Adam Pearce on the NWA Title, Seven Levels of Hate and Wrestler Safety

J. George: How important is it for a wrestler to eat right and hit the gym?

Adam Pearce: I’m not sure I’m the perfect example, but it is important, especially for somebody my age, 35 or 36. The metabolism doesn’t work as well as it used to, so I’ve got to eat a lot cleaner now than I ever had to as a kid. It’s important for your mind, too. So kids, listen: Eat right. I like my beer and pizza like anybody else, but not during the week.

J. George: You’ve traveled around the world. Did you have any problems with the cuisine in Australia, Japan or Mexico?

Adam Pearce: No, I’m an eater, man. I love cooking, I love eating and I love everything about culinary delights. That’s one of the things I enjoy about traveling: immersing yourself not only in the wrestling culture of different countries but in their local customs, and food especially. Nothing’s ever treated me wrong except the water in Mexico, and that was a huge mistake.

J. George: What does the NWA World title mean to you?

Adam Pearce: I think the NWA World title is the godfather of wrestling championships in our country, and it should be respected and treated as such. When you look at all the major companies that have come and gone in this country, they can all trace their lineage back to that championship at some point. In those terms, it deserves a certain distinction and respect, and I always prided myself, when I was wearing that 10 pounds of gold, on being a guy who would treat it like Jack Brisco, Harley Race and Ric Flair did. I think to a large degree I was pretty successful at that.

J. George: What’s it been like working with Colt Cabana?

Adam Pearce: He’s somebody I’ve had a relationship with for 15-plus years. We’ve known each other since we were teenagers. To be able to travel the world with somebody like that, and to have spent a big part of our lives in the midst of one another, is something you relish and cherish. It just so happens we got to go on the road and work with each other too, which made life a lot easier. He’s a tremendous talent, and I think it’s criminal that he’s not a millionaire.

J. George: How was the experience with TNA and doing the whole Gut Check thing?

Adam Pearce: It was great. Somebody said it perfectly the other day: Reality television is scripted television, and pro wrestling is scripted television, so why wouldn’t a reality segment on a pro wrestling show also be scripted? I think fans forget that what they’re watching on TV is not real.

J. George: It was awesome seeing you on national television, and I’m sure the exposure helped with fans who might not have seen you. You might be new to a lot of fans, but you’ve been around for 15 years, and your work in the ring speaks for itself.

Adam Pearce: National exposure is a huge positive, and that’s the main reason, among others, that I decided to do the spots. They asked me six or eight months ago to do a spot, and I turned it down. I’m not going to crucify Gut Check. I know they were trying to capture some reality TV magic, but at the end of the day, I’m not sure it really did anything for anybody, including TNA. A lot of the time they spent on Gut Check could have been spent getting other guys over. But as I’ve said publicly, I got what I needed to get out of it.

J. George: During that time, you posted a series of things on Facebook about getting an opportunity, having the door opened and kicking it in. Knowing your story, I got sucked in. Your words really inspired me, and I’m sure a lot of other people, not just in wrestling but in life. When people open that door, knock it down.

Adam Pearce: There are a lot of talented producers at TNA, and I’ve been fortunate to work with them in the past, which made it easy to capture what the story was supposed to be for me and my Gut Check experience, my long journey in the business. What you just talked about was an easy thing to creatively latch onto on a personal level. It’s no different from what I tell guys: When you get an opportunity, make whatever you can of it. I appreciate the opportunity from TNA.

J. George: You also had some fun with fans when TNA was hyping Aug. 1. You even posted a comedic video about it. What were you trying to do?

Adam Pearce: As soon as TNA was hyping somebody coming in who appeared to be bald, my Facebook and Twitter went crazy with people thinking it was me. I’m not sure why, when there are several million bald men in our country. But it’s an opportunity to keep your face and your name out there. Self-promotion is a main facet of our business, particularly on the independent level, when you don’t have a million-dollar machine behind you. You’ve got to find ways to do it yourself, and it was an easy way to do it. It didn’t cost me anything, it put a lot of attention on my brand and my character, and it was a lot of fun.

J. George: You’ve lasted longer than a lot of guys in this business, and your career is still thriving. How have you maintained that longevity?

