AEW star Preston “10” Vance from the Dark Order recently joined Robbie Fox on his My Mom’s Basement podcast to discuss all things pro-wrestling, including how his now iconic mask defined him as a wrestler. Highlights from the interview are below.
On his mask and how he initially hated it:
“When I was presented with it, I hated it. I never wore a mask on the indies. At that point we were heels. We were like this dark cult. I’m not a dark, mysterious person. This isn’t me at all, but I’m not going to say no, obviously. The more I got to do that, I would watch myself on TV, and I’m like, this is actually really cool because now I’m not just a normal looking body guy like all the guys that looked the same in 2005. Now I have this mask. They didn’t want me to hide my identity. They said, ‘Still pose up and be yourself.’ It’s almost like you put the mask on and you’re a different person.’ I’m like, that’s really cool. That makes sense.”
Says the look of the mask comes from pictures fans drew:
“As far as the look goes, all the stuff I wear is pictures that fans drew of me. It’s cool because I’m thinking if I was a kid and I drew something, sent it to my favorite wrestler, and I saw him wear it on TV, I would be like, this is the coolest thing. That’s another aspect to connect with the crowd, not even in a physical way, but in a super sentimental way.”
(H/T and transcribed by WrestlingNews.Co)