, well we’re not old but we’re 15 years older! I’m looking to tear it up with him again at Redemption whatever the outcome. It would be great to capture that X Division Title again now. I’m in such a different place in my life than I was. Now I’m thinking smarter instead of harder.”
On what Scott Steiner would say the odds are of Petey winning the title again:
“What are the odds? I’d say 66 and 2/3rds percent chance which is great. That promo (Scott Steiner’s) was great! He’s adding fractions with percentages! He didn’t say 66.6 percent, he said 66 and 2/3rds percent! I’ve never heard it like that before! So, that’s pretty great! (laughs) That was one take. I looked into the camera and was like, “Nobody’s yelling cut? OK, lets see where it goes!” If they had yelled cut, it wouldn’t have come out like it did. That is probably one of the best comedic, and I don’t think he (Steiner) meant it to be comedic, but that was probably the best comedic interview in Impact history!”
On wrestling changing so everyone works the X style now:
“He (Austin Aries) did present the problem. But, what’s the solution? Right? If you look at every single company now, heavyweight, light heavyweight. That’s the style now! What’s the next evolution? Do we just go out there and just perform a stunt show gymnastics type thing? That’s not professional wrestling! So, yeah, he (Austin Aries) presented the problem. But, what can it (the X Division) do to redefine itself? I don’t have the answer for that. If I did, I’d be pitching it and trying to make that happen!”
On why the Internet reacted the way it did to the Callihan/Edwards baseball bat incident:
“The Internet lost its mind because he said he wasn’t sorry for what he did. It is good for business! It is very good for business that he said he’s not sorry. Because, you know what happened? The next week, more people tuned in because they want to see Sami get his butt kicked by Eddie. This is what a grudge match like back in the 80’s and even before that, this is what a grudge match should be!”
On the evolution of the Knockouts and women’s wrestling:
“It is a great time to be a women’s wrestler right now! You have your choice where you want to work, to tell you the truth. That is the big boom right now. If you look back 10 years or so, maybe the cruiserweight division was it, the X Division. AJ Styles and guys like that. Right now, this (women) is the boom. I don’t know what the next trend is going to be. But, right now, the trend is women’s wrestling. I’m proud of all of them. They’re finally not being pranced around in bra and panties and stuff like that. They’re given the stage to have a competitive match. And, they’ve been delivering!”
On Impact’s new strategy:
“I think it is on the upswing. If you look at this past weekend with Impact versus Lucha Underground, it is like we’re working with other promotions now rather than trying to fight them. It is like the wrestling community is coming together and everyone wins. It isn’t like the Monday Night Wars where you were either watching Nitro or RAW and that’s it! There’s so much content out there so that fans can watch everything if they want to watch it. Our TV schedule is going to be changing soon so that instead of taping 3 months worth of shows in a week, we’ll be filming a month’s worth of shows in 2 days. We’re going to be traveling more. It is growing! And, I’m really excited for it!”
As for his wrestling future:
“As for me, who knows? I didn’t think I’d be back this long! I came back in August and I thought I would stick around until, oh, November? It is fun! And, when it stops being fun, then I’ll go. The first time around, I wasn’t stopping and soaking it in. Now I am and I’m enjoying being in the moment. Before I was wrestling as a competitor trying to work my way up, now I’m almost wrestling as a fan!”
On his own podcast:
“If anyone wants to listen to me, you can listen to my podcast at TheWrestlingPerspective.com and it is called the Wrestling Perspective. Myself and Dennis Farrell who did the ESPN Fantasy Football podcast… We do it. We’re not really interview happy but we shoot the breeze about wrestling. It is a little bit different so check it out and let us know what you think about it!”
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