Adam Pearce: I treat people the right way. I know it sounds cliche, but when your mama teaches you to treat people the way you want to be treated, she’s telling you the truth. People ask me how I stay so booked. I’m fortunate to be one of the guys who makes a living doing independent professional wrestling. I haven’t had a day job in nearly a decade, and I think that’s a testament to treating people the right way and helping promoters who are trying to make money find a way to do that using a character like me. Having an understanding of basic business helps, and I attribute that to education. Every time a young wrestler asks me what he should do, I tell him to go back to college. I’m very grateful I did, because it teaches life lessons you don’t get a chance to learn in wrestling. The wrestling business is not for everybody. It’s very self-serving, and if you’re not careful, it will chew you up. But if you’ve got a head on your shoulders, do the right things and treat people the right way, you can hang around for a while. You may not make a million dollars, but you might make a million friends.

J. George: You’ve also done booking. Do you enjoy that side of the business?

Adam Pearce: In some respects, I like it more than the performance aspect. I’ve always been a storyteller, not just in the ring but outside it, and the two years I ran Ring of Honor’s booking were the most fun years I’ve had in the business. It’s an opportunity to learn other aspects of the business and another way to make yourself viable and create longevity. It’s like anything else. Whether you’re a plumber or you work at Walmart, there’s a never-ending series of opportunities, and it’s up to you to take advantage of the ones that present themselves. The reality is I’m a 35-year-old man on the downside of an in-ring career. When it’s time to hang them up, who knows? I’ve had the good fortune to work with a lot of good people, many of whom work for the major companies now. I think it’s foolish to sit back and wait for things to come to you. It’s about going out and finding your next opportunity, and there are so many jobs, particularly on the other side of the camera.

J. George: What are your thoughts on BJ Whitmer’s injury?

Adam Pearce: As far as I know, he’s home and awaiting appointments. I suffered a very similar injury about a year and a half ago that nearly took me out of wrestling altogether. That’s why a lot of places, particularly WWE, don’t like piledrivers. You’re borrowing enough trouble as it is, and going down on top of your head, nothing good can come from that. I’ve been a proud member of the business for a long time, so I understand how important it is to protect the person taking the move. I don’t place any blame on Mike Bennett. I think he’s a great guy. In fact, he’s one of the last guys I pushed to hire at Ring of Honor. But when you do something like that, you need to make sure you’re doing it in the proper place, and I’m not sure taking any bump on the apron is a smart idea, least of all a piledriver. There’s not a lot of room for a mistake, a misstep or someone slipping, and there’s not a lot of room to recover if something happens. Unfortunately, I think that’s what we saw with Mike and BJ. If there’s ever an example to point to about whether we should do something like this on the apron, that’s the one. Don’t bump on the apron.

J. George: Do you think guys should tone down what they’re doing in general?

Adam Pearce: Everybody wants to get over, and everybody wants to get a job. There are ways to get over and ways to impress your boss, and we forget sometimes, as pro wrestlers, that our boss is the booker. Is the booker happy with your performance? If the answer is yes, you’ll keep getting booked. A lot of people say the fans are who we work for, and there’s a certain degree of truth to that, but you can’t get over with anybody if you’re not healthy. There’s got to be life outside of wrestling. If you’re putting yourself at extended risk for little to no reward, who are you really working for? Should the guys dial it back? Yes, absolutely. That’s why you see very few guys in their late 30s and 40s working today. Wrestling has never been about moves.

J. George: I take a lot of what you’re saying to heart. I recently started my wrestling career, and in a battle royal, one guy wanted to do a spot where he’d powerbomb me and his partner would hit a flying senton. I knew enough to say no, and thankfully I didn’t do it. Unfortunately, one of those guys got hurt doing some sort of high spot. As a young wrestler, how do you tell a guy, “Maybe we shouldn’t do this,” without him flying off the handle?

Adam Pearce: If the guy flies off the handle, we have to remember as performers that pro wrestling is a cooperative. By definition, if we’re working together, we’re cooperating, because the match isn’t about getting you or me over. It’s about getting both of us over and telling the story of whatever that match is. Your story is a perfect example of why I refuse to work battle royals today, because nine times out of 10, somebody wants to do something stupid. I almost cut you off when you said they wanted to do a spot. Is there ever a need for a spot in a battle royal? I was trained that in a battle royal, you pretty much punch and kick. None of it entails high spots unless you’re down to the last three or four and there’s a story that calls for it. It sounds like what you’re describing is the quintessential independent cluster.

