In an exclusive interview with PWPonderings, Channing Thomas (@ChanThomasPro) sat down with Scott Mitchell (@scott44mitchell) to discuss his time in Dreamwave Wrestling, so far, including his recent Steel Divide Match against The Curse, Connor Hopkins, and Nic Nemeth, as well as his time in Limitless Wrestling, including working with Donovan Dijak, Bustah & The Brain, The Bakabella Family, and so much more. Watch the interview in its entirety down below.

Let’s jump right into it. On Saturday, July 18th, you will be taking part in what is sure to be a brutal and bloody match as you will be a part of Team Dreamwave to face off with The Curse in the Steel Divide match. What is your mindset heading into this one?

“Well, the Steel Divide is something that is unlike anything on the independents today. Dreamwave Wrestling, who has honestly taken me in and treated me like a son. I feel like the fans at Dreamwave, I wasn’t the best or greatest guy at first, but they loved me and they kept rooting for me, despite whatever I did. Now, I feel like Chicago & LaSalle, Illinois, are a home. We have an infestation in our home. It’s time to eradicate Connor Hopkins and all of The Curse. We have a problem here, so. It’s an unlikely team of me, Hartenbower, Christian Rose, 12 Gaige Noonan, and Bobby Orlando. I didn’t see eye-to-eye with Bobby. I didn’t see eye-to-eye with Hartenbower. Christian Rose almost started The Curse. He kind of gave Connor Hopkins the lane and Connor kicked him to the side. 12 Gaige Noonan was just brutally betrayed by his best friend, Hunter Holdcraft. So, there’s a lot of animosity in this match on Saturday. It’s unfortunate because Saturday’s my birthday, so I’m going to go to war on my birthday. I wouldn’t have it any other way in my opinion.”

The last time you guys faced off with The Curse, they beat Team Dreamwave in a Survival of the Fittest match. Now it seems like the Steel Divide is really your last chance to save Dreamwave. What are your thoughts?

“The Survival of the Fittest match was a five-on-five or four-on-four tag I believe. It was a large tag team match. Now, we have the elements of the Steel Cage, the elements of the weapons, and just the elements of all the absolute chaos, and of course the man who’s going to be enforcing and making sure this war ends is Ken Shamrock. What more can you ask for in the World’s Most Dangerous Man, in one of the world’s most dangerous matches? I think Saturday is going to be win, lose, whatever happens, I think it’s going to change the landscape of Dreamwave Wrestling for the future.”

Win or lose, Connor Hopkins still has that Dreamwave World Championship around his waist. Is that still a goal of yours to get back?

“Absolutely. I don’t think there’s a person on my team that wouldn’t like a shot at Connor Hopkins. Bobby Orlando is the Good As Gold Rumble winner. Christian Rose was a former friend of Connor Hopkins. Hartenbower is the heart and soul of Dreamwave Wrestling. Gaige Noonan, 12 Gaige Noonan, he’s recently a singles competitor, so he has a lot to prove. Myself, a former Dreamwave Heavyweight Champion, obviously, I’d love to get back to the mountaintop. But, I think we need to set aside our differences and focus on the larger picture that Connor Hopkins is a plague in Dreamwave Wrestling and he is tarnishing great talent such as Stephen Wolf and Hunter Holdcraft. He is just, there’s a lot going wrong in there.”

Unfortunately, one of the great talents he did tarnish was Brittnie Brooks. We saw her turn heel on Bobby Orlando, leaving him laying and turning her back on Dreamwave. How hard was it for you to see that?

“When I first started at Dreamwave, I was told that Brittnie Brooks is the “Hulk Hogan” of Dreamwave Wrestling. The fans loved her. I’ll never forget when she was wrestling Maggie Lee, or someone else, I’ll never forget she was wrestling someone and all I saw was a bunch of little girls with these homemade Brittnie Brooks shirts. I just said, ‘Wow, that is one of the most incredible things. She’s such an inspiration to these young, female fans, and we need more of that in pro wrestling.’ To see her turn her back on a place that, in my opinion, put her on the map and kind of gave her this run that she’s on, is kind of disgusting.”

