The Revival Discuss Working The Indies, Their Training, Favorite Tag Teams Growing Up, More

– NXT tag team champions The Revival appeared on the Steve Austin Show (transcript via wrestlezone.com), here are the highlights…

Dawson Being Trained by the Maestro: I broke in with him in 2004 and he helped me out a lot. He preached to me a lot of the old school style, but I was also trained by George South out of Charlotte, and he comes from the NWA territory, he worked with Flair, he worked with Arn, he worked with Tully, and if I messed up in the ring, or if he even saw me put a match together in the back he would criticize me, beat me down and make sure that I felt like crap because I wasn’t calling it in the ring, so coming from that background it allowed me to think on my own, to think on my feet. Also, ever since I was 3 years old I was a huge wrestling fan. I remember, I can vividly remember Gordon Solie interview with Ric Flair, I lived in Stone Mountain, Georgia. That kind of wrestling is what made me a fan, and there’s a lyric, it’s called, I’m not a walk behinder, I’m a new note finder, and I feel like a lot of guys, they are so entrenched with the product today, and see the reaction that they are getting so it is easy to follow that, and easy to do the same thing, but for me, I want people to remember me being different. So, if I’m doing the stuff that people don’t remember anymore, like from 1984, then the people will remember that match.

On Surviving on The Independent Scene: I worked a few side jobs at the same time because I knew at the time that wrestling was not going to pay the bills, but I looked at it like an investment on myself. You kind of look at it like as a Doctor. They are going to school for 6 to 8 years and are losing tons of money, tons of debt, but when they finally get that degree, finally get that job, it’s all worth it. So, I figured that I would use that knowledge, use that experience as knowledge that I was getting, so when we got to WWE that would be the final product where we finally get to make money and it would finally pay off for us.

Dawson on Growing Up a Fan:My dad loved Ric Flair, I mean, he was enamored with Ric Flair, so I was always a Ric Flair fan, and I grew up watching the Crocketts. I watched a little WWF, but the blood and the guts of wrestling were the Crocketts for me. I distinctly remember, even as much as I loved the Crocketts and the NWA, but I remember when I wanted to be a wrestler by watching King of the Ring 93 and I watched Bret Hart wrestle 3 of the greatest matches of his entire life, and through those matches, he told an incredible story, like, he went in first with Razor Ramon, his fingers were breaking down, he went into the ring with Mr Perfect, his ribs started breaking down, then went into the ring with Bam Bam Bigelow and with his ribs and fingers taped up, they’re cracked, he goes in the ring with a 300 lb monster and just has heat put all over him, throughout the whole match. He makes some comebacks, but finally in the end of the match, Luna comes in and hits him with a chair, 1,2,3 but then a reverse decision from the ref, they restart the match, victory roll, then I jump up from my couch and I said to my mom that this is what I want to do for a living. All I could think about when I was in school was wrestling, honest to God, I was really good with school, but all I could think about was professional wrestling, that’s it.

On Dash’s Favorite Tag Team Growing Up: Hollywood Blondes. I hated you guys (referring to Austin) and after a while I loved you guys. I was the ultimate fan. Whenever it was time to flip, I would do it with you, but you guys were one of my favorite tag team’s to watch. The Brain Busters, the Midnight Express and Rock & Roll Express. Midnights and Rock & Roll, my Granny watched more than anything. Even the Steiner Brothers, any team that was around back then, there was something for everybody. Even though I will never be the side of the Road Warriors, they were so fascinating to watch, you can learn from them also.