James Storm on regime return to Impact
Josh Barnett of USA Today is featuring an interview with James Storm where he talks about being with Impact Wrestling (formerly TNA) since 2002 and how the prior regime return of Jeff Jarrett and Dutch Mantell to the company will help them going forward.
“I always felt Impact Wrestling was the best when you had Dutch and Jeff. Even when had the crazy ideas of Vince Russo there, you always had Jeff and Dutch to pull him back from certain ideas that he was trying to throw out. They weren’t afraid to think outside of the bubble. People might label them as Southern wrestling stuff, but they were willing to listen to guys’ ideas and use them a lot of times. A lot of times people get in that position who wouldn’t use the guys’ ideas because it’s not their ideas. Because if it works then it might make look bad in certain people’s eyes. Jeff and Dutch aren’t afraid to listen to guys and that makes them feel good and try harder.”
Storm also addressed his brief stint with WWE in NXT.
“Everything is about timing. I didn’t think it was the right time. I was treated with respect when I went down there, Hunter (WWE executive vice president Paul ‘Triple’ Levesque) and I talked about things. He just said, ‘At the end of the day, you have to do what’s best for you. If things don’t work out, you have my number. Give me a call.’ It was great for him to say that to me. At the time, I don’t think I was ready for it with some stuff with my family life and my personal life to take care of. He understood that. It had nothing to do with wrestling. But never say never is the wrestlers’ motto that we live by. If it presented itself, I would talk it over my family again and see what we could do.”
El Patron on making the jump
Michael Wonsover of ESPN.com is featuring an interview with Alberto El Patron where he talks about almost making the jump to Impact Wrestling a few years ago before ultimately making the decision to return to WWE back in 2015.
“The first time I was out of WWE, [Impact Wrestling] reached out to me. But unfortunately we couldn’t do business because the offer was not the right one for me at the time. We went back and forth for pretty much a year, and then when they finally had the right offer for me in the creative department with the right money is when I was about to go back to WWE. Unfortunately, we couldn’t do business at that time. But this time with me leaving [WWE] for reasons everybody knows already, it was the perfect time and they were ready for me with the right offer, the right money offer. I was just ready and excited to go work for them.”
El Patron also stated he wanted to finish his U.S. wrestling career with Impact.
“When it comes to United States, I want to retire in Impact Wrestling. I know it’s always the same when a wrestler goes to a different company, he always puts the company over and forgets about the other one. The difference between me and other talent that has left WWE is — I left the company. In most of the other situations, the company fired them or not wanting to do with business with them. The company wanted me to stay, and I didn’t want to for the all the reasons that I already mentioned and because I wanted to have a place where I could be happy in my last three years of my career, and that place is Impact Wrestling.”