Impact Wrestling: Konnan talks LAX vs. Lucha Bros, AEW vs. WWE, President Trump, and more!
Impact Wrestling held their most recent round of television tapings last week at Melrose Ballroom in New York, and we got to speak to professional wrestling legend Konnan the day before that event. Konnan talked LAX, AEW, and even the possibility of President Trump being impeached.
Impact Wrestling came to the Melrose Ballroom in Queens, NY last week on both Thursday and Friday for a pair of television tapings. The event hosted all of Impact’s best talent, from Impact World Champion Brian Cage down the card to a stacked Knockouts division, X-Division, and a tag division led by reigning Impact World Tag Team Champions LAX with Konnan at their side.
The day before those tapings, we got to speak exclusively to the legend that has led LAX, The Latin American Xchange, to being one of the most consistently impressive groups in professional wrestling. Konnan has over three decades of experience and is considered a legend in the industry by many.
Even if he isn’t active inside the squared circle as he once was, Konnan is still a fountain of knowledge for LAX and anyone else who is willing to listen. Konnan talked about LAX vs. Lucha Bros, AEW vs. WWE, and even the possibility of President Trump being impeached.
Patches Chance: First off, Impact Wrestling will have television tapings tomorrow and Friday at the Melrose Ballroom here in New York. How big is that for the company and for LAX?
Konnan: It’s very important. You know, when you’re in New York with a place that is as historical as New York is, and especially [because] you know it’s a wrestling culture type of town and a very important city, obviously. The fans here are so knowledgeable and they’re so passionate every time you come here, even since I first broke into the business.
I remember the first time I came here might have been—I came here with AAA, then I came here with WCW, but they would always tell you the fans are different here. Which they are, so New York’s always a very important city, especially for LAX [Santana and Ortiz] because they’re both from here.
PC: Looking back a bit, LAX took on The Lucha Bros in Full Metal Mayhem at Rebellion and really stole the show. How big do you think that night was for both teams?
Konnan: You know, it just solidified the fact that they’re four of the best wrestlers and two of the best tag teams in the world right now. They’re just going out there and being innovators. They’re super popular wrestlers, and I think they know that right now all four of them are really just basically kinda hitting that level where confidence and their popularity and their skill are all intersecting at the same time and everything they’re doing is just gold.
PC: While we’re talking about The Lucha Bros, they’re getting to take a very different path right now with AEW. How exciting do you think AEW is for the wrestling industry as a whole?
Konnan: Well I was just thinking that Vince obviously hadn’t had no competition. Competition makes you not become complacent like they have. I’m not trying to beat up on them. I love the product, but that doesn’t mean you can’t criticize it. At the end of the day, this is a company that did so many things right for so long, and they were the gold standard of how you make stars and how you present vignettes and all that. And you just wonder, how did they lose their way?
Where did they lose their way? Why is the show no longer good like it used to be? It used to be great, and I want them to do better, as a fan and because I have friends in the company. But obviously, it’s good because they know that if AEW starts doing really good ratings, and we’ve already seen that they have a very loyal fanbase that’s sold out two shows. That’s obviously the beginning, but not everybody—who else has been selling out shows in four minutes like they have?
So it isn’t a one trick pony. And then adding guys like Moxley, and they’re probably gonna add some other people in the future, just solidifies an already pretty impressive roster. And I know for sure that right now WWE has so much talent they don’t even know what to do with all the talent that they have, which is leading to a lot of frustration.
So I think it’s great for the business because it’s gonna make—the one thing WWE has always done great, which I give them credit for and I think they’ll do it again, is they’ve always been able to adapt and survive. So even when ECW was really popular, they took a lot of ECW stuff and they’ve always been able to adapt and survive. And I think they’ll do it again.
PC: Back on the topic of LAX, they’re such a tenured and respected group at this point. What do you think has kept LAX this strong for such a long period of time?
