Nick Aldis on NWA, marrying Mickie James, why he didn't sign with WWE, leaving TNA, NWA Powerrr

I've been underrated and overrated my entire career it's the dumbest thing in wrestling right like literally every year of my career there's a bunch of people that say he's criminally underrated and then there was something he's so overrated oh you think you like him you like it what don't like you but that's it well thank you for bringing this with you no problem I understand that that's the that's part of the part of the Act that's what people want to see but that I mean well they want to see you as well yes but you've had this for so long yeah that you guys are you know merged here yeah yeah just having this conversation with someone downstairs is just you reached that point where you're you know if when part you're actually so if you're known as being the world champion you know and it's really like that's it's good but it's also you know more pressure because then it's kind of like alright what what about when you're not you know yeah I always felt like that about Bret Hart like he was my hero and it's like but you know even when he wasn't the champion it was kind of like you feel like well that's he's the champion you know that's how I always felt about Bret you know well I think with this new era of NWA like you are synonymous with this championship yeah yeah and that's you know that that's what you that's that's what should be there that should be the goal I feel like of everyone in their promotion they should want to be the franchise player of that promotion ya know because then it's like you've you've done your you've done what you you've done everything you can do now as an individual yeah so now you're gonna try to lift the rest of the the business and the brand and everybody around you and it's like man last night the the the pay-per-view with we you know close the show with the finals of the TV title tournament with Rickie Starks and Trevor Murdoch and it's like those two guys who we knew because of the work that they've all done and everyone and everyone on the team has done and the way the audience responded to those two guys we knew that that that final they could carry it right you know even after being out there two more times yeah and that's and yeah it all started with this you know it all started here and that's that's a cool feeling very gratifying so Billy Corgan bought the NWA in 2017 yeah at what point did you start getting involved in conversation quite quite early on I mean summer of 2017 I was yeah because Mickey and I were in the process of house hunting or moving house I I forget one or the other but we were we were I remember we were in a hotel because we were looking for somewhere new to live and not not like but just for the weekend we had so gone there just while we were doing the last bit of stuff and Dave called me and Dave Logano and just kind of said what's going on with you you know what are you doing you know cuz I mean I but I just like falling off the face of the earth and wrestling you know just but let there because everyone just assumed that I would go to w/e like after I finished up with TNA yeah that didn't happen and and it was like I did some stuff with Jeff with you know global force and you know and like whatever and that kind of fizzled out and I was just you know bouncing around like on the independence me and Mickey both were and it was like then she she got the you know she got the opportunity to go back and she did the NXT match with Oscar it crushed it Vince is like bringing it back full time you know then we kind of go oh what changes everything yes sir so yeah and then and Dave was I think he was you know he was sort of in the same position as a lot of people where they was going you quit the business what are you doing you know like why like why are you not in WWE and like were like what why what else are you doing you know it what's the deal and I I just very candidly told him that for whatever reason there seems to be some sort of problem with Debbie w/e and I just didn't really fit in anywhere else you know like there was this this sort of knew like this this new style had like taken such a hold on everything like this you know celebrating this very sort of high-impact fast-paced you know kind of high spot style and there's nothing wrong with that but it was kind of like you know you could that was where everybody was leaning that way so of course nobody was really thinking oh this have a guy like that and so it was just one of those things you know you have hot and cold periods and I just was you know I was cold and I and I just went I don't know like I said there's just nothing really there's nothing's grabbing me yeah you know there's nothing that's time and if I don't have passion for it like I I can't commit you know and it's and then he basically said Billy bought the end of yeah I said yeah I know I remember seeing the headline and thinking huh I was the thing that most surprised me about it was the fact that I had kept sort of half an eye on on all the the drama with TNA with him you know with impact and like I just all I could think of was it geez like he's like just jumping right back in you know after all of that debacle right millions of dollars and you know and just sort of all the stress and everything and I thought now he's bought the NWA and I just remember thinking all right I wonder what he's gonna do with that and I didn't really give it another thought and then they've started explaining what their philosophy was and their vision for what they wanted to achieve and explained Billy's vision for you know the things he missed in wrestling because I have to explain when Billy came to impact hit literally his first day on the job was my last day so we so we kind of you know hey how you're doing introduced so we helped produce this one last thing I was in and then it was kind of like all right bye Wow so there was so it was like say then this very very brief sort of professional interaction and you know it's a I describe to Dave what I felt was missing in the industry what I wanted to see more of in the industry and the stuff that grabbed me as a fan and I basically said look I'm a boxing fan but I'm not boxing aficionado I love boxing but I'm not gonna I can't I'm not gonna watch to Gibran's fight for no reason like I need to be invested right so it's like Canelo triple G was that year like you know obviously Mayweather McGregor and they've just done a fabulous job like they you know a once-in-a-lifetime type of thing and I go what happened