Jay Bradley Reveals the Chaos He Dealt With During His TNA Run, How the Company Has Improved in Recent Years as Impact Wrestling

– During a recent exclusive interview with the 411 Wrestling Interviews Podcast, OVW wrestler and trainer Jay Bradley discussed his run in TNA several years ago with the Aiden O’Shea gimmick, and the chaos of what it was like before he left back in 2017. He noted that things have improved for the company after its recent regime changes and alteration to Impact Wrestling. Below are some highlights.

Jay Bradley on how chaotic TNA was when he was there: “I know that it’s years removed, since things have been settled in court, I can talk about it a little more freely. Like, it was absolutely — I didn’t hear all the stories, but it was as chaotic as you would expect. There was a huge power struggle. I was owed several thousand dollars for a January taping that I didn’t get until probably October-November, and it was by god, told everything under sun of, ‘Oh, it’s in the mail,’ ‘I’ll overnight it to you,’ whatever. And pretty much, I feel it was because I was an old friend of Billy Corgan’s, and I was on that side of the clash. You know, the boys, the locker room openly being lied to by the management about what was going on, that just breeds distrust. Not a good situation, and the one thing I can say is, it’s like Game of Thrones. Everyone’s trying to sit on the throne and be the ruler. There was people who wanted Billy in charge. There were people striving to keep themselves in charge. There was people from the outside that had invested that were trying call in loans and take over.”

Bradley on TNA wanting him to lose his first televised match: “It was chaotic, and I think here’s a prime example of how bad business was then: Doing the Aiden O’Shea gimmick, which was basically Billy Corgan’s bouncer or bodyguard, like a Big Bossman kind of a character. My first televised match, the vice president of the company wants me to lose to a 140-pound guy [I believe he’s referring to Rockstar Spud/Drake Maverick during the TNA World Title Series]. That doesn’t make him sense. Like it essentially just kills the character off before we even did anything with it. I just lost to a guy a third of my size. And then, a couple weeks later after it aired on TV, I was told, ‘Well, we’re gonna repackage you and lay low for the next set of TV tapings.’ And then that individual was then terminated. So, I never knew — nothing surprised during that time, and like I said, I had late checks. I know other people did. I know other people were made contractual promises. I was told numerous times I was going to be put under a full-time contract. It just never happened.”

Jay Bradley on the changes & improvements made recently with Impact Wrestling: “Let me just say this too because I’ve been very heavy and negative. I was at Impact last October when they had the pay-per-view, it was Bound for Glory in Chicago. I was a guest of the company, and they’ve done a phenomenal job of just rebranding themselves and rebuilding that company. And I really do mean rebuilding that company like the locker room was very talented. The locker room had a great vibe and to be there, there was no people griping about not being paid or wanting to work with this guy or that guy. There was a team effort seemingly from the management all the way through the locker room, and it was a much, much more positive atmosphere and vibe in general. And I think that comes across if you watch their stuff in the last couple of years. They’ve done really, really well. So like my hats off to them. It’s not me trying to sit here and ass kiss, but I was there when it was really ****ty.”

In the full interview, Bradley talks working with Al Snow and serving as a trainer in OVW, what bad habits he often has to try and train talent out of, his recollection of the chaos during the Billy Corgan and Dixie Carter power struggle in TNA, the “WWE style” of wrestling, learning from Ace Steel and others in Steel Domain Wrestling, how the pandemic is likely to impact the industry, and more.

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0:00: Intro
1:56: On how he’s handling and feeling about the pandemic shutting down wrestling
5:11: On OVW’s shutdown and how the promotion is weathering the storm
8:49: On what drew him to the wrestling business
13:14: On learning from Ace Steel and more at the the Steel Domain Wrestling school
15:49: On what comprises the “WWE style” of wrestling and the myths around it
20:30: On working around the world, learning from every different region, understanding each area’s style and how to your own talents to it
23:37: On the chaotic power struggle between Billy Corgan and Dixie and how the company has rebuilt itself
28:47: On Billy Corgan staying in wrestling and rebuilding the NWA, his experiences with Corgan
31:53: On enjoying his latest run in OVW, working there as a veteran and trainer
37:01: On working with Al Snow and Snow’s input into his training work in OVW
41:00: On what bad habits he has to train talent out of, dealing with talent who are difficult to coach or have bad work ethics
46:14: On how the pandemic is likely to impact the independent wrestling scene
51:22: On his favorite wrestling holds
53:31: On where to find him and OVW on social media and elsewhere online
55:54: Outro

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