Madman Fulton Makes His Case For The Main Event, Says There’s A High Level Of Potential For Himself And Ace Austin
Madman Fulton isn’t worried about being the “next” anyone—he’s in the spotlight right now and he’s ready to show the world why he belongs there.
Fulton recently spoke with WrestleZone Managing Editor Bill Pritchard ahead of his match against Trey Miguel on Tuesday’s episode of IMPACT Wrestling. Fulton picked up a win over Eddie Edwards last week and now has his sights set on Trey, who is one of three participants confirmed for the IMPACT World Championship match at Slammiversary next month. Madman says he feels great going into his match and it feels like he finally escaped the shadow of Sami Callihan and oVe was, and he’s finally proving what he brings to the professional wrestling world.
“That match with Eddie, that’s my statement to the world for what I can bring into the world of professional wrestling, and this upcoming week with Trey is no different. Trey obviously has a ton going for him and he put on an amazing performance against Michael Elgin in the number one contender’s tournament,” Fulton said, “and he deserves his shot in the main event at Slammiversary but I’m going to prove exactly why I’m one step above him.”
Recent events outside of the ring led to IMPACT Wrestling cutting ties with two of the other original participants in the title match, Tessa Blanchard and Michael Elgin. Blanchard was fired and stripped of the world title, while Elgin was initially suspended for allegations of misconduct before the company announced he would “not be appearing in any further Impact Wrestling programming.” The major change to the Slammiversary card leaves an opening in the main event scene, and despite having content taped for upcoming IMPACT shows, Fulton says he was already on his way to the top no matter what. He says they can’t change that past and the matches they do have to air, but his win over Trey would show the world that he belongs at the top.
“Let’s put it this way—I don’t have to wait for the things that have happened, as unfortunate as they are. I don’t have to wait for those things, I’m making my own case. Those tapings were done well before any of that stuff ever happened or came out. Before any of those decisions were ever made, those matches happened and they were taped. So you know what? I’ve proven I can handle myself with or without any of those stars there. No matter where they go I will always be in this top main event level,” Fulton said. “It’s where I’ve always been and where I’ve always needed to be. IMPACT Wrestling sees that, Ace Austin sees that, and after I beat two of the top three contenders the entire world will have no choice but to see that.”
Ace Austin is the third man in that IMPACT World Championship match, and he’s also the man that Fulton recently aligned with. When asked what happens if they crossed paths in the quest for the World Championship, Fulton says they’ve already talked about that and they have a plan for that situation.
“Ace Austin and I have our respective plan. We know where we want to go, unlike the whole oVe and Sami Callihan scenario, [Ace] is taking into account what I want to do, what my thought process is,” Fulton said. “He’s not just dragging me along and giving me orders. We’re working together as a team and when that moment comes, there’s a plan that we have to worry about, not anybody else.”
The size difference and dynamic between Shawn Michaels and Diesel has been frequently used to compare newer tandems in professional wrestling, and Fulton and Austin are no different. Fulton knows there’s an obvious comparison to the WWE Hall Of Famers, but he believes that history is on their side and says he and Austin have more potential to prove themselves on their own. He says they aren’t the ‘next’ anything—they are first Austin and Fulton and they are the current stars that will be at the top of IMPACT Wrestling.
“The comparisons are obvious. You have your very talented, younger playboy and you have the big monster behind him. I get that and I have watched Kevin Nash’s work, I’ve learned from him and I grew. The way the business works is we have everything that they’ve done we have ready and available to watch, to learn and grow. We have every wrestler from them leading up to now,” Fulton said, “there’s so much more available to us, so our potential is much, much higher than anything Michaels or Nash could have produced on their own. I think the longer than this runs and the more we get to show ourselves, the more everybody is going to realize that it doesn’t matter what teams you want to compare us to. Ace Austin and Madman Fulton are going to be Ace Austin and Madman Fulton—we’re not the next Michaels and Nash. We are the now, we’re Austin and Fulton.”
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