Lance Archer recently appeared as a guest on The Two Man Power Trip Of Wrestling podcast to talk his run in WWE, his peers from his days in FCW being on top now and more. Below are some of the highlights from the interview.

On being a part of TNA for some of the early milestones the company experienced:

“It’s one of those situations where I was a part of a company that was growing and I was getting to be a part of all the firsts really for the company and the company was very young when I joined in 2004. They were still only doing weekly pay per views out of Nashville at the old “Asylum” but I was there for when we first got “The Impact Zone” and I was on the very first Impact that was on the Fox Sports Network. I was there when we were in between Fox and Spike TV and for our first three hour monthly pay per view. I was there for the first Lockdown, the first Bound For Glory I was a part of all these firsts which was a lot of fun because it was a company that was growing and there were good times and bad times but the company was looking for young talent and the “Hoytamania” days were really fun and I hoped that would have gone further but it did not. For me it was a great learning experience getting to work with some of the best in the business.”

Ont the mania behind of Hoytamania:

“It was awesome and it was a lot of fun for me. Just the simple fact that when I came out there the reception was amazing. According to some people I was taking people out to eat and that’s why I had these fans and listen, I worked for TNA and they were a young company they are not paying me well enough to take 40 or 50 people out to eat. I wasn’t making t-shirts. There were a group of people that made their own t-shirts. The internet wasn’t as well received of me as the “Impact Zone” itself was but at the same time as somebody who was an UN-named talent that had only been working for TNA and to see the fans reception that was going on there was beyond amazing. I always wished that it would have gone further but unfortunately it did not and that seemed to be a lot of my TNA career. A lot of good starts with a lot of good things that just unfortunately in my opinion weren’t given the full opportunity that they should have had.”

On his overall feelings of joining WWE and how “Vance Archer” became his name:

“Nothing but excited. Especially at that time and even now today it is the biggest company in the world and anybody that is in this wrestling business wants to be a top success in the biggest company in this world and that is what WWE is. Now there are a lot of “new” avenues that are amazing like New Japan, Ring of Honor, TNA is still there and I hope people give it a bit more of a chance and it could still be something special in the business. To be a part of WWE was a dream come true. For me, it was very exciting. The whole Vance Archer thing kind came around because they want to own the rights to that name and Vance is a play on my own name and Archer was my Dad’s name and that’s how I got the “Archer” thing even though the internet tried to explain that I was going to be doing a Robin Hood gimmick which I thought was extremely comical. It was a new challenge and a new opportunity.”

On the developmental class that was in FCW now being on top of the company:

“Fun fact. I was Seth Rollins’s first WWE match in any capacity. So I guess it’s ok now that he’s heavyweight champion. Bray (Wyatt), talk about an amazing kid. I watched him and he was doing the different names and carried his father’s name. I watched him when they put him on the NXT product with the next name and he always did amazing things. He always worked extremely hard and always busted his butt. Both him and his brother Bo cut some amazing promos down there in FCW. We had our weekly promo day and everybody got up there and cut promos and everybody is trying to come up and say something intriguing and after an hour and a half or two hours people just didn’t care anymore and those two kids whether they were working on a promo together or doing it individually when they came up for a promo everyone in class stopped what they were doing because they just wanted to hear what they were going to say. To see the success he is having now, I am very proud of him. I was there when Sheamus just started to get out there and was just doing live events. You can name nearly everybody on the roster. I worked with Reigns when he was just starting out and just started hitting the ring and to see those guys progression and to know them and all of those guys were cool and I didn’t have a problem with anybody so I am proud of them and because of the good people they were when I knew them.”

On signing with New Japan Pro Wrestling in 2011 and getting the opportunity to reinvent himself:

“Getting to work with New Japan I didn’t know the scale of what it was or what it could become. I worked in Japan back in 2007,08,09. I worked a tour with All Japan before I signed with WWE. It was good and it was big but it wasn’t anywhere what New Japan is and is becoming. When I first got set to come back to Japan I was going to go back to All Japan but there was a discrepancy on what they were going to pay and what they wanted to pay so that all fell through and I got in contact with New Japan and some people from the WWE office helped get me in contact with some people in putting a good word in for me and helping me. For me it was kind of surreal because I didn’t know what to expect. I was excited and ready to go and bust my butt and try to recreate myself. They wanted a Stan Hansen-esque type character and wanted me to wear a cowboy hat. But I am not a cowboy, never have been and growing up my whole life in Texas I thought I could maybe be the cowboy I wanted to be, like a rock star cowboy.”

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