Johnny Swinger interview highlights

Johnny Swinger joined The Big Mosh and “The Chairman of the Board” Todd Vincent for an interview Monday Night Mayhem, which is now available for free download, exclusively on the WrestleView Radio Network (available here). Highlights from the interview are as follows:

His memories of working with his long-time tag team partner Simon Diamond and how competing together turned into a lifelong friendship: “He’s the godfather of my son, and we were both the best man at each other’s weddings. We go beyond the wrestling business at this point. He’s doing the job he is supposed to be doing (in TNA Impact Wrestling), and he loves it. I’m happy for him. I wish I could work with him again someday, because there isn’t anything more fun than working with your buddies. I miss our time together, because it was a lot of fun.”

Whether or not he’s considering a fun run with the WWE or TNA: “Another favorite saying is ‘Never Say Never,’ and I want to remind everybody again that I am 37, not 40, plus even though that doesn’t mean anything to me. Clint Eastwood in Grand Torino was a badass at 75. It is all about how you’re presented. I intend to keep doing this in the future. I worked in both of those places, and I would love to work there again.”

If it’s a worthwhile and productive idea idea to debut new Superstars at big Pay-Per-Views like we saw at the WWE Survivor Series with Seth Rollins, Dean Ambrose, and Roman Reigns: “They (the WWE) got the vehicle with their Pay-Per-Views, and their TV is still huge. I learned from Vince (McMahon) that perception is reality, and if you send a couple of these guys out on a big show, you’re telling these people that these guys are premiere talent. They are going to do something the night you initially watched them (on the Pay-Per-View), they are going to do something the next night (on Raw), and the next show thereafter. But what greater place to make an impact than on one of their major Pay-Per-Views, because they were presented like players.”

Dr Tom Prichard interview highlights

Dr. Tom Prichard joined the VOC Wrestling Nation recently to give his thoughts on the debut of Seth Rollins, Dean Ambrose, and Roman Reigns, working with the trio down at FCW, his new wrestling project, and the overall state of the wrestling business. The VOC Wrestling Nation is the flagship program of the VOC Nation Radio Network, and can be heard every Wednesday at 5PM ET worldwide at VOCNation.com. Here are some highlights from the chat with Dr. Tom:

On Rollins, Ambrose and Reigns' WWE debut: “I don’t know if you can find anything in wrestling that hasn’t been done before, but I look at it the other way. At least these guys finally had the opportunity not to just show up, but to make an impact on a (top) guy like Ryback, who is making an impact right now.”

On the WWE product: “WWE is in a transitional period. The powers that be (HHH) know that they need new blood. The lifeblood of the business is getting new talent and putting them in the mix.”

On Roman Reigns: “Out of the three, Roman Reigns is the greenest, yet he still has talent and untapped potential and charisma to be a major star. Reigns is Sika’s son, so he has the bloodline. He played football in the past, and has overcome a number of personal challenges in his life that none of us can ever imagine.”

On which of Rollins, Ambrose, or Reigns has the most star potential: “The dark horse is Roman Reigns. As far as charisma and working ability, Ambrose is at the top of the list. Rollins has the passion and the attitude that can put you over the top. You have three guys that have their own individual “it factors”. All three guys are smart. Ambrose is crazy like a fox. Rollins is wild like a maverick, but finally understands that there are rules that you need to play by; he has his beliefs, and he won’t sacrifice what he believes in, but he’s finally figured out (how to work the system).”

On his departure from WWE developmental: “When anyone new comes in, they want their team. When Bill DeMott came back, I knew that the writing was on the wall. Canyon Cemen, who took over Ty Bailey’s place, is very new to the business and really knows nothing. I was very honest with him when I probably shouldn’t have been. I told him that he came across like an a—hole in his initial meeting with the talent, and the writing was on the wall from there. I understand how it works. HHH wants his own people. If they can’t produce stars, but proof will be in the ratings.”

On how to be successful in wrestling: “It’s more how you handle yourself backstage than anything. If you show up at the arena at 12:30, you have 9 hours before showtime where the (powers that be) can see you and judge you. Someone much wiser than I told me on a plane ride not too long ago, that you have to understand who you can be honest with and who you can’t.”

On his new wrestling school: "We have a new wrestling project coming to Knoxville called Next Level Wrestling. It’s going to start in January. January 3rd is the open house for Next Level Training (the wrestling school)." VOCNation.com will have all of the information regarding the project as it develops.

