In PWMania’s latest exclusive interview, NWA’s Daisy Kill (@DaisyKillNWA) sits down with PWMania’s own Scott Mitchell (@scott44mitchell) to discuss his time in the NWA so far, including his rivalry with Eric Smalls, his upcoming Dog Collar match with Smalls at NWA 78 on July 25th, his World Television Title shot, working with Baron Von Storm at NWA 77, becoming the first-ever two-time NWA United States Tag Team Champion, alongside Talos, working with Talos, and much more. Watch the interview in its entirety down below.
You’ve been embroiled in a rivalry with Eric Smalls at NWA, with the next chapter taking place at NWA 78 in a Dog Collar match. What is your mindset heading into this one?
“It’s Philadelphia, so it’s appropriate. It feels right. It feels like the right time just to go ahead and break him in half and put the stamp on him, really. Philadelphia is a great town for it. The Dog Collar/Dog Chain match, I have a lot of ideas already on how to beat him up with it. Some ideas, y’all may have to turn the cameras away. I want to dangle that little fella, you know? It’ll be really cool. I think Philadelphia is going to enjoy it a lot. There’s a lot on those anniversary shows in store, and I have a lot in mind for it. You, and everybody else, but I really know you’re going to like it, specifically, what I have in mind. Some big surprises. Big.”
Why should people check out NWA on Comet, as well?
“The reason you should check it out on Comet is once again to see it in real time. It’s not live, but you’re seeing it in real time. There’s something to be said about your investment. You’re mentally invested in it differently. It’s like when you go to a movie, when you’re watching live sports, versus a re-run, or streaming when you can pause it. You’re not as mentally invested because it doesn’t matter as much. After all, you can change everything back and forth. Any time you watch a program in real time, you’re forced to focus on it more. People don’t always want it, right? They don’t want to focus; they want to be able to look at every nice, shiny bell and whistle because it gets those immediate hits. Dopamine and happiness and everything. Go ahead and force yourself to sit, watch it in real time, and see the positive feelings and the different times of highs you get to experience when forcing yourself through that delayed gratification and that offset of immediate stimuli and everything else. Reward yourself. Watch it in real time. Sit and give yourself some time to focus on it. It’s worth it.”
You guys recently met in a Kiss My Boots match, which Smalls bested you in. What was it like to work with him in this capacity?
“Sure, he did. I kissed his boots, but one of us left walking, and one of us was still in the ring, holding themselves. That match ended early, didn’t it? Everyone was like, ‘Oh, that was weird.’ But one of us walked out fully intact and one of us not, so.”
You also worked together in a Shanghai Pain Stick Lethal Ladder match. What was this whole experience like for you?
“That was like the most fun I’ve had. It was a lot of fun. Getting to watch it back, it would have been cool if the shotgun mics had picked up a little bit more of the audio. At the beginning of the match, somebody in the crowd screamed, “You’re not afraid of a midget, are you, Daisy?” I just lit it up and said, “That’s all you are to them, that’s all you are to them, isn’t it? A little midget, a little freak. When we got into the ring, they caught it a little bit on the camera. I dragged Smalls right to that fella who said it and was holding him in his face and said, “Say it again. Say it again. Call him again.’ I won and everything. It was just fun getting to smack him up a bit with the shanghai stick and getting to see him tumble from the ladder. It was good.”
You recently had a shot at the NWA World Television Title, which was on the line in a scramble match. While you came up short, what was this match like for you?
“I won that match. Mizery hit the frog splash. As he hit the frog splash, watch anybody hit a frog splash, and they have a little bounce after. He hit the frog splash, and I was on it first. You could see it, as I was getting up, Mizery was on top of me. I won the belt, and that’s why I stated my case. The match itself was just trying to be tactical, as far as Wrecking Ball. I don’t know why more people don’t look at Wrecking Ball as the threat that he is. Wrecking Ball is a massive super heavyweight that is pure power, tons of charisma, and everything else. The crowd obviously likes him. I don’t know why other wrestlers don’t treat his presence with a little more caution and respect. That’s what I did in that match, if you re-watch it. I was very much trying to coordinate with the other wrestlers in the match and pick our spots, and it worked. It did work in picking our spots at the right time. Mizery, you know, Mizery and I are going to have some more stuff to figure that out. Lockjaw, I didn’t get to touch Lockjaw at all. I’m curious about it, though. He came in from NWA Chicago, and I’m curious to see what he can do and get in the ring with him a little bit more. JAC is a great worker. He always has a solid match. It was a cool dynamic. I figured it out. I won the match. The ref, you know. Then Smalls. It’s not the end of the world. That’s my second time challenging for the TV title; I was Bryan Idol’s inaugural defense. It makes sense. Things need to fit, it needs to be appropriate. I’m a World Champion, and that’s where it’s going to end up. That’s a legacy that’s going to happen, the NWA Worlds Heavyweight title. I’m going to go home and show my grandad, who’s been watching for years now. Show my mom, who’s been watching for 50 years now. That NWA Worlds Heavyweight title is coming home one day.”
One year ago, we saw you take on Baron Von Storm in a No Countouts match in my neck of the woods at NWA 77. What was this experience like for you?
