Trick Williams Calls Out Former World Champion And TNA Legend As He Levels Up In Pro Wrestling

It's a bold move from the current TNA Champion, but bold moves are in the DNA of Trick Williams. Williams has been TNA Champion since May. He defeated Joe Hendry at the NXT Battleground event to win the title. It's a big responsibility, but Williams says that he's recently adopted a brand new approach to dealing with responsibility as a wrestler.

"As of late, man, I've kind of released all responsibilities to anybody other than myself, and I feel so much lighter, and I feel so much better," Williams said.

"Those championship runs at NXT, I feel like I was trying to carry the weight of everybody, all the fans, all my family. and everybody. I wanted to make people proud and wanted to show everybody what I'm capable of. And somewhere along the line, I felt like a politician. I mean, it felt like I was almost losing the true essence of who Trick Williams was. That's when I learned. This isn't about anybody else. This is my life."

When did that new mindset to level up as a pro wrestler finally click? Williams says it was when he became a mainstay in TNA.

"I truly believe it's when I stepped foot in TNA," Williams said on when the level up happened. "I worked very hard to get to the spot that I'm in. People say 'you haven't been in the business that long,' and all this other type of stuff -- forget that, man. I busted my butt all my life. You don't look like this on accident.

"The things I've done to get to where I am, you can't deny it. And as I walked in the TNA locker room (I got) side eyes, smirks, all these other sound effects and stuff, because people think I'm not deserving of the opportunity. You think I'm an outsider just coming in trying to serve myself? And partially, they are right. Partially, it is. I was like, no matter what you do, somebody is always gonna have something to say. And that's when I realized, I'm gonna do what I gotta do."

Was there another point in time where Trick felt like he leveled up as a performer? Just listen to him talk about his match against Carmelo Hayes for the NXT Championship at Stand & Deliver during WrestleMania 40 weekend. Williams and Hayes don't see eye to eye anymore, but there's still a strong sense of respect there because of that match.

"It was such a heartfelt storyline," Williams said of his feud with Carmelo Hayes. "A guy who I used to call my brother. Carmelo Hayes. For the first time, we faced off one-on-one in that ring. I supported that guy for years at this time and backed him up and supported his career. I helped him get gold. I helped him become world champion on different occasions. For it to unfold like it did, it was a lot of emotions going on. Like, I'm really standing across the ring for my brother? The crowd is going crazy. They were invested in whole time. I was like, I can't believe we're here right now."

A lot of the Trick Williams story is about taking chances and risking it all for key career moments. Williams spoke highly of NXT boss, Shawn Michaels, but said a risky conversation with the Hall of Famer is what ignited his push as one of the faces of NXT.

"I remember the first time I went into Sean's office myself. Not Trick and Melo, but just Trick," Williams said. "I told Shawn, I love what I'm doing, and I love supporting and making sure Melo is good, but now I kind of want to take a chance on myself and see what I can do. And it's the first time I ever did anything like that. It's the first time I took a chance on myself in his office.

"He said, 'you know, Trick, a lot of guys come to me and they come to my office and they want the ball. The truth is, if I give you opportunity and you're not ready for it, I'm going to put you on the bench.' I said, 'oh shoot.' And also just remember saying, I didn't come into this game to be a backup. I came here to be the guy."

Williams is the guy and he'll wrestle in the main event of TNA Slammiversary this weekend with this TNA World Championship on the line against Joe Hendry and Mike Santana in a Triple Threat Match.

Other announced matches for TNA Slammiversary include a winner-take-all match between Jacy Jayne and Masha Slamovich for both the TNA Knockouts Championship and the NXT Women's Championship, Mustafa Ali vs. Cedric Alexander, and Moose vs. Leon Slater for the TNA X-Division Championship.