Papa Shango interview highlights

Charles Wright, more famously known as The Godfather and Papa Shango, recently spoke toIMETAWrestler.com on a slew topics concerning his career. Highlights from the interview are as follows:

On the Papa Shango character: "I used to read books on voodoo, in fact I built an entire voodoo library. Everything I said in my promos was real and legit. All the props were from voodoo stores. It was totally authentic. The effects guys worked with the staffs and sticks so that they all did something different. I had a bunch of them - some would shoot sparks, others had smoke and lights that came out of them."

How Sid messed up the character: "Papa Shango was supposed to last much longer in the main event but Sid f---ed it up. It was supposed to be Sid and Warrior headlining SummerSlam [1992], but Sid didn't want to do it and he quit. He had his own issues, he said Vince had brought him in under the promise of replacing Hogan as the top babyface and it wasn't going the way it was supposed to. So Papa Shango was fed to Warrior instead. The problem was, with a character like Papa Shango, once the losses piled up, the character lost a lot of that mystique and invincibility, and it was all downhill fast from there."

Papa Shango returning in 1997 but replaced by Kane: "A lot of people don't know this, but Papa Shango was going to return in 1997. It was going to be a more gritty, realistic version with a mask instead of paint.They created the costume and the new entrance. But what happened was, the decision was then made to do Kane. I guess they felt there wasn’t enough room for two dark, supernatural characters, and so I became Kama Mustafa and they put me in The Nation. I've still got some 8x10 promos of me in the new mask and gear."

Why Vince put The Rock in The Nation: "The Rock was put into The Nation to protect him. Vince had big plans for The Rock from day one and was worried that he had been getting bad advice from the wrong people. Some jealous dudes had been getting into his ear. So Vince put Rock in the Nation so he could benefit from the guidance of Ron [Simmons] and myself. It was the same thing with Mark Henry. Mark was a big long term investment that was getting some bad advice, learning some bad habits, and so Vince put him under myself and Ron for guidance. Both those guys were struggling."

Vince's opinion of The Godfather: "Vince loved the gimmick. Loved it. He used to go to bat for me so many times – fighting the networks, fighting the executives. He did everything he could to keep the character as a central part of the show. Vince used to come to me and say, "Charles – he always called me Charles – you’re having too much fun out there. You should be paying me!" And that didn’t surprise me – Vince is the biggest pimp of them all!"

On the Attitude Era: "I got away with talking about weed so openly on TV because the network executives had no idea what I was saying. They didn’t understand the slang. They had no idea what a "fatty" or a "blunt" was, so I was able to say all this stuff and they had no clue. My friend in Cypress Hill said he was amazed at the sh## I got away with."

On almost joining WCW and the nWo: "I almost went to WCW to be Hogan’s enforcer in the nWo. I named my price, the contract was being drawn up, and then at the last minute, I got a call saying the contract was being retracted and there was no longer an offer for me. I was stunned, man, just stunned. I asked why, and it turned out that Virgil offered to do it for a third of the price because he wanted to be back on TV so bad. That dumb motherf---er cost us both."

WWE Survivor Series 2012

 WWE PPV Review; Survivor Series 2012

Annual WWE PPV The Suvivor Series is one of the original 'big four' events of the WWE year (alongside the Royal Rumble, WrestleMania and SummerSlam). The event in its prime featured some of the wrestling companies finest matches and a few real highlights from its history. The main difference between this show and the others was the traditional Survivor Series matches, which pitted thrown together teams in some interesting last man standing encounters.

After a few years of no SS matches and a possible removal of the event from the PPV entirely from upcoming events. However fortune prevailed and the show has once again returned to form and has become a staple part of our WWE diet.

2012's effort was highly anticipated by our very own Phil Allely (the recent Raw live show in Belfast whetting his appetite nicely). So what did he make of it?

The opener saw Heath Slater and Jinder Mahal tackle the combined might of Zack Ryder and Santino Marella. Marella did comedy work well, Ryder attempted to elevate things and their opponents pulled every heel trick they could out of the bag. The end came when Drew McIntyre utilised is plaster cast covered arm to put Ryder away for the three count.

The first traditional SS style match of the night saw the team of Brodus Clay, Justin Gabriel, Tyson Kidd, Sin Cara and Rey Mysterio battle the unit of Darren Young, Titus O'Neil, Epico, Primo and Tensai. A reasonable example of the type of tam encounter we come to expect this bonus scrap had its fair share of fun moments. The numbers where whittled down nicely the by the faces here and ended well with Mysterio, Cara, Gabriel and Kidd all celebrating a team win.

The Divas Title match between champion Eve and challenger Kaitlyn was a decent outing for the division. Eve has come on leaps and bounds as a grappler and Kaitlyn is getting there too. The Divas do need some new blood added to the roster, but those there are certainly the best the division has to offer. After a number of near falls and cheap shots Eve hit a nice neck-breaker to retain her belt.

