Hulk Hogan:
Posted by Brett Clendaniel on June 19, 2013 at 12:31 pm
Sting recently spoke to Matt Tuthill of Muscle & Fitness Magazine. Here are some highlights from the interview.
On his appearance in the direct to dvd Christian movie Revelation Road: My character is a bad guy in a biker gang. Brian is the leader of the gang and we’re creating havoc everywhere we go. I’m a guy who’s had the short end of the stick his entire life so I end up in a biker gang. This is the story of the end times, a story of how God is trying to grab hold of each one of us and get through to us. The reason why I wanted to do it is because of the message. It’s not just an action movie. It’s a movie with a message. It’s something beyond pro wrestling and beyond entertainment, and beyond this life.
His training Regiment in his prime: I never did the powerlifting thing, but the goal was to lift heavy. Four plates squatting for reps – 4-5, 8-10, 315 for 20, 225 for 50 – leg extensions, leg curls and that’s how we trained every single week. On the bench , my best was 435 – I was younger and I was on the gas, too. There were guys who weighed a lot less than I did who could easily do that. But I didn’t really train for power or strength. I trained for size. That’s all I was training for. My knees are arthritic now. I don’t have a whole lot of flexibility left. Thankfully, I got smart somehow or another in 1990 and stopped taking steroids – totally stopped. A lot of the guys I ran with all those years continued to take steroids year after year – those guys are having their knees and their hips replaced. I’m not saying everybody who gets their knees and their hips replaced took steroids. I just noticed that the guys who did that were too big, too bulky, too heavy, and the body couldn’t handle it and it took its toll. So that was my one saving grace, but I would train differently now. I’m actually doing pretty good for a guy my age – I just turned 54 – and I’m still hanging in there. I can move a little bit in the ring. I can’t do half of what I used to be able to do, but I get around.
Toughest guys to get in the ring with: The best and most memorable feuds were with Rick and Hulk Hogan. One of the toughest opponents was Kurt Angle. He’s an Olympic gold medalist and they call him “the Wrestling Machine” and that’s exactly what he is. His pace and work ethic in the ring is top notch. There’s nothing he can’t do… Lex Luger, aesthetically he trained to look good like I was doing, but he had freakish strength as well. I saw him squat 500 easily. I saw him bench 405 for reps. It was easy for him. I saw him incline 405. He was just a really strong guy.
On staying in the ring at the age of 54: I’ve learned not to give a time. I can’t go on wrestling much longer. I’m taking it, literally, one month at a time. I’m under contract until January of next year, so we’ll see what’s happening. I do want to do more movies. I’m looking at a few different things, reality shows being one of them. I’m just trying to move onto the next season of my life. As far as wrestling goes, I’ve stayed away from the creative part of it all these years, I just don’t want to sit in on the meetings and babysit wrestlers and personalities and all that. But, there are things I’d like to see happen in pro wrestling and I may try to make it materialize. I don’t know.
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Posted by Brett Clendaniel on June 14, 2013 at 11:14 am
Former WCW wrestler Al Green passed away this morning at the age of 58. Green had been suffering from chronic obstructive pulmonary disease over the last few years as well as other health problems.
Green wrestled with WWE during the 90′s and one half of the Master Blasters tag team with Kevin Nash.
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Posted by Brett Clendaniel on June 10, 2013 at 3:15 pm
Hulk Hogan wrote the following on Twitter:
“Perfect timing to start serious training again,last time around the block for me so this is gonna be really intense, transformation time. HH”
TNA has been teasing an eventual Hulk Hogan vs. Bully Ray match. Bound for Glory does seem to be the logical place for it.
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Posted by Brett Clendaniel on June 10, 2013 at 3:07 pm
Sting was interviewed by Kentucky Sports Radio on WKJK-AM 1080 over the weekend. Here are a few highlights.
* They hyped the TNA Impact taping in Louisville for July 18 and the TNA BaseBrawl event in Lexington this Saturday before the interview. Sting said fans would see some of the best in a different setting.
* Sting said he’s not really focused on capturing the TNA World title at this time.