Obviously, at the last Dreamwave event, we saw The Curse get stronger, adding Hunter Holdcraft to the ranks. What was your mindset when you saw Hunter turn on 12 Gaige and destroy The Hype?

“Brittnie, that was disgusting. But, to be honest, Hunter turning on 12 Gaige completely blind-sided, the whole locker room. Nobody saw it coming because the amount of success these guys had as a tag team the last couple of years, and the amount of success I’ve seen them both have as a tag team, I thought they’d be one of those teams that lived forever and were kind of glued at the side, like a Rock’N’Roll Express, just tagging forever. To see Hunter turn on his best friend, just kind of proves how disgusting and evil that Connor Hopkins is. He’s so manipulative. He gets in the ear of these people and promises them these things that he can’t even actually get. It’s sad. I see a lot of young wrestlers get exploited by people like that. To see Connor Hopkins do that is just unacceptable.”

You are a former Dreamwave Champion, first winning the title from Connor Hopkins in October of last year. What did this moment mean to you, winning the Dreamwave Championship?

“Well, it didn’t mean much. As soon as I hoisted that championship belt above my head, Connor Hopkins’ Curse was kind of unleashed. Him, Stephen Wolf, Aminah Belmont, they came out, beat me, handcuffed me to thr ropes, Connor Hopkins took a spike to Sidney Bakabella, made him bleed from the skull profusely. So, it was one of the proudest nights of my life, but also one of the saddest and most shameful. It’s something that has stuck with me. It should have been a happy moment. I can only look back with sadness and regret because I didn’t have the foresight to see that coming.”

You and Connor Hopkins took part in three matches in your reign, including a first-blood match and then a No Holds Barred match that saw Hopkins regain the title. What were all of these very physical and very brutal matches like for you?

“It kind of goes back a little bit further than that. Connor Hopkins is the reason why I won the Good As Gold Rumble. When I won that Good As Gold Rumble, he was the champion. Eventually, the writing was on the wall and I tried to cash in on him and he ran scared. At “Trick Or Treat,” we went to war for the first time. He’s a ferocious competitor. He’s squirrely. He will fight you to his last breath and he will fight you hard. So, he almost reminds me of someone kind of like Alec Price. I’ve wrestled Alec a few times and he’s also like that. He’s ferocious. He has a crazy motor. He will fight you until the end. I see a lot of the same things in Connor. But, what I don’t see in Alec that I do see in Connor is that Connor’s evil, whereas Alec is a sweetheart. Connor is an evil person who just hates, and hates, and hates. He will do whatever it takes to destroy what people love. There’s a little bit of a difference. He’s almost unpredictable in a way. Very chaotic.”

One match I’d be remiss if we didn’t bring up from your time at Dreamwave Wrestling was your match with Nic Nemeth at the 10th anniversary show. What was it like to work with someone like Nemeth?

“Nic is a special, special talent, obviously. He’s a former Heavyweight Champion at some of the biggest promotions in the world, such as WWE and TNA Wrestling. So, getting a chance to step in the ring with a guy of that talent to see how you measure up against that, is always exciting. I’ve had, throughout my career, I’ve had more than a fair share of my opportunities to wrestle some of the biggest names in professional wrestling. So, I always kind of take that with pride and take that to see where I stack up in the moment. I got the win that night. It may have been through devious ways, but I picked it up however I could. So, that was a nice feather in the cap.”

Do you have any future goals at Dreamwave Wrestling, specifically?

“I think getting back to the mountaintop as the Dreamwave Heavyweight Champion is the penultimate goal. I think that is at the, after July 18th, that will be the next step. Right now, it’s clearing up The Curse and making sure they feel the wrath of Team Dreamwave. But after that, unfortunate to my teammates, it’s a lone-man’s game at some points. That Heavyweight Championship is a lone-man’s throne, and that’s where I want to sit at.”

