Retro Review // TNA Lockdown 2006

April 2006, Gnarls Barkley's Crazy was blasting out, everyone was about to die of bird flu and TNA were hosting Lockdown 2006. Gosh golly, it was a mad time to be about. The second ever all steel cage event was still a pretty novel concept at the time, with the show being headlined by Abyss challenging for Christian Cage's NWA World Heavyweight title and a Lethal Lockdown match with Sting being joined by AJ Styles, Rhino & Ron “The Truth” Killings to battle a Jeff Jarrett-led team that included America's Most Wanted (James Storm & Chris Harris) & Scott Steiner. But how was Lockdown 2006? Here's our review.

“Brutality meets Hardcore”, the opening package throws up random words, focusing on Christian Cage vs. Abyss for the NWA World Heavyweight Championship, Samoa Joe defending his X Division title against Sabu and the Lethal Lockdown match pitting a Jeff Jarrett-led team against a group headed up by Sting. This promo is too much, man.

“Screw McMahonism, I'm a TNAthiest” reads a sign in the crowd, as Mike Tenay and Don West welcome us to the Impact Zone in Orlando, Florida.

Six Man Tag Team World X Cup Preview Steel Cage Match - Team Japan (Minoru, Hirooki Goto & Black Tiger) vs. Team USA (Sonjay Dutt, Alex Shelley & Jay Lethal)

A sweet opener here with six talented young performers combining well to present an exciting preview to that year's World X Cup. Whilst the steel cage was barely used and the match would probably have been much better without, the six lads worked well within the confines, working a number of tight sequences and bringing in a number of sick fucking tag moves that hyped the crowd up well. Team USA worked particularly well together with the majority of their offence coming in short bursts of double and triple team offence, highlighted early on with a wheelbarrow gutbuster combination from Jay Lethal & Alex Shelley that was followed up with a lionsault from Sonjay Dutt. Whilst Team Japan would get the win with a tasty bridging Tiger suplex from Black Tiger (better known as Rocky Romero in New Japan Pro Wrestling) on Jay Lethal, I feel like Team Japan still could've been better presented in the main body of the match, often coming across as a little generic whilst Team USA got the majority of the exciting offence in. Lethal showed signs of the world-class performer he'd develop into in Ring of Honor, pulling out a good variety of action with his three opponents and looking the smoothest and most reliable performer on Team USA, whilst also doing a great job of selling his arm following a sequence that concluded with him getting caught in Minoru's signature submission, the Minoru Special (flying cross armbreaker).

Next PPV – On 14^th May at Sacrifice, all six men would compete in the World X Cup Final Gauntlet match that also featured Eric Young, Incognito, Johnny Devine, Jushin Thunder Liger, Magno, Puma, Shocker, Tyson Dux and eventual winner Petey Williams. This would be the final TNA PPV appearances for both Hirooki Goto & Black Tiger.

Mike Tenay and Don West chatted a bit and showed us some of the matches that were still to come, whilst pushing the idea that Lockdown was a unique show because of the all steel cage gimmick

Jeremy Borash pushed the new TNA action figure set, before interviewing a Team 3D who all very intense with Brother Ray proclaiming he'd rather work for “that company in Conneticut” than hear the Canadian national anthem...also Latte Zbssskfko to ask Borash something, it was unclear what was going on.

Steel Cage Match - “The Fallen Angel” Christopher Daniels vs. “Formerly Known as Low-Ki” Senshi

Considering the pedigree of the talent involved, this match comes out feeling surprisingly throwaway and whilst it's still a pretty good outing, it doesn't come close to reaching the potential that a match between Christopher Daniels and Senshi had at this time when looked at on paper. This is partly down to a relatively basic match structure and a couple of teases of big highspots that ultimately came to nothing. Neither man seemed completely into the bout, perhaps feeling pissed at being chucked into the second match on the card with no build and this leads to a middle section with little direction and a surprising lack of high-quality sequences. There was however some strong psychology at work in the opening with Senshi taking the action to Daniels with the commentary team pushing that Daniels had been caught off guard by his former Triple X stablemate answering his open challenge with the former and future Low Ki unloading some stiff strikes on the Fallen Angel, including a brutal looking double foot stomp. The highlight of the match was a strong near fall for Daniels off a Best Moonsault Ever, but the finish ended up falling flat for this reviewer as Senshi escaped an Angel's Wings attempt into a pinning combination picking up the win with his feet on the middle turnbuckle. I've probably been a bit hard on this match and I'd still say it would be worth checking out, but if you're pushed for time and want an example of a singles match between the two then you'd probably be better served by watching their encounter from earlier in 2006 at Ring of Honor's Tag Wars event.

Next PPV – At Sacrifice, Christopher Daniels would tag with AJ Styles in a losing effort against America's Most Wanted for the NWA World Tag Team titles. On the other hand, Senshi missed Sacrfice but would return for Slammiversary in June, winning a six way elimination bout that also included Alex Shelley, Jay Lethal, Petey Williams, Shark Boy and Sonjay Dutt.

Jeremy Borash had a chat with “Bullet” Bob Armstrong and the James Gang ahead of Armstrong's arm wrestling match with Konnan...there's a lot of weird cliches that I'm sure sounded good when they came up with them...

The promo package for the Arm Wrestling match is an absolute dumpster fire, acting more as a promo video for whatever mad song is being played in the background than telling me what has actually happened in this feud.

Konnan cut a promo on Orlando, the crowd didn't react because the show is in a theme park, so the crowd is mostly tourists. Brilliant work Konnan, you cunt.

Steel Cage Arm Wrestling Match – Konnan (with The Latin American Xchange (Homicide & Hernandez)) vs. “Bullet” Bob Armstrong (with The James Gang (BG James & Kip James))

63 year old Bob Armstrong got the win in an overly theatric arm wrestling match, despite repeated attempt at cheating from Konnan. What else can I say?

As per the pre-match stipulation the James Gang got to administer ten whips with belts to LAX...this was a bit of a shambles, but did included an unintentionally funny moment when BG accidentally called Kip “Billy”, leading to Mike Tenay quipping on commentary that Kip had “jumped the Gun(n)”.

Next PPV – Whilst this was Konnan's final PPV match, Bob Armstrong would return for February 2008's Against All Odds event, tagging with BG James for an unsuccessful shot at AJ Styles & Tomko's TNA World Tag Team Championships.

