John Skyler wants to win a title in IMPACT Wrestling, as he believes this milestone would validate his career.
Skyler, a 15-year veteran, has competed for various promotions on the independent scene, such as CYN and AML. In the past, he has appeared on several episodes of AEW Dark. Over the past year, he has worked IMPACT tapings, and he has also competed on NJPW STRONG. He recently announced that he has signed a multi-year contract with IMPACT.
Speaking with Joey Karni on The Angle Podcast, Skyler discussed his goals in IMPACT and made it clear that he had his sights set on the X-Division Championship. He also stated that he's a fan of tag team wrestling, so he could see himself chasing the tag titles. Skyler then noted that tag team wrestling is exciting right now, and he pointed to the influx of NJPW talent as part of the dynamic.
"I’ve always seen myself as an X-Division Champion, hopefully in the future. I just listed several legends in TNA history that were X-Division Champions. I love tag team wrestling as well. I’ve always been a big fan of tag team wrestling, so I could see myself maybe finding a tag team partner and working towards a tag team title goal. I think so much of guys like the Motor City Machine Guns and then countless other tag teams as well, [like] Heath and Rhino. With the influx of talent coming from New Japan, like Aussie Open, there are so many guys that I would love the opportunity to work with in a tag team setting as well because tag team wrestling is just so exciting right now," Skyler said.
Earlier in the interview, Skyler named Josh Alexander Eddie Edwards, Chris Sabin, Alex Shelley, and Chris Bey as some of the competitors that he wants to face in IMPACT Wrestling. Later on, he was asked to describe what winning a title in the company would mean to him, and the veteran emphasized that this milestone would validate him and his career. He noted that it's an attainable goal now that he's a member of the roster.
“Validation, for one, would be it for me, whether it’s X-Division Champion, Digital Media Champion, tag team champion, or IMPACT Heavyweight Champion. It would be instant validation for me and my career. Let’s face it, over 15 years, there’s been a lot of trials and tribulations, lot of ups and downs, a lot of, ‘Do I really wanna do it? Do you want to continue to scratch and claw? When you see all your friends become successful and make a lot of money, you often wonder. You sit back and you go, ‘Is it gonna happen for me?’ I think, if I were to hold gold in IMPACT Wrestling, I think I could finally sit back and not necessarily smell the roses, but look back at my 15 year and go, ‘You know what, I did it.’ So being a champion obviously means a lot to me. Nobody who gets into wrestling because they wanna be a loser, and I’m no different. I want to be a champion. It might be cliche, but once you are in that lineage of champions, you’re kind of forever immortalized. That’s something that, maybe when I broke in in 2008, I didn’t see that happening for me then. But now that I’m a part of IMPACT Wrestling, it’s an easily attainable goal," Skyler said.
In the same interview, Skyler discussed his decision to sign with IMPACT. Click here to see what he had to say.
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