Fabian Aichner (@VinciWWE) is a professional wrestler best known for his time in WWE as Giovanni Vinci. He sits down with Chris Van Vliet at West Coast Creative Studio in Los Angeles, CA to discuss his WWE release, getting kicked out of Imperium, his repackaged character, losing to Apollo Crews in less than 10 seconds on SmackDown, the way he was introduced by ring announcer Samantha Irvin, staying in NXT when Imperium was called up to main roster, his match with John Cena and Seth Rollins in India, and more!
You posted this photo on Instagram in March, and you basically said, new chapter, and you’re flexing, and you look like you’re ready to go. What does that new chapter look like?
“When I got that call about a year ago, the first thing I did was, immediately after that, I thought, Okay, I’m taking a month off the gym because I’ve been going really hard. In NXT, I made the decision, okay, it’s time now to get in the best shape of my life. So I did step up my workout regimen pretty intensely. Did cardio twice a day. Worked out five days a week, wrestling three matches. I did make good progress, but you can only maintain that for so long. I just kept going, kept going, and then got called up to the main roster, so I definitely didn’t want to slow down. Yeah, it’s just one of those things where I got the call. I knew this was the first time for sure that I wasn’t going to step in the ring for three months. So I definitely gave my body the break, because I didn’t get the results that I was used to getting, my body started getting really stubborn, if I dieted, things just didn’t move as fast. So I gave my body a break, gave my mind a break. Just been resting up a little bit. I live in Vegas, so there’s always something to do. I like racing. Always been a Formula One fan, so tried a couple of spots out there, just took some trips, enjoyed the fruits of my labor and just recharged, because I didn’t want to come back too quick. I didn’t want to get into things too quick, because I didn’t want to have acid, basically. So I gave myself the time. Didn’t really have a timeline in mind of how long I was going to be out for, or whatever. But then as time went by, batteries recharged, I started feeling better and started working out again. That was a lot of fun again. And just for the first time, go by how I feel. I feel like it’s obviously when you listen to your gut, and go by how you feel, then it’s not that drag or forcing things to do. I just felt ready, that’s what I basically had in mind. I’m going to take the time that I need, and when I’m ready, I’ll be back and I’ll go all in.”
We didn’t hear from you for over a year until you posted this photo on Instagram. Was the idea to go away for a year?
“Not really, no. I just knew that after the call, because it was such a surreal feeling, man. It was like, on the one hand, it sucked that that chapter was over, because that’s what I wanted to do since I was 13 years old. But on the other hand, because it was such a roller coaster leading up to that, it felt freeing, in a way. I told a friend of mine, he asked me if I was okay. I said, ‘Yeah, man, I’m good.’ It’s almost like when you’re in school and school ends and you’re going on summer vacation, just all the weight was off because at least I knew there was no more thinking about it. And really, after that, all I did was I just knew I was taking some time. Didn’t know how much it was, and, yeah, I didn’t think about how long exactly I was going to be out for. Just like okay, we need some space. Take some time for myself, figure myself out, and yeah, enjoy life a little bit.”
How surprised were you by that call that you were getting released?
“I was and I wasn’t because, I mean, during the summer of the year previous, I wasn’t on TV, but I knew there was a plan to come back eventually. We did those vignettes and everything, but that didn’t last long, unfortunately. So after that, I noticed when some thoughts started to creep in. I tried to focus on the positive, and I always had high hopes. Like, for example, when the new year started, I know SmackDown went from two hours to three hours, and I was told, you know, there’s a quote from one of the producers, we have all the real estate in the world, there’s just not enough land. Basically, you have all the great wrestlers, there’s just not enough time on the show. So when SmackDown went to three hours, I thought, well, maybe now it’s gonna happen, maybe here’s the chance, and whatever. Then, yeah, I wasn’t needed for TV for a couple of weeks. You don’t want to hear that call. But when it happened, I can’t say that I was really surprised at it. So it was kind of a weird mix of feelings.”
A lot of people, right after their 90 days are up, they hit the Indies, or they start doing conventions. You haven’t done any of that, How do you feel about wrestling right now?
“It’s funny, because this is what I wanted to do since I was 13 years old, and when that chapter ended, I knew I wanted to take some time away, but I feel like there’s way more things to do for me. I feel like I haven’t reached my full potential yet. I feel like some people know what I can do, but I know I can do a lot more. I just really wanted to take enough time to not come back and go in halfway. So I definitely work out, I want to wrestle again. I feel like there’s many things still to do, nothing set in stone yet, but when that opportunity comes, I know I’ll be ready for it.”