Latte told Jeff Jarrett that his team had won the coin toss for Lethal Lockdown, as the rest of Team Jarrett chatted to Jeremy Borash about the upcoming Lethal Lockdown match, including Scott Steiner absolutely murdering the English language and a surpringsly competent performance from America's Most Wanted's Chris Harris.

X-Division X-Scape Match – “Primetime” Elix Skipper (w/ Simon Diamond) vs. Petey Williams (w/ Coach D'Amore) vs. Puma vs. Chase Stevens vs. Shark Boy vs. “The Captain of Team USA” Chris Sabin

Despite a convoluted gimmick, the X-Scape match featured the best action of the show so far with strong performances from the likes of eventual winner Chris Sabin and Petey Williams. If you're unfamiliar with the gimmick, it's basically an elimination match with pinfalls or submissions until the final two competitors have to attempt to “X-scape” the cage (seriously, Tenay really hammered home that they would be “X-scaping”) to earn the victory. The earlier part of the match is hampered by the competitors having to tag in and out for some illogical reason, but once Shark Boy gets eliminated and everyone begins flying around the ring at the same time it became an exciting spot-heavy clash, featuring a number of intricate fast-paced sequences. The match peaked with a ridiculous shooting star press off the top of the cage from Chase Stevens, where everyone failed to catch the Hoosier. The spot could've ended up much worse for Stevens and it's damn good job he performed the move perfectly. Wrestling-wise the best action resulted in Puma's elimination as the man now known as TJP had a brilliant exchange with Petey Williams with the pair going back and forth repeatedly before Williams catapulted Puma straight into a Cradle Shock from Sabin. I'm not sure how much the X-scape gimmick helped the finale between Sabin and Williams as the wrestling stopped and both men simply tried to jump over the top, which would have been cool if there was something on the line, but without anything to fight for it was hard to buy into the drama of those moments. The finish itself came across as a little hokey with Williams ending up falling on his manager Coach D'Amore's shoulders when trying to escape, allowing Sabin to pick up the win and the momentum heading into the World X Cup. With a few tweaks to the gimmick and perhaps a better performance from a lacklustre Elix Skipper, this match would've been brilliant, however it's still a very fun watch that doesn't outstay it's welcome.

Next PPV – At Sacrifice, Petey Williams would lose to Jushin Thunder Liger in the World X Cup, before going on to win the final Gauntlet match that also included Puma and Chris Sabin. Shark Boy had to wait another month for PPV action, taking part in the aforementioned six way elimination match that was won by Senshi, whilst Chase Stevens & Elix Skipper returned at July's Victory Road show as Steven's teamed with Andy Douglas at The Naturals to defeat Skipper and his partner David Young, known collectively as The Diamonds in the Rough (which is an awful tag team name)

Jeremy Borash had tracked down Abyss & Father James Mitchell backstage and Mitchell cut a mad promo about Christian Cage not being a real champion and promising that Cage's head will roll later tonight. Odd stuff, but oddly compelling also.

The promo for Samoa Joe vs. Sabu, showing us lots of mad things that have happened, but it appears there's not much of a feud here.

Mikey Tenay gave us the “X Factors” for the Samoa Joe vs. Sabu match, which included that Joe was yet to be defeated in TNA, that both men were the epitome of the X-Division's “no limits” ethos and that Latte had chosen to bring in someone from outside TNA in order to push Joe further than before.

X Division Championship – Sabu vs. “The Undefeated Samoan Submission Machine” Samoa Joe ©

This is neither man's best effort, but it does the job of putting Samoa Joe over strong as a dominant force capable of tackling an opponent with a unique style as Joe beats the shit out of the former ECW Champion. The match is probably 80% Joe as he lobs his opponent around the cage with Sabu being busted open pretty early, which really helps towards the aura TNA were trying to build around Joe at this time. I'm not a massive fan of Sabu, but he actually manages to hit most of his offence effectively here, including a number of old favourites, even if he called every move ridiculously loudly. There's some weird stuff with Sabu having a cast on a supposedly broken arm, which I don't think achieved anything as despite Joe repeatedly going after the cast, Sabu couldn't sell because he had a cast on and even if he didn't I'm not sure he'd have sold it anyway, because he's Sabu. Could the two have had a better match? Probably, under different circumstances, but considering Sabu would be challenging John Cena and Rey Mysterio for titles in WWE a few months later, this was a massive victory for Samoa Joe at the time.

Next PPV – At Sacrifice, Samoa Joe continued to build momentum as he teamed with Sting to defeat Jeff Jarrett and Scott Steiner. Sabu would jump ship to WWE, appearing on the ECW One Night Stand show just two month's later in June, going to a no contest with Rey Mysterio over the World Heavyweight title, before returning to TNA PPV in August 2010, losing to Rob Van Dam at Hardcore Justice – The Last Stand.

Team Canada (Coach D'Amore, Bobby Roode, Eric Young & A1) sang “O Canada” and Coach D'Amore explained that most of the issues between them and Team 3D come from Team 3D being fat or something. Latte was back as he continued to try to find out what the big announcement is going to be, but received no help from Team Canada.

Hype promo time in which we learn that Team 3D are furious for being covered in a Canadian flag at some point by Team Canada and some more weird nationalistic weird shit. The backbone of this was a ridiculously cringey promo from Brother Ray.

Six Man Tag Team Steel Cage Anthem Match - Team Canada (A1, “The Canadian Enforcer” Bobby Roode & “Showtime” Eric Young) (with Coach D'Amore) vs. Team 3D (Brother Ray, Brother Devon & Brother Runt)

Whilst there was a handful of great spots and nice creativity here, this match becomes a painful watch thanks to the awful gimmick and some horrible booking. Firstly, lets discuss the idea of the Anthem match. The aim of the match is to retrieve your country's flag from the top of the cage, which will then result in your country's national anthem being played and victory. Why? Team Canada had already came out to their usual entrance theme...”O Canada”...and also sang the anthem in the backstage segment earlier. Lads. Onto the booking which is very poor indeed. After a ref bump, Team 3D grabbed the Stars and Stripes, which, of course, didn't result in the end of the match because the referee was down. Team Canada managed to put the flag back and after Coach D'Amore nailed the “gatekeeper” with a steel chair, he got a table in the cage, which eventually Eric Young ended up going through with a diving elbow drop attempt on Brother Runt, before A1 took an Acid Drop from Runt and Roode a 3D from Ray & Devon, leading to Team 3D getting the flag down for the second time and winning the match. This made Team Canada look like an absolute bunch of chumps. They lost the match twice, despite underhanded tactics and spent a long time in control without even attempting to get their flag. Despite all this shit, there were a couple of great moments, including Roode taking an Avalanche Bubba Bomb early on and a lovely spot with A1 blocking an Acid Drop and setting up Roode for a wicked sitout powerbomb.

