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Earlier this week, PWInsiderElite.com sat down with AEW National Champion Mark Davis. Here is a complete transcript:
Mike Johnson: Hey everybody, it's Mike Johnson in the audio section of pwinsiderelite.com. It is AEW Redemption week. They're heading to the Bell Centre in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. As we know, nothing controversial ever happens in Montreal. And there are a ton of major matches scheduled for this pay-per-view, including Kenny Omega against Kevin Knight. But here we're talk—we're here to talk about the AEW National Championship match. Very happy to be joined by the reigning and defending National Champion, the very proudful member of the Don Callis Family, Mark Davis, who will be facing former Don Callis Family member Andrade El Idolo this Sunday, the 26th. Sir, very happy to sit down and talk to you. How's everything in your world? Are you ready to gear up for Redemption this weekend?
Mark Davis: Hey, thanks for having me, mate. I'm, I'm doing good on this end. Thank you. I'm feeling, I'm feeling fresh. I've got my recovery in. I'm feeling pretty dialled in for Redemption this weekend. I'm feeling pretty dialled in to take down that little turncoat, that little cucaracha, Mr. Andrade. I'm gonna show him what happens when you cross Don Callis and the family.
Mike Johnson: So, you've had an interesting journey in professional wrestling, making your way out of Australia, going to New Japan, Ring of Honor, AEW, touring all over the world, overcoming injuries. You know, when you look at the highs and lows of the last couple of years, and finally evolving into a major singles champion in AEW, what do you think were the moments that, you really look back on and you go, "Man, I'm so glad I overcame this, because now I get to enjoy this moment"?
Mark Davis: Oh, that's a good little question. Yeah, look, there's been quite a few. I think with anything, this is a very demanding industry, it's a very demanding job. You're gonna get, you're gonna get injuries, you're gonna get banged up along the way. I've had a few, and I had a few, unfortunately, kind of just very soon after coming into AEW. And, they were very gracious in allowing me to take the time to heal, the time that I needed. but I guess for me, there was quite a lot of almost "Ah, so close, so close." Like nearly winning the AEW Tag Team Championships with Kyle Fletcher, and then, I dislocated my wrist mid-match. Like, we fought through, we still lost. and then it's it's a difficult thing to just stop. It's "Okay, you gotta take stock of where I am and try and rebuild from here." And, so there has been a couple of little ones along the way. I'm just very grateful, I guess, that inside of it all, a lot of being able to just work and team regularly with Kyle Fletcher, who's a little brother to me, and, getting the support from Don Call, getting the support from AEW, being able to work my way back into contention for singles gold and, capture it. It's a cool feeling, man. It's, it's pretty good.
Mike Johnson: You know, most pro wrestlers, they have that moment of paranoia and fear when they get hurt. "Oh, I'm gonna lose my spot. This was my big break, this was my chance. I'm gonna lose all the momentum." It—from my vantage point on the outside looking in, I don't feel the AEW roster has that same sort of feel, or fear, I should say, because of Tony Khan and the way the company is governed. Like, did you ever have that moment? Obviously, there's a frustration of "I'm gonna lose the momentum, I've got to build myself back up," but did you ever feel, for yourself or others, "Oh my god, I'm hurt, I'm gonna lose my spot, I'm gonna lose my moment here, they're not gonna keep me around"? Or do you feel confident in the way that AEW governs themselves, that when you or someone else has an injury that, they give you the grace to heal and be as well as you can be before you return, as opposed to having that feeling of "I've got to run up the mountain and get back in the ring or else all is lost"?
Mark Davis: Hm, I think that's a good question. I think if I had to answer it really earnestly and honestly, I think it's a little bit of both. Because I think while AEW does give the grace and the time, and the space, and the resources that you need through a surgery, I think as a professional, or as somebody who holds themselves to a high standard or degree, somebody who wants to succeed, you are always gonna have that sort of burning feeling inside of you to be "Hey, look, I wanna work hard, I wanna push myself, I wanna catch up, I wanna show people what they missed out on while I was out, I wanna show myself that I'm, one of the best in the industry and that I can push the envelope and take myself to places where I wanna go." So it all just comes together, but it is a very cohabitable, ecosystem, framework. It does kind of lend itself to each other. and I think, yeah, just coming back into the fold, you're always going to find places to push yourself to get an opportunity, and AEW in general is a very I think there's a lot of avenues that you can take inside of it. There's Ring of Honor on the side. There's a lot of places where you can try to make a mark inside of the company and inside of professional wrestling. and so I think it is... a lesson about the job... it's always gonna have, I think...
Mike Johnson: I feel when I watch you, there's, and I don't know if this is a purposeful thing, but I see so many moments where you remind me of "Dr. Death" Steve Williams, who was such a great talent in All Japan and here in the United States. I'm curious if at any point that was someone you specifically studied, because I see a lot of him and a lot of Terry Gordy in your work. So, I'm curious if that was something that was, you went and you studied their work or just a natural byproduct of the physicality that you bring to the ring?
