Latest / What Do You Call It? Podcast! / AJ 'THE JUICE' PAIN talks Kobra Wrestling Academy, DKW, WrestleForce, training, future & more

Transcript

AJ 'THE JUICE' PAIN talks Kobra Wrestling Academy, DKW, WrestleForce, training, future & more · What Do You Call It? Podcast!

0:06
Hello and welcome to another episode of what Do You Call it
0:11
Guest. I'm your host, GP.
0:16
Today's guest is one of the UK's fastest rising stars.
0:19
Today, please welcome the juice. AJ Payne.
0:26
AJ. Hey, Dean.
0:27
Today, mate, you're good. I'm good.
0:30
How are you? Thank you for having me.
0:31
No problem at all mate, No problem.
0:33
I did speak to you about it in Spoons in Southend Batman.
0:37
We did, yes. Quickly bumped.
0:39
Into you using your mate. I was meeting one of mine and
0:42
then just like AJ, when you're coming on, he was like whenever
0:45
you need me to and that's it. Easy about it.
0:49
Easy life in it. That's it, mate.
0:51
That's it. But no, I'm absolutely glad to
0:53
have you on normally everyone the clocks, but I've actually
0:56
received some questions for you on Instagram.
0:58
So we're going to begin in this episode by asking those
1:02
questions that have been directed to you.
1:05
So first question is a great friend of the show, Peckham
1:09
Playboy Hakan. He wants to know what was your
1:12
favorite match of 2025? A.
1:16
Favorite match iPad or favorite match overall?
1:19
Favorite match you had just last year?
1:22
Favorite match at all? So I've got I've got 2.
1:28
They're both top for different reasons though.
1:31
Perfect mate, I'll let. You have to.
1:35
For me personally, my favorite match was, it's not anywhere on
1:38
YouTube, but it was my second ever match.
1:40
It was me and Regan Blaze against Guy Smitzen and Tom
1:44
Mercer. It was a Wrestle force birthday
1:46
show, but it was just mental to be able to work my trainer and
1:52
and my second ever match. I'm out with trainer and some of
1:54
my respects and some Mercer and so when I and tag with someone I
1:57
trained with Regan, it's just was such a nice memory.
2:01
It was a great show. We got pizza afterwards.
2:03
It was just nice to have that with sky and I say action wise,
2:08
my favorite match. I had a triple threat in for
2:12
wrestle force, a long bitten and it was either the Blair and
2:16
Archie Cole. It was a late addition to the
2:20
card and it didn't seem to stop any of us.
2:23
I think we went out there and put on a really good match.
2:25
The crowd really got into it. It was a lot of fun.
2:28
I had a lot of fun doing it. I I really enjoy it came out.
2:32
I'm just happy to wrestle both them boys as well.
2:34
Two guys that I think going to come from the UK scene as well.
2:37
I'm just happy we got to have 3 rising stars in that sense.
2:42
Just in a triple threat where hopefully you can look back in
2:44
five years and go down. We got them in the same match.
2:46
That's insane and such an hopes. As well for the match to happen.
2:50
Oh yeah, Men's we only found out about on the Friday.
2:54
It was going to be a triple prep, so we had a day to like
2:58
sort it all out, literally. Yeah, just sort notice and it
3:03
was just a lot of fun really. And I think it came out
3:05
amazingly. Nice mate, nice.
3:08
There's your answers to the Peck and Playboy.
3:11
Shout out to him. Peck and Playboy shout out.
3:14
Last question for you, I don't think I've ever heard anyone say
3:16
that shout out. To me, I just had a Playboy on
3:20
them. I was like, it's a bit too late
3:21
now. Play.
3:23
And the last question is from the current DKW British Champion
3:27
Big O. Shout out to the Big O Yeah,
3:30
I've seen him smiling around. I think you kind of have an idea
3:33
what you're going to ask, but then you might not have an idea.
3:35
So he wants to know. And it's the serious question,
3:38
why are you so handsome? Take your time.
3:43
Shoot that right back at him. I can shoot that right back at
3:45
him. He's just, I think I'm a
3:48
handsome man. But then I look at Pigo and I'm
3:50
thinking what a beautiful mullet has.
3:52
He's got the belt as well and he's got it's a beautiful man.
3:55
He's being called handsome by such a beautiful man.
3:58
It's just it's an honour. It's an honour you've.
4:01
Gone shy, haven't you? I'm really shy.
4:05
That man makes me glass. I'm bit.
4:06
See what it is? Big Guy, Big guy, what have you
4:09
done to my guest, mate? Hopefully a future guest there
4:11
as well with Big Guy. But thank you guys for your
4:14
questions. What we're going to do now is
4:16
rewind the clocks and we're going to discover what made AJ
4:20
Payne a fan of professional wrestling.