After the match, a terrible version of “The Star-Spangled Banner” played and Brother Ray and Brother Devon gave Coach D'Amore a 3D.

Next PPV – At Sacrifice, Brother's Ray and Devon came out on the losing side of a match with The James Gang (BJ James & Kip James), whilst it was a mixed night for Team Canada as despite Bobby Roode's victory over Rhino, A1 put over Raven and Eric Young was unsuccessful in the World X Cup Final Gauntlet match. Brother Runt's next PPV match would be for the HUSTLE promotion in June as he tagged with his storyline brother's Kinetaro Kinemura, Masato Tanaka and Tetsuhiro Kuroda at House Vol. 16 – The Road to HUSTLE Aid, before returning to TNA in July at Victory Road for another six man tag, this time seeing Team 3D losing to Abyss & The James Gang.

Mike Tenay and Don West attempted to talk about the two matches left on the card, but the crowd obviously wanted to actually sing the US National anthem still, because the version TNA played was impossible to join in with. Team 3D recognised this and ended up leading a sing-a-long at the top of the babyface ramp in what was actually a pretty cute moment.

After being heavily pushed in every backstage segment on the show, it turned out that TNA's major announcement was that they were going through a corporate restructuring. Come on guys, that's not going to get anyone excited about anything. What this boiled down to was that there was a new “face of TNA management”, who would be revealed at a later date. Latte was put on probation as the “Head of the Championship Committee” and former ECW World Heavyweight Champion Raven returned to the company, chasing Latte around the ring for reason's that I'm sure were clear if you were watch iMPACT at the time. Oh, Christy Hemme also made her TNA debut in this segment, delivering an envelope to the commentary bois.

NWA World Heavyweight Champion Christian Cage refused to be interviewed by Jeremy Borash

Good golly, it was all going on in the Abyss vs. Christian Cage feud in '06. Abyss and Father James Mitchell had stalked Cage's wife and beaten Cage up in his home and attempted to drown him, whilst Cage had looked to use a tyre iron on Abyss. Why are we having a wrestling match and not a day in court?

Mike Tenay ran down the tale of the tape for the NWA World title match, with some shit puns and stuff.

Steel Cage match for NWA World Heavyweight Championship - “The Monster” Abyss vs. Christian Cage ©

Whilst at times over-booked, Abyss vs. Christian Cage is a fun World title cage match, that has good variety and remained entertaining for over 20 minutes. The match is packed with strong near falls with Abyss kicking out of an Unprettier, whilst Cage survives a Blackhole Slam, as well as featuring a number of big highspots with the highlight being a Frog Splash from the top of the six sides of steel from the champion. The double ref bump was gratuitous, but both bumps were creatively done and allowed for a little added drama down the stretch, whilst the second showed signs of desperation from The Monster as he threw the ref into the cage to prevent Cage diving off the top, which in turn added a little depth to the storytelling in the later stages. I think at times the match lost sight of how serious the feud had been between the two, as after the opening brawl there's a slight lack of intensity from either man and things almost settle into a typical power vs. technique type contest. Whilst the thumbtack spots are brutal, they have more of an air of trying anything possible to win the top prize in the NWA than anything else. The finish, however, is done very well, with Cage countering a chokeslam and nailing the second Unprettier of the match, this time onto a massive pile of thumbtacks, whilst Tenay and West sold the moment on commentary. This is probably a Top Five singles match for Abyss in TNA, whilst also being the strongest match on the card.

After the match, Christian Cage attempted to gain some revenge on Father James Mitchell, but was instead low-blowed by Abyss, before being bloodied and hung by a chain using the steel cage in what was an unnecessary angle. Mitchell handed Abyss the NWA World Heavyweight title belt before the pair left.

Next PPV – The two would collide again at Sacrfice, with Christian Cage retaining once more in a Full Metal Mayhem match, which main evented the show.

Ron Killings, AJ Styles and Rhino were all interviewed by Jeremy Borash with Rhino giving the best account of himself on the mic, pulling out an intense promo, ending with his “Gore, Gore, Gore” catchphrase. Sting showed up at the end to say “It's showtime, folks”.

The hype package for the main event focused on the issues between Jeff Jarrett and Sting, whilst never actually explaining what those issues were, whilst also pushing Lethal Lockdown as the most

Lethal Lockdown – Team Jarrett (NWA World Tag Team Champion “Wildcat” Chris Harris, NWA World Tag Team Champion “Cowboy” James Storm, Jeff Jarrett & “Big Poppa Pump” Scott Steiner) (with Gail Kim & Jackie) vs. Sting's Warriors (“The Phenomenal” AJ Styles, Rhino, Ron “The Truth” Killings & Sting)

Lethal Lockdown produced an entertaining main event, that whilst at times lacking in substance, used the gimmick to keep the momentum building, whilst two massive spots make this a more than worthwhile watch. One of the spots is probably one of the most memorable moments in Lethal Lockdown history as AJ Styles and James Storm battled on top of the cage, concluding with Styles scaling a tall ladder and using some trussing to splash Storm through a table. Whilst this isn't shot particularly well by TNA, it still looks incredible and is a testament to what Styles was willing to do for the company at this time. This is also seen in the other spot as Styles is at the top of a ridiculous tower of doom spot that sees him fall from the top of the cage. Had their been more of an issue between anyone other than Jeff Jarrett and Sting, I think the latter stages could've been a much more compelling watch, as things essentially boil down to a sequence where everyone hits their signature moves, before an awkward sequence where Sting reversed a Sharpshooter from Chris Harris into a Scorpion Deathlock, which struggled following the massive spot from Styles and Storm on top of the cage. The undisputed lowlight was Jackie removing Gail Kim's skirt as she attempted to scale the cage, something which makes it seem like 2006 was a world away from the modern day.

