Nick Aldis Says He Wants Storytelling, Not Moves, to Be the Emphasis in Wrestling

– Nick Aldis spoke with the Huffington Post’s Arm Drag Takedown Podcast for a new interview. Audio and highlights are below:

On reintroducing an emphasis on storytelling instead of moves: “[Wrestling] got hoodwinked into thinking the most important thing in our business was the match in the ring. I got into this to tell stories and to get people invested into characters and emotion. I wanted to be an entertainer! I wanted to be able to indulge in all the things pro wrestling provides which ‘real sports’ don’t.”

On how the UFC can be seen as an example in getting invested in a match today: “Essentially, if you changed the final outcome of the UFC builds with an NWA Worlds championship match from the 1980s. The whole lot of it leading up to that is very much the same. The reality was, if you wanted to see these two guys go at it, without interference or in the full match, you either had to buy a ticket or you had to tune into this pay-per-view or this special. That’s essentially what UFC’s model is. They put out Embeddeds, they put out smaller cards on free TV, but everything else they put out is press conferences, interviews, profile pieces, all of which is leading to the fight. The fight is the attraction.”

On his manager Austin Idol’s wrestling career: “Some through his own, personal decisions and some of it through circumstances, he never broke the mainstream, national stage. In-ring, he did great work for a heavyweight of that era. His promos were on the money. His work was great. Obviously he had a great physique. He presents a package which, if you put it in a different set of circumstances, he’s up there with Hogan and anybody else.”