Kemo
08-07-2021, 10:47 PM
On a recent episode of The Wrestling Inc. Daily, Wrestling Inc. Managing Editor Nick Hausman sat down with Levi Cooper, f.k.a. Tucker. They discussed Cooper’s WWE release as well as Heavy Machinery’s WWE Smackdown feud against Daniel Bryan and Erick Rowan. Cooper explained what he learned working with Bryan during that time.
“To me, Daniel Bryan is the modern day Bret Hart,” Cooper expressed. “He’s the man. He’s the best. Whether it comes to his mind and talking through how and why we’re going to do things or whether it comes to the execution of said thing in the ring, I don’t think you or me could point out somebody or defend somebody better than him at either of those two things. What a glorious opportunity it was for us to be able to pick his brain a little bit and kind of see how he moved around the Heavy Machinery pieces. ‘What do you guys do?’ Having a discussion about the ethos, if you will, of Heavy Machinery and that might be able to play off of them in the large scale, in the big picture.
“Well, how does that sort of equate to the minutia? How do we do the micro here on the day-to-day. What does the promo look like? What do the matches look like? What are the beats of the story that we’re telling? And also just kind of seeing how he operates, seeing what questions he’s asking what people and why he’s going about doing those things, at least for me, I was trying to take away as much of that kind of stuff as I possibly could from working with someone like that.”
Cooper was asked by Hausman what pro wrestling he is watching at the moment.
“My favorite thing that I’ve been looking at and seeing is what my boy EC3 has been up to, very happy for him,” Cooper said. “Not just what he’s been up to in terms of wrestling but just what he’s been up to overall, as a whole picture. I’m much more than a wrestler, and for a lot of my life, wrestler was a really big part of my identity and I’ve worked hard to, not shed that as a as a whole, but have more balance.
“I have father as an identity, have husband as an identity. I want to have coach as an identity. I want to have mentor as an identity and so figuring out what that looks like for me and how I want to pursue those things outside of wrestling so that I’m getting some serious fulfillment, that’s been where my mental focus has been wrestling wise. Other things I’ve been enjoying, I’ve been watching ROH. I’ve been watching NWA. I enjoy both of those products. Obviously, I’m seeing what AEW and TNA are doing. I think AEW has been very successful.
“To me, the rising tide lifts all ships, and I think having multiple healthy companies that have a different style and a different flair is only really good for wrestling. People are gonna start coming back, and I would hope the indies are going to start really getting going and I’ve never done that. I’ve never been a part of that scene, and I’m looking forward to kind of the freedom that is available in that scene to just explore and try to improve as a performer. That’s kind of my main goal going forward. I just want to get as good as I personally can be, not compare to anyone else, just kind of figure out truly what Levi Cooper’s identity is inside of the ring.”
“To me, Daniel Bryan is the modern day Bret Hart,” Cooper expressed. “He’s the man. He’s the best. Whether it comes to his mind and talking through how and why we’re going to do things or whether it comes to the execution of said thing in the ring, I don’t think you or me could point out somebody or defend somebody better than him at either of those two things. What a glorious opportunity it was for us to be able to pick his brain a little bit and kind of see how he moved around the Heavy Machinery pieces. ‘What do you guys do?’ Having a discussion about the ethos, if you will, of Heavy Machinery and that might be able to play off of them in the large scale, in the big picture.
“Well, how does that sort of equate to the minutia? How do we do the micro here on the day-to-day. What does the promo look like? What do the matches look like? What are the beats of the story that we’re telling? And also just kind of seeing how he operates, seeing what questions he’s asking what people and why he’s going about doing those things, at least for me, I was trying to take away as much of that kind of stuff as I possibly could from working with someone like that.”
Cooper was asked by Hausman what pro wrestling he is watching at the moment.
“My favorite thing that I’ve been looking at and seeing is what my boy EC3 has been up to, very happy for him,” Cooper said. “Not just what he’s been up to in terms of wrestling but just what he’s been up to overall, as a whole picture. I’m much more than a wrestler, and for a lot of my life, wrestler was a really big part of my identity and I’ve worked hard to, not shed that as a as a whole, but have more balance.
“I have father as an identity, have husband as an identity. I want to have coach as an identity. I want to have mentor as an identity and so figuring out what that looks like for me and how I want to pursue those things outside of wrestling so that I’m getting some serious fulfillment, that’s been where my mental focus has been wrestling wise. Other things I’ve been enjoying, I’ve been watching ROH. I’ve been watching NWA. I enjoy both of those products. Obviously, I’m seeing what AEW and TNA are doing. I think AEW has been very successful.
“To me, the rising tide lifts all ships, and I think having multiple healthy companies that have a different style and a different flair is only really good for wrestling. People are gonna start coming back, and I would hope the indies are going to start really getting going and I’ve never done that. I’ve never been a part of that scene, and I’m looking forward to kind of the freedom that is available in that scene to just explore and try to improve as a performer. That’s kind of my main goal going forward. I just want to get as good as I personally can be, not compare to anyone else, just kind of figure out truly what Levi Cooper’s identity is inside of the ring.”