Performance wise, there's no doubt that Styles is the MVP of this bout as he works his arse off throughout, helping others look like a million bucks, especially when starting the match with Harris, whilst taking part in the matches two biggest spots of the evening. Everyone else almost fades into the background, mainly appearing during their entrances to hit a number of big moves before coming back into the action for the finishing sequence. Everyone manages to look pretty good when first out the gate, with Rhino and Steiner's entrances in particularly lifting the contest at the right time, when they unleash a series of power moves, whilst Ron Killings also pulls out a greatest hits of his funky offence. For me, the two captains of the team put in disappointing efforts, as aside from a melodramatic stand-off with their guitar and baseball bat respectively, it's hard to point out anything particularly impressive or memorable from either man.

2006's incarnation of Lethal Lockdown is certainly worth a watch and has a case for being the best version of the contest, that has never quite fufilled its potential as TNA's version of WarGames. Although I'd put the Team Angle vs. Team Cage bout from the next Lockdown show as slightly ahead.

Next PPV – The feud between Sting and Jeff Jarrett continued at Sacrifice with Sting picking up another victory as he teamed with Samoa Joe to take on Jarrett & Scott Steiner. America's Most Wanted succesfully defended their NWA World Tag Team Championships against AJ Styles and his partner Christopher Daniels at the same event, whilst Rhino ended up putting over Bobby Roode. Ron Killings wouldn't be back on PPV til July at Slammiversary, taking part in a King of the Mountain match for Christian Cage's NWA World Heavyweight title, in a match that also included Abyss and Sting and saw Jeff Jarrett walk out with the ten pounds of gold.

Lockdown 2006 was a really solid PPV that, despite some issues with the booking, featured a number of entertaining matches. The opening stretch of X Division action (albeit broken up by a lame arm wrestling match) is an inspired way to do the first half, that also displays the sheer amount of talent that TNA had in that area at the time as we see appearances from Samoa Joe, Alex Shelley, Low Ki, Christopher Daniels, Chris Sabin, TJP and Jay Lethal. There's a definite lull in the middle with the Joe vs. Sabu match not setting the world alight, whilst the Anthem match has it's moments but features six men fighting against a poorly conceived gimmick, whilst the constant interruptions from Latte resulted in a disappointing “major announcement” (something that would become a running theme for TNA in later years). The prevalence of multi-man matches gets a little much by the end of the show as TNA seems dead set on trying to get as many men inside the steel cage as possible, but that does also mean that when it comes time for the NWA World Heavyweight Championship match the match gains more of a big match feel than it perhaps would have got following a series of particularly good singles matches. Indeed, for me, the Abyss vs. Christian Cage match is the best on the show, going heavy on the drama that is at times missing from the Lethal Lockdown main event, whilst also showcasing what was a perhaps surprising chemistry between The Monster and Captain Charisma. For the first time on Retro Review, I'd recommend this PPV as a complete watch, as despite it's flaws it is a good show that is mostly carried well across the three hours. You can check it out on the Global Wrestling Network. 

Next time - NWA Starrcade 1985 feat. Ric Flair vs. Dusty Rhodes, Magnum TA vs. Tully Blanchard in an I Quit Steel Cage match and The Rock N' Roll Express vs. The Russians in a Cage match.

Written by James Marston 

Interview // Petey Williams

ATPW got the chance to take part in the latest Impact Wrestling teleconference with two time Impact X-Division Champion and former IWA Mid-South Heavyweight Champion Petey Williams. The full teleconference interview is below, covering a number of topics and questions from a variety of different outlets. Look out for the ATPW questions in particular regarding potential members of a Team Canada reboot, as well as the departure of James Storm. v

*Recorded 15th October 2017

SteelChair Magazine // What are your upcoming goals? 

Petey Williams: That is a good question, because my original plan was to stay retired. I was totally content with how my career had left off and then Scott D'Amore approached me and asked if I wanted to come back and I was hmmming and ahhing about it, because I have kids now. I didn't have kids for the first time that I was wrestling and I'm married, so I ran it by my wife and she said it was ok. It's not about me this time around, it's more for my kids. I'd like for them to see what I used to do and leave on a more positive note than I did last time. Last time, I got fired from TNA and now I'm back. My goals, championships would be great, absolutely. Ultimately I would like to transition into helping some of the younger talent and maybe take a behind the scenes role and help develop characters because that's a big passion of mine. Wrestling wise I just like performing in front of fans and wrestling, that's been my goal always and that will always continue to be my goal. 

Last Word on Sports // I'm actually calling from Windsor, Ontario! 

PW //  Tell everyone I said hi! 

Last Word on Sports // I will! Loosely tied to what you just said about getting into backstage work in the future. One thing I've noticed, especially with the tapings in Ottawa, Impact is definitely highlighting a lot more of the Canadian indie scene, right now. We saw Ethan Page debuting as Chandler Park, KC Spinelli, Hannibal, Tyson Dux back in the spotlight and even some BCW guys like Brett Banks and Phil Atlas/ Do you think that that's something that has been underexposed? Just how big the Canadian indie scene is, we kind of get a bit lost with the American indie scene. And is this something that you look forward to becoming a figurehead for now? You're an indie Canadian icon now! 

PW // Yeah, my goal is to run for Prime Minister during the next election....no, I'm totally joking! Do not publish that...I'm not running for Prime Minister! But yeah definitely, I think it is something that is overlooked, the Canadian independent scene. I'm not going to name all the names that have come from Canada in the past and present, but there's some big names and great wrestlers. It's good that Impact is transitioning into being a Canadian company, because I know when I was first starting to break into the business and make a name for myself, there wasn't much television work or anything mainstream in Canada, you always had to go over to the US. It's so hard for us Canadian wrestlers just to go across the border and get visas and everything that is tied in with it, so yeah I'm really looking forward to everybody, pretty much the world, getting to see what Canada has to offer. 

The Wrestling Epicentre // We spoke just a few weeks before Bound For Glory and I asked how you were looking forward to going up to Canada and we had no idea that you would be challenging for the World title tomorrow night! Now that's it's been done how did you enjoy your trip back north of the border? 

