Christopher Daniels Talks AJ Styles, TNA Sale Rumors, Hogan Leaving, Bischoff, Genesis, Kazarian

I recently spoke with TNA Superstar Christopher Daniels. In the third and final part of the interview below, Daniels discussed AJ Styles leaving TNA, if the TNA sale rumors affected morale, being paired with Kazarian, Impact going back to Orlando, Eric Bischoff and Hulk Hogan leaving, tonight's Genesis event and much more.

Click here for the first part of the interview, where Daniels discussed breaking into the business, working for the WWF and WCW, growing up as a wrestling fan, his most serious injury and much more.

Part two of the interview is at this link, where Daniels talked about working for ROH, Daniel Bryan and CM Punk's WWE success, starting with TNA, Sting, Hulk Hogan and Eric Bischoff joining TNA, Vince Russo's criticism of him, his TNA departure in 2010 and much more.

You can follow him on Twitter @facdaniels , and check out his official website at this link.

Wrestling Inc: When you returned to TNA [in 2010] you were feuding with Fortune, but it feels like it wasn't until you were paired with Bad Influence that your personality came out and people really saw how entertaining you could be. It seems like it's taken a while for a character to come where that could really be shown. Would you agree with that?

Daniels: Well what happened was, Vince Russo was in charge when I came back and I think Vince only ever saw me as AJ Styles' friend, and so that was basically how I was cast when he was there. So I didn't, like I was doing stuff with Fortune against Immortal then, but it was always in a supporting capacity to AJ. Once Vince left and they turned me heel, I decided that I was just going to go out there and have fun and be myself. It wasn't until after he was gone that I had the support from the creative guys, guys like Eric [Bischoff], the creative guys David Lagana and Matt Conway, who are writing, and Jason Hervey, who was one of the backstage producers. It wasn't until then, I started getting feedback from those guys in terms of what they thought worked and what they thought didn't, and I started doing stuff and bouncing ideas off of them, and that's when I started getting more and more opportunities on the microphone.

Wrestling Inc: You mentioned Fortune. It seemed like there was something there and it seemed like it ended too quickly. What were your thoughts on that?

Daniels: I was actually fine with when Fortune ended, for me, because I was never really one of the original members, so for me to sort of turn with AJ, that felt fine with me. I think that they saw, especially guys like Bobby [Roode] and James [Storm], I think that they saw an opportunity for those guys to go off on singles careers, and especially in Bobby's case, to actually run as a singles rather than the tag team, which is what they were in Fortune could be. So once they split those guys up, there wasn't really much of a point to keep the other three guys together. And it wasn't until right after that that Frankie and I got together as a tag team. So it ended up working out for everybody, I thought.

Wrestling Inc: As far as you and Frankie, you go way back to UPW. Do you go back further than that, or was that where you guys met?

Daniels: He met me pretty close to when I moved out here to California in '97. He came back from the Massachusetts area. We were working on the independent scene out here. He and I met at Bill Anderson and Jesse Hernandez's The School of Hard Knocks. They had a school in San Bernardino, and so that was where I was driving to train every week to get my ring time in, and he and I met there. It wasn't soon after that that UPW started running and PWG started running, so he and I got to work a lot there. Plus, he started making his name on the east coast. He was doing stuff on the east coast, and that was sort of how he got involved with TNA, and once he was with TNA we started hanging out a lot more often.

Wrestling Inc: Were you guys pretty much tight the whole time? Or did you guys start to get closer once you started to team together?

Daniels: No, we were always close before, especially in TNA. We became close friends right when TNA actually moved from Nashville to Orlando because we were always on the same flights. So we were always hanging out. We ended up, him and myself and AJ and Samoa Joe, we were the four guys that were sort of hanging with each other just because we all got friendly with AJ and then Joe, who was also living in southern California, so the three of us were always on the same flights and we would always hang with AJ. So, that was where we all sort of became close friends.

Wrestling Inc: How did the idea for Bad Influence come about?

Daniels: Frankie and I, right around the end of 2011, we sort of saw the writing on the wall. There wasn't a real big tag team that was going on. They just split up Beer Money and the Motor City Machine Guns were struggling with injuries. So, especially with the way that Bobby and James had gone down, we saw an opportunity to try and be a tag team that they could build up. We were going through periods of time where we saw that there wasn't a big future for us in a singles light. They weren't using either one of us that often one on one. So we decided to pitch our idea to be a tag team, and they came back to us with an idea of going against AJ as the tag team. So while that was going on we just started jelling as a tag team.

