Posted on 4/21/126 by Colin Vassallo
Fabian Aichner, better known to fans as Giovanni Vinci, sat
down with Chris Van Vliet at West Coast Creative Studio in
Los Angeles, California to discuss his WWE release, getting
kicked out of Imperium, his repackaged character, losing to
Apollo Crews in less than 10 seconds on SmackDown, the way
he was introduced by ring announcer Samantha Irvin, staying
in NXT when Imperium was called up to main roster, his match
with John Cena and Seth Rollins in India, and more!
How surprised were you by that call that you were getting
released?
“I was and I wasn’t because, I mean, during the summer of
the year previous, I wasn’t on TV, but I knew there was a
plan to come back eventually. We did those vignettes and
everything, but that didn’t last long, unfortunately. So
after that, I noticed when some thoughts started to creep
in. I tried to focus on the positive, and I always had high
hopes. Like, for example, when the new year started, I know
SmackDown went from two hours to three hours, and I was
told, you know, there’s a quote from one of the producers,
we have all the real estate in the world, there’s just not
enough land. Basically, you have all the great wrestlers,
there’s just not enough time on the show. So when SmackDown
went to three hours, I thought, well, maybe now it’s gonna
happen, maybe here’s the chance, and whatever. Then, yeah, I
wasn’t needed for TV for a couple of weeks. You don’t want
to hear that call. But when it happened, I can’t say that I
was really surprised at it. So it was kind of a weird mix of
feelings.”
A lot of people, right after their 90 days are up, they hit
the Indies, or they start doing conventions. You haven’t
done any of that. How do you feel about wrestling right now?
“It’s funny, because this is what I wanted to do since I was
13 years old, and when that chapter ended, I knew I wanted
to take some time away, but I feel like there’s way more
things to do for me. I feel like I haven’t reached my full
potential yet. I feel like some people know what I can do,
but I know I can do a lot more. I just really wanted to take
enough time to not come back and go in halfway. So I
definitely work out, I want to wrestle again. I feel like
there’s many things still to do, nothing set in stone yet,
but when that opportunity comes, I know I’ll be ready for
it.”
Do you have a timeline in your own mind of when you want to
have another match?
“I mean, we’ll see. We’ll see what’s coming up. I did have
some talks with a couple of people, some really good talks,
and we’ll see. I always believe in the timing of the
universe, that everything happens for a reason. Yeah, it’s
just a feeling that I got. At some point, I just felt like
working out more. At some point, I just felt like dialing in
my diet again, just getting more serious with cardio and all
those things. I don’t have to force myself to do that. So I
know when that opportunity comes, it’ll be the perfect
timing. I’ll be in the perfect spot, mentally, physically,
and I’m gonna kill it.”
Right before you got released, you were kind of repackaged.
So you had these vignettes that you’re talking about. It’s
like Italian elegance. You’re driving a Ferrari in Las
Vegas, and then you come out and you lose to Apollo Crews in
less than 10 seconds. So what was the original plan with
these vignettes and where your character would go?
“I thought the plan was to get me going right away, and I
didn’t find out about that till basically the day of the
show. So at the end of the day, you’re a professional.
Whatever the plan is, you try to make the most of it. I do
have to say, as far as entrance-wise, that was my favorite
entrance I’ve ever done. Because in the group, I always felt
a little bit like I tried to fit in. That’s why I didn’t
stand out. Whereas with that character that I did in NXT,
and it worked great there, doing that on the main roster, I
just felt like, Okay, I have some sort of direction, who I
am, what I’m supposed to do. Was my favorite entrance,
personality-wise, charisma-wise and everything, and then the
plan changed the day of. Looking back now, I feel like from
a business standpoint, if you look at the positives, it
definitely got attention, definitely got people talking. The
unfortunate thing for me is just that not more came out of
it, because I feel like we could have done a lot of cool
stuff with that character on SmackDown. I know Apollo and I
could have tore it up in a match. We did in NXT. We did on
Main Event. We have great chemistry. It was just things just
kept happening. We moved to a different channel two weeks
after then the next thing happened. I wasn’t on TV for a
little bit. And, yeah, that’s just one of those things that
are a little unfortunate. Because I saw myself actually
having really good matches with the guys in the United
States title picture at the time, like Melo, LA Knight,
Andrade at the time. I think we could have done some cool
stuff there. But, yeah, it is what it is.”
I think the way that Samantha Irvin introduced you really
helped to get you over, especially early on
“Oh, for sure, she did an amazing job. I was actually
looking forward to the introduction every time myself, like,
oh, here we go. ‘Giovanni!’ She did amazing.”
Did she tell you she was going to do that?
“No, no. Caught me off guard myself. Like, oh, that was
cool.”
I’ve heard a lot of people saying that this new El Grande
Americano looks a lot like Ludwig Kaiser. What do you think
of the work that he’s doing?
“I think he’s killing it at whatever he’s doing. I think he
has a good feel for what the people want to see and what
people want to get out of it, and the reaction speak for
themselves.”
You had a match where it was Imperium versus John Cena and
Seth Rollins. I don’t know if a lot of people know that you
were in the ring with John Cena. How did that match come
about?
“Man, was such a surreal moment. It was announced that Cena
was going to be on that show in India. It was kind of last-
minute. It was kind of thrown together, or was announced
that Seth and Cena against Ludwig and I at the time, and I
tell you, that was the loudest reaction I’ve ever heard in
my life. That building of the floor was vibrating. It was
shaking when we were standing there. He did his entrance,
and then it was one of those. It’s almost like you wear a
real-life VR, you know, those virtual reality things.
Because he was my brother’s favorite wrestler. Growing up in
2004 2005, obviously watched him my whole life myself, and
then he gets a tag, and I get a tag, okay, wrestling John
Cena now, crazy moment. Obviously you want to still be
professional like 99%, but that 1% in the back of your mind
is like, Oh, this is cool. This is very cool.”