Rocky Romero is a world-renowned and universally respected wrestling veteran. Having worked in his near twenty year career across Japan, Mexico and the US, he has recently been in the UK, stamping his authority all over the independent scene. If you haven't seen him in action, make sure to do so as you certainly won't be disappointed. We were honoured to have the chance to sit down and ask him some questions about his views on the industry and future plans.
You've just wrestled across the UK, what do you think of the British scene?
I think it's hot! There's a real, legitimate scene here with unique guys, that can really go and that can wrestle their butts off. More impressive than that, is the fans. They're insane. They're brilliant because they're coming and enjoying wrestling and aren't spoilt like I'd say the American fans can be a little because there's so many wrestlers and promotions. Here, they're actually fans and are coming out having a good time and watching fantastic wrestling. I think British wrestling is about to explode. You're on the cusp of something here.
Did you know that Samoa Joe has quit TNA, what do you think of that?
Oh really!?! We're good friends but I didn't know. It's surprising but Joe could work anywhere. I know that TNA has been his home for quite a few years now but I'm sure he sees how AJ Styles left TNA and how well he's doing now. Joe's probably going to make more money being independent and working back in Ring of Honour or somewhere in Japan maybe. You never know, he could show up on NXT too! Maybe he'll go fight with Punk!
Super Crazy suggested recently that New Japan Pro Wrestling (NJPW) had bought Pro Wrestling Noa, do you have the inside track?
No, I don't know what's going on. It's interesting though and I assume that either way, it's good for the business. I knew that NJPW had said to the boys that they were going to be helping Noah out - I don't know if that meant office wise, help with the booking or something else. Obviously Sazukigun jumped over to Noa now - which is interesting. It doesn't seem like they'll be back in NJPW soon...
We watched you on Wrestle Kingdom 9 as others did, through GFW. Will we see you on a GFW roster perhaps?
I think that's the plan, to have NJPW guys as part of roster once GFW gets started. I think the plan would be to work it out so you're in Japan for 2-3 weeks and maybe doing GFW inbetween, so it's exciting and I think it will be cool. I hope it works out but I haven't heard anything recently, they're pretty hush hush about the GFW stuff. I'm not sure what it will mean for Ring of Honour in terms of how that will all go down, but I guess we'll see. Jeff's a smart guy and he's been doing this for a long time and his family have been doing it forever and I think that his vision is the right one. Now obviously everyone wants to work with NJPW because they're the hottest company in the world and the wrestlers are some of the best on the planet.
Your tag-team 'Forever Hooligans' has now disbanded but you've been in many successful tag-teams before. What's next, will you have a singles run?
You know, I would love a singles run, I really would but I have a feeling that the powers that be like my tag work. As you say, that's how I've made my mark in my career and so it'll most likely be another successful tag-team next! I already know but I can't say who it will be with but it's going to be happening very soon - within the next 3 or 4 weeks. There's going to be a hot angle coming out for you...
Is the long-term plan to go to WWE?
Not to say that I never thought about WWE but to be honest, I didn't really think about it for probably the first 10 years of my career. It was only recently and especially when my friends started going there and being successful. Then I started to think that WWE would be a place that I would want to go. I had a tryout with them last year and was invited down to their camp. The whole experience was very positive, it was fantastic and going there made me think that 'this could be a good fit for me'. It hasn't really worked out that way but I'm totally fine with it. I have never really done any WWE stuff or been on their radar, now I'm 100% on their radar. I think if there was ever a cruiserweight show or something similar, I'm sure they would pluck me up. Until then, I'm very content and happy with NJPW and Ring of Honor and RevPro and everything else.
Who do you think is the next standout indy guy that's going to go to NXT?
I would have said Ricochet but I think he's locked up with Lucha Underground. I watched his RevPro match with Marty Scurll and it was brilliant. He looks like a million bucks, moves like nobody else. If I was WWE I would have picked him up when they had the opportunity. Besides that, I could see Adam Cole being there, somebody like Will Ospreay or myself....!
What's the best rib [practical joke] you've played on somebody?
I was on tour with Pro Wrestling Noah. It was me, Bryan Danielson (Daniel Bryan) and Davey Richards. We were coming back from an early show and when we got to the hotel, Davey ran off the bus. Me and Bryan were sitting near each other and realised that Davey had left his room key behind. We knew he had gone to get some food and wouldn't be back in his room, so Bryan grabbed the key and we went to Davey's room. We didn't know what to do but his stuff was everywhere and I said, "let's put it all in the bathroom, in the bathtub and we'll hide it with the curtain". Bryan said OK and we moved it all but then he felt we had to do more. So Bryan said "let's put everything in the bathtub". These rooms were tiny but we moved the TV, the coffee tables, the mattress - we put everything into this bathroom and tried to hide it and then locked the door. We walked downstairs and saw Davey coming to get a replacement key and told him we'd see him the next day. As we were getting onto the bus in the morning, he saw us and just said "You mother******!" It was a funny rib but a harmless one.
Rocky Romero tweets at @azucarroc, is on facebook here and you can go and buy a Rocky T-Shirt here. He's promised to come back, possibly as early as the summer, so keep your eyes peeled as you don't want to miss Rocky in action...