WrestleView.com Spotlight Interview: Chris Harris
Interview conducted by: Trey Dawg of “Wrestling News Live”
http://www.wrestleview.com
Former TNA and WWE star Chris Harris (Braden Walker in WWE) took part in an interview with WrestleView.com in the first ever monthly “Spotlight” feature discussing a number of topics including his jump from TNA to WWE, what went wrong during his debut as “Braden Walker” on the ECW brand, why he became frustrated working in WWE, his new goals in wrestling and more. Here are some highlights.
On the breakup of America’s Most Wanted and the feud:
“Storm and I wanted to put our heart and soul into that, but I think it just got off to a bad start. After a four to five month build up, I think basically the fans just wanted to see us beat the hell out of each other. Instead the option of doing a gimmick match with the blindfold was brought up and that is what they wanted. In a nutshell, we pretty much had no choice but to try and make that work. I don’t think it was our fault – the fans just didn’t want to see it. We all know the reports we got from that and nobody was pleased with it. I think we got another opportunity after that. We had a Texas Death Match where we got rave reviews. I think it really showed that Storm and I could hang as singles wrestlers. We did another Impact match where we beat the holy hell out of each other. I think that is what really got the attention of everybody and everybody knew Storm could survive and I could survive and move on to the next chapter.”
On the direction of his singles career in TNA:
“I went through King of the Mountain, I worked with Christian and getting to main event a Pay Per View was a big highlight, but it just started kinda going down hill. I think the Black Reign program didn’t do me any favors. That’s not any shot at all towards Dustin because I like Dustin. The people just didn’t get into the character, it was kind of an experiment and it kinda brought me down a little bit. From then on I went no where and it was frustrating. I kinda spoke my mind a little bit. I started to do a little bit with Kurt Angle, but that was around the time I had some other doors open. I wasn’t really sure where I fit in with TNA and I was exploring my options.”
His thoughts on Jeff Jarrett:
“As the years have gone on I will have to say – and this isn’t a kiss-ass thing whatsoever – to see what the man has pulled off business wise, you know, I was there since the beginning, I don’t even pretend to know the ins and outs of running a business that huge, but the guy obviously had to put his heart and soul into it and 24 hours a day into this thing. I know how hard it was to start up and I know how close we were to failing. He’s a great leader. There is no secret that Jeff and I have butted heads in the past, but we’ve also hung out and had a beer together and had a great time. I consider him a friend. You have to remember that a guy in that spot, you’re not going to be able to please everybody and Jeff needed to do what was best for TNA. And I think still to this day he continues to do that. You gotta give the guy credit, they have been going for 7 years and I’m sure they are looking forward to another 7 and on and on.”
On TNA bringing in Bobby Lashley:
“I’m not there and I don’t know what the situation with Bobby Lashley is, but you really don’t know what is going on behind the scenes. I guess they have to do what is best for them. If Bobby isn’t working out – and that is the first I heard of it – then they need to make a business decision and part ways.”
If he thought TNA was trying to make him look bad towards the end by putting him in Shark Boy skits:
“Well, you never know. They could have. I’d like to believe that wasn’t there intention. If there was ever something coming up and needed somebody to fill a spot then I’d be the guy I’m sure just because they didn’t have anyone else maybe. I really don’t know and I’m past all that. We all know what I ended up deciding to do and there is no reason to look back on it.”
How long he waited before actually starting with WWE:
“It felt like an eternity. It was a scary move (to go to WWE). I felt very comfortable in TNA. My friends were there and I feel like I fit there. I just looked at this like it was a big opportunity and maybe I just follow through with this and see what happens. I felt good about the decision maybe during the first step, but it didn’t take me long to realize that maybe this wasn’t the best move for me. It was a good number of months when I waited – maybe a good 4 or 5. I didn’t expect it to happen overnight, but I expected at least some kind of direction on where we were going. It is obvious these guys have no direction and I don’t think they knew themselves.”
If he regrets his decision to sign with WWE when he sat at home:
“Anybody that knows me knows I don’t want to sit at home. I’m in this business because I love to wrestle, I want to be apart of it, I want to be out there mixing it up and be part of the stories and angles. That’s what we thrive for. It didn’t take me long to start realizing that this probably wasn’t the best move to make. I’m sitting at home thinking that this isn’t what I wanted to do. You are always going to second guess decisions in life. I can’t sit here and complain about it. I’m a grown man and that is what I decided to do. It didn’t go the direction I wanted it to and I guess the only thing that really came out of it was now I know. 20 years from now I could have looked back and went what if? Well now I know. Life goes on and I’m going in a new direction now. But at least I know that (WWE) is not the place for me.”
Harris also goes on to discuss the following topics:
* When he got his first call from WWE to make an appearance
* Why it upset him when he was told to report to developmental in Tampa
* What the process was like to get things rolling with WWE
* How he was given the name “Braden Walker”
* How little preparation went into giving him that name by WWE
* Who in WWE tried helping him come up with a name
* His thoughts on being put on the ECW brand instead of Raw or Smackdown
* Why he felt his debut with WWE was doomed from the beginning
* What it was like to interact with Triple H and Shawn Michaels backstage
* Some of the backstage politics he personally encountered in WWE
* Why some ideas were thrown at him by WWE and how they were killed
* How Matt Hardy became one of his better friends in WWE
* Why he was happy to get his release from WWE
* Why going back to WWE is something he was not interested
* Why he started to hate the wrestling business at that point in his career
* When he made the decision to start wrestling again and “start over”
* If he has ever contacted TNA since his release from WWE
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