Wednesday PWTorch Livecast with Pat McNeill
Guest: TNA’s Aiden O’Shea (a/k/a Jay Bradley)
Aired Live: October 21, 2015
DIRECT LINK TO LISTEN/DOWNLOAD
Recap by Dominic DeAngelo
HOT TOPICS IN THE SHOW
– TNA & Aiden O’Shea
– Current State of Pro Wrestling
– What is WWE Doing Wrong?
SUBJECTS COVERED
(2:30) Pat McNeil Intro
(4:15) Aiden O’Shea Introduction
(8:15) Why didn’t Resistance Pro Wrestling can full national exposure?
(9:35) Who is Aiden’s favorite current wrestler not associated with TNA?
(10:50) Who suggested Aiden for the MyNetwork TV van incident?
(12:50) Aiden’s thoughts on the TNA Knockouts in the World Title Series
(14:30) If Aiden could pick one wrestler to work with on the Indian tour who would it be?
(15:45) Is it true Bobby Lashley already won the tournament?
(19:00) Low Raw ratings
(26:10) Has Aiden ever suffered an injury in TNA’s ring?
(27:40) Who’s challenging John Cena at Hell In A Cell?
(33:55) Mark Henry’s retirement
(36:10) What is Aiden’s favorite wrestling moments of 2015?
(38:00) Who is the best wrestler in OVW?
(40:35) Why has WWE had problems creating new stars?
(45:30) Aiden’s time in Pro Wrestling Guerilla
(47:00) Does Aiden keep in touch with CM Punk or Colt Cabana?
(49:00) Global Force Wrestling
(51:00) Working in Japan
(53:45) Process of Jay Bradley to Aiden O’Shea
(56:05) Bound For Glory
SHOW HIGHLIGHTS
– Aiden is in the TNA World Title Series. He is currently helping out in OVW, a few independent dates in Milwaukee and down south. He is waiting to hear TNA’s final roster for the India Tour, but that is pretty much it. TNA is the main focus right now. Pat mentions that he may have to fight Khali on the India tour and Aiden says he actually fought Khali several times. He doesn’t want to feel those chops again!
– Pat hopes we’ll get to see some footage of the India tour. Aiden says the people are hungry for it.
– Kylin calls in: why didn’t Resistance Pro Wrestling get full national exposure while Aiden was there? Aiden wasn’t involved, but he knew there was a falling out in the company, maybe that had something to do with it? He doesn’t have any ties to them anymore, but after the initial deal with AMC fell through, that was pretty much it for their chance at a bigger audience.
– Who is Aiden’s favorite current wrestler not associated with TNA? Hard question since he’s not as into the scene as he once was, but he does like Nakamura and Tanahashi. They were just starting in NJPW when he was training in the L.A. dojo. He got to train with Nakamura back then and was really impressed.
– Who suggested Aiden for the infamous MyNetworkTV van incident? O’Shea believes that it was Michael Hayes – there was an unaired portion for that segment – he was supposed to be rescued out of the van by Bam Neely and they would start a tag team together. Unfortunately that fell through and it never happened.
– What’s Aiden’s opinion on the TNA Knockouts being in the World Title Series Tournament? Aiden’s kind of mixed on it – he’s not a fan of the current trend of women taking on men. He says most treat it as just another wrestling match and there’s no allure to it. He hopes TNA doesn’t go that route, because realistically they couldn’t take a man of his physicality on. He does think it’s cool that they’re getting a chance to showcase their talent, so we’ll see what develops.
– If Aiden could pick one wrestler to work with on the Indian tour it would be Mahabali Shera. He’s supposedly pretty popular, but that dance is ridiculous and he’d like to punch him square in the mouth. He’d love to do it in his hometown so his parents can watch. Pat gets a kick out Aiden’s heelish rant.
– Is it true Bobby Lashley already won the tournament? Aiden thinks it’s all just a rumor. He knows the people that won as far as the wildcard bracket goes, but he doesn’t have any knowledge of any other brackets. He gets why people are so passionate, but you can’t believe everything you read. Pat adds that nothing is official until it gets aired on TV because he’s pretty sure nothing was taped in order. Aiden’s not trying to pull the wool over anyone’s eyes, but they taped everything in eight days, and some of them were 20 matches in. Aiden kind of likes that unpredictability, it makes it exciting.
– Pat says that there are some positives about today’s wrestling business, but one thing that isn’t is the record-low Raw ratings. Aiden says looking at it, they brought out the heavy artillery of talent, but things like DVR and streaming has changed some of the landscape. It’s harder to get attention nowadays. Aiden doesn’t think wrestling will go anywhere and WWE will be everywhere, but that doesn’t mean there still can’t be a Pepsi to WWE’s Coke.
– Did Aiden ever get hurt in a TNA ring due to it being six-sided and a potentially stiffer mat? No, he hasn’t – the only thing he notices are the ropes are a little bit tighter and it takes a little bit to get acclimated with the change of scenery.
– Who’s going to challenge John Cena at HIAC? What Pat would like to see is Dean Ambrose challenge and win. Aiden doesn’t have a clue, but will go with Ambrose. From a business and talent standpoint, it’s time for them to develop some new stars. They’ve done big moments with the two other Shield members, but Ambrose still needs that moment. Pat paints the scenario where they have the match and the Wyatts come out and “injure” Cena. Boris from Chicago brings up Cena’s previous exit with the elbow injury and how even then they stifled many wrestlers’ development – he’d like to see Sandow or Cesaro win it. He brings up the Intercontinental Title and says how surprised Owens got Henry up for the pop-up powerbomb. Pat says Henry made Owens look like a star (which is what they should be doing). What does Aiden think of Sasha Banks? Aiden can’t comment since he hasn’t seen enough of her. Pat says WWE is handling her differently than NXT is and that’s how it goes. Pat warns Boris that maybe Cena won’t go away due to the Randy Orton injury.
