Gunner Talks About TNA Pushing Younger Talent

Gunner was asked by Lee Sanders of The RCWR Show if TNA is phasing out bigger guys. 

“No, you have me, Magnus, and Bobby Roode,” said Gunner. “Bobby Roode is considered a heavyweight. He’s a big guy. I don’t know, honestly. Obviously, TNA’s always been really big about the X Division and different styles and different aspects of wrestling and I think that wrestling is totally different now than it was when I was growing up in the ’80s and ’90s. Everybody was big. You never saw the smaller guys.”

Gunner continued, “I don’t really think it puts any pressure on. It kind of definitely puts you in an elite category. You named Magnus and I there and yet you don’t see the big guys after Crimson and Matt Morgan and those guys left. I don’t really think that it puts any pressure on. I think you just go out there.

It gives me an opportunity, which I’ve always enjoyed even in the independents when I was at Anarchy, to wrestle with different styles of wrestlers. You have all have all scenarios of people who can do anything. I mean, he’s great. You have Bobby Roode who wrestles in a different style. You have Chris Sabin and it gives us, as big guys, an opportunity to be very diverse in what we do and, I think, better ourselves. Learning different styles is something I’ve always tried to pride myself on, whether or not it’s high-flying.

Of course, I’m not going to come off the top rope unless maybe it’s with an elbow drop, but it’s good to know those different styles are at work, like a Japanese style or a Lucha style or a Big Man style. The wrestling business is totally different now than it was, say, in the ’90s when two big guys were just duking it out. I think it’s really a good opportunity for all of us to just step up our game.”

Also in the interview, Gunner was asked about the company pushing its younger talent.

“I think it’s going to be a good change. You named guys like EC3 and the newer guys that may be coming in, but you still have the Kurt Angles and the Jeff Hardys and veterans that are in the position to help younger guys, like myself, out and not only learn more, but see if I can obviously handle the pressure of being in that main event spot.

I think it’s a good change for Impact because TNA has always been that company since day one with the younger guys, like A.J. Styles and Chris Daniels and all these guys. TNA has always been about different, new, and young talent. For a while there, it kind of got away from that I feel. Dixie tweeted about it as you mentioned and I think that it’s a good spot to be in.

I mean, I’m 32-years-old and, obviously, I want to be the next superstar of Impact Wrestling and I you can only do so much until they give you that platform to perform on. So, with that being said and 2014 being a new year, they are looking for the new face of the company. There have been a lot of changes, but I think the new face of the company is something different and new and something that the fans can latch on to.

The fans want to see different stuff. They don’t want to see the same guys year in and year out doing the same stuff all the time. WWE always has new, fresh guys coming in and changing the product and I think that Dixie and the company in general are going to give us younger guys an opportunity to really stand out and see what we can do.”