Joey Janela always has thought that, if WWE offered him a contract, he would sign without question.
Until All In, that is. After the success of that event, and the associated fan convention Starrcast, Janela now is reconsidering his future in wrestling.
Janela discussed how the business has changed during an interview with Sam Roberts for the Notsam podcast, conducted just a few days after All In, which was held Sept. 1 before a capacity crowd in Chicago.
Janela, the current WWN Champion for the EVOLVE promotion, said the following when asked about his future:
"If they [WWE] offered me a contract I probably would have signed absolutely, no ifs, ands, or buts, without a single thought of something else in my head. I would have signed on the bottom line with my blood. ... This weekend definitely is bringing up some other thoughts in my head. You can make money. We're in another golden era of professional wrestling. We're in a golden era where, just like rap, you don't have to be signed to a label anymore to make money. Rappers, musicians, they just release the stuff, they release their own mix tapes and they make money. You don't have to pitch a TV show to a network anymore to make money. You put it on YouTube and you make money on that."
Janela also looks at what others like Cody Rhodes and the Young Bucks have accomplished and sees the potential to do even more:
"I don't have a deal with Hot Topic yet. I don't have ;Funko] Pop!s. But all of that is possible without having someone backing me—a major corporation or major money. I think the Bucks and Cody, those guys changed the business. Kudos to them."
Janela joked that Penelope Ford, his manager, occasional tag partner and real-life girlfriend, probably has a better chance of being signed after All In. Ford got physically involved in the Street Fight between Janela and Hangman Page in Chicago.
"I think there's a chance she's going to get a contract before me, but it's all good. Because she certainly deserves it. The way she looks. She's an athlete. She was never a wrestling fan. You can ask her about what she thought of Ricky Steamboat vs. Macho Man at WrestleMania and she would have no clue what the f--- you were talking about besides knowing who those two guys were," Janela said. " WWE, if you want to take my girlfriend, you're going to have to take me too because there's no way I can live on planet Earth without her organizing my T-shirts and my money. She's like my handler."
Janela suffered a potentially serious knee injury just this past weekend after he landed badly on a dive during a match against Psicosis.