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Chris Bey on showcasing something different among a new generation of Black wrestlers
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Many fans have compared Chris Bey to another well-known wrestler with blond dreadlocks, Kofi Kingston. However, Bey is a dynamic performer in his own right and a part of a renaissance era of sorts for Black wrestlers. There are so many new and talented African American stars, who different styles and portray unique characters. Chris Bey believes he brings something totally new to the table.
"Oh 100 percent," Bey said. "I think all across the border, we're all different, and I think that's because as a, you know, young Black talent I understand how much soul and how much, you know, just for lack of a better term flavor, man, that we come up with and we all come up with a little bit differently, as anyone does, honestly, but I know for me personally, there was a lot of different vibes in my household growing up from the music that we listen to to the way we would dance or, you know, slang we would depending on the neighborhood you’re from or whatever."
"So I think we all have something different, completely different, and unique to offer. And we're not just directly influenced from what we see on television. You know, we all have influences from things that we've seen in life. But I think we also all bring different things. You can see that even on the home product. If you watch it on AXS on Tuesdays or Twitch or wherever you end up checking it out and see people like Tasha Steelz and Kiera Hogan and people like myself and people like Trey and even Rich Swann. And that’s just, you know, there's a couple of us just to name a few that just are so different from each other, even though we have a lot of similarities."
"To be compared to that other wrestler is always awesome, but he's been in this journey for so long. I'm still in the beginning stages. So, you’re still seeing early development of what I have to offer in the long run and I'm barely just getting started. "
Chris Bey uses his music as another outlet to reach his fans
Chris Bey also makes music in his spare time. His single Brain Freeze is doing pretty well on Spotify and he plans to release a new EP soon.
"Yeah. So, Brain Freeze is doing well," Bey said. "Doing better than that, we have Lonely, which is my most recent release. I released that in July, and that's on all platforms. And as of last night, I decided that next month I will be releasing a new EP called Odyssey, which is the EP Lonely is derived from. So, yeah, this is just a short EP that just talks about where it's been the last couple months of my life and I think I think people will enjoy it. I think it's really cool, and music has always been a part of my life, so I'm glad that I'm getting to share that now with everybody."
Other wrestlers famously doubled as musicians on the side, and some of them eventually recorded their own theme. Chris Bey talked about if that's something he's interested in, as well.
"Yeah, it's got to be the right vibe, but it's gotta all make sense. It's not something that I can sit down and make because, you know, no disrespect to anybody else, but I always feel like when you try to take that approach for wrestling, it always comes out a little cheesy and that's what I want to avoid."
"So for me," Chris Bey said. "It's a matter of me making a certain song that I feel is so good that it's something that can match my wrestling persona and do something that I want to hear every time I come out to the ring. For right now, I think One Shot depicts that perfectly. You know I came to IMPACT with the moniker and the slogan, All I need is one shot. And with every shot I was given, I made the most of it all the way up to Slammiversary when I took the championship and history will repeat itself Bound for Glory, October 24th, when I take back my championship because all I ever needed is one shot."
Next: Chris Bey opens up disappointment with his entry in the 2020 PWI 500
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Edited by Atharva Papnoi