Mark Davis: Yeah, no, look, I'm a pretty big fan of, late '80s, mid-'90s All Japan professional wrestling. I've watched a lot of Miracle Violence Connection. There's a lot of, there's a lot of Stan Hansen and Brody, Bruiser Brody, and a lot of other I think pieces that I will, I don't know if it's take inspiration from or if it's just in general through the history of watching professional wrestling, that seems to be a style or an era of wrestling that I've gravitated towards a lot, through COVID. When the world was kind of shut down, I was stuck in Australia, me and my, my good friend Chris, who's a great artist, Chris Things on Insta, we would watch, we would gather regularly during the week and watch a bunch of All Japan and that was always, a one of the times that I have just stopped and made a time to just watch wrestling, when inside of it, it can become cumbersome to try and do that, so... definitely those boys is, someone that I draw a lot of inspiration and some people that I really love watching, and I'm always quite flattered by the comparisons. I think it's, it's pretty cool to hear.
Mike Johnson: So, as we mentioned, you're gonna be facing Andrade this Sunday, the 26th, in Montreal, live on myaew.com, and HBO Max, and Amazon Prime, and all these other places people can watch pay-per-views. You know, when you walk into a major event this, and you have such a stacked lineup every time they run a pay-per-view, what's the competitive nature in the locker room? Because obviously everyone wants the company as a whole to do awesome, but nobody wants anybody to do better than they do. When you're walking in and you've got such a stacked roster doing such a stacked show, what is that mental and physical prep for you compared to a Dynamite or Collision, where this is going to be seen as the standout show of the month for the promotion?
Mark Davis: so I try to, I think, put 100% of myself into everything that I do every time. Obviously, for this one, for me personally, it's a little bit of, if you wanna call it a milestone, you can, but it's my first singles pay-per-view match. It's a championship defense. It's against somebody who's, wronged the family and somebody that I have a little bit of, ire and, hatred towards. Somebody that I'm trying to prove a point towards. you'll find the atmosphere backstage is, it's not so much tense. I think you're gonna find a lot of nervous excitement. You're gonna find people really dialled and locked in, and, it really does flow, the energy does flow to a point where it just kind of funnels into locking in and producing what you can do as your best work. so, it's—it's not so much an intimidating or weird atmosphere backstage, I don't really feel that way towards any of my coworkers anyway, but if anything, it's just "Okay, this is it. Time to switch it on. Time to show everybody why they should be tuning in to AEW, time to show them why this is where the best wrestle, time to show them why they should be, spending money on the pay-per-views every time, because every time they deliver," and, yeah. It's, it's it's a good energy backstage.
Mike Johnson: What's the energy with Don Callis? The world's longest-reigning curmudgeon is obviously a tremendous antagonist and a tremendous mind for the business, but Don can be a very unique individual who can get under people's skin very easily—sometimes on purpose, sometimes not. I've known him since back in the day when I was part of the ECW internet crew. What's it working with Don, and what's the best and worst thing about being around him so often?
Mark Davis: Look, I don't think there's any real worst thing about being around him. I really enjoy, doing work with Don, doing work with the Don Callis Family, all the members of it. If anything, I think that, I think that he's, yeah, he's he's got it dialled in, man. He's he knows what his family's about, he knows how great his guys are, he's not afraid to stand up and explain that, and speak that towards people and tell them why they're wrong if they have differing opinions towards that. He's very confident and astute in the things that he says. So, for me, it's, it's a good little guiding path to take, I guess, inside of it all.
Mike Johnson: You're going to be defending the National Championship. what was that moment for you on a personal level, winning your first singles championship in AEW? Obviously, you had the Ring of Honor and the Trios Championships, but this is your championship run, and this is what's going to help define your legacy in AEW. thoughts on that—just that moment of knowing that, "Hey, I'm getting the company trusts in me, I'm getting this run," just thoughts on being given that opportunity and what it means to you thus far?
Mark Davis: Yeah, I think it's, I think it's been great. I've really enjoyed it. I think the, ability to go out there on, maybe even smaller levels as well. I had to do some visa paperwork, recently. I had to redo a visa, so I was stuck in Europe, and I got the opportunity to defend the championship in RevPro. For me, that, that's yeah, it is a little bit of a mark of pride to be able to be "I'm representing the company, I am, I am the AEW National Champion. If you wanna become the AEW National Champion, I'm the person that you have to beat." And it's, it's it is a nice feeling. I am proud to be the National Champion, and so if Andrade wants to take it from me, he's gonna have to work, pretty hard. Come this Sunday.
Mike Johnson: Redemption is this Sunday. As we mentioned, it's going to be appear on a number of pay-per-view outlets, including myaew.com internationally, here in the States, HBO Max and a number of other places. You know, why should fans, everyone's over-indulged over-saturated with so much great wrestling content these days across the board. Why should fans, if they're on the fence about ordering the show, go out of their way to make sure that they make their time investment and their financial investment in AEW Redemption this Sunday?
