On Flair, Jarrett And Hogan
AS: Cary Silkin (former ROH owner) has been very vocal about Ric Flair in ROH lately on Twitter. When Flair was in TNA, did it seem like his heart was in it? CD: I didnt really have a whole lot of interaction with Ric to be honest with you. I didnt travel a lot with him. By the time I got there I worked with him maybe once or twice, and then they stopped using him. When we talked or worked together, he was fine with me there, but I missed a lot of the interaction with him and Fortune and Immortal. By the time I got there, they were really winding that down and getting into the split of everybody.
AS: What do you think about GFW, Jarretts upcoming company? CD: It will be interesting to see who Jeff picks as far as talent and what he does. I think that Jeff has got a lot of ideas that hes itching to do now that hes got that creative control again. So Im interested to see where he goes with all of it.
AS: Back to TNA. I was reading yesterday that Hogan used to call you a superhero. Is this true? CD: Yeah man. The first time that I came back I dove off the cage, and then the next time he saw me I dove off another cage and he started calling me a superhero. And once Frankie and i started tagging together we quickly became an act that he really, really liked and we got the opportunity to do some backstage stuff and some in-ring stuff with him. He was always really complimentary towards all of our stuff and I thought that he was one of our big supporters when he was there. It was very nice of him to go out of his way to make mention of me a few times.
AS: Yeah, he called you a future star in the company. CD: I felt like we were on that track, especially once Frankie and I got together. I feel like he and I were really gelling as a team and getting a good reaction from the fanbase, and we always were being told by the office guys that the stuff we were doing was very entertaining and they couldnt wait to see where we were going next.
On TNA Changes And Management
AS: In a previous interview, you said that Vince Russo said you werent over when you were first let you go, but isnt he the one that put you in the main event against AJ Styles at Final Resolution? CD: Yeah. Theres a lot you can look back on a lot of things that contradicted itself when Vince Russo speaks. In that respect, I think that at that point they knew Hogan was coming in so it was almost lame duck booking. They knew the stuff that they did wasnt going to be important in a month or two so I know there were guys who were just going to put on good wrestling matches in the ring so they went with me and Joe and A.J. for a month and then the promos that we did, they were good enough that they decided to add a singles match with me and A.J. at the end of the year based on the interaction that we had and the reaction we were getting.
AS: Its kind of odd, because a lot of fans think that around that time was maybe the best TNA had been in years if not ever. Then Hogan and Bischoff came in and maybe did things their way and really went more of a sports entertainment route instead of wrestling. CD: Yeah, I mean I wasnt there for a while after that. I left about 2 months after they got in. That was all out of my viewpoint.
AS: During a match with Kurt Angle when it was Hogan and Bischoff in charge you lost in a minute and I was like What the hell is this? CD: I remember that particular match and I remember that Kurt had been injured. They wanted a match with him, and protect where he was at that point so I was the guy the chose. Those things happen and it was just what they needed out of me that day. You never know behind the scenes stories of stuff like that.
AS: At what point were you most high on the future of TNA? CD: I was always really hopeful for the future of TNA. I dont think there was one period of time maybe when we started to tape Impact on the road I thought that was a really good step for us. I remember the first couple of shows being really good and at the same time I felt like Frankie and I were really gelling as a team and as an act. I felt we were doing a lot of really good stuff. So probably around then. I really felt that 2012 was a really good time for us, and not just in terms of characters but we were wrestling guys like A.J. and Angle. We were doing stuff with Ken Anderson a lot. It was a lot of fun in those matches, and a lot of good wrestling matches, and good entertainment behind the scenes and the backstage stuff. So I felt really good at that period of time.
AS: Was it nice getting out of the Impact Zone and getting in front of bigger audiences? CD: Yeah, I felt like you couldnt help but have that energy because a lot of these people it was their first opportunity to see us live. They followed us along on television for so long that finally you get a chance to see that live and there was an energy there. I remember the first night we did Chicago the night that Frankie and I did the Legion of Boom. That whole evening was just electric. That was our first taping impact on the road and I thought it was a great night. We had a lot of nights like that over the course of the next month.