Sonny Kiss Talks Inclusivity In AEW, Jim Ross, Nightmare Factory & More

Sonny Kiss did an interview with the Shining Wizards Wrestling Podcast, speaking about wanting more in AEW.

"Absolutely. And I had this talk with Cody (Rhodes) and I asked Cody, like “Should I be doing more of something? Is there something that’s not clicking? How much more should I try to prove myself?” And he’s just like, “yeah, always do as much as you can to keep yourself seen and keep yourself known.” No one really knows this. I guess people probably do and you can tell it’s me if you know me. So, for the pay per view, for The Lucha Brothers match in the steel cage, I was actually one of the dancers, and I choreographed the routine. That was me behind that mask, and so I asked Cody that same night, like “Should I be doing this? Is this ok? Does this make me look bad?” He was like no, not at all. He was like, you’re not doing anything else so, and he was like why not help contribute to make someone else’s entrance or something like that look better. It was reassuring for sure."

On working with Jim Ross:

"I actually just texted Jim Ross the other day. I just wanted to wish him well and send him some good energy because he’s been going through alot. It’s honestly crazy when I think about it for a lot of things. There’s a lot of people that have taken me under their wing, and me having Dustin Rhodes and Billy Gunn as my mentors is like crazy. Like, “no freaking way!” It’s funny, because the first thing he (Billy Gunn) told me was, he goes, if I had an a** like yours when they were calling me the ass man, I’d have made a lot more money. I was like “oh my God, you’re too funny.” It’s honestly such a crazy thing. I can’t even fathom it, and I’m just like wow. And that’s one of the things that keeps me going because even when I’m not feeling the most confident or not feeling appreciated or valued, I definitely think about how blessed and grateful I should be, and that I am… I can’t be mad at anyone. I can definitely stay hungry and strive to want better and more without disrespecting the hand that feeds you."

On if AEW has a developmental program:

"So, the Nightmare Factory is definitely the closest thing to that. QT Marshall is the trainer there, and Cody is a trainer there. They have the camps, and yeah, that’s kind of their developmental in a way, I guess. Obviously, Dark and Elevation are ways for people that are already signed to try things out and gain experience, to test things out, to test storylines and try new things and help get people over so that they can get to the next level, to get to tv level and Rampage and Dynamite and all that stuff so, I guess it’s kind of like that. I mean, obviously, you know the Performance Center has been around a lot longer, but I think it’s going to get to that point where AEW has literally so many resources that help new and upcoming stars."

On AEW being all inclusive:

"It’s so amazing because there’s not just one of us. This company didn’t say like we can only have the token one. There’s me, there’s Bowens, there’s Nyla, there’s Leyla. Am I missing anybody? I’m sorry if I am, but yeah there’s a lot of us. There’s Aubrey, Diamante, Kiera Hogan. There’s so many of us, and that’s the coolest part. They do allow us to be us. It feels good that a company trusts you to be that representation, so I love it. I think it’s amazing."