NOTSAM Wrestling Podcast
Episode 202: Joey Janela interview, ALL INN, Undertaker vs HBK, Braun Strowman heel turn
Release Date: September 6th, 2018
Recap By: James Hayes
DIRECT LINK TO LISTEN/DOWNLOAD
From New York Sam welcomes you to the podcast!
“Notsam Wrestling is a space for me to share things like my love of wrestling, with you. Part of that means if I have access to stuff, that stuff should be shared. I’m watching ALL IN and there are people I’m happy for. I’m happy for MJF, as well as Joey Janela. I had him on the show when he was just beginning to pick up steam. I’ve known him for a long time. It was amazing to see him at ALL IN against Hangman Page, member of The Elite. I didn’t realize that was going to happen until it did. I thought to myself I’d love to hear what’s going on in the head of one of the people that was involved with ALL INN, and that man is Joey Janela. It’s the bad boy after ALL IN!”
Takeaways from Joey Janela Interview
How he got booked for ALL IN.
“I wanted to get Spring Break out of the way. My brain was going into that event. I figured after that I’d give Matt Jackson a call, a slip into his DM, a little message. I said, “Ah, anywhere I can send my 8×10 and my VHS promo tape?” He was like, “No. You’re booked. I gotta talk to the guys but I think you’re good.” I was like, “Oh. Okay.” And that was it. I was like, “There’s no way I’m gonna get on this show.” Then he was like, “You’re good.” I just sent them a joking message and I was booked in two hours. It was pretty wild.”
Joey Janela is not a millionaire… yet
“This is the first time in my life I’ve had money to save. I could eat lobster every day. I have no bank account. I just put it in a drawer. After a gig my fanny pack is filled with crumpled up money. I just throw it in my fanny pack then take a handful of crumpled up money and throw it in the drawer. I live at home with my Mom still, and she said, “I just saw you on the PPV where is the money.” I told her it’s in the drawer, crumpled up. She said, “When are you going to pay me to live here?” I am 29 living the dream! I live in the same room I grew up in, with the same Steve Austin poster on the wall.”
The Superstar Treatment
“There were a lot of guys at the convention that had to have Atlas Security guide them around. They were getting ambushed. I was just walking around. Fans were coming up to me and giving me alcohol. Fans were just giving me twenty dollar bills. I was just crumbling them up and throwing them in my fanny pack.” They would just give us money, “Thanks for doing what you do. That’s why I didn’t want security walking me around all the time, free alcohol, free money, and free t-shirts.”
When do you know you tore the house down at ALL IN?
“After the first spot or so, you know. You know you got them. Once we hit a few dives. I knew we were off to the races.”
How the match came to be?
Originally I was curtain jerking but it was changed to a street fight. They sent me a picture of this cracker barrel and said we’re going to change it to a Cracker Barrel Chicago Street Fight.” Sam wonders if that is the reason the match was changed. “Yeah, I think that was the case.”
Is Janela boxed in as The Bad Boy?
“I like to wrestle now more. Even being booked all over the place every weekend, some fans still think, “Joey Janela can only wrestle if there are tables and chairs in the ring.” He admits he grew up loving extreme matches. But he still wants to prove he can have regular matches. “That’s what I’ve been doing at Evolve. They put the belt on me in the first night, just proving to those fans that I can actually go with the best of them. A lot of people around here in the New York, New Jersey area know the deal already. A lot of other people around the world only know me as the guy who fell off a roof. ALL IN was the perfect place to showcase Joey Janela to the world.
(The video of the roof bump is below, but not for the squeamish.)
What was the energy before the show?
“Everyone knew it was going to be big. The stage was huge, in an empty arena like that. I’ve never been in a professional building that big without having to pay a ticket to be there. Even the convention the day before, the buzz around it was like nothing I ever experienced. I’ve been around Wrestlemania Weekend environment and this was on a whole different level because people knew, no matter what happened… it was history.”
A Family Affair for Cody
“Cody had lots of help from his father’s friends from the past. oming in and helping him. As soon as his match was over he grabbed headphones and jumped into guerilla position. It was definitely legendary and wild to be part of that.”
(While older brother Dustin was nowhere to be seen, he has praised the event and beamed with pride over his baby brother’s achievement. And Cody’s wife, Brandi Rhoades certainly did her part, taking a big bump in Cody’s title match.)
After the show
“It was real hectic. It just adds to the history of this show. Everyone talks about the way Barely Legal ended. The generator blew. They were dwindling down the time of that PPV. Even though the ending didn’t go the way it was supposed to, because PPV money is expensive, guys that never ran a PPV before basically pulling off on one of the greatest wrestling shows ever. It’s something that’s going to be talked about for a long time. Everyone featured on that PPV will be very successful. I feel like twenty, thirty years from now people will still be talking about how it ended.”