* Sting named his favorite matches of all time: Clash of Champions I vs Ric Flair, Great American Bash 1990 vs Ric Flair, Starrcade 1997 vs Hulk Hogan.
* Sting mentioned his dream opponents are The Undertaker and Shawn Michaels.
* Sting says he’s never seen the movie “The Wrester” in its entirety. He’s seen parts of it, which he said show the seedy side of the industry. However, he did say the industry has cleaned up a lot and says Mickey Rourke did a great job.
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Posted by Brett Clendaniel on June 10, 2013 at 10:53 am
Brian Soscia recently interviewed Randy Orton. Here are some highlights.
What he thinks are the differences with himself between when he first started wrestling and now: “I guess when I started I wasn’t as responsible as I am now. I’m a father now and I think with that came a lot of that responsibility. I have a family to take care of and a family to look out for. So, I have to put them first. Before I was married, before I became a father, I really thought I was invincible, like I think most guys in their early twenties are. A couple humbling experiences and here I am. I think the biggest difference is that I’m a little bit more mature. Still a kid at heart, but I think twice before I make every decision now. I know that every decision I make could impact my daughter.”
Does he ever travel with his family to wrestling shows in an RV: “Well yeah. It’s actually not an RV. They call them Star Coaches. It’s like a fifty foot bus. It’s got a kitchen and a bunk and a king size bed in the back with wifi and a satellite. After being on the road a decade driving 800, 1000 miles a week, I thought now that I can afford it, I’m going to treat myself. A couple of us do it: Cena, Big Show, Triple H, Undertaker had a bus, Punk has a bus, Mysterio had a bus. When guys get to a point in their career where they feel they deserve it, if they can do it, they do it. I think, longevity wise, it’s going to put another five, six, seven, eight, maybe even more, years on my career. ”
How much longer will he wrestle: “I think the tank’s still pretty much full. What I try to do is every couple months take a weekend off. Sometimes with us time flies by and before you know it you haven’t had a day off, a good night’s sleep, in a long time. Your body needs that. Your mind needs that. When you have a family you got to find a week here and there throughout the year where you can just hang up the boots and be a dad, be a husband and not be traveling the world being a WWE superstar. Everybody needs that.”
What his time was like in the ring with Hulk Hogan: “It was great. It’s magical with him, guys that are over like that. If you get the chance to be in there with someone that well known, even though I think he had a hard time moving around, it didn’t matter. That’s how powerful that brand is. He showed it, back in 2005 I think it was.
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Posted by Brett Clendaniel on May 30, 2013 at 1:51 pm
Recently signed Ring of Honor superstar, ACH, had an exclusive interview with
HoustonWrestlingRadio.com to promote this weekend’s ROH show in San Antonio where he will be having a match with Jay Lethal in what’s to be a homecoming of sorts for the Texas native. Here are some of the highlights:
On what he was a fan of when he was younger:
I started watching wrestling right around the time when Hulk Hogan went Hollywood. I was a big WCW fan growing up. I was not a WWF fan growing up. All the kids going to school would be talking about “oh Stone Cold did this and Vnice blah blah blah” and I was just like “I guess”. I was really into WCW. I was one of those kids and it sucked. You watch it now and it’s like “Good god! I Was a fan of this!” But back then it was the world to me! I liked Ultimo Dragon, Diamond Dallas Page. One I liked was Glacier. It was the entrance, man! Around that time, with Mortal Kombat, it was like watching Sub-Zero the wrestler!
On the inspirations for his unique in-ring style:
A lot of my ideas come from my childhood. Wrestling was banned in my house. I think a lot of kids go through that phase where mom or dad say “no wrestling,” well mostly moms. But wrestling was banned for my childhood for certain periods of time. and I was always heavily into superheros and video games. And I’ve always had a big imagination. i guess that has a lot to do with my personality. But my imagination is probably my biggest influence. And mostly DragonBall Z as well. I couldn’t name one in particular wrestler and say “oh this is the guy I patter myself off of.” I want to do something in a class of my own. I want to be different. So i try to not pattern myself after anyone. I try to have my own unique style. So I used things other people didn’t use like video games like DragonBallz. Like when I used to do the Liu Kang kicks. I actually tried it and it actually worked. Or like that move “Up, Over and Gone,” that’s from Sonic. I love Sonic, man!
