Independent wrestling star Joey Ryan was recently interviewed by WSVN-TV entertainment reporter Chris Van Vliet. During the interview, Ryan discussed his unique entrance at All In last week.
It turns out that several months of planning actually went into the entrance. Initially, the “Who killed Joey Ryan?” storyline was supposed to last a few weeks. Instead, after seeing the success it drew, it was decided to extend it:
“There was quite a few months of preparation because we had shot the murder and the murder scene revival all at the same time. It was supposed to be like a 2 or 3 week storyline but then they saw the footage and said it was really good and that we needed to draw this out as long as we could.
“And it was really up to the audience of how long they would let us stretch it out and how receptive they would be to the bits like the false arrest of Stephen Amell which actually played into his storyline with Christopher Daniels.
“We stretched it out as long as we could adding elements with other characters as long as the audience were taking the new additions we were adding in.
“Then when we realized we could let it sit all the way until ALL IN, we figured if we’re going to do this at ALL IN we needed to do something big with it and that’s where the idea for the penis druids came up.”
Ryan also said that he doesn’t really have any interest in signing with WWE. He knows the standard rate given to guys in NXT, and makes well above that at this point in his career on the indies:
“I know the standard NXT rate that they give most newcomers and I make well beyond that. But I know people who have signed on from the indies who were doing well and they get a better rate because they are more valued.
“It’s weird because pretty much in every business, the goal and the dream is to be your own boss, set your own schedule, be successful on your own terms. In wrestling, a lot of wrestling fans want you to give all that up and sign your future to someone else’s hands and have a boss and have a schedule that you’re required to keep.
“So it’s kind of weird that in just about any other business, the dream is to do what I’m doing now but in wrestling everyone thinks you’re not successful until you have a boss which is kind of bizarre. But that’s the way it is and I’m pretty confident and really enjoy what I’m doing.”
Discussion: What do you think about Ryan not wanting to go to WWE? Let us know in the comments section below!
