Impact Wrestling star Rich Swann was interviewed by PWInsider as he discussed his upcoming Impact World Championship Match with Eric Young at Bound for Glory, among other topics.
His thoughts and feelings heading into Bound For Glory: “I feel like nothing ever happened. I feel great and I feel like I’m ready to unleash some great athleticism for some people to see. You know it’s….I can’t even find the words to say it because I know how much of a big deal it is to be in the main event, but not only that, with something so personal, something so, like…the story – me and Eric, the fact that we’re getting this chance to showcase our talents, to showcase that we’re more than the opportunities that have been afforded to us and to have that and to come back from that injury that could have possibly not only ended my career but changed my life for the better part, you know? I could have ended up walking with a limp for the rest of my life but the hard work and the dedication and the thought of, you know, “I really want to make it in this business,” has got me there, and now I’m in the main event and there’s like…I’m just overjoyed, you know what I mean? And now since the days are coming close, now it’s starting to get even more like, “Aw come on, come on, October 24th, let’s get this, let’s get this in right now.” I’m so anxious, I’m ready, I’m excited, there’s just so many emotions and feelings that are just going through my body.”
Thoughts on the retirement angle: “So that’s exactly what was going through my mind, that’s the one way that you become a star in this business is if you can prove that you can talk people into those seats and with something like that, with something…saying that you’re going to be retiring, you have to put every single real emotion that you have into that and it was unfortunate but I’ve had those times in my career to where I was really about to be done, so I transferred that emotion into that promo and I wanted people to feel that and by the looks of it, and your opinion, it looks like I reached a couple of people and they felt it, so I think I did my job on that and I’m going to be looking to trying to cut more promos like that as much as I can to show people I am a complete package.”
How pro wrestling saved his life: “I don’t think that my life would be in a good place if I didn’t have professional wrestling. Coming from the areas that I’ve come from and coming from the trials and tribulations that I’ve dealt with, it’s important that I’ve found something that was productive and something that would not make me a product of my environment, if you will. That’s the one reason why I share my story so much is because anybody that has ever felt like I have or been in my shoes, especially at a young age, I want them to know that you don’t have to take the low road, you can find whatever it is in your life – it doesn’t have to be professional wrestling, it can be whatever you find that just inspires you, lifts you up and you don’t have to be a product of your environment and you can become more and rise up.”
His injury rehab experience: “It was definitely painful. I’d say the hardest part was the first three months after getting the surgery. The first month I couldn’t walk on it, I had the staples and everything, I had my foot in the soft cast, and then the second month – finally able to take my foot out of the cast, then I was able to walk a little bit. From there, though, everything had closed down, the physical therapy places, because of COVID, things were at a completely different schedule so all that’s going through my mind is, “Man, am I going to be the same? Is this going to prolong my recovery?” Basically the doctor just sent me some things to do and definitely doing those things by myself was very hard, without any physical trainer in the beginning or anybody to help me out with guidance. I was just in my house while everybody was quarantined doing one legged squats and weighted kettlebells and stuff like that and finally I got to a point where I could stand and balance on one leg and it was very weak, but just doing that every day, the single leg squats, and then I built myself up to little skips.
“Then I built myself up to jogging, and then it was, you know, if I can jog, maybe I can jump a little bit, and then I started jumping, and then everything started to open back up after about four months and I started doing proper physical training and then started lifting up my weights with the lunges and the weighted squats. I could feel my leg getting stronger and stronger and better and better and the doctor, once he told me, “Hey, you might be walking with a limp for the rest of your life,” I started pushing it even harder, and I started running and I started jumping and I got into a wrestling ring and I said, “You know what? Let me hit these ropes.” Then I started hitting the ropes and I felt it – I felt how good my ankle felt and I said, “You know what? Let me just do a backflip, let me do a moonsault, see if I can still do that”, and I did that, and then I just decided – hey, I’m ready, I can start going in now. It was just a whole mental game, you know? ”
His expectations heading into Bound for Glory: “I think that me and Eric Young, just due to the story, due to how much of a maniac he is, I think it’s going be very violent and I think that we’re going to put on a wrestling classic and like I said before, I think he is a great talent, he is a person that can do anything and to have this opportunity to wrestle him in the main event of Bound For Glory – I’m not going to let this slide. I’m not going to let people see Bound For Glory and think, “Oh, that was a waste of my money.” People are going to be satisfied and I’m just looking for that perfect ending.”