Q&A: The Street Profits Bring The Smoke
By Ryan Satin
The Street Profits have had a remarkable year in WWE.
Since officially being called up from NXT in October of last year, Montez Ford and Angelo Dawkins have accomplished more than a lot of wrestlers do their entire careers.
Now, on the precipice of their huge dream match at Survivor Series against New Day, the two WWE Superstars joined me via Zoom to discuss all of this and more.
RS: How have you felt about your first year on the main roster?
MONTEZ: It’s been undescribable, man. Absolutely.
One of the main things we always talk about is we just thank God for the fact that we put in so much time and work to really see it relish right before our eyes and everything.
Also to go through the journey together. That’s a-whole-nother concept in itself. Yeah, the first year has just been wild.
And even now, with Survivor Series coming up, with us facing The New Day, it’s just all these opportunities that are being presented for us to really show the world who we really are.
For us, that’s been a blessing in itself.
So yeah, the first year has been wild, man.
DAWKINS: Yeah, the first year has been one big blur. One big fun blur!
RS: I can imagine. You guys have been there during one of the craziest years in WWE, obviously, because of the pandemic and crowds vanishing.
Even with that happening, though, you’ve continued to have a great year. Dawkins, how do you feel you’ve grown as a performer in that time?
DAWKINS: Honestly, I just loosened up and gotten out of my shell a bit more.
I’m always laid back, but sometimes my laid back-ness can kinda take over a little bit more. Which is kind of a bad thing for me. Now I just kinda take it up to one-hundred.
Even though I’m laid back, I’m much goofier now.
I feel like I’m just hitting a stride.
I don’t know if you guys noticed on Twitter like last month, I was on a big Clippers slander spree. So I was like all on that. I just started clowning around and doing what I usually do outside of here.
Even though I know I’m laid back always, but I just had to get out of my shell a lot more now that we’re being seen by a bigger audience and stuff like that. I don’t have to be as hidden.
RS: What did you think about the Lakers winning the Finals this year?
DAWKINS: Oh, I was happy. I’m a big Lebron James guy.
He’s an Ohio guy. I’m from Ohio as well. He’s from Akron, I’m from Cincinnati. It was just cool to see him be able to go to three different teams, I know people try to clown him for that, but he’s won with all three teams.
He’s been literally the reason for their success and it’s been awesome.
Now, becoming the first player to ever do that, three different teams and winning Finals MVP for three different teams. It just solidified him as the GOAT. He’s the man for a reason.
I’ve always looked up to Lebron and just like watching him carry the Lakers to take them over the hump.
Because they’ve been in a little slump the past couple of years, so he took them back to the promised land.
Now, L.A., City of Champions. Once again!
RS: You’re a big Buckeyes guy too, right?
DAWKINS: Oh yeah!
RS: How excited were you last week to see them return to the field and do you have any predictions for their game against Penn State?
DAWKINS: I think they’re gonna beat Penn State, first off.
Obviously, Ohio State, they have aspirations to go to the National Championship.
But it slipped through their fingers a little bit last year due to some ref calls. But hey, that’s neither here nor there! That’s in the past.
But I was really ecstatic to see them on the field being able to show off what they’ve been working so hard for.
Every college team in the NCAA has been working hard just to get back on the field. I know in these times – it’s always fun to have the fans there, but just for them to have the opportunity to go out there and play the game they love and prove their draft stock, or just go out there and wanna win a National Championship with their brothers, and go to battle with their brothers.
Being able to have fun and live it up on the football field is awesome. But it was really fun to have Ohio State back.
... It’s the only good thing about Ohio football right now (laughs)!
RS: When you guys first moved to Raw, you were featured in backstage segments where you were hyping the rest of the show.
Did you enjoy doing this? They were definitely different than what you’d typically see a debuting Superstar do.
MONTEZ: For me particularly, I always want to see what I can do different on the next segment. How can we make the next segment better than the last one?
And the fact that we got to work with so many people in that ... like Ric Flair, Booker T, all these Hall of Famers and everybody that people have seen. We got to get a chance to work with them in our own modern day way.
So yeah, it was cool. The experience was just expanding.
There’s so much you can do with just hyping the show up and getting everybody wanting to see what’s about to happen.
