TNA Wrestling iMPACT! on Spike TV October 15, 2005- Preview!

 With this being one week from TNA's biggest show in the three year plus history of the company, iMPACT! is coming to you from Universal Studios in Orlando, Florida for another action packed exciting night of professional wrestling action.

THE MAIN EVENT

We learned last week on iMPACT! that "The Fallen Angel" Christopher Daniels would take on three guys of AJ Styles' choosing as a preview for the 30 Minute Iron Man match at Bound for Glory. The match will take place this week on iMPACT! as the main event. Who will AJ Styles choose as Daniel's opponents? Find out on iMPACT! this Saturday...

This is a match that I want to see....

"THe Homicidal, Genocidal, Suicidal" Sabu vs. "The Man Beast" Rhino

Two hardcore icons will wrestle this week on iMPACT! in a preview for the Monster's Ball match at Bound for Glory! It should be an amazing match. Remember that at Unbreakable, Rhino was the number one contender for the NWA World Heavyweight Championship. This promises to be an exciting match.

"The Alpha Male" Monty Brown returns to action this week on iMPACT! His opponent has not been announced, but we should be looking at a chance to see Brown in action for the second time on iMPACT! on Spike TV

Matt Bentley (Accompanied by Traci) vs. David Young

This should be a pretty interesting match. David Young is a member of Diamonds in the Rough, and Bentley is heading into the Ultimate X Match at Bound for Glory.

Also we learned that America's Most Wanted will have a funeral for Team 3D after last week's beatdown....

All this and more on TNA iMPACT! on Spike TV

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AN EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEW WITH TEAM CANADA’S “A1”

On Tuesday prior to TNA’s “iMPACT!” tapings in Orlando, Florida, Bill Banks sat down with Team Canada powerhouse “A1” to discuss a number of subjects. In this TNAwrestling.com interview, you’ll read about the background of the TNA star, his ventures into the world of bodybuilding as well as his thoughts on the rest of Team Canada and much more.

BB: Where are you from originally?

A1: I was born in Placentia Bay, Newfoundland – then we moved to a place to Dunnville, Ontario when I was five, which is close to Niagara Falls. I pretty much grew up in Niagara Falls. In 1996 I moved to Windsor to attend the University.

BB: What did your parents do for a living?

A1: My dad was born in England. He was an engineer. My mother was a housewife who looked after us all at home.

BB: How many brothers or sisters?

A1: I have a half-brother and half-sister

BB: What kind of kid were you growing up?

A1: I was into a lot of sports. I swam and played football…and sports I could play. I was a decent student. I got good enough grades to make it into the university. The reason I went to the university was to play football, but I ended up having to walk away because I had to go back home every summer to work and the university was very strict on training throughout that time.

BB: So you went to the university to play football but were unable due to finances? That must have been tough on you personally.

A1: Yes, my life up until that point I had played sports and worked out. I really wanted to do something involving my body because I was very athletic. When I went to talk to the coach about it, he told me I needed to be there in August to play football, but I couldn’t. I had to make money to support myself.

BB: So did you have to cut sports out entirely while you attended the university?

A1: Yes, but I still worked out all the time. I enjoyed working out and being in the gym. But I couldn’t do competitive sports anymore.

BB: Are you a longtime wrestling fan?

A1: Yes, ever since my dad turned wrestling on the television for the first time when I was a kid.

BB: Who were some of your favorites?

A1: Hulk Hogan, Jesse Ventura, Jimmy Snuka, Don Muraco and Rick Rude. The larger-than-life guys with the physiques really captured my attention. It’s what motivated me to start working out and hitting the gym.

BB: How the decision to get into wrestling come about?

A1: As a kid, I always dreamed of being a wrestler but I never thought of it as a real possibility. But the desire grew as I got older, and you only get one shot at life so I didn’t want to look back someday and regret not doing it. I happened to meet some students that were attending the Can-Am Wrestling School run by Scott D’Amore, and I talked to them a lot about it. I really wanted to give it a try and I did. I was working at the time and done with university, so I figured I had nothing to lose to give it a shot.

BB: What did your family think about your decision?

A1: They supported me. I’m sure they would have loved to see me take a safer direction in life, but they were always behind me. They knew how much I loved wrestling.

BB: I heard you won the first bodybuilding competition you ever entered – is that true?

A1: Yes. I had a lot of friends who were into bodybuilding, and they were always doing competitions in Canada. Each competition had different levels of competition, a Level 1, Level 2, etc. Level 4 is the last, and if you win that you can go pro and compete on a national level. The “Level 1” show that year was in Windsor, and two of my friends had won it before. So I thought it would be cool if I could join them. At the time, I was wrestling for D’Amore on a part-time basis, so I gave it a try. If I won, I thought it might be a good accolade to have as a wrestler in Windsor. When I started training, I was overweight for the competition. I was 272 pounds at the time – to make weight I had to get down to 210 pounds. So, thirteen weeks out from the competition I was in the gym nonstop every day, two workouts daily. I did massive amounts of cardio and was super-strict with my diet. I could still wrestle until about 4 weeks out from the competition, but after that my body was way too drained and tired from the intense training. A lot of people don’t realize how taxing bodybuilding is on your body when you’re getting ready for a competition. Physically, you’re depleted – but you have to stand up there and hold poses…really give it your all.

