Gangrel Got A ‘Good Vibe’ From AEW Locker Room

The New Brood (Gangrel, Matt, and Jeff Hardy) recently shared a ring at a Big Time Wrestling event. Gangrel has ties with many other wrestlers, such as Christian, who have found a new home in AEW. Gangrel also recently appeared alongside The Young Bucks on an episode of AEW Rampage. While we haven’t heard much from Gangrel about the experience, it seems he indeed had a great.

Speaking on this week’s “Fangin N’ Bangin‘, Gangrel talked about what it felt like appearing on Rampage and how different the AEW locker room is compared to other wrestling promotions. Although he admitted that he wasn’t sure what he was doing when he arrived at the show and how the crowd would react, he did say that he ended up having a pleasant experience.

It was a really good experience. It was AEW Rampage in Las Vegas at the McCormick Culture Arena right there in Mandalay Bay. Very cool hotel, a very cool arena, and everybody was very cool. It was a pleasant experience.

Locker rooms can be intense and intimidating places. Even after being in wrestling 35 years, you could still feel a little off balance, but I could tell you that the AEW locker room was a very pleasant locker room, a very chill, relaxed atmosphere, and everybody made you feel welcome. It was cool. It had a good vibe. It was a very, very good experience.

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Today’s wrestling locker rooms are very different from what they were two decades ago. While there is the occasional backstage arguing and fighting, nowadays, it appears wrestlers are more chilled during and after they go to work in the ring. For someone like Gangrel, this was a most welcomed, nice change of pace. However, he was still quite uncertain about his night in Las Vegas.

I wasn’t sure what I was going to do when I got there. Las Vegas is a three hours time difference from here and the east coast. I got there the night before. I got into my room about six o’clock. I get a nice room, I fall asleep, and I wake up at six the next morning. I’m like ‘Damn, I didn’t get to the gym. I didn’t do anything.’ So I didn’t see much of Vegas which I wouldn’t have anyways, but I would have gone out and ate or something.

I get out and I head to the venue early and I go have breakfast. Well, the first thing I see when I walk in is Paige VanZant, Scorpio Sky, Ethan Page, and Sonjay Dutt. They were all walking through their stuff, so I went out there and I sat for a couple of hours while they were walking through some stuff for a pay-per-view. It was good watching Sonjay break it down, producing the segment, and seeing where they’re going to go with such a crazy bizarre storyline where it’s a bunch of heels and one face basically in there. It’s a very bizarre thing, so that was cool.

Gangrel then revealed he met up with familiar faces like CM Punk and Bryan Danielson. Gangrel said he met Punk years before and was glad to have seen him again. He was happy he appeared the same as before. As for showtime, Gangrel admitted he was nervous about how much the crowd would know him, but ultimately those fears dissolved once he walked through the curtain and heard the reaction.

Then came showtime and here it goes. So they told me ‘Hey, these guys are going to be dressed in black. You’re going to have a curtain. The Young Bucks are going to come out like the Hardys. They’ve been called cosplay Hardys and stuff like that. I’m pretty sure they were Matt and Jeff’s actual gear from like the ’90s or early 2000s. They said, ‘Yeah, they’re going to come out. They’re going to drop a curtain and then you come out.’ I’m like, what? I didn’t say anything. But in my head, I’m thinking, ‘Oh crap man. This is a different type of crowd here. Are they even going to know who the hell I am or are they going to think I’m Meatloaf in his white, puffy shirt?’ When the curtain dropped and people reacted, I was like. ‘Oh, thank goodness.’ That was the biggest fear, so I was super happy.

Perhaps fans will see Gangrel in AEW once more. Until then, it’s good to know that he had a great time and that fans reacted when he came out.

What do you make of Gangrel’s comments? Sound off in the comments section below.