LANCE HOYT is currently a star in TNA Wrestling, having been a NWA World Tag Team champion with Kid Kash on two occasions. Until recently Hoyt was working in TNA under the name DALLAS. For the past few years he has been a star of the Texas-based Professional Championship Wrestling where is also known as SHADOW. This is a full length interview and will cover some sensitive areas and I am grateful for Mr. Hoyt's honesty in answering all the questions. This interview was done June 20th after a memorable lunch at IHOP with "Primetime" Elix Skipper.

Alan Wojcik: I learned the answer to my first question by watching the NBA Finals with you and Monty Brown. Where did you grow up and was wrestling part of your childhood?

Lance Hoyt: I grew up in a small town called Hern, Texas. It is about twenty minutes from Brian College Station the home of Texas A & M. Like everyone in Texas I played football, basketball and baseball all the way through high school. I got to college as a quarterback. I didn't start watching wrestling until about 1994.

AW: Where did you go to college and what did you major in?

Lance Hoyt: I began at a small school in western-central Texas called Howard Payne University and I finished my schooling at Southwest Texas State University. I have a degree in English.

AW: An obvious question I think would be how does a college QB with an English degree become a professional wrestler?

Lance Hoyt: I played football for my first three years of college but I never met the image my coaches had set for me. They wanted a clean cut, corn fed American kid which I was no where near. I liked my hair longer, got my piercing work done and had crazy designs in my facial hair. After college I worked in night clubs in downtown Austin and the guy who owned the clubs knew a guy who began a school and promotion called Southwest Wrestling Federation. He originally had Ivan Putski as the trainer but by the time I got there they had a falling out. So I was trained by Solo Fitali, who was a Putski trainee.

AW: Did you think being a football player help you in the training process?

Lance Hoyt: No way because I was a quarterback. We did the basic warm-ups and no one ever hit us until game day. I had no idea what I had gotten myself into when I signed up for training. I had participated in theater training in high school and college so I admired the theatrical aspect I had been seeing on TV. The athletics combined with the theatrics hooked me. I did one day of training, more like a tryout and it hurt so bad I almost didn't go back. The owner made it more financially feasible for a recent college graduate to want to be part of the school.

AW: What are your memories of your first time working in front of a live audience?

Lance Hoyt: My first experience in front of a crowd wasn't my first match. In Austin there was a NAFL (National Amateur Football League) team had just began. Their opening game was the first week of July and we set the ring up without a cover to keep the heat off. It was over 100 degrees and we were dumping buckets of water on the canvas even as you could see the heat coming off the mat. The duct tape on the ropes was melting off the cables. I didn't wrestle but I did a run-in. All this happened in front of five people and was my first experience in front of a crowd. My first match was at a car dealership with 4-500 people watching and I wrestled with Tarzan Taylor. I thought it went well. It was way too early for me to have been in there, I did it with one month of training.

AW: Before you were ever called Dallas you worked under three other names like Lance Steele, Shadow and Breakdown. Which came first and did your theater training come in handy like you thought it would?

Lance Hoyt: Every character came about differently. I first used Lance Steele even though I had created Shadow first. The guy who ran the Southwest Wrestling Federation wouldn't have it any other way. For the first couple of months I had no clue what I was doing even though I tried my best. Breakdown came about from working for a promotion in Corpus Christi and somehow I had forgotten all of my gear. I had no clue what happened to my bag. I had a tank top, some wristbands and athletic pants and I made up Breakdown on the spot for my love of dancing. My travel partner and friend Jeremy Sage once described Breakdown as a glorified amped up cheerleader. But it was fun to do Breakdown. Shadow came about when I began working in Dallas for PCW (Professional Championship Wrestling) and I was going to work as Lance Steele but on the card already were a Lance Romance and Jared Steel so they said come up with something else. I told them I had Shadow and they were like are you sure that is what you want? Shadow turned out to be the most fun character to be and it became the most popular persona I used in Texas.

AW: You brought up PCW. How did it come to be your home promotion and how does it differ from the other Texas promotions you worked in?

