Isaiah Broner is becoming one of the top names on the Independent scene and has had big battles with Minoru Suzuki and Eddie Kingston in Absolute Intense Wrestling.
On the July 4 episode of AEW Dark: Elevation, Broner teamed with GPA in a bout against Best Friends (Chuck Taylor & Trent Beretta).
Speaking on the Bump Boys podcast, Broner reflected on his AEW experience.
"Number one, the fact that we're in an actual arena," he said of the differences between AEW and wrestling for independent companies. "Getting in there, seeing the set up before, all the seats to Little Caesars Arena. Everyone was real nice. Everyone is nice and welcoming at the majority of the shows I do now, but on that level, they're not a bunch of douchebags and very welcoming. Best Friends, I can't say anything bad about them. We did what we had to do and I'm very thankful for the opportunity. Hopefully it continues to snowball into future opportunities."
Asked if he saw Tony Khan, Broner said, "I think I saw him once, I was getting ready to go out for my match and he was walking by me. I don't know where he was headed. That was the first and last time I saw him. That was about it."
The episode of AEW Dark featuring Broner was taped ahead of AEW Dynamite: Blood & Guts, which featured Eddie Kingston in the main event.
Speaking about his match against Kingston, which took place at AIW Gauntlet For The Gold 15, Broner said, "I learned a lot from him, in and out of the ring. He's a hell of a guy. What you see on TV, that's him, he's a genuine guy. I really appreciate him inside and outside the ring."
In April, Broner took on Minoru Suzuki at AIW Eyes of the Beast.
Asked if there were any difficulties working with Suzuki given the language barrier, Broner replied, "Not so much. Oddly enough, our styles are somewhat similar. The big thing I took away was patience. Taking my time, doing stuff. When they told us how much time we had, I was like, 'is this enough?' Going out there, even just the entrance and absorbing the energy and taking our time, everything I felt we did meant something and that was the biggest thing. He showed me that in the ring. You can do a million spots or whatever, but if nobody remembers anything, you just do a million spots."
During the interview, Broner noted that he wrestled the majority of last year with a torn Achilles and that Stokely Hathaway pushed him in the direction of giving wrestling a try after his football career came to an end.
Broner last wrestled at AIW 3D. You can find results from that event by clicking here.
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