Category Archives: Interviews

Damn! Ron Simmons scheduled to appear at NWA Wrestling Legends Fanfest Weekend

While he is best known to today’s wrestling fans for his emphatic response of “Damn!” during some of WWE‘s more absurd moments, Ron Simmons has had one of the most decorated careers in professional wrestling. Before his three World Wrestling Federation World Tag Team Championship reigns with Bradshaw, Simmons won the National Wrestling Alliance World Tag Team Championship in 1990 with Butch Reed (a title reign that was eventually recognized as the first World Championship Wrestling World Tag Team Championship). And prior to debuting in the WWF as Faarooq, Simmons made wrestling history by becoming the first recognized black World Heavyweight Champion in any promotion when he defeated Big Van Vader for the WCW title in 1992. Also a member of the College Football Hall of Fame, Simmons talks to Wrestling with Pop Culture about some of his career milestones in preparation for next weekend’s NWA Wrestling Legends Fanfest Weekend.

You became best known to mainstream audiences in the WWF as Faarooq, but you had your must successful run in the NWA and WCW where you became the first black World Heavyweight Champion.

Right. I tell you what, man. Probably the most memorable days were in the NWA, where I spent the beginning stages of my wrestling career. Some of the guys I encountered then, I will be seeing again at this convention, which I look forward to very much. Dusty Rhodes, Ronnie Garvin, Michael Hayes, “Superfly” Snuka, all the guys that came through there and helped me out so much during the formative stages of my career made it in the NWA. That is the most meaningful thing to me and now I’m getting a chance to see them again and relive some of those old memories. I’m really looking forward to this one more so than any that I’ve done in the past because it will give me the opportunity to be a fan myself again. Seeing some of the guys that I grew up watching, then had a chance to be in the ring with, as well as getting a chance to answer questions and talk to some of the fans, whether they want to ask me about football or professional wrestling, this is going to be an all-around great event. From honoring Gordon Solie right down to talking to all the great fans, this is going to be something for everybody of all ages. And it couldn’t be in a better venue than here in Atlanta.

This fanfest is usually held in Charlotte. Do you know why it is being held in Atlanta this year?

I think they know the market is here. Atlanta is where a lot of these guys came from and it’s where most of the legacy of the NWA was. Most of the fans really grew up watching these guys here in Atlanta, when we were doing most of our matches for TV tapings and things of that nature at the old Turner Studios. So this is the best location possible, I think, to do it.

Another guest this year is your old manager from Doom, Teddy Long.

He and I are going to be there together and I’m looking forward to seeing him. It’s going to be great. We were looking forward to my partner Butch Reed being there, but I’m not sure if he’s going to show or not. We’re still hoping that he does.

You’re still fairly active in the Georgia wrestling scene. What have you been doing in the area lately?

A lot of guys call me from the indie circuit for advice and have me come in and critique the matches and things like that. I love to go out and sit and watch the shows because it reminds me of when I started out doing matches at high schools and things of that nature. I spend a lot of time doing that when I can, and I still pop back up here and there with WWE.

Yeah, I still see you there every so often. You’re most recent appearance was on Raw in May for the Rock‘s birthday, right?

Yeah, that was the last one I did.

What is your role with WWE currently? Are you under any sort of contract there or do they just call you from time to time to make appearances?

No, not at this time. I’m just on-call and they still call me to ask for advice and to critique some of the guys and things like that. I like that role and it works out best for myself and them. At this stage of my career, after 30 years of being on the road, I’m really just enjoying living and being home with family.

Do you think you’ll ever have another run as a wrestler in WWE or elsewhere.

No. Like any other thing that’s physically involved, you’ve got to know when to say, “This is it. I’ve had a great time doing it, I’ve been successful in it and I’m not going to push it no more. I’m going to go out the way it is.” That’s the way I saw it. My football career was good to me, my body’s been good to me and throughout all of that, I’m not going to push it. I know when to say, “That’s enough.” And, hey, I’ve had a good time.

You had plenty of accomplishments as a wrestler, so I guess there’s really nothing for you to go back and prove.

Absolutely. I’m satisfied with it. You hit it right on the point. There’s nothing else for me to go back and accomplish. I had a good time, I accomplished what I wanted to, I worked hard at it and that’s where I want to leave it. One of the things I’m most thankful for is the fans for being there and supporting me through all the years. And that’s what I’m looking forward to doing at this fanfest.

Aside from meeting fans and signing autographs, will you also be taking part in any panels or anything like that?

Yeah. We’ll do some Q&As and things of that nature. Of course, with the dinners and banquets they have going on, it’s going to be really big.

A lot of younger fans may not know about your wrestling background with the NWA and probably just know that you show up sometimes and say, “Damn!” How did that catchphrase first catch on?

