Grado discusses ICW, his relationship with Jeff Jarrett, and why Drew McIntyre is the next big thing (Exclusive)

Grado hits a Rock Bottom!

Ravie Davie - a guy very similar to yourself?

Definitely, man. He's got pictures coming up to me when he was a boy, a lot younger, with Grado signs in the front row, taking selfies with me, but I see a lot of Ravie Davie in myself, so I like to try and give him a wee bit of inspiration, try and show him the ropes - basically to give him a bit of advice, man, because he's got a character, man, he's got a character, and the biggest thing in wrestling is characters!

This is what wrestling needs, a lot more characters.

You either die a hero, or you live long enough to see yourself become the villain." I can do those things, because I'm not a hero, not like @gradowrestling pic.twitter.com/k66fl0DyNr

— The Famous Ravie-Davie (@Ravie_Davie_McC) August 25, 2019

I find these days there's a lot of times when wrestling, when I'm watching and some of the wrestlers are giving interviews and they're talking as if they're on Match of the Day. Do you know what I mean?

They're talking as if... [MONOTONOUS] "You know, the match was good, and da, da, da..."

It's missing that "HNNGH!" You know? A bit of character, razzmatazz, all that carry-on, I love it - and Ravie Davie's got that, so I'm loving working with him and, as I say, it's great to be back at ICW because that is the first place where they made me, it's the place where everybody saw me, and the way ICW's being run just now is the best it's been run in years, so it's amazing to be back.

The ICW crowd are the best fans in the world. I get American wrestlers like, "Hey, you gotta get me in ICW, brother" because they want to come and see it because it's such a spectacle.

My brother, who's not, by any means, a wrestling fan at all - he loves coming just to see it, the live show, you know yourself. Even if you don't like wrestling, give ICW a show - sorry, give ICW a...chance. It's got everything - from the music blasting, the crowd chanting, the stunts that we pull, the drama. It's like ECW, or what ECW was in the late '90s. It's a very special company and being back there - I love it.

Who does this wee fanny think he is might have to show up at the panto or river city and pay @stephen_purdon a wee visit !!! https://t.co/ZbzroxghaC

— The Famous Ravie-Davie (@Ravie_Davie_McC) August 25, 2019

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Of course, you said there it's the best feeling ever going back. My next question was actually going to be, "Can anything beat this moment...?" My favourite Grado moment, my favourite ICW moment, one of my favourite moments in wrestling history - SECC 2015. You and Drew McIntyre, Mick Foley rooting you on. You end up with Mick Foley's vest and win the ICW World Heavyweight Championship.

Mick Foley left his $20 bill in his pocket. I remember the next day going, "Ah, ya dancer! A f**king score!" Brilliant! it was amazing!

Grado with the Hardcore Legend

No, Drew is the best guy in the world to wrestle, I learned so much from him. I'm not the most technically gifted wrestler in the world by any means.He helped make me look like a star, and I loved that match. I've not watched it a lot. It's a thing that always pops up on YouTube and obviously the pop when I win is emotional as hell, man. It was great.

And for Foley to be there as well, for a big mark like me, it was something else and I can be proud of that because we sold that out, like, a month in advance and we didn't have that many yanks on it. We had Rhyno on it who was really just built as a midcarder.

Obviously we had Foley. He's part of it as well but selling that show out, Grado vs Drew, 4,500-5,000 people - that was just amazing, man.

He told me before the match, "Yeah, buddy, what we're going to do, man. I think we've got an idea, I shoot you in the ropes, you come back and give me the hurricanrana."

I went, "F*** off. I can't f***ing hurricanrana you, ya dafty"

I go, "No, I'll do it." I was nervous before the match, my nerves completely went because I'm going, "Well, this is going to be s***e. I'm going to make a c*** of this hurricanrana."

Actually it ended up alright. It was the slowest, daftest, s***est, f**king hurricanrana, but it actually worked. I done it a few times in TNA, I done it with Eli Drake, it's good to do every now and again because the crowd don't expect me to do it.

A fat, wee pudding like myself, a wee pudding like myself hurricanrana-ing folk was a good feeling.

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NEXT: Feuding with Abyss

COMING UP: Grado opens up about wanting to be more involved in ICW