J. George: You’re not wrong. A lot of guys get it and want to tell a story, but a lot of guys just want to get their stuff in, and they forget there’s a story to be told.

Adam Pearce: We’re not there to do moves, man. You can teach any monkey to bump and kick. That’s not the art form. The art form is taking a captive audience that spent its money on tickets on a legitimate emotional ride. Sometimes that’s through physicality, but more times than not, it’s through body language, and here’s the buzzword: selling. If there’s one thing I’d tell everybody to do more, me included, it’s sell.

J. George: What was it like for you when you came out of training and got into the independent scene?

Adam Pearce: It was very different. We’re talking about the very infancy of the internet age. I didn’t even have it in 1995, and there were no cell phones, no YouTube and no Facebook. Making yourself accessible wasn’t the problem. Getting people to come see you was the issue. It was still the age of sending a promoter a videotape. Today, within 15 minutes, you can have your match on your phone and email it to somebody or post it on YouTube in the blink of an eye. Guys of my generation complain about guys of today’s generation, but that’s no different from the generation before me complaining about me. At the end of the day, you need to find a trainer who has a clue.

J. George: Did you feel pressure to do as many shows as you could, traveling 400 miles for a slice of pizza just to get your face out there?

Adam Pearce: Of course. Anybody who has the desire does that, and desire is the key word. But there was no pressure whatsoever, because I loved it. That’s what I wanted to do. Keep in mind I didn’t grow up as a kid wanting to be a wrestler. I had no interest in becoming a pro wrestler. I wanted to play football my whole life, so I never had the dreams a lot of guys have who grew up wanting only to be a pro wrestler. Colt is a great example. His whole life, all he ever wanted to do was work for the WWF. Falling in love with wrestling on a much deeper level later in my development let me approach it when I was a little more mature.

J. George: So how did wrestling come into your life?

Adam Pearce: The short version: I was a pretty decent football player in high school, and between my junior and senior years, I was diagnosed with compartment syndrome and had surgery that required me to basically learn to walk all over again. In a lot of ways, wrestling saved my life. I know that’s a dramatic thing to say, but the dreams I’d had since I was 7 years old were taken away from me, and wrestling was able to heal that. Think about it: I was 17 and had letters from Penn State, Florida State, Michigan and every Division I football program you’d want to look at. Then it’s gone, and you go from 285 pounds to 200 pounds, you don’t eat, you’re depressed, and you think your life is ending. At 17, you’re not emotionally mature enough to handle all that negativity, the surgery and a physical ailment that’s not your fault. But going through it at a young age gave me a different perspective going forward.

Fast-forward 15 years, and I compressed vertebrae in my neck and damaged the nerves. Thankfully, through rehabilitation and a lot of work, the lingering nerve damage is very minor. Some people ask how I can call nerve damage minor, but it’s all perspective. We all have our choices and our opportunities, and it goes back to desire. Do you have the desire to move forward? As a kid, I’d already been through the fire. When I was 33 and hurt my neck, much like what happened with BJ, it was an accident, and I chose to move past it. You choose to move past it, or you don’t.

J. George: Where can fans find the “Seven Levels of Hate” DVD?

Adam Pearce: Putting this film together has been a labor of love and very exciting for me, looking back on a big portion of my life and the time I shared not just with the NWA but with Colt Cabana. It’s as complete a story as I could tell, going back to Colt and me in high school, and I tried to get as many people involved as I could. Pre-orders go live on the 23rd at the “Seven Levels of Hate” website, and there’s a signature edition. For those who don’t like DVDs, there will also be a digital download option through my friends at Highspots.com. If you like pro wrestling stories and old-school storytelling, and a tutorial, in a way, on how to do that, this is for you. And if you’re one of the unfortunate people who for some reason likes me, this is probably for you too.

J. George: I’ve been following the story since its inception, so I’m looking forward to watching it. Any upcoming shows fans should know about?

Adam Pearce: My dates are on my Facebook, and if you search my name, you’ll find where I’m going to be. I’m also on Twitter @ScrapDaddyAP, where I’ll post all the pertinent information, in addition to all the stupid ideas I normally have. Lots of good stuff going on. And I’d love to get back up north. I miss New York.

J. George: Thanks for joining us once again. I learned a lot, and I hope the people watching did too.

Adam Pearce: Thanks for having me, George. Take care, my man.