Mansoor is excited about having the opportunity to prove himself on the independent scene.
WWE released Mansoor in a wave of cuts on September 21. He and Mason D. Madden (formerly known as Mace) then made a surprise appearance at DPW 2nd Anniversary to kick-start the next chapter of their careers.
In an interview with Denise Salcedo, Mansoor commented on his WWE release and looked forward to having the chance to prove himself on the independent scene.
“I can joke about it because I’m not bitter about it. It did bother me, believe me, but 90 days is a long time. At a certain point, you’re in bed and you’re trying to go to sleep, and all you can think about is, ‘What did I do wrong? What could I have done better?’ At some point, you’re like, ‘I can’t live like this. I gotta just try and make the most of it and make the best of it.’ That’s exactly when it turned on for me. Probably a month after I got let go, I was like, ‘You know what? I am going to reach out to every single person I know. I’m gonna be DM-ing, I’m gonna be emailing, I’m gonna be texting, I’m gonna make this happen.’ The thing that I emphasized more than anything else about this process where I’m going on the independents is I can make it happen for myself, finally," Mansoor said.
Mansoor continued by describing how not getting used in WWE was frustrating, as he did not have the opportunity to work anywhere else. He recalled how he would go months without taking a bump. Mansoor stated that he tried to stay ready, but not getting to be in the ring impacted him. He then emphasized that he was excited about being able to succeed or fail entirely because of his talent.
"The most frustrating thing about being in WWE when you aren’t being used is you had no other options. You’re technically a free agent in the sense you’re an independent contractor, but you can’t really work anywhere else. If they don’t want you to work, you’re not working. There were periods of time where I would go months without taking a single bump, or I wasn’t in the ring for a minute. You can train, you can try and stay in-shape and keep that ring rust off, but it really gets to your soul. So now I can say, and I’m proud of it because if I fail, I failed because of me. If I succeed, I succeed because of me. I’m so content with that. I’m so happy, and I’m so excited to be able to go out there and say, ‘Listen, for whatever happened in WWE, what you’re about to see is who I really am, and you’re about to get the most serious and real indicator of my talent, and if it goes great, phenomenal. If it doesn’t, I’ll fade off into the sunset, but at least I get to know it was based on my own talent. That’s kind of the thing that I want to emphasize. It’s based on me. However it goes, I’m happy that I was able to do my best," Mansoor said.
Moving forward, Mansoor noted that he is excited about earning his opportunities on the independent scene, as he stated that getting invited back to companies would mean that he was doing something right.
Mansoor recently looked ahead to having a "generational" run on the independent scene. Check out his comments here.
Mansoor is set to make his GCW debut at GCW Look At Me. More information is available here.
Click here to see what Mansoor had to say about his winning streak in WWE.
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