4:23
Tell the listeners mate. So I think it was back when I
4:28
was in year 8 and secondary and never really had any interest.
4:32
Psychologist was like, I was very tofu.
4:35
I was very bland. I kind of just went along with
4:37
the flow. And I always remember I saw, I
4:41
knew about professional wrestling and I just didn't
4:42
really click with it. And then there was a post and it
4:45
must have been Raw and I think it was Seth Rollins and Big Show
4:51
and I saw it and I was like, OK, that that.
4:53
I don't know why that caught my attention.
4:54
Just watching that really caught me and it was like, OK, I think
4:58
Kevin Owens interviewed and I was like, why did Kevin Owens
5:01
interfere in that match? Then I watched that and I was
5:03
like, why does Romo Reigns interfere?
5:04
And I was like watching all the storylines.
5:06
Like I was like, OK, now I need to see next week and next week
5:08
and next week. I just really just got into it
5:11
and like I didn't used to start up with the pay per views.
5:14
I was already always a good kid in school starting that used to
5:16
stay up, but I would wake up a couple of hours early to watch
5:19
them all. I'd sit in bed.
5:21
That's what I used to do. I never used to.
5:23
I was I was a good kid. I never used to stay up.
5:25
I was very, very boring in that sense, I'll say.
5:29
No, I don't. I'll try.
5:31
But I'd have to record it on VHS and then I'd get caught
5:34
literally like the intro. And when it's like World
5:37
Wrestling Federation and the intro's about a minute long and
5:40
I'm like, and then hear the fucking door open.
5:42
Bed. Get school fucking.
5:44
A bang in bed. I was like, oh, you have to be a
5:45
Monday thing, isn't it? I can't.
5:49
I mean, I found a professional wrestling so I'll be up your
5:52
way. I was found in 2017 for out and
5:54
then it was when Jericho went over to New Japan and wrestled
5:59
Omega. That's when I got into New
6:00
Japan. And then AW got announced and I
6:03
was all I'm a nerd in life where if I find out one thing, I've
6:08
got to kind of expand that knowledge.
6:10
I always just love knowing more in that sense.
6:13
So I watched New Japan and I'd watch AAA and then CNA would
6:18
come up and see my oh, and then I'd just go on and on and on and
6:21
I'd watch like 90s All Japan. I just go on and watch that and
6:27
I got down. This is so cool.
6:29
It's such a biography and I just love.
6:32
That's why I loved it because there's so much of it and
6:34
there's so many different styles and it's like if you don't like
6:38
the technical styles, you can like the high flying lucha
6:41
stuff, you know, lucha stuff you can like the big horse
6:43
wrestling, you don't like that you can like strong style and
6:45
there's so many ways you can go back and forth and I just fell
6:49
in love with that aspect. I think to be firm, just the
6:52
love group and that was just it really.
6:55
Nice mate. I think that's fair as well.
6:58
I mean, for me personally, it's, it's impossible now to keep up
7:01
to date with so much wrestling. But when you're a lot younger,
7:03
it is, you know, you just can't get enough of it.
7:05
Like you have some people will just stick with one product and
7:08
that's fair. Nothing wrong of it at all.
7:09
I think you just sort of branch out, fall down that wrestling
7:12
rabbit hole. Oh, New Japan.
7:13
Oh, a bit of nice Japanese wrestling and then TNA and AW,
7:17
of course, you know, you know, which is still booming at the
7:20
moment. But when did you know, AJ that
7:23
OK, I've developed this love for it and you know, the firm, it's
7:27
global and I'm watching all these different companies.
7:32
But when did you know I actually want to give a go?
7:35
I want to start training and I like to step inside the room one
7:39
day. I think one match that actually
7:43
comes to mind, I mean, we think that was Connor Mills and Zach
7:47
David Junior, because I used to watch meals at Wrestle Force
7:50
when it comes to Rayleigh, which is like 10 minutes from me.
7:53
And I'm thinking that's a guy who has grafted and worked so
7:58
hard on his body, on his like skill set.
8:00
And just like how he wrestles to the point a man in Zach David
8:05
Junior who just wrestled Brian Danielson a week before Connor
8:09
Mills. And I get up to you in the face,
8:11
Zach, who is now, in a sense, the best technical wrestler in
8:15
the world, like known worldwide. So I'm thinking, damn, I'm
8:20
watching guys like Connor Mills go through that.
8:23
And then it came up with like Mark True and Lacey coming
8:27
through and going to repro and they went to Japan.
8:29
And I was thinking, I'm not really.
8:31
I used to watch them live and rally and think in kind of like
8:35
100 people. And they're like, now they're
8:36
doing big shows in Japan and competing Tagli and they're back
8:39
this year. And it was then when I was like,
8:42
yeah, I want to give this a go. And then it aligned perfectly.
