ROH’s Cheeseburger Talks Relationship With Chris Jericho, Future Goals In ROH & More

ROH star Cheeseburger was a guest on James Walsh’s Interactive Wrestling Radio where he discussed Charlie Hass helping him with his gimmick, his relationship with Chris Jericho and more. Below are the interview highlights

On taking part in the ECWA Super 8 Tournament:

"Oh, I had a blast. That was definately one of the things on my bucket list. I unfortunately lost in the first round to a great competitor, Anthony Greene. I've been wanting to have a singles match with him for a very long time. It was a wonderful experience just knowing the history of the tournament, getting to be a part of the opening ceremony and them talking about the previous winners. It was a great experience."

On other items on that bucket list:

"The list that I put out, there was like 1 or 2 things. I'm a big fan of wrestling tournaments. The Super 8 was one, the Young Lions cup for CHIKARA which I have done was another, King of Trios for CHIKARA is another one, CZW's Best of the Best, and the IWA Mid South TPI Tournament. That one is a big one on my list. Another is WXW in Germany has the 16 Carrot tournament that is really popular."

On how Charlie Haas helped him be known as Cheeseburger:

"(laughs) Ah yes, absolutely. I actually just saw Charlie again recently. I had a show in Texas. It was good to see him again. He was at a Ring of Honor show in Baltimore in I believe 2013 - January of that year. I was doing ringside student duties like collecting streamers and stuff like that. He called me into the ring and started yelling at me on the mic. Cheeseburger was just a nickname I had and people that trained at the Ring of Honor school knew me as that. On the mic, he called me Cheeseburger and the people started chanting it. When I got to the back, they were like "We might have something here. Lets roll with it!"

On being granted the Palm Strike finish from Jushin Thunder Liger:

"Liger is my favorite wrestler of all time. He's what I aspire to be as a professional wrestler. He is the guy I look to as what a professional wrestler is. Just look at his career accomplishments and all the stuff he's done. He's still doing it, he's like over 50 and still doing it at a high level. It is an honor to spend time with him and learn from him and have him pass down his Palm Strike to me."

On Chris Jericho taking a shine to him:

"Oh, Jericho's awesome! (laughs) It is funny how things turn out. I started getting a ton of notifications on Twitter. Jericho was at home and Ring of Honor happened to be on. I think he saw the match with me and Bob Evans from Toronto in Ring of Honor. He didn't know who I was but he tweeted about liking this Cheeseburger guy or "This Cheeseburger guy is my new favorite wrestler." People started tagging me in the post! All of a sudden, my Twitter was blowing up. People were texting me saying, "Go to Twitter! Jericho's taking about you!" I was like, "What?" (laughs) I sent him a message thanking him for the shout out. He invited me on his podcast and we actually did a Talk is Jericho show together."

On catching up with Jericho at NJPW Wrestle Kingdom:

"That was cool. I hadn't seen him, I think, since the podcast. So, it had been like 2 years since I had seen him? We got the chance to sit down and talk. Another thing, he posted a video asking his kids who their favorite wrestler is and they said "Cheeseburger!" I think Ring of Honor even sent his kids some T shirts! (laughs)"

On why Bully Ray called him out on Twitter:

"Bully Ray seems to have this inclination in his mind that I'm entitled and am disrespecting him and disrespecting the wrestling business. I have no idea where he got that from. In his mind, he's launching this crusade against wrestlers he sees as unworthy, disrespectful, or entitled. He pretty much means the new, younger generation that is coming in."

On being an assistant trainer at the ROH Dojo:

"I absolutely love it. It is really cool because I feel like a parent in a sense. I'm seeing these guys and girls grow up in the wrestling business getting opportunities to succeed. The Ring of Honor School, we offer something different than a lot of other wrestling schools. We're teaching for pay per view and television. Ring of Honor is the upper echelon of the wrestling business. Students get to come and help out. We teach them to wrestle not just for a crowd but for the people at home. They get to get that pay per view and television experience. They also get to learn a collection of styles. Wrestling is not just one thing. We teach Lucha Libre, British... We teach about drama and emotion! There's a whole mix of styles there!"

On his recent split with Will Ferrara and their feud:

"I enjoyed that match a lot. I actually want to have another one on one match with him. I know he's doing his tag team with "The Dawgs" right now. They're highly entertaining! But, they're a little more entertaining when they aren't bothering me in my matches. I'll hopefully be putting that to bed soon. I'm happy for WIll. He's finally found something that works with Rhett."

On the growth of Ring of Honor:

"When I got to Ring of Honor, I started in 2010, it was at the end of that HDNet run. I was around at the end of HDNEt to where we had like no TV at all to where Sin Clair bought the company to now. So, I got to see how much we've grown. Every single year, we have something new happening. Every year, it has grown. If you look at our recent Final Battle, I guess production wise it was our biggest show ever. We had pyro, we had fire! A big stage, crazy lighting! Now we have working relationships with different companies. First we had New Japan, then CMLL, now with STARDOM."

On people calling ROH an Independent Promotion:

"I don't think you could consider Ring of Honor an independent. We're owned by a major corporation. That is the opposite of what independent is. Back when Cary Silkin owned it, it was just him doing it by himself. Even though we were on pay per view back then, it could still be considered an independent. But, we're owned by Sin Clair who is a major corporation in America. That is the exact opposite of what could be considered an independent company."

On ROH now featuring the Women of Honor on the main show:

"It is awesome! We've seen, over the last few years, how much respect women's wrestling has gained. It is cool to see them now on the same level as the men. They are not a side attraction, they are the attraction. They can main event. It is cool to see how the women's revolution has grown and I'm glad Ring of Honor is being a part of that revolution by introducing the WOmen of Honor Championship and making Women of Honor its own brand and part of the company. Now they're getting to be on pay per view and TV. It is cool to see that transition."

On his future goals in ROH:

"I like to set myself up with small goals rather than a big goal. For instance, when I first started training, my goal was not to headline Wrestlemania or Final Battle or something like that. My goal was to just have my first match. Then it was to have my first match on TV or my first match out of state. My goal now is to progress up the card and hopefully win my first title maybe this year or next year."

Listen to the full interview here.