PW // Good talking to you again! Now that it's all said and done, it was better than I anticipated! I knew that it was going to be awesome, wrestling in front of the Canadian fans again, but just to go back to that reaction, I still can't believe it when I walked into the arena at Bound For Glory. It was pretty amazing and then not only that but when you show up for the next day and [Impact] are like "You're going to be highlighted in our Global title match in our main event" and I was like "This has never happened before!" The entire time that I've been with Impact it's always been X Division, X Division, which I love, but just to be highlighted in the main event like that it's a Canadian kids dream come true. Then throughout the week too, the reception that the Canadian fans were giving me, it was pretty unbelievable and if I retired tomorrow, I could really be happy with it. I'm not retiring, I'm not announcing my retirement, please don't get all worked up here, I'm just saying if that were to happen and I couldn't wrestle again, I'd be totally content.

Unnamed Source // Would please talk about the origin of the Canadian Destroyer? 

PW // There's not much to it. We're going back to 2003-ish, so fourteen years ago I was riding in a car with I think Chris Sabin, Truth Martini and maybe Brian Gory and maybe somebody else and we were going to an IWA: Mid South show for Ian Rotten. Truth Martini brought something up and we were just kind of brainstorming and then Sabin and I were wrestling each other that night so we were going to attempt this flipping piledriver move that we could only envision in our heads. I don't think we understood how it would turn out, so we decided not to do it, because of the fear of the unknown, we didn't know what was going to come of this. So we didn't do it. Then I went back the next month and challenged Matt Sydal in the same promotion and I said "Matt, I have this move I want to try" and Matt said "Okay, lets do it!". Then we did it and Matt Sydal was the first person to ever take the Canadian Destroyer. I was doing the move for a while and I brought it to Impact back in the weekly PPV days and they actually came to me and said "You need a name for the move" and I'm like "I know I do, I just don't know what to call it". So I went back to my roots, everybody knows that Scott D'Amore trained me and the guy that trained Scott D'Amore his name was "The Canadian Destroyer" Doug Chevalier. When I first started training underneath Scott D'Amore, the very first Border City Wrestling show that I attended Doug Chevalier had just passed away and it was the Doug Chevalier memorial show pretty much and it just kind of stuck with me, out of respect for Border City Wrestling tradition and the CanAm Wrestling school and I said "We're going to call it the Canadian Destroyer" and [TNA] said "Okay" and that was that! 

WrestlingNew.co & Pancakes and Powerslams Show // 2008 you were in the same room as one of the funniest promos of all time in TNA. The maths promo that's become so popular nowadays, I'm wondering what were your thought when Scott Steiner was cutting that fantastic promo with you and Rhaka Khan in the same room? And then my other question, going more of a serious note. If there was one person that you bring from the WWE right now into Impact Wrestling and start a feud with and compete against, who would it be? 

PW // Okay, well to answer your first question...Little known fact, I wrote that entire promo for Scott Steiner verbatim, so the math does make sense. Seriously, [TNA] said "You have a minute and a half promo" and back then Vince Russo was the director/producer of everything and there was really no "say this", he just said "Talk about your match with Angle and Joe and Petey finish it up with a one liner". Then he just starts talking and if you watch the promo back the clip I look directly into the camera as if to say "Are we still rolling? Okay, I guess we are, might as well get back into character!". So it was one take and the one thing I know about Vince Russo is that he liked when Steiner stumbled over words. I know Steiner didn't like stumbling over words, but Russo really liked it because he felt that Scott had all this pent up frustration and rage that of course he's going to stumble over his words because he can't even think straight or talk right because he's so frustrated. So, Russo understood Steiner's character and he knew that that was good TV and it's epic, people still talk about it to this very day. And the math, at first, it did make total sense and then it didn't make sense because he started going over a 100% and I got lost and that's when I looked at the camera. But it's great and I ask Impact Wrestling every single week to bring Steiner back. I lobby for that all the time because it's just good TV when Scott's on TV and I like hanging out with him. It makes life interesting when he's around. 

The second question, that's a good question too. Do I bring back someone that I used to rival with? I loved rivalling with AJ Styles, that goes way back to 2004. I remember our first monthly PPV, Victory Road, it was myself against AJ Styles and I really wasn't expecting to win that match, I know that he was the golden boy, the poster boy for the company at the time and just to come out victorious and still X Division Champion after that match it just goes to show what the company thought about Petey Williams and the Canadian Destroyer and the character. So, it would be good to have him back. 

Across the Pond Wrestling // Back in the day, 2004-2005, a big part of iMPACT and for yourself was Team Canada. Now, if you were going to reform Team Canada tomorrow who would you like to be a part of it and why? 

PW // Obviously, I'd like to have my old group back, based on circumstances and contracts and everything. But moving forward if I had to pick a group, I'd have myself and probably A1, I'd have him back. A1 is actually back wrestling again, he looks absolutely great, he works out like three hours a day, so jacked and lean I'd love to have him back by my side. So that's two original members and then I'd have somebody like a Tyson Dux, very well known in Canada, a Border City guy and maybe even a long shot of a Michael Elgin. I haven't put too much thought into it, but that's another thing I lobby for, besides bringing Scott Steiner back, is bringing back Team Canada. Obviously, I'd have Scott D'Amore as the Coach. 

New Zealand Pro Wrestling Informer // Having started with Impact in 2004, to what do you attribute you longevity in the business? 

PW // Oh jeez, that's a good question. I do admit that I have been very lucky and blessed in this business. I've paid my dues, set up rings, travelled all over the place, but I feel like a lot of opportunities were thrown right at my face and I just had to make sure that I didn't move and that it hit me in the face. I've just been lucky with meeting the people that I've met and having doors opened for me, it's one thing to have a door opened for me in Impact when I first start there, but you know it was ultimately up to me to deliver and perform and secure a position with the company. But a longevity standpoint, yeah I started seventeen years ago in the wrestling business and if you look at me, I'm not flying all over the ring, I'm not trying to do anything that's beyond my limits. The way I structure a match, I know that my bread and butter is the Canadian Destroyer manoeuvre and that's what I try to go for, the purpose of my match, I want to hit that move so that I can win the match. That's pretty much what it comes down to. You might see me go for it a couple of times in a match, but I know it's going to win me matches and that's what I go for. So longevity wise I want to say I'm a smart wrestler, I don't try and do things that are out of my league, I'm not going to go and do a four-fifty. Yeah, I can do a four-fifty, but it's maybe going to look seventy percent good, whereas someone like Matt Sydal or Ishimori can do a four-fifty one hundred percent good. So why would I want to do a move seventy percent good, when I know that there's another performer that can do it one hundred percent good? I wanna say I'm cautious and that's why my longevity has always been there and I've been free from injury, knock on wood, thus far. 

