Chris Bey, alongside partner Ace Austin, have started 2023 as they ended in 2022…very strongly.
After defeating Motor City Machine Guns for the IMPACT Wrestling tag team titles, Bey and Austin, both part of the infamous Bullet Club, sit as one of the top teams in the industry.
PWMania.com‘s Lee Tarrier (@leeseedub) sat down with Bey in an exclusive interview to discuss his career to date, Bullet Club’s upcoming title defense against TMDK at Sacrifice, and a major name they would love to take on before the year’s end…
You’re Tag Team Champions in IMPACT Wrestling and part of the Bullet Club. How does it feel to be part of such a prestigious group?
Honestly, it’s just too sweet. It’s the greatest faction to ever be in professional wrestling. It’s cool to do whatever, be whatever hang out with whoever, and we are just gaining more momentum. We’ve got championships from different promotions running throughout the brand, so it’s great man, it’s like being on the top team in the NBA, the NFL, whatever it is that you watch. It’s like playing for the top team. So it’s a sweet stamp of approval.
How do you approach matches differently when competing in front of audiences in such diverse fan groups as USA and Japan?
There’s a little bit of a difference but at the end of the day I’ve always classified myself as an entertainer. I just like to entertain crowds man. So wherever I go, I’m just trying to assess where I’m at and how most people react or what it is that they want like to react to and then I find my best way to give them that without taking too much away from myself. So as much as it is different from you know, American crowds versus the Japanese crowds or, you know, restricted crowds versus non restricted crowds, it’s all the same man, people who pay to see you and they pay to be entertained. So I just make sure I bring the entertainment and I can do that regardless who I’m in their with and where I’m competing.
Well, a big time you entertained a crowd was when you and Ace won the IMPACT Wrestling tag titles from the Motor City Machine Guns. How did that feel?
It’s incredible. Some people won’t understand when I say this, but this doesn’t mean as much to me if we didn’t beat who we beat. We’re the world tag team champions because we beat one of the best tag teams in wrestling history. Those guys made a living by creating a whole genre style of tag team wrestling, so, to get in the ring and mix it up with those guys and capture championships from them made those titles mean more to me than they could ever met in any other scenario, and for that I take more pride in winning than I think I ever could have if we would have won them from anybody else.
Well, you’re part of a company that’s producing great weekly TV and PPVs, how far do you think IMPACT can go?
I think we are just getting going and have so much to showcase. We’re getting back on the road a lot now, obviously Sacrifice coming up, Under Siege after that. There’s a lot of cool stuff coming up I think, representing this company as champions is important and will highlight how much great content you’re going to see from us. I’m meeting fans who come to check us out at tapings and by the end, they want to know when we’re coming back, they’re telling their friends to tune in. Things are going well with the streaming in Impact Plus, Impact Insiders and Dazn too, so we’re getting out there man and people taking notice.
I don’t think there’s a limit to what we’re doing. I think we can go as far as we drive the ship, you know. There’s never any limit on anyone’s creativity a mind, so if we continue to express it in a way that can be monetized on a grander scale, I can see us getting bigger and bigger.
Who do you like learning from and working with behind the IMPACT curtain?
Man, there’s so many. It’s great to get insight and learnings from different people who have had different journeys in their own career path. Jimmy Jacobs, Tommy Dreamer, Lance Storm, these guys are great. But then even people locking it up in ring like Speedball Mike Bailey. Just so helpful, so competitive and so inspiring. We’ve just added Jonathon Gresham to the roster so again, even more names that it is great to work with, talk to and learn from.
How are you feeling about your big title defence against TMDK at Sacrifice on Friday 24th March?
Oh, yeah, we are looking forward to it for sure. I saw what Shane can do out in Japan during the heavyweight tag league, I’ve studied his game so I understand who it is in the ring with us. And Tito, well Tito I came up with, so I know him very well and I know that he is hungry. But we have these championships and it’s a great opportunity for us to prove we can go up against anybody of any size and defend the belts. TMDK will see that at Sacrifice.
You made the final on the Super Junior Tag League. How did you find the experience?
It was incredible man, an incredible experience and I’m so grateful for New Japan for taking me out of my comfort zone but that’s how you grow. You got to get away from your home and a lot of stuff. I learned a lot about the culture, the style and the wrestling, but it was perfect and it made me a better wrestler in my opinion.
And then there’s the competition, YOH and Lio Rush, hats off to those guys. Lio Rush is one of the greatest to do it and to share the ring in that scenario, in that environment, was insane. I couldn’t have asked for a better adversary.
And when it was all said and done, you know, we didn’t get the win and I was on the floor in sheds of tears but it wasn’t tears of frustration, it was about the culmination of what was such an intense tournament and learning period. We went out there and did 14 shows, me and Ace, not knowing much when we started, but now coming back as this well oiled machine. And from that, we win gold and beat Motor City. It was amazing.
It is so richly deserved. And now as members of Bullet Club, who would you love to see join the faction?
This is a tough question as a lot of people ask. It’s hard to really narrow that down and put it into one answer. You know, there’s a lot of people who I would love to see get that exposure, who I would love to hang out with and, you know, run the towns with and win championships with, but at the end of the day, I will turn that question around to the fans and ask who they want to see team with us, who they want to see me possibly have another alliance with.
If I could give you a dream opponent or opponents to face off with, from any company around the world, who would it be?
There’s a there’s a team that comes into mind, a three letter team. Their initials are FTR I believe that they even posted something about the Impact World Tag Team Championships not long ago. Well, we are here. They are a great team and what better way to test you against a great team. So, if we could get a inter promotional, unification thing going, the fans will get something they maybe never even knew they wanted, but when they get it, they will love and appreciate the magic we can create against those guys.
IMPACT Wrestling presents Sacrifice on Friday, March 24th, available through IMPACT Plus, IMPACT Insiders and FITE. For more information, click here.
Media: IMPACT Wrestling