Anybody with ringside seats who was sitting there watching when things wouldn’t go the way I wanted them to in the ring, that’s what they would always hear me say in the middle of the ring. Sometimes that came across on TV, so after a while people seemed to get a big kick out of it. So I thought, “Why don’t I just incorporate that into the show?” It seemed to catch on pretty quick, so I just started using it from then on.

NWA Wrestling Legends Fanfest Weekend. $20-$224, free for children ages 10 and younger. Aug. 4-7. Atlanta Airport Marriott, 4711 Best Road, Atlanta, Ga. 404-766-7900, www.nwalegends.com.

“Do Or Die” Chip Day challenges for the PCW Championship tonight

Leave a reply

Since his debut with Platinum Championship Wrestling last year, “Do Or Die” Chip Day has become a fan favorite who is consistently in contention for the PCW Heavyweight Championship. Though he has yet to win that coveted title, he gets another chance tonight in a main event match against current champion Grotesque at the Masquerade. With Grotesque now aligned with the invading Empire faction, and with Sacred Ground: Chapter 2 coming up in September, the results of Day’s match tonight could be detrimental to the fate of PCW in the near future. As he prepares for one of the biggest matches of his career, Day talks to Wrestling with Pop Culture about this match and his overall role in PCW.

You were involved in the four-way match at the Masquerade a few months ago where Grotesque won the PCW title. Actually, you were the one who eliminated then-champion Shane Marx. How are you preparing for this one-on-one match against Grotesque?

During my time in PCW so far, I feel like the aggression just hasn’t been there. For the past few weeks I’ve been focusing on my striking and how I’m delivering my strikes. I’m doing less of the high flying stuff and just making sure I have the aggression and that killer instinct that I’ll need against someone like Grotesque.

Grotesque is now part of the invading Empire faction, which has kind of taken over PCW over the past few weeks. You have to anticipate that some of these guys will get involved in your match. Do you have anyone that will be in your corner in case that happens?

I’m going to try to have Kyle Matthews in my corner because he’s my best friend and me and him have been riding up and down these roads together for the last four or five years. I know he’s got a lot going on that night, so if he’s got too much to handle to be in my corner, at least I know he’s there morally to support me and will keep an eye out for me if anything starts to go bad. So I’ve got Kyle there to watch my back, as well as the rest of the PCW locker room.

You were absent from PCW for a while until recently. What was going on with you during that time?

Just a matter of being in demand in so many places. I had a show in Piedmont, Alabama that was requesting my services. Then I went on vacation for a week or two. I also was doing some work with Universal Independent Wrestling in Franklin, Georgia. But with Sacred Ground: Chapter Two right around the corner, I told everybody that I wasn’t going to be available from the time I got back from vacation until probably October or November so I could concentrate on PCW as much as I could.

Depending on the outcome of your match with Grotesque, you could be heading to Sacred Ground as the PCW Champion. If that happens, who would you like to defend that title against at Sacred Ground?

Steve [Platinum] has already announced that Davey Richards will be at Sacred Ground: Chapter Two. That would be a dream come true for me to be walking into the biggest show of the year for PCW as the PCW World Champion and defending against the Ring of Honor World Champion. Obviously that would be a big feather in my cap to have the PCW World Title, but I also think it would be a big stepping stone for me to test myself one on one against the guy that many call the best in the world right now. That would be something awesome for me.

You wrestled Richards right after Sacred Ground last year, at PCW’s first show at the Masquerade. You and Richards had an aggressive back and forth at one point and you seemed to hang with him pretty well.

Yeah, it was me, Davey, Shane Marx and Jay Fury. Davey took me to the limit. I don’t think I’ve been hit as hard as Davey hits ever in my career. That was a test, but I think I stood up to it alright.

You were not originally part of PCW when it started doing shows a little over a year ago. But you became a pretty big part of it a few months later. Why is PCW such a priority for you right now and how do you think it compares to other promotions you’ve wrestled for?

PCW is a priority for me because there’s something different with everything I’ve seen here. I really like that too, because if you see so much of one thing over and over again you kind of get burned out on it. When I came to PCW, I was given opportunities to do things that I wanted to do and how I wanted to do them. This show on July 28 is actually one year for me in the PCW locker room, so in the year I’ve been there I’ve had more big opportunities come my way because of wrestling for PCW. I got to wrestle one of my big influences, Davey Richards, when I got to PCW and I’m treated like I’m part of the upper card while at other shows I’m kind of lost in the shuffle it seems.

Platinum Championship Wrestling. Free for ages 21 and older, $5 for ages 20 and younger. 8 p.m. July 28. The Masquerade, 695 North Ave., Atlanta, Ga. 404-577-8178, www.platinumchampionshipwrestling.com, www.masqueradeatlanta.com.

