Before trying out for Ring of Honor, Sledge received some advice from one of the wrestling industry's all-time greats.
Speaking with Sean Ross Sapp of Fightful (full interview above), Sledge talked about how the first time he met Stone Cold was thanks to AJ Kirsch, who he was travelling with at the time. During AJ's podcast appearance with Austin, Sledge was asked a few questions and shared his story. This lead to a podcast episode of his own, which in turn generated a lot of work and buzz for the now-ROH star. When asked if they still keep in touch, Sledge revealed that they do, even sharing the advice Austin gave him before his Ring of Honor tryout. Here is what he said:
"Oh, yeah. Good, man. I talk to Steve, maybe, once a couple months. Just a text, real quick. ‘Hey, brother. How’s it going?’ ‘Good.’ I sent him my Ring of Honor debut. I sent him, when I took a video of me signing my contract. I sent him a video of that. Before I went to the tryout, I talked to him over the phone and asked him, ‘Hey, man. Do you have any advice before I head in there?’ He goes, ‘Leave no doubt in their minds. Leave no doubt. Go in there and be the badass motherfucker I know you can be and go kill that shit."
Sledge thanks Austin for helping him reach the position he's currently in, but the Texas Rattlesnake doesn't want any of the credit. He said the following:
"He’s, man, if it wasn’t for him, and I thank him all the time, I really do and he always tell me, ‘Shut the fuck up.’ But, if it wasn’t for him, I wouldn’t be probably in the position I am right now. Especially even with AJ Kirsch I wouldn’t be in the position that I am right now. I really wouldn’t."
Agreeing to train at the Ring of Honor dojo in the fall of 2019, Sledge signed a contract with the promotion after only 6 months. He recently renewed for a second year, with his debut match coming on an episode of Week By Week, where he fought to a time-limit draw with O'Shay Edwards.
If you use any of the quotes above, please credit Fightful with a link back to the article.