On the differences from the Texas indy scene and wrestling in the other parts of the US:
In Texas everything is a little more vocal as far as fan interaction. Like you can not be the best, you could be the worst wrestler in the world in Texas and people will still love for being funny. But in the East coast and most places they really appreciate the wrestling part of wrestling. They want to see you wrestle, they want to see your work-rate. They want to see if you can wrestle before they accept anything else. But everybody is different. I’ve always had a a really weird connection with the people. It why alot of people came into liking me. Because when I’m out there I have so much fun it’s like one big party and everyone wants to join in. You gotta have fun at work. I think its a lot harder to get over in the East Coast. I’ve wrestled in front of harsh crowds like CZW where they’re used to blood and guts. Sometimes you go out there being funny and it’s not what they want to see. They have to warm up to you. And if they don’t warm up to you they’ll just destroy you; they’ll eat you alive every time they get a chance to.
On who he would like to have brought along with him to RoH from the Texas indy scene:
There’s a lot of guys back home that deserve it. just to name a few there’s guys like Jaykus Plisken, Jasper “The Hammer” Davis, Bolt Brady. There’s a lot of guys back here that deserve the national spot. Who I feel personally, should be doing bigger, better things.
On who he looks forward to competing against on the Ring of Honor roster:
Well that question is already going to be answered with Jay Lethal this Saturday. But Jimmy Jacobs is one of them. Eddie Edwards is another. Rodrick Strong was on my list as well but I got to do that in Cincinnati and I really enjoyed the match. Also with Elgin. Kevin Steen is one of them. To be honest, the whole roster. The whole roster is stacked. I’m just working my way down the list it seems like. There’s just so many talented guys and so many styles and i really want to go in there and be pushed to my limit and push them to their’s as well. Oh my goodness with Shelton Benjamin it would be like Michael Jordan going one-on-one with Kobe in my opinion. In my eyes he’s my hero.
On his big homecoming match with Jay Lethal on Saturday in San Antonio:
I’m speechless, man. To me this is the homecoming of all homecomings. It’s right up the road form where I went to high school. My old stomping grounds I guess you could say. I’m most definitely looking forward to it. When I left Texas, to further my career, whenever I come back, I always look at it like giving back. this match with me versus Jay Lethal is a dream match to a lot of people. And Ring of Honor doing it in my hometown is like the best gift I can give to these guys in Texas. It’s the best thing I can give them. It’s a token of my appreciation to say “thank you guys” for supporting me all those years that i was here going through those hard times. I literally use the people of Texas to uplift me I use them as my motivation to better myself. this is a gift to the great people of San Antonio and the entire state of Texas. I’m looking forward to it.
His idea for a new catchphrase the fans can do when he performs his finisher:
Whenever you see me go the “ACH Big Bang Attack” which is a Cradle DDT, my dream, and we need to put this out there on social networking, whenever people see me go for that move, I want the whole crowd to go “It’s over 9000!” I want that! That is my dream chant! I’ve been wanting to get that out there for a very long time and now I finally get to put that out there!
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Posted by Brett Clendaniel on May 27, 2013 at 8:24 pm
Here are some highlights of a new storyline interview Jack Swagger did in the new issue of WWE Magazine:
What are Colter’s strongest qualities? What do you think are the things about him that are taking you to the next level?
Zeb Colter is certainly a man of great conviction and passion. He has so much conviction and passion for the things that he says and the things that he actually believes in—and those are the types of things people really take hold of. They make people believers. And, of course, Zeb has decades upon decades of experience, which Jack Swagger directly benefits from: the knowledge and the tutelage. Honestly, that kind of experience translates through me, and it gives me that extra little oomph that I need in order to get over the hill to the top of the mountain.
