Karl Anderson Talks Almost Signing With Impact Wrestling Before WWE Called
WWE Superstars Luke Gallows and Karl Anderson were recently guests at 317 Gimmick Street for an in-depth interview with WWE Hall Of Famer Steve Austin on The Steve Austin Show. Among other things, Anderson discussed his experience at the New Japan Pro-Wrestling dojo in Los Angeles, California. Also, Anderson divulged how much one of his Japanese sponsors has spent on him, as well as Gallows and Anderson almost going to Impact Wrestling instead of WWE.
With respect to his NJPW dojo experience, Anderson claimed that he did not learn anything, but it was important to be exposed to different styles. Chad 2 Badd said he spent a lot of time with Nakamura in those days.
"Being around guys that were better than me actually helped me. Did they teach me anything that I didn't know? No, but being around them helped me polish myself."
Anderson continued, "it was good being around people who were better than me. Shinsuke Nakamura came there and look where he is now. He came there and we brothered up big time. We drank a lot? we read a lot of novels together. Shinsuke needed to go there too because he needed to brush [up]. He needed to get in there with people who were different and better than him. That's what I learned a lot. These guys in Los Angeles [California] had different styles, lucha guys, Japanese guys. It's all different and learning all that s–t's good."
According to Anderson, one of his sponsors has probably spent $300,000 on him over the eight years that they have known each other.
"I would say that one of my guys, his name is Oguchi-san, man, I bet he [has] probably spent, I mean, over the eight years that I've known him, he has probably spent $300,000 on me. And that's for real!"
Apparently, 'The Good Brothers' nearly signed with Impact, but WWE called them in the same month.
"I remember when Gallows came [to NJPW] and the way we clicked over there, and I said, 'man, we really, we've got to get into America somehow.' Do you know what I mean? We almost went to TNA. Thank goodness WWE called in the same exact month, but I mean, we knew we had to do something. I wanted to get over here. WWE is the place to be. It's the place we wanted to be. I wanted that exposure finally."
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Source: The Steve Austin Show