Any way you cut it, Brian Johnson has had a hell of a 15-year career inside professional wrestling. Though he’s best known for his time with Ring of Honor, Johnson has won championships and impressed across a number of different promotions through his decade-and-a-half stint inside the business.

One such promotion – and one of the final that Johnson worked for prior to the COVID-19 pandemic – was Canadian Wrestling’s Elite based out of Winnipeg, Manitoba. Currently, the CWE is Canada’s only full-time touring promotion, and I was lucky enough to see Johnson on a number of stops during his tour with the organization in 2019. I asked Johnson about the experience as part of our recent chat on Love Wrestling.

“Up to this point, the only time I’ve gotten to see your wrestle live was when you were up here for the CWE!” I exclaimed late in our conversation. “Maybe before we get into your memories with Ring of Honor and stuff like that, let’s maybe talk about memories of Canada or maybe if you’ve got any from your in the Great White North!”

Johnson took on a serious tone, even more so than he had through our previous 15 minutes of conversation.

“I wouldn’t be the wrestler I am today if I didn’t have that Canada tour. Period, bar none,” he stated emphatically.

“Shit, I might not have even been part of Ring of Honor to point when they had to release us. I might not have made it.”

“It was coming off the biggest loss of my career at the top prospect tournament in August of 2019,” Johnson reminisced. “I lost to Austin Gunn. Hall of Famer’s son, great talent out on AEW. Jackass, but talented. I lost it, then it sucked, man. It really freakin’ sucked. I still kind of get hot thinking about it. I didn’t know where I was gonna be [and] I didn’t know what to do. Wrestlers, I think we all kind of get this panic feeling pretty quick. [That] set in, and then I had to interrupt some commentary, and still wasn’t getting the common decency of being booked, and then I had to interrupt a match where I wrestled freakin’ Ian Riccaboni in Hudson.”

“It was hell on earth, man. It was hell on frickin Earth. I was like, ‘well, where could be worse?’ So I picked up and went to Canada.”

“Seriously, I mean, there’s nothing like having to wrestle in front of an entire country of people who just barely, barely understand the invention of the wheel and fire kind of amazes them. It’s a simplistic view of just assholes and idiots for miles and miles.”

The Mecca laughed before continuing his story.

“I hopped in a car with a group of guys from CWE who, try as they must, they work their asses off, those guys. We had 25 matches in 25 nights. God damn! That’s unheard of nowadays. From town to town in Canada…they were entertained by the Mecca. I was finding my groove. If you look, I came back, and coincidence or not, PJ Black immediately wanted to team with me. Then we went on a little bit of a winning streak, and then that god damn thing called COVID showed up and kind of put a stamp on everything.”

“But, it was the run of 25 nights in a car with you know, I don’t know what you consider Juventud Guerrera, one of the greatest cruiserweights of all time, me and him rode up and down Canada together. The Mecca and a cruiserweight driving through Canada.

It should have been a sitcom! But we built a good relationship and we kicked ass man. It was awesome. It was an awesome time, I wouldn’t change it for the world.”

Tune in to Spencer Love’s full interview with Brian Johnson on Love Wrestling.

There are a lot of Outlandish reports in the world of pro wrestling. I mean, this one is, too, but it’s not for the usual reasons.

‘The Hottest Free Agent’ moniker is cliche by this point, it’s hard not to apply it to Zicky Dice.

At least, it used to be. Fightful Select reported that Dice had signed with IMPACT Wrestling prior to Dice’s debut on September 2nd, and that news was confirmed by Dice himself on an episode of Straight Shooting with Matthew Rehwoldt.

When I recently chatted with Dice, we chatted about his recent commitment to IMPACT.

“[You’re] a couple of months and you’ve definitely gotten – you know, to go back to it, you’ve gotten more than your toe in the water with them at this point,” I began. “Have you enjoyed the experience?

What have you loved about working for IMPACT so far?”

“Yes,” the Outlandish one stated conclusively. “I actually sent a nice text and then called my wife after the last set of tapings for Bound for Glory. The shows were beyond packed. The locker room is such a good vibe. It’s a good spot for someone to A) get their feet wet or B) come back and reinvent themselves.

I’m happy that impact has given me the opportunity to do so. I’m going to be there for a little while.”

Kicking Open the Forbidden Door

Though Dice is contracted to IMPACT, he spoke to his ability to work for other promotions as one of his major factors for signing with the promotion.

“The reason I signed IMPACT is, well, if I wanted I could work for New Japan Pro Wrestling or hell, I can go to Mexico and work for AAA if I wanted to. Or, if I really felt the need, I can go and reclaim my television title back at the NWA or maybe show up at AEW and beat someone’s ass. You never know where you’re gonna see Outlandish Zicky Dice, and I’m gonna keep you on your toes. So here’s what I’m going to do right now. I’m going to give you a little bit of Zicky Dice stock, everybody watching. You’re going to follow this journey, and you’re going to say ‘Damn, he told me so.’”

All Elite Wrestling

“It sounds like it crosses a lot of boxes off for you not only just on the entertainment side but the wrestling side of course, right?” I inquired. “Because, like you do the interview with Sean Ross Sapp of Fightful.com and you say AEW is the goal, and then of course, talking with WrestleZone and you bring up New Japan even with them, too. So it’s just sounded like crosses off a lot of those for you.”

“Yes, yes, I did have all my eggs in one basket,” Dice confirmed. “I really wanted to work for AEW, there’s tons of interviews where I’ve said that straight up and it looks like I got to put the blinker on and take the long road. I mean, it’s still on my to-do list, right?”

“My deep down is to wrestle in front of the masses,” he concluded. “I know what I’m capable of, and I don’t even think that IMPACT knows what they just signed. It’s going to be pretty interesting to see how this all plays out and unfolds over the next few years.”

Please credit Love Wrestling with any of the above quotes. Stay tuned for our full interview with Zicky Dice on Friday, November 19th.