10 Things We Learned From NWA Worlds Champion Nick Aldis (Exclusive Interview)

5. Samoa Joe Was Key To His Development

Nick Aldis
impactwrestling.com

Having trained under the tutelage of the Knight family, having sat under the learning tree of Harley Race, and having worked with some of the biggest names in the business, Nick Aldis credits Samoa Joe as being the person who took him to the next level as a performer.

Doug Williams, AJ Styles, and Alex Shelley are cited as being major influences on Aldis' career, yet it's his time in a makeshift tag team with the Samoan Submission Machine in 2011 that the Brit pinpoints as the period where he learnt so much.

With both men frustrated at not being used in any meaningful way at that time, Vince Russo made the call to have Nick Aldis and Samoa Joe team together. At this point, Aldis was, in his own words, like an excited puppy at the prospect of working alongside someone who he was such a huge fan of.

Reflecting on this time teaming with, and later feuding against, the current WWE Raw star, Aldis said, "We just found that chemistry. Joe's one of the best. If Joe doesn't go into coaching when he finishes up his in-ring career, it'll be a massive loss to the business. He's the best coach I've ever had. He has a way of articulating the mechanics of a wrestling match so much more than anyone I've ever met. I'm lucky. He refused to have anything he's involved with be s**t, so he forced me to be good. That's sort of the approach I have now."

Senior Writer
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Once described as the Swiss Army Knife of WhatCulture, Andrew can usually be found writing, editing, or presenting on a wide range of topics. As a lifelong wrestling fan, horror obsessive, and comic book nerd, he's been covering those topics professionally as far back as 2010. In addition to his current WhatCulture role of Senior Content Producer, Andrew previously spent nearly a decade as Online Editor and Lead Writer for the world's longest-running genre publication, Starburst Magazine, and his work has also been featured on BBC, TechRadar, Tom's Guide, WhatToWatch, Sportkskeeda, and various other outlets, in addition to being a Rotten Tomatoes-approved film critic. Between his main dayjob, his role as the lead panel host of Wales Comic Con, and his gig as a pre-match host for Wrexham AFC games, Andrew has also carried out a hugely varied amount of interviews, from the likes of Robert Englund, Kane Hodder, Adrienne Barbeau, Rob Zombie, Katharine Isabelle, Leigh Whannell, Bruce Campbell, and Tony Todd, to Kevin Smith, Ron Perlman, Elijah Wood, Giancarlo Esposito, Simon Pegg, Charlie Cox, the Russo Brothers, and Brian Blessed, to Kevin Conroy, Paul Dini, Tara Strong, Will Friedle, Burt Ward, Andrea Romano, Frank Miller, and Rob Liefeld, to Bret Hart, Sting, Mick Foley, Ricky Starks, Jamie Hayer, Britt Baker, Eric Bischoff, and William Regal, to Mickey Thomas, Joey Jones, Phil Parkinson, Brian Flynn, Denis Smith, Gary Bennett, Karl Connolly, and Bryan Robson - and that's just the tip of an ever-expanding iceberg.