Chris Masters Wasn’t Confident The Masterlock Challenge Would Work In WWE

Chris Masters (now known as Chris Adonis) became famous in WWE for his unbreakable “Masterlock.” The move was a standard full nelson, but Masters physique sold him as unspeakably strong. The Masterpiece worked his way up the card in the company and had several high-profile feuds but was never able to find gold during his time there.

Adonis is the current reigning NWA World’s Heavyweight Champion. Billy Corgan’s organization recently announced some big moves to bring more attention to the company in 2022. Masters is a recognizable face with a lot of history with wrestling fans.

Masters talked about that history on Something to Wrestle With Revisited. The former WWE superstar shared his experiences during his early days with Vince McMahon’s promotion. Chris said not everyone believed in the Masterlock challenge at first.

“When it was pitched to me, I was like, ‘Oh my God. Are the fans going to like this? Would I like this as a fan? Is it too basic?’, because you were so conditioned at that point. There was so much cool innovative stuff that was happening that I was worried because I would always try to frame it where I would try and put my fan hat back on and be like, ‘Would I like this?’ Sometimes I wasn’t sure. But, credit to Hunter.

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We came up with the full nelson. We did the Masterlock challenge. Not everybody was confident at first, but I think it was Hunter who told them to stick it out. We kept rolling it, pushing it on TV, doing the challenges, and building it. It ended up getting over.”

Masters recently teased that he might return at the Royal Rumble. Chris said he used to use the Masterlock when he was a bouncer to avoid striking people. The entire gimmick ultimately worked. While his days with WWE are in the past, Chris Adonis is ready to carry the NWA to new heights in 2021.

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H/T WrestlingNews.co