Mark Davis: They're going to be given the best professional wrestling on the planet. They're going to get, the best professional wrestlers going out there to prove to everybody why they should be watching. you have "The Jet" Kevin Knight stepping up, you have "The Jet" Kevin Knight getting an opportunity to take down Kenny Omega, which I understand and know in my heart that Don Callis is elated and ecstatic for the, for the opportunity. You have Kyle Fletcher defending his International Championship. You have such a deep variety of professional wrestling on the card from people Cope and Christian to, the women's champion Thekla defending against Willow. There's such a level on a different variety of elite professional wrestling that there's so much for everyone. You're gonna find something that you love, and it's just, it's a great way to just sit and be inside of something else for a few hours, escape from the world and just lock into something that's going to give you that deep level of entertainment, those emotions, those feelings,?
Mike Johnson: Wanted to ask you before we get out of here, Double or Nothing, you were part of the Stadium Stampede in New York City. I was in that building. It was just out of control in the best way possible. what's your thoughts when you're going into something that, when you're in the middle of that madness and then afterwards? Like, what's that emotional and adrenaline roller coaster when you're in something that's just pure insanity?
Mark Davis: Dude, it's awesome, man. I've always said, to people privately, if you've ever spoken to me, if me personally, I've always said I—my life's dream is to be in a riot, not to cause one, but just to be inside of the energy of a riot. [Laughter] And I think inside of Stadium Stampede, there's so many things going on at so many different levels. Jack Perry's trying to run me over with a bus. The Young Bucks are going crazy up in the foyer. Jericho's throw—hitting Ricochet with tennis balls and tennis racquets. There's just so much chaos at every different pocket throughout the arena that I think that's the closest thing that I'll ever feel at this stage of my life to being in a riot. but just such a deep adrenaline dump. You come back, the match is done, the dust has settled and it just it honestly takes maybe a couple days before you even realize what other people or what everybody else inside of the match went through. So, it is a pretty—it's a very unique, it's a very interesting, it's a very stressful, but, exciting and fun atmosphere. I really did enjoy it.
Mike Johnson: Your such a proudful, a proudful Australian, you mentioned the work visa, renewal. As an American, I want to apologize to you, it's a lot harder for that situation to get be dealt with now than it ever was before. Hopefully, it resolves itself. But, you've had the moments of getting to go home when AEW run Australia. You know, what's it when you see a fellow Australian who's able to make their way here to the States or has some global acclaim, knowing that you've gone through that process and it's not an easy process to just go through from being someone local to getting some bookings internationally to clicking somewhere internationally, whether it be a New Japan or an AEW, and finally finding your home on a global stage? Like, what's it for you when you see other Australians getting the chance to go through that and achieve their dreams?
Mark Davis: It's, it's a little heartwarming. I don't wanna say that,... Yeah, I feel when I started in professional wrestling, there wasn't really a lot of Australians at all on the main stage globally, making a name for themselves, making a name for the country, being used in very prominent positions on TV or in Japan. And now the tide has shifted, I think, in a lot of really different ways, and it's a really, really cool and fulfilling feeling to see. Like, when I started, maybe TMDK, Mikey Nicholls and Shane Haste, were in NOAH doing a little a couple of Ring of Honor shots here and there, and as far as I saw it, they were kind of at the tip of where people from Australia had accomplished. And now you have world champions. Now you have people main eventing pay-per-view pay-per-views from Australia. AEW alone has—they have me, they have Kyle, they have Lena Cross, they have three different Australians as champions inside of the company right now, which is un-unheard of, I think. And it does make me feel very, very proud,? You have people Adam Brooks showing up to try and fight Will Ospreay on TV and it's it's great. I think we've become a little bit more ingrained in the wrestling vernacular and language, and we're seen a lot more seriously than maybe we were 10 to 15 years ago. And, as a, yeah, as an Australian, as somebody who's worked very hard to get to the position I'm in, it does make me very proud, and it does make me very grateful and happy that people will be, pushing to get the same opportunities.
Mike Johnson: Well, you're going to continue that continue to kind of that carry that banner and of Australian pride, but also the pride of the Don Callis Family and the pride of the AEW National Championship this Sunday at Redemption when you face Andrade El Idolo. as I mentioned, everybody can order the show on hbomax.com here in the States, myaew.com internationally, and lots of other pay-per-view platforms. Mark, I want to thank you so much for sitting down with us. Any final words for the world at large as we head into Montreal this Sunday?
Mark Davis: Watch AEW Dynamite Wednesdays on TBS, AEW Collision Saturday on TNT. Check out Redemption this Sunday. And, yeah, watch what watch what I do to that little turncoat Andrade.
Mike Johnson: All right, Andrade against Mark Davis, part of a loaded card at AEW Redemption this Sunday. We'll have complete coverage here live on pwinsider.com. We thank everybody for their support of the site. Until next time, I'm Mike Johnson, and Mark, looking forward to next time we get a chance to sit down and talk. Wish you nothing but continued success personally and professionally. And we thank everybody for their support. Until next time, I'm Mike Johnson. Mark, thank you so much, man.
Mark Davis: Thank you, mate. Very appreciated.
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