BB: At any point did you say to yourself “Why am I doing this to myself?”

A1: No, because I’m very competitive – but it wasn’t easy at all. All you think about while you’re training is food, but you have to be strict on your diet. You turn on the television and you see commercials for Wendy’s, McDonald’s and Pizza Hut and it drives you crazy. But, overall it was a great experience because I won the competition.

BB: So you win your first competition after going through all that – did you want to keep doing it?

A1: Well, to be honest I knew that physically I didn’t have the genetics needed to make a professional career from bodybuilding. I wanted to keep going to the next level, but I knew the guys out there who made the big money were beyond me genetically.

BB: When was your first match as a wrestler?

A1: It was at a place in Windsor called “Diamonds” against a guy named Bobby Clancy. That was in the summer of 2001 for Border City Wrestling. I did a lot of shows in Ontario and in Michigan.

BB: How well did you know the rest of the guys from Team Canada when you started out?

A1: Me and Petey Williams joined the school at the same time, so I’ve always been tight with him. I got to know Bobby Roode and Eric Young very quickly from traveling to events with them all over Ontario and Michigan.

BB: Talk about coming into TNA for the first time, then joining Team Canada

A1: I came to TNA for the first time in the summer of 2004 for a match against Sabu. So, I was familiar with all the guys from Team Canada but I was still nervous being in a new environment and having to prove myself. Since then, all of us in Team Canada have been tight. Behind the scenes we’re the same cohesive unit you see on camera. We came up together and we’re all having a blast helping to take TNA to the next level.

BB: Give me your brief thoughts on each member of Team Canada, starting with Coach D’Amore.

A1: A great trainer, disciplined and very smart.

BB: Petey Williams

A1: The leader. Very creative when it comes to matches.

BB: Bobby Roode

A1: The intimidator of the group, both on and off camera.

BB: Eric Young

A1: Just plain crazy and entertaining to watch

BB: Outside of TNA, what has been the most memorable moment of your career?

A1: There’s so many that I can’t narrow it down. I will say some of the most memorable moments for me – outside of joining TNA of course – have been getting to wrestle some of the legends I grew up watching. I’ve wrestled Hacksaw Duggan, Honky Tonk Man, Jim Neidhart – a lot of guys. There’s just something about getting in the ring to wrestle some of those greats.

BB: On the flipside, what’s been a low-point in your career? Did you ever think of hanging up the boots and walking away?

A1: There was one time, yes. It was actually just before I came to TNA. Before the TNA opportunity came up, I had wrestled some dark matches for WWE. The locker room in WWE was a strange atmosphere – everyone was very standoffish. It didn’t seem like a very pleasant place. At the time I had been questioning my decision to get into wrestling, so the bad experience I had with them didn’t help at all. After that, I was very depressed about the entire situation. I guess I expected more from it. I got home and wondered what to do next with life – should I get another job? I happened to be sitting on my bed thinking about all of this when my phone rang next to me. It was Scott D’Amore, who told me they had a spot for me with TNA. That was really bizarre, but tremendous luck as well. To go from being depressed one second to completely overjoyed the next was crazy.

BB: If there’s one person you’d like to wrestle right now, who would it be?

A1: Coach D’Amore still owes me a match (laughs). Before I signed with TNA, we were scheduled for match in Canada but the show got cancelled last minute. He still owes me that one, though.

BB: Outside of wrestling, what’s been the most memorable moment in your life so far?

A1: Meeting my girlfriend. She set me straight in life and helped me to focus on the important things. When you have someone there to support you in life it means everything. We’ve been together for four years now.

BB: Last question, when all is said and done in your career, how would you like the fans to remember you?

A1: A great wrestler and someone who gave back to the fans the same enjoyment I got when I was growing up watching wrestling. Someday, when fans go through magazines and see my photo, I want them to remember me along with the rest of the stars of our time. To me, that would make my career worthwhile.

Credit: TNAWrestling.com

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As of tonight we are exactly ten days away from TNA's biggest show Bound for Glory. Here below is the card for the pay-per-view.

NWA World Heavyweight Title Match
Jeff Jarrett vs. Kevin Nash
Special Guest Referee Tito Ortiz

X Division Championship Ironman Match
"The Phenomenal" AJ Styles (c) Vs. "The Fallen Angel" Christopher Daniels

The Ultimate X Returns
Matt Bentley Vs. Chris Sabin Vs. Petey Williams
Winner Becomes The X Division #1 Contender

Monster's Ball 2
Abyss With James Mitchell Vs. Jeff Hardy Vs. Rhino Vs. Sabu

International Showdown
Samoa Joe Vs. Jushin "Thunder" Liger

More Matches To Be Anounced Soon!

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