(Exclusive) Former WWE Superstar praises Roman Reigns and talks AEW
I like to keep things as positive as possible.
I like WWE.
I like AEW.
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Last week, I had the privilege to interview ex WWE wrestler James Ellsworth for Wrestlebuddy. We got to talk about a wide variety of things ranging from what got him in to wrestling, his time in WWE, what he thinks about AEW and other opinions that he has about the state of wrestling right now. When talking with James, you can tell he is very passionate about the business and loves to talk with wrestling fans no matter the topic.
If you haven’t checked out the interview yet, I encourage you to give it a listen so you can get his in depth answers to all the questions asked. Here, I’ll give you a little preview of some of the highlights from this interview in case you want to come back later and check out that interview in full. A link will be provided at the bottom for you to access it.
Thoughts on Roman Reigns:
Very short and simple: Roman is the absolute best thing in all of wrestling. He is performing on a completely different level than everyone else right now and nobody is even close to touching him. The matches with John Cena and Jey Uso were fantastic and really showed how great Roman is at telling stories in the ring.
On Working with Carmella:
He really thinks that there is more story to tell with that pairing and hopes to be able to come back and revisit it one day.
The angle was Carmella’s idea and she approached him to see what he would think about it while he was still doing the angle with AJ Styles. He thought it would be a fun idea and Carmella pitched it to Vince. Obviously, Vince ended up loving the idea and gave them the go ahead to start it once his work with AJ Styles was over. He wasn’t liking the reactions they were getting at first at the house shows. Mella was beating in enhancement talent so the fans were just cheering and that’s not what they had envisioned. When Vince approached them about how to change that, James says he suggested they beat one of the main woman and Vince went with Becky. It worked perfectly and Carmella was on her way to the top.
Once they started catching heat, James wanted to keep it fresh and tried to come up with new and exciting/goofy ways to help. He referenced one idea where he would use a stop sign but scrapped it when he thought the fans might pop for that spot. It was Vince’s idea to go with the Money in the Bank angle which would not only lead to Carmella getting massive heat, but also allow them to milk the match and do another MITB style match on Smackdown. But once James saw the writing on the wall with Mella having the briefcase and being over, he kind of knew his time was probably coming to an end soon. He was right, but thought their was still room to come back in the very near future.
Seven months would go by and he would get to return to assist Carmella in her feud with Asuka. He would help her win a few matches and even end up having a match with Asuka himself.
On AJ Styles:
In his opinion, AJ is the absolute best performer from this era of the last 20 years. There is nothing AJ can’t do and his attention to detail on all the little things is second to none. The way he operates in the ring is smooth and everything he does inside the squared circle makes sense.
He believes his 3 victories over AJ are remembered due to the character he plays. It comes across as unbelievable that he could beat AJ so the fact that he did sticks in the fans mind. When playing a heel on the Indies, he likes to gloat about those victories to the fans which gains him a lot of heat due to the love those indie fans have for AJ Styles.
His ladder match with AJ for the contract is his favorite of the matches he has had with him. He likes the story they were able to tell and points out to a backbreaker AJ hit that was “the most beautiful backbreaker he has ever seen” and then makes reference to the sell job he gave.
On AEW and their rise:
When asked if he was surprised by how quickly AEW has risen, it was an emphatic no. They have pulled in many stars like Chris Jericho, Jon Moxley, CM Punk, Sting, Paul Wight, etc. that the fans know from watching on WWE for the past 15 years. Wrestling is a superstar driven business and they have done a great job at adding those names to their roster.
He is more surprised by the fact that the WWE is not holding on to some of these guys.
He believes that a lot of the 18-49 demographic that AEW is getting is due to them being able to do things that WWE can’t anymore. The blood and language as the two main points in this case.
If he was a young person turning on AEW for the first time, Jungle Boy and Luchasaurus are the names he thinks that would stand out to him the most. As a kid, who wouldn’t think a dinosaur wrestling and a Tarzan friend is cool? He is also a big fan of Marko Stunt and thinks it would be entertaining to pair with MJF as his little lackey.
So there you have it. If you liked those highlights, check out the rest below as there is plenty more points of interest in the interview including: what his good & bad takes on the current state of wrestling, the “war” between WWE and AEW and stories about riding partners between shows.
You can check out the full interview here:
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