James Storm Interview

James Storm recently spoke with Ring Rust Radio, here are the highlights…

Thoughts on AJ Styles' Departure: "I don't know the situation with the contracts and all that stuff, but you know for me to see a guy that I've been here since day one with is a dark day for TNA because he did help build TNA. Anytime somebody says TNA they automatically think of AJ Styles and the incredible matches he's had while he's been here. Hopefully him and TNA can come to an agreement and he can come back pretty soon."

His Match with Gunner at Genesis: "It's tough, you know, there's a lot of pressure going into it, anyone that says there isn't is a dog-faced liar, plain and simple. Any time you get a chance to go against the World Champion or even have the opportunity to be in the spotlight and the main event; that's something you want to fight for. Right now, Gunner is the number 1 contender with that briefcase, so I don't want to say I'm going to put all of my eggs into one basket but I'm definitely going to at least stick a case of beer in it."

Working in a Tag Team and Working Hurt: "You definitely don't have to take as many bumps; it's easier on your body. If something happens, like if you get hurt during a match or something your partner is there and he can pick up the slack and when you're a singles guy you don't have that luck at all, you have to go in the ring day in and day out and just tough it out. When football players hurt their ankles or if something's wrong with a toe, they get 3-4 weeks off; as wrestlers we don't. I've been wrestling the past 3-4 weeks with a hairline fracture in my ankle but nobody knows that just because to us it's no big deal; just put a brace on it and let it go. Back when I was wearing the motorcycle boots for a long time it was because my ankle was pretty messed up and it kept my ankle immobilized."

Any Character Changes Coming for 2014: "Well, you know, I don't want to show my hand now but I definitely have a few things cooking for 2014. Maybe change up my character because I've been the beer drinking cowboy for 4,5 or 6 years in TNA so I think it's time to freshen it up a little bit and hopefully the fans will take to it and if they don't, oh well. I always look at pleasing me first because at the end of the day I'm the person I have to look at in the mirror."

Being a Heel vs. Being a Face: "Well 90% of my career here in TNA I've been a good guy but I love being the heel. It's so much fun and I always tell everyone: it's a lot easier to piss somebody off than it is to make somebody happy. You can say one word to piss somebody off but you can take all day or all night time to make them happy. So it's more fun to play heel and to be the dirty cheater and to me it's kind of a lost art in itself because today the heels want to be cool and that's not how I grew up watching wrestling. I always saw the heel as the dirty cheater who gets away with stuff here and there."

Touring vs. TNA Having a Home Base: "It's not my call how we tour and all that, that's Dixie and her team, but to me, I always enjoyed having the home base and traveling out for the pay-per views to make them feel special and to make people want to buy a pay-per view . If I see everything on TV, why should I buy the pay-per views? So you should always make the pay-per view worth people's money. A lot of the guys enjoy doing a show in a different town every night and that's all fine and dandy but with the cost situation and everything like that it's almost impossible to do because it just costs so much money to put a show on week in and week out. Right now I'm very content with having a home base and doing each one of our big pay-per views on the road."

A Possible Future Reality Show: "I'm not really sure when it's going to start airing. I head back out to LA next week to talk to a bunch of different networks who are very interested in it and hopefully real soon we can get that on TV."

TNA's Younger Talent Stepping Up: "Yeah I definitely think it's something that the company needs. For the longest time it's been guys like myself, Daniels, Kazarian, AJ, Joe, and all the guys that have been there so long and having to carry the company when other guys came in and turned around and left real quick and it's really good to see the guys who TNA are investing in actually starting to step up now and take on bigger roles which takes some pressure off of us. It also puts pressure on us because it means we have to step up with these younger guys stepping up so I think it's a win-win situation."