Let’s talk about the World Heavyweight Title. If 2013 sees you recapture the gold, what will you do to make sure your title run makes more of an impact than your previous one?
Winning the championship the second time in any sport, whether it’s wrestling, football, basketball or baseball is definitely harder. Once you get there, staying there, and staying relevant and being able to make an impact, is tough. I worked very hard last time, but maybe I wasn’t working smart.
That’s surprising. It would seem like the opposite is true—that your first experience would make it easier the second time around, no?
I truly believe that it is harder to win the second one because you already have that target on your back, and people are looking for you a little bit more. But then, once you get there, the experience can help. Getting back is the big challenge.
How are you more of a “Real American” than Hulk Hogan?
I think I’m more of a real American than Hulk Hogan because he was doing what he did for the Hulkamaniacs. Not everyone is a Hulkamaniac. I’m doing this for all of America. I’m putting the country on my broad shoulders and carrying them to the promised land. America needs a Real American now more than ever.
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Posted by Brett Clendaniel on May 23, 2013 at 3:39 pm
Hulk Hogan mentioned things have been “so much better” since the sex tape was initially released during an interview with The Tampa Bay Tribune. Hogan also discussed his relationship with Bubba the Love Sponge, who secretly recorded the encounter between Hulk and Bubba’s ex-wife, Heather Clem.
“When you find out who somebody really is, it can be hard to take,” Hogan admitted. “People hide behind smoke and mirrors. When you find out somebody was never really your friend and never had your best interests at heart, yeah, it’s hard to take. But there is no more of that person in my life at all on any level.”
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Posted by Brett Clendaniel on May 10, 2013 at 4:50 pm
TMZ published an article nothing that Hulk Hogan is attempting to eradicate all copies of his sex tape with Heather Clem from the Internet.
Hogan has his legal team are targeting any website that features footage from the tape including photos. TMZ obtained a letter Hogan’s attorney sent to TheDirty.com, requesting they remove all screen sots of the sex footage of face drastic legal action. TMZ notes that TheDirty has not removed the photos yet.
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Posted by Brett Clendaniel on May 10, 2013 at 12:37 pm
TNA taped the May 16th episode of Impact Wrestling last night. Here are spoilers, thanks to F4Wonline.com:
* Jay Bradley beat Christian York to earn a spot in the Bound For Glory Series.
* Velvet Sky beat Gail Kim. Kim attacked Velvet after the match.
* Hulk Hogan called out Abyss but Joseph Park came out. Aces & 8s came out and Hogan made Park vs. D-Lo Brown for later in the show.
* Kenny King beat Chris Sabin and Petey Williams.
* Hernandez beat Daniels.
* Joseph Park beat D-Lo Brown. Park got busted open, saw his blood and flipped out. He used the Black Hole Slam to win.
* The Bully Ray vs. Sting contract signing for Slammiversary was next. Sting wanted a No Holds Barred stipulation and Ray agreed. Ray added that if Sting loses, he can never challenge for the TNA World Heavyweight Title again.
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Posted by Brett Clendaniel on April 25, 2013 at 7:14 pm
Hulk Hogan received a ruling in his favor against Gawker for posting footage of Hogan engaged in sexual acts with Heather Clem according to a report from The Hollywood Reporter.
Judge Pamela Campbell ruled that Gawker must take down the footage from their website and from all affiliated websites. This was the result of Judge Campbell granting Hogan’s temporary restraining order as part of the lawsuit.
The $100 million suit for damages is still ongoing.
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Posted by Brett Clendaniel on April 24, 2013 at 11:22 pm
While promoting Impact Wrestling in Indiana, Pennsylvania, Kurt Angle mentioned that TNA had “issues with the other company” and couldn’t book any venues in Pittsburgh.
“Due to some issues with the other company [WWE], we really couldn’t book any venues in Pittsburgh,” Angle said. “If it goes well, we’ll be back in the next six months and do it all over again.”
Angle also spoke about his health and the various injuries he has worked through in the last couple of years. Despite the injuries suffered, Angle claims he is “one-hundred-percent” and “ready to go”.
