When I was a kid, the guy who was Intercontinental champion was the guy who was next in line for the World Heavyweight championship.
The heavyweight championship of the world was the most coveted title in sports. Everyone knew who the heavyweight champion was. And not only when it was Muhammad Ali or Rocky Marciano: they knew when it was Ingemar Johansson.
I got into this business for one reason, and I stayed in this business for one reason: To be the World Heavyweight Champion. I think if you are in professional wrestling, and you don't have that dream or aspire to be the best and carry that World Heavyweight Championship, then you are in the wrong business.
Everything in the business is based around the idea of a World Championship. WWE, World Heavyweight Championship, Universal Title, the ROH Title, or the IWGP Title - they are all World Championships. The best of the best.
I think of Bret Hart as somebody who held the Intercontinental championship like it was the World Heavyweight championship. Every title match he was in felt important, like it was the most important thing on the show. The way he carried himself and the matches he had, it was just everything I thought a champion should be.
I don't want to be seen only as a boxer who is gay. I want to be a boxer who is professional, who pursues his goals and realizes his dreams. And my biggest dream is the world championship belt.
Joe Louis was a good Heavyweight, good boxer but he was kind of in the same boat as Marciano, weighing about 190 to 200 lbs.
To be recognized as one of the best, you need to win that WWE title or the World Heavyweight Championship.
I had two ACL injuries in my life, and both of them happened when I was training with bigger guys; a heavyweight and a light heavyweight. Sometimes it's not even because the guy is good, you just get hurt.
Big Poppa Pump is your hook up, and the next heavyweight championship of the world!
When I was a kid in New York, long before saturation sports coverage, the world heavyweight championship was, with the baseball World Series, the great national event.
Obviously, winning the World Heavyweight Championship was a memorable moment, but nothing tops the feeling of defeating the Undertaker.
The heavyweight champion of the world shouldn't just be heavyweight champion of the world. He should use his position to help other people, such as myself.
I think the best thing I've written is a story called 'The Boxer and the Blonde.' It's a piece about Billy Conn, the white would-be heavyweight champion of the world, who lived in Pittsburgh.
It's like I say all the time, it's the heavyweight division. It doesn't matter if the guys a black belt or if he's a world-class boxer. We still have a 50-50 chance.
The Booker 2011 is of no more interest to me than the world heavyweight championship, which I'm not going to win either. It's irrelevant.