– When Mark Henry retires will they give him a special moment or angle? Also what do they think of Tenzan’s retirement? Pat speculates Mark Henry’s retirement match may be at WrestleMania 32 in his home state of Texas. As far as Tenzan, he thinks they’ll do a good job at Tenzan’s retirement. Aiden agrees – Tenzan has been great for NJPW, he would expect them to give him a real nice send-off, perhaps even a role as an ambassador for the company down the line.
– What is Aiden’s favorite wrestling moments of 2015? He just enjoys the fact that there is so much wrestling to consume out there, even if it’s not as popular as it was in the Attitude Era. Some things you have to really search for, plus wrestlers are appearing for different companies from week to week and all that adds to the excitement.
– Aiden really enjoys Jamin Olivencia from OVW. He’s not quite there yet, but there’s something about him that makes him work. He’s a short, fiery Latino babyface and he’d love to see him get a shot somewhere. Who else would he enjoy? Aiden mentions Ryan Howe (he did Tough Enough a couple years back). Very different and unique with a throwback style. There’d be a few tweaks Aiden would make with his persona, but he’s got a lot of potential. There’s a referee named Chris Sharpe who’s very ring savvy. A quality ref can really enhance an event.
– Why does Aiden think WWE has had problems creating new stars since that was something they’ve always been pretty good at? Aiden doesn’t think that they’ve always been good at creating new stars (Pat clarifies that they had the reputation at least), he said that after about 2002 there has been a trickle effect. He doesn’t know if it’s the people evaluating talent, if it’s the writers or if it’s the viewers’ “want it now” mentality. He could always speculate, but there are a handful of guys without any build-up. You look at guys like Cesaro and Dolph who have all the potential but they cannot break through that glass ceiling.
– Did Aiden speculate Pro Wrestling Guerilla would get as popular as it did? He didn’t, but he knew it was something special. It had and still has the vibe of being the breaking ground for new talent. He had no idea that it would develop into the cult following that it is now. That’s a testament to the creative minds of the people running it.
– Does Aiden keep in touch with C.M. Punk or Colt Cabana? He doesn’t, as people grow and go their separate ways. He saw Colt at a GFW show not too long back and last time he saw Punk was when he did an appearance at a Chicago benefit for a mutual friend. It doesn’t surprise him that they’ve found their niche and they’re able to do it on their terms. He’s intrigued by Punk’s UFC venture – he hopes that he sees Punk compete well, but part of him is pessimistic because of the wear and tear on his body. He want’s to see the reaction from MMA fans and wrestling fans
– Aiden’s time in Global Force went well and if the opportunity presented itself where he could work for them again he would. Once they get a TV deal domestically, more opportunities could pop up. He mentions that when he did the GFW shows that it almost felt like an all-star game with all of wrestling’s free agents. They had talent from all over, and with Global Force you’ll get a good show, but he’ll be interested to see how it goes when the TV component kicks in.
– How did Aiden feel about working in Japan? Would he like to go back? Aiden would love to go back – he actually was supposed to be working all of last year with Wrestle 1, but they lost some business sponsorship which halted that, but he’d love to go back. His initial Wrestle1 tour was wonderful – he spent three weeks in the southern half of the country and hung out with the Great Muta. Being so big he stood out so people would be running up to him all the time. He was treated so well during his time there. He’d jump at the chance to do it again.
– What was the process of TNA creating the Aiden O’Shea character for him instead of Jay Bradley? It was a brainstorm between him and Billy Corgan. Billy wanted him back in the company and went to the bosses that be to bring him in. They looked at what they could do differently so they kept his ring work and promo work relatively the same, but what about a different paint job? They used Fight Club and his Irish heritage as a backdrop (working class Irish is a big part of south side Chicago). After John Gaburick saw footage they brought him back into the mix.
– What was special about being in Bound for Glory’s gauntlet match? Aiden thinks that the fact that he was just back in TNA felt pretty special. He knows that the PPV was thought to be mixed with a lot of pros and cons, but he thought it was strong from his perspective. The show had a lot of variety and the crowd was into it – it was a lot of fun and the locker room vibe was positive despite negative reports. He sees a lot of hungry talent looking to establish themselves. He felt that vibe wasn’t there in 2013. Pat mentions the paycheck issues, and Aiden thinks that was definitely part of it. Aiden thinks they have a core group of guys that they could build the product around, he believes they’ll be fine. Pat says BFG had to be a moment of validation for him, and Aiden felt that way too.
– Follow Aiden on Twitter @AidenOSheaTNA. Should have more social media coming up soon!
SCORE & REVIEW
7 out of 10: Clunky questions rose their ugly head again, but Pat and Aiden kept their heads above water to tread to a successful interview. Aiden (a/k/a Jay Bradley) clearly has a good wrestling IQ and isn’t afraid to voice his opinion on matters that some wrestlers would typically try to steer clear from. He was respectful yet critical of the current WWE product and gave his thoughts on the problems that are carried when women wrestle men. Something that backed up his strong knowledge for the business was when Pat asked who impressed him in OVW and he mentions a referee – I thought that was refreshing to hear.
However, the most interesting part of interview came from the last seven minutes where Aiden describes the creation of his current TNA character and also mentions the positive mindset of the TNA locker room despite what people say. As someone who hasn’t watched TNA in several years, this interview made me at least want to catch clips of Aiden O’Shea. It’s a good show overall, but if you’re tight on time at least give the last seven minutes a tune-in.
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