to the price fight feel yeah you know what happened to the price fight approach to promoting you know I was like Vince McMahon was the greatest promoter of all time but now he's like an executive producer of this giant sort of Nickelodeon wrestling and that's nothing against them like they're an incredible business model but the the promoter element has kind of gone yeah you know what I mean like there isn't that kind of this is the match like it's like there's another pay-per-view two weeks from now you know and it's it's it's too much like everything's just kind of it's a machine and and that's and again I can't say I would do anything differently because they are making money hand over fist sure but it left to me a gap in the market for okay so they're kind of doing their thing of like McDonald's you know I mean like they're gonna be in every corner of the globe and everyone gonna you're gonna know what you're getting you know what I mean it's like it's reliable it's there it's the brand and then you've got like this you know new Japan and and and then you know the fledgling sort of promotions and then those Ring of Honor at the time and they're kind of offering that that that mmm hipster wrestling you know like where it's kind of like the cool kid you know the cool kids wrestling and I went that I think there's a bunch of people that miss like the classic like irresistible force immovable object here's the showdown who's gonna win like and who's gonna be the world champion the world champion and we just like I got off the phone with Dave and he goes I well let me you know me let me talk to Billy and Billy called me two minutes later and was just like just gushing about like dick the bruiser and the crusher and my guys you know I wanted I want I want like I want I want a bunch of big raw bone men and I want like this and I want that and I want like this I want to have this feeling I want atmosphere and as an acid right you speak in my language this yeah you know we can we can absolutely do that and between us all we we know we formed what eventually became the ten pounds of gold series because it was like well what can we do now we don't have a ring we don't have a roster we don't have a I think we have a brand we have like you know you bought this you bought this intellectual property yeah and you have me you know and we have Tim storm and it was like we happen to what a gem you know like we just I remember Dave saying to be Curt champions this guy called Tim storm and he's like you know ya ain't Ricky Steamboat but just let me know what you know I mean he's like just there's something about this guy right and they show and they show me this interview they did with Tim in the classroom can you teach him yeah and I just went like that because the promoter in me like that's how I look at everything right like I look at an opponent I don't I don't look at somebody and think like oh yeah he's good like I immediately think like can I make money with him you know because that's how I was taught like that's like the guys that I sat under the learning tree are like Kevin Nash and sting and you know Mick Foley and kerlick they said you know just can you make money with someone right you know and I just I remember just looking and thinking immediately I just like the whole story is just right there like here's this honest-to-goodness like you know Texas good old boy he's a school teacher he's like the most likable human you could ever meet he's just you know and but he's also a big imposing raw-boned man you know like a real red-blooded male right and then you've got this guy in his early thirties you know he's had lots of opportunities he's you know he's he's he's a lot in a lot of people's eyes is this sort of typical example of like you know the the blue-chip were a pro-wrestler you know like this you know and it's like and I've got I've got a little bit of a chip on my shoulder based on the sort of you know the trajectory of my career over the last couple years and he's just like hey man this is my mountaintop like this is you know and it was just there was and there's me basically declaring like I'm coming for that you know and it's this kind of like oh wait no don't take it from him you know and it just it spawned everything because people just kind of went you've seen this like we felt every day we would feel just a little bit more just industry people and advancing 10 pounds of God things country you know that caught me off guard it was interesting you know and it's yeah I'm so proud of those like you know go back and this is this is interesting because we I basically had a bunch of bookings I had a bunch of independent bookings you know set so when when we kind of said okay we sort of roughly laid out like what we were going to do I just said well look I have i've got all these bookings already in place because i'd started doing some stuff with with Tommy Dreamer for house of hardcore and and Tommy deserve some credit actually because right around the same time he had the same conversation with me where he went like why the hell is nobody tapping into you like what a Reese you know I mean he's kind of going like what the hell like why are you just sitting on the shelf right like and and he was like can you come and do some stuff a house of hardcore he's like you know and I went and found James who did ma he's original villian vignettes and I sat down with him and I made some we did some interviews despotism villain be where I just where I just candidly spoke about like I don't fit in anywhere you know and then I went and I said you know I've been I've been underrated and overrated my entire career it's the dumbest thing in wrestling right like literally every year of my career there's a bunch of people that say he's criminally underrated and then they'll be something he's so overrated oh you think you like him you like it what don't like you but that's it but like I were and I've just I did this did this promo with with James and I went fitting in is overrated mmm-hmm and it became like this little thing and we were playing those vignettes on House of hardcore and it like that became that coincided with the NWA stuff so then like we sort of married the two and and that really just that was like the whole thing and then I said look we've got an opportunity here organically to recreate the traveling champion thing because I've got these bookings in Australia I've got these bookings here I've got the you know all over the country and the and in Europe and so we were able to within the space of one year you know