On Sunday, July 12th, you and Anthony Greene, collectively known as StarStruck, battled Bustah & The Brain’s Alec Price & Jordan Oliver when Game Changer Wrestling debuted to New Hampshire. What was it like to work with Bustah & The Brain?

“GCW didn’t return to New Hampshire, it was actually their first time there. Which, I think is important because GCW is going to be the first independent wrestling company to have a show in all 50 states. So, to happen to be a part of that one and The Main Show, which happened in November, where we also wrestled Bustah & The Brain, wrestling guys like Alec Price & Jordan Oliver, with my partner, Anthony Greene. The amount of wrestling knowledge, and just skill in these tag matches, are just undeniable. Any time I get to go to war with Alec, a guy I started with 10 years ago, I love. Those chances kind of happened pretty often where I got to wrestle him every month or every other month. Now, with him being signed to AEW and he moved out of New England, those chances are harder to come by, so they’re very special to me where I get to wrestle against Alec or with Alec, on the same team as Alec. Sunday was special. I love the energy that the crowd has at GCW. I love wrestling GCW. I was actually on a cruise all last week, and I got off the boat around nine in the morning in New Jersey, and I had to rush up to New Hampshire. Couldn’t, wouldn’t ever change anything again. That was a wonderful day. Perfect day. Got to end it wrestling some great talents. That’s what I love, working with some great, talented people.”

What has it been like to work with Anthony Greene and form StarStruck with him? How did that team come about?

“So, Anthony has always been a great friend of mine and we always had a like mind for the business. Some talent scouts for some major promotions said that they think we would be a great tag team. We kind of already were toying with the idea of it. Just getting the chance to, I’m still a student of the game, and Anthony’s still a student of the game, but he’s much more knowledgeable than me. He’s had a chance to be at WWE for NXT, or wrestling for 30,000 people in Tokyo for Wrestling NOAH. Having a guy who I can lean on to ask questions, and makes suggestions and will tell me if they’re good or interesting, or not so much and he’ll tell me why, having that kind of mentor in a way, and he’s so close to my age still, he’s only a couple of years older than me. So, he’s a mentor but he’s also a really good friend, that he’s so smart and knowledgeable that, I love having the opportunity to work with AG and relish the chance to tag with him more.”

On Friday, July 17th, at Limitless Wrestling, you teamed with Greene and Dijak to face off with Bustah & The Brain and Leedz Lewis. What was your mindset heading into this one?

“I heard something very interesting about Leedz Lewis this past week. I heard that either this month or last month, very recently, that he had 14 matches in one month. He’s only been wrestling for a year and he’s only had 28 matches before this month. It’s crazy. He’s such a special talent. I heard he’s like a crazy, parkour, calisthenics kid from France, so that’s pretty interesting. He’s just a unique talent. So, I’m looking forward to getting the chance to work with him. Then, of course, Donovan Dijak is just amazing. He’s another guy like Anthony where he has such great experience. He has such great intensity for professional wrestling and his in-ring work is so intense and so aggressive. Everything looks clean. I love that type of physical aggressive wrestling. The fact that I get to learn that from Dijak and get those more physical and intense moments in my matches, I’m looking forward to this one a lot.”

I’d also be remiss if I didn’t bring up your time at Limitless Wrestling. The Bakabella family, consisting of you, Donovan Dijak, Anthony Greene, Aiden Aggro, & J-Heru, kind of ran things there for a while. Recently, stuff changed, but what did your time in Limitless mean to you, so far?

“So, Limitless to me is the best promotion of professional wrestling in all of America. Randy Carver has given so much to that scene, Maine wrestling. Really over the last 30 years or so, Maine wrestling has had such a bad reputation when it comes to pro wrestling. Randy Carver is from Maine and he really wanted to change that stigma and give people in Maine a great professional wrestling product. I’m so happy that I get to be a part of it. When I first started training, I’d go to those shows because those were the shows to go to. They weren’t even the best shows, but they were the most fun to go too as a fan and as a wrestler. It was fun to go and hangout. Now, being a part of the shows, and being a champion for Limitless Wrestling twice, such an awesome experience and one that I’ll never forget. Super, super proud of my time as a champion at Limitless. Still super proud of my time at Limitless. I love Limitless Wrestling. It’s my favorite wrestling promotion not named Dreamwave Wrestling, or in New England. I love Limitless. They’re like 1a), 1a), I can’t put one as 1b).”

