IMPACT Wrestling star Nick Aldis exclusively spoke with PWMania.com‘s Scott Mitchell (@ScottsScoop44) about a wide range of topics including making his return to IMPACT, the differences between his previous run at IMPACT to this current one, his upcoming World Championship match with Alex Shelley at Slammiversary, and more.
You can check out the complete interview below:
What was it like to make your return to IMPACT Wrestling?
“It was very gratifying to get that reaction from the Toronto crowd. There were elements that felt familiar and there were elements that didn’t, I think that really sums up that. Certainly, I have a history there, but certainly, a lot of things have changed in that company since I was there last, and a lot of things have changed with me. It’s all part of the rich tapestry of our business. I’ve come back a much better, and upgraded person than I was when I was there before, and they have a very different culture now, and it’s much improved than what it was before as well. It’s exciting, and the challenge is to rise to the top of this promotion as I have in every other promotion that I’ve ever worked in, and that leads us into where we are now heading into Slammiversary.”
You hinted at it before. When you were here before we knew what we saw and we knew how good you were/are, but this is the new Nick Aldis. What can you tell the fans about who the new Nick Aldis is?
“Well, look. Nick Aldis found himself. That’s the reality of the situation. I spent a lot of time in my first run there being pulled in a lot of different directions, by who was running the company, the producers, and different influencers. I felt I always tried to compromise and be something that I wasn’t. It was never quite the fully formed idea of who I was. It came close when I had my World Title run, but it wasn’t right. I was still young, and making an impression of what a wrestler should be, rather than really feeling it. I had to go away and find out who I was and who I wanted to be remembered as. I really re-committed to studying the greats who I wanted to be thought of, like Nick Bockwinkel, Harley Race, Bret Hart, Ric Flair, Dory Funk, Jack Briscoe, and even early 2000s Triple H. These were all guys who I studied and tried to emulate. You have to have self-awareness in the game. I am not the hero, franchise player, or all-American good guy. I’m British and proud of it, but I’m a citizen of the world. I’m very calculated, I know who I want to be and know what I want to accomplish. I’m strictly business. So, I started to realize it was time to stop trying to fit into whatever the current fashion is, I’m an Anglo-sexton animal, I’m a British wrestler. I blend the British and American styles. I spent way more time focusing on who I am and believing in who I am. If you believe it, they believe it. I’m a professional athlete, I take this seriously. This isn’t a joke for me, this isn’t a hobby for me, I’m not a weekend warrior. Pro wrestling has been my full-time occupation since I was a legal adult. This isn’t a game for me, it’s not a hobby, it’s not a pastime, it’s my career. I’ve had good times and bad times. I’ve accomplished things I wanted to, and I’ve missed things I wanted to. What I’ve proven is whenever I get the opportunity, I rise to the top of wherever I am. I make things better for everyone around me. The first episode of IMPACT following my return to IMPACT at Rebellion was the highest-viewed episode in over a year. Am I taking credit for that? No, of course not, it’s a team effort, but I had a part in it. Now, I set my sights on the World Championship. I played the game a little bit, I was a nice guy and very respectful, and now I got what I wanted. I have the match at Slammiversary. I’m in the spot, now I can be who I really am and be all business. Now the earnest is on Alex Shelley, who is not who I was preparing for, but hey, great champions are ready to adapt. The truth is that people are wondering why I decided to hit him in the head with the belt. It’s because he disrespected me. He had the nerve, after everything I’ve done already to raise the company and raise the world title scene, they had the nerve to disrespect me by saying this is the Machine Guns era? Sorry boys, you had a good night, you were in the right place at the right time. I’m the difference-maker here. He’s going to find that out at Slammiversary. This may be a short run for him. This could be a short reign. He made it, he had his moment, good for him, alright well the fun and games are over. It’s time for the right guy to get the strap and pull the company where it needs to go.”
You spoke upon it a little bit already, but you teamed with the Machine Guns in a 10-person tag team match, and after it, you hit Shelley over the head with the belt. What happened there?