defended the title on four different continents and it was like and then and then but by then it was you could just feel everybody kind of going that's cool you know retro cool and was the were you getting booked or was the championship getting well originally I was these were existing bookings right so basically what happened was the the ten pounds of gold series started coming out you know and after about three or four episodes feels like hey this is pretty cool like and so then when I won the championship we did that they did the surprise thing at czw and everything all of these promoters that I was booked for I had bookings through like the next or five or six months and they all within the space of like 48 hours wait hey can we make us an NWA championship match now like this so cool you know like he would Dave you know would he come and film like we know can we can we be part of like the ten pounds of God Susan Boyle bar so we started sort of making these deals with his we're basically like hey you know if you cover the expenses for Dave to come along and you know and we bootstrapped it like Dave Dave and I have traveled all over the world together let you know it's like I wrestled in this in a building in Belfast it was like below freezing you know we were like when you know to China Australia like all over the place and he's been with me like with his camera you know getting all this stuff and making these pieces and just we've you know just just in real time and then you know obviously as time progressed we caught the attention of Cody and we just used everything as like okay what what can help the overall growth of the NWA and and in turn me and I think that all-in was a really big platform 100% oh that was an incredible match with you and Cody but that was a great platform for the ship it became the the the sort of the the punctuation point of this that first year because it was like to be able to look back and think by you know we Swedes literally started doing the ten pounds of gold stuff around September of seventeen and then September 18 it's like 10,000 bit and I and if you can go back and find I figure I don't wear I don't know which episode there's one of the very early ones where I said I'm visualizing defending this in a full arena in a sold-out bill that you have to it's the only way to do it you have to you have to believe and I'm not about like spiritual you know my mumbo-jumbo I mean like you've got to have a hundred percent conviction and the courage enough to speak it and put it out there into the energy to say I'm gonna take this from from you know where it was - I'm gonna you know I'm gonna make this feel like the real world championship again and you know so - then get to code you know and like you know that noise you know for fans I understand that the finish is it was the moment you know for them but for me the the opening bell was the moment that was my win you know the rest of us were all crying at the end sure because that the you know at the beginning Earl does the instructions rings the bell and the whole place just stands you know and just starts rambling and it's like you can't you can't you can't force that you can't you know create it it just has to happen and we and it's like that was the big win for me as that as the protagonist ya antagonist sorry yes I'm the protagonist in the in the 10 pounds of most as I'm in the 10 miles ago 13 that was the anti you mentioned it earlier why didn't things work out with Deb UWA I don't know I honestly it's like your wife works there it seems like yeah that that's that's almost like that's almost kind more of a problem ah like because then you then you're then I'm I'm looking at it then thinking well is this you know is this a favor is this you know and or it or then it just becomes oh well that's just an extra you know complication we don't want to have to worry about the the reality is Chris that there's somebody there who is very very successful who you know for whatever reason decided that he didn't wanna have anything to do with me you know because of some of his actions on a personal level and I just you know it's one of those weird things they can't like this there's no way to address it and I just I you know and I had I've had conversations with him over the years and I just and I honestly I just got to a point where I just went I'm done chasing that dragon you know like yes ultimately what's my vision here and that is it to be in the WWE or is it to be a big time pro wrestler because you don't you know yeah there's one way obviously provides a much quicker path to the other but it's not the only path yeah and that one person is probably not going anywhere in WWE so you've created a much better thing here on your own sure and you know and what I realized was well if if that's the case and of course no one will confirm or deny right like ever I don't know but it'll speculate there sure sure sure but here's the thing if that if that is the case then what would happen if I did go you know like it wouldn't it wouldn't make any difference even if I did go because it would clearly it wouldn't be it would still be problematic so it's just like I cool like yeah I'll go I'll go over here and make a big deal you know make a big deal something else when when you were kind of in that limbo period before everything happened with NWA what was the plan I well like I said I had started talking to James about you know doing some because it because my admite was a bit inspiration you know I mean because for so many years you know he he had been sort of struggling and toiling and right and trying to get you know trying to get something to work for himself it's also the overrated underrated go yeah yeah yeah hundred percent and and then suddenly you know the villain hits and it's like and he's off to the races and it's like bullet Club and you know and he's like he's the hot pot property right and so there was you know there was some so very very early kind of talk to the Ring of Honor and like different that you know but it was like I oh I knew that I had to find like I needed to I needed a reinvention you know I mean I needed to sort of reestablish it was because everyone's memory was just this product of TNA yeah you know like they had never really seen Nick oldest you know they had scenes they seemed back the entire part my entirety a career is a struggle of me trying to for me trying to do me and whoever it was in charge at the time trying to trying to say no you're this guy this is what you are you know and so I always find somewhere in the