Lucha Underground star Johnny Mundo (a.k.a. John Morrison or Johnny Nitro) recently did an interview with ESPN to talk about a variety of professional wrestling topics. Mundo discussed how Prince Puma’s (a.k.a. Ricochet) in-ring talent has challenged him, his life after leaving WWE, and how much of a help his fiancee, Taya Valkyrie, has been to him. Here are the highlights:
How Prince Puma’s in-ring talent has challenged him:
“Prince Puma is one of the most talented people in the history of the business. He can do anything. He’s so ridiculously talented. When you’re in the ring with someone like him, that means that anything is possible. I mean, I could pretty much do anything I want to, so you’re dealing with two ridiculously talented performers who are gunning to steal the show, who both have a chip on their shoulder, who both have something to prove.
“He is just so strong, agile and quick that it’s impressive and sometimes scary to be in the ring with somebody that talented. On the other side of it, I love it because sometimes I’m in the ring with people that don’t challenge me in all those aspects — creatively, with their quickness, with their agility, with the way they think about things. So when I’m in the ring with somebody like Puma, it really forces me to level up and rise to the top of my game. It’s sometimes just face-melting, the kind of stuff that he can do.”
His life after leaving WWE:
“I thought things we’re gonna go much better, much faster [when I left WWE]. I worked on Boone: The Bounty Hunter for five years. I tried to find money for it. I couldn’t. I ended up selling my house to finance it personally. Lucha didn’t start until 2014. Impact, I just started with. I feel like I’ve been busting my ass since I left WWE to create opportunities. There are some things I did that I’m proud of that didn’t take off. I’ve tried to keep in mind throughout this whole journey, instead of taking the path of least resistance, take the path that I’m most passionate about. That’s been my guiding force.”
How much his fiancee, Taya Valkyrie, has helped him:
“Taya’s got my back. I can’t begin to tell you how helpful she is with the juggling of all the responsibilities. There’s a lot on my plate, but the cool thing is everything that I’m doing I’m really into. I love Lucha Underground. I love Impact. I love wrestling every weekend all over the world. I love promoting ‘Boone: The Bounty Hunter.’ I truly believe in all these things. Maybe most of all, my wedding with Taya. It feels like I don’t have a lot of free time these days, but the time that I spend is well-used.”
You can read Mundo’s full interview with ESPN by clicking this link here.
