The only difference with wrestling is we're like a live performance. So we're feeding off the audience and if they do't like something, they can let us know immediately.
What is doing the damage is the fact that the U.K. is pulling in more imports, which shows the continued strength of the economy and the strength of sterling.
I think that Ring of Honor is a true alternative in the world of pro wrestling. Some of the best in-ring pure competition in the world you will find in Ring of Honor.
I think most importantly the reason we've been on the upswing is Ring of Honor has been very smart about the speed of its growth. ROH is not a company that says ok we're going to throw all this money in and let's just go for it. ROH has the business approach of slow but steady.
My all-time favorite match that I've ever had was against Kyle O'Reilly in 2012, the 'hybrid fighting rules match' where we were bleeding buckets all over the place. And it was really a match that took my career to the next level.
Jay Lethal doing that Black Machsimo character, as good as that was, it was fantastic and so entertaining. But now Jay Lethal has turned himself into this very formidable, dominant world champion, who is having some of the best matches in the entire world. So it's really cool.
I remember watching Ring of Honor as a fan, going to shows in Philadelphia and New York, and I loved the guys. I thought these are some of the best wrestlers in the world, if not THE best.
The cool thing is, when we first did our joint Ring Of Honour-New Japanies Wrestlers, I think that definitely existed. I think the ROH guys were like, "we can't let these New Japan guys outshine us" the new japan guys were ready to make a statement as it was this really big event in America. But the cool thing about this relationship is we've literally become a family now. A lot of us are friends with each. We obviously respect each other.
That's like the really fun, exciting thing about wrestling. There's no such thing as perfecting this art. You're constantly growing and you're constantly progressing and changing up you're style and gauging an audience to make sure that audience is enjoying what you're doing.
Los Angles to me seems to be a little bit more forgiving. They're just as rowdy and they're just as excited but they understand a [botch] happens sometimes, and they're excited to see the show and they just want to have some fun.
I'm so glad you brought that up Jay Lethal as a performer has grown into, I'll say this even though I'm wrestling him this Friday, he's one of my favorite wrestlers in the game right now. He's unreal. He's amazing in the ring. It doesn't matter who he's wresting. He's unreal on the microphone.
Being put in this situation, where it's myself, Kyle O'Reilly and a Jay Lethal, I think it's the best main event you can have right now in Ring of Honor.
We slowly work on getting more markets. We slowly work on building relationships. And over time once we gain people's trust and they see what we do and they see what we deliver each and every show, more and more people are interested in jumping on the Ring Of Honour train. I definitely think the success will continue.
I've wrestled Kyle O'Reilly all over the world. I know how good he is, our fans know how good he is. A lot of people feel he is the next guy in line to be world champion.
There's a big difference between trolling and just attacking guys to attack guys, to get under people's skin, and to genuinely express how you felt about something. Like if I go to a movie for example, and I watch a movie, and I wasn't a fan of it. I don't mind turning to my family or some buddies I'm with and saying "oh man, I really didn't like that movie." But I've never acted or directed in my life. But I'm able to voice my opinion about whether or not I enjoyed it or not.
They are definitely pros and cons to triple threat matches. The cons to them is obviously coming up wth something very original and making sure everything makes sense.
I've known Kyle O'Reilly since 2009. Me and him actually met each other when we had our very first match against each other for Gabe Sapolsyky's DragonGate USA show. Me and Kyle went in there and we had a match that kind of made waves throughout the independent scene as far as us getting our names out there. We both got signed to Ring of Honor at the exact same time.