Do you have a timeline in your own mind of when you want to have another match?
“I mean, we’ll see. We’ll see what’s coming up. I did have some talks with a couple of people, some really good talks, and we’ll see. I always believe in the timing of the universe, that everything happens for a reason. Yeah, it’s just a feeling that I got. At some point, I just felt like working out more. At some point, I just felt like dialing in my diet again, just getting more serious with cardio and all those things. I don’t have to force myself to do that. So I know when that opportunity comes, it’ll be the perfect timing. I’ll be in the perfect spot, mentally, physically, and I’m gonna kill it.”
So if you fell in love with WWE when you were a kid, and this is the dream, this is the goal, you’re working your way up through the Indies, you finally get signed by WWE, and you’re there for eight years. Then you get that phone call that you released, that’s got to be heartbreaking?
“I mean, it did suck to know that that chapter was over. Especially because you make big sacrifices to come here. You leave your family behind, you move halfway across the world. You start out at the bottom of the ladder again, with people who have never done a roll in their life, basically, even though you’ve been wrestling for six, seven years. But you just got to not let your pride or your ego take over when it comes to that. So you go through the whole process again, eventually get to the main roster, and then it’s so weird, because I really did put a lot of effort into those vignettes, I planned out where to shoot what, where in Vegas with the guys there. I loved how the vignettes turned out. I was super happy with those, and I thought, man, here we go. This is it. This is the time, and then it just went the way it did. So, yeah, just having that thought in your mind, okay, here we go. But then it’s kind of taken away. It sucked. But like I said earlier, it was such an emotional roller coaster leading up to that that it’s okay. I do believe everything happens for a reason. So, especially in wrestling, never say never. So we’ll see what happens from here on out. But I’m more focused on the future and the present now and looking forward to it.”
Right before you got released, you were kind of repackaged. So you had these vignettes that you’re talking about. It’s like Italian elegance. You’re driving a Ferrari in Las Vegas, and then you come out and you lose to Apollo Crews in less than 10 seconds. So what was the original plan with these vignettes and where your character would go?
“I thought the plan was to get me going right away, and I didn’t find out about that till basically the day of the show. So at the end of the day, you’re a professional. Whatever the plan is, you try to make the most of it. I do have to say, as far as entrance-wise, that was my favorite entrance I’ve ever done. Because in the group, I always felt a little bit like I tried to fit in. That’s why I didn’t stand out. Whereas with that character that I did in NXT, and it worked great there, doing that on the main roster, I just felt like, Okay, I have some sort of direction, who I am, what I’m supposed to do. Was my favorite entrance, personality-wise, charisma-wise and everything, and then the plan changed the day of. Looking back now, I feel like from a business standpoint, if you look at the positives, it definitely got attention, definitely got people talking. The unfortunate thing for me is just that not more came out of it, because I feel like we could have done a lot of cool stuff with that character on SmackDown. I know Apollo and I could have tore it up in a match. We did in NXT. We did on Main Event. We have great chemistry. It was just things just kept happening. We moved to a different channel two weeks after then the next thing happened. I wasn’t on TV for a little bit. And, yeah, that’s just one of those things that are a little unfortunate. Because I saw myself actually having really good matches with the guys in the United States title picture at the time, like Melo, LA Knight, Andrade at the time. I think we could have done some cool stuff there. But, yeah, it is what it is.”
Is wrestling still the main focus for you right now?
“Yeah, it’s been my passion since I was 13 years old. It gave me purpose in life. It was the one thing that drove me, motivated me, made me realize my dream of moving to America and doing what I do. It gave me the life that I have now, so I could never be bitter about wrestling itself. I just needed some time away, like you do sometimes. I had my first match in 2011, so 14-15, years, non-stop. I wouldn’t have made the decision myself, but the decision was made for me, and when it happened, because I was determined. When I signed with WWE, I’m WWE all the way, stick it out till the end. But when it happened, I was like, Okay, well, that’s that. I’m gonna take some time away. I’m gonna take some time for myself, and when I’m ready, I’m going back to doing the things that I love.”
How did you get on WWE’s radar in the first place for the Cruiserweight Classic?
