Source: Two Man Power Trip of Wrestling
Former TNA talent Garrett Bischoff recently appeared on the Two Man Power Trip of Wrestling to talk his time in TNA. You can see highlights below. For full interview click here
Did his Dad try to talk him out of getting into wrestling and what advice did he give him:
“My father drilled into my head that you never put all of your eggs into one basket and always have a plan B, C, D and E. Plan A might not go the way you want it to go and for whatever reason things happen and the wrestling world is one of those things where things can end very quickly.”
“He did everything he could to keep me from getting into the wrestling business. Obviously my parents both support and are very great about supporting my sister and I in whatever it is we wanted to do but also he’s been in the wrestling business for a long time and he sees what it does to you and to your body and the unstable nature of it sometimes. I think he realized there was no way to talk me out of it and after a few weeks or months of trying he finally realized that wasn’t going to work.”
Reflecting on Kurt Angle leaving TNA and what role did Angle play in Garett’s early TNA career:
“He is such a good guy and his mission is to help guys like me and the young guys coming up. He is intense. When you are in the ring with Kurt Angle you know you are in the ring with Kurt Angle and you are not going to forget it for a few days afterwards. But it’s so much fun because his only goal in the match is to make sure that he is helping you learn and hone your craft and he is a phenomenal teacher. He loves to do it and has a passion for it and like I said I can’t say enough good things about Kurt Angle and every time I see him I tell him thank you.”
Feelings on being put with a startup faction like Aces & Eights instead of establishing his own character:
“I think my exact words were HELL YEAH. I saw the writing on the wall and saw how people were reacting to it and was like absolutely. It was a cool, edgy and something that nobody had seen really since the nWo and D-Generation X and so it was not brand new with the idea but what we were doing with the physicality of it was. Nobody had seen it in a long time. Nobody had seen this edginess and raw just nastiness since D-Generation X and the nWo and it hadn’t been done again and in a sense it was fresh. It was a lot of fun and there was a real heat with that group that hadn’t been seen in wrestling anywhere to be honest with you in a long time and we actually had people throwing stuff in the ring at us in Europe again and nobody had done that since the nWo. With the ring literally being trashed by the time we left.”
When the masks started to come off each member, did that change the dynamic of the group:
“They had to. You can’t do that forever. Everyone had to be unveiled because that was part of the hype. So yeah it changed but I don’t think it was a bad thing. Once we figured it out you can only dangle the carrot in front of people for so long before they say I’m going to find another carrot. I think that timing was right and the way we were doing things like coming through the crowd and all of that stuff it’s so subtle but it’s the same thing, nobody had seen it in forever. The backstage stuff we were doing and the taking people hostage was just a lot of fun. I think it ended too soon and there could have been a lot more we could have done with that. But my job was to show up and do what they asked me to do and that is what I did.”
Was the group that ended up being used on TV always the ideal personnel for Aces & Eights:
“They knew what they were doing with it and who they wanted to go with it. There may have been a little bit of questioning for a little while on a few people but for the most part it had nothing to do with anything other than who was going to be the right fit. They had a good idea of who they wanted but I do know that part of the one thing they wanted to make sure that did not happen was not to grow it too fast meaning too many people too fast and I think that was good and that helped us out a lot.”
Bully Ray being revealed as the leader and stepping up his game as the top heel:
“I think it was a great fit. He portrayed that character extremely well and he is another very intense individual when he is out there. I think it was a great fit and I love working with Bully. He knows how to do his job to the best of anybody’s ability and it was fantastic and he knows how to make people hate him and that is what we needed and that is what he did.”
What is the benchmark moment for the Aces & Eights faction:
“When Bully ended up with the belt in Europe and all that trash was coming in the ring and there wasn’t a soul in that building that wasn’t booing or M-F’ing us and just that passion and that feeling that you get is something I can’t describe. All I can say is it was one of the coolest things I’ve ever felt.”
What was the story behind his TNA departure following what was his last night on IMPACT in November 2013:
“At that time I didn’t know that that was my last time I’d step foot on a TNA stage. I had no idea that was going to be it. My actual contract or actual departure didn’t take place until a little more than a year after that. But it is what it is. That is how the wrestling business is. One minute you are going 150 MPH and the next minute you are not. I say thank you to everyone that was a part of helping me out there and I had a great time while I was there and now it’s on to the next phase of my life.”
“I don’t hold a grudge and I’m not bitter, I don’t have time for it. It is what it is and business is business and things will work themselves out however they need to in the future.”
Garett also talks growing up around WCW in its hottest period, working with wrestlers he idolized as a kid, becoming a referee, training, His Time with TNA and his working now as a Firearms Education Liaison.