Donald Wood: Your victory in December was the first major American wrestling championship for an English superstar in the 108-year history of the sport. Talk to us about what the monumental win meant to you.
It does mean a lot and it did mean a lot when I went back to England and did a lot of media. I was genuinely overwhelmed by the response from the media for the fact that I was the first Brit to win a recognized World Championship. You never really think of it until it happens because I think I assumed that someone would get there before me because there have been so many great talents to come out of Britain before me, I was just thinking that someone else will get the strap before I do. But, circumstances where such that it was me, and that's something that, no matter what, that will always be I can look back on, which is great. I do remember thinking to myself, 'I'm walking into Wembley Arena today as the World Champion and I have the responsibility to deliver and be the top guy'. Same thing when I was in Manchester and Glasgow and Dublin and Birmingham. So it was very cool and a very proud moment for me.
Mike Chiari: You were very much on the rise leading up to Bound For Glory last year, but most fans would probably agree that facing and beating Sting was huge in terms of cementing your legitimacy. Knowing how much that rivalry probably helped your career, would you like to see Sting back with TNA at some point if at all possible?
I'm as grateful to Sting as anybody in the wrestling business for the benefit he has had in my career. Steve is a great guy and very very smart and just a model citizen as far as the way he conducts himself and how much respect he commands. There are some people who seem to be obsessed with respect and seem to be obsessed with guys not showing them enough respect but Sting is a guy who has never had to pull any stunts, never had to bully anyone, never had to throw his weight around or pull rank; he commands respect. The same could be said about Kurt Angle.
Working with Steve was a pleasure every time, especially in San Diego not just for the fact that I got to be on that level or stage but that he trusted me a lot and deferred a lot of it to me every time we worked together. Whether it be promos, or in a match he's always deferred to me a lot and said 'what do you think, I want to know what you think we should do here and I'm going to trust you on this because I think that you'll be right' and that goes a long way and certainly goes a long way with the other talent too.
I remember distinctly that day going through different scenarios and he brought Kurt over to bounce some things off of him and that was when Steve went 'you know, I think I want you to beat me with a submission. We can do it all of these other ways but I want you to get me with the cloverleaf in the middle and I want to submit'. And I just sat there and said 'okay, that's a tremendous thing to do for me'. So then we talked about a few more things and then went to go get a coffee and Kurt was just sitting there looking at me and said, 'did he just say that? What just happened here?' It was just one of those things and he just goes, 'you've never even done that for me'. So that was the kind of guy Sting had been to me so obviously when you have that level of relationship and admiration for somebody I would always love to see him back and he's over to a degree that is very rare in this business so from a business standpoint of course I would love to have him back any time.
Read more at http://www.wrestlinginc.com/wi/news/2014/0415/574192/magnus-on-if-he-wants-sting-back-in-tna/#GqvhmwPwuBAm4PS8.99
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