Lance Hoyt: PCW in Arlington is the best professionally run promotion in Texas and in all of indy wrestling. The facilities they have are excellent and rival anyone else I have worked for. They have been running weekly for years and have run an hour long TV show on UPN-21 for three and a half years. In comparison to some other indies that run monthly or bi-weekly, this place ran weekly with some great talent. They actually began in a mall and the gentleman that owned it had a gymnasium that he used for karate, boxing and other classes. So he moved wrestling into there. Then he bought out a movie theater right across from the mall. They moved the gym into the lobby with full workout equipment, the boxing ring and he made the theater into the PCW arena with a sound system, full staging area and the seating. Each wrestler has the chance to have a local band to make their entrance music. The only thing missing is pyro but we have two screens to project the action and intros for each wrestler. I love working there and felt appreciated. It made you feel like it was home as opposed to being in a building with no sound equipment, bed sheets up keeping the fans and the locker room separate. They have been going strong for five years and are having their fifth anniversary show on June 25th. They have lots of good things going for them.

AW: Doing my research on PCW I found you were the winner of something called "Fight, Win, Survive."

Lance Hoyt: Actually Alan I am the two time winner of Fight Win Survive. It's become a team style tournament that last about five weeks. You fight against the other teams and like the name says you survive to the next round. We do different match styles from pure wrestling to graveyard or all around the town matches and the usual miner's glove on a pole and chain matches. No match is the same and one year to crown the winner the finals began as a four way match into a three way dance into a singles match. I beat Iron Eagle in a bet of three. Last year it came down to the final four inside a cage. The winner usually gets a title shot, this year it's "I wish..." meaning if I win I could wish to get the title shot or be commissioner.

AW: You had many opponents over your PCW years. I wish to focus on two. The first being former WWE Intercontinental champion Ahmed Johnson and the other being current WWE star Paul London.

Lance Hoyt: Paul and I worked a lot in Texas and actually went to the same school a few months apart. Paul was trained by Ivan and blew up because of his obvious talent. We had the match of the year and probably in the history of PCW at a show called Genocide in 2002. Ahmed Johnson came through a couple of years ago when I began the group the Dark Circle. He stuck his nose in the wrong place and the Circle had to take care of things.

AW: You brought up the Dark Circle. It's not the only group you have been part of. You were also a member of the International Playaz Club.

Lance Hoyt: The IPC had been around before I got to PCW; it was started by Lance Romance. My time in the IPC changed the way I portrayed the Shadow character. In the early days Shadow was a guy who liked to dance around and tell some jokes. It wasn't working for me and I wasn't focused in the ring. I changed it to become a more pissed off person in PCW.

AW: You joined TNA Wrestling in the early part of 2004 working as Shadow in some dark matches. What were the circumstances that brought you to TNA?

Lance Hoyt: I had attempted to go to TNA through several avenues but none of them worked out. I was doing a signing at Wrestle-Con in Dallas and (former cage dancer) Lollipop was there repping TNA. We talked and she told me to make a tape for her to give to the office. She must have given it to them because two weeks after meeting her I got an email from Bill Behrens telling me to choose a date to work. I picked one and worked big Don Harris. Don got the better of me that night and I came back another week to show my face that I was interested in working for TNA, because I was very interested in it. I got invited for one more match where I tagged with Delirious to work America's Most Wanted. I got one more Xplosion match with a friend of mine. So we drove the nine and a half hours from Dallas to Nashville so the two of us could work together. After we left TNA tried to contact us and when he got to Nashville they said congrats you're on the PPV and that night I worked with Kash as a tag partner.

AW: At that point Shadow became Dallas when you debuted in the NWA World Tag Team title tournament against Sonny Siaki and Simon Diamond. I should say you became nameless as Mike Tenay and Don West played you up as the mystery family member to Kid Kash.

Lance Hoyt: Dallas came about when I arrived in Nashville to work. The name was the company's choice since Shadow didn't fit too well with Kash's style. I think they were deciding it until the moment I went to the ring. At that time I was the new guy and I fit into the space they had open due to Johnny Swinger not being there. I heard some jokes backstage how I looked like a larger version of Kash. Don Harris had put in some real good words to the office from our match. Right after match I was offered a contract and things were good to begin working.

AW: Were you surprised two weeks later, 4/7/04, you and Kash beat XXX (Low Ki and Christopher Daniels) for the belts?

Lance Hoyt: Amazingly surprised. You go out there with Kash and he does his thing. We were a good mesh with his X division style and his tactics and my power and size. I was shocked when you add XXX to the mix. We became the tag champs three weeks after I debuted.

