TNA star Gunner spoke with the Baltimore Sun about a variety of topics heading into TNA live events this weekend in Maryland. Below are the highlights:
It seems like you’re moving into a program with Sam Shaw. What can we expect from that?
“I don’t know what to expect yet. Sam’s a little loopy. He’s a creepy guy. There’s something wrong with him, and on the show he got committed by Ken Anderson. So I’m going in there and trying to talk some sense into him and see what’s in his head. We’re just starting that segment, so we’ll see where it goes. Sam’s an awesome, young, talent and he’s hungry. Everything he does is whole-hearted and he does it well.”
There’s been a lot of changes to the TNA roster lately. What’s it been like in the locker room?
“Obviously to a certain extent it sucks to see guys like that leave. We were all good friends, we traveled together for years. But that’s the wrestling business unfortunately. To a certain point though, it’s good. It’s letting younger guys step up and guys like me and some of the younger talent like EC3, we have to make it or break it. We’ll either step up and run with the ball, or you drop it and they’ll send you home. As far as the product goes, the ratings haven’t dropped because certain guys have left, and fresh faces are coming in. As far as your friends leaving, that’s the sucky part, but I look at the product getting better and better and better as the young talent thrives. In pro wrestling, you always have to be building up the young guys up, so they can take over in the future.”
Do you think the concern over the ratings, particularly from people outside the company, sometimes gets overblown, or is it a valid concern?
“Yeah, I think it gets overblown. Of course, you have your armchair wrestling fans who are going to the product, either Monday or Thursday nights. When I was growing up, in the ’90s and the Monday Night Wars, ratings were huge, it was ridiculous. It tapered off after a while. Will it get back to that? I would love to think so and hope so. But right now, what we’re working with is really good.”
Obviously you seem to ignore the outside talk. But with all of that talk, and the rumors that have been flying around, has it affected the locker room at all?
“No, it hasn’t. I think that [the outside talk] is something that as an entertainer that you just get used to. It doesn’t matter what form of entertainer, musician, in the movies, whatever, there’s always going to be rumors and whatever flying around. Those people don’t know what you go through though. I’m not the one writing the storylines, so they can’t really bash me for that. But I’m going out there and entertaining and if you let those people get to you, then you let those people win. It’s never really bothered me at all. I just go out there and work the same no matter what they say. The guys I listen to are the guys backstage that I work with. Guys like Al Snow and listening to those guys are what’s going to make me better.”
You’ve primarily been a tag wrestler during your run in TNA, and this has been your first real big singles push. Is there anybody you want to work with in a singles feud?
“Yeah, I’d love to work with Bobby Roode. Bobby has been in lots of long-term feuds, like his feud with James Storm, and he’s one of the guys I’d like to carry a feud with for a while too. He’s one of the guys that I looked up to when I entered the company in 2010. I love to wrestle with him and work with him in house shows, one match here and there, but I’d love to do something bigger with him. He’s a guy I respect a lot, and he’s at the top of my list.”
Do you have any goals that you’d like to accomplish in the near-future?
“One thing I’d like to see is that I’m not sure if we’re doing the Bound for Glory series this year, but if we are, I’d love to do well in that and win that. And of course I’d love to be the World Champion. I’m not sure if that’s going to happen by the end of 2014, but that’s a goal of mine since I came to TNA. It’s been a goal of mine since I was a kid. I want to see how I could compare to some of these guys like Kurt Angle, some of the greats that held the title.”
TNA is making a trip up to New York later this month to have TV tapings at the Manhattan Center. What are your thoughts on that?
“Oh yeah, I’m really excited about that. I think it’s going to be really good for the company and the product on TV. Getting outside of Orlando is really nice. In Orlando, we have the same crowd. And those guys have seen the same thing for years. It’s really nice to be on the road, and Manhattan is going to have a really good vibe. That venue is really really cool and will show up well for the TV product. Whenever we go to New York, that crowd is always live and energetic, so it’s great to get the TV product there.”
