Johnny Mundo talks why he left the WWE, Lucha and his new documentary

May 5, 2017 - by Steve Gerweck

All Wrestling recently had a chance to interview the current Lucha Underground star Johnny Mundo and his trainees (James Willems and Lawrence Sonntag) about their experiences together.

Q: Why did you leave WWE the in 2011?

A: I left WWE for the first time in late 2011. I left because I wanted creative autonomy, to be in the driver seat in my life. It was tough for a while, it took some adjusting to get used to a more normal life after being on the road so long, but ultimately I feel like I made the right decision. Towards the end of my run I started to feel like I was giving up more that I was getting from my work with WWE.

Q: What made you want to train James and Lawrence in the first place?

A: I was stoked to train James and Lawrence because I heard they were fans of wrestling and were genuine about their desire to learn.

Q: What was the biggest obstacle for each guy to get over while learning?

A: Time. Both James and Lawrence were fighting to learn as quickly as possible. Frequently training was about prioritizing what was most essential to have a match and spending time on that.

Q: Do you think there could be a career in this for James and Lawrence?

A: There could be a career in this for James and Lawrence. I’ve learned when it comes to the wrestling business, never say never…but if they were going to make it as pro wrestlers they’d have to spend years training. A while back Jake The Snake asked me, “What do you want?” It’s a really simple and profound question that I think about frequently now when ‘what if’ questions like this are posed. Could James and/or Lawrence make it as wrestlers? If they wanted to, and were willing to do what it takes, then yes. It could potentially take them 5 years, or 15 years, or 5 months…If they wanted it and were willing to do what it takes to make it, then yeah, sure. They could do it.

You can read more about the new documentary and more head over to All Wrestling


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