IMPACT star Willie Mack was a recent guest on the PWI podcast to talk all things pro-wrestling, including his recent run as X-Division champion. Highlights are below.
On his run as IMPACT X-Division champion:
“Well, it feels great, knowing all the great guys that came out of it like Samoa Joe, AJ Styles, Christopher Daniels and now I am one of the guys that supported that group of people. I used to watch it back in the day on Spike TV and the weekly PPV’s. That was the thing to watch back in the day, the X-Division, and now it is great to be the head of it.”’
On the different styles of wrestling that influenced him:
“I already knew what I wanted to do when I got in before I got in like the little high flying Luchadores. Then I knew I liked the power guys. Then I liked the Japanese striking. I saw the X-Division and I thought that is what I’m going for. When I got trained, I learned everything I could and rolled it into one hybrid style and made it my own.”
On critics discouraging him from working the style he liked:
“A bunch of people told me not to do this style. When you get into wrestling, they want you to be the big power dude and not move around the ring. They want you to be slow and work a heavyweight style but, I never liked it. There are certain people you watch and you think that’s cool if he could move a little bit faster. I played football so everything had to be fast bursts. That’s when I started incorporating Lucha Libre into my matches.”
(H/T and transcribed by Wrestling News)