PJ Black (FKA Justin Gabriel) talks NXT, facing Rob Van Dam, challenging for the Slamforce Africa World Championship and more (Exclusive)
PJ Black is set to return to his home country of South Africa this October where he will battle former WWE Champion Rob Van Dam in the main event of Slamforce Africa 01 in Pretoria for the inaugural SFA World Championship.
I had the chance to talk to the Darewolf himself via Skype ahead of his title match regarding the Nexus, life outside the ring, facing Nick Aldis for the NWA World Championship and his upcoming title match with RVD.
Special thanks to Slamforce Africa CEO Cornelius A.P. van Tonder for setting up the interview.
SK: Growing up in the city of Cape Town, what or who inspired you to become a pro-wrestler?
Black: "My father [Paul Lloyd] ran a sports promotion and a wrestling company, so when I was really young I used to start like, working for him, refereeing matches and, you know, helping out at the sports events and I just fell in love with it, you know. I fell in love with the whole scene of professional wrestling."
SK: You were part of the infamous faction called The Nexus during your run in WWE. When you look back at it, would you say that was your greatest run in the company?
PJB: "Uhm... yes. I mean... I guess in a way, yes. I mean... for fans viewing it that would probably be my best run in the company but I did a bunch of other stuff too that wasn't seen, Uhm... on television and a lot of backstage stuff but I think my whole run was pretty successful.
I achieved everything that I wanted to achieve. There's a few more things that I wanted to achieve. I think the whole thing started even before Nexus was on NXT. Like look how big NXT is today, right? We sort of built a foundation for that company to what it is today."
SK: After leaving the company, you wrestled for other major promotions such as Impact Wrestling, Lucha Underground and Ring of Honor. This makes you one of the most recognizable faces in the industry. How was the whole experience like?
PJB: "Oh man it's been amazing, you know. I've been very lucky to have all these experiences and work for so many different companies, you know. Lucha Underground was a completely different experience for me because it wasn't so much a wrestling company. It was a TV show, so that was a great experience for me working and you know and working for every single company was a different experience because it's a different feel, a different company... it's almost like if you changed jobs it's completely different - different people.
But luckily wrestling is small. You run into the same people in different promotions all over the world, you know, and it's a fantastic business and I love every single moment of it. And every time I go to a new company it's like I can evolve my character, I can evolve who I am in and out of the ring and you know, it just makes me grow as a performer."
SK: You competed in the first season of NXT before moving to the main roster. What do you think of NXT moving to the USA Network and the Wednesday Night Wars?
PJB: "Oh I think it's fantastic, you know. We laid the groundwork for that company as it is right now and I think it evolved to something completely different to what it was because back then it was kind of like a reality show and like now it's a brand by itself.
I think Triple H has done a fantastic job with the evolution of NXT. I love it, I love watching it still, you know, I'm still a big fan of it and I love to see... actually, [on Wednesday] night in the United States they debuted live on television on USA Network. It happened [on Wednesday] night. It's a pretty big deal for wrestling and NXT."
Up next: PJ Black talks about challenging for the NWA World Heavyweight Championship, life outside the ring, etc.