WWE star Tyler Breeze was recently interviewed by Newsweek to promote TakeOver 25. Breeze discussed participating at TakeOver 25 after competing on the first one as well, coming back to NXT after four years on the main roster, how NXT has evolved, and more.
Check out the highlights here:
You were on the first Takeover card and now you’re coming back for Takeover 25. How do you feel returning after all this time?
I feel good. Even if you look back at everything I did. Filming NXT when it was still becoming a thing, not being there for four years, I don’t know how long it feels for everyone else but it flew for me until I stopped and thought, “holy crap it’s been four years?” And then you pop back up down here and people make it known that they appreciate it. The fact that I get to do a Takeover, I’ve been wanting to do a Takeover for awhile, and I think especially Dream and me together is a perfect match and a perfect welcome home for me. I look forward to it.
After four years on the main roster and then reappearing on NXT here and there, was there a feeling out process to get reacclimated to that style and to the crowd?
The only one who doubts anything is me. The crowd has always been solid. It’s like being back in 2015, like I never left. Any time I’m around they are always cool. Full Sail was like that in my match with Ricochet. Basically, for the past four years people have been almost waiting for me to come back. Being one of, if you wanted to brand us, “the originals” – or something like that – a lot of people have been sitting there like “come on man, come back to NXT. We’re waiting for you.” They’ve been waiting for me with open arms and it’s exciting.
NXT has evolved into something different since you were there. Do you feel the time to be a part of the brand has passed you by?
I don’t think anything has passed me by. It’s cool when you hear all the internet talk when things go down. The wrestling community likes to be involved in everything and they have a lot of opinions on things. And me coming back [to NXT] they raised a lot of questions. “Why is he coming back to NXT? Is he getting demoted?” And that’s not a thing. To me, personally, and to them more than ever at this point, NXT is a third brand. It’s RAW, SmackDown and NXT.
So it’s not getting sent back anywhere, it’s a lateral move. I’m going back somewhere where they have room for me. They have a spot where I can do it and no one else can. I’m going to slide right in there and the crowd knows what they are going to see when they see me on NXT as opposed to RAW or SmackDown. This is the Tyler Breeze that we want to see. As much fun as me and Dango had on RAW and SmackDown with the Fashion Files and everything else, this is where it’s fun.
Some people think that those [NXT] years have passed me by and I’m not the same wrestler or the same guy I was before. There’s another group that for four years they say “he did other stuff” but that guy was still there just not being utilized. Now is the chance for me to get tagged in, come off the bench and say I’m better than before.
Older NXT fans know Tyler Breeze, the first takeovers and the original crew. They go “oh my god, you guys don’t even know what you’re about to get.” And the new fans are used to either Tyler Breeze and the Fashion Police or someone like Velveteen Dream and they’re going “I don’t know what to expect from them.” And it’s kind of cool because they’ve never seen it before. So either way it’s a win win and I think people are looking forward to it.
Read More: Tyler Breeze’s Move Back To NXT Needs To Be The Start Of ‘Reverse Call-Ups’