middle and it didn't work you know and it's like even was the world champion it was just like you know and then like once I suddenly went oh I can do what I want I can now I can okay cool like you can shape the character yeah like that that's why I tell young guys now like it's progressed just in the span of my career it's progressed from you used to send send it for my picture you know but email then it was like then you had to send a promo picture and a link to a huge you know maybe a youtube link or or a video of a match now you like now you got to produce vignettes see if you're gonna stand out you know if you're gonna get booked and you know you know make it make an impression like now you've got to like produce you know you've got to like be a producer and directors like Ricky Starks perfect example I happened to see somebody retweet you know like his his 1-800 Starks line yeah yes I just I just took one look and went send it straight to David million went I don't know if this guy I don't know anything about this guy but I can I can make a pretty safe bet that if he's willing to invest that much himself he's good so you know or the guy that put rookie Starks in there yes oh wow absolutely so I sold I happen to came across the vignette on Twitter and when that guy's money but this is the world we live in now there's no there's no gatekeepers anymore you know we don't have to have a vignette produced by NWA or impact or w/e you can go out with your phone yes and some decent editing songs and do what Ricky's doing yeah oh and you know we're independent contractors which you know it can be we can we can discuss the merits or drawbacks of that till the cows come home but the one thing you have to say is that you you are an entrepreneur right and and if you're an entrepreneur you you don't have to be good at everything right like I'm I'm not good editor you know I but I have I am a good producer I can see in my mind's eye what I want something to look and feel like so I don't have the technical skills maybe but I'll just find someone who does right and then double down on your strengths which makes perfect sense right right and it's just like you know just just you need a team you know it's all of this you know the the power you know the success we've had it's a team it's all it's all its understanding like this is these are strengths these weaknesses like you know this is this will set him off this will won't set him off you know another kind of thing is understanding personalities too and it's navigating the whole thing I always say that I think the reason why for the most part our booking or creative whatever we will call it is consistent and solid is because there's like a three-headed monster here it's there's Billy who's very creative and very artistic with you know very sort of out of the box I mean look at you know look at his life and career it's like you know that's his but that's his that's his world right and then there's Dave who's very television oriented very and very much on like new media very very on the pulse of like what what needs to what what certain things need to be covered in order to get eyeballs on it and get attention and and obviously his own writing and creative background and he kind of leans a little bit more towards like stick you know and slaps they're kind of funny kind of stuff a little bit and then there's me with the very with the very serious like wrestling you know booking 101 and a very like prizefight approach promoting sort of style much so those three influences sort of shape that overall variety of the show does that mean you have a job like a behind the scenes not not officially okay you know like it's there's there I'm not officially you know but they're being Luke because we're a we're a small team you know where's that but but obviously considering the fact that the entire thing was sort of based off of a show about me like obviously I'm kind of involved in the process and then when it comes to this stuff it's like you know it's it's just a it's a it's just a discussion and I'm not the only one you know but I'm obviously I'm trusted because you know because of my position of I'm all in yeah what parts of Magnus did you have to drop to become Nick Aldous I don't I don't know really I don't think it was a case of dropping stuff I think it was a case of allowing the rest of my stuff in because I felt like there was the you know there was and I loved it some of us just experienced who it's just being green but it's all it was like learning to relax knowing but I think I'd I don't know I just think that for me to thrive and succeed I needed to be authentic right I needed to I needed to feel like it was me talking because I feel like my own personality is so sort of strong that it influences anything I would do but I just always felt like well I'm I'm not me I'm playing upon I'm playing someone else you know what I mean and it just didn't and I think that that you you know you when I you back and look at it it's like I just I just I just a guy who just is you know in black and white you know he's not for he's not fully in color yet that's not there's that it's because he's because he's just trying to he's trying to stay within all these boxes and parameters and stuff and I once I just kind of went well just just do me you know let's just see what happens right what was it exactly that didn't work out the first time in TNA well why did you leave well the reality is is that you know when you get to that point you know in a business in the company the you know you're if you're a top talent you have to have a good you have to have a good relationship with the office with with with the boss sure and my relationship with Jonker Berg just unfortunately deteriorated you know I mean it just it just was like I just it was just an unfortunate set of circumstances I they decided to sort of take a punt right with me almost at the same time that AJ was leaving and they couldn't get the deal done and they you know and and that was at the time just felt like a huge loss you know it felt and it felt like a real sort of spiritual part of the NWA had kind of been ripped away I'm sorry the anybody of TNA and it then it then became I became like the poster boy for this dark period you know like and I just I could feel it instantly but I wasn't mature enough to know how to deal with that right so I instead of instead of kind of being like alright what should we do like how do we do this I just started kind of blaming everyone and you know and so I take I take full ownership of the deterioration