Exclusive: Johnny Impact discusses if the Austin Aries incident was a work, becoming World Champion & more
In case you missed the first part of my interview with Johnny Impact, you can read all about it at this location. I caught up with him to talk all things wrestling, including his controversial title win at Bound For Glory against the former Champion, Austin Aries.
Impact goes up against Brian Cage in the main event of the company's next pay-per-view entitled 'Homecoming'. A generally soft-spoken man, he became very outspoken while describing Austin Aries. Naturally, I asked him if it was a work, as has been speculated by many, and you can read all about it down below!
How was it finally winning the World Championship at Bound For Glory?
Impact: That was hard to put into words. It was amazing. No one dreams of almost winning the Championship or being the Number 1 contender. No, ever since I was a kid I dreamed of being the World Champion. And when it happened at Bound For Glory, I felt like my wrestling quest was vindicated. It really meant a lot to me.
But your win was also surrounded by controversy. What's your take on what happened with Aries?
Impact: I think Austin Aries is a sore loser and I think it's probably because he's got a little bit of a short man complex. He's got a short temper. He's quick to anger. I'm really proud of the match him and I had at Bound For Glory and I wish that he'd have conducted himself differently.
But I'm not letting the way that he behaved affect the way I feel about winning the title and how I feel about Bound For Glory, both of which I'm really proud about.
A lot of people on the internet are still speculating whether it was a work. Do you have any comments on this?
Impact: I mean sure...speculate! That's one of the great things about pro wrestling. Everyone's entitled to their opinion.
There was one spot during the match, where you had one leg on the barricade and another on the apron. Do you feel a pressure in coming up with innovative spots, every time you go out to compete?
Impact: The cliched thing about wrestling is that you're only as good as your last match. Yes, absolutely. Every time I go out I feel pressure to keep evolving and think of new things. But I think the best way to do it is to train movement and train different kind of skills and be a student of the game. So, I'm constantly thinking about wrestling.
I'm thinking about wrestling all the time. And when I got to Bound For Glory, I just looked at the ring, saw how close the barricade was to the apron and saw that it was a unique opportunity to do something at other venues because the ring apron is too far away from the barricade usually.
So, every building, every setup presents different kinds of opportunities for that kind of offence, especially if you're thinking of integrating parkour into it. But the short answer is yes.
I feel pressure every time I wrestle, but I also feel like I perform better under pressure.
Be sure to catch Johnny Impact only on SONY ESPN and SONY ESPN HD, every week.