Nick Aldis has a perfect opponent in mind.
On the latest edition of This is Wrestling on TSN 1200, Lee Versage and Zach McGibbon chatted with Aldis, the current NWA Worlds Heavyweight Champion. During the call, Aldis was asked who he would like to see challenge for the NWA title and mentioned Joe Hennig (aka Curtis Axel) as a potential opponent. He said that name might surprise people but called back to their history together in Harley Race’s wrestling camp and said he sees similarities in Hennig and his own prior story with Cody Rhodes.
“The one that may surprise people but I really have faith and could really make magic with is Joe Hennig. Curtis Axel in WWE… I’m getting excited just talking about it but Joe and I attended Harley Race’s camp together in 2007 I think it was… We were all like that’s Curt Hennig’s kid. Wow. He’s just started wrestling and he was such a natural. I couldn’t believe it. I was just so envious. This perfect footwork and takes these perfect crisp flatback bumps. Perfect dropkick. I was like ‘I’ve been doing this for like 4 years and I can’t do it like that!’
“You know for me I just don’t understand why and how that was never taken advantage of but in our world, you can bet your ass that that’s how we do it. We would take you on that ride and tell you every part of that story and get you emotionally invested. Not to say that we would exploit any of those things but if anyone saw the build towards me and Cody and the emotion attached to that because of Dusty and because of what it meant to Cody. It’s genuine. It’s real. What it genuinely meant to Cody to get a shot at the title and what it meant to his family. I think that a lot of the same elements exist with Joe Hennig except with Joe Hennig it’s a real point to prove with him. I think two guys around the same age with very different paths but sort of converging at the same point in time with this ultimate prize on the line but both with real significant points to prove. I think it’s pretty hard to go wrong with that.”
Aldis also spoke about the state of the wrestling business, noting that the NWA is still doing well despite live events being cancelled due to the pandemic. He said the promotion just had their best net revenue month yet and said that the new scripted content could potentially open them up to more revenue streams.
“We just actually had our best revenue month ever so it’s actually sort of interesting when you really break it down and that’s net I mean obviously we’ve had months of pay-per-view and stuff where obviously the revenue is significantly more but in terms of net yeah we actually had our best month ever. So, it is interesting. We’ve tried to make a negative and turn it into a positive because we’ve now got all these other revenue streams and we have all this other content which will hopefully allow us to be a bit more attractive to sponsors and to partners in that world. I look at it as when one of your senses is taken away the others become more heightened. It is almost like that where we’ve been able to realize our potential in some other areas.”
WWE announced Axel had been released on April 30; no reason for the move was given but a two-sentence statement was posted on WWE.com:
WWE has come to terms on the release of Curtis Axel. We wish him all the best in his future endeavors.
Axel is the son of the late “Mr. Perfect” Curt Hennig and grandson of Larry “The Axe” Hennig and had been with WWE since 2008, holding the WWE Tag Team Championship twice , and the Intercontinental Championship on one occasion.
This is Wrestling can be found at TSN1200.ca under “Podcasts”. The full interview can be found at this link.
Read More: Arn Anderson Thinks Curtis Axel’s Lineage Should’ve Been Used By WWE
