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On Wednesday 15th April 2020, WWE released a chunk of their on screen talent , as well as a huge amount of backstage staff, which they used as a way to save money due to the Coronavirus.
One of the people released was No Way Jose, who joined NXT in early 2015, and debuted on TV in April of 2016. He then made his main roster debut on the Raw after WrestleMania 34. Jose’s time in WWE wasn’t very successful and he didn’t become a fan favorite. His conga line was unique, however he didn’t really get any character development.
WrestleTalk had the pleasure to speak to Jose, where he revealed how he wanted a more serious character, his feelings after being called up from NXT, ideas he had pitched to WWE creative and more.
He also speaks about his opinion on his WWE name, No Way Jose:
“The name itself, ha. I don’t know how the hell it happened, they were like “what do you think of No Way Jose”, and I was like “no”. I thought it was a catchphrase, and I was like “oh cool”… they saw something in film and somehow it came up… [Matt] Bloom was like “what if you want it as a name?”, and I was like “no way”. Then a writer came up to me and was like “why?”, and I was like “it will pigeon hole me, there is a ceiling”, all the real stuff in terms of business. Nobody goes in there and says they want to be a No Way Jose probably, they want to be, for me it was The Rock when I saw The Rock I wanted to be The Rock… We went into Full Sail and I’m walking in and you shake everyone’s hand and Triple H is right there talking to Eva Marie or someone, I’m like “hey, sir, how you doing?” And he’s like No Way, what’s going on?”. In my head I’m like “s***, is that a thing?” And he goes “got it approved today, what do you think?” And I said “I love it, let’s go”.”
He was then asked about his gimmick and his signature conga line, which was made up of local talent and fans:
“It’s not that I didn’t enjoy the gimmick, but the name wasn’t my first choice. What ended up happening with it was it became its own thing, it took its own form. What I loved about it was the fan interaction. We could go into the crowd and we literally do conga lines, that’s how it came to be… it was me going out into the people and getting behind me… I never got the opportunity to show a more serious side and have something I could really sink my teeth into.”
Speaking of awesome ideas he pitched, Jose revealed that he pitched an idea that would have seen him train members of the conga line. He also revealed how Vince McMahon suggested an idea of him turning on the conga line:
He continued to speak about ideas he had pitched, and one that Vince McMahon had pitched to him, which never took place:
“I wish we could have done more. Since we used them for two solid years, we could have done more to give them a different side, like boot camp was something I had like training with them to get them tougher. I had talks with the boss a couple of times and he was like if the turn ever happened, I’d need to like lay them out and show that aggressiveness.I was super excited to get an opportunity to do that. I thought that’s where we were going to end up going… maybe it was a plan down the line but I guess we’ll never know.”
He finished by touching on his conga line and when he was told that he would bring it out more frequently:
“They wanted the conga line with me. In NXT, I only did the conga line for big events. I was like “alright, whatever. I’ll do the conga line”, and then it stuck. I feel a certain way about the conga line. I love the conga line, I absolutely do, but I think that’s the line that maybe held me back a little bit.”
Credit To WrestleTalk.com for quotes used.