It was this past November that Nick Aldis made the announcement that he would be leaving the National Wrestling Alliance. What followed was Aldis being pulled from the NWA Hard Times 3 pay-per-view, a war of words through wrestling media between Aldis and NWA owner Billy Corgan, and since then, both have seemingly learned to go on without each other.
Now, Aldis is taking his career even further into his own hands. One of those first stops came last year when Aldis joined the Hart Family-operated Dungeon Wrestling in Alberta. Since then, he has become champion of the promotion, holding the Stu Hart Heritage Heavyweight title.
In an in-person interview in Calgary, Sunday Night’s Main Event host Mike McGuire discovered that Aldis is anything but stagnant and has plenty else planned out.
On the initial reactions following his NWA Departure:
“I didn’t really intend for it to become this contentious thing. It had become contentious but that’s why I was leaving. It was like, this has run its course, it’s time for me to go. I felt like because I had put so much of my own sweat equity into that brand, I felt like I was justified in at least giving a reason. I feel like there was some people making comments to the effect of like, ‘oh he should have kept his opinions to himself’ and I’m like, you weren’t in my position. You didn’t put all of yourself into that brand. People like Madusa and stuff were saying that. With all due respect, I was here on day one, so I had earned the right at least to explain to the fans why I decided to move on.”
On working behind the scenes on a major wrestling event in Australia:
“I’m doing some media for STARRCAST and Supercard that we’re planning towards the third quarter of 2023. I’m very excited about that – it will be the first time that I will get to be in a significant backstage/behind the scenes role officially. It’ll be the first time I’ll actually be really the decision maker… It’s exciting for me to get to test my skills in that area.”
On his encounters with Jerry Jarrett:
“I never got to work with Jerry which is a shame, because I think you could make the argument that he’s one of the most successful promoters in American history.
“The last time I saw him was in Charlotte at The Gathering, and I’ll never forget this because there’s a photo op room at that convention… Jerry had just finished his session, and I think it was Shane Douglas and Francine were next, and then it was me… so I was sort of waiting in that area.
“I came in just as Jerry was leaving and I shook his hand, ‘Good to see you Jerry,’ and in my mind I’m thinking he probably won’t remember me. He took a couple steps and then he turned around and came back and was like, ‘I don’t know if I’ll see you again today, and I don’t know when I’ll next see you, so I wanted to tell you…’ and then he proceeded to just put me over and say, ‘You’re a fabulous wrestler, you make me proud to be in the business, you remind me of Lou Thesz’, and I’m just sitting there going like, ‘Ohhh my god stop, I can’t take this – it’s too generous.’ It was very special to me.”
There is a lot more in the free version of the interview which is available below. The extended version of the interview including details on the upcoming Australian Super Show, is up on the SNME Radio Patreon (patreon.com/snmeradio), and will be available for free later on this week.
TOP PHOTO: Nick Aldis at the Dungeon Wrestling show at the Victoria Pavilion in Calgary, Alberta, on February 17, 2023, where Aldis kept the Stu Hart Heritage Heavyweight Championship against Chris Masters/Adonis. Photo by Mike McGuire
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