Wrestling Inc: I know a lot of fans kind of compare you guys to Edge and Christian with you being? you're really good in the ring, but you can be goofy outside the ring and entertaining in your promos. Do you hear that comparison?

Daniels: I look to those guys, as far as their experience in the ring and what kind of, I guess the image they portrayed as a tag team. Not just that, but being great wrestlers and being entertaining, I think that was the goal. So that's one of the things that Frankie and I are very proud of, is that whether we have to go out on the microphone or we go out and have a wrestling match, we've shown that we can do both equally. There was actually, one of the shows in the past couple months, that was the segment where we did the EGO Hall of Fame, where I thought that we were very entertaining on the microphone and then two segments later Frankie and I had to go out there and wrestle Sting and Magnus in a tag match. I thought that match was actually very strong as well. I think that definitely encapsulated Bad Influence to a T, the ability to go out on the microphone and do an entertaining segment, and ten minutes later come out and wrestle a really good wrestling match. That's us.

Wrestling Inc: What was it like being on the road when Impact went on the road and what are your feelings on returning back to Orlando for the tapings?

Daniels: I thought it was a good for us to move out on the road. There was a feeling of stagnation in the Impact Zone at that point because we were there every week. We had gone live every week for a couple months at that point and I felt like it was getting harder and harder to get a good response out of a live crowd. When we went on the road there was a feeling that we were going to get in front of a bunch of new eyes. There were periods of time with big shows where we were in front of live crowds and people that were really hungry to see the product. So that period of time was really good. But I also know that monetarily, it put a strain on the company. So going back to the Impact Zone, we just recently did the tapings to go through the holidays, I thought those went really well. We came back and we had some good crowds and I feel that the next couple of weeks will show that we had some great stuff happen in the ring. And now the new plan is sort of stay there and do TV tapings occasionally in different venues. I think that's the best of both worlds. We're going to have that central area in Orlando, that central location, but we're also going out every once in a while to do stuff around the United States. I feel like were going to try and keep the product fresh and not give anyone a chance to become numb to the product.

Wrestling Inc: What were your thoughts on Eric Bischoff leaving just recently? I know he had a big hand in TNA's creative direction in the past couple of years.

Daniels: I never had anything but good experiences with Eric. He was always a straight shooter with us, especially with Bad Influence. He was a big supporter of our act and I could always go to him with ideas and get an honest response from him. So I hope that he comes back and does stuff, and if he doesn't, I'm sure that wherever he ends up, he's going to end up being successful. But personally, selfishly speaking, I had fun working with him and I hope that he gets a chance to come back and sort of, continue adding his two cents to our creative direction.

Wrestling Inc: What were your thoughts of Hulk Hogan leaving?

Daniels: Same thing. I always had good experiences with Hulk. I had opportunities to be on camera with him and in the ring with him and I felt like he definitely wanted the best out of all of us. If he comes back, that'd be great, but if not, I understand. He's got his career that he still sort of wants to do and creative things he still wants to do in his life before he completely gets out of wrestling. Whatever's best for him, I wish him good luck.

Wrestling Inc: AJ Styles is now a free agent. He's someone that's been there since the beginning like you, like yourself. What are your thoughts on his departure, and what effect does that have?

Daniels: Well I hope, I'm not sure what his future is with TNA at this point. I'm not sure if he's done with the company, or if he's coming back, or what the situation is. But whatever happens, I've got nothing but respect for AJ. He's done a lot for this company, and if it ends up being that goes in a different direction than TNA, I wish him the best of luck as well. But, I definitely think that he's an asset to our company and there's always room, there's always a spot for him on the TNA roster and I feel like he should just do what is best for him. TNA's going to do what they think is best for TNA. I'm not sure what that is yet, so we'll find out.

Wrestling Inc: Did the reports of TNA possibly being up for sale, or people being interested in purchasing a stake, did that have an effect on morale at all?

Daniels: Not really. I mean, it's sort of out of our wheelhouse to deal with the business end of it in that respect. If the company were to be sold to someone else who's interested in running the show, it would just be a matter of meeting the new owners and doing different things. But I feel like TNA at this point, Dixie Carter and Panda Energy, I feel like they're still behind us and I feel like they're actively still trying to make the best product that they can and still do their best. I feel like we're fine whichever happens. I feel like whether TNA stays with Panda Energy and the Carter family, or if they're sold, we're still going to try and put the best wrestling product out there.

