Source: Tim Baines of the Winnipeg Sun
Johnny Devine is a multi-talented wrestler — a guy with skills, plenty of charisma and an appreciation for tradition.
He could have just cashed his TNA paycheck for another year, but he recently walked away, looking to branch out into another passion — broadcasting. He’s hoping to enrol in the Specs Howard School of Broadcast Arts in Detroit.
“I did acting before I got into wrestling,” says Devine. “It’s something that’s always been a viable option.”
The 34-year-old Devine still loves the sport he began watching in Calgary when he was four. But it was just time to make a change in his life.
“I enjoyed my time there, but it was time to move on.”
So why quit? Why leave a promotion that seems heading in the right direction, adding marquee stars like Sting, Mick Foley, Booker T, Kurt Angle and Christian Cage in the past couple of years?
“The hard part to swallow is the difference in pay,” says Devine. “Yes, they’re legends. But the salaries aren’t even remotely close. I don’t want to get into specifics, but there’s a big difference. There was frustration.”
Devine refutes reports that he made just $30,000 a year and had to pay for his own rental cars, airfare and hotel. “I made more than 30Gs and flights were covered,” he says.
To say it was all about money wouldn’t be true. Devine is a guy with principles, a Canadian who worked his way to the big time. A career highlight was winning Stampede Wrestling’s Commonwealth Mid Heavyweight championship … “all my heroes held that one,” says Devine, who has also spent time in Winnipeg and now lives in Windsor, Ont. “To me, it was never about title bouts,” he says. “Your job is to make sure fans go home happy.”
So does he like being the “bad guy?”
“I’ll always be able to draw heat — I’m a natural a——,” says Devine. “People don’t understand how hard it is to make people like you. It’s way harder to be a good babyface than to be a big heel. Anybody can insult fans and make them hate you. So I’d prefer to do the harder job and be good.”
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