8:46
We've got Cobra opened and I went with my mate originally.
8:50
We both were into wrestling from school and I I was originally
8:55
going to go down the boxing route and be like, I'm going to
8:56
go do amateur boxing and give that a go and focus on my work.
9:00
And I was like, I'll try out wrestling.
9:02
I'll see what it is because it's something I want to do.
9:05
I've always wanted to try it. I'll see how it goes.
9:07
And then other than my first bump, which I've got to tuck my
9:11
chin, if you ever learn wrestling, remember to tuck your
9:14
chin. Learn that the hard way with
9:18
that. And then I think Sky was getting
9:22
me on, was talking about getting me on shows.
9:25
A few months later when I just got into it, I just kind of
9:27
stayed training. I kind of just carried on and on
9:30
and on. And then Sky was like talking
9:31
about shows and I was like, it's kind of real.
9:33
This isn't just like, oh, a hobby anymore.
9:36
And that's when I was like, OK, that's why I definitely want to
9:38
get in the ring and I definitely want to be a wrestler.
9:40
I don't know if you'd be like, oh, I'm training this.
9:42
I want to be like, OK, I'll definitely.
9:45
Oh sorry mate, didn't even cut you off.
9:49
No, you're good. You're good.
9:49
It was it was that and I was only going to say we had the
9:52
tapings in March 2025, like over ones, I don't know they're out
9:57
yet. We filmed them by Spine Buster
9:59
and everything. And that was when I was like,
10:00
OK, now I want to do rations. Now I know what match feels like
10:03
and I know I can go through that.
10:05
So that was really what's there now for me.
10:09
Nice. I just want to talk a bit more
10:10
about Cobra, not Cobra Kai, as I said before recording.
10:16
Tell me about the wrestling game itself.
10:18
It is, it seems to be, you know, picking up a bit of momentum and
10:21
it is gaining attention as well as well.
10:23
We do. And the clips I'm seeing myself
10:26
because I do follow them and I find a lot of the talent that do
10:28
go down there and it's crazy to have it in South End like me as
10:32
a kid. I I can only fucking dream of
10:34
that. Like the rest is called round
10:36
the corner of me. But for you to sort of have
10:38
that, that luxury, have it been round the corner from you in
10:42
Essex? It's it's awesome.
10:44
But tell me as a school that Sky, as a coach, just a bit more
10:47
detail. Honestly, I, I believe it's how
10:52
hard this is my underrated restaurant, this country because
10:55
people don't understand like her minds, how how sharp she is in
11:00
the ring, how well she works, how she can tell a story, how
11:02
she can play with a crowd, all these little details.
11:06
And not only can she do that so well, it's how well she is only
11:11
two years as a coach and how well she can translate her
11:14
skills onto other people. And it's not even in a sense of,
11:20
OK, I want you to wrestle this school's way.
11:24
That's the thing I love about Korobra.
11:26
There's no, or we're going to wrestle in Korobra's way.
11:28
Yeah. Sky, like Sky likes the idea of
11:31
you're going to wrestle in your own way.
11:32
Like for me, I've always loved the strong style, the sequences,
11:38
the call count. Wrestling like or like you see
11:40
in New Japan these days. I love that.
11:43
And it's not in. Then you've got Regan, who loves
11:46
like the high flying style, like Seth Rollins, I don't know,
11:48
really high flying style. And she's not saying, ah, what
11:53
style's better than that style? So you're going to do the WWE
11:55
style over that style. She's like, OK, I like, I
11:58
respect that's your style. I want to see how you can do it
12:01
better, how you can apply it well in a match, how you can use
12:04
it to help a crowd understand how to get a crowd involved in
12:08
the match. Because I feel like if you can
12:11
have the greatest match of all time, and we saw this in COVID,
12:14
the greatest match of all time, there's no crowd there to react
12:17
and it's just silence. It feels like nothing.
12:20
That moment is gone and there is no moment essentially that you
12:23
like. So Sky really helps harness that
12:27
and like, yeah, I just think it's a great school, It's a
12:30
great atmosphere and they're really coming to the PO.
12:34
Both her and True are both coming into it as teachers.
12:37
Mark got a great wrestling minds.
12:40
Like it's how we can put a match together and how he knows how to
12:44
get the times in. He's just so smart with how he
12:47
works. They're both so smart with how
12:48
they work and they should know how to put it onto the students.
12:51
That is just the main thing. They should know how to put
12:53
their mind into the students is mesmerizing to see actually.
12:57
No, that's cool mate. It's good that there is this
12:59
opportunity now for wrestlers in Essex, you know, at Cobra
13:02
Wrestling Academy and then you've got the DKW Academy and
13:05
then you've got wrestling forms of promotion, Catch 22.
13:08
You know, all these companies that you have had a hand in.
