Giovanni Vinci was one side-by-side with Gunther.
And El Grande Americano, too.
Technically.
Now, he’s back to Fabian Aichner outside of WWE, after getting released from the company in 2025. During an appearance on INSIGHT with Chris Van Vliet, the former Imperium member reflected on getting the call about his WWE release, why he has stayed quiet since then and his timeline for when he wants to return to the ring.
Featured below are some of the highlights from the interview where he touches on these topics with his thoughts.
How surprised were you by that call that you were getting released? “I was and I wasn’t because, I mean, during the summer of the year previous, I wasn’t on TV, but I knew there was a plan to come back eventually. We did those vignettes and everything, but that didn’t last long, unfortunately. So after that, I noticed when some thoughts started to creep in. I tried to focus on the positive, and I always had high hopes. Like, for example, when the new year started, I know SmackDown went from two hours to three hours, and I was told, you know, there’s a quote from one of the producers, we have all the real estate in the world, there’s just not enough land. Basically, you have all the great wrestlers, there’s just not enough time on the show. So when SmackDown went to three hours, I thought, well, maybe now it’s gonna happen, maybe here’s the chance, and whatever. Then, yeah, I wasn’t needed for TV for a couple of weeks. You don’t want to hear that call. But when it happened, I can’t say that I was really surprised at it. So it was kind of a weird mix of feelings.”
A lot of people, right after their 90 days are up, they hit the Indies, or they start doing conventions. You haven’t done any of that, How do you feel about wrestling right now? “It’s funny, because this is what I wanted to do since I was 13 years old, and when that chapter ended, I knew I wanted to take some time away, but I feel like there’s way more things to do for me. I feel like I haven’t reached my full potential yet. I feel like some people know what I can do, but I know I can do a lot more. I just really wanted to take enough time to not come back and go in halfway. So I definitely work out, I want to wrestle again. I feel like there’s many things still to do, nothing set in stone yet, but when that opportunity comes, I know I’ll be ready for it.”
Do you have a timeline in your own mind of when you want to have another match? “I mean, we’ll see. We’ll see what’s coming up. I did have some talks with a couple of people, some really good talks, and we’ll see. I always believe in the timing of the universe, that everything happens for a reason. Yeah, it’s just a feeling that I got. At some point, I just felt like working out more. At some point, I just felt like dialing in my diet again, just getting more serious with cardio and all those things. I don’t have to force myself to do that. So I know when that opportunity comes, it’ll be the perfect timing. I’ll be in the perfect spot, mentally, physically, and I’m gonna kill it.”
So if you fell in love with WWE when you were a kid, and this is the dream, this is the goal, you’re working your way up through the Indies, you finally get signed by WWE, and you’re there for eight years. Then you get that phone call that you released, that’s got to be heartbreaking? “I mean, it did suck to know that that chapter was over. Especially because you make big sacrifices to come here. You leave your family behind, you move halfway across the world. You start out at the bottom of the ladder again, with people who have never done a roll in their life, basically, even though you’ve been wrestling for six, seven years. But you just got to not let your pride or your ego take over when it comes to that. So you go through the whole process again, eventually get to the main roster, and then it’s so weird, because I really did put a lot of effort into those vignettes, I planned out where to shoot what, where in Vegas with the guys there. I loved how the vignettes turned out. I was super happy with those, and I thought, man, here we go. This is it. This is the time, and then it just went the way it did. So, yeah, just having that thought in your mind, okay, here we go. But then it’s kind of taken away. It sucked. But like I said earlier, it was such an emotional roller coaster leading up to that that it’s okay. I do believe everything happens for a reason. So, especially in wrestling, never say never. So we’ll see what happens from here on out. But I’m more focused on the future and the present now and looking forward to it.”
Right before you got released, you were kind of repackaged. So you had these vignettes that you’re talking about. It’s like Italian elegance. You’re driving a Ferrari in Las Vegas, and then you come out and you lose to Apollo Crews in less than 10 seconds. So what was the original plan with these vignettes and where your character would go? “I thought the plan was to get me going right away, and I didn’t find out about that till basically the day of the show. So at the end of the day, you’re a professional. Whatever the plan is, you try to make the most of it. I do have to say, as far as entrance-wise, that was my favorite entrance I’ve ever done. Because in the group, I always felt a little bit like I tried to fit in. That’s why I didn’t stand out. Whereas with that character that I did in NXT, and it worked great there, doing that on the main roster, I just felt like, Okay, I have some sort of direction, who I am, what I’m supposed to do. Was my favorite entrance, personality-wise, charisma-wise and everything, and then the plan changed the day of. Looking back now, I feel like from a business standpoint, if you look at the positives, it definitely got attention, definitely got people talking. The unfortunate thing for me is just that not more came out of it, because I feel like we could have done a lot of cool stuff with that character on SmackDown. I know Apollo and I could have tore it up in a match. We did in NXT. We did on Main Event. We have great chemistry. It was just things just kept happening. We moved to a different channel two weeks after then the next thing happened. I wasn’t on TV for a little bit. And, yeah, that’s just one of those things that are a little unfortunate. Because I saw myself actually having really good matches with the guys in the United States title picture at the time, like Melo, LA Knight, Andrade at the time. I think we could have done some cool stuff there. But, yeah, it is what it is.”
