Independent sensation Josh Briggs discusses passion for wrestling, difference between the WWE style and the independents
Independent wrestling sensation Josh Briggs recently took some time out of his busy schedule to participate in an interview with me. In the interview, Briggs opens up about his passion for wrestling, his working with established names in the business, and relationships that he has built as he transitioned from playing football to becoming a professional wrestler a referee to becoming a wrestler. He discusses his future in wrestling and how and why his character has changed over time. Check out excerpts of the interview below and the interview in its entirety here.
On where it all began to come together for him:
My crowning match where I realized I had something going here was against Donovan Dijak at Limitless. That was my first match against him, someone I looked up to and aspired to be like, and to be able to have him explain the way he was putting together the match made me a completely different and better wrestler for it. But, I was able to throw ideas out there and he enjoyed them, and it boosted my confidence to know that one of the best wrestlers in the world appreciated my ideas, understood them, and believed in how good they were. When he was placing all the ideas into spots, I started to realize, yeah, that’s where I would have put it too, and that was another boost of confidence as well. Mentally we were from the same learning tree from Brian Fury all the way down to Killer Kowalski and Steve Bradley, and to be able to fall back on that and know that, okay, I have a similar mindset to Donovan Dijak, it’s a very comforting thing. That boosted my confidence a lot. In the match itself, right from the get-go, I didn’t want to mess anything up. Luckily enough, I haven’t messed anything up so far in my career. That was my biggest match and an important point in my career. So, I didn’t want to screw the pooch, especially with someone who was my friend that I see all the time, and someone I wanted to know that I was a good wrestler. Midway through the match, I realized that he knew I could bring it, and I knew that he knew what I am all about. That was more of a boost of confidence. That was one of the biggest things in wrestling, to boost your confidence and to know that you are good.
On the difference between independent wrestling and the WWE style:
Independent wrestling is a different monster than WWE. There are different fans, and you have to know your fan base and know how to get over in the fans’ eyes. It doesn’t matter if you do no moves or you do a million moves in my opinion, as long as the crowd enjoys it. I think you need to do the least amount to get over, but get over nonetheless. Some places, in particular, you need to do a little bit more and you have to put your body on the line. People who have grown up and have been cultivated by that major, WWE style, they don’t get to experience independent wrestling, when you don’t do what the crowd expects of you. If you don’t get that reaction from the independent crowd, it really is, not heartbreaking, but it’s disconcerting. You really go home pretty bummed out, and sometimes that is going to happen.
On the importance of self-promotion:
I went to college for communications and business and marketing, so I have a good background in marketing. If you can market yourself properly and not make a fool of yourself on the internet (which is hard sometimes), and put over the show and your opponents and everything, it goes a long way. JT Dunn, one of my best friends in the business, and MJF, both do that in a way that I think anyone that doesn’t do it should be jealous of. When they are on the show, they don’t just highlight themselves, they highlight the event. Go watch everything, and just get the gratification from the gifs by Mr. Lariato on social media that I think is something no one really does, and it’s something that I am trying to do myself. It’s a hidden talent that gets you a lot of respect from promoters, and from me as well. Things like that. Marketing yourself, and of course giving your fans more than what they paid for. Putting your body on the line and letting them know that you did it for them. That’s another one of the big things.
You can read the full interview with Josh Briggs here.