In an exclusive for WrestlingNews.co, Steve Fall spoke with Joey Janela. The interview covers a lot of topics including GCW, AEW, and the prank he pulled on Hulk Hogan last year. Click below for the full interview along with a few transcribed highlights under the video interview.
Joey Janella on how he came up with “Florida Man”:
“It was a spur of the moment thing coming up with the Florida Man deal. I think Drake Younger, Drake Wuertz, he was a deathmatch wrestler and then he turned into a referee for the WWE. At the height of COVID, people were acting crazy and they’re spouting off a lot of crazy conspiracies and stuff and he was one of these guys. It was highly publicized on social media because we had nothing to do besides sit in our houses and you know, rot away.”
“So there were school board meetings in Florida. They were airing them live on YouTube. One day one of the school board meetings was in my area in Orlando at the time where I lived. I’m like, what if I drive to the school board meeting and try to get on the live feed and basically go up there and say my kids were almost kidnapped and I’ve seen kids getting walked on leashes with their masks and stuff. We didn’t get that far, but I was talking To David Bixenspan, you know the very polarizing David Bixenspan. He sent me the link and he said, ‘There’s a meeting going on right now if you’re interested in watching it and having a laugh.’ I was like, ‘You know what? Instead of watching it, I want to go to it.’”
“I was driving back from the gym. I ran into I think it was a Marshalls store, picked up a pair of khaki pants and a plaid shirt. I went to Walgreens and got a cheap pair of sunglasses and a Florida hat. We sped to this meeting. I got in there. I said I was dropping my kids off at something and I’m late. I went in there and the rest is history. Initially, I didn’t get on the feed because I caused too much of a stir and I didn’t play my cards right, but it paid off the next day when I ended up on the main news in Orlando. When I woke up that day, I couldn’t believe my eyes and the Florida man was born.”
If he believes people know this is a work:
“They’re in on the joke. Only idiots are not in on the joke.”
On tricking Hulk Hogan with Florida Man:
“GCW was in Orlando that weekend and the karaoke is Monday. I changed my flight. I said, ‘Alright, let’s do this.’ I was gonna bring a Dr. Fauci cut-out on stage and get me and Hogan to beat it up and drop a leg on it. There was a sung by TLC called ‘No Scrubs.’ I was gonna sing a song called ‘No Vaccine.’ ‘I don’t want the vaccine. The vaccine is poisonous to me. Something, something.’ I forgot what I was gonna say, but ‘F**k Dr. Fauci’, and then hopefully all the Florida men and women sing along with me and hopefully we get it on TMZ, but we went a much easier route. We sang Proud to be an American. I didn’t know the words to that song. I went outside right before for 30 minutes and looked at the lyrics and we went up there and did it. It was very nerve wracking. It went viral and once again, made a lot of merch money off that. I came out with a No Holds Barred parody shirt, me facing Hogan. That shirt sold like crazy. I see that shirt all over the place. It’s fun to me. I went outside. I smoked a cigarette. I changed into my regular clothes, threw my hair down, and just walked back in. I don’t know if they recognized it was me because as Hogan was leaving, I walked up to Hulk Hogan. I said, ‘Excuse me, Mr. Hogan. My friend Jimmy here, he’s terminally ill and he’s gonna die in a few weeks. Is there any way to get a picture?’ Hogan stopped doing what he was doing to get a nice picture with Jimmy. So yeah, I don’t think he knew. I worked The Hulkster. A lot of people don’t get to work Hulk Hogan, but I did it, brother.”
This interview is exclusive to WrestlingNews.co. If you use these quotes, please include a link back to this page.
