Joey Janela Calls NXT "Stale", Says He May Be The Prick To Mess With WWE On AEW TV
Wrestling fans aren't the only ones looking forward to the Wednesday Night Wars starting tonight. Wrestlers themselves are also looking forward to NXT and AEW going head-to-head although they wouldn't necessarily label it a war just yet.
Joey Janela is on AEW's side and he was asked if there is a Wednesday Night War when he spoke to Wrestling Inc. on our WINCLY podcast.
"I think it's gonna be competitive. I don't think it's a war per se yet," Janela stated. "I watched the [NXT] premiere a few weeks ago and it was okay. I don't watch NXT and haven't watched it in two years. There were other reasons I wanted to watch it as well [Coughs] Lio Rush who I wanted to see f— up or not. But he did great. Besides that it was kinda stale.
"Their PPVs are spectacular; their big Saturday shows are great. I think it's gonna be competitive and I think NXT knows what they're doing. But AEW knows what they're doing as well. So we'll see what happens."
During the Monday Night Wars DX often mocked WCW during Monday Night Raw and there is a chance that someone from either side will mess with the other this time around. Janela was asked if he could be that person that pokes and prods WWE on AEW's programming.
"I don't know. I was a big, big WWE fan in the Attitude Era and I would like to be that prick," Janela admitted. "There's a chance I could be that prick, so you'll have to watch and see."
AEW has maintained that it will be more sports-centric than other wrestling promotions, and as such, wins and losses will matter. Janela hasn't gotten a lot of wins in his short time in AEW and he was asked if he's worried about that.
"I don't know. They've only been three PPVs so you can turn that around real fast. It's a big roster right now. The pecking order is not an order yet so who knows what's gonna happen? But I trust these guys and I like what I hear so far," Janela said.
Janela hasn't hid his love for smoking and was asked if he'll bring his cigarettes to AEW Dynamite on TNT.
"It's being talked about. Can someone bring cigarettes back to TV in 2019? Vaping is the heel and smoking is kinda making a babyface turn," Janela said.
"Smoking is about to make a 2002 Shawn Michaels unsanctioned return."
He then noted that the reason he can't bring smoking to TV is because kids will see him do it and he doesn't want that. But Janela then noted that TV isn't the only place you can see him.
"For a sports-centric program, I don't know if you can have smoking on TV. But you can have it on the YouTube shows. You can do it on YouTube, so it will always be there for me," Janela said.
Vince McMahon and WWE are known for having certain terms that are off-limits when describing their performers which is why they are called Superstars instead of wrestlers. Janela was asked if AEW has a list of terms that they want their performers to use.
"I have no idea what we're going with; I think we're called professional wrestlers to be honest," Janela stated. "I haven't been told anything and I'm surprised I've gotten away with as much as I've said so far and haven't gotten in trouble.
"But I don't know these TV execs and they might be a little weird. But there's no Vince McMahon dictionary of things to say and what not. I don't think there will be any [dictionary] as they're going with a more sports-centric appeal."
Joey can be see every Wednesday night as part of AEW Dynamite on TNT. Joey's full interview with Wrestling Inc aired as part of Tuesday's episode of our WINCLY podcast. It can be heard via the embedded audio player at the bottom of this post. In it Joey discusses GCW's Curtain Call, what GCW has meant to his career, talent filling his void in GCW, Nick Gage not being signed by AEW or WWE, Super Humman, his match with Jon Moxley, wanting to show he can wrestle and more.
You can check out past episodes of the WINCLY here. Subscribe to Wrestling Inc. Audio on iTunes or Google Play. Listen to the show via Spotify here or through TuneIn here.