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#Post#: 33395--------------------------------------------------
Chat with James Storm.
DIR By: ChrissiCalvert
Date: October 23, 2015, 4:53 pm
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Can you walk us through how the conversation of you coming to
NXT began?
It came about because I’m good friends with Road Dogg and Billy
Gunn. They put it in Triple H’s ear that I was free and clear of
all contracts, to see if there’s some interest there. I actually
called Road Dogg to see if it was OK that I went up to the NXT
Nashville show not too long ago. He said, “Yeah, just try to
stay out of sight.” So, I stayed in the locker room. There were
reports that I was sitting in the front row at an NXT show, and
I didn’t deny that I was there. I just said, “I saw the reports
and I’m sorry, but that was not me sitting in the front row.”
[Laughs.]
Then, [WWE Performance Center Head Coach] Matt Bloom pulled me
aside and asked if I was available to come down that Wednesday
and Thursday to Orlando. I went down and talked to Triple H at
the NXT TakeOver: Respect special. Then the next night, he asked
if I was willing to appear, and I said yes.
A lot of people probably thought they’d never see the day when
you’d be in an NXT ring. Did you ever feel that way?
No. I was actually really good friends with Dusty Rhodes, and he
told me long ago, “You’ll know when it’s your time.” I’ve had a
couple chances to come to WWE before, but I just didn’t feel
like it was my time yet. I just had to wait for the right
timing, and I feel like this was it. I felt like I had done all
I could do, and it was my time to prove myself on a big stage.
Let’s talk about your background. You broke in at the tail end
of the Memphis territory, the USWA. What was your journey like
to get here?
It was one of those things where a lot of people in the South,
back in the day, instead of sitting around the dinner table,
they sat around TVs, watching wrestling. They’re obsessed with
it, and it was the same way with my family. My dad passed away
when I was very young, and I actually had a stepbrother who was
killed by a drunk driver. We would always go to see wrestling.
My grandpa would take me. I actually have a picture of me, when
I was 10 years old, with Dutch Mantel. I saw him not too long
ago and showed it to him, and he doesn’t look any different at
all.
My family used to go to the Nashville Fairgrounds to watch the
USWA, and guys like Steve Austin and Sting came through there.
As a kid, I got to see so many different guys. I remember
watching my grandfather get so involved with it and get so
upset, yelling at the wrestlers. Here were these guys who were
larger than life to me.
As I got older, I didn’t watch it as much, but I still did. I
was going to Austin Peay [State University], which is in
Clarksville, Tenn., to play basketball. I lost that scholarship
opportunity when I broke my shoulder training to be a pro
wrestler at the USWA Wrestling Academy by a guy named Wolfie D,
who used to be part of The Nation of Domination in WWE. I
stopped pursuing basketball because I was out for over a year
rehabbing my shoulder, a compound fracture. Then, when I got
better, I started pursuing wrestling again, started doing
independents and wrestling everywhere around the U.S.
You wrestled in WCW, too, right?
I was at a Music City Wrestling show and they had a bunch of WCW
guys who were training at the WCW Power Plant at the time, and
the scouts asked me if I wanted to come up to WCW and wrestle. I
was like, “Of course.” Me and a bunch of other guys started
doing what they called the R&B Security. It was like [Vince]
Russo and [Eric] Bischoff’s security. We did a bunch of matches
on WCW Worldwide.
What were you thinking as you walked into the NXT locker room in
Nashville that first day?
I really didn’t know what to expect because I didn’t know if
these guys were looking at me, going, “Here’s a guy coming in,
trying to take my job.” Basically, that’s what I’m doing. I’m
trying to find me a spot. I learned a long time ago that you
don’t have to worry about your spot if you’re doing your job
right. But all the guys were so cool. All of them came up to me;
a couple of them made me feel kinda old, like, “Hey, I used to
watch you 10 years ago.” [Laughs.] But nobody said a negative
word or gave me a dirty look, or anything like that. Everybody
was super-cool and actually welcoming me in with open arms.
How did it feel once you were finally out in front of the NXT
Universe?
It was unreal. It was one of those things where you actually see
me come out and I just smile for a second. It was fun again. To
me, wrestling should always be fun. If it’s not, then that’s
when you need to get out. At first, when I came out, I don’t
think the NXT crowd at Full Sail really thought that it was me
until the name flashed up on the screen, and then they
recognized the hat and it was off to the races. It was unreal
how they welcomed me to Full Sail. The NXT crowd was pretty
rowdy and loud for me.
What are your thoughts on NXT, which has graduated from a
developmental system into a standalone brand?
It’s unreal what Triple H has done. It went from FCW to NXT, and
like you said, it’s not just the little baby brother anymore.
It’s starting to be its own brand, and it just shows how much
work Triple H has put into it and how much work all the guys on
the roster have put into it. When I got in there, I looked
around the locker room and I could see a lot of guys who were
like me — hungry guys who want to be there and want to make it
better. That’s the locker room you want to be a part of.
You’ve crossed paths with some Superstars in NXT, Samoa Joe, for
example. But there is the potential for many first-time dream
matches, in NXT or WWE. Who do you want to wrestle?
I never really got into a big rivalry with Joe, so he’s actually
one of them. Also, Finn [Bálor]. Not a lot of people know that
me and him go back a long ways. We did a bunch of Japan shows
together, but we were never in the ring together. I always tease
him and say, “Hey, where’s that little kid who used to come out
to the ‘Karate Kid’ song, ‘You’re the Best Around’?”
You’ve built your own persona and brand, and have done some
acting outside the ring as well. Are there still goals you want
to achieve in wrestling?
Wrestling’s still top priority for me because I love it. I still
have a ton of years left in me and a lot to teach and show other
guys. I don’t think that I’ll ever stop loving wrestling. I
always look at myself like a young Ric Flair now; I don’t wanna
get out, but I know there will come a point when I have to get
out. Just like everybody, I got into wrestling to be the
champion. You want to be the best. And that’s what I’m here at
WWE to prove: That I am just as worthy to be in that ring as
anybody else.
The million-dollar question: When will we see you back in NXT or
even WWE?
hat’s the million-dollar question. That’s not really up to me.
My job is to go out and get myself over, as they say. And it’s
up to what we call “the suits” to make the decision of whether
to bring me back to NXT or the WWE main roster. I get so many
people all the time saying, “We want to see you and Bray Wyatt
go at it on the microphone.” I always say that you never know
what’s going to happen in wrestling. And I just take one day at
a time. That’s it, until the next surprise. Keep a lookout for
James Storm, because I will be there.
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