ESPN recently interviewed TNA Impact Wrestling star Jessie Godderz. You can check out highlights below:
A cocky body builder becomes a cocky TV character and now is a cocky wrestler. Sounds like typecasting to me!
“I’ve worked my tail off! It didn’t come to me overnight. You have to pay your dues in the weight room to look like this. To be this cocky character, you have to play it up even more than I really am. It’s me but to the 10th degree. Look at what I’ve accomplished. Believe the hype. It’s not bogus.”
So I assume that’s why you spend so much time at the gym?
“You have to have that one goal in mind and not give yourself a contingency plan to fall back on. That’s what keeps me motivated. You have to work hard at it. I know that anything is attainable. Debuting this past week for the ‘Bound for Glory’ PPV event, to me, that was surreal. I was elated. I don’t think it can get better than that. I couldn’t be anything higher than cloud 20.”
You’ve always played the role of the arrogant jock. What do you say to those haters out there?
“That’s been the vast majority of the ride. In Iowa, growing up, they hated on me. I was doing something they always wanted to do. You have to be willing to take the risk. With that risk comes the great reward. With all my success, they can hate me even more. I honestly don’t see it as a bad thing.”
All this began on “Big Brother.” What was that like?
“Honestly, being from Iowa and the youngest pro body builder, I couldn’t even get a free membership to a gym there. I had to relocate to the land of opportunity in California. That’s when I started doing photo work and fitness modeling. The thing about California is that everyone has those physical attributes. It’s all about the personality that can separate you. In casting, it’s all about standing out.”
So that’s why you did the show?
“Money was tight, so I was there on ‘Big Brother’ to win a half a million dollars. That’s a great payday for anybody. That was my goal. My dream was to get into wrestling after that, and one thing led to another. I didn’t think I could acquire that kind of super-stardom. I talked to wrestling legend Ric Flair while at the Venice Gold’s Gym, and he told me I should really go to Florida because that’s where the wrestlers are. I wanted to take that leap. That’s what I did. I keep getting brought back to ‘Big Brother’ because I make such a positive impression. I’ve been back even more than those people that America loves.”
