Acey Romero recently spoke with Sports Illustrated for an in-depth interview discussing his dramatic 100+ pound weight loss and how his new goal is to become the IMPACT Wrestling World Heavyweight Champion by the end of his current contract with the pro wrestling promotion.
Featured below are some of the highlights of the new S.I. interview with IMPACT Wrestling star Acey Romero:
On needing to get his health in check: “I was content being the big guy. That’s who I’ve always been, doing things no one thought I could do, but my weight just snowballed. I was almost 500 pounds, and I needed to get my health in check.”
On how his wrestling was suffering because of his weight gain: “My wrestling was starting to suffer. I wasn’t the athlete I used to be. I feel incredibly lucky to be signed by Impact. I was overweight when they signed me, and now it’s my time to return that investment.”
On saying he didn’t want to be the guy who died before 40: “A lot of people reached out and said I’m killing my gimmick, that I should stay big. Maybe they’re right, maybe I am killing my gimmick, but I was also in the process of killing myself. I understand that now, so I’m doing this for me. If I kept going the way I was going, I don’t know if I’d make it to 40. I don’t want to be that guy.”
On this phase being the evolution of his career: “This is the next evolution of my career. I don’t have to be anyone else but myself, and I want to go from the guy that was 475 all the way down to 225. That’s who I want to be. That’s my ultimate goal.”
On how he still plans to work his ass off to reach his goal: “I was pleasantly surprised with my results, but there is still a long way to go. Wrestling is a big part of it, but this goes much deeper than wrestling. Success doesn’t mean anything if I don’t have my health. I know people won’t believe what I want to do, but they won’t be able to believe the way I look, either. I have two more years on my contract, and my goal is to be Impact world champion. That’s my goal before the end of my contract. I’ll have to work my ass off to get there, but I wouldn’t want to do it any other way.”
Check out the complete Acey Romero interview at SI.com.
REACTION: IMPACT’s Acey Romero Loses Over 100lbs.
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