OVW’s Dimes on Not Being Able to Wrestle During the Pandemic, Discusses Al Snow Having Talks With Kentucky on OVW

During a recent exclusive interview with the 411 Wrestling Interviews Podcast, the OVW Rush Division champion Dimes discussed his career, dealing with not being able to wrestle during the COVID-19 pandemic, and more. Below are some highlights and audio from the interview:

Dimes on being a pro wrestler during the COVID-19 pandemic: “It’s definitely aggravating. There’s that itch of wanting to do it. And I do have people that I train with that we do have a ring in Indiana, but it’s not regulated or anything like that. So, you know, being able to wrestle in front of a crowd than just training with a couple of your partners or your buddies. We at OVW, we’ve started planning, putting contingency plans for the coronavirus, letting in a certain amount of people. Now, we just have to hope for the state to let us wrestle again, so hopefully it’s soon.”

Dimes on if there’s a projected date when OVW might start running again and talks between Al Snow and Kentucky: “No, not right now. Our owner, Al Snow, just had a meeting with the state the other day and kind of laid out, ‘Hey, this is everything that we’ve had in place. All of the talent and all of the workers that we have at OVW have filled out a document saying all of the different precautions we have in place and that we have read it that we know there is a plan to keep everybody safe.’ So, it’s really up to the state right now, but hopefully, within a month — because I know that shows are running in other states. Like in Indiana, there’s shows running today, tomorrow, so you know, hopefully the state of Kentucky can see that we are truly a professional company and that we’ve put all these precautions to keep not only the wrestlers safe, but the fans safe as well.”

Dimes on if the pandemic makes a case for a wrestling offseason and wrestlers having time to heal from injury: “Yeah, sure. I can see the positives in it. I could see like a company, like WWE, you have all this talent, and instead of making all the talent work the whole year, maybe just book them for nine months. And in that three months, give other people the opportunities and kind of cycle it in and out like that. You know, with the pandemic and everything, that was just kind of forced upon us. And I will say, training the past couple times has been really hard on me cardio wise, which is usually never an issue, but you know, being in the ring twice in the past three months, it’s definitely very difficult. So, that’s like a negative to it. But you know, my body has healed up a little bit. There were little injuries, just things that hurt, not necessarily things that can stop me from wrestling, but they have healed up a little bit. So, I guess that is a positive in that pandemic situation.”

Dimes on if it will be a re-learning or adjustment period when shows start up again for him: “I wouldn’t say relearning. It’s more just timing, stuff like that, especially with my cardio. I trained last weekend with Rip Rogers up in Indianapolis, and it was mostly just the cardio of it, and we were sort of outside. We were in a garage, but sort of outside, so it was hot too. And it’s just very difficult to get back into that shape because as much as I do a stair stepper or a treadmill at the gym, that’s not the same as all the different body movements that are needed in a wrestling match. So just wrestling a 10-minute match is incredibly difficult now because of the time off. But hopefully, soon enough, I’ll be able to train on a more regular basis, and I’ll be back in shape.”

In the full interview, Dimes talks wanting eventual opportunities with WWE or AEW, training under Al Snow in OVW and how Snow has changed the company, his teaming and rivalry with Corey Storm, his aspirations to join AEW or WWE, and more.

And if you’re enjoying all of our recent interviews with names like Jim Ross, Chris Jericho, Gail Kim, Dark Side of the Ring producer Evan Husney, the Von Erichs, Martha Hart, and Stu Bennett and want to support us getting more interviews with big names in wrestling, please leave us a 5 star review on Apple Podcasts, it only takes a few seconds to do and really helps us out!

If you use any of the quotes in this article, please credit the 411 Wrestling Interview Podcast on 411mania.com and please embed our podcast player or YouTube video.

0:00: Intro
1:56: On how things are going for him right now amid the COVID-19 pandemic
2:59: On if there’s a date when OVW may be able to reopen and start running shows again
4:06: On growing up as a wrestling fan and how he ended up pursuing a career in the industry
5:29: On his biggest trainers and mentors in wrestling and the origin of his ring name
6:34: On how Al Snow has changed OVW, training under him and lessons he’s learned from Snow
9:15: On if the pandemic makes a case for an off-season by giving people time to heal up, the difficulty of getting back in ring form after time off
12:00: On working with Corey Storm and their chemistry together in the ring
13:35: On which wrestlers informed his ring style and inspired him
14:40: On his goals in wrestling and aspirations for WWE or AEW, wanting to help build up OVW
16:15: On if Storm is going to take it personally that he made Storm hand over the Rush Division title, a possible rematch
18:34: On how the wrestling industry may look following the pandemic, the importance for OVW to be one of the first companies back
20:43: On where to find him online, his charity work during the pandemic
23:13: Outro

You can subscribe and listen to the 411 Wrestling Interviews Podcast via the above player on Transistor, or on the following platforms:
* Apple Podcasts
* Spotify
* Stitcher
* Google Play