13:12
My introduction to you was actually at Park Tavern last
13:15
year at the Jarity event, and it was you against Denzel Mack.
13:20
That was my first ever singles. That's it.
13:23
That. Was my first ever singles match.
13:24
That is so mental. That's the one that you were
13:26
out. That's it.
13:27
I did have soft spot for you already because you was
13:29
announced from Essex, so I was like woop woop.
13:34
So I found myself already rooting for you.
13:36
But tell me about that showing experience as it was your first
13:39
singles. I didn't know that personally,
13:41
so it's a bit of a spice me you're hearing it while we're
13:43
recording. But yeah, mate, tell me about
13:44
it. That was cool.
13:47
That was very cool. I think it was when I had the
13:50
Rumble for Wrestle Force and then Lucas messaged me when like
13:55
Scott did the post about that for Cobra and he was like, Oh
13:58
yeah, we'll stick you on with Denzel.
13:59
And I was like, Denzel was one of like the best up and comers
14:02
in this country, the big boy. So I'm going to get thrown
14:06
about. He's really good, Denzel, he's
14:08
awesome. He's amazing.
14:09
He's amazing. I can't, I'd have enough good
14:11
words for Denzel. I've had him a good 2-3 times
14:13
and every time he's just been amazing to work with in the room
14:17
and that's why I was happy he was my first singles because I
14:19
was thinking there's a guy that I could go out there, have a
14:22
good match with and he can showcase me really well.
14:25
It's Denzel. And it was a weird experience
14:29
doing like a first show like that because it was thinking,
14:31
OK, you're setting up the ring and everything.
14:35
You don't really think about how you're lifting the ring around.
14:37
It's when we're planning the match.
14:39
I'm like, oh, it's like training.
14:41
It's like training how we plan the matches and we plan stuff.
14:44
But and then when it's when it's only like they're getting
14:48
dressed and you put your gear on, you're saying, oh shit, this
14:51
is this is real. And then the Tavern was really
14:58
good because it's like it's not your average like crowd.
15:02
Everyone's got a few drinks. I don't really know, wrestling.
15:04
It's exciting and you get a good reaction.
15:07
I know why though. They really do.
15:09
They really do. Yeah, I mean in a really good
15:14
way. No, they're all kind, but
15:16
usually casual fans. It's like you've got to teach it
15:19
a little bit. Like you've got to teach what
15:20
wrestling is, but like having fans because it might, because
15:23
DK are there like 2-3 times a year.
15:25
But regardless, so they loved it and it just made it that lot
15:29
better. I think it's when he's probably
15:33
throw me the corner. I did the backflip over him.
15:35
I've heard just the crown loser. I'm like, hey, yeah, I love this
15:37
this this gets you this gets your blood going and shame I
15:41
didn't get the win, but still haven't beat Denzel.
15:45
I'm I'm looking for that win. So I'm coming for Denzel again
15:47
soon. But I'm sure that's great, 2020.
15:52
Six. I'm sure that I haven't.
15:53
Yeah, I'm. I'm sure it will.
15:54
I'm going to slap him. I don't encourage it.
16:03
But no, it was a yeah, great experience.
16:05
I can't and DK which has been great to me ever since.
16:07
Really. Yeah, man, Obviously I've got
16:11
nothing but love for DKW Academy.
16:13
I actually had the pleasure of commentating a fantastic match
16:17
between you and Taylor James. Stronger Things 4.
16:21
You've won the upset win. I think at the upset win, that
16:24
was a big shock to everyone. I was like, Oh my God, did you
16:29
just beat Taylor Jones? I was like, I did.
16:31
I'm quite shocked myself. But Nah, the cloud.
16:33
At the end as well, I've never made.
16:37
Nah, I've got to shoot the cowboy, I have to get on the
16:39
cowboy. But Nah, he is amazing.
16:44
I mean I've got him game recently.
16:45
I catch me too every time. I think I just have amazing
16:49
chemistry. But I'm so lucky I do.
16:51
I'm so lucky to be able to work them twice and spend like 3
16:55
months because he is just such an amazing worker.
16:58
He's got a great mind and like again, he's another one that's
17:03
been on growth pro and he's been on the big stages and he's he's
17:06
so talented. He's given isn't he in the ring
17:09
for someone that's experiences him?
17:12
Oh, he's yeah, very much. He's very given, like he was
17:14
very much. It's like I'm weak.
17:17
So I try to also finger ways to make other people's moves look
17:20
good. Yeah.
17:21
Because I thought that's what makes a good match.
17:23
I don't want to go out there and be like, Oh yeah, I've got all
17:27
this really cool stuff I want to do.
17:29
You just hit me with a clothesline and that's it.
17:31
It's boring. It's so boring because then it's
17:34
like, OK, then I just look selfish.