A job not a hobby
“At this point every weekend is like, “Good job.” or I’m bummed because my match went to s**t! It’s a job now, on to the next one. You have good days and you have s**t days.”
A wrestling economy
“Wrestling fans paid their money and it went back into the wrestling community. It came from their pockets and went back into the industry, on a major scale. It wasn’t from a big deal. It’s crazy to think about because it doesn’t really happen anymore. There was a lot of money circulating in that Chicago area. Highspots and Prowrestlingtees broke records. Almost every wrestler made more money than they’ve made before.”
Lio Rush and Jenela kill the business
“I killed the business Lio just took the blame. It was supposed to be a piledriver off the ladder through the table. But they got their table from craigslist, so the leg breaks. I set up a ladder. I just powerbomb him off the ladder and he no sells it. It was one hundred percent my fault. He took one hundred percent of them blame for it. Now look at him he’s doing great.”
WWE bound?
“Three weeks ago I would’ve said WWE absolutely. I probably would’ve signed with my blood. This weekend definitely is bringing up other thoughts in my head. You can make money. We are in a golden era. Just like rap. You don’t have to be signed to a label anymore to make money. Wrestling is finally catching up to that. If you work hard enough in selling your brand you can make it.”
For a funny, ironic, and somewhat pathetic story about Virgil download the full episode at the link at the top.
(Oh, and if you want a good sense of what this guy is about check out this wrestling doc, that at times feels more like a snuff film.)
Renee on Raw
Sam takes a moment to acknowledge something you may have missed on Raw. Actually that’s the point. Renee set in for Coach (He was at the Golf Channel) and simply did her job. No big deal and no pageantry.
(It’s a good sign. It will be even better when we ourselves stop talking about it.)
State of Wrestling
- ALL IN
“It was more successful than I thought it would be. It was a great show. Some details could’ve been better. The timing was an issue. The show ended literally before they went off the air. I gave it a ninety percent positive review. There will be more. Where? When? Greensboro, NC was mentioned. It’s got to be after Christmas. December is too soon. You can’t do it in April. You can’t compete with WWE. The ROH/New Japan show could have been ALL IN 2. I would say February is the earliest. Maybe do it at Atlanta or Los Angeles. The second show needs to get the attention of the mainstream fan.”
- Tag Teams on Raw
“There are new teams like, Bobby Roode and Chad Gable and new champs in Ziggler and McIntyre. By putting the titles on those two WWE wants to make the Shield feud even bigger. It makes the titles even bigger. All the titles are connected to that feud. There is also a fresh start with Authors of Pain. Why is Drake wearing the Authors of Pain gear? Anything that makes them more dominant I am for. As far as Gable and Roode, Sam believes Jason Jordan is coming back to Raw and Roode turns heel and joins Jordan. Jordan turns on Angle and now they feud. “That’s what I’d like to see. Realistically this is a match for The Survivor Series.”
- Mix Match Tags
“I’m looking forward to this! This is as close as you will get to seeing Superstars perform like they do on house shows. The Carmela and R Truth Smackdown Live match was a commercial for it.”
Sidenote: “R Truth turned Carmela face without anyone realizing it. We are accepting it. It’s a difficult thing to pull off. It’s going to be fun to watch on Facebook.”
- Braun Strowman Heel Turn
“I like that they are not playing the in between game. Braun Strowman is going on a full personality change. I don’t like that three weeks ago he says, “I’m a stand-up guy… blah, blah, blah.” Two weeks later he says he doesn’t give a damn about anything. The road to get here is flawed.”
- Shawn Michaels and Undertaker on Raw
“I thought Undertaker’s promo was super strong. I thought Shawn Michaels turned into a much better performer when Taker was out there. Before he was shooting the breeze a little, when it’s time to get serious, Shawn gets serious. The question is: Were they hinting at a match? I don’t think so. If that was about hinting at another match, then the intention runs the risk of distraction from the real purpose of the segment, which was Undertaker versus Triple H at Super Showdown. I’d far prefer if Shawn was going to have one more match that he faces Tommaso Ciampa at NXT Takeover.
I am anxious to see what Triple H does next week to promote this.
Final Observations:
A show that could have been shorter and still left the same impression. The Joey Janela interview was fine. I was not familiar with him before. He does have some off-kilter charisma, although I don’t feel that I’ve missed out on much. But I can see him growing into a Dean Ambrose/Mick Foley like character. It felt like Sam was just hanging out with one of his friends and chatting. Sometimes that can be entertaining. Sometimes it’s not.
I enjoy Sam’s excitement for the industry, although I see the tricky tightrope he walks in order to remain honest and true to his fan base, while also building his brand.
Sam still manages to be an excellent interview.
Rating: 6.5 out 10
See ya next week!
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