Juice Robinson tried his best to get longer matches and more air time on NXT TV.
Speaking with Fightful's Sean Ross Sapp (full interview above), Robinson spoke about his time in NXT, having competed on the brand as CJ Parker between 2012 and 2015. Specifically, Robinson commented on a new character idea that he was testing out which reportedly got him "heat."
"Oh, yeah. Gosh. I can clear the air now. This was awesome. To me, all I was trying to do - I’m gonna just leave it all out there right here - I was trying to be super, super, super left-wing. Almost a caricature of a hippy or what call a hippy. Just funny stuff. I kinda had some CM Punk / Straight Edge Society like that, weird, out there, almost disconnected with actual reality. That kind of ‘heel.’ That’s what I was going for. I was trying to not lose to people in two minutes on TV. That’s what I was trying to do," Robinson shared.
Continuing on, Juice revealed that he and another member of the NXT roster ended up filming a promo at Sea World where he advocated for the Orcas, even calling it "Slave World." Even though Dusty Rhodes loved it, a shared corporate sponsorship stopped it from ever seeing the light of day.
"So me and another guy, I can’t remember who, came up with it, but next thing I know we’re outside of Sea World doing the tear going down my eye and sad music, the orcas are swimming and I called it Slave World. You can’t say that, of course. It was meant to be an idea. What could have been. Anyways, I showed it to Dusty and he loved it. Absolutely loved it," Juice said. "However, somebody else said, ‘Don’t show that again.’ Well, I ended up showing it again. Apparently, Anheuser-Busch sponsors Sea World. Anheuser-Busch also is with WWE or something, I don’t know. Bureaucratic bull crap. It never saw the light of day, but it was very, very entertaining. Very tongue-in-cheek, very pro wrestling."
Though he doesn't have the video with him, Juice says that he does know where it is.
"I do not [have it]. I do know where it is though," he shared.
As for whether or not we could ever see it made public or done again, Juice said the following:
"Oh, I think so. It’s just wrestling. It’s just fun. We’re just kidding. Wink-wink, nudge-nudge, you know what I mean?"
In late 2018, Daniel Bryan presented a new heel persona in which he preached about environmental protections and admonished everyone else for their wasteful ways. He even debuted a new title belt made entirely of sustainable materials. Juice tells Fightful that he was thinking something similar, just a few years earlier.
"That’s what I was thinking, too. A few years before," Robinson said.
Although he knows it could have worked for what he wanted the character to be, Juice is fine with the fact that it never happened, noting that he never thinks about it.
"I knew it could have worked for what I wanted it to be," he began by saying. "I wanted it to be basically an Elias character that came out, riled up the crowd, and basically did what I did with Great Khali and Mojo and Baron Corbin. I know WWE is and I thought that guy fit on the show and in that company doing that. So I thought it could have worked if they wanted it to. So, yeah. Whatever. It didn’t work. It’s fine. I didn’t care. I never think about it."
Robinson signed with New Japan Pro Wrestling following his departure from WWE. As of late, he has been splitting his time between NJPW and IMPACT Wrestling, where he and David Finlay are feuding with Jay White and Bullet Club.
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