Moose On How His Ring Name Has Defined His Brand, His Recent ‘Animal’ Battles On IMPACT (Exclusive)
Photo Credit: IMPACT Wrestling
Moose made a name for himself as a pro football player, and the IMPACT Wrestling star says his ring name has definitely helped his stock in the world of professional wrestling.
Moose recently spoke with Wrestlezone’s Bill Pritchard and talked about using his birth name (Quinn Ojinnaka) in football before building something new with his ring name inside the squared circle. He noted that “Moose” actually had come from his football playing days and he decided to keep it, and talked about how it’s been helpful—and potentially harmful as a heel.
“I think it’s definitely easy to remember, it’s chantable. It’s definitely helped my brand, especially when I had the [original] entrance music chanting my name. I’ve actually thought about going back to it, but the only thing that’s scaring me about going back to that music is it gives you a bit of a babyface pop. It might be confusing—‘do we cheer for this guy?’ I’m nervous about the reaction I would get, not the reaction I want to get as my character on TV.
“One thing I don’t like about the name is I get tied a lot to the animal; my character and that animal have nothing in common. I know we were making jokes about it but it’s just a name that was given to me, and I kept that through playing football.”
Earlier in the call, Moose spoke about the recent “animal” battles he’s had in IMPACT Wrestling with Rhino and Taurus, and if that was something that he’d pursue further as a theme. Moose joked that PETA might have an issue with the animal cruelty on TV due to him beating up his opponents, then took time to praise both Rhino and Taurus and said he’d like to work with them more.
“I will actually say Taurus is very underrated. He’s a very talented wrestler and I wish that we used him more often. Rhino is Rhino, he’s a World Champion, pretty much a legend. I like my battles with Rhino, he’s taken me places that I haven’t been physically, and hopefully at some point we revisit those rivalries. Rhino makes me better as a performer and a pro wrestler.”
Related: Moose Says Monty Brown Is A Smart Man To Stay Away From Him, Comments On Tom Brady’s Status
Check out the full interview below: