AEW star Lance Archer has spoken about his time working in the WWE, revealing why Vince McMahon liked him during his run in the company.
Archer wrestled for the company between 2009 and 2010, wrestling on the ECW brand. He competed under the slightly altered name of “Vance Archer” during this time.
He had a short undefeated streak on ECW, before forming a tag team with Curt Hawkins, following a move to Smackdown. Together, the team was called “The Gatecrashers”.
Lance Archer’s WWE stint ended with a whimper. He went on a singles losing streak before being released in November 2010. He then moved to work in Japan, before being signed to AEW in 2020.
Speaking with Chris Jericho on Talk is Jericho, Lance Archer talked about his time in the WWE.
The former IWGP United States Champion revealed that Vince McMahon liked his beard at the time. His beard was the reason why he was pushed by Vince McMahon, even though he shaved it off soon after.
“We were supposed to have all these vignettes getting ready for our debut and it didn’t happen because the show changed all the time,” Archer recalled to Chris Jericho on Talk Is Jericho.
“We worked a dark match, we get done, come through the curtain and Billy Kidman is like, ‘Hey, Vince likes your beard.’ ‘What?’ ‘Vince likes your beard.’ I walked away, didn’t know anything. Billy came to FCW and decided to tell the story and the whole point was, ‘You never know what Vince is going to like.’
Vince piped in on the headset and said, ‘Has Archer always had that beard?’ I’d see Vince every single week for the last three months, shook his hand, said hello, but he had no reason to pay attention to me. Now I’m on his TV screen, he sees my beard, asks Billy if I’ve always had it. ‘I really like his beard. Tell him I like his beard.’ Next week, we were on TV, me and Curt, got a little bit of a push until it went downhill.”
Lance Archer recently returned to NJPW to take on Will Ospreay, with the winner battling Kenny Omega at Forbidden Door.
He has been out with an injury for some time, but should be ready to return to AEW in the near future, likely on the AEW Collision TV show.
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