Ace Romero is looking towards the future.
Romero recently spoke with WrestleZone Managing Editor Bill Pritchard about his recent work on IMPACT Wrestling TV. XXXL has been part of some memorable segments on IMPACT Wrestling this year, and while Romero has no problem playing a role successfully now, he sees more in store for himself and Larry D in the future.
“As far as Wrestle House and stuff like that, we got to show our more comedic side, I’ll play any role I’ve got to play just to ‘play’, you know what I mean? I want to get the job as far as wrestling goes and what we’re trying to portray on television with XXXL, we’re not going to be the big funny guys. We might be funny in a situation like Wrestle House but when it comes down to it,” Romero said, “we lost a match against Motor City Machine Guns but they know who we are now. It wasn’t taken lightly.”
“As far as myself and my weight loss, that’s something that’s ongoing and I don’t want to be defined by a guy who like you said, does flips and stuff. It’s a different animal when you get to television. You can’t just rest on laurels, what brought you to the dance, and now even in this COVID world, it’s kind of hard to get out there and just try and do front flips to nobody to no reaction,” Romero said, “none of that adrenaline rush you get from [the crowd], so you gotta find other ways to make yourself valuable. I think that what we’re doing now is working. It’s a work in progress and I think we just got to try and keep plugging away.”
Romero has been chronicling his weight loss journey, and it was a topic of discussion of an in-depth interview with Sports Illustrated in September. Romero has been known for his size and use of high-risk maneuvers, but advice from Ethan Page helped him set things in motion for a healthier lifestyle and to change who he is as a wrestler. Expanding on those comments, Romero knows that being a superheavyweight that does flashy moves is what “brought him to the dance,” but he knows it’s not something he can do for his whole career. Noting how Bully Ray transformed himself when he first joined TNA Wrestling, Ace says he’s working towards that’s not only going to help his health, but his longevity in the wrestling business as well.
“I can only be the big guy who does flips for so long. That’s what got me to where I am now, but I have to keep evolving otherwise I’ll get lost in the shuffle. I look to the pattern of someone like Bully Ray. Bully Ray was one way his entire career and things had kind of got stale, as great as the tag team was—they’re one of my favorites—and he went to TNA and what did he do? He dropped a bunch of weight,” Romero said, “and it was a whole new guy, a whole new character. This guy looked one way his entire career and then he was able to transform himself and get to the next level and add another layer to his character.”
“I think that’s cool because people who watch any TV show or any kind of movie, the things that make characters draw you in the most is like their journey,” Romero explained, “the layers added onto their character and things that happen in their life, that makes them who they are. I think that’s cool for me to keep working at this because I think once I keep working at this because I once I get to the end, my goal, I think what’s going to happen it’s going to help me evolve, help me in the long run – health and my career.”
