Rohit Raju Interview: IMPACT Journey, X-Division Title Run, Favorite Matches, More

When you were in the Desi Hit Squad, did you ever think an opportunity like this would come about, or were you more focused on making the most of that tag team run at the time?

Raju: I'm always trying to make the most of what's in front of me, but I'm also always thinking about the future. Even right now, how do I evolve? What's next for Rohit? It's less comedy, I can still be entertaining, but I have to be serious too and kind of dig into that Hakim Zane persona I do on the indies, which is more of a chip-on-the-shoulder, bitter, angry individual. Rohit is more loving-life, sometimes clueless on things but can be a real vindictive piece of trash. You constantly have to stay one step ahead and keep evolving and not be stale, so that's exactly what I try to do.

Did having your doubters and naysayers motivate you that much more to prove those people wrong?

Raju: Oh, hell yeah, man. Even now, people say, “This guy sucks.” I love to prove those people wrong. I love to make them eat their words. It was just like when I was first starting to train as a professional wrestler, working non-stop and people saying it's not going to happen. It's funny, as soon as I got signed to IMPACT, so many people came out of the woodwork. As soon as I won the X-Division title, people said they were proud of me.

They want to jump on the bandwagon and act like they've supported you from Day 1. I have maybe four or five real supporters, people that believed in me. It's cool that people are proud of me, but proving people wrong is something I enjoy because I've always been an underdog, especially in wrestling. I'm not a big guy. Wrestlers, fans, they don't care or think I'm going to do anything. To open their eyes or shut these people up, I love it.