17:36
That's what it does. It just makes me look selfish
17:38
and it just makes me look like if I've hit him with 20,000
17:41
moves and he's still kicking out, no, I haven't really beat
17:47
him, have I? I'm not really looking good
17:48
because I'm going to look rubbish.
17:49
So if I give him a weak balance it, then it's going to look like
17:55
more events, how much we'll go back and forth.
17:56
We're going to look more competitive, which is what we're
17:58
trying to sell this as. We're not trying to sell it as a
17:59
gymnastics tournament. We're not trying to sell it as a
18:02
pantomime. We're trying to sell it as a
18:04
fighter. And so if it's someone, if it is
18:07
back and forth, who makes the fight more entertainer, you
18:09
watch boxing and you can respect if someone goes 12 rounds and
18:14
puts on a great performance, you can respect that.
18:16
But you wouldn't say it's entertaining.
18:17
But if you're watching 2 guys back and forth, back and forth,
18:19
back and forth action, you're going to leave that thinking,
18:22
yeah, that was a great time and I had a great enjoyment watching
18:25
that, which is what I kind of fry for in wrestling and.
18:29
The fans get their money's worth even though someone has to lose.
18:33
Like you don't really necessarily see them as a loser,
18:35
do you? You just.
18:36
See, you just do that on. A great match and a competition.
18:41
Exactly, exactly. You'd go out there thinking I
18:43
wouldn't. I don't see a lot of guys come
18:46
up to me off the shows. Like when I do that signings,
18:48
I'll be like, damn, you won the match that makes you the best in
18:52
the world. They're coming out like, wow,
18:54
you guys put on a great match. You guys put on an amazing
18:59
match. And that's that's what I want to
19:00
hear. I don't want to hear, wow, you
19:02
won that match really well. It's just that's three seconds.
19:05
That's someone's happened to you.
19:07
It wasn't me, but I phrased the match.
19:10
I didn't say that you won the match.
19:12
Well done. That's just, that's just, it's
19:15
just a weird call. I was like thanks.
19:19
Well, it's what they mean well, but it's quite funny when not
19:21
hearing it. Like, Oh no, yeah, it's just, I
19:25
know they've probably meant it. I was like, because how they
19:27
think of wrestling and I was like, oh, thank you very much,
19:29
but I was just thinking funny I. Think I really heard this date
19:34
before. It's quite funny.
19:36
Oh, it was, I think it was in one in South End.
19:39
Where was it? I think it was in Rayleigh.
19:43
I think we're just, it was me and Big Mac.
19:44
And I think someone just came up to me like, wow, you won that
19:46
match really well. I think it was the slightest run
19:50
that I'm really impressed by that.
19:51
So I was like, oh, thank you very much.
19:52
It was the mood queen. I was like, yeah, I loved the
19:53
mood. It was amazing.
19:54
And how you pinned it and I was speaking, OK, you're looking
19:56
into a bit too much, but thank you very much this.
19:59
Is the match I just got recently uploaded with you and.
20:02
No, no, that was the, that was the Wickford one.
20:06
We had one just after Christmas in Rayleigh.
20:09
Oh, OK, No worries. Yeah.
20:11
That was like the big like rematch that we had.
20:13
So that was a lot. That was a lot of fun.
20:15
Crowd were really loud and yeah, I won it really well apparently.
20:18
So can't play too much. Won it really well, so if fans
20:25
do continue to want to meet you after the shows or during the
20:28
interval, please say to AJ Payne, well, you won the match
20:33
really well. Please tell me if I and if I
20:35
lost the match, please tell me I lost it and how I lost it
20:38
Really. Well, no.
20:42
Oh, mate, that's that's wicked. I'm I have actually been binge
20:45
watching a lot of your matches and build up in this episode.
20:50
Like I mentioned about the Howard Donald one.
20:52
I rewatched the Denzel Mac one as well.
20:54
Not the part time one, but the one in vessel force.
20:56
Unfortunately, the one in park Tavern.
20:58
I think you can see clips of it, but the full shows, because it's
21:01
charity as well. And Isaac Blair, you know,
21:04
Friends of Show, another one. Isaac Blair that match, Isaac,
21:12
Isaac is a brilliant talent and he's a really good friend of
21:15
mine and I think in wrestling you hit your friends a lot
21:19
harder. Yeah, I think in that match I
21:22
will just say it is very, it's very brutal though.
21:25
There's the part where we're just standing there saying go
21:28
on, hit me trying to be tough lads and we've both come out
21:31
with Bruce Chess. But that match, I'm really proud
21:35
of that match in the sense of it was a really quiet crowd that we
21:40
didn't have to get up for like going like the clap clap, like
21:44
starting chance. They just naturally got into it
21:47
because of the wrestling, which I think that should be the
21:51
point. I thought I should I, I, I get
21:53
why we're getting family crafts into and doing the chaps.