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Posted by Brett Clendaniel on April 19, 2013 at 12:20 pm
WWE will release their “War Games: WCW’s Most Notorious Matches” DVD and Blu-ray on June 25th. Courtesy of WWEDVDNews.com, here is the full content listing:
Disc 1
War Games Match
The Super Powers (Dusty Rhodes, The Road Warriors, Nikita Koloff & Paul Ellering) vs. The Four Horsemen (Ric Flair, Lex Luger, Arn Anderson, Tully Blanchard & J.J. Dillon)
Great American Bash – Atlanta, GA • July 4, 1987
Great American Bash On Tour
War Games Match
Dusty Rhodes, The Road Warriors, Nikita Koloff & Paul Ellering vs. The Four Horsemen (Ric Flair, Lex Luger, Arn Anderson, Tully Blanchard) & The War Machine
Great American Bash – Miami, FL • July 31, 1987
A Different Type of Animal
Tower of Doom Match
The Road Warriors, “Dr. Death” Steve Williams, Ron Garvin & Jimmy Garvin vs. Kevin Sullivan, Mike Rotunda, Al Perez, Russian Assassin & Ivan Koloff
Great American Bash • July 10, 1988
Brutality
War Games Match
Dusty Rhodes, Lex Luger, Nikita Koloff, “Dr. Death” Steve Williams & Paul Ellering vs. The Four Horsemen (Ric Flair, Barry Windham, Arn Anderson, Tully Blanchard & J.J. Dillon)
Great American Bash Tour – Greensboro, NC • July 16, 1988
Live Events
War Games Match
The Road Warriors, The Midnight Express & “Dr. Death” Steve Williams vs. The Fabulous Freebirds & The Samoan Swat Team
Great American Bash • July 23, 1989
Disc 2
Getting Replaced
War Games Match
The Four Horsemen (Ric Flair, Sid Vicious, Barry Windham & Larry Zbyszko) vs. Sting, Brian Pillman, & The Steiner Brothers
WCW WrestleWar • February 24, 1991
Talent Change
War Games Match
Sting’s Squadron (Sting, Nikita Koloff, Dustin Rhodes, Ricky Steamboat & Barry Windham) vs. The Dangerous Alliance (Arn Anderson, Bobby Eaton, Steve Austin, Larry Zbyszko & Rick Rude)
WCW WrestleWar • May 17, 1992
The Almighty Dollar
War Games Match
Sting, Davey Boy Smith, Dustin Rhodes & The Shockmaster vs. Sid Vicious, Vader & Harlem Heat
WCW Fall Brawl • September 19, 1993
A Really Special Night
War Games Match
Dusty Rhodes, Dustin Rhodes & The Nasty Boys vs. Terry Funk, Arn Anderson, Bunkhouse Buck & Colonel Robert Parker
WCW Fall Brawl • September 18, 1994
Disc 3
Pride in Their Product
War Games Match
The Hulkamaniacs (Hulk Hogan, Randy Savage, Lex Luger & Sting) vs. The Dungeon of Doom (Kamala the Ugandan Giant, The Zodiac, The Shark & Meng)
WCW Fall Brawl • September 17, 1995
Glimmer of a Fire
War Games Match
Team nWo (“Hollywood” Hulk Hogan, Scott Hall, Kevin Nash & A Mystery Partner) vs. Team WCW (Ric Flair, Arn Anderson, Lex Luger & Sting)
WCW Fall Brawl • September 15, 1996
Pulling Out Every Stop
War Games Match
Team nWo (Kevin Nash, Buff Bagwell, Syxx & Konnan) vs. The Four Horsemen (Ric Flair, Steve McMichael, Chris Benoit & Curt Hennig)
WCW Fall Brawl • September 14, 1997
The Talent Made The War Games
War Games Match
Team WCW (Diamond Dallas Page, Roddy Piper & The Warrior) vs. Team Hollywood (“Hollywood” Hulk Hogan, Stevie Ray & Bret Hart) vs. Team Wolfpac (Kevin Nash, Sting & Lex Luger)
WCW Fall Brawl • September 13, 1998
The End of the War Games
War Games 2000 Match
Sting, Booker T, Goldberg & KroniK vs. Kevin Nash, Jeff Jarrett, Scott Steiner & The Harris Brothers
WCW Monday Nitro • September 4, 2000
The Main Event
Blu-ray Exclusives
Rage in the Cage Match
Brian Lee, Jimmy Golden, Ricky Morton, Robert Fuller & Robert Gibson vs. Kevin Sullivan, Killer Kyle, The Tazmaniac , Stan Lane & Tom Prichard