Konnan: Well the first LAX, Homicide and Hernandez, there was a real good chemistry between all three of us in the ring. There was a good chemistry outside of the ring, and we actually hung out. We were doing something that was very different in a way, in a business where just about everything is a rehash or recopy, and you know I say that in the most flattering terms. So what could I do that was different? We’ve never really seen militant Latinos who only cared about Latino affairs.
We didn’t care if you were black, you were white. Whatever you were, if you weren’t Latino, you couldn’t be in the group. We didn’t care about you, and we were kind of just espousing a lot of militant radical dialogue when it first started. That was different, and then of course you had that street element. You know, the thugs from the street. And then you come over here to [the new version of] LAX [with Santana and Ortiz] and it’s two fresh faces. And we’re not as radicalized or as militant, and now we’re having like more fun.
And so I just think that both, it kept its essence in that they were from the streets and there’s a good relationship between me, Santana, and Ortiz behind the camera and then there’s good chemistry in the ring. So those things are the same, but I just think the fact that they were from the street, and it’s different than anything else that you’re seeing in the company.
PC: We’ve also gotten to see LAX [Santana and Ortiz] spread their wings in other independent promotions. With the way the landscape of wrestling has changed over the years, how important do you think it is that they work these various places to draw more eyes both to LAX and to Impact Wrestling?
Konnan: Oh yeah, well I think that’s what all the wrestlers are doing right now. They’re trying—you know WrestleCircus has a buzz so they wanna go work at WrestleCircus. PWG definitely has a buzz, so they wanna go wrestle in PWG, which they have just like The Lucha Brothers have. So they’re being real smart. Everybody wants to go wherever their name is gonna be amplified or they can get a buzz, and that’s smart.
PC: I do have one last question because it’s a topic you’re often open to talking about. Do you think President Trump should be impeached?
Konnan: Should President Trump be impeached? They would really have to have a good reason to impeach him, because I think it’ll divide our country more than it already is divided. And even if they do impeach him, I just think that—what does he have left, a year?
PC: Yeah, that’s kind of the argument. A lot of people think it’s not worth the fight, and we should instead just try to win in the 2020 election to get him out of office.
Konnan: I think if he wins the election, then you impeach him. This is how I look at Trump. I admire the fact that this guy had been kinda like this was the job he probably had in the back of his mind. And for a fact, it’s known, and I’ve read a lot on Trump, is you know he was just running for President for branding. Just like he was doing Celebrity Apprentice, and he became President.
More from Impact Wrestling
- The importance of Trinity as IMPACT Knockout’s Champion
- Josh Alexander names AJ Styles his dream opponent ahead of epic IMPACT 1000 milestone
- Signing Ivelisse would be a smart move for Impact Wrestling
- Impact Wrestling: Why Trey Miguel Must Defeat Chris Sabin
- A turning point for Tasha Steelz this summer in Impact Wrestling
And basically, there was somebody that he was listening to that nobody else was, which was that angry Anglo which felt that ‘in my own country, now all the African-Americans hate all the white men and the white privilege.’ He felt like he was a victim in his own country. I mean, yeah, there’s a lot of minorities in the United States, but let’s look at Hispanics. Let’s say we’re 17% of the population, which we’re something like 17%. And you know, African Americans are like 14%, and right there that’s already 30%, whatever it is, right?
Bro, the rest of the United States is still white. So you had a humongous white population that nobody was talking to, and Trump was. And one of the things that they’re very ignorant about is immigration. They’re like ‘oh my god, they’re coming over here to steal.’ No, bro, they’re not coming over here to steal. They’re coming here to work.
But you know, obviously, the other day I actually looked this up, he said that crime was going up because immigrants were in the United States. And no, immigrants crime is half of the national percentage, you know what I’m saying? But you know, a lot of people, they’re too lazy to look. Or they just rather, and so you know, ‘oh my god he’s protecting us against immigrants.’
Next. We're failing LGBTQ wrestlers during Pride month. dark
And so he touched a nerve, and I think that if we were to try to impeach him, and we did impeach him, those people would become really more radicalized. There’d be a lot more hate on social media and maybe even a crazy guy shooting somebody. I don’t think it’s worth it. I think if he wins, you do try to impeach him.