Kenny King Says His Match With Silas Young Will Be More Like a Fight, Talks ROH’s Growth & More

– Kenny King spoke with WrestleZone Radio for a new interview promoting his match with Silas Young at ROH Supercard of Honor. Highlights are below:

On challenging Silas Young to a Last Man Standing Match at Supercard of Honor: “I wanted that match. This is the very first Last Man Standing Match in my career. At some point enough has to be enough. Silas and I have been going back and forth over the ROH World Television Title for months and it’s gone from one man trying to be better than the other to something beyond even the title at this point. It’s going to be two men who walk into New Orleans and beat each other until one man can’t get up. That’s what it has to be at this point I think. Silas is a heck of a wrestler, he’s a real tough guy but at this point I feel like he is trying to test my manhood. It’s like how the kids say, ‘He’s trying to test my gangsta.’ I wanted this match because a wrestling match clearly is not going to do. Silas and I have been fighting in wrestling matches and I have been able to come out ahead of him more times which is why I am the current ROH World Television Champion. I don’t think it’s about wrestling anymore. It’s about who has the will and who will be the better man. That’s what I have to show Silas Young in his own match.”

On how he’s preparing for this match as opposed to a traditional match: “It’s definitely more of a fight. Your cardiovascular has to be up because we aren’t just going to be going hold to hold. We are going to be throwing strikes and I am going to hit him with whatever I can get my hands on. I don’t want to give away too much of my game plan here but if I can soften him up with a few submission holds and just wear him down in those… it takes a lot to get out of my submissions. It takes a lot of energy. If I can wear him down with my technique and then punish him. I want to wear him down and beat him down. I don’t even know if I’ll wear boots. I’ve been watching a lot of old movies like The Last Dragon and Kickboxer. All these old movies are my inspiration. All of those old tough guy movies. He’s going to have to kill me if he wants to beat me.”

On Louisiana State Athletic Commission’s rules that have been imposed on non-ROH and WWE events: “I look at it like this, Athletic Commissions are probably an outdated relic from the last era. So, there’s that. Is it necessary? I dunno, not with the quality of guys out there. I can see why they would put something like that in place but when you look at the quality of some of the guys on these shows… you aren’t going to tell Jeff Cobb or Keith Lee, who are A level pros, that they don’t know what they are doing. That you are going to restrict their movement. With that being said, it’s the rules of the game and you gotta do what you gotta do. As a pro wrestling trainer I will say that if you are worried about the moves you can’t do then you are worrying about the wrong things.”

On The Kingdom being banned from Supercard of Honor: “As a former member of a faction known as The Rebellion I can attest first hand that there may or may not be, at times, some bias in the ROH offices. I don’t necessarily know what the deal is with The Kingdom but I know Matt, Vinny and TK and I know they are pretty good guys. Do they get on their BS sometimes? Sure. But to ban those guys from Supercard… I feel like Matt Taven is one of our best guys, The Kingdom is one of our best factions and to not have them representing Ring of Honor on one of their biggest weekends… there’s something behind that.”

On Bully Ray’s performance as ROH’s enforcer: “I’ve known Bully Ray for a long time. I’ve worked with Bully in a couple different places and one thing I know about Bully is that he is no-nonsense. Bully is going into the WWE Hall of Fame and he could just be relaxing and kicking back with his post-wrestling life. Bully walks around ROH, looks around and I feel like he’s looking around the old ECW locker room. I feel like he’s sees so much of the old ECW in ROH that he wants to make it as good as possible. That’s why he has taken on this role because he wants to make sure that ROH remains pure.”

On the growth of Ring of Honor in the past year: “My very first match in ROH was in 2008. I took a break and came back in 2015 but the steam and momentum ROH has had ever since I came back is unlike anything I have ever seen. Year after year there is never a lull. More and more fans keep coming and the product just continues to grow. Supercard is a really good example of that. So many big matches. So many big stories and feuds are coming to a head at this one show. It’s going to possibly change the landscape of Ring of Honor afterwards. The fact that the fans are making this our most attended show of all time is the real testament. We can’t do what we do without feeding off of them. It’s been really great for me to watch.”