Alex Shelley Talks Not Renewing His TNA Contract, Which Wrestling Company Has The Best Product
Scott Fishman of The Miami Herald has an interview with Alex Shelley, who was promoting tomorrow's ROH Final Battle PPV. At the show, he will team up with KUSHIDA to face Kyle O'Reilly and Bobby Fish) for the Ring of Honor tag team championship. Below are some highlights from the interview:
Not renewing with TNA in 2012:
"It's definitely a risk. If you're passing up guaranteed money, and I was, to move somewhere else. That's scary on its own. I was at a point in my life where I was finishing up college in a few months?I had seen so many management changes in TNA. I had worked for New Japan previously.
"I was brought in 2009 as a special guest. I knew a lot of the guys just from TNA or meeting them randomly on independent shows. I met [Kazuchika] Okada in 2006 in Toronto. That definitely helped influence my decision, knowing a lot of people there and what I was getting into."
Facing reDRagon aat NJPW's Wrestle Kingdom 9 on Jan. 4 from the Tokyo Dome:
"It's interesting because I know they have the number one product in the world. I'm not saying that because I'm part of the company or contributing to it. It just is. You can't argue that. Pound-for-pound their roster is the best pro wrestlers collected currently. They have been for a while and probably will too. So in that sense the people who order the show are going to be blown away by the quality of matches and presentation as well. The Tokyo Dome show is New Japan's WrestleMania in the sense that everybody has cool costumes, flashy entrances and the set-up looks great.
"The momentum is on the company's side. Business has picked up the last couple of years. It will be a slow burn, as far as accumulation of fans. Word of mouth has been strong with fans."
Source: The Miami Herald