Mr. Thomas Talks Staying Loyal to MLW, Training & Warning for ‘Chamber of Horrors’ Mystery Participants
Mr. Thomas has been one of the names to have broken out in Major League Wrestling. Often the veteran would find himself helping another like Alex Kane within the Bomaye Fight Club. Now the Philadelphia native is focused on building on the momentum he has created in the last year in MLW. It’s one of the big reasons Thomas decided to sign a new deal with the promotion.
“There is very little loyalty in this business unfortunately,” he said. “MLW has always been loyal to me. I worked a good amount of time without a deal and was okay with that and was always loyal to the brand. I put in my time and effort, so when it was time to sign again, there was nowhere else I would rather be when it comes to my ability to have input into what I do, the matches, things of that nature.
“The schedule is more to my liking. I like to live a normal, peaceful, successful life outside the wrestling world. Right now, MLW allows me the ability to do that. Not to say the schedule won’t become more intensive as we move forward with things changing in life. I’m prepared for that. I think it’s the perfect split between real life and professional wrestling that people don’t tend to have.”
For the star, who got the Mr. Thomas name based on what his cleaning lady would call him over the years, MLW is the top priority. This is why you won’t see him doing much outside that arena. He also takes a more fight camp approach in between matches.
“The last time I stepped in the ring to practice so to speak on a Tuesday or Wednesday and tried to work on my skills, I immediately tore my ACL. In this aspect of wrestling, I try to limit my injuries as much as possible,” Thomas explained. “I have a very close strength and conditioning coach I work with here in Tampa two and three times a week. We’re doing a lot of different things that aren’t necessarily shooting the ropes, doing drop downs, leap frogs, drills of that nature.
“We try to incorporate more real-life aspect training into what goes into wrestling. There is more than just doing grapples and things like that. And between you and I, my timing is perfect brother so I don’t have to brush up on that. Likely, I know whatever I have coming up, I’ll always be paired off with a top-notch individual in this wrestling world we live in. I’m not in there solo. I’m in there with people I know and trust and are capable of bringing me up if needed and vice versa.”
He is grateful to be stepping foot in the ring with the likes of Satoshi Kojima. Thomas has enjoyed getting the chance to spotlight his skills in a singles capacity. At the same time, the performer enjoyed the dynamic between himself and Alex Kane.
“We were kind of thrown together,” he said of their origin story. “I’ve known of him before. We really just meshed. Luckily enough to be on the same page as someone. I’m a little older than him, but I’m not saying that I was there to babysit or guide him. But [I could] set him in the right ways and try to figure out what works best for him, his character, my character, how we can play off each other. It worked out for the best."
“He went from being an unsigned, no-name person that gets drafted to MLW in the 2021 draft, we popped up our first time together and he is the MLW Openweight champion. We steamrolled through everyone he won the world title, black world champion, it was good to see the highs and lows. I learned a lot from him, and I hope he learned from me. We really worked together as a team inside and outside the ring. We traveled together, hung out together, and we still talk every day. That relationship can’t be broken. We did have our one-on-one match in the Opera Cup last year. I think we’ll probably do that at some point when the time is ready. I don’t know if he’ll ever turn on me or I’ll turn on him, but we’ll see what happens when the time comes.”
Thomas has his sights set on dethroning new champion Mads Krügger in the Chamber of Horrors match at Slaughterhouse on October 4. Other participants revealed thus far include Matthew Justice and CW Anderson with two other mystery participants. The Long Beach event will air on YouTube and beIN Sports.
“As much as I love surprises, I hate surprises,” Thomas said. “CW Anerson is a great veteran and competitor from the ECW days. We’ve had our feud the last year, year-and-a-half where the Rogue Horsemen went up against the Bomaye Fight Club with Matthew Justice on the same team in the War Chamber, which I came out victorious in, for the record. When it comes to cage matches this year, Mr. Thomas is 1-0 amongst everyone else. With that being said, Mads is just fresh off a world title victory and hate to say it transition champion possibly."
“I want that belt more than anything in life right now. The way it is being described to me is we get in this cage and fight til someone becomes world champion. I know there will be weapons involved and we will be caged in and not sure there will be something at the top as much as I or Matthew Jusciee want to jump off and dive through everything. I will be a very safe wrestler this weekend. I’m going to utilize my technical ability instead of jumping off things or going through things, but I will take a shortcut and hit someone over the head with what is available to me at that moment because anything goes.”
As for who the other two getting added to the mix, Thomas has his suspicions. No matter who it is, he’ll be ready to take them down a peg.
“I’m not spoiling anything because I don’t ask questions, but the things I’ve seen and heard and tweets I read in between the lines is we got someone new coming in who might have been around a few times,” Thomas hypothesized. “Someone who might have just gotten let go from somewhere else, which is fine. I’ll tell him the same thing as I’ll tell anyone else. Don’t come to MLW thinking this is your meal ticket to the top because you have to go through a lot of other people to get through the top spot in the company, me being one of them."
“I will fight and do whatever it takes to make sure my spot is not taken by some guy who got released or couldn’t politic himself into getting re-signed somewhere else. That is a personal shoutout to anyone who wants to Tick Tock, times ticking, this sun dial bullshit of time and measurement is, I don’t want to hear about it. Come see me to my face in LA on October 4 and we’ll see who walks out world champion.”
Winning the top prize in MLW would mean a lot to Thomas. In his eyes, it would signify confidence from the company and confidence within himself that he could rise above the rest.
“For me, the world title being my first singles title in MLW would be crazy,” the challenger added. “I would love that more than anything. It’s exactly what I’m going for. I’m on to bigger and better things. Everyone once and a while I get grouped with the Bomaye Fight Club thinking I was just a sidekick or bodyguard or the strategist, whatever you want to call me. I’m on my own now. I have a name to prove to myself now. In the ring, outside the ring with everyone watching.”