HiddenRemote.com // You had mentioned before Team Canada and I just wanted to get your thoughts on the recent success of Bobby Roode and Eric Young in WWE and if you keep in contact with them to this day? 

PW // Yeah I do. I'm so happy for them, we all started and were signed to a contract at the same time at Impact in 2004 and obviously it's your goal to work your way up in wrestling, however it may be. Making it your career, that's going to be your job in life and that's what we're doing, loving life. I don't remember the last time I texted Eric Young, it was something goofing around, I don't know what it was. It was an old memory. Then Bobby Roode, I think the last time that I texted him, I saw him and he was looking good on TV and I'll take you behind the scenes right now, we used to do each other's back when it came to the fake tanning, there's no surprise that wrestlers use fake tanning lotion. So I asked Bobby "You're looking good on TV, what lotion are you using nowadays?" and he told me and we swapped there and that's what I'm using on TV now. We still keep in touch and I'm so happy for them, they're doing what they love to do. 

TheGorillaPosition.com // Petey, you're one of the legends in the formative years of the X-Division. Now that it's being rediscovered by fans who didn't see it the first time. In the grand scheme of things what do you think the legacy of what you guys did when you launched the X Division is gonna be? 

PW // If you're talking about back in the early to mid 2000s, you don't realise that you're making history or that you're creating something when it's actually happening. It's always that you look back on it and say "Wow, that was the glory years". So we didn't really realise what we were creating until we look back on it now and say "Wow, look what we've done and look what its become". When I look at that, look at the guys that were around in the glory days in the mid-2000s that are still left with the company. It's myself and Sonjay Dutt. I was highlighted extremely in the X Division and I'm very thankful for that and I would like for it to shift back to the way it was, to create that history again. We're not going to know it when its happening, but if everybody watches and is a part of it, you can look back at it in ten years in 2027 and say "I remember in 2017, Petey came back, Sonjay was there and the X Division was doing something special. That's the goal, to bring it back to where it was. 

New Zealand Pro Wrestling Informer // What matches from throughout your career would you recommend newer fans check out on the Global Wrestling Network? 

PW // Oh man, that's a good question. If I didn't get hit in the head so hard I'd probably remember all of my matches. Some matches that I'm very proud of are myself vs. AJ Styles at Victory Road 2004 and then Turning Point of the same year myself vs. Chris Sabin it was a twenty minute match and I really enjoyed that match and then going into the following month, January 2005, myself vs. AJ vs. Chris Sabin, we had an Ultimate X match which is regarded as one of the best Ultimate X matches in Impact history. That's a good starting point. If you want something more towards my "Maple Leaf Muscle" character I really enjoyed my match with Frankie Kazarian at Slammiversary 2008, in the Memphis area, very proud of that one. Then myself against Xavier Woods at Hard Justice 2008 in New Jersey, I still regard it was probably Xavier Woods' best singles match to date. Then also September 2008 it was myself vs. Shawn Daivari vs. Xavier Woods in Oshawa, Ontario at No Surrender, which I regarded as a good match as well. So  that's a good starting point, things that are popping off the top of my head. If you're watching the Global Wrestling Network, I'd say start there. 

SteelChair Magazine // You've already wrestled in England, did you enjoy it? Do you want to come back? What's you're experience with wrestling in the UK? 

PW // I don't remember when I first went over there to the UK, but it was for the Wrestling Channel and I tell you what the United Kingdom fans, they are awesome. They've always been huge events that I've wrestled at and they're some of the best fans out and not to take away from the fans but the wrestlers themselves. I remember when I used to go over to the UK, back in 2004, I felt that the UK wrestlers were kind of stuck in the past, but I just went over there in 2013 and my God did those UK wrestlers really turn it around. I want to say that they have some of the best wrestlers out there right now, I was blown away by how the wrestlers really came to and how the younger guys really took a grasp on the wrestling community and they are just awesome. I remember being over there and being like "Wow, you guys have really turned it around over the last ten years". So I'm really proud of the UK wrestlers and the fans, absolutely. Will I come back? I'm working on coming back to the UK, I don't know if Impact has anything lined up, but if Impact does I'd be happy to be on that tour as well. 

Alive Radio // Earlier on you were talking about Team Canada and back in the day you had Coach D'Amore, who was a great manager/coach call him what you want. Do you think there's still a place in the modern wrestling scene for the manager? 

PW // Yeah, I definitely believe so. I mean, Scott D'Amore is definitely a great talker on the mic and he can hold his own against anybody and that's why they put him on the mic back in 2004. There's so much stuff going on on social media and what's going on in the world, that there's so much more material than what there was in 2004, that I can definitely see it and it working. Whether Scott wants to do it or not that's up in the air, that's for him to decide, not for me. 

Across the Pond Wrestling // The news broke during the last set of tapings that James Storm was planning to depart from Impact. I wanted to know if you could talk a little bit about James' influence on the company and a bit about your relationship with James as well. 

PW // Yeah, James had been with us since the beginning, so as soon as he came back from his last match at Impact in the Ottawa tapings, I just went up to him and I hugged him and I said "Hey man, I've been in your position before, you'll bounce back". That's exactly what I said to him, because in 2009 I was in his position where if I lost the match I had to leave Impact and believe it or not, James Storm was the one who actually pinned... actually, Ihe was the one that kicked me in the face, I think Bobby Roode pinned me, but either way it was their team that made me leave Impact. So I understand where he's coming from and he will bounce back. Wrestling goes full circle. 2009 I was supposed to leave Impact Wrestling forever, I came back in 2013 for a few months and now I'm back in 2017, so nothing is forever in wrestling, we all know that. You might see James Storm in the future again. I've always had a good relationship with James, the first time I actually went to Disneyland was with James Storm and his girlfriend at the time and my girlfriend at the time. I don't know where he's going from here, but he's always been a guy in the company when he can step out in front of a crowd and he's Impact branded pretty much, he always gets good reactions and he's a great worker. I wish James all the best.