of the relationship because I didn't know how because I was put in this really difficult position with no with no experience of how to deal with that and no one to help and I'll tell you the other thing I at the time it was like I just remember certain top talents I remember seeing for the first time like oh here's what time it is because suddenly all these guys who you know two years ago or a year ago had been like helping me out with this and that or giving it suddenly suddenly they're all just kind of like oh hey you know like like no and and then you know and then I would hear him around the corner like you know I don't think like wow here's what time it is you know and again I don't have the patience and I was too young and immature to know how to deal with that well 27 you know I was just and so I just died like I just I I was too reactive and and I just I mean this is people the all the guys were my friends in TNA at the time they could vouch for this but I was telling them when I was the champion they're like I'm out of here one of my contracts up I'm done like I'm finished has the chance to world champion and I was going I'm out of here when this when my contracts up you know I'm done I had like I basically had a note cut contract you know that like I had a basically that they could only terminate it if i breached contract so I knew I was you know mean I knew I was safe but like once I saw like I was like that all that's gonna happen here is you know the it it's just my values just gonna continue to slip so I just always I was saying then like I'm out of here like I'll just go figure something else out and unfortunately that seems to be the story with a lot of people and impact or TNA at that time just like I guess it's a management thing I don't know you know I he he came in and you know managed to get the position somehow and then when he left he just went right back to double w so what does that tell you I don't I don't know like it's who knows man I just I just remembered it was just the it was such a mess there by then it would just become the the the energy was all wrong you know it just it just become really toxic but that is the place that you met Mickey sure yeah sure that's obvious that feels like a lifetime ago you know like that that TNA to the but that was the other thing about TNA it was like every year it felt like a different place because they would bring in and because it was never they wouldn't change that they would all they would do is change who the who was like in charge of creative or the sort of the the the next top person under Dixie the owner right it was always like okay now Bruce pritchards in charge that Eric Bischoff is in charge now Jonker Burke is in charge you know and is that all the other people were the same right it's like that's the problem guys like it's your it's the rest of its like the guys who aren't pulling the weight promoting the live events and it's like this guy and that you know and it was just it was it was a mixture of people who were just trying to get a payday versus and and a bunch of lifers who were just like yeah easy gig like go along to get along you know what I mean like and and and then there's the talent going like we've got a live event with Jeff Hardy and Kurt Angle on it why is the 300 people here I was such a you know my na fan no I get it like that roster yeah the roster the TNA roster in like 20 2012 2500 jo sting Hulk Hogan AJ Styles like the current like oh my god like you you know you just Bobby Roode you can't you can't head without finding like a top level talent you know yeah yeah well what was the what was the moment when you and Mickey obviously you met backstage I'm guessing but when was the moment where you went she's pretty cool not to like you know I get too personal and mushy here but obviously I knew who she was and I'd seen her on TV and everything and and obviously identified like oh yeah you know and but then when I when I saw her in person it was just totally different you know it was I just it was like I was sick man she walked past the night and I just I'm just kind of forgot what the hell I was doing you know I mean and Doug Williams was sat with me and he was just like put your tongue back in your mouth and just fortunately it was just one of those chemistry things like then because then she kind of noticed me and so this is a funny story I was I had to go do some promo pictures at TNA and the way it was set up then was like Lee South would do the photos and they would he would be in the in the back end of the the impact zone so you'd have to walk through the through the impact zone to get to the thing and so I put my trunks on but like pretty much just just had like my trunks on and like my like running shoes because it was just gonna be like waist up shots right so uh and like I walk so they're all in there it's early in the day so and then Mickey and Lisa were in the ring like with Al Snow kind of like going over some of their stuff and I walked I was like walking around the ring and I just you know Mickey's not subtle like she's loud you know and she just I just heard her I get she you know I get sort of to the point where she obviously thought I was out of earshot and she goes I'm a-looking and I'm a lagging and I just like stop didn't tear like and I remember it she obviously did then she was like oh oh my god you know but I my favorite was just like all snow because al was just like yeah this is like oh my god oh and then at the end of it now you know and it was kind of like after that it was just kind of like a so uh you know I love that you bring your son with you yeah I saw you at a big event in New York yeah and some was with you there he's with you here today yeah does he come with you all the time not all the time you know but he comes to the he comes to these tapings you know for now he's come to every single one and it was we're some of the guys were talking to me about it and they they said it almost feel weird if he wasn't here now you know like as soon as I got it like everyone says it's Donovan here you know yeah he's here he's here you know you hear him before so you're starting you know 100% you know story of my life but like he he's um I I just I look at it as like people ask us all the time obviously I she's gonna be in getting the business I mean who the hell knows he's five you know what I mean but III just think of it as I like him being around he's thirsty vol he's happy he likes it here so that's the most important thing right like if he was miserable like I wouldn't drag him to this