Wrestling Inc: You're seeing Magnus get a big push now, who are some of the young stars in TNA that you see that could become big stars?

Daniels: I feel like Magnus is sort of coming into his own right now. Definitely guys still like Austin Aries and Chris Sabin are guys that are getting opportunities to stand out. Guys like the Bro Mans are doing well. Robbie E and Jessie are getting the opportunity as the tag champs to sort of come into their own as an act, so those guys come to mind.

Wrestling Inc: For a while there, the X Division was a big selling point. I think that brought in a lot of new fans, but it seems like it doesn't get pushed consistently enough. With the UFC, you see the lighter divisions drawing just as much as the heavyweight divisions and things like that. Do you think that could happen with the X Division, where it can be treated on the same level as the world title and kind of use that niche as something different?

Daniels: Yeah, absolutely. I feel like they've done it in the past where guys like Austin Aries and guys like Chris Sabin and guys like Manik, they were holding the belt and the top guys were going for the title, whether it was Jeff Hardy or Samoa Joe. It's just a matter of the athletes that are involved in the division. It's just a matter of getting a group of those guys together and putting the focus on that championship. I'm not sure what's happening in the next couple of months with the X Division Title, but I'm sure TNA is going to focus some emphasis on that as well.

Your style in the ring has not changed all that much. You've been in the business for a long time and you still go out there and have great matches. What do you attribute to your longevity?

Daniels: Stubbornness, just straight up stubbornness. This is what I love to do. It's how I earn my living and I still want to be one of the best in the business. So, I'm always pushing myself to stay in good shape and try and come up with ideas and different ways to continue to be relevant. The tag team right now with Frankie is still going strong and I still feel like it's one of the most entertaining parts of our show. The feedback that I get from the fans is that we're the reason that a lot of people watch TNA, to see what we're going to do next week every week. It's fun to have that sort of backing from the fans, knowing that we're the highlight of their Impact workweek, so to speak.

Wrestling Inc: You were on the very first TNA Genesis pay per view. You have TNA Genesis [tonight], but it's going to be free on Spike TV. WWE now has their network coming out. They're going to be moving their pay per views to the network. TV companies are now paying insane amounts for rights for sports. Do you think pay per view is starting to become a thing of the past, at least for pro wrestling?

Daniels: Not necessarily. I'm not really sure the business aspect of it all, I just know, for example, for us cutting back on actual pay per views to four a year, we were attempting to try and make those pay per views more special. By cutting them out and having more time in between them, we were trying to build them up. The television stuff is like Clash of the Champions from my era. But I don't feel like they're taking away from the pay per views or anything at all. It's a matter of our business model trying to make it more, trying to build up our shows more to those four tent pole pay per views we have a year.

Wrestling Inc: Do you know what you're going to be doing at Genesis?

Daniels: Not yet, but whatever it is it will be entertaining. That's our job.

Wrestling Inc: Finally, it seems like you guys are going strong, you're not going to call it quits for awhile, but when you're done with wrestling, are you looking to try other things? You mentioned you had acting experience in the past. Or do you still want to be a part of the business? What do you think you want to do once you decide you don't want to wrestle anymore?

Daniels: Wel,l I'm probably still going to be a part of the business just because I don't think you ever really get rid of that feeling, the love that you have for that sport or the love that I have for it. I feel like I'm still going to be a part of it, whether it's working behind the scenes or being a commentator or something to that effect. But, with an acting background too, and living out in southern California, there are opportunities for me to try and branch out and do other things. But I'm still probably going to do something in the business. I'm still sort of far away from that moment, so I still have my options open.

Click here for the first part of the interview, where Daniels discussed breaking into the business, working for the WWF and WCW, growing up as a wrestling fan, his most serious injury and much more.

Part two of the interview is at this link, where Daniels talked about working for ROH, Daniel Bryan and CM Punk's WWE success, starting with TNA, Sting, Hulk Hogan and Eric Bischoff joining TNA, Vince Russo's criticism of him, his TNA departure in 2010 and much more.

You can follow him on Twitter @facdaniels , and check out his official website at this link.