The Voice of Wrestling returned live last night from 7-8 EST with hosts, Chris Cash and Nick Paglino. Chris Masters – who was just released this past Friday from the WWE – joined Chris and Nick to discuss his recent departure, his future and much more. Other topics include SummerSlam this weekend, TNA's Hard Justice pay per view, Gail Kim quitting and much more.
We also ask: Was the CM Punk angle rushed too much?
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Chris Masters Interview Hightlights
On being surprised about his WWE release: "If somebody on the outside was watching me, they wouldn't be surprised because they hadn't used me in any real storylines or anything. They just had me dittering on Superstars. But the thing is, for the last year and a half on Superstars, it really gave me time to develop my craft and really put some time into matches and through that I just really started taking a passion in the art of professional wrestling and through time it started to really translate. I came along a lot."
On the rumors of Chris being in line to get a big push: "You know, the reports on the internet were actually a surprise to me because I hadn't really told anybody. I don't know if that came from one of the writers to the dirt sheets, but the extent of what I was told was..back around January of this year after Hunter [and Vince] had seen some of my matches, Hunter pulled me aside and was telling me, 'Hey, we've noticed you've gotten really good and we're just trying now to figure out exactly what to do with you. Maybe we need to take you off tv for a few months and give you a fresh coat of paint or a repackaging', so we kind of left it at that. He had definitely come up and given me props a couple of times.
You know, I was kind of under the impression that they were going to figure something out for me and I was also trying to think of some suggestions for myself and you know, that's probably why it was a surprise because of the fact I did feel like I had good things coming. I felt like this was going to be my year."
On his reaction to the news: "Yeah, I'm pissed. I'm not going to deny that at all. This is the thing…the first time I got released, I brought it upon myself, so I accepted it. There's a lot of things I didn't do right the first time. I was also motivated coming back to the company and for it to turn out this way is upsetting because it's not like I failed a drug test. I did things right and I was getting really good in the ring, so it is a lot more upsetting the second time around than it is the first time around."
On going to TNA: "Well, it's funny because I sat in my car about two weeks ago and really thinking to myself, 'they need babyfaces now and if they're not going to do something with me or invest in me right now, they're never gonna do it. So I was already thinking to myself, maybe I need to start reaching out and seeing what else is out there – let's just be frank. But I didn't do it. And it's funny because then you fast forward to weeks later and then this happened. Obviously, I'm taking bookings, but yeah, I've reached out to some people over at TNA and we'll just see what happens with that. There's of course the 90 day thing with WWE, but I'm not really going to rule out anything this time around".
Chris Masters also talked about the reported changes in WWE, his two strikes against him in terms of the Wellness Policy and whether he thinks that potentially hurt their plans for him, what he was doing the moment he got the dreaded phone call from Johnny Ace, the influx of talent coming into the WWE and whether that's a good or bad thing for the company, and Chris responds to his critics.
Plus, he doesn't do it often, but Masters even had a little jab for one particular WWE superstar he doesn't feel belongs there.
Check out the interview by clicking the link above and be sure to tune in to the Voice of Wrestling every Monday night from 7:00-8:00 EST, exclusively on WrestleZone.com and VOWLive.com.
Nick was born and raised in Detroit, Michigan, and lived there until the age of 18, when he decided to pack his flack jacket and move to New York City.