I would just get the nanny but he likes coming they obviously obviously they've got the folks at GPB are phenomenal as such a great partner for us and you know the company again given my sort of position you know they make some nice concessions from his er and one of them is that you know we have a nice little room set up for him and you know because they understand that because of Mickey's you know they aren't Dave's work for WWE right so he understands that it's like it ain't as easy to just drag him to that is he so he's not as welcome at WWE not welcome I don't know I don't I want to make that clear he's been and like from what I've heard like Stephanie's great with him and you know like he's been on this he goes running down the ramp in he's on the set you know and all that stuff but you know it's not as easy to you can't do all the time right like it's okay it would be a it would become a thing right so fun just to travel you know it's like that they're going all over the place so with here it's like but he's I just I like the idea of for now he's getting to be around this energy because the energy here is great or you've been here for a day now like you see it and you feel it it's like the energy here is so positive and so like just just it's just fostering this like this mentality of like it can be done like let's go out there and crush it yeah and I I've I mean one 100% this is the most passion I've ever had for the business and I'm 15 years in so whether he decides he wants to be a wrestler one day or not whether he decides he wants to be a botanist you know I mean it's like I like the idea that he just gets to be around me at my most passionate and engaged so that he can understand yeah that's you know that's what being a professional is like that's like I just think that I just I'm a big believer that your environment really sort of helps you out in that in that regard for the rest of your life which is why I would think that in ten years he'll start to be like dad I want to do what you're doing maybe maybe or he could go the complete opposite way and be like well yeah well look my father was a was a rugby player but he was also a very well regarded plant breeder like plant breeding science that's why you said botanist yeah right but like I you know my dad used to take me to work with me because I used to love oh cool like big like combine harvesters and tractors and this and that but he was he was like the boss you know he was sitting there he was in an office most of the time but he would go out in the field with the guys and you know because he loved like because basically his his his specialty was barley breeding so obviously there's a big you know very big commercial implications for that you know so he would say he'd be sought after he'd have to go to Australia for you know and this and they'd total Ike it's basically figure out like when to plant and like what you know what soil and all this kind of stuff right yeah but I became a pro wrestler yeah it wasn't like you know it's all right it's just what ever speaks to you but I but obviously I felt like I was I was brought up in a good environment you know to sort of foster the the idea that like you know approach things with with professionalism and with you you know you you know engage your brain and really I think about it and get involved and get stuck in and I ever when I told my dad I wanted to be a wrestler like my mom was like what though please don't do that you know what my dad was just like all right do it but just approach it professionally approach it like a professional right when you talk to your family back home do they think you've lost your accent yeah yes you still sound they don't talk about it but they say I get it from fans all the time like what happened to you accident oh sorry I've been here for majority of my adult life like you still sound very British - yeah most of us I think they don't live in the UK well and Donovan's probably going to end up with the same accent you know you think well because he's but when your kid you know you just repeat what you hear so he's gonna so I know I still say certain things with a British accent but then there are certain things I say with an American accent I know they have like an American inflection because I've been here so long it's do you just get used to the ebb and flow of conversation as you get oh I'm a very conversation oriented but I love it I'm very vocal you know I mean I'm a very verbal you know in my energy so it's like has he started school yet no cuz that's where he'll he did where so he was in pre-k he's a September birthday okay so he'll be the oldest kid yeah so it was kind of one of those things where we went do we want him to be the youngest in his class or the oldest and we said doesn't be the oldest and it also meant that for a year it's like he still goes to I still he still goes to different daycare stuff and things to you know to help sort of nurture him and you know obviously keep him stimulated and make sure he's up today on stuff and I do a lot with him like we do a PC Mouse and he has his like phonics books and stuff with him today but yeah we just we just say like well yeah for a year let's let him sort of just be around this stuff like this and no no like get some you know cool life experiences that you can't because once he's in school it's like he's going to be in school you know so we just sweet just what made that decision that let's let's go a hippie it for a year he might have like a Tennessee accent if she's going to school in Tennessee who the hell knows is there someone that you'd like you to challenge for this belt is there someone that you would can't wait to have a match with there are several honestly I mean I know that I've said this before I always I've always felt like to me like the ultimate sort of culmination of this this journey and and you know given this sort of historical context of Oliver and stuff would be Triple H sure stockade you know what I mean like here's a guy who clearly especially if you go back and look at his stuff in the early 2000s clearly was trying to replicate the the feel and the and the presence in the aura of Harley Race and Ric Flair and you know Dory funk jr. and Jack Brisco and guys like that and he achieved it very well for a while you know he's he's reinvented himself several times he's had different incarnations of his persona but that period it was like you could tell he was like this is what I wanted to be my whole life he wanted you know and he had Flair with him you know evolution yeah and so I've