Aldis still feels a sense of accomplishment in the fact that he was a world champion in TNA, even if it came after the company’s peak. When asked what his biggest point of pride was during his run there, it was winning that title.

“A Brit had never done that,” Aldis said. “The irony is that guys like Dutch or Russo … might laugh at that now, because one of the things I used to say a lot, and I’m sure it drove them crazy, is, ‘I don’t want to be known as a British guy. It doesn’t matter if I’m British. Who gives a s**t?'”

Once Aldis captured the world title and saw the outpouring of support from British fans, however, the Norfolk native started seeing things a different way. No English man had ever held a world title on a major televised promotion in the United States before. Another point of pride for Aldis was getting to work with Sting multiple times in the promotion.

“That’s the other thing that I will never stop appreciating, is that Sting, for whatever reason, … just because he wanted to and he had a gut feeling, he said, ‘I want to work with that kid. Give me him,'” Aldis continued. Sting even let Aldis call their first match together.

“That was astonishing, you know? That I was trusted with that at 21 or whatever it was,” Aldis concluded.

If you use any of the quotes in this article, please credit “Insight with Chris Van Vliet” with a h/t to Wrestling Inc. for the transcription.