AW: Things got interesting after you won them because the week you lost them to D-Lo Brown and Apolo only for you and Kash to win them back a week later. Both matches ended with the seldom known TNA championship match rule that a title can change hands via disqualification. What was it like being in a match with opponents close to your size?

Lance Hoyt: I am bigger then those guys even though the might be thicker. With the exception of one person I am the tallest guy in TNA. When say almost as big you are walking a thin line, you might want to retract it before I get up and show you how tall I am (laughs.) That was something new to me, that DQ rule. I was always taught you get DQ'd you keep the belts. I made a wrong decision that night and it cost us the belts. But they came right back to us when Apolo made the same mistake.

AW: During May and June you and Kash mixed it up with AMW's James Storm and the "American Dream" Dusty Rhodes. What was it like being part of a bunkhouse match and have you ever been in awe of an opponent?

Lance Hoyt: For someone who is part of the supposed new school I had no knowledge of the history of the business. I have been doing this for five years an only watching since 1994. I knew of Ric Flair and Dusty Rhodes who helped pave the path I walk today. Obviously it was great working a match Dusty. I am sure there are people who wish they had the chances I am getting, working with him in what was one of his last matches. To have been in the ring with him and been hit with the bionic elbow would go in a book about my career. He is a legendary icon type in the business.

AW: We have talked about winning and losing titles, now we have to talk about losing them to America's Most Wanted on the debut of TNA Impact, filmed here in Orlando, Florida. What were your initial thoughts on working PPV on Wednesday and flying the next day to film a national TV show?

Lance Hoyt: It was an exciting time taking that next step in TV. The weekly PPV worked well but people have to make the choice to order or not. Even with the time slot we were given by Fox (4pm EST) now people could watch it at the time it aired or on Tivo or tape. The fact we defended on the inaugural show with AMW was great. It's in the can and will always be show number 1 in the archives. We lost to an amazing tag team.

AW: After you and Kash lost the belts it seemed like your anger about it was taken out on the Phenomenal AJ Styles.

Lance Hoyt: Hey man sometimes you have to beat someone up to make yourself feel better. AJ is certainly the golden boy of TNA so why not take out the one everyone loves. We didn't care if people loved us or not, we just wanted to beat people down.

AW: This is going a sensitive area so I will understand if you no comment me. During the feud with Styles, Kash abruptly left TNA and you were taken off TV. Did he ever talk about why he left and did you worry about if your release was imminent?

Lance Hoyt: I had spoken with him and understood what he was trying to accomplish in the promotion and his life in general. I didn't have an issue with his decision but at the same time I wasn't happy I was taken off TV. But I didn't blame him for it; he understood I had his back. I have always had confidence in myself and my abilities. I didn't think I was going to be released I knew as part of the team I would be back on the field soon.

AW: While you weren't being used by TNA, you did some work down in Puerto Rico.

Lance Hoyt: I worked for CCW run by Carlos Colon. Dutch Mantel got me on their anniversary show with Kash and Abyss. We wrestled in front of 5-6,000 people in a baseball stadium. Like the ones you see on TV. It was an interesting atmosphere since the fans are far away and the ring sits almost in the middle of the stadium.

AW: When Kash did come back in August the feud with styles was revived with another element brought in, Ron "the Truth" Killings. It culminated in a memorable Asylum Street Fight where you pretty much beat the crap out of Styles and Killings.

Lance Hoyt: That night my size and power advantage came into play again. I am one of the biggest guys in TNA and you put me in a situation where my opponent doesn't have the ropes to use as a weapon. They can't run from me and when you have to go power to power with me you will lose. There's nothing fancy about fighting on the floor when I can toss you around. I may have been on the losing sides of some fights in TNA but my opponents remembered who they were in there and they didn't get over easily.

AW: You were not part of the last weekly Nashville based PPV. What were your feelings as TNA ended the weekly PPV and relocated all TV to Orlando and Universal Studios?

Lance Hoyt: I don't think the monthly PPV setup was explained until the night it ended. We had two good months to adjust to the pay level change. But it felt like the natural progression to leave weekly PPV concept and move to weekly TV and a monthly PPV. I didn't see the move as a negative I saw this as a definite positive for TNA.