HiddenRemote.Com // You spoke earlier about the latest set of taping of Impact that recently took place in Canada and obviously before that you were wrestling for Impact in the States, in the Impact Zone out of Orlando. What was the biggest difference in the atmosphere, obviously aside from being from Canada, and wrestling in Canada and the USA for Impact? 

PW // You hit the nail on the head. Me being from Canada, being in Canada as well, that was a huge difference in the atmosphere, but also we had a whole fresh set of eyes watching our product, rather than being at the Impact Zone were we've been there on and off since 2004. So thirteen years in the same city is a tough thing to do. So just to have a fresh set of eyes, that's huge and it means a lot to the talent, to the wrestlers too, because you almost want to, not try harder, but you have a fresh feeling about it, you get excited again. It's interesting because my whole career since 2004 when I debuted in Impact, I've always been pro-Canada, I'm Team Canada my moves the Canadian Destroyer, I was Maple Leaf Muscle, everything's always been Canada about me, so it's just good to see that I can still do this same character thirteen years later and still have the fans on my side. That's great, that means the world to me. 

Last Word on Sports // You'd spoken quite a bit on Scott D'Amore already, but if you go back the last ten/fifteen years, Scott's directed/trained so many people who've become monstrous stars over the last fifteen years. Whether it's helping out with Gail Kim to guys like you and Bobby Roode and Eric Young and Moose and KUSHIDA and all having great big years this year, Motor City Machine Guns, Rosemary. What is it about Scott D'Amore's training that he creates these people who have become such big, impactful (no pun intended) stars in the industry? 

PW // You know, I'm not really sure, to be honest. Maybe its a fundamental thing. Some people have their basic training down, I know for example Chris Sabin was basically trained, he trained under another individual, then he went to Scott's school, he tweaked a couple of things, opened up somethings for him and he was considered a Border City guy. The first day that I stepped foot in a wrestling ring was at the CanAm Wrestling School under Scott D'Amore, so I'm privileged to be considered one of the few that have started, my very first bump in a Border City/CanAm Wrestling ring was underneath Scott D'Amore. People know that Scott has helped a lot of people on the way. I know if I was starting out wrestling today, I would probably seek out Scott D'Amore's school, just because of knowing what he's produced. I do know a couple of things that I can give to you that I know that Scott really sticks to. When I first starting wrestling, I was 18, maybe 19 years old and Scott knew that I was in college and Scott said "You need to finish your degree at school, because when wrestling is done you need something to fall back on" and I was like "Alright". Pretty much a few months after I finished up my college degree, he had me step into the Impact Zone and said "This guys good", so he made sure I was done before he pushed me to the next level. So he really harps on that and I thank him for that, that he did that. Also, fundamental things as well, for example I know a lot of wrestling schools and wrestling promoters, they'll have you train, some of them, the bad schools, they'll have you train for a few months and even if you're not ready they'll put you in a match. Scott was adamant, I knew guys that trained for a year, just because they weren't ready yet and Scott's not going to put out someone who's not ready, who could potentially hurt themselves or hurt somebody else. Scott's not going to do that, he has too much pride in the wrestling world. So that's two things, that I really enjoyed about Scott's school, because I don't think that's taught universally across other wrestling schools. 

Impact Lounge // How was it performing not only in Canada, I know that's your hometown, but also at Impact's biggest PPV, Bound For Glory, in front of your children? What was the experience like not only for you but for your children as well? 

PW // The tough part was my children were eight hours away, so they weren't able to experience it and then I was gone all week so I wasn't able to experience it with them, but what's good is that they have seen me wrestle on this second run of mine. The first run, I only had one kid, they never saw me wrestle. It means the world to me. This isn't Bound For Glory, this is just another show when I was doing a warm-up match before I came back, my wife's sitting in the crowd with them and she said to them "Okay, I know you usually call him Daddy, but today's the only day that you're actually allowed to call him Petey" so that was cool to here them chanting "Petey!" and afterwards seeing them, I try to tell them that it's fake, even though I don't like using the word "fake" because I do get hurt a lot in wrestling, so pre-determined, but to portray it to a small child, I'm like "It's fake, Daddy is okay" because I don't want them crying or anything. My three year old, my wife said she said she thought she was going to cry, because the first thing that happened in the match was that I got punched in the face and she looked at my wife and then went "Get him Daddy, get him" so she didn't want to cry, she wanted me to fight back. I'm hoping that they understand, but it means the world to me that I get to share it with them, especially when I leave, they know I'm going to wrestle and they understand what that means and they understand what that looks like when I say I'm going wrestling. So, just an awesome experience and that's why I'm having so much more fun this time around. I have more people to share it with, my family, I never got to share it with a whole entire family before. 

The Wrestling Epicentre // Probably the reason you're doing this teleconference is that tomorrow night the big match against Eli Drake for the World title. Eli is just such a dynamic performer, great on the microphone, but also able to go in the ring. Thoughts on Eli Drake as a performer? 

PW // At first, I didn't know what to expect. I know he's the World Champion, I didn't know what it was going to be like. It was the unknown. Then after, Eli has a bunch of cool points, that a lot of other wrestlers don't have. He just has this coolness about him. That's really good, that's what you want to see in a champion and Eli delivers that. As for stepping in the ring, he's great in the ring, he's better than I thought he was going to be, not that I thought he was going to be bad or anything, but there's a style when it comes to the X-Division, I know that style, but then there's also a style when it comes to the heavyweight division and I know that style too and they're two totally different styles I would say. I've wrestled both, obviously I prefer the X-Division style, but he has this niche about him where he almost has an X-Division type style about him and you'll be able to see that when you tune in tomorrow on Pop TV, but really, really enjoyed the match with him and I hope you guys enjoy the match when you watch it. 

Last Word on Sport // It almost seems in the time that you've been away The Canadian Destroyer has become a huge move, it's become one of these iconic moves that you're seeing everywhere from internet clips of people trying to do Double Canadian Destroyers, up to seeing John Cena using it last year. Was that every something that crossed your mind to when it becomes a future DDT or when it becomes this massive almost cult following move? 

