Paul Walter Hauser Explains Why He Signed Up For MLW Battle Riot VI

As reported earlier today, Paul Walter Hauser is one of the forty participants in MLW’s annual Battle Riot match, with the winner getting a World title match. In an interview with Sports Illustrated, Hauser explained why he decided to be a part of the match, noting that he believes he can win. Here are highlights:

On playing Chris Farley in a biopic: “The Chris Farley project, I have such a heart for Chris\. I couldn’t screw this up even if I wanted to. Whether someone likes the movie, that’s subjective. But the actual job itself, that’s in my heart. That’s in my DNA. I’m going to work very hard.”

On how his MLW appearance happened: “This came about as a result of me wrestling Sami at the 2300 Arena on WrestleCon weekend. Sami and I really went at it, and the visuals made the rounds on the Internet. I’ve had people from Hollywood checking in on me and asking me what I was doing. Sami took a pizza cutter to my head, and he diced me open pretty good. I think I gained some people’s attention that I didn’t try to abbreviate the match. In the end, with some help from Sandman, I got over on Sami. As I was leaving, Sami came back out and shook my hand. I think I earned his respect in whatever way Sami Callihan allows himself to respect another wrestler. That ended up being my in to an invite to the Battle Riot.”

On why he agreed to join the match: “I wouldn’t be doing this if I didn’t think I could win. Wrestling Kojima, it would be an honor. He’s done so much, including being a two-time MLW champion. And now a tag team champion with [Shigeo] Okumura, too. I’m coming for him, but I’m coming for him with love.”