Smoky Mountain Wrestling: Volunteer Slam II • May 9, 1993
Ultimate Jeopardy Steel Cage Match
Tommy Dreamer, Public Enemy & The Pitbulls vs. Raven, Stevie Richards, The Eliminators & The Heavenly Bodies
ECW December to Dismember • December 9, 1995
Ultimate Jeopardy Steel Cage Match
Buh Buh Ray Dudley, D-Von Dudley & Mustafa Saed vs. New Jack, Axl Rotten & Balls Mahoney
ECW CyberSlam • April 3, 1999
War Games Fantasy Booking with Dusty Rhodes
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Posted by Brett Clendaniel on April 18, 2013 at 5:06 pm
Former WWE referee Jimmy Korderas appeared on Kayfabe Wrestling Radio with Alan Wojcik, where he discussed his book detailing his WWE experiences, watching Owen Hart fall to his death, the night after WrestleMania crowd, being awestruck by former co-workers, and more. Highlights from the interview are as follows:
What made him want to write a book? “Well, to make a very long story short, it began with my wife, Audrey. She was the one who kept saying after I left the WWE, ‘You know what, you’ve got so many of these great stories to tell; you should write a book.’ And I’m thinking to myself, ‘Yeah, but nobody wants to read a book about fun stuff.’ In my mind, I’m think everyone wants to read about dirt, you know, that whole ‘what happens in Vegas, stays in Vegas mentality’. They want to hear what happens in Vegas, you know what I mean?
“I’m thinking I don’t know, and then I got together with Arda Ocal and we started doing our wrestling radio podcast and that sort of stuff and working on the ScoreTV up here in Canada. We’d hang around and I’d tell him stories and he’d say ‘You know, you should put that in a book. It’s kind of funny and some fun stories.’ And I’m thinking to myself the same thing. Eventually, he kept notes on his phone and he forwarded an e-mail to me with a whole bunch of stories on it and said ‘This stuff should be in a book’. So he’s the one who contacted me with ECW Press and we met with them and pitched it to them and they liked the idea and it ran from there.”
Asking the guys for help and better himself as a referee: “I did that all the time and I even asked the boys ‘Hey, if I do anything wrong, please let me know’. The problem for me is, and maybe I’m overly critical; I hated watching myself back because I am my own worst critic. Even the smallest little thing, I’d go ‘Why did I do that? Why did I move like that? Why did I look over there?’ I was never really happy with myself. You always strive to be as close to perfect as you can be because there’s no such real thing as perfect. Again, I would find flaws with everything that I did and it got to the point where maybe I shouldn’t be watching myself anymore. But it is kind of cool to see yourself on TV, I have to admit, let’s be honest.”
Was he ever awestruck by anyone in particular in the ring:“Almost all the time. It’s so amazing; I consider myself lucky to have been there for different eras. Like you said, the Golden Era with the Andre the Giant’s and the Hulk Hogan’s and the Randy Savage’s, and then Next Generation with Bret Hart and the Shawn Michael and that era and the Kliq, and then the Attitude Era, which people to this day still talk about and living through that, and moving onto the next generation with John Cena, Batista and probably my favorite of all time in The Undertaker. Honestly, I consider myself really blessed to be able to say that I actually got to work with all those guys.”
