In a recent interview with Sports Illustrated, All Elite Wrestling superstar Lance Archer discussed his decision to sign with the company, Mike Tyson presenting the winner of the TNT Championship Tournament with the belt, working with Jake “The Snake” Roberts and more.
Highlights of the interview are below:
On his decision to sign with All Elite Wrestling: “There wasn’t one specific deciding factor. It was one of the hardest decisions that, luckily, I got to make. I had the option to stay with New Japan, where I’d built a relationship for eight-and-a-half years. This last year, from the New Japan Cup to the G1 to becoming the U.S. Champion, everything snowballed in the best way possible. AEW is a company I’ve supported since before it ever really existed, from the first All In. I saw this as a great thing for the business. As far as choosing AEW, I really looked at all of the factors going in, the challenges of jumping ship and going into something new. AEW is changing the scope of professional wrestling as a whole, and providing opportunity for the fans to make choices. It’s a really cool opportunity for me to be part of AEW and help it to grow, and become that first real monster AEW was looking for. There were so many factors. I talked to my family extensively. I have a very strong faith in God, and I prayed about it. This was an opportunity to come home and be on U.S. TV for the first time in a decade. There were so many factors that played into this, and all these things kept pointing toward AEW.”
On working with Jake “The Snake” Roberts: “This is my re-introduction to the U.S. television market on a full-time basis. I had spurts here and there with New Japan on AXS, but I’ve really been off U.S. TV since 2010. Now the AEW fan base is very smart to the business and that’s really cool to see. Every time somebody comes in, whether it’s myself or when Jeff Cobb appeared, people knew who we were and what we were doing.That being said, there was a large fan base that didn’t know who I was—didn’t know what I was about and didn’t understand ‘The Murderhawk Monster.’ People are still learning. My favorite quote was from Chris Jericho when he was doing commentary during matches on Dynamite, and he was like, ‘I had no idea what a Murderhawk Monster was, but now I’ve seen it standing right in front of me.’ The thinking behind my pairing with Jake, and you just said this yourself, Jake’s a legend in this business and everyone knows who he is. So when you see Jake The Snake, and he says he has a client, and then it’s me, then the hardcore fans get a cool pairing. And the people that didn’t know who I was? Now they’re paying attention. That’s what Jake provided for me: a spotlight. He’s the yin to my yang. He’s the snake in the grass and I’m going to kick your teeth down your throat. We’re both big guys, but our style and presentation are very different, and we mesh extremely well.”
On Mike Tyson presenting the TNT Championship Tournament winner with the belt: “He’s presenting the TNT title at Double or Nothing. Mike is ‘The Baddest Man on the Planet,’ but I’m the baddest monster on the planet. If he’s not careful, he’ll get The Blackout.”
The interview is available in full at this link.