RS: With you mentioning how you got to interact with legends in those segments, it’s funny to see you guys go from that to now starring in a Skittles commercial with Ric Flair in just the span of one year. What was that experience like shooting that commercial?
MONTEZ: Oh, man. It was crazy.
The fact that we were able to do it during these times and create moments during these times is cool.
The shoot was cool. I remember when Ric showed up on the set, he came in his way, styling and profiling, had his suit on and everything. Then he said, "All right, boys. We ready?!" I was like, "Here we go. This is gonna be a good day, right here."
The energy he brought to the set, it makes us want to work even harder.
It was a cool experience, man. It was actually filmed in the warehouse where they have all the memorabilia and everything. So it was cool not only seeing all the memorabilia, but also working with someone who was a part of all this stuff.
RS: Was there any of his specific memorabilia that you were looking at with him?
MONTEZ: They had a few of his robes there. Ones he actually wore out to the ring for these big moments.
So I thought it was cool actually seeing.
Also, a bunch of actual pay-per-view cards that he was a part of. It’s crazy reflecting off seeing this person contribute to all of this, now doing the doggone Skittles commercial with him. It’s like, "YAH!"
RS: I know this isn’t the best time to open a business, but it amazes me that they have all of that and don’t have some sort of museum people can walk through to look at all of that stuff.
The small displays they’ll do at Axxess are the best part of all that.
MONTEZ: The crazy part about that is that it’s only a fraction of everything.
DAWKINS: Yeah, that’s only a little bit.
MONTEZ: It’s only a snippet.
I remember I actually saw the limo that exploded. That was there. They’ve just got everything, man.
DAWKINS: All the old arcade games.
MONTEZ: I don’t blame them either. Every single thing, you don’t even realize, all the stuff we do is part of history.
So for them to have, "Hey, this is the King of the Ring chair that ‘Stone Cold’ Steve Austin was standing beside or Bret Hart."
It’s just like, "Pfft. Ok. WOW!"
RS: I couldn’t imagine being in the actual archives. That sounds like the coolest. I love that kind of stuff.
MONTEZ: The best description of it is kinda like walking through your childhood in real time. But you can see everything! Instead of imagining it, you’re seeing all the stuff, like … "Oh wow, remember this?! Oh this is the original Raw Titantron."
"Oh snap, that’s the SmackDown fist."
It’s crazy, man.
RS: That is my dream to one day go there, so that’s awesome you got to shoot the commercial there. I’m super jealous.
Moving on to winning the tag team titles on Raw from Seth Rollins and Murphy. What was that like for you and your career? It had to be one of the biggest accomplishments up to that point.
DAWKINS: Definitely!
I wasn’t expecting to make that kind of a noise that early on Raw, when we were there, but the opportunity presented itself ... so we took full advantage of it.
To be able to win the Raw Tag Team titles off of Seth [Rollins] and Murphy – especially a guy like Seth Rollins who's slayed "The Beast" twice, been Universal Champion, been WWE Champion, has pretty much done it all – to beat a guy like that to become a champion in WWE was significant in itself right there.
That was definitely one of the big moments.
RS: With a moment like that, Montez, did it help give you an extra boost of confidence going forward?
MONTEZ: Absolutely.
It just lets you know, "Hey man, when those lights are on and it’s time to shine, you take full advantage of it." Those are the type of moments that come few and far between. Tomorrow is not even promised.
So if you get that chance to go out there and make a mark and shine on the big stage with like Seth Rollins, big huge name, and you do it. Like Dawks said, you take full advantage of that because you want to be remembered.
You want that mark to be implanted and I think that’s what we did so far.
At this point, there’s no signs of us slowing down. We’re kinda still getting our hands wet.
RS: Another thing you guys had happen during your time on Raw, that I feel like fans were kind of split on, and that’s a lot of the stuff you guys did with the Vikings Raiders like your match at Backlash and the "Anything You Can Do, I Can Do Better" series.
What did you guys think about all of that?
DAWKINS: Man, that was fun.
MONTEZ: That was fun to us. We had a blast.
Those are our guys, man. Those are our boys. The fact that we were able to still provide entertainment under the harshest conditions, that in itself was like ... wow!
The fact that we were able to still create magic in like the harshest conditions, I’m blessed and fortunate that we were the ones able to do that. That’s another opportunity me and Dawks talk about.
