Joseph Park Talks Defeating Bully Ray, His Friendship With James Storm, Impact On The Road

TNA star Joseph Park recently joined the "The Rack" and discussed the transition from lawyer to full-time wrestler, what it was like training in OVW, defeating Bully Ray at Slammiversary, the possibility of a Joseph Park documentary and more. Here are some highlights:

Celebrating his one year anniversary with TNA and the transition from lawyer to full-time wrestler: "It has been a heck of a transition, you know? I mean, I showed up about, like you mentioned, about a year ago and had no intention of wrestling; just wanted to look for my brother Abyss. I got some answers but not all the answers I needed; I couldn't really find him and he showed up at Slammiversary and didn't even stop to say hi to me after he helped me. You know, after that all happened, I was ready to go back to my law practice and then Bully Ray kinda got in my face a little bit and I kind of had just enough of being pushed around and stuff, so I decided to stand up for myself. Then, whole this thing just kind of rollerballed and I went to OVW, training with Danny Davis and the great folks out in Ohio Valley Wrestling and the next thing you know, here I am. So, I am still proud of my law practice but pretty excited about the future with wrestling."

What was it like beating Bully Ray at Slammiversary and picking up his first win: "You know what, you're right; you hit it on the head Lindsey. I mean, it has been; that match was something I'll never forget, you know? And as you remember, I had a little assistance there from my brother; that's about the only time I've seen him since I've started looking for him and I actually didn't even see him. I got to see the tape replay later but was not able to connect with him. But, to get back on your point, I was a great win for me and it kind of catapulted things and after everything that happened with Aces & 8's; I'll be the first to admit, Bully Ray pulled the wool over everybody's eyes, including mine and Hulk Hogan's and Sting's and everybody else. So, it's going to be interesting to see where things go moving forward."

Making his homecoming to Chicago: "It was great. It was truly a homecoming of sort and it was ironic with the first live television, outside of Orlando, was in Chicago, IL; my hometown. So, I mean, that was incredible. All the partners of Park, Park and Park were there; I couldn't get them anything other than nosebleed seats unfortunately because I don't have that kind of clout yet. Hopefully, when I get kind of clout that Kurt Angle, Sting and Hulk have, maybe one day I'll be able to get them better seats. Absolutely, I'll get a little more clout in the office and stuff like that and hopefully I'll be able to get some better seats for the partners for maybe the next time we come back to Chicago."

Taking IMPACT on the road: "We're just excited in general; I mean, Orlando and Universal Studios was great. It was fantastic to us but it really didn't give us an opportunity to get out around the country and to connect with our fan base and this has really allowed us to do that. You know, getting out of Orlando and getting on the road and actually getting in front of fans in the Midwest and the Northeast and in the South; to actually connect with them had just made such a huge difference in the show. Orlando was great and they're a great crowd; god bless them, we love them to death but, you know, moving out and moving on the road, and in front of a live audience every week, a fresh audience. It means the world of difference to everything and you can tell that just by watching the show and come right through your television screen; that momentum and that creativity and everything, it just comes right through your TV screen. Those fans are great on the road.

His friendship with on "Cowboy" James Storm: "James is great you know; you talk about a true, true cowboy. I mean, the guy is as much of a cowboy out the ring as he is in the ring and he's been great to be around. I've learned a lot from just talking to him and I actually got to travel with him a couple of times on the road, early on in my career. He's just a great guy to be around and he's an intense guy to be around and I can't think of a better guy to kind of learn the intensity and learn the ins-and-outs of this whole business from than a guy, a seasoned veteran, like James Storm.
He is a lot of fun, and the thing with Storm is when it's time to fight, when it's time to wrestle, nobody comes more prepared than him, but when it's time afterward to drink some beer, there's nobody more prepared than him too. So, that's a unique quality he has."

His reaction to Bully Ray revealing himself as the President of Aces & 8's: "I felt betrayed and duped, just like everybody else, you know? That's just me, I'm sure I don't feel as duped as Hulk Hogan does; he ended up handing his daughter over in marriage to this guy. That part really bothers me the most and the fact that he fooled everybody. He did fool everybody and he had a lot of help fooling everybody; I mean, he was behind this thing the whole time and so he did an incredible job. I'll give Bully Ray one, he did an incredible job of pulling the wool over everybody's eyes but now we're in quite a jam. I mean, gosh, this guy is still married to Brooke Hogan, technically, legally. And as a guy who's a lawyer, it's going to be tough to get her out of that marriage; he's not budging at all. He's doesn't want out of it, so it's going to be interesting to see what happens. But I know this much, I'll be there to help out, whether it's physically or providing my legal skills to help resolve this whole thing."

You can download and listen to the full interview at this link.

Source: The Rack

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