Being the referee in-ring during passing of Owen Hart and how it was almost deadly for him: “It is one of those things your try to put out of your mind, but it’s there; it’s always going to be there and I just have to come to terms with the fact that this is something that’s going to live with me and it’s something I can’t get out of my mind completely. Part of the process of writing the book too, when I was writing the chapter on Owen, I was hoping that it would be a little cathartic, maybe ease part of the pain for lack of a better word, that still lives with me today because, like you said, six inches to my right and I may not be here talking to you today. It did help a little bit (writing the book), ease some of that pain, but not completely. It’s going to be one of those unfortunate things that I won’t forget, but that I have to live with, I guess.”
The post-WrestleMania Raw crowd at the IZOD Center: “I’m two schools of thought here: 1) I appreciate the fact that the fans who paid their hard-earned money come and enjoy themselves and they cheer and boo and chant for whomever they want. They only issue I had with the post-WrestleMania Monday night crowd was it got a little bit crazy and overboard where they did it to amuse themselves as opposed to being entertained with what was going on inside the ring. So, it was almost like ‘We don’t care what’s going on in the ring, it has nothing to do with what’s going on in the ring; we’re going to start chanting and almost kind of hijacking the show to some extent. And I get it, I would never say to the fans ‘Don’t do what you’re doing. Don’t go out there and have a great time’; it’s just to me, it didn’t feel like it fit with the actual presentation of the show.
“The other thing is it seemed like the majority of the crowd were probably from overseas. It just felt like an overseas crowd, like you’d see in London, where RAW coming up from London, England next week. That’s the type of crowd it felt like, you know; with the soccer chants, the ‘Ole, Ole, Ole’ and that sort of stuff. But you know what, they were having fun and I guess that’s what the main objective is. I just thought, like you said, it was more to entertain themselves than to be entertained by the festivities.”
The full interview is available here.
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Posted by Brett Clendaniel on April 17, 2013 at 9:08 pm
Brodus Clay appeared as a guest on the latest edition of Busted Open Radio, hosted by Doug Mortman and Dave LaGreca (Busted Open Radio airs every Monday, Wednesday and Friday from 2:00 to 4:00 p.m. on Sirius 94 and XM 208), where he addressed such topics as the evolution of his WWE character, his partnership with Tensai and the ongoing feud between The Funkadactyles and The Bella Twins.
On teaming with Tensai: “We’re kindred spirits. I don’t know if you guys have noticed and by the way, I don’t want to upset him, the name you’re looking for is Sweet T. Tensai is so angry, relax, have some fun. And everything goes with Sweet Tea, right? It’s a delicious drink and athletic big guy who can dance, why not?
“I think he’s right around 350 and I’m about 356 so seven plus. There’s a little resemblance [between us], one of us has still got his hair, which is always nice and between the two of us could pay some mortgages at a tattoo parlor but our styles are a little bit different though. Like his success in Japan and he has the Japanese influence into his work and I’m more of a suplex power guy, so the pairing of us together is actually ying and yang a little bit, which is cool. He enjoys being able to show the other side of him. As he was before, he was kind of one dimensional, you know, the angry guy, which can only go so far, I think. After a while it’s like, what is he mad about? He’s got a great job and the country is going broke and this guy is mad?”
On just having fun out there and yelling ‘suplex’: “Actually they were getting mad at me for doing that on TV. They’re like, ‘you seem like you’re picking on the guy’ when I’m telling him what I’m going to do to him, but I always thought that was the worst thing you can do to somebody, like ‘I’m going to take my hand and I’m going to put it in your face and I’m going to throw you.’ When you call it to him, it mentally gets in the guy’s head. I think I’m going to get back to that.”
