Paul Walter Hauser On Why He Worries About Shawn Spears In AEW
At AEW Full Gear, Shawn Spears defeated Joey Janela after a spike piledriver outside of the ring. Janela sold it unbelievably well and that impressed actor and wrestling fan Paul Walter Hauser who talked about it when he spoke to Wrestling Inc. on our WINCLY podcast.
"It's smart. If you're gonna take the fall to someone else, then really honor the fact that they're going over," Hauser said of Janela. "They've got some building to do with Spears because they had a big moment with Cody and then kinda middling. I was starting to think if they were gonna do to him what WWE did where it's where you're not really involved."
Hauser compared Spears to Rick Rude in that they both cheated to beat unlikely underdogs. He also enjoys the Spears pairing with Tully Blanchard.
"I think it works and I was thrilled to have Tully there but was wondering what it was gonna look like, and now it looks great. I'd like to see [Spears] in a tag team and have Tully mentor them. Then have him build up credibility before a singles run. Right now, I think he's getting buried by the roster and I don't see him coming up soon," stated Hauser.
He then joked about Janela's physique and noted that he's "indie" to him because he has that indie look.
AEW has made a big deal about win-loss records actually mattering to them just as they do in mainstream sports. Hauser detailed ways in which a wrestler's record could pay off.
"It's a 'on any given Sunday' thing with the wins. If PAC can beat Omega and Page can beat PAC, then Page can then beat Omega. If Moxley can beat Omega, then I guess he can beat Adam Page," said Hauser. "It goes back and forth in a way that you can't predict and maybe that's a good thing."
He then agreed with Nick Hausman that it could present difficulties when guys have natural chemistry but their win-loss records don't line up for a match.
When he's not watching wrestling, Hauser is filming on the big screen and he's currently working on Disney's Cruella movie as Horace.
"We have about two-and-a-half to three weeks left and it doesn't come out until summer of 2021. The movie stars Emma Stone and Emma Thompson and it's the Cruella de Vil origin story. I get to play Horace which people probably remember from 101 Dalmatians. I get to freaking have fun and hang out with Emma Stone all day which is pretty awesome," said Hauser.
He then admitted that he was intimidated by the size of the project and eyeballs on it at first. But the Disney execs have been weirdly over accommodating and helpful.
"I was having trouble sleeping and they sent a doctor to my trailer and were checking on me and asking if I needed anything. They were going so out of their way to make sure I was okay and it was so genuine," revealed Hauser. "So I was worried about the shoot and the size of it but they way they treated me feels like I'm just having fun working on a character-driven piece."
Hauser stars as Richard Jewell in the upcoming film "The Ballad Of Richard Jewell", directed by Clint Eastwood. It will be released in United States' theaters on December 13th. His full interview with Wrestling Inc aired as part a recent episode of our WINCLY podcast. It can be heard via the embedded audio player at the bottom of this post. In the full interview Hauser discusses working with director Clint Eastwood on The Ballad of Richard Jewell, his upcoming role as Horace in Disney's Cruella, the Excalibur – Jimmy Havoc skirmish before Full Gear, WWE's Saudi Arabia travel issues, his thoughts on every match from AEW Full Gear 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.