21:55
I sometimes do that and get like, and all this kind of
21:58
stuff. But like, if you can naturally
22:01
get them invested with how you're working a match and how
22:03
you're selling and how and how you're like portraying a story,
22:06
I think that's that's the win if your wrestling gets them into
22:11
it. And that's that's why I'm proud
22:12
of that match, because they love the wrestling in that, not us,
22:15
not just our characters, not just our cool moves.
22:20
It's how we put the moves together and told the story of
22:22
like, OK, we're trying to prove something to meet one another
22:25
that we're that the highest like up and come up.
22:28
And that's why like, as much as it's great to face like the
22:30
veterans and learn stuff, I really enjoy that.
22:33
I always love like getting advice.
22:35
I love facing the young guys because I've started the
22:39
industry. It's not late.
22:40
I started at 20. But when you look at like
22:44
Raymond who's 15, you've got Reagan and Isaac who are 1718,
22:48
you've got guys coming up at that age.
22:50
I like facing them young lads because it's like they have
22:53
something to prove. They're going to, they're going
22:55
to deliver a bit more. They're that intensity is going
22:57
to be more there because they want to prove themselves to an
22:59
audience. So I love I love mixing with
23:04
that because I like that intensity, like I like the hard
23:07
hit inside of wrestling. They really bring it.
23:09
So that's why I really enjoy a match with guys like eyes
23:11
looking guys like Regan. So brings a bit more to the
23:15
table, I'd say, you know. What I find quite impressive
23:18
about you is the fact that we've been doing this is it, would you
23:21
say less than a year in, in terms of an official?
23:25
Shows just less than a year, yeah.
23:27
Yeah, and some people, you can tell that they haven't been
23:32
doing it that long now that mean the hard way.
23:34
I just mean it's just some people just take a bit longer to
23:38
develop. But when I see you wrestle,
23:40
there's such confidence already and it looks like you've been
23:43
doing for such a long period of time.
23:46
I'm not saying you're like, you know, 20 year veteran of him,
23:48
but can just someone who looks like he knows what he's doing
23:52
already and looks like he's excelled at Reston in such a
23:58
short period of time. And it's evident in your matches
24:00
when wrestlers and not necessarily when the fans, when
24:03
they do see matches on YouTube or live, you know, they will be
24:07
able to confirm what I'm saying. How do you feel overall like
24:12
your first year or so in wrestling in front of the crowds
24:15
and all these shows you've been doing in Essex?
24:19
I pass for always. Thank you for calm words.
24:21
That does mean a lot here. I feel like it's went really
24:27
well actually. I've had moments of like dark
24:31
times. I've been like, oh, I don't want
24:33
to do the industry. I quit.
24:34
I can't my mind steam enough. But like I just enjoy it too
24:39
much. And that's just it.
24:40
It's because I just enjoy the industry.
24:43
I enjoy entertaining the fans and I just I've always just
24:48
wanted to represent wrestling the way it's helped me.
24:52
Like I've had some times in school where I didn't have the
24:55
best days or like I had like dark times with friends.
24:59
It's like I could just go home stick on wrestling and I'm
25:01
happy. So I just want to represent
25:02
that. And with my first year, it was
25:06
originally just going to be like a OK, ease myself into it and
25:11
like be like, OK, I'm looking to just go out there and learn the
25:15
best and just please my trainer. I think I'm still doing that
25:20
now. I've just more turned up the
25:22
intensity now and just more put the foot on the gas, just go out
25:26
there and just put on amazing performances that I enjoyed.
25:30
Like when I fell over with wrestling, it was black and gold
25:35
NXT. And it's them kind of matches
25:37
that I watch now. And I'll be like, yeah, that's
25:41
my shit. That's what I want to spend my
25:43
time, my free time watching. Yeah, So that's what I want to
25:47
represent and that's what I found this first year has been
25:49
doing and just trying to work that style of making my own.
25:54
And I think I've done that. All right.
25:58
I'm always very judgy of my performances, Scott, I can
26:01
account for this. I think I had a few slaps on the
26:03
wrist of like, you're being too judgy and like stop it, but.
26:09
You're shaming at the end, eh? Yeah, exactly.
26:13
And I'm at the point of like, I do want to get get far in this
26:20
and I do want to take this first year and bring it into the
26:23
second year and do it better. And I want to be 2026 is better
26:26
than 2027, better than 2026 and onwards and onwards and onwards
26:31
because I want to try and make it to the top of this industry.
26:33
I don't just want this to be, I'm going to do this on the
26:37
weekends when I've got my full time job as well.
26:39
I want to be a professional wrestler, so I try to hold
26:44
myself to that standard. I don't, and that's not me
26:48
saying I believe. I think I'm the standard of
26:50
someone like Carl Fletcher or someone like Cody Rhodes.