Seeing the work that Dijak is doing in Limitless Wrestling as their World Champion, what’s going through your head as you watch his reign unfold, and is there a part of you that wants your title back?

“I’m a competitor. I love to compete, so you know I have that edge in me. But, watching what Dijak has been doing as champion, is special. That’s the gear that Dijak hits in his matches, as a wrestler, it’s second-to-none. So having the opportunity to kind of experience those, watch how he hits that second gear, it’s just great to see. He’s got the name recognition, he’s a great talent. He’s been on WWE and NXT forever, he’s a former MLW Tag Team Champion, so he’s still a major player in the independents and I think he’s one of the hardest workers. He works. Some guys when they come from WWE and these major promotions, they just want to phone it in. Dijak is the complete opposite. He just wants to go absolutely as hard as  humanly possible. That’s the type of thing that I respect.”

This past weekend, you teamed up with Sam Holloway and TJ Crawford to battle Bryce Hansen, BMD, and Xavier Walker at Alpha-1 Wrestling. What’s your mindset heading into this one?

“As I said earlier, Alpha-1 Wrestling is a place where young, hungry, and passionate wrestlers are going because they want to wrestle in Canada for one of the best promotions in Canadian wrestling. Ethan Page, who runs Alpha-1 is such a great teacher and mentor for all of these guys, myself included. I learned so much from Ethan, in the short couple of years I’ve been there. I learned so much from Ethan already. To have the opportunity to team with TJ, who’s another great friend of mine. We went to Europe on tour together in 2019, and since then, we’ve been super tight from then. Then, to start to work with Sam and see this big, physical monster, who’s almost like another Dijak in a way. An athletic freak who’s like 6-foot-5 and 300 pounds. It’s fun. I’m having some of the most fun up in Canada with Touch of Class. But, the fun’s kind of been coming to a little halt because we have a little issue with Xavier Walker & BMD. BMD is this guy from Canada, and he’s Hamilton’s own and he’s Hamilton’s son. I think he’s a little jealous that World Class has came and made himself as Hamilton’s son. I think he takes issue with that.”

Any future goals that you’d like to accomplish in 2026 or beyond?

“I think just making professional wrestling better. It doesn’t matter where I’m doing it. It doesn’t matter if it’s a TV company, or an independent company. My goal is to provide great, passionate professional wrestling. I think that sometimes that’s what’s missing. That element of professional wrestling that I most loved, that classic, old-school professional wrestling, that’s kind of dying a little bit, for some professional wrestlers. They don’t really know the Nick Bockwinkle’s, or they don’t really watch World Class Championship Wrestling, or they’ve never seen World Of Sport, or they only watch these like, clips on Twitter, and highlight videos but they don’t understand the nuance’s of it. I love the nuance’s of professional wrestling. I love those little story-telling details. So, wherever I go, expect to have classic professional wrestling in World Class Channing Thomas.”

Anyone you’d like to share the ring with?

“So, I actually have a list of people. I won’t go too far into it. Santana is a guy that’s been killing it at TNA. He was killing it all over the independents. He’s a guy who I’d love to share the ring with. Despite being local too me, I’ve never had the opportunity to wrestle Bear Bronson yet. That would be really fun. That would be a cool styles clash type of stuff. I’d love to wrestle Kody Lane again. We have such great chemistry and he’s a special talent. I know he’s my tag partner but Anthony Greene has given me some of the best matches. So, I’d love to have the opportunity to wrestle him in a tournament format and there’s some stakes and it’s not just us wrestling. I think that would be really fun. Yeah, there’s a lot of special talented guys who I haven’t had the chance to work with yet, but those guys stick out.”