nwatna.com interviews Petey Williams!

[Styles 0]

AN EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEW WITH THE MASTER OF THE "CANADIAN DESTROYER" PILEDRIVER: TEAM CANADA'S PETEY WILLIAMS!

Big things come in small packages - and that's exactly the truth when it comes to Canadian superstar Petey Williams. In a little over four months since his debut in TNA, Williams has become one of the top X superstars in the world and currently uses one of the most devastating and innovative finishing moves in wrestling history - his amazing "Canadian Destroyer" flip piledriver. Recently, TNAwrestling.com contributor and TNA referee Andrew Thomas got a chance to sit down and talk to Petey Williams about his background, his role in TNA and so much more!

 

AT: Thanks for joining us Petey Williams. First off, where were you born and raised?

 

WILLIAMS: I was born in Windsor, Ontario, Canada. I grew up in Windsor, I live in Windsor and I’ll probably die in Windsor. It’s also right across the border from Detroit.

 

AT: So you’re ALMOST American? (laughs)

 

WILLIAMS: Hey – watch it! (laughs). But, I’ve pretty much wrestled in the U.S. eighty percent of my career so far. The other twenty percent was wrestling across Canada over the years, pretty much anywhere I could go.

 

AT: Tell me about Windsor – what keeps you there and why do you love it so much?

 

WILLIAMS: What keeps me there is family and friends. It also has one of the biggest bar and club districts in Canada along with casinos. It’s kind of the “place to be” in Canada these days.

 

AT: Talk a little about your educational background

 

WILLIAMS: I went to high school in Windsor, and went to a local college in Windsor for Law and Security. I graduated at the top of my class with a faculty academic award. After that I did another course on police work and graduated at the top of my class again.

 

AT: What made you want to get into law enforcement as a career?

 

WILLIAMS: Good question. When I was young growing up, I always wanted a job that was unpredictable and never the same. The police career didn’t work out, but I got the next best thing with wrestling.

 

AT: So did you actually try to become a police officer?

 

WILLIAMS: Yes, I applied. I applied for auxiliary officer and armored truck security. I didn’t get any interviews, though. I don’t know why I wasn’t hired, but I’m glad I wasn’t because I wouldn’t be in TNA or on television right now.

 

AT: Would you consider wrestling a safer occupation than law enforcement?

 

WILLIAMS: It depends. In law enforcement, you can take a job that will challenge you or you can be lazy and be desk security. It works both ways. I’m aggressive and ambitious, so I didn’t want to go in and drink coffee and eat donuts all day. I wanted to climb the ladder. That goes for wrestling as well. I could go out in the ring and be lazy, but I refuse to. What we do out in that ring is almost as dangerous as some professions in law enforcement.

 

AT: Any sports in high school or college?

 

WILLIAMS: I did basketball and football. I did amateur wrestling for one year and I found it boring. No offense to anyone who has an amateur wrestling background, but I wanted more. I was good at amateur wrestling, but it just wasn’t for me.

 

AT: You can’t do flipping piledrivers in amateur wrestling, can you? (laughs)

 

WILLIAMS: No, definitely no Canadian Destroyer piledrivers in amateur wrestling

 

AT: So you got into wrestling three years ago – how did your family react to it?

 

WILLIAMS: They weren’t really that supportive at first. It was kind of like “let’s give him a month or two and he’ll find out he won’t like it.”. But all through college, it’s what I wanted to do. Everyone said I couldn’t make it because I was too small. The one person who did support me was my girlfriend, who stuck with me through my training. When my career started to take off, it hit our relationship pretty hard because I was away so much without her. Out of everyone, she was the most supportive. But now that I’m with TNA, everyone always asks me about it. I’ll be walking down the street in Windsor or at the gym and people will come up and talk to me about TNA.

 

AT: How do you feel about those friends and family that doubted you could make it in wrestling?

 

WILLIAMS: You know who your true friends are when they stick with you. It’s hard to go out on the road and be in this sport without the support from everyone around you. Some of the guys who come out of the wrestling families had it easier, because they grew up around it with their family. People can think what they want, but I’m doing what I love.

 

AT: How has the entire “Team Canada” experience in TNA been for you?

