Jason Jordan says he was influenced by Kurt Angle, but wants American Alpha to be an original.
In a phone conference, Jordan told ESPN he was a Angle fan growing up.
"I grew up watching Kurt and so I've studied him a lot and figured out what it is that made him so great, what made him so amazing to watch. So trying to make sure that I picked up some of those things, but at the same time being myself, because I never wanna try and mimic somebody else. I wanna be myself and be the first Jason Jordan. I don't wanna be the second Kurt Angle," said Jordan.
Because of Jordan's and his tag-team partner Chad Gable's amateur wrestling background, comparisons are drawn to Kurt Angle but also the tag-team of Shelton Benjamin and Charlie Haas. Jordan and Gable have worked to make American Alpha unique.
"And it's the same concept where we always get a lot of comparisons to the World's Greatest Tag Team. We wanna be the first American Alpha. We don't wanna be the second Team Angle or World's Greatest Tag Team. We've worked so hard to get to where we are, and we feel like we're unique and different. Yes there are similarities but we're still different. As much as we look to Kurt, and as much as I've studied him and been a fan of Kurt Angle's, he's been an influence, but it's nice to have a little bit of a separation between us," said Jordan.
Jordan spent a long time in WWE's developmental system and American Alpha has been his greatest success. He wants to do tag-team wrestling differently and claims loyalty to each other will put American Alpha on top.
"But there's a brother-like relationship with me and Chad. It's definitely something special and I'm glad to be a part of it. It's pretty obvious to see -- a lot of people see that. It's not like, 'let's see where it goes.' We're dedicated to staying together and making sure, when you look at WWE history, that we want to be ones that stand out; that this tag team American Alpha, they are arguably the best tag team, period. In order to do that you have to have that legacy. We're building that legacy now. We're looking forward to continue building on it. Long story short, we plan on staying together for a very, very long time," said Jordan.
American Alpha is currently a member of Smakdown's tag-team roster.
