In pro wrestling, a formula can help guide you, but can also run the risk of becoming "cookie cutter." That isn't something Scorpio Sky wants to fall into.
Sky competed in numerous MMA fights between 2011 and 2015, well into his pro wrestling career. If you're wondering why you don't see much of that influence during his All Elite Wrestling matches, there's a pretty good reason for it.
"Even before I fought, I was always a fan of mixed martial arts. Whether it was leg kicks, certain types of strikes or evading strikes. Even in 2003, I was using a triangle choke as a finishing move. People didn't even know what the triangle choke was back then," Sky said, explaining that a few times he'd actually show announcers how it worked. "Muay thai knee strikes, and other knee strikes. I've kind of gotten away from it because everyone is doing it. You see triangle chokes and head kicks, and knee strikes specifically. Everybody's doing knee strikes," Sky told Fightful.
Sky was able to pick up at least three wins, competing in the welterweight division. Over a decade into his pro wrestling career, he continued to transition between MMA and the squared circle. One of the people that helped motivate him to stand out was somewhat of a forgotten PWG Founder.
"I'm always trying to think about how to be different. It goes back to why I started to do MMA stuff in my matches. I was watching PWG about two years in, I wasn't booked on it, I was just watching it. Every match was kind of similar except one guy named Scott Lost. He was far before his time. He was the only one to me that stood out that day because he did different things. The way he moved was different. That changed my mindset for the rest of my career," Sky
When Sky says the rest of his career, he means it. Even today, he's surveying the landscape to look at how he can stand out, even if it's going back to basics.
"I'll watch the shows I'm on and I'll think how I can be different. Even when it comes to dives. You see a lot of dives in wrestling these days. I did a dive in a tag team match with FTR, but before that I hadn't done a dive in about six months. Everyone was doing dives, let me try to get away from that. Everyone's on the apron or the floor, let me try to keep my matches in the ring. Just to be different. I went to an MMA style because nobody was doing that. Over the last several years, people have started to do a lot of MMA stuff, so I've kind of circled around it. Now there's a lot of flipping and ariel wrestling. There's no way I can do that as well as Fenix, so I'm not even going to try to do it. I went back to my roots and started to watch Bret Hart matches. Let's be a really technically sound base, we're not getting a lot of that these days," said Sky.
You can see our full interview with Scorpio Sky at the top of the page and you can follow him on Twitter at this link. He's featured every Wednesday Night on TNT's AEW Dynamite, at 8 EST.