“So I actually started out, like I said, I always watch wrestling and whatever, and I was always really into it. So I read up on backstage news the whole time. There was a page, a German website called wrestling infos, where I always read up on the results and whatever. One day I went on it and there was a picture of a guy pointing at the screen, and it said, Do you have what it takes? So I clicked on it, and it was Alex Wright, and it said Nuremberg, Germany, which was like a four-hour drive for me every time I wanted to get in the ring. But I knew he was the guy that was where I wanted to go. He was in the States. He worked for WCW for nine years, and I texted him asking if he trains people from Italy. He said, Yeah, sure, come by. I just did the four-hour drives like, 200 times, there and back, worked all week. I’m very grateful because he allowed me to be in the ring as much as I wanted. He had like, 14-hour days on Saturday and 14-hour days on Sunday, and I hung around all day. End up wrestling with him after that, and then driving home. I remember one time that a 4-hour drive turned into an 11-hour drive because I just couldn’t keep my eyes open anymore. And yeah, I did that for a little bit, got on his shows eventually, because he has his own promotion there. I think my big break was when I went from wrestling once or twice a month in Germany to England, where I worked for All-Star Wrestling. Sheamus has worked for them, I think Drew, Stu Bennett/Wade Barrett. So a lot of guys work for them. You go from wrestling twice a month in Germany, maybe, if you’re lucky, to wrestling 50 matches in seven weeks, like all summer, you work once or twice a day. The promoter there, Brian Dixon, actually had some good contacts to WWE, and he was like, You got to check this guy out. I did actually have a tryout a year after I started in Munich, where WWE did a tour in Germany; they had me do a tryout, and they actually flew me into Orlando to train a week in the PC. But at the time, they weren’t really looking for [what I had]. They said they were looking for a seven-foot, 300-pound monster. So I was like, it’s all good because I’ve only been wrestling for a year, and I knew it wouldn’t hurt me to get some more experience, which is exactly what I did in England. Then I just got a message from one of the talent guys back in the day. He asked me, How much do you weigh? I tried to get big. I went from 205 to 230. He said, Can you get yourself to 205 or less? Sure, no problem. He said, Yeah, we have this tournament coming up in June. Just be ready for it. Okay, sounds good. So I did my last show in England, and the last day of the tour, I break my shin. Yes, it was three months before that tournament. I was like, man, what am I going to do now? Everything was up in the open. I had never broken my leg before. I didn’t know how long is this going to take? All the guys kept saying, Dude, I feel so sorry. I was like I think I’ll be all right, just making it. So I spent like eight weeks on a couch in England just sitting there watching wrestling matches because I didn’t want to be home, sitting in my room doing nothing. At least I had the guys that were coming back from the road, had a couple of good days there, and then just slowly started walking in England, eventually flew home, and I think six days before the Cruiserweight Classic was the first time where I started jogging a little bit. My leg kept swelling up and everything. Then, yeah, did the Cruiserweight Classic, which originally wasn’t really supposed to happen, because they thought I was German, just because I speak German naturally and Italian. I said, Well, I’m Italian, but I mean, could be cool if you have an Italian guy in the tournament too. They agreed to it, thankfully. There was actually one spot in the match where I did that double Springboard moonsault. I remember when I landed, I was like, Is my leg whole? I think we’re good. Covered the guy, finished the match, thank God.”
Your leg is still pretty much broken at that point.
“Yeah. I mean, it’s very fragile. Well, it was strange. Yeah, I lost a lot of weight because my leg got so small. I was like, Oh, well, I’m 210. 205 is gonna be a piece of cake. But then I put the muscle back on and I was 230 so I had to lose like, almost 30 pounds in three weeks.”
That’s so funny to me that you had to legit be 205 to enter the Cruiserweight Classic, even though it’s pro wrestling:
“I actually asked Brian Kendrick, because he was here before. I said, ‘Do you really think they’re going to do a shoot weigh-in?’ He said, ‘Man, I don’t know. I don’t want to tell you they’re not.’ But he’s never experienced it, but I just didn’t want to risk it. The day before, I still had to do two hours of cardio with a hoodie on and whatever, brought my own scale. I think I was, [205] would have been 93 kilos. I was 92.8 when I stepped on the scale, right on the dot. So yeah, that was actually the thing that I think really got me noticed, because Triple H saw me for the first time actually wrestling on WWE platform. William Regal was a big fan at the time. He said, You need to be here as a heavyweight. It was weird, because the tournament happened in June, and then I think they did 205 Live right after, and I didn’t hear anything for a while. So like everyone told me I did good, but we’ll see. So I kept wrestling that schedule in England again, and then I had a show in Germany that year in December, and we went out after the show, just partying a little bit. When I got back to the hotel room, I set my alarm for the next day, and an email popped up from Canyon Seman at the time, why is he texting me now? I’m getting goose bumps already. He said, William Regal and Triple H told me to put you in the hiring process. Best Christmas present ever. I couldn’t wait to tell my coach the next day. And, yeah, that’s, that’s that’s how it all started. I got my visa six months after, moved here, and got started in NXT.”
