Nick Aldis Thinks Feud With Curtis Axel Could Be Magic
Thursday, NWA World Heavyweight Champion Nick Aldis appeared on the latest edition of "This is Wrestling" on TSN 1200 Ottawa, with hosts Lee Versage and Zach McGibbon.
During the interview, Aldis was asked who would like to see challenged for the NWA title. Aldis revealed a dream opponent in one particular Superstar who was recently released from WWE.
"The one that may surprise people, but I really have faith and could really make magic with, is Joe Hennig. Curtis Axel in WWE?I'm getting excited just talking about it, but Joe and I attended Harley Race's camp together in 2007, I think it was. We were all like, 'That's Curt Hennig's kid. Wow.'"
Two-time champion continued by recalling how talented he thought Axel was early in his career.
"He's just started wrestling and he was such a natural. I couldn't believe it. I was just so envious. This perfect footwork, and takes these perfect crisp flatback bumps. Perfect dropkick. I was like, 'I've been doing this for like 4 years, and I can't do it like that!'."
Later in the interview, Aldis compared a match with Axel to his feud with Cody Rhodes, from 2018. "You know, for me, I just don't understand why and how that was never taken advantage of, but in our world you can bet your ass that that's how we do it. We would take you on that ride and tell you every part of that story and get you emotionally invested. Not to say that we would exploit any of those things but if anyone saw the build towards me and Cody, and the emotion attached to that because of Dusty, and because of what it meant to Cody. It's genuine. It's real. What it genuinely meant to Cody to get a shot at the title, and what it meant to his family.
"I think that a lot of the same elements exist with Joe Hennig, except with Joe Hennig, it's a real point to prove with him," Aldis said. "I think two guys around the same age, with very different paths, but sort of converging at the same point in time with this ultimate prize on the line but, both with real significant points to prove. I think it's pretty hard to go wrong with that."
In the same interview, Aldis touched on how the COVID-19 pandemic affected business as usual for NWA. "We just actually had our best revenue month ever, so it's actually sort of interesting when you really break it down. And that's net, I mean obviously we've had months of pay-per-view and stuff where obviously the revenue is significantly more, but in terms of net, yeah, we actually had our best month ever. So, it is interesting."
Aldis continued by saying the sudden change in how NWA did business helped their bottom line.
"We've tried to make a negative and turn it into a positive, because we've now got all these other revenue streams, and we have all this other content which will hopefully allow us to be a bit more attractive to sponsors, and to partners in that world. I look at it as when one of your senses is taken away, the others become more heightened. It is almost like that, where we've been able to realize our potential in some other areas."
The comments from Aldis come after previous statements put out by NWA Vice President, David Lagana, where he claimed the cancellation of the 2020 Crockett Cup scheduled for April resulted in the lost of over a half of a million dollars. Aldis was set to defend his title against Marty Scurll at the Crockett Cup. No rescheduled date has been released.
Listen to the entire interview with Nick Aldis on The Sports Network 1200 here.