Your writer is not big fan of US Champion Antonio Cesaro, but he must have something to offer as he has been not only a champion for a while now, but also been given some superb opponents as of late. This time around he was up against the fun R-Truth. Truth when in the mood is an exciting wrestler and whilst this fell below my expectations the crowd seemed at least to show an interest in proceedings. Cesaro of course held on to his gold for now.

Ireland's own Sheamus took on World Heavyweight Champion Big Show next. Sheamus is a bit of an enigma in the the WWE, he has the size, attitude and willing to make it as a real head liner, yet he still misses something. The former champ did give his all against the (still) lumbering Big Show here. The action was pretty good however and the pair gelled nicely too. Show seemed to win after a ref bump, but the decision was changed to that of a DQ win for Sheamus. Unfortunately that meant he didn't reclaim his belt but.

The second Survivor Series team match saw Team Foley face off against Team Ziggler. There was of course also a replacement for the injured Cody Rhodes to work out too. So what we had was the team of Alberto Del Rio, Damien Sandow, David Otunga, Dolph Ziggler and Wade Barrett face off against Kane, Daniel Bryan, Kofi Kingsston, The Miz and Randy Orton. This time around the teams were on the ball and up for the challenge. Some eliminations were unexpected and the in-ring action was superb. Ziggler ended the match as the sole survivor, which hopefully means he is heading back towards the main event scene.

The main event triple threat match saw WWE Champ CM Punk tackle John Cena and Ryback in a very entertaining encounter. Ryback is a fresh face to WWE main events and one that it certainly needs. Ryback's 'Goldberg' style character and attitude works so well that we as fans really do want him to win his matches and net a title soon. This was a goo outing for the trio and one that saw Punk (and Paul Heyman) shine as they deserve to. The end came as Ryback was assaulted by some NXT goons and Punk stole a pin off the prone Cena.

Survivor Series 2012 was one of the most enjoyable WWE shows your reviewer has seen in recent years. The results may have been expected and the matches played out as we may predict, but the enthusiasm was there by all concerned and it certainly shined through too.

Running The Ropes were very impressed with Survivor Series 2012.

By Phil Allely

Jerry Lynn Interview Highlights

jerry Lynn joined The Big Mosh, "The Chairman of the Board" Todd Vincent, and Jim Molineaux for his final-ever interview on Monday Night Mayhem, which is now available for FREE download, exclusively on the WrestleView Radio Network (available here). Highlights from theinterview are as follows:

His motivation for continuing to wrestle, despite thinking the subject of "retirement" for the past five years: "I love it. I have a passion for this that nobody will ever understand. The person that may realize this is Jake 'The Snake.' I've seen a lot of people come and go, but if you want to last, you must have a true passion for it to keep going through all of the politics, the injuries, and the sacrifices you make. And what I love about this is that you never stop learning. I'm still learning. There is so much more that I want to keep learning about it."

Being selected by Ring of Honor at "Final Battle 2012" to compete in one of his final matches:"It's going to be a big night. It's my last Ring of Honor show. It is very emotional. I've always been the one to say 'There's no crying in wrestling.' I've already started to feel a little misty-eyed. It's going to be a big show, because Ring of Honor had a big part in rejuvenating my career towards the end. Plus, the building (The Hammerstein Ballroom) is special too."

The one thing he wishes he could have done over in his career and the advice he gives to those just starting in the business based on that: "One of the only regrets I have is I didn't feel comfortable taking a move one time. I got talked into doing it, and it messed up my arm for life. So I always tell young guys that if you ever don't feel comfortable doing something, don't be afraid to say no, because it is your life on the line."

If his forthcoming retirement is just from wrestling inside the squared circle or if he will be stepping back entirely: "In-ring that it. I don't have a choice in the matter. My body is done. My bump card is full. I'm on fumes now, and I'm really pushing it. I’m just trying to get around to a lot of my regulars one last time. There's a couple of independent groups like Crossfire in Nashville, and Extreme Rising, and there might be a few others that may be interested in using me as a road agent behind the scenes to help them with the shows. You never know. I may be interested in being a trainer for the WWE one day. But that needs to be put on the back burner right now, because then I'd have to pick up and move the family. But again, they would have to be interested in me. I couldn't just show up and say 'I’m here!' But I would love to be involved behind the scenes, because I have a passion for this. There's a lot more I'd like to learn."

Christian York interview highlights

Christian York appeared on the Shining Wizards podcast (available at ShiningWizards.com).Highlights from the interview are as follows:

On how he got involved on Gut Check: "I was working in MCW (Maryland Championship Wrestling) and TNA was doing a house show in Bowie, Maryland, and the agents asked for a list of 10 guys, and I was one of the 10. I was eating breakfast with my wife,and they gave me call saying, we want to use you on some house shows and get a look at you. So I did that, and they called me back about doing this Gut Check."

