Interview: PJ Black (Justin Gabriel) on Choosing ROH over WWE and More

PJ Black was interviewed by Chris Van Vliet.

He talks about why he chose to sign with Ring of Honor even though WWE offered him a deal, his plan for Vince McMahon to be Adam Rose’s bunny, his dream to work for NJPW and what will happen to the future of Lucha Underground.

On choosing to sign with Ring of Honor instead of NXT:

“Right before Ring of Honor, I actually got an offer from NXT. They wanted me to go back there. There were a couple of other offers too, from TNA and stuff, and I chose Ring of Honor because they give me freedom and it’s a great deal financially. It’s only for 12 months too. After that, it becomes like a 30-day notice deal. I have a feeling it’s gonna be like two or three years, but let’s see what happens. Also, merchandise royalties on that — it’s unheard of.”

He thinks Lucha Underground is finished:

“Who knows, man? It was such a great ride. I’m very sad about that. I personally feel like it’s not going to come back. That’s why I had to fight to get out of my contract — and it was a lot of fighting. I know a lot of the guys are trying to get out of their contracts right now. I guess I was lucky with that. I did have them put in my Ring Of Honor contract that if it does come back, I’ll go back for a couple episodes and tie up some storyline ends.”

On NJPW being his ultimate goal:

“Ever since I started wrestling, my goal was New Japan. Even before WWE, my goal was New Japan. It was just hard for a kid growing up in South Africa with a third world passport to get into Japan. I tried for years and years and years. I even moved to Europe for a little while, and things didn’t happen there. I got kicked out of the country — long story, haha. I moved back to South Africa, but then WWE found me. So I was like, yeah, I’ll take the contract. So I feel like my next step — my next goal — is New Japan, for sure. Then, after that, I can maybe go back to ‘sports entertainment.’ I just think my style fits in there perfect. It’s just something I’ve wanted to do ever since I was young. I’ve been fascinated with the strong style.”

His plan for Vince McMahon to be revealed as Adam Rose’s bunny:

“The bunny becomes really grizzled. He becomes like a hardcore champ, kind of like in the Attitude Era. There’s shots of him backstage smoking a cigar, dried blood on his fur and just dirt. He keeps losing matches, but he’s always there doing crazy stuff — falling off ladders, falling off cages, hahaha. He never has any luck, and becomes this grizzled vet. One spot, scene, whatever, he gets legit ‘knocked out’ — the referee maybe throws up the ‘x’ — and it cuts to a backstage segment. They take the mascot head off, and it’s Vince. I said to Vince — if it was anybody else in the world, everyone would be like ‘aw, yeah, that’s cool…’ But if it was him, how could would that have been?”