ROH Star On Agreeing With Randy Orton's "Dive" Comments, If Signing With WWE Is His Goal, More
Interactive Wrestling Radio interviewed Punishment Martinez this week. Martinez discussed what got him into pro wrestling, Randy Orton's "Dive" comments and more. You can download and listen to the full interview by clicking here, they sent us these highlights:
Learning to work as a wrestler after learning shoot style karate:
"It was odd. I knew going into it... I knew what wrestling was! I was a big fan. My dad used to take me to every show at Madison Square Garden. So, if WWE, or F at the time, was at Madison Square Garden, I was there. I was there for the Survivor Series in 1996 when Undertaker took off like a bat and Sid beat Shawn Michaels. (laughs) I was there for the Kliq moment when Diesel and Razor left. So many good shows I saw there. So, I understood the business or at least the wrestling. I guess because I have a fighting background, although I love wrestling and I love the story lines, I still looked at it a little differently than probably most fans did. I understood what they were doing and kind of appreciated how they made it look. When I joined the school, I knew that it was going to be hard for me. I knew it was going to be hard on my body because this is tough! I didn't go into it thinking, "This is going to be easy and cake." It was still a lot harder than I thought it was going to be! It was a little odd but I was able to adapt quickly. I wasn't just into martial arts, I played all sports. I played football, basketball, baseball.... Usually, you're taught to try to have control over your emotions where in pro wrestling, they want you to show emotion. That was the hardest transition. Having to let it out and show emotion in everything we do as opposed to hiding it because you don't want your opponent to see it. You have a certain image you have to maintain when you're in combat or in a game whereas in pro wrestling, NO! (laughs) It is the complete opposite. That's what tells the story. As far as the in ring, I was pretty good at it because I believe the martial arts helped me so much as far as being able to fall, position myself, and my foot work. That's the problem with a lot of the wrestlers today. They come in and want to move a thousand miles an hour when it is the opposite, you've got to plant your feet to position yourself. I had that background and that base to help me."
Randy Orton and Rip Rogers' "#Dive" Tweet:
"I didn't take it as a knock. I know what he meant. When he said dives, he meant certain guys are just doing dives for no reason. Guys who were doing it just to get a reaction without it making sense. That is what he meant. He did not mean dives don't belong in wrestling because he wrestles with guys who do dives all the time. As a matter of fact, if you look at stuff from earlier in his career, he was jumping off the top rope a lot. He just doesn't have to now. But, it all comes down to the "WOW" moments. The dive doesn't necesserilly need to be a dive, it is the "WOW" moment. The reason the word "dive" was used is because Rip used it. I know what he (Orton) meant and I know what Rip meant as well. But fans that don't understand, of course, tried to rip them apart. When you look at the WWE fan base, it was a very small percentage of fan base that had a problem with what he (Orton) said."
Sean Waltman's recent rant bout it being a great time for wrestling:
"Oh, it's a great time for wrestling and I know why he said it. Because there's so many platforms to watch wrestling for number 1. Number 2, there's so many different styles. So, if you don't like 1 type of wrestling, here's another one. here's another one. Here's another one. They're all easily accessible. All these styles have been around forever. The only difference is, there wasn't a way to watch them. Now, with social media being so big and so important in the world, it is so easy to watch anything!"
Lio Rush saying every wrestler's goal should be WWE:
"Lio is 3 years in. When I was 3 years in, of course that was my goal. I'm in a different place right now. My goal is to do what I love and make a living at it. Of course if I could do something that would be more financially fitting for me, of course I'd be interested. I set different goals for myself. I had started a transformation about 4 years ago. I pretty much changed my whole life... My whole training. Really giving 100% to this business which I didn't do previously and that's why it took me so long. Now I set, not short term goals but more realistic goals. Like, "This is what I want right now." My goal was to sign a contract with Ring of Honor: I got it! Then my goal was to have a match in Japan: I got that! OK, I want to main event a show: I did that! Now, my goal is I want to be a champion. Of course I have big goals. A big goal of mine would be getting to wrestle at the Tokyo Dome at a Wrestle Kingdom. That is a HUGE goal! If I said I didn't want to work for WWE, I'd be lying. I think anybody would be lying. I hear it all the time and I start laughing. I was talking to a teenager the other day and he said "I want to be a wrestler but I'd never go to WWE. I started laughing and said, "Why not?" He said, "Because they make wrestling look bad." I cracked up and said, "You don't get pro wrestling. But, that's OK because you're just a kid."