Sam Adonis Addresses 'Irreversible Damage' Done By Donald Trump Sympathizer Gimmick, Decision To Sign With MLW & More - Exclusive
Before the COVID-19 pandemic hit the United States in 2020, Sam Adonis was on his way to becoming one of the all-time greatest rudos in lucha libre history. With his big grin and even bigger American flag, the Pittsburgh native knew exactly how to keep Mexican wrestling fans in the palm of his hand. In the wake of COVID, however, the border was closed, and Adonis found himself in pro wrestling purgatory.
With the world reopening, Sam Adonis has resumed his nefarious ways and is once again back to riling up fans. While he maintains his heat south of the border, Adonis has decided to expand his evil empire in the United States by signing a new deal with Major League Wrestling — he makes his debut for the promotion this Sunday at the 2300 Arena as part of MLW Fightland, joining a roster that includes numerous other talents who have made a name for themselves in Mexico, such as Taya Valkyrie and Microman.
In this exclusive interview with Wrestling Inc. Senior News Editor Nick Hausman, Adonis opens up about his experience portraying a Donald Trump sympathizer in Mexico, his decision to sign with MLW, and more about his ambitions moving forward.
Finally Signing A Contract
My guest at this time is going to make his MLW debut on Sunday, October 30th at FightLand in Philadelphia, its Sam Adonis. Sam, thanks so much for taking the time today.
Thank you once again for having me here, and I am very much looking forward to my debut this coming Sunday, October the 30th at the famous ECW Arena once again, for the first time for MLW, actually.
So why MLW? You've made such a name for yourself down in Mexico, CMLL obviously, and AAA, but why MLW right now?
It's really kind of cool and funny in a way. I've been very anti-contract, probably as long as I've known you. I think in professional wrestling, contracts are most of the time a bit of a farce or a facade, unless it's real life-changing money. There's very little incentive for any wrestler to sign a contract. We've kind of reached a point where young wrestlers are conditioned that signing is a milestone, that you've got to sign, and you want to basically put out there online and say, "This person has signed with this company." And due to my personal experience, background in the wrestling industry, I have really had no interest in signing anything other than the right contract. I had a contract with WWE when I was 21 years old, and that kind opened my eyes to the real world of professional wrestling.
And since, then I've been very, very busy. I've been very fortunate to be one of the busiest unsigned talents on the planet. I've had a lot of obligations to Mexico, and it's basically just been my path and my journey to keep those commitments in Mexico. For the first time, MLW came to me and actually presented me with an opportunity that I pretty much couldn't refuse it. It's kind cool in my opinion. I look at MLW a little bit of the way that ECW was structured 25 years ago. It's almost like an Ellis Island, if you will.
MLW is a higher production, a higher-value production, a higher-quality program, but they also are taking advantage of finding the best young talent out there. So there's not too many places where you can find a guy that his main priority is New Japan, like TJP, and throw him in the pot of MLW. Somebody like Lince Dorado, who's straight out of WWE, throw him in the pot. You get Taya Valkyrie, who's still in Mexico with me, a lot of the AAA luchadores. It really seems to be one of the only melting pots of professional wrestling, where you can be committed to the brand, but still be able to fulfill other commitments. And that's what was important to me. And at this current time, that's something I'm very excited and happy to look forward to.
Major League Goals
Well, I know that you're a really motivated guy, Sam. I mean, you took the opportunities down at Warrior Wrestling. I watched firsthand, and just ran with them. And I know you've talked to me about how much you enjoyed the chance to really tell a longer story and develop your character in front of that North American audience. I would guess you're very ambitious now, I can hear it in your voice about jumping into MLW. Hammerstone has held that title for I think well over a year now. I mean, is that where you want to start? What do you see as your ambitions and goals, I guess, now that you're in the promotion?
Well, the funny thing is, I'm probably the only guy with MLW that has kind of been along for the ride since day one. I was a wrestling tape trader, just like you probably were 20 years ago. And I remember the first MLW DVD coming out on highspots.com, Genesis, it was just this title tournament, and it was from the ECW Arena. And to me it was like, "Whoa, what is this?" And basically they picked up the pieces where ECW dropped off. They were able to create a niche of their own. And like I said, the talent has always been so diverse. There's been a million guys from a million eras and regions coming together for this. So the talent pool itself has been historically fantastic.
Hammerstone right now is definitely someone that I have my eyes set on, and it's kind of cool. There's a bit of a mutual respect for Hammerstone and myself, because he's one of these guys that plays by his own rules. And that's something that I really, really, really admire, because everything... and it's not just wrestling, it's society in general. Everybody wants to fit in, Everybody wants to do what everyone else is doing. Hammerstone, he waves the banner of MLW, he signed a long-term deal, he is happy to be MLW's guy. And the dude has talent. He's unbelievable. The physique he has, the caliber of matches he puts out. I see him as almost the perfect foil for me. A lot of people that don't watch myself, they don't realize I'm six-foot-four and 245 pounds. I've wrestled Hammerstone multiple times, and I'm salivating at the thought of a high-profile singles match, Sam Adonis against Hammerstone, potentially for that same title that 12-year-old Sam saw on MLW Genesis when he was a kid.