“Let’s address that. That’s good. I retired him. I busted him open, stood over him, own blood. I retired him. Who else? Cardona. Who was his last match in the NWA? Daisy. I don’t count what he did with Thrill. It was me. Same thing with Hunter Drake, same thing with Levvy, same thing with Sal, from the little freak group and stuff like that. Six people I’ve retired now. It’s going to keep happening. I’m worried for Smalls after this. Enjoy him while you can see him. It seems to be the play. Daisy Kill is the reaper. I love Orton, I love to watch him, that’s my version in the NWA. Getting to send people packing, you know? It’s been a blast. It’s been a good time. GOOD TIME! … New York was a blast. It was a solid crowd. It was a long night, and they stayed, and they enjoyed it, and they had a great verbal reaction throughout our match and kept very engaged. It was a cool venue too. Got lost a couple of times in the different spots. There were like hidden rooms throughout the building. It was an old speakeasy, and they had these doors, and it was like in the corner, these hidden rooms. They were bragging about it, like, “Yeah, 60 years ago we had these little doors, it’s a speakeasy,” and all of that. I was like, ‘Those were probably assault rooms.’ They were hiding and sealing these rooms off. I was like, these are evidence, take a blacklight to these things. It was cool. The people, the northeast fans are a blast, whether it’s New York or Philly or the lot of it. Each market has its own type of fans. I came up in the Chicago scene and got to spend plenty of time in Tennessee. Now I’m on the Florida scene and stuff like that. Georgia’s wild. There are all different types of crowds in each of them, and New York is a really cool one. So, it was really neat to get to be there for it.”
You are one-half of the former NWA United States Tag Team Championships, alongside Talos, winning those titles in 2023. What was this reign like for you, and becoming the first-ever two-time NWA United States Tag Team Champion, with Talos?
“It was just a natural progression as far as how it went along. It just made sense. Look at Talos and me, you know? What’s been fun, as Talos has been doing his thing in Japan and everything, people are realizing that I’m not 5 feet 7, just because I stood next to him the whole time. Like, no, I’m 6’1” guys. Getting to work normal size guys has been showing that a little bit, but with Talos, it’s like, yeah, you have a 6-foot-1, 220-pound, cage fighter, a real-life cage fighter. Then you have the 7-foot-2 best moving giant in the world. I challenge you, I f**king challenge you. I dare you to find a better moving seven f**king footer than Talos. Nobody can. You’re not going to find one who can talk like him, work like him, and handle his business like him. It’s a shame, I just can’t get it. He’s used well, but the fact that he’s not given the appropriate opportunities for what he brings is insane to me. It made sense when you put us together. There aren’t a lot of people who can do this in the wrestling ring, or in a bar, or in a parking lot. It’s just not going to happen. We’re too big, too strong, too smart, sorry. I love to give everyone their flowers, but no, if it’s Talos and I, those are our bouquets.”
You and Talos were pretty inseparable for a while there. But lately, you guys have gone your own way. Is there any animosity there?
“No. We’re not split up or anything like that. They interviewed me after one match, and I explained it pretty well. He had to go work on some stuff. I sent him to Japan. He had some opportunities there. He got there. They paired him with someone. He’s teaching him how to be a big man. I taught Talos how to be a big man; he’s teaching people how to be a big man. Who knows? Now there are two big men. No animosity, though. He’s always there. We never split. He’s always there. People assume, but no, we’re good. There’s equity. We’ve been a team for a long time, inside and outside of NWA. Very good friends.”
Talos will be taking part in the five-way Number One Contenders match at NWA 78. Will you be keeping an eye on this one?
“I am. I think it’s just another example of people getting easy outs with Talos. You have four other people, three people you can pin besides Talos. I think that’s going to be his biggest concern. Staying in the ring, staying near the middle, and making sure he can be on those other people. It’s not so much him getting beaten, but more somebody else, while his attention is all over. It’s a good one. EFFY is tricky. He’s a new one to NWA. He’s brilliant. He’s very smart. He has to be, has to be smart to win the matches that he does because he’s not the most physical guy and stuff like that. He’s very clever. Then you have, I don’t want to say the opposite, because he’s still intelligent, but a completely different approach in Kratos. He just hits differently. There’s such a laser-sharp focused power in what he does, in everything. Then, you know, you have Heath Slater, a lot of experience there. You have to be on the lookout for some world-level experience. PB Smooth. I’m sorry, PB. I like you and everything, you’re a big dude. But, you got Talos next to you, man. You got the real giant in there. PB, I’d watch your space in that. Talos destroys all of them. Go back to Samhain a couple of years ago in Ohio, and he was throwing Kratos around. I don’t think it’s so much anyone being able to beat Talos, they’ll just be focused on each other.”
Do you have any future goals?
“NWA World title. NWA World title. It’s gotta come home. It has to happen. It’s undeniable. The work is going to be done until it happens. It’s going to look good on me.”
Any future opponents you’d like to share the ring with?
“Yeah. Not just because he’s currently holding my NWA Worlds Heavyweight Championship, keeping it warm and stuff for me. Thrillbilly. That’s been a long time coming. We’ve trained in similar places with Dr. Tom and in a few other places. He also has a very good combat sports background, wrestling, jiu-jitsu, everything else. There’s such an authenticity and intensity when he wrestles that I really feel comes close to what I do. You haven’t gotten to see it because of the opponents, but I really feel like he’s the right opponent to bring out that same kind of intensity in the ring. Carson Drake is another one I’d really like to do something with. I’d just love to get a microphone in front of him and eviscerate him. I want to be looking at him eye-to-eye with the mics in our hands and, you know, make him feel like the child he is behind the mask. That’s a lot of the case with Carson, Thrill, and a lot of them. They are wearing a little bit of a mask. As sincere as someone like Thrill seems, a lot of people see that sincerity in him, but no, he wears it. I see right through all of them, and I’ll expose them. Not to be mean or anything, but that’s just the truth that needs to be out. It’s going to happen. Eventually, we’ll be in the ring, in the mic across from each other, and you know. The best brings out the best. I’m not going to pull punches, they are the best in there, and I’m going to best them, so.”
