Thankfully, wrestlers talk to one another and that is how No Way Jose found out he was debuting in IMPACT Wrestling.
No Way Jose debuted in IMPACT Wrestling following a year in free agency after being released by WWE. He made his debut alongside Fallah Bahh at Slammiversary but he wouldn't actually know he was making that debut until the incumbent WWE Intercontinental Champion at the time, Apollo Crews, broke the news to him via text message.
No Way Jose detailed finding out about his debut during a recent appearance on the Wrestling Perspective Podcast.
"Oh, they had it in the works. They were working my ass. Absolutely no talks about anything with anybody about coming to IMPACT, so I was like, ‘Cool.’ I think I mentioned it to Scott a few weeks before like ‘if you ever need me let me know.’ But that was the extent of that conversation. Then the previous night they were doing that Deanna promo and then he dropped a couple of hits or whatever and at the end, he did that No Way Jose thing. Tommy came back in and I just texted him, I was like, ‘huge pop.’ Still, no talk about anything and he was like, ‘you know, imagine that you come in,’ and I was like ‘yeah, that's fine.’
"Then in the morning, I went to lift [and work] legs. I did a hell of a leg day. Then something -- I was like, ‘you know what, just in case, because wrestling's wrestling, let me stretch after this,’ because usually ya boy don't stretch. So, I stretched for like 45 minutes, and then in the morning I got a text from him and he was like, ‘are you booked tomorrow?’ I was like, ‘No.’ He was like, ‘standby.’ So, you know, I'm on the West Coast. It was three o'clock by the time he texted back and was like, ‘alright, we need you here tomorrow.’"
He continued, "I’m like, ‘holy shit.’ I leave at six in the morning. It's three o'clock now. Let's go, baby. So I flew in, I did one [connecting flight] to the other. I got in the airport, I got picked up, and the brother who was taking me to the venue, I leaned over and I looked at him and I said, ‘oh by the way, do you know what the hell I'm doing because I still don’t know?’ I didn't know what I was doing, man. It was actually Apollo [Crews] who texted me. He was like, ‘Oh, you’re working Slammiversary.’ I was like, ‘Oh shit, you broke the news.’ A guy from a different company told me what I was doing that night. That popped the shit out of me."
Elsewhere on the same podcast, Jose talks about wanting to change up his character when the opportunity arises. Learn more here.
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