James Storm on his Slammiversary Strap Match with EC3, positive changes at Impact Wrestling, if He Is Hall of Fame Bound and more
Storm takes a look back at a remarkable 15 years of IMPACT Wrestling while reliving not only the first night of "TNA" in 2002 but some of his finest moments and greatest achievements while working for IMPACT. We also get clued in as to what is next for the Cowboy and what the coming months in his IMPACT career may look like. The full episode can be downloaded at this link.
How have the recent changes to IMPACT Wrestling helped the locker room:
“I think it is more bringing responsibility back to IMPACT Wrestling. Jeff Jarrett grew up in the business with his Dad in Memphis, and so did Dutch, and I just think before there were too much of the guys just doing their own stuff. It was too much stuff that kept blending, and now you get Jeff and Dutch who come in here and basically tell guys that this is what we want plain and simple and if you can't do it then you can go someplace else.
For me, that is how a business should be run. I didn't sign up to be a writer; I signed up to be the wrestler. I think now with Jeff and Dutch there are more guys that respect them and there are guys in positions that people respect now, and everybody is working together a lot more and it is like it was in the very beginning of TNA when you had a bunch of guys that people didn't really know such as me, AJ Styles, Chris Harris, Samoa Joe, Low Ki, Sonjay Dutt.
Now with Jeff and Dutch back in there everybody is kind of coming together now. When they did the big campaign of "Make IMPACT great", I said plain and simple that not one person is going to make IMPACT great again it is going to take everybody in the locker room just like it did before with everybody working together.”
The recent tour of India and the passion of the fans attending the IMPACT shows:
“I don't want to talk bad about the crowd in Orlando because it feels like they've kind of seen everything and let’s get real a lot of the people there are park people, so they kind of don't know what is going on. With India, there were so many, and I’d say like 90% of the crowd that knew the product.
It was so much fun to come out there and hear them "pop" just off somebody getting shot into the ropes or giving a hip toss. When you go to a wrestling show, you want to go and have fun, and the worst thing you can do is just sit there and watch us run around in our underwear."
Looking back on 15 years of IMPACT and preparing for his Slammiversary Strap Match vs. EC3:
"You hear it all the time but it really does seem like yesterday we were in Huntsville, Alabama getting ready to film the first episode of "IMPACT Wrestling" but in the Wednesday night pay per views. But, I am really looking forward to this match and not just because it is the big Slammiversary show but because it is with Ethan and no matter what people want to say about him (because he is supposed to be playing the heel character) in the ring the guy brings it.
When you step in the ring with a guy that is the same as me, you are going to bring it, and I've told Ethan (but not wanting to break kayfabe too much) that you better believe that when I get the chance that I am going to beat your ass, plain and simple. Anybody that has stepped in a ring with me will tell you that I am not afraid to take an ass-whipping and I am not afraid to take any move in the world because at the end of the day I will give it back one way or another."
Does he prepare for the match any differently knowing that the strap can do a tonne of physical damage:
“It is going to be very easy. I already proved to him that I can take an ass-whipping so now he is going to have to prove to me that he can.”
Has he been approached about being inducted into the IMPACT Hall of Fame:
“No. I am not going in (laughing) I can tell you that. I have haven't been contacted, and nobody has asked me, so to me that is really not going to be happening. People that need to go into the Hall of Fame are people who are really not doing much stuff or not active anymore. Maybe put somebody in there like Jerry Jarrett who actually helped start the company and people can say what they want to say but I wouldn't mind if they put Dixie Carter in there.
About six months ago, I did an interview and I said that Wolfie D needs to go in there because a lot of people don't realize how much guys like Brian Lee and Wolfie did for guys like me and Chris (Harris) and Daniels and AJ and all the guys from back in the day because they had already been there and done it. They were grooming us to expect fame and how to go along with it and how to handle it. I'd say the New Church has to go in and they've got my vote."
The success his former partner Bobby Roode is having in NXT:
"I am not surprised at all. Bobby is just like me, and that is if you give him a chance to do something or you put him in a role, and no matter what it is he will do his best to make it great and get it over. Same with EY (Eric Young) he is the same way. Whatever role you want to put EY in, he will make it great by busting his butt and doing his job. That is what a lot of guys get caught up in. This is a job, so go out and do it."
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