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Rich Swann Re-Signs With IMPACT Wrestling, Unfinished Business With Kenny Omega
Rich Swann (@gottagetswann) is a professional wrestler signed with IMPACT Wrestling. He is a former Impact World Champion, TNA World Heavyweight Champion, X Division Champion and Impact Digital Media Champion. He joins Chris Van Vliet to announce exclusively that he has re-signed with Impact Wrestling for 2 more years. He talks about the unfinished business he has with AEW's Kenny Omega, his goal to become a Grand Slam Champion in 2023, his TNA Wrestling Mount Rushmore, the best advice he ever received, his thoughts on the Forbidden Door and much more!
“Man, the world of Rich Swann has definitely been lighting up. I mean, I've got a one year old baby now, a little Richie Jr. And I've also signed a two year deal with IMPACT Wrestling. [Congratulations] I appreciate that. IMPACT Wrestling has done nothing but you know, treat me with the utmost respect. And it's been a place where I've been able to grow, I've been able to watch other competitors grow. And I've been able to watch the company grow into a spot to where you know, it should be, you know what I'm saying?”
“You know, right now, wrestling is just like I said, there's so much of everything, all forms of entertainment. And wrestling right now is prospering. Like you have your AEW that's doing great. You have WWE has turned around, turned a new leaf and they're doing great. IMPACT Wrestling, the experience that I had ever since I started with IMPACT in 2018 has been nothing but love, nothing but prospering, nothing but watching the company grow into what it is today, and to be a part of that and helping that. After all the years of people saying, Oh, IMPACT’s gonna die? Oh, TNA is dead. To be a part of that, you know what I'm saying? Like and helping it come back up to where it's at today? That right there makes me feel good. And like I said, it lets me know that I'm doing something right in this industry.”
“I'm very different, especially unfortunately, I had broke my back and my leg, my hip, and my foot. Everything, like everything on my right side was damn near damaged. And I was told by doctors that I wouldn't walk the same let alone wrestle again. And for, you know, IMPACT, they helped take care of me when that happened. You know, and once I finally was able to come back, I became a world champion in IMPACT Wrestling. So that's something that I'll never forget, I'll always hold near and dear to my heart. And I'm definitely a better performer than I was back and you know, that at that time. It’s definitely you know, taught me something.”
“So personally, man, it just, it made me feel like all the doubters and the naysayers and the people that said hey, you're not gonna make it in this business as anything. Because you're 5 foot 6, you're 175 pounds. Oh, you'll never be… I was able to show that gold and put it in their face. And you know, personally and professionally, professionally you know, it definitely put me at another level. I was able to wrestle one of the most revered wrestlers in our industry today, Kenny Omega, in a high profile Main Event match, you know what I'm saying. Two companies came together, AEW and IMPACT Wrestling, one pay-per-view, one ring, two world titles. I would have never gotten an opportunity wrestling in other places, and I was just you know, elated.”
“There's a lot of unfinished business. We never got a rematch, you know what I’m saying? Man, I know that Forbidden Door still open, your boy Cass just had a world title shot at IMPACT against Josh [Alexander]. You know what I mean? And he's a part of AEW. Hey Kenny, this is a message to you. Don't be scared, I know you beat me, I know you beat me. But hey, don’t be scared. Let's run it back.”
“Man, in these next 12 months, I want to do something that has been on my mind for a while, and that is become you know, a Grand Slam champion at IMPACT Wrestling. Of course, I'd like to become world champion again. I would love to find the tag team partner and get these Tag Team Titles, scratch that off my list. You know what I'm saying? I'd love to have Willie Mack with me by my side. That's my partner, either Willie Mack or Ricochet. Those are my two guys. And I'm saying we've made a lot of history together and to have that, you know what I'm saying, like that right there would be like the ultimate. Like that would put me up there with guys like AJ Styles with guys like Sting, with guys like Booker, Kurt Angle, you know, Samoa Joe, like that would put me up there with that list. You know what I'm saying and like to be in there, like Goddamn, I did something with my life!”
“Easy, easy. For me, it's easy, because like, these are the guys that definitely, especially when I was younger, and like just starting to get into pro wrestling as an athlete and everything like that. Like I would say, Sting for sure. I'd say Christian Cage for sure. Because he was definitely a big jump once, he left from WWE to come to TNA. And you know, it was, you know, nobody thought that like, oh, wait a minute. What's what's, what's he doing here? So Sting, Cristian Cage, definitely AJ Styles. The last one, you are right it is hard. Samoa Joe for sure, he definitely had a type of aura about him that was like, alright. And at that point too, he wasn’t someone came over from WWE or anything like that him and AJ were both homegrown. And, like they, they helped make that, you know, Impact Wrestling, TNA wrestling, a staple.”
“Hey, this is the thing, and I don't want to hate on Elias. I don't want to hate on Rick Boogs. I don't want to hate on those guys. But God damn, I was doing that in 2008 playing my own song, beatboxing my own song, playing guitar on my own song. But Honky Tonk and Jeff Jarrett, they were doing it well before me. Yeah, you know what I'm saying? But just saying I was doing that sh*t.”
“My family, my son and professional wrestling.”
