Daniel Garcia On Recent AEW Dark And WWE NXT Matches: "I Am Truly One Of The Best"
New York independent wrestling star "Red Death" Daniel Garcia was on The Wrestling Inc. Daily today ahead of his Limitless Wrestling Championship match against new WWE Performance Center recruit Christian Casanova. Garcia has also appeared on AEW Dark and WWE NXT recently, and Wrestling Inc. Managing Editor Nick Hausman asked Garcia about his AEW Dark appearances.
"AEW Dark was my first wrestling match back after a global pandemic, which is very cool. It felt right," Garcia expressed. "It felt like I belonged there, and I felt like I was meant to be there. I'm not going to say I don't get nervous wrestling or anything because obviously, that's natural. Everyone's gonna get nervous.
"You get nervous because you care, but as far as pressure, in those types of situations, I don't feel a lot of pressure because I know in wrestling, I am truly one of the best at this, as humbly as possible. I really believe I'm one of the best at this. So in those situations, I go into it knowing that I belong there and that I'm going to succeed. I know I put enough preparation in the gym and at the wrestling gym that I was not going to have much ring rust. I knew I was going to be able to go there and feel like I was when I was wrestling full time before the pandemic."
Hausman then asked Garcia what it was like for him to work in a TV environment as opposed to the indies.
"It's great. It's definitely a different challenge than working on indies when you just kind of go in [and] you kind of, I'm not gonna say do whatever you want, but it's a lot more free range and a lot more relaxed," Garcia noted. "And then when you go into a more, I guess, corporate environment like a WWE, or an AEW, or even an MLW and Evolve, I feel like it's a different challenge.
"You're trying to reach different goals. It's not just, 'Oh, I'm gonna go in [and] go as hard as I can in this match.' You have a different story to tell, which I think is a really cool challenge, and luckily, I was kind of prepared for that. When I first broke into the business, I started working for this company called Smash Wrestling, and they have TV on the FITE Network every single week. So I have some experience working for a TV company."
Garcia spoke more on his AEW Dark appearances tagging with Kevin Blackwood. Garcia and Blackwood had tagged off and on since 2018 and got the chance to face off against the likes of The Butcher and The Blade as well as Joey Janela and Sonny Kiss.
"Kevin, he trains at my school. He started training a year before me," Garcia said. "I hit the road with him every week. He's one of my travel partners. One of my very good friends. I really like Joey and Sonny. They're both very talented. They're a really good contrast of style to both me and Kevin, so I feel like it was a really good pairing, and we put on a very entertaining match. I think I left a good impression."
Just a few months after being on AEW Dark Garcia appeared on NXT TV taking on Tyler Rust. Garcia discussed his experience on NXT.
"You just grind it out, and hopefully, somebody notices you. And then you get noticed, and then you impress and then you get good opportunities," Garcia stated. "Tyler Rust is very talented. A lot of people don't realize the experience that he has.
"He's wrestled all over the world and has years and years and years of high-level experiences. He's extremely talented, and Malcolm [Bivens], I was on the indies with him. Again, it felt like I belong there. It felt very low pressure. It felt like I was built for the moment, and I feel like I was fully ready for it."
Hausman later asked Garcia what his ultimate goals are in pro wrestling.
"I want it all. There's a lot of rumors and a lot of questions about my career going on right now that I see on the internet," Garcia pointed out. "I may not acknowledge them, but I see everything. I see everything that's said about me, and there's a lot of questions that I'm not going to answer yet. I think that's good. I like there to be a lot of, not controversy, but I'd like there to be a lot of up in the air about me. I want people to be wondering what my next move is.
"So with that being said, everything. I don't know if I want the NXT Title. I would like the ROH Title. I would like the AEW TNT Title. I want it all, and I feel like if anybody can, it's me, I mean you've seen me. I was on AEW. I was on NXT, and who knows what's next for me? Maybe I'll pop up on another major company. Maybe I'll decide to go back to one of those companies. Nobody really knows. NJPW Strong's definitely something that I'm very interested in the near future."
Daniel Garcia challenges Christian Casanova for the Limitless Wrestling Championship on Friday March 19th. For more info please visit www.LimitlessWrestling.com or follow them on Twitter @LWMaine. You can find the full audio and video from Danny's interview below: