Homicide Describes How His Recent AEW Appearance Was Thrown Together

In an appearance on Sam Roberts' Notsam Wrestling podcast, the Notorious 187 Homicide revealed how his appearance at AEW Grand Slam in Arthur Ashe Stadium came together. According to Homicide, he was simply at the event to visit friends like Eddie Kingston, when it was decided he'd be used for the show. Homicide is grateful for the appearance, and also talked about how the Arthur Ashe appearance was the perfect substitute for his dream of appearing at Madison Square Garden.

"I had a dream and that dream just shut down," Homicide said. "My dream was MSG. Then I wrestled at Arthur Ashe Stadium, the US Open you know? That was incredible. Mind you, it was a visit I came just to visit my friends, and they told me 'you're doing something today.' And I said 'no, I'm not doing nothing!' I was so appreciative, grateful that they said 'you're going to do something on Rampage.' It was the last match of the night. It was Lance Archer and Minoru Suzuki, who is the legends of all legends, against one my pals, Eddie Kingston, and another one, Jon Moxley, in a street fight. It was the very last match. It didn't even hit me. What hit me is, behind the scenes, Eddie did a little speech. His mother was there and he had made it. And suddenly Frank Sinatra came on, and it was 'New York, New York.' That's when it hit me.

"I was like 'oh my god. Forget about my dream at MSG, this is it. This is my dream.' I just couldn't believe it. It was 20,000 people, and even though it was a TV taping, it was the best. It was incredible. It was one of the biggest moments of my life. And it was funny because I wanted to do something where I came out of the audience, like Stone Cold Steve Austin, like if I got arrested for jumping out. And they were like 'no, we've got music for you.' I was like 'what?!' 'We've got something like a titantron with your name on it.' I was like 'are you kidding me?!' And they did it and I was like 'okay!' I'm not going to say no to the boss. It was phenomenal. I'm very grateful where I'm at right now. My dream was to become a WWE wrestler, an ECW wrestler. I wanted to walk down the ramp of the Tokyo Dome for New Japan. It didn't happen. But something happened for me."

Homicide also took the time to praise his former ROH co-worker CM Punk, both for his ability in the ring and his conduct outside of the ring. He also delved into his excitement for the current feud between Punk and Kingston, which he believes will be a huge momentum boost for both.

"He doesn't realize what he's doing, in a good way," Homicide said. "CM Punk is one of the best in this business, as a wrestler, at promo skills, even a human being. This man went to ECW, WWE and he was the man there, and he still remembered the little people like myself. He still calls me. I respect that so much. There's so many people like 'oh he's an asshole.' But he's a cool asshole.

"I don't know what to tell you. I like Punk. And I'm very happy that Eddie's going to get that kind of program with CM Punk. I never had a major feud with CM Punk, but I did wrestle CM Punk. He's incredible, and he's still got it. Even though he's older, I still want him to get busy and take care of my boy. And Eddie, he's going to do it. That's going to be a great, great feud."

At 44 years old, Homicide still has a lot left in the tank in ring, while he also begins to transition to agenting and producing for promotions like the NWA. He revealed to Roberts what his ideal retirement scenario would be.

"My vision, the way I see it, is it's got to be at New York City," Homicide said. "I've got to bring my mother. My mother has never been to a professional wrestling show. She's one of the people that told me 'that's not a real job. Get a real job!' So I'd bring my mother and in my boots, put them in the middle in the ring and just leave. I'd tell the people 'thank you so much' and leave. My new chapter, era, is becoming one of those guys behind the scene. I may not wear a suit, but I'll be a behind of scenes guy like a producer or a coach or an agent or whatever. But as a performer, my vision is to wrestle someone from New York City, and wrestle my last match in New York. No offense to other cities or countries, but I started in New York and I'm going to finish in New York.

You can watch the full interview below.