Michael Jackson was not an artist who comes along once in a decade, a generation, or a lifetime. He was an artist who comes along only once, period… He raised the bar and then BROKE the bar!
I'll just say it was a combination of a lot of people within the AEW upper office that decided that it was a good idea to have the 'Murder Hawk Monster' on AEW television.
Be very proud of your name and where you come from. It's so important. Say it loud and clear for everybody to hear.
Somebody can do a ten year stint in jail and when they come home, they can be a rapper. Or, they can go from doing the 9-5 thing and become a rapper because everyone else is doing it. I think that the test of time will tell. If you look around you'll find out who really wants to do it and who is doing it for the come up. I think that's the greatest separation. At some point along the line, it became gangsta to not be talented!
I think a part of it was the way my parents raised me. I think that's part of being raised in a big Latin family. To get an adult's attention you have to do something crazy, and my way was dancing on tables and singing and dancing. That was my way of getting everyone's attention. I'm loud and I like being loud.
I'm coming to AEW because I believe in what they are doing.
I'm most inspired by people who are doing what they love in a big, loud way. And big and loud doesn't always have to be big and loud. Sometimes these people can appear as a quiet storm, but in their full expression everyone feels the impact.
It doesn't matter if you and everyone else in the room are thinking it. You don't say the words. Words are weapons. They blast big bloody holes in the world. And words are bricks. Say something out loud and it starts turning solid. Say it loud enough and it becomes a wall you can't get through.
The bar for loud family meals is set pretty high when you come from Portugal.
But you're almost eighteen. You're old enough. Everyone else is doing it. And next year someone is going to say to someone else 'but you're only sixteen, everyone else is doing it' Or one day someone will tell your daughter that she's only thirteen and everyone else is doing it. I don't want to do it because everyone else is doing it.
I urge everyone who believes in what we're doing, or wants to believe in dreams coming true, to support AEW by spreading the word and passing the wrestling bug onto someone else.
If I were black, I could say I'm proud. If I were Asian, I could say I'm proud. If I were any other ethnicity, I could say I'm proud, because that's how our culture is, but if I'm white and I say I'm proud, the media will go nuts.
I've come a different path to some and, while I respect everyone else's 100 per cent, I'm proud of mine. I'm proud of where I've come from and where I am trying to get to.
At the end of the day, it is about taking care of your family. Going out and doing the job like Stevie Ray would say, to the best of your ability until something better comes along. I say that because it's very simple; we are all in the entertainment business.
And when you asked why I signed with AEW, that's what I saw, was chance for a new future and everything has been extremely cool with me in AEW so far.
I'll say it loud and say it proud. I'm completely insane.