heard through the grapevine that he has a replica of the ten pounds of gold you know in a case in his office I don't know if that's true or not I've heard that and it's like clearly he holds the the you know holds this in high esteem and you know and again I I know that it might seem that there's this sort of weird like bitterness or energy between you know negativity with me and WB I have nothing but love for those guys right like they and and and they and they have been very good to us actually like that you know we have we there's quite a there's quite a steady communication between the NWA and WWE oh like you know about various different things and it's like and it's very kind of was ever and again like like I said we're not if I go to stuff you know with Mickey or whatever so everybody there is cool everyone and everyone's watching the stuff you know like Chris I mean man like just you you know when things are going good when when guys who like edge are happy to say it publicly you know what I mean because he said some night very nice things to me privately but publicly he's endorsed the show so it's kind of like that means that he's not only enjoying the show enough that he wants to help think but it's also that he he feels that the opinion is safe enough where people aren't gonna go terrible you know right right you know and and that's you know that's a real thing and I know that he's I'm not suggesting that he really cares that much about like getting you know trolled whatever but it's like but I understand the mentality of it it's like it's kind of he's you know he kind of he kind of knew if he puts in there he's not gonna get any you know gonna get any blowback for that okay so and and like that and that's when that's where we know we've hit the sweet spot I always joke that I've I'm one of the only only person who's been able to unite the opinions of Jim Cornette Vince Russo Eric Bischoff you know because they I mean they all philosophically like completely disagree Meltzer you know Wade Keller like it but they all like the show they all and the you know and they're and they're all digging what I'm doing so it's like that's you know again you take everyone's opinion with a pinch of salt but if you know if you're able to unite all these different schools of thought then that's what we're looking to do I really wonder if this match with Triple H could happen why couldn't it only it the only reason April didn't think me and Cody could happen so Cody's in Ring of Honor but he's a well that doesn't work you know niyama either was like well how is that gonna work you know like of course it can happen I think the only reason it couldn't happen is because WWE doesn't have these kinds of agreements with other companies that's the only real thing it doesn't need it doesn't really need to be this it's not like they have to work out some sort of long-term huge sort of set in stone agreement it's just it's makeup fight you know what happened here in NWA or what had happened in WWE I see for me I always envisioned that it would be stockade if we were they own stockade there's no IP or whatever and it's like you know I've seen the last couple and kind of thought that ain't Starrcade yeah now with like this right and say they did like what what what what about what makes this what is them how is this Starrcade well it's just you know aim of a night paper right how is this there's not even a pay-per-view they do have maybe these last night and I said like how is this stark hate you know like I don't know no again I'm not you know whatever right like they were there they're free to do whatever they want with it but it's like do you not think there's that there's an opportunity there to make it really cool and special you know I don't know we're putting it out under the ether now I've said it before in under the world yeah probably having the opposite effect okay I should have pointed this out at the start of the end everybody look I'm a normal sized human and look how yeah yeah you're pretty Jay thank you I've have worked out a few times before but look at the size of like you're just so significantly wider than me yeah yes I like you know one of the funny things that I've seen a lot of feedback recently and again I think it just it's just based on what the what the majority of the sort of fair is in wrestling now as far as sort of performers is like a lot of will just they see that they like the fact that like hey just like him it was like big and me never very different build than you had when you were in TNS Shore and or this is like this is the old school a wrestler yeah yeah yeah like if if you told me if I watch the clip of your match and said oh that was from 1983 I'd go right right and it's like don't get me wrong I love bodybuilding and I love lifting weights and I like but at the same time I'm also a point in my life where I'm kind of going I don't care if I have abs I don't want like if they're they're great if they're not great what's that for like you'd rather eat I'd rather rather beaten right I'd rather enjoy my life and you know enjoy things in moderation and just be you know and like Everett don't get me wrong every now and then I might kind of go a little soft you know we might have to tighten things up for a little for a few weeks right but it's I've always I've been through phase it with tiene you know I went through phases where I would be like okay I'm gonna get really ripped you know and then I would get I would get really ripped and lean and then I would look and it just you didn't come across on TV you know it's like because big look works better on TV right like this is it you know you I just wanted to have sort of all I want is like some you know full I like fullness is the best way to describe it like good like fullness like rounded musculature right what are you way as you sit here right 250 oh my god and what size suit is this it's custom made specially tailored for Nick Cage all this see that's embroidered on the inside oh my suits are custom too but I put ridiculous phrases on the inside didn't we did we try to do something in Miami yes yeah as well so so Miami that that's actually the guy there's a there's a guy in Miami Nazir oh yeah he he's making my he's making my stuff now he's I'll show you the jacket downstairs this place oh it's amazing like he reached out to me based on he'd seen the show and was like the ever I have a red I have a red suit like a red sort of plaid suit and rocked it one day on one of the episodes of power and he messaged me on Instagram and was like this is a