The Don of NXT, Tony D’Angelo, has risen as one of the top stars on the WWE NXT brand. At Halloween Havoc, D’Angelo will defend his NXT North American Championship against Oba Femi in a Tables, Ladders and Scares match.
MuscleManMalcolm recently spoke with D’Angelo about winning the North American Title and his upcoming title defense. D’Angelo also talked about the advice he got from John Cena and CM Punk.
Tony D’Angelo on what it means to him to win the NXT North American Championship:
“It meant a lot. It was my first singles title. I mean, you can count the Heritage Cup, but that’s a cup. This one is a championship title belt, and it felt great. It felt like a long time coming. It felt like I got over a hump in my career, and hopefully it opens up some new opportunities and new doors that may not have been available, but, I know through hard work it was going to happen at some point, and I’m just really excited to have it.”
On how his character came to be in NXT:
“I am Italian. I have Sicilian roots in me. To me, it’s not really a character. I’ve dealt with this kind of stuff my whole life. You know, I’m not going to go ahead and say I’m a mobster, but even if I was, I couldn’t tell you. It just felt right. In life, I have all the same values. Family is super important to me and that’s the biggest part about this. Tony D’Angelo, you know, my middle name is Anthony as well. So it was pretty easy. It’s not that far from who I actually am, so when it came time to do this, it was a no-brainer. I wrestled in college at the University of Buffalo. I could have went that route, but you got The Creeds and American Made. You have a lot of people doing that right now, so I wanted to do something different and do something that’s true to me and that’s Tony D’Angelo.”
On advice he received from John Cena and CM Punk:
“Cena came in and talked to the whole roster and gave us some good advice. CM Punk, he’s always around when he’s available. He’s watching film and telling us what to do and what not to do. He told me, ‘Social media, just don’t look at it.’”
If you use any portion of the quotes from this article please credit Muscle Man Malcolm with a h/t to WrestlingNews.co for the transcription.
