I think the reality of the situation is if you're WWE and you're looking for talent, you're going to want the best guys out there, and you're gonna look at Ring Of Honor, because that's where the best talent is.
WWE dropped the ball with 'Tough Enough.'
I think TNA has been an excellent locker room. They have a good mentality, they have a good work ethic, and they try really hard. They're obviously really passionate about wrestling, and there's a huge amount of talent.
The character of Jim 'The Anvil' Neidhart added so much. He was solid in the ring too, really good. His role in the Hart Foundation - he was great. He was a really good, solid power guy that could move in there, too.
Back in the day, when I was getting into the business, you could watch Pro Wrestling Noah. You could watch Ring Of Honor Wrestling, and a lot of people would say, 'the best wrestling in the world is actually at Ring Of Honor.'
I think, without a doubt, whatever anyone says or anyone thinks, Natalya Neidhart is the premier, best woman wrestler.
I have a vision for what I want wrestling to be, and I was fortunate not just to have the opportunity to show my talents at the right time, and not just to have the right opponents, and not just to have the knowledge that the front office has faith in me, but also the good fortune not to get hurt in the middle of all this.
In North America, there aren't too many big places to go, so you find that pretty much all of the best talent in the world ends up filtering through WWE.
Samoa Joe is a good friend of mine, and I'm very impressed with his in-ring abilities.
When I was 17, I got a call from Konnan. He told me that he was about to start up a new promotion called AAA. A lot of the popular wrestlers were going to come to work for him, and he wanted me to be one of them.
Fortunately for me, I discovered Ring of Honor. And I saw guys who were much smaller in stature but were putting on these amazing matches that I had never seen in WWE before. So I thought, at the very least, I'd love the chance to be able to wrestle in a company like that someday.
Actually, a person asked me if I was ever going to come back to WWE. I told them that if I came back, it probably wouldn't be as WWE Superstar, because the young guys are really what it's all about. Bringing me back as an announcer is a great position for me to actually go out and make the young guys bigger stars.
John Cena is one of the great WWE talents that I respect most. If I were to end up there, working with someone of his caliber would certainly be a goal and jive with my mission of changing wrestling.
House Hardy - myself and Brother Nero - are pioneers. My style of booking during early independent bookings was very similar to what 'Ring of Honor' later became, which is what WWE later became.
Bayley helped me a lot in my career, especially in NXT. I had some of my best NXT matches with her, and she definitely helped me develop as a talent, because you're just as good as the person you're in there with.
I'll tell you upfront, I think Shawn Michaels was probably the most gifted worker the business has ever seen.
I've been selling things all my life. I sold wrestling for a long time. I sold the talent and sold the matches.
I love being on 'Smackdown.' I feel like there is so much more opportunity, and we get to tell such fun, interesting stories. Everyone wants to work together to create gold - it's the best locker room I have ever been in throughout my whole career.
Ember Moon is extremely talented, and Daria, from Tough Enough, she's very unique and cool. The fans are going to get behind her. As for Asuka, she is phenomenal.
I try to keep up with everything - all wrestling across the board. I want to know what the competition is doing, what the up-n-comers are doing.
I am a very firm believer in Cody Rhodes. I think he is fantastic, an absolute superstar. Unbelievable in the ring, great timing, great pacing - he's in great physical conditioning, can cut a heck of a promo, and just an all-around good guy.
Chris Candido - besides loving him like a little brother - I used to sit and watch him in awe because it was so effortless for him. He could wake up from a nap and go out and have a five-star match.
Cena is awesome on the mic. When it comes to wrestling in the ring and the technical aspect, I feel as if I blow him away. I feel like I'm more of an athlete.
For anyone watching Ring of Honor out of the gate, they knew when they were watching an ROH event that they were watching a different level of wrestler from what they had seen.
I remember being really hurt by a relative of a good friend of mine when I mentioned that someone was a great wrestler - she said, 'What do you mean? How can you be great at wrestling?' I stopped them and said, 'Do you think that what I do takes no talent whatsoever?' She realized how hurtful those words were.
