Petey Williams and Dennis Farrell of the Wrestling Perspective Podcast recently spoke with WrestleZone ahead of IMPACT Wrestling‘s Sacrifice and weighed in on the world title picture and (then) potential matchup between Rich Swann and Moose. Positioning himself as ‘The Real World Champion’ for the better part of a year, Moose is finally getting his shot at IMPACT’s top prize, and Williams said he’s seen a transformation first-hand.
“I really like Moose when it comes to his character. I thought he should’ve been champion long ago. That’s just my personal opinion,” Williams said. “If you look at him last year at around the same time, or maybe even a little bit before that, look at the shape he has gotten into. There was a lot of things, not were wrong with him, but lot tweaks he needed to make before being like the face of the company.”
Moose himself confirmed he’d been working on getting in great shape, telling The Angle podcast that he’d lost thirty pounds in the last three months and has been seeing the benefits. Williams agreed that he’s seen Moose evolve recently, and since he joined the company in general, pointing out that his attire, demeanor and body have all changed—but he’s not sure why Moose hasn’t been “the man” yet.
“Even like the way he dresses, the way he carries himself, both backstage and in front of the camera, the shape he’s in now, even his in-ring ability. I mean, he’s a guy that’s hungry and wants to be the champion and it’s no shock to see where he’s at right now.” Williams stated. “I don’t know why they haven’t pulled the trigger on him. I don’t know if it’s an obvious choice and maybe they don’t want to do that? I’m not really sure. But he definitely is that guy when you look at him and he does look like a superstar.”
Related: Moose Says ‘Control Your Narrative’ Wasn’t Just A Storyline
Moose has certainly earned praise, but that’s not to say Rich Swann hasn’t been a worthy and credible champion. Williams noted that some people are quick to write Swann off because he came from WWE’s 205 Live and the IMPACT X Division, but he noted that it’s just a gimmick in the end and not an indicator that it’s all Rich can do. Williams praised Swann for his great work ethic and said he’s having great matches every time, no matter what he’s asked to do.
“Sometimes your past comes back and you carry that luggage with you. Like everybody knows Rich was in 205 Live, right? So you think 205 Live, how the company booked 205 Live is just like okay, nobody really cares about it, let’s be honest. It’s a gimmick, but Rich,” Williams explained, “no matter what, he’s putting on probably the best match on the show. Like you can ask him to do anything. You can say ‘Rich, I need you to have an awesome five minute match,’ or ‘Hey Rich, I need you to run the gauntlet tonight and do 35 minutes’ and it’s gonna be phenomenal. I’ve had the privilege of working him twice and it’s great. I loved working with him, we’re on the same page, he wants to work hard in the ring, he’s not one of those guys that slacks, he has great work ethic and I think him being the champion, it paid off.”
IMPACT Wrestling escalating their overall stories into April’s Rebellion pay-per-view event through this weekend’s IMPACT+ streaming special, Sacrifice this Saturday. This week’s IMPACT Wrestling on AXS TV laid out a huge prize for the winner of this Saturday’s main event with TNA World Champion Moose facing IMPACT World Champion Rich Swann to unify their titles and the winner gets to face AEW World Champion Kenny Omega. Who should be the man to represent IMPACT in their on-going collaboration with All Elite Wrestling?
On today’s WrestleZone Wrap-Up, bossman Bill Pritchard, Robert DeFelice, and Kevin Kellam cover it all plus how the whole card is coming together with a balance of two different wrestling brands. Plus discussion about how jam-packed the schedule looks for WrestleMania week.
Related: The Numbers Don’t Lie: Scott Steiner Did His Infamous ‘Sacrifice’ Promo On The First (And Only) Take
