Justin Credible joined WrestlingInc.’s WINCLY podcast just a few days before his most recent arrest. The subject of the WWE using Jeff Hardy’s real life issues in his storyline with Samoa Joe came up. Credible gave his thoughts on that as well as his belief that wrestlers won’t ever get the benefits that they need due to their independent contractor status. Here are the highlights:

Credible On Whether He Has An Issue With The WWE Using Jeff Hardy’s Real Issues For A Storyline:

God, I never had a problem with it because the nature of this business, the way you’re describing, has been going on in the ECW era, which is 20+ years, so I mean, to me, as long as you ask the participants, when you’re getting family and personal names involved, you ask around, ‘look, can we do this? Is this cool with you?’ I have no problem with it. To me, it makes it, being that we’re in a pseudo-real environment, it just makes it more powerful and more meaningful. And, look, I traveled with Jeff [Hardy] and could probably tell you a lot of things that nobody else knows about me and Jeff during [that] period. I mean, I was fired initially from WWE in 2002 because of hanging out with Jeff and us missing chartered flights for several reasons. So, look, I’m not very down on that. I think, to me, it’s fair game. Look, we live in a world of social media where everything is on Instagram, and tweeted, and Facebooked, and whatever, so to me, as long as, and I’m sure WWE checked in on this, but, look, it’s all good. Usually, when you don’t want to do something, is when you have something to hide and I just think it gives fans that reality TV moment of, ‘look, this is something this guy has gone through and let’s explore it.’

On Wrestlers Independent Contractor Status Working Against Them:

Do I think there is a solution [to pro wrestlers succumbing to addictions]? No. There never will be a solution only because and [film producer] David [Gere] can attest to this, there’s a Screen Actors Guild and anybody that makes motion pictures, there [are] rules and regulations, I’m not privy to it, but you need to have a certain amount of Screen Actors Guild members on set, et cetera. With professional wrestling, and this is something former Governor of Minnesota Jesse Ventura was trying to say back in the 80s, was ‘wrestlers should unionize,’ but unfortunately, if I want an indie booking and I ask for $500, somebody else will go, of my stature, and do it for $250. And that’s the point. It’ll never happen. I wish it would. Wrestling is as big as it [has] ever been, in my opinion, as far as globally, with all the wonderful independent organizations happening worldwide, not just in the United States, but in England, all over, Australia, all throughout Europe, Mexico, et cetera, Japan. I mean, it’s ridiculous, but I never see it being unionized, unfortunately.

On The Struggle Between The Financial Benefit Of Going Back To Wrestling & The Toll It Takes On His Body:

Again, that’s something that goes two ways. Financially, is that the most viable option for me? Absolutely. Is it something that at 45 years old I can do on a regular basis? I don’t know, so, again, I don’t plan on going anywhere anytime soon, from the world of pro wrestling, but it’s few and far between as far as getting me active in the ring. To give somebody something close to what I used to be because at this point, I don’t want to cheat fans, just walking out there and giving a couple of punches and kicks. I would like to do something more and I plan on doing a lot more.

You can check out the WINCLY podcast featuring Justin Credible below:

https://audioboom.com/posts/7116555-wincly-feat-matt-hardy-johnny-impact-justin-credible-flip-gordon-glacier-wwe-tlc-aew-more