On the Gut Check Experience: "They told me it's all a shoot, it's all real. It's not scripted stuff or anything like that, and we did that. We went from there, they did the profile thing with me, and then the match with Zema (Ion), which was pretty wild. All day long you don't know anything, its just like a rehearsal type thing. Just stand in the ring and we will go from there. Its all a shoot, they want raw emotion."

The Boy Band Gimmick: "We started that in '99. We weren't really on board with the boy band thing. We were like, man, that's gay. We were trying to be edgy, like every indy wrestler, trying to be cool as hell. We wanted to be called Fourplay, but we ended up being the Badstreet Boys. It worked, we had tons of girls as fans. Kanyon had seen the gimmick and had the idea of getting Shane Helms and Shannon Moore a tryout. Myself and Joey didn't have any idea about this. Then Shane called and said, hey, man, we just got signed, and I was like, did we get signed? And he was like, no, they are gonna give you a tryout, we are gonna do the boy band gimmick with Evan (Karagias). "

On WCW not being around: "I miss the hell out of it, man. I wish it was still around so guys would have a place to work."

First Run with WWF/ECW: "After we got released from WCW we had a no compete clause, 120 days. We waited and we just said, let's go there and try to get on. And we got on, it was pretty cool. They let us do dives and like all kinds of stuff, stuff that unheard of. They were like, just go out there in tear it up. So we did that, and they liked us and stuff, but we looked like kids compared to the cast of characters in WWF at the time. So they said why don't you go to ECW and go there and get over, get seasoned, and then come back here. We got in touch with Tommy Dreamer, and they were already interested in us, so we went there and off we went." 

Dolph Ziggler interview highlights

As reported earlier, Emmy winning entertainment reporter Chris Van Vliet from WOIO recently spoke with Dolph Ziggler in his hometown of Cleveland, Ohio. He talks about breaking away from Vickie Guerrero, how he would have been pushed sooner if he was bigger and his thoughts on John Cena and CM Punk.

He talked about how if he was bigger he would have been pushed earlier, saying if he was 4 inches taller and 40 pounds heavier he would be “a multiple time world champion”. However he admits that he’s he glad he has had to work for all of his success because he feels it has made him better.

He also discussed CM Punk’s claim to being the best the world saying “He has to put it on a shirt. It’s almost like ‘Guys, I’m the best in the world, right? Just ask me!’ It comes off like he’s begging for it and if you keep saying it I guess you think it’s true.”

On being great at selling moves, “I do everything, especially when I’m getting beat up, If I’m going to run into something, I’m running into it full force and it hurts. But instead of hearing‘oh, is that guy ok?’ you hear ‘OOOOH!!’. My body’s on the line because I love this and I do it for a living”

On the topic of John Cena, Ziggler says, “The eight-year old kids, they still think that John Cena’s really good at stuff, other than being strong. And they buy the t-shirts and that’s great. Everybody else goes ‘well, I graduated high school. I get that [Ziggler’s] better than everybody else’”

On being compared to Shawn Michaels and Mr. Perfect: “Mr. Perfect, I was a big fan of his because we kind of had similar deals like wow, we’re almost too good at this that it looks easy sometimes. Huge fan of his, huge fan of Shawn Michaels, Ric Flair. Those guys who always wanted the spotlight even if they weren’t supposed to be in it. They were the guys, if they weren’t the main event, they showed up the main event to let everyone know that next time you put me in there”

On whether he or any of the [WWE] guys in the back follow what's going on in TNA: "Me, personally as a wrestling fan, it's something I've said before where I study movies, I study comedians, why they are getting these reactions; I watch all wrestling. And lots of us, because of the ever-changing roster for both sides, we're friends with half of those guys anyway because we were wrestling with them a few months ago. So that community, we all kind of follow each other. A lot of us watch it just because we love wrestling. We'll watch TNA. We'll watch Ring of Honor. I watch everything just to see what's going on and know where I need to be. 

"Even a good friend of mine, Mike Mondo, who was with me in the Spirit Squad, he's in Ring of Honor tearing it up. Everyone's always saying how great he's doing."

In a follow-up question, Ziggler is then asked, "There seems to be some storylines between TNA and WWE that are kind of overlapping right now. Isn't that weird? He responds, "I'm a little behind on [TNA] storylines, but yes. I heard that from several different people. So, maybe..."

Other topics covered were: getting more mic time, breaking away from Vickie Guerrero and his Twitter feud with Arnold Schwarzenegger.