AW: You were part of the first monthly event called Victory Road as you and Kash were in an eight man with the Naturals vs. Simon Diamond, Johnny B Badd, Sonny Siaki and Erik Watts.

Lance Hoyt: My memories of it were good despite it being a short match. Erik and I matched up well in size. It was the first time I was allowed to try the moonsault even though I missed it. The show was special. I had been doing weekly TV for five years in PCW so to be on PPV was a big deal. It was a payoff to all the weekly TV shows. TNA had tried to do a three hour PPV but for some reasons it fell through. I will always remember being part of the first Impact and the three hour PPV.

AW: You were part of the Night of Appreciation for Sabu where you took Monty Brown.

Lance Hoyt: I had known Sabu from working in PCW. That match against Paul London we talk about was

Sabu's first time seeing our product. He was with the Insane Clown Posse who were guests of PCW. The week after he was part of a PCW benefit show. When I came to Nashville he was vocal about me being part of TNA. He tried to stand up for me keeping the Shadow name. He was supposed to have been part of that Puerto Rico trip I took he got sick. When Scott D'amore brought up the idea of the show I said I could get myself there could I be part of it and when I asked they said yes. Lots of people have aided me in my life and the guy who runs Wrestle-Con Bret Britton (sorry if misspelled) helped me get to Michigan. For me it wasn't hard to do. As far as working with Monty, he is the next big star in all of wrestling. He has size, the look, the overall intensity and the charisma in making a crowd pop. To go in the ring and almost beat him was a great experience and it I will get my revenge.

AW: On a January 2005 Impact show, it appeared Kash made an error in his promo and called you by your real name. Was this an error, was it scripted or did this have to do with another Dallas being in the promotion at the same time?

Lance Hoyt: You notice Alan I had been pulled of the TV from the Turning Point PPV until January. So I had brought myself to Florida to find out what was going on. Dusty had been placed in charge of booking and he told me they wanted to bring me back under my real name. It wasn't something I wanted to do. This isn't a knock at people who have helped me with ideas but I saw myself, Shadow as a comic book hero type. People get their own idea when they hear I work as Shadow. They could envision a dark guy. When I say I work as Lance Hoyt, they wonder what Lance Hoyt is all about and that is hard to explain. Lance is just me to a umpteenth degree with Lance Steele, Breakdown and Shadow mixed in. The fans here in Orlando have been drawn to the Hoyt name and I can't complain. I admit I was skeptical like anyone would be when presented with a new idea. Kash calling me Lance was done on purpose. The funny thing is people including Kash still call me Dallas off camera. I don't think it had anything to do with Mr. Diamond Dallas Page, I was told it wasn't his doing. But I was part of the company, then he comes in and I am pulled off TV. Then I was asked to become someone else.

AW: At the Destination X PPV you and Kash weren't part of the main show but people will remember your coming out party on the pre-show as they saw the birth of the fans of the Pit who now call themselves Hoyt-A-Maniacs in the match against Cassidy Reilly and Jerrelle Clark. Did this take you by surprise and are you going to get any of the Hoyt-A-Mania shirts worn last night by your fans?

Lance Hoyt: The PPV prior to Destination X we took on America's Most Wanted for the tag titles. When we got to Destination X they told us we want you involved but it's a pre-show slot. We decide to make them regret that decision. Kash and I thought you are taking a good team off PPV so we took it out on Cassidy and Jerrelle. Cassidy wasn't in the ring with me most of the match. I wasn't trying to break away from him but I felt like I needed to break out of Kash's shadow. It all began with a clothesline that sent Jerrelle flying inside and out. I was surprised I got the reaction? No. Maybe its ego but I have had this kind of reaction and success my whole time in wrestling. I have gone places and people didn't know me. People underestimated me and by the time I left the territory, people understood what I was doing. I think the quickness people latched onto me took me by surprise. But I wasn't surprised they latched onto my ability and intensity. The fans have taken the liking to me and it's great. I am out there busting and kicking ass. Let's talk shirts. The Hoyt-A-Mania, the Hoytapalooza, is the biggest party to ever hit TNA. TNA has no clue how big this is going to get, unless they send me away. The fans have made signs that people couldn't see over and security asked them to put them down. Fans spent their own money on hats and shirts. I have a merchandising line thanks to my fans. They did it on their own. I hope TNA is paying attention because I am a force to be reckoned with.