Jaxson Ryker Talks Being A Big Hulk Hogan Fan, Favorite Tag Teams
In an interview with Faith, Life, Fitness, WWE star Jaxson Ryker was asked who his favorite wrestler of all time was. Ryker stated that he grew up as a big Hulkamaniac.
"Hulk Hogan was the one I was blown away by when I was five years old," Ryker said. "Just captivated by him. So yes, definitely Hulk Hogan. I got a change to work with Hogan in 2010, 2012 in the ring with him (in Impact). And then I saw him at WrestleMania three weeks ago and I went up and shook his hand. And he instantly remembered me. He was all 'hey it's good to see you brother.' Hogan was the man."
As for who he preferred between Hulk and his Hollywood persona?
"I was so mad when he turned bad guy! Definitely Hulk Hogan, but I was in my teen years when they did the nWo," Ryker stated. "And it started to grow on me like 'oh these guys are cool man.' So I really enjoyed the Hollywood Hogan era because I think his career needed it. If you talk to him about it, and I think he and I have a little bit, he was reborn and it gave him something different to do. Man they were on fire. I remember seeing them in Winston-Salem with my dad and just, people hated these guys. It was incredible."
So Hogan was Ryker's favorite wrestler. For his favorite tag teams, Ryker named three legendary teams from the 80's, 90's and early 2000's.
"I'm a Brain Busters fan. So Tully Blanchard and Arn Anderson," Ryker said. "For me growing up, those guys I love. Moving forward a little bit, Edge and Christian. I was a big Edge and Christian fan. If you want to go into the mid 90's, late 90's, I always enjoyed Harlem Heat. Two big guys. Booker T is a big guy. I met Stevie Ray once, but I remember as a kid I was like 'these guys are huge, but so athletic.'
Finally Ryker was asked what his dream matches are. As with the tag teams, he gave two different answers.
"I'll give you two, one who's no longer with us, 'Macho Man' Randy Savage," Ryker said. "One of my all time favorites growing up. Can still just watch his stuff and he was just incredible. I'd love to have worked with Macho. Where? Definitely WrestleMania. And the kind of match? I think just a regular match, cause I'd seen him do the No Holds Barred stuff with DDP many times. To watch Macho work with Steamboat at WrestleMania 3, Ultimate Warrior at WrestleMania 4 or 5, at the time he was way ahead of his time. Mind, body, in the ring, everything.
"Moving forward to now, I can probably say Drew McIntyre. I always said Triple H, but he's not doing many more matches. Drew McIntyre man is the epitome of hard work. You look at where he's come from, how hard he works to hone his craft, to take care of his physique, to entertain the people. I've seen the way he acts behind closed doors. How he acts, how he treats people. So I'd say, let's go Hell in a Cell match with Drew McIntyre. I've always wanted to be in one of those."
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