Paul Walter Hauser Describes How He Would Have Presented FTR's AEW Debut Differently

Paul Walter Hauser is an award-winning actor and also a huge wrestling fan. He's been following pro wrestling during this pandemic and he spoke about AEW talent serving as "fans" when he joined The Wrestling Inc Daily podcast.

"It's perfect. It's the perfect way to give visibility to the roster. It's sort of like a verbal version of a lumberjack match where you're getting these jokes and jibes from everybody. Pineapple Pete is taking a swing at Jericho and you're hearing chants that the audience would have chanted had they been there. So, it does add value to the overall product when we're suffering without an audience," Hauser said before adding what else he loves about AEW at the moment.

"These guys are finding ways to elevate and give storylines to the mid-card. So, a guy like Kip Sabian or Joey Janela or Private Party or Colt Cabana, they're still getting screen time. They're still involved when they're not involved and then you have these little drop-in moments of stories. I think that's what's making them stand out more and more."

He then cited someone like Zack Ryder as a former WWE mid-carder who was wasted. Hauser said that AEW would have known what to do with him and would have found a way to plug him into storylines.

On this week's Dynamite episode, The Revival, formerly of WWE, made their AEW debut as FTR. Hauser discussed what he would have done differently with their AEW debut.

"I'm thrilled they are in the company but I did not like the way it was presented or shot," admitted Hauser. "I would have liked to see a little more secrecy as you saw their faces when the car pulled up. I would have loved to have seen a tighter shot where you start on the tire, it parts, the camera pulls around and you land on the FTR license plate. Then they come out wearing pandemic masks and pull them off to reveal their faces. That's how I would have done it.

"But I'm thrilled that those guys are there and they belong there. Them vs. The Bucks or Private Party ? there's a half dozen matches that will be instant classics."

This week's Dynamite also featured Mike Tyson's confrontation with Chris Jericho at the end of the show and Hauser talked about what Tyson brings to AEW.

"You can't fault AEW for playing the cards they have. Even going back to Brodie Lee's debut, would that have been better with an audience? Of course," Hauser said before adding that Lee deserved a bigger pop.

"They made that decision and they made the same decision for FTR and they're making it for Tyson. It lacks some of the pomp and circumstance but it's still powerful. But it goes back to the WWE rule of how do we get non-wrestling media to cover our stories? A guy like Mike Tyson is the perfect person to involve for that type of coverage."

Hauser is a longtime fan of Chris Jericho and detailed why he thinks so highly of the inaugural AEW World Champion.

"I'm a pretty big Jericholic in that sense that Chris is officially one of the Mount Rushmore greats. He just is and I won't hear otherwise," stated Hauser. "He's done way too much and is way too creative and self-propelled to not be in that conversation."

He said that Jericho's storyline with Tyson only adds to his legacy as he can now say that he feuded with Mike Tyson.

"It's not like Jericho's getting smaller. It's always bigger and bigger whether he's developing a project with Kevin Smith, doing that cruise or going after a different title. There's always a million tricks up that dude's sleeve and for me it's fun to follow that and see what happens," said Hauser.

Paul Walter Hauser can be seen in Spike Lee's upcoming film "Da 5 Bloods" debuting June 12th on Netflix. Paul's full interview with Wrestling Inc aired as part of today's episode of our podcast, The Wrestling Inc. Daily. Subscribe to get the latest episodes as soon as it's released Monday – Friday afternoon by clicking here.