26:54
I just want to hold myself similar to that standard so that
26:56
one day I may be able to work to that level.
27:01
But overall, we take all the serious side out of it.
27:05
I just love wrestling. I'm just a nerdy kid like
27:07
everyone else. I just is mental and loves this,
27:11
this amazing sport and I just tried to represent that in the
27:15
ring and that's what I've been trying to do in my first year,
27:16
which I think went amazingly for the opportunities I've had with
27:21
Wrestle Force and the opportunities I have with DK and
27:26
just the matches and quality wrestlers I've faced and helped
27:29
me to bring me to a good level. So overall, I think it's been a
27:31
very, very blessed first year. I think that's the world you've
27:35
blessed. I've been very blessed with my
27:37
opportunities. Good word to use.
27:39
I do think you show a lot of maturity as well at a young age.
27:43
I know you're saying about like I've already been like 15 and
27:46
like has it been 1718? But even for your age, mate,
27:49
you're still young and the fact that you still haven't forgot,
27:51
you're a fan. So you still love the business
27:54
and love wrestling, but you love what you do when you're inside
27:58
the ring. But you also want to put in a
28:00
good show and a good performance and that's what you are doing
28:02
mate. So honestly mate, just it's
28:05
quite scary. I think for you, you're ceiling.
28:08
And I think if he was to have this conversation five years
28:11
time when you come back, I mean, hopefully sooner, but, you know,
28:14
just putting a random number on it.
28:17
What would you personally, if you can name a few things, want
28:21
to wrap up the interview? What would you like to achieve
28:23
if you come back on the show, let's say three years and go,
28:26
George, I've now done this. I've now wrestled here.
28:29
I've now gone abroad. Just some things top of your
28:32
head. I would like to go abroad.
28:36
I would really like to see Japan.
28:38
That is the main goal for now is to get to Japan.
28:43
I would like to do the big companies in the UK, like the
28:45
progress, the Rev Pros and like there's names I would want to
28:49
face on that, like big names in the country right now.
28:53
But at the same time, there's a bit of me that wants to go.
28:55
Like, I'd like to have that progress match with someone like
28:58
Regan, like Isaac, like some of the young guys I'm coming up
29:03
with to be like, yeah, we made it like we had this match in
29:07
Chelmsford in front of 50 people.
29:10
And now this match is being streamed on Trilla TV in front
29:14
of hundreds and thousands of fans online in front of 100
29:17
people in the electric ballroom. So that would be a sick moment.
29:23
There's a few dream matches I want to tick off with guys such
29:26
as the top ones, Connor Mills. I'd love to face guys like
29:32
Mills, like Luke Jacobs, Ethan Allen, Ridgway, Sky Mark True,
29:39
all them lot I would like to face and I'd like to mix up in
29:43
America. I I, I was going back and forth
29:46
on this. If like if I was ever like lucky
29:49
enough to come across an opportunity, I'd love to go out
29:52
there and just be able to hopefully just bless myself with
29:56
that, that kind of style. And the so like, even if it's
29:59
not the big companies like the WWE's, the AWS, it's when I look
30:04
like GCW, you've got guys like Jordan Oliver, Alex Bryce, like
30:08
they've just been signed. You've got Starboy Charlie,
30:11
you've got Moriarty, you've got so many great wrestlers over
30:14
there. It's stupid.
30:17
And that's where I think I'm I'm lucky when I'm looking back,
30:19
we're talk about five years from now that's Helen Pulls insane.
30:23
Like even we're talk about even I'm looking in the UK.
30:25
That's Helen Pull is stupidly insane.
30:29
Even people you've probably wrestled.
30:30
I've even forgotten now and I feel bad but then I'll remember
30:33
the names like like Peter Miller.
30:35
Because there's so. Much talent in the UK at the
30:37
moment and even in Essex going back to what I said earlier,
30:41
like we didn't really have this this booming scene about 10-15
30:45
years ago and now we've got it and you're part of this.
30:50
It's that's that's what I'm lucky to be because it's like, I
30:53
think the matches I've had now I'm thinking you got the and
30:57
that's like you got the veterans coming up as well, where you've
30:59
got guys like, like I said, like Sky Taylor, James, Mark True,
31:04
Kieran Lacey, Mike Bird. There are vets and then you're
31:08
thinking I can either face the vets and learn something in a
31:11
match and learn heap loads or I can go into the younger talent
31:16
group and you've got guys like Matt Craven, Regan Blade,
31:19
Raymond Isaac Lincoln, Denzel, Jaden Williams, Ted Sabin.
31:25
You've got guys like that coming up.
31:29
We've got the first class fires. There's another couple that is
31:32
like scratching the surface and it's just men's one.
