Interview Highlights: Johnny Impact (John Morrison, John Hennigan) says Aries pissed him off, says his biggest problem is his mouth and insecurities, talks life on Survivor

The following interview highlights were provided to PWTorch.com by the producers of the podcast excerpted below…

Show: Interactive Wrestling Radio
Guest: Johnny Impact
Date: 10/11/18
Host: James Walsh

Impact Wrestling’s Bound for Glory main event will feature Austin Aries defending against our guest this week, the “Mayor of Slam Town” Johnny Impact. While the two are going at it on screen with Aries depending on his posse to do his dirty work. But, the barbs thrown online between Aries and Impact on Twitter are perhaps even more interesting than their on camera feud. Johnny delves into his issues with Aries in this exclusive interview as well as talks about the growth of the Impact brand since he came aboard, the possibility of he and Taya Valkyrie both leaving with Impact championship gold, and more!

Impact Wrestling presents Bound for Glory on Sunday evening from New York City. You can order the event on traditional pay-per-view as well as the FITE app.

Please visit www.WrestlingEpicenter.com for the MP3 and YouTube link for this interview as well as the full transcript.

•On challenging Austin Aries at Bound for Glory: “From the day I got to Impact Wrestling, I said I want to be Impact Wrestling champion. First of all, I’m more motivated than ever to beat the crap out of Austin Aries. Second of all, I’m in a better place – Physically, mentally, emotionally – than I’ve ever been in my career. I guess you could say I’m feeling pretty good about Sunday!”

•On the if any of the social media shots from Aries has gotten to him: “Yeah. Well, lets see. There’s the one that he’s taken down essentially. From memory, he said “if I talk about race, retards, your gay look, or if I fat shamed your husky wife, people would be outraged.” That crossed the line. That crossed a couple of lines! First of all, he phrased it as a hypothetical which is just a mechanism for him to say whatever he wanted and leave himself an out. Whatever. I’m sure he’s trying to back-pedal and say, “No, I didn’t say it. I said if I said…” He did that on purpose. He wanted a way to excuse himself and say those things. He did say those things. That, to me, landed. If he was trying to figure out a way to piss me off, he found a good way. I’m the type of person that gets more upset if someone says something about my friends or family than if they say something about me personally.”

•On his previous match with Aries at Crossroads: “I am not ever going to take anything away from Austin Aries in terms of his talent. He did beat me at Crossroads. I was surprised also. (laughs) He’s a very talented person. I think a lot of times, his biggest problem is his mouth… His weird way of looking at the world and all the things he makes up to cover his insecurities. The match we had at Crossroads was amazing. But, what he’s doing now is a problem.”

•On comparing life in the wrestling business to Survivor: “Man, you can’t compare those things to each other because they’re just so different. It is funny. I have this idea of what I did there (on Survivor) and when I watch it back, it is what I did but it is different. Survivor was authentically extremely difficult. Everyday, you were uncomfortable. You’re always hungry! I was hungry the whole time, pretty much. You’re not always freezing because it is an island, sometimes it’s not raining. But, it did rain quite frequently. You’re constantly uncomfortable not only physically but also the premise of that whole game is based on betraya, basically. (laughs) Figuring out how not to get voted off. There’s being physically uncomfortable but also there’s this nerosis of “Is this person or that person telling me the truth?” There’s a lot of layers to it. It is an intense experience. But, I really enjoyed it.”

•On how Impact has changed since he arrived during the summer of 2017: “I feel like the Impact roster is tight, motivated, and competitive. That is the type of roster that I like to be a part of. If you’re a fan of wrestling, that’s the kind of wrestling show you want to go to. It feels like we’re right on the cutting edge.”

•On his return at Slammiversary: “They are very different matches. The amount of talent though with Petey, Fenix, and Ishimori is still world class. That Slammiversary card was so stacked that it is hard to say that anyone was like an “opening talent.” We had the first match but it felt like a main event type match anyway. With Bound for Glory, it is a different type of match. It has this story. I guess you could say that everyone is the hero of their own story. This feels like my whole Impact story has been leading to this moment. If I don’t win the championship, I don’t know when or if I wil ever get another shot. This is it. I’m doubling down on this!”

•On a possible “Macho Man” style celebration with Taya at Bound for Glory: “I’ve always told anyone who has ever asked me how big of a fan I am of the “Macho Man.” If we both win, you’re right, it would be the first time that newlyweds have ever won their first title for a company in the way that we could on Sunday. So, “Macho Man” style or no, you will definitely see some celebrating!”

NOW CHECK OUT THIS RELATED ARTICLE: Exclusive: Austin Aries explains his rationale for what he’s said to Johnny Impact on TV and Twitter, have they talked since Twitter argument heading into Bound for Glory this Sunday