As a kid, growing up, my heroes all had the Intercontinental Championship. Ultimate Warrior, Bret Hart, Shawn Michaels, Mr. Perfect, Ric Rude, all of them. And they were the people I looked up to and wanted to be like.
When I was a kid, I wanted to be a pro wrestler. Other kids wanted to be cops and astronauts, but I wanted to be Hulk Hogan, the Ultimate Warrior, 'Macho Man' Randy Savage, Brutus 'The Barber' Beefcake, and Jake 'The Snake.' I wanted to be those guys! I used to tape matches on my trampoline and body-slam my brother.
When I was growing up, I was a big Ultimate Warrior fan; I liked Macho Man Randy Savage and a lot of other bad dudes.
I was a big fan of Bret Hart growing up, and Shawn Michaels, the Undertaker, Triple H. I've probably drawn from them when I was younger.
Mostly the guys I worked with like wrestling AJ Styles, Jamie Noble, wrestling Chavo Guerrero, wrestling Rey Mysterio... As much as I try to be an individual or unique I can't deny the strong effect these guys have all had on me.
Early, when I first started wrestling, I wanted to be a combination of Sting and the Ultimate Warrior: The Ultimate Warrior's craziness and weird personality and Sting's coolness and the way he carried himself to the ring. But then later on, when it came to physicality and athleticism, Shawn Michaels topped the cake.
I think one of the most consistent answers for any of the girls when they're asked 'who do you want to wrestle' is Beth Phoenix - but that was never really the case for me, as far as an opponent or dream opponent. For me, that was always Molly Holly, Lita and Awesome Kong/Kharma.
It's no secret that the IWGP Junior Heavyweight Championship is a huge dream of mine. There's been so many guys I looked up to - Pegasus Kid, Owen Hart, Liger, Prince Devitt, Kota Ibushi... the best of the best have held that belt.
