Rhett Titus On Why He Hated Training Under Daniel Bryan, If He Would Want Bryan To Return To ROH
"The Big Dawg" Rhett Titus was recently on Interactive Wrestling Radio to discuss his new tag team with Ferrara in ROH called "The
Dawgs!" Titus, a former tag team champion with Kenny King in the "All Night Express", talked about being trained by Daniel Bryan and Austin Aries, if he feels Bryan should return to the ring and more. They sent us these highlights:
His new tag team "The Dawgs":
"Woah, woah, woah! It's the Dawgs! You've got to accentuate the "Dawgs" part. So, Big Dog and Little WIlly, we've been friends for a while. Took him under my wing at the dojo and that kind of thing. We've been traveling together and this and that. He gets very aggravated very easily. Early on, I figured this out. Just to keep myself entertained, I'd like to press his buttons. It just became this thing! (laughs) It got to the point where I'd start making videos of myself aggravating him. I'd put them up on Facebook, YouTube, and Twitter. They'd be like, "You guys should be a tag team!" All the fans started watching them too. We got booked on an indy tag teaming. Cary Silkin was there. He was like, "This is what needs to come to Ring of Honor right here." A few short months later, now we have "The Dawgs!""
Their ROH Tag Title aspirations:
"I'm a former Ring of Honor Tag Team Champion. I'm trying to bring Little WIlly up to my level. Trying to get him up to speed with tag team wrestling. He doesn't have that much experience with tag team wrestling. Short little run with Cheeseburger but lets be honest, that's Cheeseburger. That ain't the Big Dawg! Last week, we wrestled the Motor City Machien Guns and the Hung (Young) Bucks. That's a good bit of experience to get under our belts. We're still a little wet behind the ears but we're getting there!"
His former partner Kenny King's TV Title win:
"Good for Kenny! He got a shot at the TV title and made the msot of it. We're long time friends, go back years. I'm kind of sitting back and saying, "Yo Dawg, hey! When are you going to give me a shot?" I wouldn't mind taking a crack at the TV title! But, good for Kenny. I'm happy for him."
Reports that he hated training under Daniel Bryan:
"That was from an interview I did when I was younger. Going from training with (Austin) Aries to Brian Danielson was a bit of a change. Aries was a more laid back trainer. He said, "I'm not here to be your personal trainer. I'm here to be your wrestling trainer." I thought that was very cool. Aries was a little more laid back, if you were a few minutes late, don't worry about it. Bryan, on the other hand, everyday before practice we had to do tons of hindu squats, tons of push ups, tons of everything. And then, we'd learn a little bit of wrestling. I respect wrestling, obviously, and having to pay your dues. I would push myself in the gym and then would have to come and do all these extra squats. Especially on leg day, that was killing me! Bryan was also very strict. Practice would start at 5 O'Clock! I was coming from work at that time. It was about an hour and a half from work. If I missed one traffic light, I was going to be late. If I was late, I would always have to do extra squats, extra push ups, extra run the ropes. Extra everything! I remember one day (laughs) I was running a little late. "Ah man, I don't think I'm gonna make it!" So, I put my boots on in the car. I pulled up to the school at 4:58. I went running upstairs in the school and at 4:59 with about 10 seconds to spare, I hopped into the ring. He was like, "Made it on time?". So, we started. And, Bryan was like, "Who the hell dragged mud into my ring?" Everyone was looking at the bottom of their feet and no one had mud. I look at the bottom of my feet and, of course... I'm the one with mud. So, I had to do extra squats, extra push ups, extra run the ropes... Even though I was on time! (laughs) I came to grips with the idea that I was going to have to do a little bit more than everyone else. In the end, it made me appreciate everything a little bit more. If you ever see me and I'm being hard on a young guy, you know why!"
Daniel Bryan teasing an ROH return:
"As someone who was a big Bryan Danielson fan and a big Daniel Bryan fan prior to him being my trainer, I would love to see him wrestle again. As someone who works for Ring of Honor, I think we would do great business with him coming back. But, as someone who has known him and as a friend, if he's not 100% and healthy and is going to put himself at risk, I wouldn't want him to do that. There is life after wrestling. He's got a baby now and a wife and other things he's got to consider. But, if he's good to go and if he feels he's good to go... Hey! I'd love to have him back!"
His feud with Delirious:
"That was really cool because it was what really put me on the map. Ring of Honor would always run New York City shows at the Manhattan Center shows and I'd never be on it, never be on it, never be on it. I kind of came to grips with it. For whatever reason, I was never on these shows. It came time for the Hammerstein Ballroom, I figured it was another New York City show I wouldn't be on. I remember going to Chipotle and eating like a house. I get back and Gabe (Sapolsky) pulled me aside and said, "You're on the shwo tonight! We're debuting you in a big way." So, i got to make my essential ROH debut with a character and stuff at the ROH debut at the Hammerstein Ballroom which was really cool. With Delirious and Dazee Haze, we got to do some really cool things like the vignettes, promos, and all that stuff. Up to that point, I had pretty much done indies and pre-show matches for Ring of Honor. So, I would practice promos. But, there was never a chance to actually do them. I got to do promos with pretty much everyone in the ROH locker room at that point showing them the Dazee Haze video. It was awesome. It was a great learning experience. And, it really helped put me on the map!"
Women of Honor:
"The Women of Honor always go out there and give it their all. I think sometimes there's not time. But, I think going forward, in 2018, they're going to be a lot more focussed on because, to be honest, the Women of Honor draw the best YouTube numbers. That's a big thing you've got to look at. If they're drawing this many people on YouTube, almost triple regular Ring of Honor promos, that is something that should be focussed on in the future. I hope they do get the opportunity because all those girls, they work really hard. They really deserve it!"