Titus O’Neil was recently interviewed by Adam Silverstein of OnlyGators.com. Here are some highlights from the interview.
On transitioning from FCW: “I never really thought about it as an option. One of my really good friends [Dave Batista], who was one of the top guys at the time and is still a big guy in the history of the business, had been talking to me about it for a while. He said once I got done playing Arena Football I should give it a try. I said that I was not really into it. I watched it a lot as a fan growing up but always said that stuff is fake and not something I would do. He stopped me right away and said, first of all, it’s not fake though it is predetermined. He then did a few moves on me and I found out pretty early on that it’s very real.
“It was one of those chance things where I was driving one day, I live in Tampa, and there is a WWE developmental facility for Florida Championship Wrestling there. I drove out one day, walked in the back door and said, ‘Hey, I want to be a wrestler.’ The next day, they brought me in for a tryout. They saw something in me right out of the gate. The process of actually getting signed with WWE is actually a very long process, but I got hired within two weeks, which was unheard of. At that point then, I was kind of very glad that I actually went on faith, walked in and basically ended up walking out with a contract after they signed me two weeks later.”
His feelings about being on the main roster and teaming with Damien Sandow: “It’s actually mind-boggling because a lot of the people that were here when I got here aren’t here anymore and a lot of the people that signed at the same time that I signed are either still not on television, still working and trying to find their way or are gone. In a lot ways it just shows that hard work does pay off. I still have a very long way to go, but if you see the growth and progress that I’ve had in a very short period of time in relation to this business, the future is definitely very bright.
“I mean, me and Damien Sandow were Tag Team Champions in FCW and just one year ago we were defending those titles against two guys that are now well-known as members of The Shield. It’s very humbling to know that I’ve gone against guys like Kane, who has been around for years. I’ve beaten Rey Mysterio. I’ve beaten Kofi Kingston. I’ve gone against some very, very tough guys like Daniel Bryan, Randy Orton. I’ve been in the ring with some great, great guys, some of the top guys in this business. It just goes to show what hard work can do and where hard work can get you.”
On what’s next for the Prime Time Players: “What’s next is we’re getting closer and closer to the opportunity of winning a title. We’ve obviously been the No. 1 contender a couple of times and fell short a little bit. The next time, which hopefully is at WrestleMania, we take those titles and have a very long reign with them. We’re the most entertaining and dominant tag team in this company right now. We feel that in our hearts and we show that each and every week. I love what Kane and Daniel Bryan do, but they were just thrown together whereas me and Darren we were in NXT together, we kind of grew together, we travel together, we do everything together.
“Although we’re bad guys, people are actually cheering for us, but I’m sure they won’t be cheering for us once we win those titles because we’ll be taking their money and showing off everything we decide to buy. That’s the benefit of having #millionsofdollars. We just want to make it fun. Whether people boo us or cheer us, we plan on taking the Tag Team Championship and making it fun to watch, making the product even more fun to watch, making ourselves as characters even more fun to watch.”
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