Joey Ryan Wants to See Karl Anderson Appears at Slammiversary, Discusses Why He Signed With Impact Wrestling

– The Wrestling Inc. Daily recently interviewed Impact talent Joey Ryan, who talked about the former WWE Superstars who were being teased for Impact Wrestling’s Slammiversary event. Below are some highlights, courtesy of WrestlingInc.com.

Joey Ryan on which former WWE Superstar he wants to see in Impact: “I have a soft spot for Karl Anderson. We performed together a lot and were a tag team in 2006, 2007 and 2008. We won the NWA World Tag Team Championships together so I have a soft spot for him and would always love to do more stuff with him. But really, all of those guys who were released are super talented. This is the wrestling world we live in where these guys didn’t get released because they couldn’t perform. There’s just over saturation as that company has too many people under contract and they had to let go of some. It benefits the wrestling world because now these guys are free agents and they can sign or not sign with any company they want. It’s a whole new adventure for wrestling right now.”

On why he signed with Impact: “First and foremost, they wanted me to be me. They didn’t want to change or alter it; they wanted me to be Joey Ryan and that meant a lot to me. The second thing was also being a non-exclusive contract, meaning I could still run Bar Wrestling and work the indies that I love working. Probably the biggest factor was that I work with and appreciate all of the office – the agents and writers. I had a preexisting relationship with pretty much all of the backstage members. They are people that I trust and knew how I wanted to work and express myself. I could trust them to not change me. So, those three factors are the main things.”

On the previous Impact regime: “The previous Impact regime – and I don’t want to speak negatively as Eric Bischoff was great to work with as was Bruce Prichard and Al Snow – but that was more of a strict regime. Maybe it was my personal status in wrestling at the time but it was more of a ‘you’re told what to do.’ The current version of Impact is a little looser as far as the talent goes and they let the talent express themselves. Instead of being told what to do, it’s more of a ‘this is what we need to get to done so how would you like to do it.’ They ask for our opinions and how our characters would do it. That leads to more genuine performances and the audience enjoys the fact that they’re allowing us to be us. It’s a good mutual respect between the office and the talent as the current Impact Wrestling goes.”