Josh Mathews on Rumors of Impact Going Out of Business, Lucha Underground, More

Impact Wrestling commentator Josh Mathews recently appeared on Interactive Wrestling Radio.

On why there are constant reports of Impact’s impending death: “I don’t know. I wish I knew. At this point, it becomes white noise. We’ve seen it so many times. Even when I was in WWE for 13 years, you’d see it monthly or weekly that Impact or TNA, whatever it was going by at that time, was going away and wasn’t going to exist anymore. Now being here, and defending it, and constantly seeing these stories that I call “The Fake News”, it gets tiresome. You have to stop looking at it, stop paying attention to it and just know where we’re going and know what we’re building towards.”

On going heel with his “Greatest Play by Play Guy” tweet: “No, because I had been saying it for a while! (laughs) It wasn’t something I had come up with that day. I said it when I left (WWE), I said it to Wade Keller the next day! I said it on numerous platforms. And, I said my contract not being renewed from there (WWE) had nothing to do with talent. That was the only issue I had with them. I believe it, I said it, it had legs, and we ran with it.”

On his offer in Los Angeles: “It was for Lucha Underground. I had a contract in my home office for both companies – A Lucha Underground one and one to come here to Nashville. I decided to come here. Lucha was kind of always there. I was in LA when they were getting ready to tape their first shows. I was working on another project. Their play by play guy couldn’t make it. Again, they called me. ‘We know you’re here. You’re right down the street. You don’t have to sign a contract. You can come up with whatever you want. We’re really in a bind here.’ I stuck with the decision I made to come here to Impact and not pursue what they were doing even though it was very tempting after seeing an episode and seeing what they were doing, it was very tempting to go and be a part of Lucha Underground.”

On Lucha Underground’s product: “Honestly, this isn’t me trying to make a joke or be insulting but I don’t watch it. The only wrestling that I watch is our product. Everything we produce, I watch. And then, I’m wrestling’d out after watching all of our stuff. (laughs) I have so many different interests and so many other things that I don’t have time, or the desire quite frankly, to watch any other wrestling.”

On returning to a sound stage like the one that XWF was filmed in: “The same one. (Impact and XWF). Honestly, I don’t ever really think about it. It isn’t something that comes up in my brain. The only reason I know that it is the same sound stage is somebody told me the last time we were there. I’m a super forward thinker. I don’t think about where I’ve been, what I’ve done. It is all about forward momentum and where we’re going next more so than thinking about what I’ve done in my career.”

On his feud with Jeremy Borash: “It was fun! It was a little uneasy at times. Looking back, and I don’t look back at anything, I think the outcome got us to where we want to be and especially going forward. That is the most important thing to me.”

On if he wants to wrestle more following Slammiversary: “No, I think it put all of that to rest for me. No, I never had a desire to do that once my career went on this path. I did it willingly. I had fun. But, it is not something that I regret, the decision.”

On Impact’s future: “We’re moving at 5 to 10 yard increments. We’re not moving at Hail Mary’s. It is one of those deals where, you know, stick with us. We’re not going away. The reports of our demise have been greatly exaggerated again.”