Exclusive: IMPACT Wrestling's Chris Bey on why he signed with the promotion, his musical career & which stars trained him

In 2019, IMPACT Wrestling grabbed a lot of headlines via its move to AXS TV for IMPACT!, its flagship weekly two-hour program. IMPACT Wrestling kicked off 2020 strong with the Hard To Kill pay-per-view at which Tessa Blanchard made history by becoming the first female to win a men's World Championship belt in a major wrestling promotion. One of the latest signings of IMPACT was Chris Bey.

He was a free agent who had made most of the world's major wrestling companies take notice of him. And based on this week's episode of IMPACT! on AXS TV, it looks like Chris Bey has his eyes set on the X Division Championship.

I had the pleasure of speaking with Chris Bey by phone on June 3, 2020. In addition to the full audio of the interview, below is an exclusive transcription on Sportskeeda of a few minutes from the discussion. More on Chris Bey can be found online at www.twitter.com/DashingChrisBey and/or www.impactwrestling.com.

On why he signed with IMPACT specifically:

Chris Bey: When I was a kid I used to collect wrestling belts, and I used to have the versions from the store of the X Division Championship. I had the TNA Heavyweight Championship, DVDs, everything. I just always wanted to be a part of this team.

So to make this a reality and be able to fight for the X Division Championship and fight people on the roster who I've seen before or that I grew up watching, it's a part of my own personal goals that I wanted to accomplish. There was no need for me to stay on the indies.

On moving to Las Vegas and getting trained there:

Chris Bey: I had come to Vegas for my 20th birthday and it was one of the locations where I had my last phone call with my dad at before he passed away the following month. Everything seemed like it was pointing towards coming back here because when I got back home I knew it was time for me to find a school and buckle down so I could stop wasting time... All I could think about was Vegas, the trip to Vegas. How I liked the weather there, how I liked the cost of living there and how it was the last place I spoke to my dad at.

It seemed like a good idea so I went with a wrestling school here... Future Stars Of Wrestling [wrestling school]. The cost of the school was super-affordable compared to other schools I had researched in the country. The people that they had train here, it seemed like the biggest win/win. I have not regretted the decision since and I still live here, I still love it here and I don't plan on leaving anytime soon.

On who trained him at Future Stars Of Wrestling:

Chris Bey: [Disco Inferno] is one of the trainers there. Him, Kenny King, D'Lo [Brown], Sinn Bodhi, the list goes on and on. We're always having guest trainers come through and everything. I did do a lot of work with Disco in my first six or seven months of training. It would be just him and I, where I'd show up and he'd help me out.

On whether he's a wrestler-turned-musician or a musician that's a wrestler:

Chris Bey: It's weird because music came before the wrestling, technically. Honestly, I see myself as more a human being who can do both. I don't think that one outweighs the other. I do prefer wrestling over everything. I will choose wrestling over everything because of how addicted I am to it. But I would never classify myself as one over the other. I can do a lot of things. I can skateboard, I can make music, I can wrestle... There's a lot of things I like to do and can do.

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