When I started out in 1993, I was just Christopher Daniels. About two years in, I decided to take a ride on the dark side, and the name ‘Fallen Angel’ got across the idea that I once was good, but now I’m bad.
Yeah, I’m the baddest of guys, and I’m having a blast. I have a great time getting under the skin of the fans and sort of bait them to see how far they’ll go to watch me get beat up.
It’s interesting, because the kids are always going to want the good guy to come out on top in the end. But when they become teenagers or get into their 20s, they sort of gravitate toward the evil guy.
I guess it’s that anti-authority figure, the guy getting away with it, that they then want to cheer for.

In 2001, I landed on my head really badly. It turned out to be a badly pinched nerve, but I actually fractured a bone in my neck sometime early in my career and didn’t find out about it until I saw a chiropractor who took some X-rays.
What usually gets you is the wear and tear. It’s very rare that you’re going to get hurt in one specific match or move. But the truth of the matter is, almost every time we take a fall, our necks whiplash.
Our lower backs take such a beating, as well as our knees. Part of my job is to hit the gym every day and make sure I’m in the best shape I can be.

Impact Wrestling has tried to be a very fan-friendly event. We set it up so that during the course of the night the fans get the opportunity to meet at least one or two of the wrestlers.
There will be autograph signings at the beginning, during the intermission and at the end of the night. And there will be one or two of the superstars in the ring so fans can get photographs taken with them.
After a certain amount of time you realize you’re only as popular as the people who are willing to follow you, and pay that dollar to come see what you do, live. I’m very appreciative of that.
In the world of social media, you can get feedback instantaneously. So I’m very aware of the fans who are following my career, and I know, if not for them, I’d just be some anonymous slob.

The attention span of television viewers has shortened. So we have sort of trained them to know that anything can happen within a span of a minute or two.
That’s to keep them involved and glued to the television. So there’s a mentality now that the people who have paid to see us at a live event get a longer show, because they’ve paid to see it.
They want to see longer matches, and they want to see bell-to-bell action. That means our physical capabilities are pushed to the limit, because you are often wrestling for 20 minutes during a live event.
The East Coast is a great hotbed for wrestling, and it has always been a place where wrestling has thrived and survived. We’re going to give the fans their money’s worth and make sure they have the opportunity to press the flesh with the guys working that evening.