Magnus Discusses His Heel Run, Wrestling as a Father, Career

Former TNA World Heavyweight Champion recently was interviewed by WrestlingInc to discuss a multitude of topics related to his wrestling career. Below are a few of the highlights from the first installment.

Magnus touched on his recent heel run as champion and his dissatisfaction with the booking:

“I think that it’s easy to say that I’m critical of the booking or whatever you want to call it. We live in an age where kayfabe is long gone but I still believe in trying to maintain suspension of disbelief. You still have to care about your credibility, regardless of the fact that I have to do whatever I’m asked by the person that’s writing the checks. You still have the responsibility as an independent contractor to protect yourself and protect your credibility. So that was really my issue; that I felt like it didn’t make sense at this point it was very hard to build my credibility, for it to just evaporate before my eyes. But ultimately, I’ve always done what was asked of me. I always did business, even when it came to EY (Eric Young), I was more than happy to do business for him and I think I did business for him very well.”

He was asked about wrestling now that he is a father, as he alongside former WWE Diva and TNA Knockout Mickie James recently had a kid:

“I’m sure in the back of my mind, I’m thinking about staying healthy and being injury-free. But then, I think I’ve always tried to be smart and save the risky stuff or save the big bumps or whatever for when it’s important or when it’s financially viable. I think anyone who is somewhat successful in the business has to sort of think that way a little bit. But I don’t think it’s affected the way that I approach my work in the ring.”

The former champion also touched on his career, noting he feels his progression has gone slower than he wishes:

“Well, for my liking it was too slow but that’s because I’m always putting tons of pressure on myself. I’ve always had little things—like I wanted to do certain things by the time I was 25 and I’ve wanted to do certain things by the time I was 30. One of the things I said once I got into the wrestling was that I need to be a world champion in a significant company before I’m 30 because you only get so many days on this earth and I need to make them count. I had just turned 27 won the title and I was somewhat pleased with that and I had certain financial goals as far as stability and security that I had in mind and some of those I’ve been able to achieve in some degree, as well. I do always put a huge amount of pressure on myself and I’m doing so more than ever after 2014 because, honestly I was spinning my wheels a little bit. There’s multiple reasons for that. But I’m looking at things now and saying, well, I just turned 28 and I’ve got 2 years before I’m 30. A lot of people are probably thinking, ’30? That’s nothing!’ but for me it’s a significant thing.”

Editor’s Note

He’s talented, and has a good look. But his booking as champion was brutal. Made no sense.

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