killer look he's like I'm a tailor like we have this same fabric actually like that's what caught my eye and bobbin and he was like I want to make you know I'd love to make you a suit like and I sent him all my measurements and like we did we I wear I took some pictures just wearing like a loose fitting shirt and everything like his request I mean this this suit came and I kept thinking to myself how good is it really gonna be like having not met this going personalism and I swear to god this thing just like fell on you no I mean it just it just was like we were magic you know and I just went wow like and he's yeah he's fantastic I could never go back to a suit off the rack now custom suits can't do it they completely change everything yeah I want to thank you for making the time to do this oh thank you I think we've been talking about this for exactly one year yeah yeah I interviewed Mickey at the Royal Rumble bus right yeah that's right and then you know yeah and then you and then she she text me and said hey Chris Van Vliet wants to I said great cool yeah like cuz I'd seen that you were starting to build some momentum and get some you know and building some great numbers and I was like cool that would be great you know like we really would really help us out you know cuz weed but I'd been doing like Sam Roberts and busted open have been great to us and also know if you were the few other goods big players in the innit wrestling media I was like this guy's this guy's getting hot like that'd be great and they were there and then we just couldn't kept sort of missing each other and not being at me yeah it was just like we were never in the same place at the same time to make it happen except when I saw you in New York I'm like okay we're gonna make this happen yeah that was like two months ago I saw you at the big event and I had and I had to in and out yeah you were walking by you like we're gonna do an interview sometime like I know I had see I had Donovan with that day because because I had been I had flown I had been in England I had to and that's why he was with me because we'd been in England and this the way that it had worked it I had I basically that that kind of books kind of last minute and so I already had these other travel plans so I was went okay I can do it but you'll have to have to come straight from England they don't have to have Donovan with me and then I know ideally I'd like to fly out that night you know so I can get home because I've been gone for like two weeks at that point yeah and so yeah that's why he was with me the the the line that you had though for photos and autographs was huge today yeah and I imagine that ever since power started you've started to see that ramped up there was yeah the the the metrics are quite quite obvious yeah like the the you know I used to notice how long Marty's line was you know a different stuff right and I would think like man that's you know that's that's really impressive like you know and I don't mind it'd be okay you know it would be the same as everyone else's like you know a few deep and then at the big event it was like that Miam I had the longest lines yeah I was like yes yeah you know yeah I did I signed solid for three hours solid I cadine noted no stops yeah before we wrap it up can I can I hold this solutely what oh my goodness that feels like it weighs about 10 pounds I think it's more than 10 pounds I think it's the I think the I think the maybe the metal is 10 pounds you know then the leather adds some more but this is incredible it's I'll tell you what from from day one with this country so great I know they need it we need a we need a UK plate on there the you know I had I had the TNA World Championship you know and obviously like when I would go back to England let my niece and nephew and stuff would be like oh cool the belt you know whatever but this one is the only belt I've ever had the adults I like do you have the belt with you can I you know like like guys in the dressing room you know like you know because because it's yeah it's it's an iconic thing like that's an asset like we know we joke about like that's the asset like one of the main assets of the company and somehow I'm holding it right now but I will give it back to your very safe and capable hands and I just want to thank you so much for your time I'd no thank you I appreciate you and you know keep doing what you're doing it's been such amazing so amazing to watch this grow we just can't start well there you go that's interview number one of six that I did here in Atlanta for NWA I was here for hard times and also for one of the tapings for power and let me tell you if you can get down here to Atlanta if you live in the area or if you want to travel here it's well worth it to check out what NWA has going on the intimate studio setting oh so cool and how cool is NIC all this I feel like we could have talked for like seven hours but he had to obviously get to work and couldn't just hang out with me the whole time but what a guy what a champion I'm super excited to see what NWA has in store for 2020 and you should be excited about the interviews that I have in store from here in Atlanta and also the rest of 2020 also I have my hood on because number one I haven't stopped my hair yet and it's also 7:00 in the morning as I so this isn't so bad just a little spike eNOS it's also seven in the more as I begin my 8-hour drive back home well worth well worth the eight hour drive because one of the most requested interviews here at NWA was question mark and oh yes I did an interview with the question mark so make sure you're subscribed so you don't miss that interview or any of the other interviews that I have from here in Atlanta or any interviews in general that I have

Channel: Chris Van Vliet

Views: 130,203

Rating: 4.9439449 out of 5

Keywords: nick aldis interview, nick aldis cody rhodes, nick aldis nwa, nick aldis wrestling, magnus tna, chris van vliet, chris van vliet interview, chris van vliet podcast, nick aldis wins nwa championship, nick aldis nwa powerrr, nwa powerrr, nwa powerrr full episode, nick aldis promo, nick aldis mickie james, mickie james husband, nick aldis vs marty scurll, nick aldis theme, nick aldis finisher, nick aldis wwe, mickie james interview, Wrestling news, Ten pounds of gold

Id: U6B92CacGZo

Length: 54min 15sec (3255 seconds)

Published: Tue Jan 28 2020

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[u/EggTee]

Always nice to see a new upload of this series.

[u/Christopher_Powell]

Who is the person in WWE that has a problem with Aldis?