TNA's DJ Z Talks Tonight's Impact, Ring Of Honor/Destination America, His Reaction To Jeff Jarrett

I had the opportunity to speak to former TNA X-Division Champion DJ Z recently regarding his split from the Bro Mans, working as a real-life DJ and a producer, as well as all of the wild happenings in TNA this week. Z also spoke about the street fight set for Wednesday's Impact Wrestling episode between his former partners.

We'll also have a really deep second part of the interview coming soon, where DJ Z divulges a lot of information from his career threatening condition a few years ago.

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You had a long run with the Bro Mans, which just ended. Where do you see yourself in TNA going forward?

"It's interesting. The Bro Mans accomplished a lot as a tag team, but now it's a different dynamic. Myself, Robbie and Jessie have the opportunity to show what we can do on our own. The Bro Mans have broken up, and I'm still trying to figure out what my next move will be. I'm just kind of floating around at the moment. Ultimately I see myself being the shot of adrenaline that the X-Division really needs right now. Proving myself in the X-division every week on Destination America."

You've been an X-Division champion before. Is that something you're going after again in the immediate future?

"Absolutely. If you watched Slammiversary, you saw Tigre Uno, Manik and myself open the show with a pretty hot X-division match. Being champion again and bringing back the quality of X-Division matche that fans loved years ago is my goal and my priority."

Robbie E and Jessie have a big street fight coming up. What are your feeling about that?

"It sucks whenever you see friends have a falling out. Jessie and Robbie have accomplished a lot as a tag team, and at some point things derailed and now they're at each other's throats. They've reinvented themselves, and the match at Slammiversary was intense. You're going to see a lot of the same in the street fight. Hopefully Robbie can kick Jessie Godderz's ass once and for all, and we can all go on to better lives."

What do you make of the GFW involvement in TNA?

"It's interesting. It definitely created some buzz, that's for sure. I was just as surprised as fans around the world, on the internet. I never expected to see Jeff Jarrett and his brand working alongside TNA, at least this quickly. I'm really intrigued and curious to see where all of this is going to go, like you are I'm sure."

What were things like backstage when that happened?

"The night that Jeff came back, I wasn't in Orlando, so I didn't get to see the locker room reaction the night it happened. I was there the next day, and sure there was some buzz among the wrestlers. I think we're all excited and curious to see exactly what this all really means. I guess everybody is waiting to see how this unfolds."

Speaking of other promotions, you had a few matches in Ring of Honor a few years back. What were your feelings when ROH signed with Destination America?

"Something that surprised me, like everyone else. I woke up one day and checked Twitter and saw everything about Ring of Honor coming to Destination America. I wasn't sure if it was April Fool's again or something, but I was like there's no way this is happening. The wrestling fan wins ultimately because they get to see top notch wrestling from two different companies on one network each Wednesday. I looked at it from a competitive edge like a new Monday Night War. It's not Monday or as cutthroat. You've never had rival promotions on the same network going back to back. It makes us want to step up and prove we have the better show. I think it's competitive in a good way."

How are your shoot DJ skills? Are you a legit DJ?

"Yes. I'm playing the biggest parties in Chicago, so they have to be okay (laughs). I'm more interested in producing music. I DJ for fun, but my real passion is making beats."

Have your producer/DJ bookings increased since doing this on TV?

"I didn't start taking bookings as a DJ until about a year ago. The nightclub crowd and the wrestling crowd are two different worlds. The nightclub crowds aren't typically watching wrestling, and wrestling fans aren't typically going to nightclubs, so there wasn't much of a crossover. It's a unique story in the electronic music world. Loved wrestling, grew up watching it, trained when I was a teenager, worked independents, every wrestler has that story. In the world of electronic music, a lot of people have the same story where they downloaded cracked versions of software when they were 16 and started to make beats and got good at it and became a DJ, they all have that story. To be a wrestler that just walked in this world, that story is interesting to that crowd. I think that story has helped me more with our DJ bookings than being on television has."

You mean to tell me that Abyss doesn't come up to you and give you tips on nightclub bookings?

"(Laughs) I'm not that interested in DJ bookings that much. I do some here in Chicago, some niche, underground parties. I like doing those more than the bottle service VIP nightclub parties. I don't take requests, and I don't like drunk girls spilling vodka cranberries all over my decks."

Where can the fans follow you on social media?

"You can follow me on twitter @ZemaTNA. I'm more of an Instagram guy these days, and you can follow me there @DatDJTho. Follow me!"

We'll have part two of our interview with DJ Z available soon, where he discusses thinking he had cancer, his National Geographic documentary, and more.