Here’s the opportunity to take everybody’s mind off everything during these times, during these events. And we took full advantage of it.
We had a blast. The decathlon. Everything.
DAWKINS: C’mon, man! We fought ninjas!
RS: I was gonna get to the ninja part because that was definitely wild.
What were your reactions when they first told you about the whole ninja motorcycle gang thing?
DAWKINS: When they brought it up to us, I was like, "Oh yeah. I’m about to get my Casey Jones on real quick. We bout to get that Ninja Turtles swag on real quick."
It was funny cause when that happened, right before that I freaking speared Ivar through the glass window in front of the PC. Which I was looking forward to!
But yeah, getting to fight some ninjas though?! C’mon man! We got to show off our little version of Avengers: Endgame. Our little Ninja Turtle game going!
RS: You guys just got drafted to the A-show, SmackDown on FOX.
When did you find out this was happening and what were your initial thoughts?
MONTEZ: Was it day of, Dawks?
DAWKINS: Day of, yup.
MONTEZ: Yeah. Day of.
The first thing we were thinking was like, hey, what’s gonna happen with the tag team situation? Because when you get drafted as Raw Tag Team Champions, so now you go to SmackDown. So what’s gonna happen with that?
It was cool just going through the process of, like, what’s really next?
DAWKINS: What was funny was when they said we were going to SmackDown, I was like, "Oh, so we’re gonna have to go up against New Day for the Raw Tag Team Championships and we gotta go up against New Day for the SmackDown Tag Championships?"
Lo and behold, a full circle, two weeks later …
It was inevitable.
RS: What were your thoughts regarding swapping the titles? I feel like a lot of wrestling purists were against it.
MONTEZ: What the hell they think happened with Ted DiBiase when Andre the Giant won the title for him? What’s the difference?
Andre the Giant pinned Hulk Hogan, then said, "You know what? Ted DiBiase is the new World Heavyweight Champion. Boom."
RS: Well if it’s okay for Andre the Giant, it’s gotta be okay with you.
MONTEZ: If it’s okay with Andre the Giant, it’s okay with The Street Profits.
DAWKINS: I’m pretty sure it was okay with The New Day too.
Just think of it like this, okay ...
It didn’t happen two weeks ago.
MONTEZ: Nope.
DAWKINS: It’s not happening right now, but come Survivor Series ...
MONTEZ: It’s happening.
DAWKINS: The two teams that swapped the tag titles with each other are facing off. Who’s gonna be the top of the mantle? That’s all you gotta think about right there.
MONTEZ: It’s all about the best of the best.
The best of the best. Okay?
RS: Are you looking forward to being able to test yourself against New Day at Survivor Series? Because, like you said, best of the best. They are the best of the best when it comes to tag teams in WWE.
DAWKINS: Oh yeah. I’ve been going to bed early for this.
Once they made this official, I’ve been going to bed early. I can’t wait.
MONTEZ: People always talk about dream matches, but for us this is like beyond that. This is it.
The fact that it’s happening on any stage, and like the fact that it’s happening, period. The fact that it is happening. You don’t have to look at anything else except the fact that it’s happening. It is happening.
That’s a moment itself.
You best believe myself and Dawkins are gonna show up like we always do and shock the world at Survivor Series.
DAWKINS: If you really look at it, we’re the underdogs in this situation.
New Day, they’ve been here before. They’re nine-time tag team champions.
MONTEZ: They’ve been holding onto this for a very long time, but we kinda just wanna go like ... you know what?
DAWKINS: We’ll gladly take that off your hands, bruh.
MONTEZ: We got it from here guys! We got it from here.
You’re going in there with a former World Champion and the nine-time, if not arguably the best or one of the best tag teams or factions of all-time, so for us to have a chance at Survivor Series to go against that.
You gotta be crazy and out of your mind to think that this doesn’t mean the absolute world to us.
DAWKINS: It’s gonna be fun, but we’re gonna be handing them a nice little plate of L’s.
My boy Shannon Sharpe hit me up and he said, "Ay, after y’all handle your business against New Day, send 'em over my way. Club Shay Shay. I got bottle service for L’s. Serving out hot L’s for them boys."
Even though, these L’s will be handed out with love.
Catch Street Profits each week on FOX's Friday Night SmackDown.
