Pete Dunne On Transforming His Body, Why He Likes NXT Being Separate From RAW & SmackDown

In an interview on the Wrestling Inc. Daily, Pete Dunne discussed transforming his body during his time away from the ring, potentially joining the RAW or Smackdown roster, and much more.

On transforming his body during his time away from the ring due to COVID travel restrictions: “For me, I’ve wrestled since I was 12 years old, so I’ve never had time off or been injured. As injured as I would get, I’d just work through it. There hasn’t been anything too serious. But getting that time off was the first time in my life I could focus mainly on the training aspect of it. Normally, because I’m traveling and busy and focusing on matches coming up, the training was secondary to that. I used the time the best I could. Even though there is the aesthetic part of it. People commented on [my look], and that’s great. I love to hear that. But for me, it’s about performance. I want to come back to put on the best matches I ever had. I want my performance to go up. That has been my main focus.”

On the competitive nature of working in NXT: “The thing with NXT is it has always been this way. I’ve been here for three or four years. I sort of saw a few iterations of NXT, but the one constant throughout is it’s a competitive locker room in a positive way. Everyone is trying to have the best match they can and perform as best they can. That’s exactly the same if there are fans in the building or not as there are fans watching from home. The focus has always been to put on the best show we possibly can. Being in there with people like the Undisputed Era, who I have this history with, especially when you are building to something like War Games [at NXT TakeOver on December 6] where you know it will be competitive. That’s what is great about NXT.”

On potentially joining the WWE main roster on RAW or SmackDown and why he likes NXT being a separate brand: “It’s great to be part of Survivor Series and getting the chance to do that. At the same time, I want NXT to stand out on its own. NXT has been great to me. I love being able to wrestle the way I want to wrestle and be who I want to be. NXT is this amazing platform to do that. Raw and SmackDown, main roster, whatever you want to call it. That’s its own thing too. Whether it’s progression or moving from brand to brand if I ever move to Raw or SmackDown, I want it to feel exciting and interesting. I feel like you can be overexposed there now. That wouldn’t do anything for the brand or myself either. Even though it’s good in pockets. Being in the Royal Rumble is amazing. Being in Survivor Series is the same. But I’m also in no rush. I don’t feel anyone shouldn’t panic when NXT is not involved [in Survivor Series], especially with the way the world is right now. It’s even more complex than it once was. So having us as separate entities is not bad at all.”