“Yeah… I did that because they disrespected me. I was 100% effective in that match. Go back and watch it, I take Kenny King to school. I’m not selfish, it’s a tag team match, keep the fresh man in. So, I go in hit a nice and perfect suplex, bring in Chris Sabin, and boom, what does he do? He tries to be a glory hog and he gets into trouble. The other team beats the hell out of him and runs a train on him. Now we’re all standing there looking at each other like what the hell happened? He finally finds an opening, because he’s a very good wrestler and very experienced, and who does he tag? Not the 6’4, 250-pound main-event wrestler, he tags his buddy Alex Shelley. Alex Shelley could come in and do all of his cool guy moves and get all the glory. Me, me, me. We’re lucky we even got the W because of those two. The irony is that those two who are supposed to be great tag team wrestlers, showed horrible tag teamwork because they tried to do all the work themselves. There were three other people on their team. It’s just like when I was a kid playing football, there was always one kid who was trying to do all of the work himself, and that’s what this was. He should have tagged me, and I could have cleaned the house and hit the showers and had a few beers, but no. Alex Shelley had to be the hero, take all the glory for himself, and I thought to myself that I was sick of this disrespect. I’ve done everything I could do. I was ready to just have this tag match, shake hands and say see you in 4 weeks at Slammiversary. But no, he had to disrespect me, and further this narrative that it has to be about the Machine Guns, the cool Indy dudes. I was like enough with this, want to play that game and disrespect me, WACK. Slammiversary is right around the corner, and I’m coming for this.”
Looking ahead to your upcoming match with Alex Shelley at Slammiversary, what does it mean to be main eventing one of the biggest pay-per-views of the company again and potentially winning the World Championship from Alex Shelley?
“It’s great to be in that spot but it feels familiar. It’s the right thing to do. I’m not going to sit here and say oh my God it’s such an honor to be in that spot. That’s another thing that drives me crazy, there’s so much sentiment in all of this. If I wasn’t in the World Title match at Slammiversary, I’d be pissed off. That’s what I’m here to do. Be in the main event, be in the World Title match. I’m happy I’m getting to do what I came here to do, but I’ll be even happier when I win the title and we start the Aldis era of IMPACT Wrestling, and I can really start to make a difference. I’m focused, I’m ready, and I feel good. I’m ready to make it happen.”
Looking ahead, do you have any goals for yourself for the next year or any future opponents you’d like to face in an IMPACT ring?
“Opponents, I never think too much about that. Certainly, I know there’s some New Japan stuff on the horizon. I just need to win the championship and do what I’ve proven I could do before and carry it. Enhance it. Elevate it. Elevate everyone who will challenge me for it. Take the company to new heights, level up. Summer Sizzler this weekend in Atlanta, GA. Centerstage is one of my favorite venues. Atlanta always has been very good for me. If you’ve seen me there before, you know who’s coming. The National Treasure is coming to town. I will have a live mic, and you will get to see the real me heading into Slammiversary on July 15. All the information can be found on IMPACTWrestling.com”
When you first won the #1 Contendership at Against All Odds, what was that feeling like for you to beat some of the best that IMPACT has to offer?
“I was relieved it was over. The match was unique. You have to find some chemistry with these guys on your team, but then once it’s over you have to immediately become opponents. You’re scouting them and looking at their strengths and weaknesses as a tag partner and then you have to find an opening to beat them. Bully Ray was straightforward, he was easy to eliminate. We knew he was just going to be for himself. I was a bit more calculated. I’m absolutely for myself, I just knew in that situation I had to present myself as a little bit less of a threat. I manipulated the other guys and said Bully Ray had to be put in his place. I let Heath and Gresham beat the hell out of each other. When I found the opening, I knew Gresham would attempt a submission move on Heath, and I knew Heath would probably fall for one, so all I had to do was lay low. Then bam, elbow off the top to both of them, then put them in the cloverleaf and that was all she wrote. A match like that is perfectly suited for a guy like me. You have to be a chess player. You can’t let your emotions dictate your decision-making. You have to plan accordingly, and it all worked out perfectly. Perfect game plan executed.”
Stay tuned for PWMania for more interviews like this one, and keep up with all things IMPACT Wrestling here, and don’t miss Slammiversary when Nick Aldis goes one-on-one with Alex Shelley for the IMPACT World Championship in the main event on July 15th.
