“The Metalhead Maniac” Sledge is enjoying an overdue beginning to his career with Ring of Honor, and with the wrestling world slowly returning to some semblance of normalcy, the future looks bright for this chapter of his remarkable career.
While practically all corners of the world are welcoming this shift, it feels like an appropriate time to look back to perhaps one of the most onerous periods in the storied history of professional wrestling — the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic. While there are plenty of wrestlers whose lives changed forever due to this unsettling time, Sledge’s offers a tale that offers an example of a silver lining to this unforgettable time.
Sledge’s contract with ROH officially began on March 1, 2020. Of course, in hindsight, that’s right around the time that the world stopped, for all intents and purposes, due to the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic. Starting any new job during such an unimaginably challenging time could surely be considered a daunting task. But in a recent interview with WrestleZone, Sledge explained how the fact that the pandemic delayed the start of his official run with ROH was the best thing that could have happened for his career. He credited ROH for maintaining his contract, though the industry shut down, and described how the time away let him come back to the company entirely refreshed.
“When I signed my deal, the world ended,” said Sledge. “[It was] worrisome, probably the best way to put it. Because when I signed my deal, Ring of Honor could have easily said, hey man, sorry, we weren’t expecting the world to crash. You know, because they invested no money in me yet, right? Because when you go and you contract a wrestler, technically you’re investing money into them, right? So they could have easily went hey man, luck of the draw, dude. Sorry. And they could have easily just cut my contract. They could have easily done it.
“But they didn’t. They saw something in me, and they kept me under contract, and they just renewed my contract, which is great. Personally, for me, it was probably the best thing that’s happened. It was time for me to, after I signed and then the world crashed, it gave me a chance to hit the pause button for a second. And reset mentally, physically, [and] emotionally. So I can give Ring of Honor the best version of “The Metalhead Maniac” [rather] than just being thrown in the mix and just hoping for the best.”
In calling the situation a sink or swim scenario, Sledge also expressed his stance that while he could have been okay if he started with ROH when he was originally supposed to, he would have “treaded water” rather than swimming the way he is now.
“Because I believe that if Ring of Honor didn’t make the changes they did during the pandemic, it would have been a sink or swim scenario,” said Sledge. “And I would have swam, but I would have treaded water. I wouldn’t have swam the way that I’m swimming now. I would have treaded water.
“It was the best thing for me, and for me to be in the mix right now is, I believe, was the best thing for my career so far.”
While “The Metalhead Maniac” emphasized that he’s happy with his current position, he keeps reaching higher. He guaranteed that he’ll be a huge star for the company sooner rather than later.
“I’m very blessed, very happy with the position that I’m in right now, and I always strive for more,” said Sledge. “Just understand something — I’m going to win a title in Ring of Honor, and I will be the biggest thing in Ring of Honor in the next couple years. You can guarantee that, whether you love me or hate me.”
ROH Best in the World will be the company’s first live show with fans since the beginning of the pandemic, and it’ll be a special event, especially for Sledge. Now that he’s under contract with ROH, “The Metalhead Maniac” made it clear that he’s looking forward to the crowd’s energy.
“I’m excited to feel the energy again from an audience,” said Sledge. “It’s cool to wrestle and wrestle for everybody at home, but that live audience, you can shift into another gear, you really can. You can feel and feed off the crowd. And everybody’s like, ‘Oh, it’s so cliched that you feed off the fans.’ It’s true, we do. We feed off that energy. And for them to come back, it’s going to be electric.”
Beyond the fact that ROH Best in the World will signal a relative return to normalcy for the company and its performers, Sledge also shared how the event will be extra meaningful for him as a former member of the road crew. Not too long ago, Sledge helped set up for ROH’s live shows and deeply hoped that, one day, he would earn the chance to directly feel the fans’ response as an in-ring performer. Now, he’s set to have that opportunity, and it’s fair to say that he’s looking forward to it.
“I’m excited,” said Sledge. “I used to work on the road crew. And I was always at the Ring of Honor events, feeling the crowd, wanting to be in that ring while feeling the crowd. And I was able to do it once, I think it was in Pittsburgh, I did a dark match in Pittsburgh and I felt it. I was like man, that’s it. And I wasn’t contracted at the time. Now to feel it as a contracted guy, for people to kinda know who I am going into July 11, [for] the fans to be back, I’ve never had streamers thrown at me, but [to] possibly have streamers thrown at me as a sign of that respect? That’s it.
“I’m getting excited right now, I’m getting goosebumps just thinking about it. Hearing them, in gorilla [position], hearing them going nuts, going crazy, that’s just, it gets your veins pumping. It really does. It’s a high that you don’t need to pump a vein for.”
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The full interview is available here:
