Fresh off his TNT Championship match from last week’s special episode of Dynamite, All Elite Wrestling’s Sonny Kiss joined Chris Jericho’s podcast, Talk is Jericho.
During their conversation, Kiss opened up about how he came to sign with AEW. He also revealed how he came to be known as Sonny Kiss.
Kiss revealed how Sonny is actually a nickname off his real-life name, Hassan. He explained how Kiss derives from him blowing a lot of kisses during his entrances. Kiss revealed how his dad is “partly Middle Eastern” and his mom is “African American Native American.”
Sonny Kiss on Joining AEW
Chris Jericho then asked how Sonny Kiss came to be signed by AEW. Kiss revealed how Brandi Rhodes had reached out to him. According to Kiss, she wanted to know if he was signed and asked if she could go to a show.
He explained how he was signed to Lucha Underground at the time. Despite this, he was allowed to “do other stuff.” Kiss noted how Lucha Underground talent were allowed to do “everything but the other company.”
Lucha Underground
Reflecting on his time with Lucha Underground, Kiss shared how it wasn’t the best time. He also noted how the roster weren’t on high salary contracts.
“That contract (Lucha Underground), I don’t even want to get into for legal reasons. We were probably making $4,000 a year. There were times I couldn’t even pay my cell phone bill or anything,” Kiss explained. “I couldn’t even contribute to my rent. They (Pentagon and Phoenix) were one of the first to get out and I was one of the last to get out. Cody said, don’t worry, we are still going to book you to the moon and make sure you are still here which was great.”
Sonny Kiss recently responded to hateful comments made by a troll ahead of his TNT Championship match on last week’s Fight for the Fallen event. Despite his best efforts, he would ultimately lose the match to reigning champion, Cody.