 

WILLIAMS: I think it’s been great. I’m in a better position that I ever thought I would be in this early in my TNA career. I’m grateful for it. We get a great reaction from the crowd, it feels good. When you can make the fans hate you that much, I know I’m doing my job. We’ve really had two versions of Team Canada, the first being when we faced Team Mexico in the America’s X Cup for the first time. Now we have the revised version. The first team had Teddy Hart and Jack Evans. I thought that was a good group, but not as good as the team we have now. We’re in a great position and feuding with the top talent like America’s Most Wanted and 3Live Kru. Plus, I was just in a match on Impact against AJ Styles and Chris Sabin, so I never imagined I would be in this position.

 

AT: Back in the 1980s and 1990s, wrestling was more of a big man’s sport, where today the future looks to be the daredevil X style. How does that apply to you and Team Canada?

 

WILLIAMS: If you watched wrestling from the golden age of television, it was always about their characters. It was nothing like what we do in that ring now. We still build characters today, but it’s so much more about the pure athleticism of the sport. It’s great for guys like myself and AJ Styles. When I was a kid and I wanted to be a wrestler, I wanted to grow up and be 6’3’ and 250 pounds, but obviously that wasn’t the case for me. If the sport still went by the old standards, guys like me and the other X superstars wouldn’t be here entertaining the fans. I would probably end up being a referee because they were historically smaller.

 

AT: Let’s talk about hockey….you a fan?

 

WILLIAMS: Hockey is huge in Canada and in Detroit as well. So it’s just not a Canadian thing. But the best players ARE from Canada. Every Saturday me and my friends had to play street hockey – it was a ritual for us. I have a lot of friends who wanted to be hockey players when they were in high school, but it’s very expensive to get into. From the training to the equipment, it takes a lot of cash and my parents didn’t have that kind of extra spending money. I kind of got the shaft on that, but it wasn’t a big deal.

 

AT: Who’s your favorite team?

 

WILLIAMS: The Toronto Maple Leafs now. For a while my favorite team was the Edmonton Oilers because Grant Fuhr was my favorite player and an awesome goalie.

 

AT: You’ve been in wrestling or three years now – where do you see yourself in another three years in this sport?

 

WILLIAMS: You know – I honestly can’t say. I certainly hope it’s with TNA and we’re helping to make things interesting competing with WWE. I hope I’m still doing the X style, because I love it. But you never know. Three years ago if you asked me I would have never imagined myself on Pay-Per-View. So where we’ll all be in another three years is so hard to say.

 

AT: Last question. You were of course trained by Team Canada coach Scott D’Amore . Tell us, just how hairy is his back?

 

WILLIAMS: (laughs) Have you seen the movie “Along Came Polly” with Ben Stiller where he plays that big hairy guy in a game of basketball…and the guy just wipes his nasty hair and sweat all over Stiller as they’re playing?

 

AT: Can’t say I’ve seen it.

 

WILLIAMS: Well, it’s much worse than that with Scott, trust me (laughs)

 

AT: Thanks for the interview, Petey!

 

WILIAMS: No problem.

[Guest The Ultimate Fantasy]

WTF! They did not even talk about the actual Canadian Destroyer move, whatever it was still better than Reds.

[Slingshot Suplex 0]

He's right on about Windsor. Windsor rocks!

[Guest The Last Free Voice]

... um.... that didn't suck? It was okay, I guess... But not good, but not horrible. But they really should have asked about teh Destroyer. How he came up with it, etc...

[DrVenkman PhD 0]

It's funny, I told a co-worker about this interview the other day and he was none too thrilled to hear that Petey only credited his gf (who is quite the looker, btw) with supporting his chances at becoming a wrestler.

[starvenger 0]

He's right on about Windsor. Windsor rocks!

Nice place to live. Just don't go downtown along Oullette at night Thursdays - Sundays or you may find a lot of drunken 19-year old Detroiters.

 

Casino Windsor's a very nice place though. I had a pretty good view of it (and the Detroit River) back when I lived there. Also, Woody's Outhouse has the best ribs in town. Don't believe the hype about the other places...

[Vern Gagne 0]

Only a novice to nwa but is the Canadian Destroyer William's move, or did someone else invent it?

[Guest The Last Free Voice]

He's the first person i saw do it. Jody Fliesch (sp) does a shooting star PD, but I havne't seen that.