PW // No, it didn't at the time. Going back to what I said before, you don't realise that you're creating history when you're creating it. You always look back on it and be like "Wow!", you created history. Just to clarify, John Cena didn't do the move, he did something called a Code Red, which Amazing Red used to do, it's a flipping powerbomb, not a flipping piledriver. It gets confused a lot. I see it all the time, I felt like once I retired three years ago that every single match everywhere there was a Canadian Destroyer involved, so much so I think that it was upsetting some of the other wrestlers who were like "Can we tone it down on the Canadian Destroyers?". Now that I'm back it seems like there's less of it, maybe it's a respect thing, "Petey Williams is back, it's his move, let him have it" and I'm totally cool when people do it. I know they say "Imitation is the best form of flattery" so I'm flattered when people do it and it's good because I can look back and not many people can say this, that they're created something in wrestling that is going to last forever. I know this for a fact, I'm very confident that when I'm seventy years old, I can be sitting in my living room with my Grand-kids watching whatever wrestling show is popular at the time and there's going to be some kid, probably not even born yet, doing the Canadian Destroyer on TV and I can look and say "That's what I contributed to wrestling. That's me, right there, that's what I did". It's just good to show that when I'm long gone, that will still be around and that's my legacy.

Impact Lounge // Tomorrow night, you have an opportunity where you'll be challenging Eli Drake for the Impact Global Championship. We've seen over the years where there's been a change in terms of guys of smaller stature getting the opportunity to not only challenge for whichever company's World title, but in some cases we've seen instances where these guys have been successful. I was wondering if there was anyone in the current crop of X-Division stars that you can see in the future potentially challenging and perhaps winning the Impact Global Championship? 

PW // Yeah! I think what's good about the Impact roster right now is I feel like probably 80% of the roster could transition into becoming the Global Champion. I think that's how deep our roster is right now. I look at guys like Trevor Lee, I think he's a phenomenal performer and I don't see any reason why he can't compete if not be the Global Champion. Same for Matt Sydal, he's worked everywhere in this world, he can do pretty much anything and he's a phenomenal performer. Same with Dezmond Xavier. Myself included. So I could see pretty much anybody taking that spot, call me nuts, but that's what I believe. 

SteelChair Magazine // Who are you looking forward to wrestling from this new roster? And also who would you like to tag team with? 

PW // Obviously, Eli Drake is Global Champion and you get to see that tomorrow. I'd like to go head to head with Matt Sydal, I haven't done it in maybe thirteen years or so, so that would be something that I'd like to do on Impact television. Even guys like EC3, I'd like opportunity, as well. Even go one on one with Dezmond Xavier, maybe Ishimori, so yeah I have a list of guys that I'd like to go in there with and wrestle. As for forming a tag team, I really enjoyed it the last few weeks when I've been teaming with Sonjay Dutt. Sonjay's always been a very close friend of mine, he's also one of the pioneers of the X-Division as well and I think we'd form a pretty good team. I even have a name for it, I would call us "Sikh and Destroy". I know, Sonjay isn't religiously a sikh, but there's twenty million Sikhs in India and Sonjay's from India, so he could the Sikh part of it and I could be the Destroy part of it. Sikh and Destroy. I think it's clever. I'd also like to team with somebody like Johnny Impact, I think it'd be great to team with him, I love his style and watching that. 

WrestlingNews.Co & Pancakes and Powerslams Show // WWE recently announced the news that James Ellsworth has been released. Have you ever had any interaction with James Ellsworth? And if not, how would you book him in a match against you? 

PW // So, I don't remember having any interaction with him, but my podcast co-host, asked James Ellsworth "Petey can't remember, but have you ever ran into Petey on an Indy show?".James Ellsworth said "Yes". I can't remember what it was, he probably doesn't remember. So yes, I have ran into him, I do not remember the interaction with him. I would book him, I mean, against me, I don't think it would be much of a match. I would say the same way that he was booked against AJ Styles, it wasn't much of a match at all when they finally got to it. Not to discredit James Ellsworth, but he's been used as a lackey for the last couple of months on television. So that's a good question how I would book him. Good thing I'm not the booker of Impact! 

HiddenRemote.com // About nine/ten years ago, Impact released a video game and you were part of it. What was your reaction to being part of that video game, your debut as a video game character in a wrestling video game? 

PW // It was awesome! I remember I had to do some motion capturing for that game with Midway. I had broke my orbital bone when I had to actually do my photo shoot for my character, so I had a huge black eye, but obviously the technology they edited that all out. It was awesome. I wasn't in the main roster, I was a downloadable character. I think myself and Curry Man were downloadable characters. I'm pretty sure they told me, that the very first move that they captured was the Canadian Destroyer, so that's pretty that the Destroyer, the move itself, could make it's debut in that video game. I still have a copy of it, not open, but I still have a copy of that game. 

TheGorillaPosition.com // You stepped away for a while and now you're a veteran and one of the leaders. People always ask the guys what advice would you give about wrestling to the younger guys. My question is what advice would you give to the younger talent outside of the ring? 

PW // My advice would be the same thing that Scott D'Amore instilled in my head, always have a back-up plan for wrestling. Wrestling is not going to last forever. I do understand that I get to step in the ring tomorrow, I could break every bone in my body and then what? You're not going to be able to support your family any more. That's the best thing I could tell other wrestlers, just have a back up plan. As well as when you're on social media, when I first started in wrestling there was no social media. Sometimes I wish there was no social media, because sometimes people say stuff jokingly and everybody gets so hurt about it and sometimes I wish we could just go back in the day when people could still take a joke. But it seems like that's not the world we live in anymore, everybody has to be politically correct, but you've got to adapt to that and just be careful whatever you put out there in social media is going to be there forever. There's no going back saying "I hope people forget", yeah people forget, the next time somebody else is going to make a mistake. Do everything wisely. You're always under the microscope so just be smart about a lot of things. That's all I'm going to say.  

A big thanks to Petey Williams for spending the time on this call, as well as Ross, Simon and Lauren for allowing us to take part. Impact Wrestling can be caught on Pop TV in the USA on Thursday nights at 8/7c and here in the United Kingdom on 5Spike on Friday nights from 9pm. 

Transcribed by James Marston