You guys were a standout tag team in NXT UK, and then NXT as well, two-time Tag Team Champions. When do you go from there to the main roster?
“Well, that all came a little bit unexpected, because we were that group in NXT, where it was the three of us. When the call-up happened, they got called up. I didn’t. So that was a bit of a mix-up. That was also a bit of a like, what’s going on here. We started at the same time, Walter came over after that, but they went up there said, you guys, do your thing. I’ll do my thing in NXT, it will all workout. But it was a little bit like, like, an avalanche of emotions at the time, because you don’t know what’s going on here. Am I not going anywhere? What’s happening? Like, do I have to move back or whatever?”
You feel like you’re being left behind?
“A little bit. Yeah, yeah, but I didn’t really know why, because we did everything together all the time. Everything went well with the matches and all that. But after three days, I had a great talk with Shawn. He’s like, Hey, don’t worry about it. We’re gonna figure it out. He’s the man. Matt Bloom as well. They were both great. And I remember three days after that, I got myself three burgers. I’m like, I’m gonna eat these, and tomorrow we go to work, show them. That’s when we came up with that character, that Giovanni Vinci character, which I had a ton of fun with. I think I did more in those three months in NXT that I had done in five, six years prior to NXT. Did promos every week, had great matches, did commentary. So that was great. And then I heard rumors about me getting called up. But you know, in wrestling, you never get too excited until it actually happens, because nothing’s ever set in stone. I mean, the debut was great, in front of 70,000 people at Clash at the Castle.”
I think the way that Samantha Irvin introduced you really helped to get you over, especially early on
“Oh, for sure, she did an amazing job. I was actually looking forward to the introduction every time myself, like, oh, here we go. ‘Giovanni!’ She did amazing.”
Did she tell you she was going to do that?
“No, no. Caught me off guard myself. Like, oh, that was cool.”
I’ve heard a lot of people saying that this new El Grande Americano looks a lot like Ludwig Kaiser. I don’t know if that’s true or not, but what do you think of the work that he’s doing?
“I think he’s killing it at whatever he’s doing. I think he has a good feel for what the people want to see and what people want to get out of it, and the reaction speak for themselves.”
You had a match where it was Imperium versus John Cena and Seth Rollins. I don’t know if a lot of people know that you were in the ring with John Cena. How did that match come about?
“Man, was such a surreal moment. It was announced that Cena was going to be on that show in India. It was kind of last-minute. It was kind of thrown together, or was announced that Seth and Cena against Ludwig and I at the time, and I tell you, that was the loudest reaction I’ve ever heard in my life. That building of the floor was vibrating. It was shaking when we were standing there. He did his entrance, and then it was one of those. It’s almost like you wear a real-life VR, you know, those virtual reality things. Because he was my brother’s favorite wrestler. Growing up in 2004 2005 obviously watched him my whole life myself, and then he gets a tag, and I get a tag, okay, wrestling John Cena now, crazy moment. Obviously you want to still be professional like 99%, but that 1% in the back of your mind is like, Oh, this is cool. This is very cool.”
You had some really fun moments with Kevin Owens. So there’s this moment you’re in the ring with Kevin Owens and Sami Zayn, and he’s talking about everybody in Imperium. He’s like, we never hear from this guy, what’s up with baldy? And the crowd starts chanting baldy
“Whatever can entertain the crowd is great. The fact that they got into it was surprising to me. Yeah, same thing with there’s this video out there of him at commentary, like we said, wipe the sweat off your head and you see me.”
Right after he says it, you wipe the sweat. Could you hear him?
“No, no idea. It was just a crazy coincidence, great. I saw a couple of days after it happened. I was like, well, look at that. Like, who would have thought?”
So your 90 days would have been up, I think around May 8, 2025. Did you have conversations with AEW or TNA about doing something with them?
“Not really. I did eventually have some good conversations. But nothing is set in stone yet. I just know that the way I’m working out now, I think I’m good to go already, and the longer it goes on, the better setup I will be. And when that opportunity comes, wherever it is, I know I’m going to go all in and I’m going to kill it, because that was the whole point of taking that time off just to completely recharge the batteries and come back fresh.”
What is Giovanni Vinci grateful for?
“My family, my health, and that I get to live my dream.”
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