31:36
And it's like, let's say I'm lucky enough to venture out that
31:39
circle. That's another talent pool.
31:41
Venture out into the world where you've got great young guys in
31:45
Japan coming up, great young guys in America coming up.
31:49
We're great young guys in Spain, in France.
31:52
And with the streaming service coming bigger and bigger,
31:55
there's more countries available and there's more wrestling just
31:59
anywhere. And that's where I'm lucky.
32:00
I'm in an industry where it's so accessible.
32:04
There's so many opportunities you can get.
32:06
And if I just do what I'm trying to do now, get my head down,
32:10
study, learn, get in the gym, get fitter, get better, get
32:15
sharper, that's where I'm going to be finding them
32:17
opportunities. That's where I'm going to be
32:19
finding them big talent pools. And that's basically where I
32:22
want to be in the next 5 years. I want to come back here and say
32:24
like, yeah, I've explored. I face these amazing people.
32:28
I face these amazing people now, but it's like these are the
32:31
people on the big companies and the big spotlights from Thriller
32:35
or maybe even in the AW. Hopefully praying to anything I
32:39
can pray to that I could get someone like that.
32:41
It's just insane. I like the ceiling for like is
32:46
insane for anyone. I think we're such in the great
32:48
industry. The ceiling's insane.
32:51
There is man, there is talent, balls.
32:52
Just awesome. Is there anything AJ, you want
32:55
to say? Anyone you want to call out?
32:57
Any matches you want to promote, any shows you want to promote?
33:00
The opportunity is yours mate. We're now at the end.
33:03
Go for it. So one show I want to promote
33:07
massively on March 21st at the Holbridge Community Centre, we
33:10
have our first ever solo KWA show.
33:13
It will be, I've said, March 21st, Holbridge.
33:19
We've got great talent coming down.
33:21
We advertised so far that I can announce.
33:24
We've got Nightshade, one of the top women's wrestlers in the UK.
33:28
We have got Ajay Singh. He's a great one, long tenured
33:35
and just a very talented guy. And our top on the poster right
33:41
now is Spike Trevay. I can say 1000 words, but I've
33:46
been. Announced now.
33:46
I didn't. I saw the original poster but I
33:47
didn't know Spike Trevay was on there as well.
33:50
The original poster. Sadly, Mills cannot make it.
33:52
Oh, right. OK, I didn't see the change.
33:55
Fair enough. Yeah, so I'm saying shame.
33:56
So originally it was going to be Kyle Mills and now Mills cannot
34:01
make it. So we have got Spike Trivet.
34:04
I mean, replacement, There's not, there's not a lot better
34:06
replacement you can get with Spike Trivet, one of the
34:10
greatest minds in the UK. And so get your tickets for that
34:13
at Cobra Wrestling's website. I think that's the only show I
34:20
can announce at the moment. That's the big one I want to
34:22
get. I just want to thank everyone
34:25
that has been part of this journey with me.
34:27
People that I've trained with, people that have watched me,
34:28
people that I've wrestled. There's just so many, so Many
34:33
thanks. I can give so many words I give
34:35
to everyone. I want to give a special shout
34:36
out to Cobra Wrestling Academy. If you want to come a top tier
34:39
professional wrestler. And I'm not just saying it
34:41
because it's my school. I know that's like the stigma,
34:43
but Sky is one of the greatest minds that you can find and for
34:49
£15 a session or even £80 a month, and it might sound steep
34:53
but we're thinking 8 sessions a month with Mark True, Sky,
34:59
Smitson. We have guests come down.
35:01
We had Ryan at one point, we had Connor Mills last year.
35:04
God knows who we're going to bring down next.
35:08
It's just and the talent pool we're producing like that's
35:11
where I come from. We've got guys like Regan Blake
35:13
coming from there, Matt Craven, and it's just we're churning
35:18
them out, we're churning them out, we're churning them out top
35:20
talent and if you want to come down be the best version of
35:22
yourself in professional wrestling, come down to pretty
35:25
well. Nice you had them out and if
35:30
they want to keep up to date with your career and what you've
35:32
got lined up for the rest of the year, how can they find you on
35:35
social media, man, man. Got like my career of course.
35:39
So I am on Instagram as AJ Payne under score juice and if you
35:44
would like to book me, please do.
35:45
I like wrestling. ilovewrestlingitwouldbeajpayne.bookings@gmail.com
35:53
And just watch out for the juice in 2026.
35:56
He's he's planning to kill it. He's going to kill it.
36:00
And that name, remember it now, in five years, that name's going
36:04
to be household. I promise you that now.
36:07
The juice is going to be on the loose this year.
36:09
Give them a follow Give this video a like, subscribe to the
36:13
channel, give me a follow on my social media handles.
36:15
They'll be in description below. But for now, everyone have a
36:18
great weekend.