The evolution of his character: “Coming out of NXT I felt that I was robbed and I finished second and I cut a pretty good speech on the crowd. I told them I was going to get some back because I was angry, and being with Alberto Del Rio was basically similar to when I was with Snoop. My role was to get his back and make him look as tough as possible and me smiling and cracking jokes wasn’t going to do that. So I had to put my personality in the back seat to take care of the job, but I knew it was a doorway for me to get my own personality an opportunity. So the time with Alberto was good in terms of learning and Alberto’s a great competitor and his experience helped me a lot, but as soon as I got a chance to be me, I never was a guy who was angry, that mean tough guy is usually the scariest guy in the room, I always noticed the guy that looked the meanest and act the meanest was terrified, that’s why he looked mean. And the guy who was smiling at you before he fought you was the guy you really worried about because he’s not sweating you. So that’s kind of like how I was, even body guarding with guys I was more of a talker and ran my mouth and smiled and stuff and it kept people off, especially if a guy’s is fired up and you’re laughing at him or smiling or winking at him it just messes with their mind. That was more who I am. Shaquille O’Neal was the same way. If you looked at him before a basketball game, he was silly, joking around, dancing, but come tip-off he was the business and I’m trying to be more like that.”
The Funkasaurus character: “I think the word is fun. I just wanted to have fun with it. I think that was something that the WWE was missing. With all the seriousness that’s going around today, people need to laugh, they need to have a good time, they need to look at somebody who’s not afraid to make fun of themselves a little bit. I mean everyone’s gotten a little too uptight. When I think of guys like the Junkyard Dog and even Hulk Hogan, when he came out and that music was playing and he was pointing and ripping his shirt and everybody got fired up and Ultimate Warrior came out and everybody was shaking ropes and they didn’t really know what they were doing but they knew they needed to be moving vigorously and it made sense and we kind of got away from that. I wanted, if anything else, Brodus Clay to be remembered as somebody who got you out of your seat and I think that’ll be remembered so you’ve got to come 100% with that. We have an open camp, Naomi and Cameron, they always have ideas and as the leader of the Funk Nation or Tons of Funk, now the official name of the tag team, it’s a big group but it’s a lot of fun and a lot of input and people come in with new ideas all the time and I always get all sorts of good ideas from Twitter, people going, ‘hey can you do this…’, and we try as much as possible to incorporate everyone’s opinion so everyone feels like they’re involved. Even the name, we went out and it came down to Lords of Funk and Tons of Funk and What the Funk and Sweet T was like, ‘I like Tons of Funk,’ I was like, ‘what are we, tipping scales?’ Next thing you know its #tippingscales, Tons of Funk. So it’s a group thing but you got to have fun with it.”
People of all ages dancing for Brodus: “I think it’s a testimony to how bad of a dancer I really am. The thing about it (the teen wolf dance) is anybody can do it, so when they see me dancing, ‘well I can do that.’ I think if I was like Fred Astaire out there or like break dance fighting and doing crazy splits and stuff like that I think people would be like, ‘ehhhh, I’m just going to watch him,’ but the fact that they’re like, ‘I can do that,’ it’s fun and I think they lose themselves. Matter of fact, at WM last year when I came out with Mama Clay and the Bridge Club I was like ‘everybody call your mama,’ there was a guy who was watching and was defiant, I was keeping him from his tough stuff, and when I was like “everybody grab your phone” he without even realizing just pulled his phone out and it wasn’t until it was up that he was like, ‘what?! No.’ Then he put his phone back down and if you watch it you can see me looking at him going like, ‘you dig? I got you.’ You can say what you want to say but you just lifted your phone up when I told you to. It can be euphoric and for tough guys it’s alright to lay back a little bit and have fun and when the bell rings still be about business but enjoy it, have fun, people are excited to see you.”
The Funkadactyles and the Bellas in the ring: “Well they’re both former Divas champions and I would argue that Naomi is the best pure athlete in the women’s division, period. Some of the stuff that she does, it just blows your mind. She’s just chomping at the bit and the more she gets out there the more things she does and Cameron makes up for her inexperience with she’s ferocious. She’s throwing blows out there and the Bellas, they’re wily veterans out there, but that’s what me and Sweet T are there for. We’re always coaching them on the sidelines. If you’ve seen me during the match, they got pom poms for me so I get up there and cheer for them as best I can but at the same time giving instructions and stuff. Experience wise you’ve got to give it to the Bella Twins but in terms of just overall effort, athleticism, and just work ethic, the Funkadactyles are there with them.”
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