Fresh Competition
And it's not just Hammerstone, too. I mean, there's a couple talent there that I don't know that I've ever had the chance to see you kind of mess with, like Lio Rush. I don't know if I've ever seen you and Davey Boy Smith Jr. get in the ring together. I mean, you talk about guys that kind of move to the beat of their own drum. It sounds a bit like MLW's full of those guys, and it's exciting to think about jumping in the ring with some of these talents.
One in particular that I'm really looking forward to is wrestling with Jacob Fatu. To me it's a national travesty that he's not on every Monday night with Roman Reigns, as far as, he is physically one of the best in-ring talents out there these days. You know, call him the Samoan Werewolf. And that's not too far of a stretch because he's a scary son of a b***h. But the boy can go, he can go. That's something that I've always taken pride in myself, is I've never been really restricted by my height, but some people would tell you, Sam Adonis is a hoss, but I'm a hoss that's spent seven years in my career working in Mexico. I like the high, fast-paced speed. I like being able to use my agility to my advantage. And I see myself, someone more along the lines of Barry Windham or Tito Santana instead of your average, "Oh hey, he's a big guy."
I'm very much looking forward to the opportunity for the American fans to really see me for who I am. I believe that a lot of people have painted me with the "Trump Guy" paintbrush over the last 10 years. It kind of pisses me off, because people, they know me as Corey Graves' brother. "Oh, he does the Trump gimmick in Mexico," and that couldn't be further from the truth. I've worked my [ass] off to get everything I've gotten in wrestling, and to this day I'm working at the top of the cards in AAA. We're drawing big money, we're selling out big arenas, and it has nothing to do with politics, it has to do with professional wrestling. And I'm really looking forward to breaking that stigma of just being Corey Graves' brother, because I've dealt with that for so long. And those who know, those who really have come across me and I've seen me do what I do, they know that I've taken it to a level that my brother never really was able to achieve.
Yes, granted, he outlasted me a little bit longer in "NXT," but at the same time, he never wrestled in an arena in Mexico. He's never toured with All Pro Wrestling. He's never sold 10,000 tickets on his back. So for me personally, deep down, there's a lot I have to show off to people, and I think MLW is the perfect place for me to do it. I'm still able to do what I do in Mexico. I still have a very full calendar, and I'm just really looking forward to the opportunity to break that stigma that, "Oh, Corey Graves' brother wrestles in Mexico," because I know when a lot of these people see this, and a lot of start seeing me do what I do, eventually Corey Graves is going to become Sam Adonis' brother.
Irreversible Damage
Now, when you bring up the Trump stuff ... have you left that part of your gimmick behind you? Or are you trying to reinvent yourself away from that? Or do you see what's going on right now and think, "Maybe I'd like to maybe tap that nerve again"?
Oh, I believe that character has done irreversible damage to my career. I thought that I would be able to... I'm definitely grateful for all the press and the attention that doing that character has got me. I would say in 2017, there wasn't very many individual wrestlers that have had more worldwide press than I did. I was in GQ Magazine, Vice, Reuters, Newsweek, Bloomberg, everywhere. They were talking about me, and I was under the assumption that I could paint the picture that, "Hey guys, it's wrestling. I'm the same as the Iron Sheik. I'm the bad guy that riles you up and eventually get my butt kicked and sends you home happy." I think a lot of people took that to heart and didn't want to hear that. They just saw, "Oh my gosh, this is controversial, this is bad. We don't like that guy."
And I think in the end, it kind of hurt me at the end of the day. There was never a Trump gimmick. I've been Sam Adonis, who's just the brash, ridiculous, over the top, Ric Flair plus Roddy Piper, a little bit of craziness sprinkled in there, and the Trump flag was just a prop to get people wound up. And I think being known for that has done a lot of damage to me. And right now I'm very excited to get that point of my career behind me completely. Because those who know, and you know firsthand coming from where you're wrestling in Chicago, those who know that I could do anything with anyone, the bigger the crowd, the more expensive the pay-per-view, the better I am. That's what I do. I'm a big game player, if you will, and I want these opportunities to show people that it's much more than just being a gimmick in Mexico. I'm just really looking forward for everyone to be able to see what I'm capable of.
Taking Things Too Far
That's interesting for me to hear you say that you feel that did irreversible damage to you, which I'm not going to disagree with you about. As you reflect on that period, did you ever feel like you were in danger?
