Former WWE Superstar Justin Gabriel, now working the indies as PJ Black, recently appeared on Chris Jericho’s Talk Is Jericho podcast. The full interview can be heard at this link. Jericho asked Gabriel if it’s true that talents on WWE’s main roster are jealous of the time in the ring that some of the NXT talents get for TV and specials matches. Gabriel said the frustration has “been going on longer than you think.”
Regarding his run in NXT, Gabriel said he volunteered to go and was supposed to have a longer feud there with Tyson Kidd. He said he hates when people order him to tell a story with his match but then book him for 90 seconds of action. Gabriel also admitted that he was often the man behind The Bunny character with Adam Rose.
Gabriel left in January of this year but said the decision had been in the works for about a year.
Gabriel revealed at one point when he wasn’t being used, he called Michael Hayes and was told to come up with ideas, which he did. One idea Gabriel pitched to WWE creative was for a character called Darewolf, which would have been a combination of a werewolf and a daredevil. Gabriel claimed Vince McMahon liked the idea and they shot vignettes of him surfing, doing gymnastics, sky diving, riding dirt bikes and juggling fire. According to Gabriel, Vince even was ready to trademark the name but Triple H shot the idea down.
Gabriel said he knew Triple H didn’t think he was any good and when he saw Triple H at the Arnold Expo in 2014, Gabriel says he told The Game that he was going to change his view of him. Gabriel then asked to go to NXT and began working with WWE Hall of Famer Dusty Rhodes on promos. Gabriel says he came up with a new style of promos and a new in-ring style but he was never given the chance to use it.
