Moose Describes The Evolution Of His Character, Not Wanting To Be A "Tough Guy" Anymore

Since making his Impact debut in 2016, Moose's character has gone from heel to face and back to heel. He talked about the evolution of his character to Wrestling Inc's Nick Hausman during a recent media scrum.

"When I first started with Impact, I was comfortable with what I was doing before. It was easy and it got to a point where I talked to some of my mentors and they told me if I wanted to take that next step then this is what I needed to do," Moose said on his attitude change.

"I have so much more to give to pro wrestling that the old Moose wasn't doing. My new attitude just shows how much charisma I have. I get to talk a bit more on the mic and it shows my presence in the ring and my swag. So I felt like it was the right move for me to make to grow as a professional wrestler."

Moose was once seen as just a bruising tough guy but he's evolved into an all around talent who can go in the ring and talk on the mic. He discussed what led to his improvement in his promos.

"I think me, Quinn Ojinnaka which is my real name, is a really fun guy to be around. I'm a fun guy like Kawhi Leonard says. People like to be around me and I'm charismatic. I felt like when I first got to Impact I was trying to be this tough guy and I'll kick your ass," stated Moose. "I feel like wrestling in 2020, everybody is a tough guy. One thing I've been doing lately is going to the archives and watching old wrestling from 1990-92 and there wasn't a lot of tough guys. There were a lot more characters and there's not a lot of character-driven guys in wrestling in 2020.

"That's one thing I told myself ? I don't wanna be a tough guy anymore. I don't wanna be an ass-kicker or a, 'Oh look at me, I'll powerbomb you.' I don't wanna be that guy. I wanna show personality and be fun and show swagger. That's pretty much what my whole evolution was."

Moose is from Maryland and grew up in The DMV which has produced many great athletes across all sports. He talked about coming from there and how it's built him for success.

"The DMV knows how to breed us. It makes great talent and in the wrestling world, Dave Batista is from the area and there are other greats. I think there's something down in the water in the DMV. Part of the reason why I strive to be great is because it takes me back to my upbringing. That's something we all have in common ? everyone from that area," said Moose.

When asked about what goals he has for 2020, Moose said he doesn't look that far ahead to throughout the year and instead focuses on big events as they come.

"Every time I step into the ring I want to be better than the last time I was out there. That's my mindset right now. I know there's guys that will go, 'Oh, I wanna be champion this year.' I don't like making those kinda goals because I feel that if you're the world champion and a crappy, sh*tty wrestler, then what does that do? Every time I go out there I wanna be a better wrestler and performer in the ring than I was prior. So, that's always my goal," stated Moose.

Moose's full pre-Impact Wrestling Hard To Kill press conference aired as part of the final episode of our WINCLY podcast. It can be heard via the embedded audio player at the bottom of this post, or the video player at the top. You can check out past episodes of the WINCLY here. Subscribe to Wrestling Inc. Audio on iTunes or Google Play. Listen to the show via Spotify here or through TuneIn here.