"Air Flip" is all set for ROH's 16th Anniversary show.
Later on tonight, Flip Gordon is set to take on former IWGP Junior Heavyweight Champion Hiromu Takahashi at Ring Of Honor's 16th Anniversary show. Prior to the huge event, Flip spoke with Slam Sports to provide fans with an inside look at what Flip Gordon is about.
"I just took everything from my life and tried to put it into one character and one style. That's what you see when you look at Flip Gordon. Literally, everything from my life put into one person."
The active duty member of the National Guard has been with Ring Of Honor coming up on a full year. Within a short amount of time he has earned the respect of his peers such as The Young Bucks and Bully Ray, who Flip says provides some mentorship to him as he continues along in his pro wrestling career.
"The Young Bucks have been huge mentors to me and helped me so much. Bubba Ray Dudley has been a huge help too. He's always giving me feedback, always giving me pointers and it's really helpful because he's about to be a Hall of Famer. To just have a guy like that in the locker room to get feedback is amazing," he said."They all tell me I'm on the right track and to keep doing what I'm doing. I'm almost three years in so I'm not going to be the greatest wrestler. They always give me little pointers and when I get those pointers I try to fix them so that I don't have to be told the same thing twice."
As Flip Gordon has stated in a number of interviews, he had his first match with ROH in April of 2017, where he faced Matt Sydal in Baltimore, MD and following the match, the crowd began to chant: "Please sign Flip".
"I genuinely love this and I love it so much that fans can see it; they can see the passion and how much fun I am having in the ring. I think since I'm having fun, they are also having fun."
The current Northeast Wrestling Heavyweight Champion recently had the opportunity to travel to Japan and be a part of their 'Honor Rising' shows. Those were moments that Flip Gordon will forever be gracious for considering that he's always wanted to compete in Japan.
"Japan is amazing, and to go there after three years of my career is so surreal and I can't wait to go back. The Japanese crowd is absolutely amazing, it's a completely different style. I remember the next day Kevin Kelly, I had breakfast with him in the hotel and he gave me so many pointers and I think that's why on night two, I feel like I had a better match. I took those pointers and applied them to my work. The atmosphere is so special. When I came out it was so special that I couldn't help but to just smile. I felt so accomplished stepping out of that curtain seeing those fans and realizing, 'Hey, in less than three years I'm living a dream, traveling the world.' I'm in front of this Japanese crowd debuting for New Japan Pro Wrestling and that crowd has just welcomed me with open arms. It's such an amazing feeling," said Gordon.
On night one of NJPW's 'Honor Rising' events, Flip Gordon was able to best KUSHIDA & Hiromu Takahashi in a Triple-Threat match. Gordon being humble stated that it was an honor to be in the ring with two former IWGP Junior Heavyweight Champions and that he looks forward to squaring off against Hiromu later on tonight at the 16th Anniversary of ROH show.
"Hiromu Takahashi and KUSHIDA are two of the best juniors in the world and sharing the ring with them was an absolute honor and I'm really looking forward to seeing Takahashi in Vegas on the 16th anniversary pay-per-view. It's going to be a really cool match and I think it's going to be a must-see match."
We will have full coverage of Ring Of Honor's 16th Anniversary show here on Fightful, along with a post-show podcast.
