Impact’s Dave Crist Talks Not Getting Signed by WWE, How He & His brother Signed With Impact

Impact’s Dave Crist recently spoke with the Pancakes and Powerslams Show, discussing he and his brother not getting signed by WWE and how they ended up with Impact Wrestling…

On Starting Out as a Backyard Wrestler: “One afternoon, my brother [Jake] and I decided that we were going to start backyard wrestling, which [was] a completely bad idea, but whatever,” said Crist. “So, I was in welding class, I welded a ring together. We put a ring in the barn, [the barn] that we ended up training in. The news actually, News Center 7, came out and did a story about us, about backyard wrestling, and how bad and dangerous backyard wrestling was. But when they saw us, we actually had an entranceway, we used lights, we used a lot of things that tried to make us look like professionals.”

On Meeting With Tommy Dreamer & Trying to Get Into WWE: “[Dreamer] said that he was really impressed by us, but we were way too small to even be considered to be a developmental talent,” Crist explained. “[Dreamer] goes, ‘But, I can probably put in a word in for you with Gabe Sapolsky at Ring of Honor. Let me give him a call, and give me your number and I’ll let you know how that goes.’ And then, he got a hold of us a few weeks later, and he was like,’ Yeah, Gabe said you guys would be good for Dayton. So, if you guys want to do Ring of Honor in Dayton, you’re more than welcome to go give it a shot.'”

On Scott D’Amore, Sonjay Dutt, and Abyss bringing Then In To Impact: “They got a hold of me, and they were just like, ‘Hey, we’re not interested in giving you a tryout,'” said Crist. “And I was kind of real bummed, because they had talked about giving us a tryout, and they said they’ll let us know. And then, Scott was like, ‘But we are interested in signing you. Congratulations.’ I was like, (exhale), that is awesome!”