Tony D’Angelo didn’t just ditch the suits when he moved on from The Don. He actually had to go to speech therapy because his old WWE character had become so ingrained that even the way he talked needed some work.
Speaking on the Battleground Podcast, D’Angelo was asked what habit from his old mob-boss character was the hardest to leave behind. As it turns out, it was the accent he had spent years using as part of the gimmick.
“Well, you know, I had to go to speech therapy because I had a little bit of an accent.”
Once WWE started moving D’Angelo into the next evolution of his character, he had to consciously remind himself not to slip back into that familiar way of speaking. After playing The Don for so long, simply changing his voice wasn’t something he could immediately switch off.
“So when I started the new evolution of Tony, I had to keep reminding myself and hold my tongue. That was the biggest thing, for sure.”
The changes went beyond how D’Angelo sounded. He also stopped wearing suits because he wanted a clear separation between the new version of himself and the mob-boss character fans had gotten used to seeing.
“But I stopped wearing suits. I wanted to separate myself from that other guy. And I was just telling Mark Henry that I also wanted to show versatility.”
For D’Angelo, the whole change was also about proving he wasn’t stuck playing one type of character. He already showed WWE he could handle the more character-heavy material, but he also wanted people backstage to know he could work as a straight-up badass if that’s what they needed.
“I can do the character stuff. I can go that route if you need me to, but I can also be a badass and fit into that role.”
Ultimately, D’Angelo wants WWE’s decision-makers to know they have options with him. Whether they want another heavily defined character or something completely different, he feels this evolution has allowed him to show a lot more of what he can actually do.
“So it’s just showing everybody what I’m capable of, and then the powers that be, whatever they want to do with me, they know what I’m capable of.”
Going to speech therapy just to leave an old wrestling character behind shows how seriously D’Angelo took the change. The Don wasn’t simply a suit he could take off, and he clearly wanted the next version of Tony D’Angelo to feel different instead of looking like the same guy with a slightly updated presentation.
Do you think Tony D’Angelo’s character change has done a good job showing a different side of him in WWE? Let us know what you think in the comments.
This transcript was produced exclusively for Ringside News from the original recording. Republishing the transcription in full is prohibited. When using excerpts, provide prominent credit and a link to this article.
