How disappointed are you that you aren’t fighting Ken Shamrock?

I’m super disappointed. It’s only my second fight and we are looking for opponents. I really wanted to fight Ken but things happen. Anything can happen. People get hurt. I wanted to fight a legend but it is what it is.

What are your thoughts on Jason Guida?

He’s a last minute replacement so I don’t know a whole lot about him. I hadn’t got to study him. I know his brother but I don’t know much about him.

How cool was it win your first fight via TKO in the first round?

It was exciting. You train as hard as you can for months and months and you want things to go according to plans. To get the match stopped early like that it saves a lot of headache. It was good to see how you feel in the cage when they lock the door. It was good to have it stopped early and come out unscathed.

Where you nervous?

Not really. I trained so hard. I knew I was ready. A few weeks out I told myself I was ready. My corner was right in my ear and they did more than anything else. When I was out there I was ready to fight.

How far has your striking come?

It’s comes leaps and bounds. I feel very comfortable striking. That’s my favorite part of working out. I love to spar and hit mitts. It’s fun and I really enjoy it.

How about jiu jitsu?

It’s hand in hand with wrestling. When I started I had a strong base in jiu jitsu now I’m just learning and picking up all the submissions.

You wrestled in the Army?

Yes Sir, After I was out of college I still wanted to wrestle. The Army has a wrestling team. They have one of the strongest wrestling teams around. They have a good freestyle team. Basically what is is the World Class Athlete Program. All it is is a program for soldiers to train for their sport if they have Olympic potential. Basically you live in Colorado Springs and train in the Olympic training center. You then represent the Army in events in amateur events.

Coming out of the army what were your options?

I had a lot of offers thrown at me. I was a big wrestling fan growing up. I was training MMA before the WWE offered me a contract. But when Vince offered me the contract you have an opportunity like that very few times. If you don’t jump at it you may never get it again.

Do you ever miss pro wrestling?

Oh yeah, it’s fun. It’s a great time. It’s hard on the mind and the body. You can’t take away the enjoyment we had being in front of those crowds, being in front of those people around the world. It was incredible. I do miss it.

You wrestled Vince McMahon in 2007 is there any extra pressure to take care of him in the ring?

At first it was a tremendous amount of pressure before I found out how tough he is. He was 60 years old when I wrestled him. I go out there and I’m aggressive. I didn’t know how it was going to be but he’s a very tough man. It took me a few minutes in the ring before I realized how tough he is.

You were in the co-main event at Wrestlemania 23 what are your thoughts on that?

It was like being in the Super Bowl. There were 85,000 people in the arena. You can’t explain how cool it is walking out in front of the people. Then being in that high profile match. We were all over the place. We were on billboards in Times Square and we saw them going down the highway. Wrestling for Donald Trump and shaving Vince’s head it’ll go down in history.

Who were some of the guys you enjoyed working with in WWE?

I enjoyed working with Booker T. Fit Finaly, he’s a tough guy. I enjoyed wrestling Umaga. He’s a great person to battle with and work with. Vince McMahon that is a staple of your career. Shane too. I enjoyed working with him too.

What are your thoughts on the Chris Benoit tragedy?

It was difficult. I know how passionate he was then when all this happened he turned into this superbad guy. But the people who knew him knew what kind of guy he was. He was the nicest guy you’d ever want to meet. He had some demons he was battling with mentality. I think the demons took over at the end of his career. He was in the business over 20 years. Traveling, it was grueling. I think without passing judgement. I wouldn’t pass judgement on him at all. I think he had issued he didn’t get resolved. It took over his mind and his body.

Did that factor into your decision to leave the WWE?

No, I always wanted to fight. I had talked to Vince a few times about fighting. Then there were a few issues out of my control when I was in the WWE and between those it was time to step away.

How cool was it to go to Iraq in 2006 and entertain the troops with the WWE?

It was great. My family comes from a military background. I had uncles who were in the Marines and served in Vietnam. My Dad was in the Army for 24 years. I had two sisters that served and cousins too. I’m basically a military brat grwoing up. Then I joined too. It was good to go over there. I know what they go through. I know how tough it is. To just entertain them for a few hours it was well worth it.

What was the plane ride like over there?

We had a bunch of wrestlers on there so we made it as fun as possible. We’d have fun, pass out, woke up have more fun, then pass out again. Luckily I got to be in the cockpit to see the takeoff and landing and watch them fly the plane.

I actually got lot of sleep on the trip. We had been on the road before so I needed the sleep.

Are you suprised to see John Cena as a movie star?

No, he has that it factor people talk about. He has a lot of charisma and is very marketable.

What about Randy Orton he’s doing well now.

Yeah, he’s a third generation wrestler he’s right where he needs to be. It’s where he’s supposed to be. Wrestling is in his blood.

What do you think about the passing of Andrew Martin who wrestled as Test?

I worked with him. I don’t really want to comment on it. It’s still so fresh. It’s so unfortunate. I hate to see it happen to him and how it affects the people around him. I wasn’t close to him but I know people around him and it hit them hard. It’s a horrible situation.

Would you be open to going back to the WWE one day?

I’d definitely be open to going back to wrestling one day. The WWE isn’t the only organization. I’ve had talks with some organizations. I would be open to going back to wrestling not just WWE. I enjoy it.

Do you get tired of being compared to Brock Lesnar?

Kind of, there are some similarities but there are a great deal of differences. Yes, we both worked for the WWE and now we’re fighting. That’s about it. But if you compare how he went straight to the top that’s fine because that’s what I’m going to do. I’d like to fight him if he hangs on the belt.

You are under contract with the AFL aren’t you?

Yes, the owner is BJ Santiago. He had a great vision with the organization with what he wanted to see happen. But the way the economy has gone he wasn’t able to do what he wanted to do. He had a great plan and vision and I hope he can get something going. It may be on a smaller scale and have to build it.

We need more shows and places to fight. There are so many guys who are ready to fight. In my gym alone there are around 50 fighters ready to fight at any given time but there aren’t enough shows. Hopefully the AFL can get something going and everyone can make some money and enjoy what they are doing.

Have you had any talks with Strikeforce, Affliction, or the UFC?

Sure, we just don’t know what we are going to do yet.

Anything else you want to say to the fans?

I want to thank American Top Team first and foremost. And Lashley nutrition that’s my nutrition store that enables me to come down here and train and stay busy.

This entry was posted on Tuesday, March 17th, 2009 at 1:55 pm and is filed under Interviews. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.