The character was not something Anthony was fully invested in.
From August 2022 to April 2023, Cyon reigned as NWA National Champion. Robert Anthony was behind the ‘Cyon’ character and on night two of the 2023 Crockett Cup pay-per-view, Cyon’s last match took place as he was defeated by another masked man, Zyon.
Anthony dove into the Cyon character on the newest episode of Podding With Ego. He shared that it was NWA who wanted the character. He introduced the idea to those close to him at the time and they expressed that they were not fond of it. The concept was for it to be a throwback persona. He added that his heart and soul was not in it.
Cyon was supposed to be an old school throwback… Everyone in my inner circle at that point did not like it… I showed it to a lot of people and a lot of people asked the question, ‘Why?’ Because at this point, right before Cyon was going, I was doing AEW. I had that whole Dark run. So it wasn’t like I wasn’t relevant, right? I was fresh off of AEW Darks of the whole entire pandemic. When I debuted as Cyon a couple of weeks later, I wrestled at the United Center with Joey Janela. So I was still doing stuff and a lot of people didn’t understand, ‘Why aren’t you just you?’ And I said, ‘I really don’t know.’ They wanted this character, they wanted a masked throwback character and I kind of feel like I failed at that because deep down inside, I’m not that. ‘Egotistico Fantastico’ is not a throwback. He’s a crazy luchador, blah, blah, blah, blah. Very much like El Generico, yes… But, I was falling into this — not a depression but a confusion. My whole entire Cyon run, which we’ll get into a little bit of it of the good and bad and stuff, I was very confused the whole time because I spent 23 years as Robert Anthony or Egotistico Fantastico and I knew how to do that with my eyes closed. Now you’re asking me to abandon everything that I know and be very efficient at this new character that my heart and soul wasn’t into.
I only know how to be Robert Anthony and I feel I was failing. They told me to get black tights and wrestling boots. Dude, that lasted like a month. I couldn’t move. I couldn’t move in it and I couldn’t be myself so I abandoned that.
Later in the conversation, Anthony mentioned that he heard some things that he feels were said to make him hesitant about transitioning from Cyon to himself in NWA. It was told to him that the Cyon character is booked for every show and essentially, if was to revert to Robert Anthony, he’d have to work his way up.
He mentioned that he was called ‘ungrateful’ by people who ‘don’t matter’. It was multiple people within the same circle who called him that. He described those individuals as the ‘Chicago crew’. Anthony said he’d rather lose every match as himself than to have another title run as Cyon. He recalled having a conversation with Tyrus about it and the NWA Worlds Heavyweight Champion was supportive of his decision.
I was told a few things I feel to make me afraid to be Robert Anthony (on-screen in NWA) but nothing was gonna make me afraid to be Robert Anthony. One of the things I could say was I was told, ‘You have to realize Cyon is on every show. Robert Anthony does not have a direction at this point.’ So I took that as Cyon has a for sure booking, Robert Anthony doesn’t and what I kind of combated that with was I’m willing to work from the bottom up. Back of the line. You don’t have to put Robert Anthony over right away. I’m willing to prove it and I think that’s what sold it was that you’ll prove it but in return, I did hurt some feelings. I did hurt some feelings. I was called ungrateful. Not by Billy (Corgan) or anyone like that but just by somebody that doesn’t matter in life, someone who had no career and thinks they had a career, a legacy. It was multiple but they’re all part of the same f*cking little whatever. The Chicago crew. The crew in Chicago that never left Chicago but thinks they have this legacy. Maybe they have some kids and they’re underneath that umbrella and it’s like, oh, we’re the greatest but nobody knows who you are. Those people might’ve said I was ungrateful because I did do something that is a no-no in our business, right?
I told the boss, ‘I didn’t want your gimmick’ and a lot of people sh*t on me and they’re still sh*tting on me now for it. ‘You’re ungrateful. You’re licking a gift horse in the mouth. You had a title run.’ Blah, blah, blah and what I kind of told people that I talk to was, ‘I’d rather lose every single match as Robert Anthony than have another National Title run as Cyon.’ I need to be happy. I need to be able to create my own art, need to be able to create my own thing because I’m 41-years-old man. I don’t know how many fall downs and get ups I have. One of the main people I went to about this whole situation before I said no was Tyrus and I asked Tyrus, I told him our situation and I said, ‘I think I need to bet on myself. What do you think?’ And Tyrus said something to me, he goes, ‘If I had a company, I’d bet on you as well.’ That’s all I needed to hear, you know what I mean? And I was like, I have to do this. I have to risk getting fired in order for me to be happy, gone five days, do you know what I’m saying?
Circling back to the Crockett Cup and the match versus Zyon, Anthony said he was disappointed in the bout. He reiterated that he thought his run as Cyon was not successful.
We did the Cyon’s last match and I was very disappointed with it. I didn’t like it, I didn’t like the finish and I felt it could’ve been a little bit more fulfilling but again, the character I was playing, I felt failed. So it was whatever.
Back in late 2022, Anthony revealed that the NWA gave him a pay raise. He works as an agent for the organization in addition to his on-screen duties.
If the quotes in this article are used, please credit Podding With Ego with an H/T to POST Wrestling for the transcriptions.
