Nick Aldis On Why He Wanted To Leave TNA Despite Being The World Champion
During an interview with Chris Van Vliet, Nick Aldis described his thoughts about TNA and his desire to leave the company even while he was the world champion.
"All the guys who were my friends at the time could vouch for this, I was telling them when I was the champion 'I am out of here when my contract is up.' I was the world champion and I was saying I am out of here when my contracts up I'm done. Once I saw that all that's going to happen here is my value is going to continue to slip, so I was saying then I am out of here, I'll figure something else out."
Aldis said not having a good relationship with the officials at TNA at the time ultimately led to him leaving in 2017.
"My relationship with John Gaburick unfortunately deteriorated, it's just an unfortunate set of circumstances, they decided to take a punt with me at the same time AJ [Styles] was leaving."
AJ Styles left TNA back in 2014 and was involved in his last feud and storyline with Dixie Carter and Nick Aldis, formerly known as Magnus in TNA, over the TNA World Title. Aldis stated that Styles leaving played a major part in his decision to eventually leave TNA during the time he was released in 2015.
"They couldn't get the deal done," Aldis said. "That at the time felt like a huge loss and a real spiritual part of TNA had been ripped away and I became the poster boy for this dark period, I could feel it instantly, but I wasn't mature enough to know how to deal with that. Instead of being like alright what should we do, I just started blaming everyone. I take full ownership of the deterioration of the relationship because I was put in this really difficult position with no experience with how to deal with that and no one to help."
When asked about the evolution from Magnus to Nick Aldis, he said he needed to be authentic and felt like he was the one talking and not playing a part given to him by someone else.
"When I look back, I just see a guy in black and white, he's not fully in color yet," Aldis said. "My entire TNA career is a struggle of me trying to do me and whoever was in charge at the time trying to say you are this guy, this is what you are."
Aldis is currently feuding with Marty Scurll in the NWA. Aldis described how Marty helped him see after his time with TNA that he could reinvent himself and create an authentic character.
"Marty [Scurll] was a big inspiration, for so many years he had been struggling and toiling and trying to get something to work for himself and then suddenly 'The Villain' hits and he's off to the races, Bullet Club and he's the hot property. I knew I needed a reinvention, I needed to re establish because everyone's memory of me was just this product of TNA, they had never really seen Nick Aldis."
If you use any of the quotes in this article, please credit Chris Van Vliet with a h/t to Wrestling Inc. for the transcription.