I conducted a phone interview earlier this week with Mr. Anderson, who will face Kurt Angle and Jeff Hardy in a three-way match for the vacant TNA world title at Sunday's Bound for Glory pay-per-view.
Talk about the differences in the creative process between WWE and TNA. It appears that the talent has more creative freedom in TNA. Is that accurate?
Yeah, creative freedom in WWE is kind of like an oxymoron. And that's their business decision. Don't knock them, because their ratings are pretty positive. But from a wrestler's standpoint, from an artist's standpoint, it's a lot more fun when you can get out there and be yourself and goof off a little bit and not take everything so seriously and not take yourself so seriously and just really have fun. The thing here is that if I'm putting a match together and somebody has an idea, I don't get upset, and I don't have somebody getting upset at me if I come up with a better idea. I've had some other situations where I'd come up with an idea and I'd get the old, "Hey, you just worry about the wrestling and I'll worry about coming up with the creative stuff," which is just silly. To me, two heads are better than one when it comes to working on creative stuff.
What are your thoughts on the stylistic changes in TNA's creative direction, as far as Reaction concept and the documentary-style backstage segments?
I love it. The first time I saw it, I thought this right here is what wrestling needs. It was always interesting to me that everything that takes place in a wrestling show always takes place in whatever building that they happen to be in. But you have this whole world out there. Wrestlers are traveling on the road constantly. Why not follow them to their hotels at night or get in the car with one of them and listen to them tell stories on the road? I love the fact that TNA is really blurring the line between fact and fiction, which is what wrestling is really all about to me.
You recently signed a contract extension with TNA. How many years is it for?
Three more years.
So I take it you're happy in TNA.
I am. I'm very happy. They've been very good to me. We worked out a good deal. I was very happy with it; my agent was happy with it. I would like to stay where I'm at. Never say never in this business or any business for that matter, but for all intents and purposes, I would really like to finish my career here in TNA.
Would you say that you had a bit of a chip on your shoulder when you first came to TNA? Did you feel like you wanted to prove something to WWE after the way things ended there?
Absolutely. I've proven that to myself. I don't really care if I've proved that to them at this point. I did at one point. I was really pretty bitter for a good year, but I'm way over that now. I'm glad that things happened the way they did because since parting ways from that company, I've had a lot of great opportunities come into my life that I wouldn't have gotten had I still been there. TNA is one of those. The agency that I work with is another one. It's one of those agencies where everybody that works there is always looking for opportunities for you. I've got 30 agents working to find me roles in movies and television shows and things like that, so I'm constantly reading scripts and doing auditions. I'm actually coming home from an audition right now. There are a lot of good people that came into my life after everything went down, so I'm very happy.
So you're still pursuing acting roles even though you're no longer affiliated with WWE, where you had a role in one of their films?
Even moreso. There was a situation in WWE where I was offered an audition for a role on "Burn Notice," which comes on right after Raw, and I was told no, that it wouldn't benefit the WWE in any way, shape or form so why would we let you do that. Here in TNA, as long as I fulfill my obligation to [TNA president] Dixie Carter to the best of my ability, we have an understanding that she and the company will try to work around some kind of a schedule so that I can pursue those other things. It's kind of like one hand washes the other, too. If I'm able to get out there and represent TNA Wrestling to a degree – a TNA wrestler gets a series regular spot or a big movie – it would totally be a good thing for TNA and I think that's the way they look at it.
I don't want to rehash old news too much, but when Randy Orton suffered a shoulder injury during a WWE pay-per-view several months back, you commented about it on Twitter and you didn't exactly feel sorry for him, did you?
I was actually posting about Brett Michaels winning "The Apprentice." I said: "It couldn't happen to a nicer guy and karma's a mo-fo." [laughs] No, it was just kind of one of those rash decisions that I made in saying that. I don't wish any ill will toward anybody. Again, I'm happy that things worked out the way they did. I'm in a much happier place right now. That was really stupid of me and kind of sophomoric to say something like that.
You've said that you were surprised at how things went down with your release from WWE because you and Orton had been friends. Now that you've had a while to look back on it, do you have any idea why things deteriorated?
No, I don't know, and to be honest with you, I don't really care [laughs]. Again, I'm happy where I'm at.
It's been said that the travel schedule in TNA is easier than the one in WWE. With TNA doing more and more house shows, is that still the case?
Absolutely. I look around and I see some of my friends [in WWE] who were injured for the last three years – one guy in particular had a hernia that had been bothering him for a long time and was given three weeks off to heal that before he got out on the road again and wasn't necessarily wrestling, but he was still having to travel, and just that stress and not being able to just stay home and relax and recuperate and recover and fully heal. He was just forced to push it, push it, push it. And then I think the guy broke his wrist and he got three more weeks off for that and he had one more injury and got another three weeks off. Here at TNA, we'll go down to Orlando and we'll have three or four days where we do tapings, and then we're off for the entire month except for a couple house shows here and there. It's great to be able to go out there and bust your [butt] for three days, work really hard and then go home and be able to rest and recover, because sometimes it takes you three or four days to recover. To be honest with you, with WWE, you had two days off, and the first day home you're already thinking like, "God, I have to start packing tomorrow to leave the next day." It's just very taxing and it wears on you emotionally and physically.
We all know pro wrestling isn't a true competition in the ring and titles aren't really won and lost in that sense, but what would it mean to you to become a world champion Sunday, which is something that you haven't done yet in your career?
Even though we know that it is a prop, that wrestling is entertainment, it is very competitive. To have the company put their seal of approval on you would be a good feeling.
One of the guys you're working with at Bound for Glory is Kurt Angle. What is it like being in the ring with someone as intense and driven as he is? Is it more pressure to perform at a certain level, or is it easier because he's just so good?
To me it's easier because you have less to focus on. You don't have to think about his stuff. You know that he's going to do his thing and you don't have to worry about it. He's going to be where he needs to be. I guess I can explain it this way: I wrestled with [The Undertaker] a lot when I was with WWE, and we would go into the ring sometimes with nothing in our heads – we wouldn't even know what we're going to do. Those were some of my favorite times because I just knew that I was in good hands and I had nothing to worry about. I'm working with two pros this weekend – Jeff [Hardy] and Kurt both know what they're doing in there and I have the utmost confidence. Our plan is to tear the house down. We hope to have the match of the night; we hope to have the match of the year.
Mr. Anderson is on Twitter at twitter.com/secondpower .
Photo courtesy of tnawrestling.com