Christopher Daniels appearing on
Monday Night Mayhem
The Big Mosh & Blade welcomed Chris to the program (for his third-ever appearance) and started off the interview by asking "The Fallen Angel" about his most recent injury. Daniels wanted to put the rumors "to bed" straight off. He had his knee scoped, scheduled surgery, and his doctor said he would be out for only one or two weeks. That was not going to keep him out of action for his match against BJ Whitmer (at last night's ROH Four-Year Anniversary Show) nor working this upcoming Tuesday night's TNA Impact tapings. Chris stated that the news got out even though he didn’t want it too.
The talk then moved on to "Heaven Sent, Hell Bound" -- the new TNA DVD that chronicles his entire career over the past three+ years in Total Nonstop Action Wrestling (available on
www.TNAWrestling.com & all major retail stores). Daniels said it was produced by Bill Banks & Jeremy Borash and was his career put into the proper perspective. He told them what matches to put on DVD and they did, including the excellent Steel Cage matches vs. the current NWA World Tag Team Champions, America's Most Wanted.
Blade said this time next year they will be talking about the upcoming Ultimate X match as a possible "Match Of The Year" for 2006. Chris put over the reigning X-Division Champion, "The Samoan Submission Machine" Samoa Joe, stating that he can do it, all no matter what match they wrestle.
The talk then moved into the Ultimate X Match & this year's Destination X PPV to the Pay-Per-View of the same name from last year, and Daniels' reign as Champion of the X-Division. Chris said that during his reign, the X-Division became broader, with wrestlers such as Alex Shelley -- who instead of having a single style of wrestling, could wrestle several different kinds of styles.
One of the most controversial decisions in TNA history was handed down several weeks ago, following the Against All Odds Pay-Per-View -- the suspension of X-Division stars & Ring Of Honor standouts, Austin Aries & Roderick Strong, What is Daniels' uncensored thoughts on the topic (especially since he works for both companies)? He believes (like most wrestling fans do) that TNA came down hard, but his opinion makes sense when he says that Jay Lethal, Homicide, & Alex Shelley left Long Island early to escape the bad snowstorm that blanketed the northeast. You have to listen to the interview itself to hear whether or not Daniels thinks that this act will cause a rift/war between TNA & ROH fans in the rest of 2006!
With regards to choosing one vs. the other (TNA vs. ROH), he has yet to make an official decision between the two. He left Ring Of Honor in 2004, believing it was going to be a permanent decision -- and the odds of a return to the company would have been slim-to-none. He did not want to leave ROH, but had to do so in order to make the best decision for his family. He now recognizes Ring Of Honor as the best independent promotion in the United States, and if TNA would become a touring company & had to offer possible "exclusive" contracts, then there would be a chance that "the permanent decision" might come back up again, but Daniels hopes that is a long way off in the future.
Mosh & Blade asked Chris if he ever saw thought ROH would be so successful fours years ago. Daniels said that after the first couple of Ring Of Honor shows that the wrestlers in the locker room could feel the energy & something special at The Murphy Rec Center, and he saw it as the ‘little indy that could." Chris is also very much looking forward to ROH's debut at the former ECW Arena on March 11th, where he will be squaring off against "Classic" Colt Cabana & "The Samoan Submission Machine" in a Three-Way Dance Elimination March. He has not been there for quite some time, and feels that Ring Of Honor & The Arena will go hand-in-hand.
The interview then turned to some recent internet rumors about the legendary Bruno Sammartino & his possible involvement in Ring Of Honor's triple shot on WrestleMania weekend. Daniels says that he looks for approval from the guys that came before him and having such legends as Bruno or even other wrestling greats (such as "Mr. Wonderful" Paul Orndorff) would do nothing but great things for Ring Of Honor going forward. Chris especially appreciated the recent comments that he received from "Cowboy" Bill Watts meant towards himself & Samoa Joe at a recent ROH show several weeks back.
The talk between Mosh, Blade & Daniels then moved to former ROH star & current WWE prodigy, CM Punk, and his involvement in Long Island's Ring Of Honor show and how the brass at World Wrestling Entertainment did not allow for him to "be in the same ring or work with TNA guys." Chris feels that Vince sees TNA as competition, whether he wants to admit it publicly or not. "The WWE is not the be-all & end-all of wrestling, and it is just a matter of time before TNA gets noticed as the mainstream wrestling alternative."
"The Fallen Angel" would love to get the opportunity to go one-on-one with the current NWA World Heavyweight Champion, Christian Cage. He has a great deal of respect for the champ and knows for a fact that a match/feud between himself vs. Cage would be a great opportunity for all involved. Chris stated that Christian’s speech on Impact after Against All Odds shows that the WWE missed the boat with Christian.
"The Fallen Angel" feels that any criticism of such stars as Sting & Jeff Hardy not appearing at TNA's first-ever house show (March 17th in Detroit, MI) is unjustified. He believes it’s more about keeping costs low and using guys from around the area, like Chris Sabin & Petey Williams.
Daniels strongly believes that TNA is constantly moving forward, and slowly, but surely they are becoming a competitor to the WWE. The move to primetime at 9PM ET on Thursday nights is going to be a solid move for the company, and will lead to more competition, which is healthy for the business. Going from weekly Wednesday night Pay-Per-Views, to FOX Sports Net, to the internet, and now Spike TV shows how the company evolves and never gives up in the face of adversity.
If there did happen to be a proposed "Six Sides Of Steel" match to end his feud with Joe & AJ at Lockdown, he feels that all three would have to come up with something new & exciting, so that the fans could remember this feud for a long time to come -- especially with the way it would end. Daniels told Mosh & Blade he would have no problems putting his all into this match, and knows that his two other adversaries would do that as well.
Other topics in this 40-minute interview include: Daniels thoughts of a "Fantasy Warfare" match between himself & Curry Man, past experiences with border patrol officers at the U.S./Canadian border, and so much more!
For everything that you ever wanted to know about "The Fallen Angel," in addition to all of his upcoming appearances (including stops for PWG, 1PW, & Ring Of Honor's debut at The ECW Arena), head on over to Daniels' official website --
www.ChristopherDaniels.com. Tell them The Mayhem sent you!
Once again, you can check out "The Fallen Angel" Christopher Daniels vs. "The Phenomenal" AJ Styles vs. "The Samoan Submission Machine" Samoa Joe in the return of Ultimate X on Sunday night, March 12th LIVE at Destination X. Fans outside of the United States can also log on to
www.TNAWrestling.com and check out all of the heart-pounding action on your computer, by downloading the entire Pay-Per-View
