Steve Maclin is happy with how things went in his most recent title defense at IMPACT Under Siege 2023.
During a recent interview with Denise Salcedo, the IMPACT World Champion spoke about his most recent title defense, spots he was told he was not allowed to do during the match, the staple gun spot that went viral and more.
Featured below are some of the highlights.
On his mindset going into the No DQ matchup against PCO: “To know it was ‘No DQ’ and to know who my opponent was, I knew we were going to go out and try to do something different that people haven’t seen in a long time. I can relate it to almost like Shawn Michaels and Mankind at Mind Games in 1996, where that was one of those matches where, ‘Holy shit, this evolved both talents.’ So, this is a way to showcase the best that he is and the best that I am and my adaptability as well because I feel like I can get in the ring and work with anyone now. That’s one of those things where whatever situation you put me into, I’m going to take that opportunity and try to knock it out of the park. I think I’ve been trying to do that and I think we did that at Under Siege.”
On how IMPACT did tell him and PCO that there were a few spots they could NOT do: “We were told a few of those. It’s just one of those things where he and I had enough trust in each other. We’ve worked before. It was one of those things where we just wanted to make it the best match possible, whether it stole the show or not. I thought the PPV as a whole was as strong as anything from start to finish and that was one of those things where we were the only match with a stipulation or weapons used and it built to it. It really was mayhem for all. I’m just proud of it. Walk away from it and think, ‘Okay, don’t have to do that one for a while.’”
On the staple gun spot that went viral: “Staple gun was one of those things where it just, okay, yeah, staple gun. You would think the cinder block and sledgehammer but staple gun just skeeves me out.”
On how he’s feeling physically after the match: “There was a point in the match where I went and wiped my forehead a little bit, which I shouldn’t have done anyways, and it looked like a big loogie of skin on my hand. I was like, ‘Ew!’ I just watched it hit the mat and it even made a splat sound. I was like, ‘That was gross.’ Just a big blob of skin, but it was pretty cool to have that.”
Check out the complete interview via the YouTube player embedded below. H/T to Fightful.com for transcribing the above quotes.