Hindsight being 20/20, I was a young single guy, didn't really have anything holding me back, any real responsibilities that I had to live up to. So I just lived in the moment, and I had a blast. I've been in some very, very, very sticky situations as far as getting into fights with fans, almost starting riots, being followed to my car by cartel members. Stuff that could have gotten a lot worse, but at that point in time, it was what it was. It was just work. It was a job. But honestly, the one night that stands out more than anything would be Detroit, Michigan.
It was myself and Gringo Loco against Ultimo Dragon and Josh Mavado. And honestly, there was just such an evil tension in the room that a lot of times the Mexicans are willing to just laugh it off and have fun with it. Say, "Hey, we're the luchas, these rudos are pretty wild aren't they?" I feel like that particular night in Detroit, it felt like at any given second, the walls were going to cave in on me. And these people were genuinely angry. They didn't want to have a good time and enjoy the show. They don't take the time to sit back and talk to me and understand who I am as a performer. They just see red. And they went so hard with it. I've looked at my personal experience and my life. I've lived all over the world. I have spent years of my life in different countries. And I think the beauty of wrestling is it's different culturally. I think everybody's able to adapt and do what they can and be a part of it the way that they want to be a part of it. And just paying attention to my career, it would be impossible to be what I was perceived to be ... If you're being perceived as being such an immoral, terrible person, then I wouldn't live in Mexico. I wouldn't speak Spanish, I wouldn't do half of these things that I ended up doing.
Moving forward
It's a lot. It's starting to finally be behind me, but at the same time, some people wrote me off since day one. Luckily my body of work has been able to pull me out of that, distancing myself from that. Right now, working with AAA is awesome. I feel like now we are in a stride. The sad thing about pro wrestling is there's so much that you can access, but unless somebody's showing you how to access it, you might ignore it. And everybody loves indie style or lucha style, and trust me, we have the best of it. There's nobody that does it better than AAA, but there's so many people that just watch XYZ Independent all the time.
They don't get to see our product. Now we're finally in a stride with Fight.tv, working with Conrad Thompson. Being able to get the pay-per views out there, get the exposure. Now people are starting to see what AAA is, and now they're seeing me as a part of that. And it's kind of refreshing the image, and it's nice to have people finally on my side and being able to show that no matter what, at the end of the day, everything I do is to entertain people. Everything I do is to make sure that you go home happy. And a lot of times I say heels can be selfless. The best bad guys are the ones that ... They work 200% and get zero credit for it. Whereas some of the babyfaces, the good guys, are the ones that everybody loves, the prima donnas — they really believe the hype.
So I'm interested to see where this goes. I'm very excited about it. There's a lot coming up. A lot of MLW dates, a lot of AAA dates. I think right now, personally, I'm looking forward to being able to balance two of them, maybe bring some of the MLW guys to Mexico and vice versa. Get some of the Mexican fans that aren't too familiar with MLW to start tuning in ... When all is said done, I'd like to be remembered as somebody like a Bruiser Brodie or a Terry Funk. He's one of these guys that's a journeyman wrestler and he might not be remembered for his 17 Intercontinental title runs, but you remember that point in time and that place in history where he was there. And that's what I'm looking forward to doing with this right now.
Making A Major League Leap
So this Sunday it goes down. MLW, now you're debuting. We don't really know exactly what you're going to be doing on the show quite yet. Do you want to tease everybody with maybe what they can expect from you on this show? Do you have an idea of what you're going to be doing on this show?
All I know is you're going to be seeing me at my very best. The way everything has worked out, it's worked out from both parties. There's a lot that both of us can gain from it, from working together with this working relationship. Let's put it this way, you're not going to see me hidden in a six-man tag ... There's going to be some really, really good stuff coming from it. I've already mentioned some of the guys I'd like to work with, and I think it'll just be a matter of time before my name can be a little bit more of a household name in the United States as far as the independents go. And it's here. That's all we can say is, it's here, and I'm excited for it.
And anytime it's at the ECW Arena, I mean, the thing is, I'm 33 years old. I'm one of the youngest active wrestlers in the business right now that can honestly look you in the eye and said that I used to go to ECW as a child. My first ECW event, I was seven years old. And being there and being a part of that energy and seeing what that was, that gives you a little bit of a hunger that a lot of younger wrestlers might never I have had, because they don't know. They didn't get to experience that ECW energy and that ECW crowd as it was. Anytime you're at the ECW Arena there, that kind of remains a little bit. And like I said, MLW is a melting pot. There's so much great international talent coming together, it's almost an advantage right now that they don't have a full touring schedule, because they're almost putting on these super shows that would sell out any arena anywhere. And you never know who you're going to get. There's talent, there's talent, there's talent. And I'm definitely looking forward for people to leave those events saying Sam Adonis was the best part of that show.