“Diamond” Dallas Page relives “The Very Best of WCW Monday Nitro”

Leave a reply

During the ’90s, World Championship Wrestling rose to Monday night dominance over the World Wrestling Federation (now WWE) with WCW Monday Nitro, which went head-to-head with WWF Monday Night Raw for more than five years. Though WCW eventually lost the Monday Night Wars in 2001, Nitro definitely provided some exciting times that wrestling fans still recall fondly to this day. With The Very Best of WCW Monday Nitro, WWE honors its former foe with a three-disc set of Nitro highlights hosted by one of WCW’s biggest stars, “Diamond” Dallas Page. Page talks to Wrestling with Pop Culture about the Nitro DVD and the memories it brought up for him.

Former WCW stars Kevin Nash and Booker T recently returned to WWE, and there are still plenty of other people from WCW in the company. How did you end up hosting this DVD?

It was interesting because when they first asked me if I was interested in doing it, I was like, “Hell, yeah. I’m interested. I’m honored!” But I wanted to see the copy because it was very important to me what was said there. After I saw it, I said, “You don’t really want me to do this.” And they were like, “What do you mean? We want you to do it.” I said, “I just wouldn’t say some of these things about WCW. I want to talk about the best of and keep it really positive.” And they said, “Well, change it.” WWE really wanted to do something really cool and I actually talked to some friends of mine because I wanted to know what the fans wanted to see. So they gave me some great ideas and WWE was like, “Great!”

At the end of the video I say that it’s a crime to try to fit six years into one production. I hope people get to see some of your favorite stuff, but they sure missed a hell of a lot of mine. That’s why I say at the end that I’m ready for volume two. I liked what they did, but there’s so much that WWE could do with the footage they have. You could do a DVD set just on mine and [Randy] Savage‘s feud. Never mind Sting and [Hulk] Hogan. You could do three sets of DVDs on just the New World Order, maybe ten.

Have there been talks about doing a DDP DVD?

If this one sells well, a DDP DVD might be a good idea. I’d put my career up against anyone’s in terms of things that have never been done before. I would never compare myself to Ric Flair or Shawn Michaels or Dusty Rhodes. I don’t have the talent that those guys did, and I have monster respect for all of them. But I am the anomaly. No one did what “Diamond” Dallas Page did. I tried wrestling at 22, didn’t work out. When into the night club business, came back as a manager at 32 in the AWA [American Wrestling Association], worked one day a month, which got me on TV every week. Then I went to Championship Wrestling from Florida and worked under Dusty after he left the NWA [National Wrestling Alliance] and started his own territory. I didn’t know a wristlock from a wrist watch and the next thing you know I’m doing color commentary next to Gordon Solie. Then I tried out for the WWF, at the time, and WCW, and both of them passed. Then Dusty brings me in as a manager at WCW and they say I’m too over the top to be a manager. Magnum T.A. said, “We should have put you in a pair of tights and seen what you could do.” So I became a wrestler at 35 and the rest is history. No one ever did, or will ever do, what I did.

You’re also the one who brought Kevin Nash and Scott Hall into WCW originally as Vinnie Vegas and the Diamond Stud.

Exactly! I created Scott Hall’s character, which became Razor Ramon. Scott would be in the car with me doing impressions of Tony Montana from Scarface and that became “The Bad Guy.” The thing with the toothpick, we were walking out of a freaking Waffle House and I grabbed a toothpick and said, “Oh, I’ve got a great idea. When you do an interview, flick your toothpick into the camera.” Then I tagged with Kevin Nash and we were green, but we could work. That’s when I tore my rotator cuff, got fired, came back and they sat me on the bench. It took Hulk Hogan telling me over in Germany, “I don’t know what you’re doing to keep getting so much better, but whatever you’re doing, keep doing it. You and I have the ability to draw huge money together.” Then Hulk went to Eric [Bischoff] and said, “You need to do something with him.” That’s when I started getting the little pushes and we all know what happened from there. Then I became the oldest World Champion.

While watching one of your World Championship matches against Sting on this DVD, I was reminded of the signs people used to hold up at shows back then. There’s a great one that says, “DDP: The Hippies’ Champ.”

Yeah, that one would show up occasionally and I thought it was funny. You know, Sting was the only guy who could get away with never turning heel.

Yeah, even when he joined the New World Order he wasn’t a heel.

Right. The red-and-black were babyfaces. So it was just easier to work as a heel against him. I knew how to do that and he’s one of the few guys I could do that with. Goldberg, too. I flipped myself, and Bischoff was mad as hell at me for doing it. What happened was I came back and was in an angle with Scotty Steiner. I had never been to Toronto and I came out and the place went nuts. When I started talking about Steiner, they cheered and I thought they were cheering Scotty. They were really cheering the angle, but I turned on the people and cut a vicious promo. I remember going back and Bischoff saying, “What are you doing turning yourself heel?” I said, “The people were cheering for Steiner and I got pissed!” And that was all reality based, so I went with it. But he was like, “You’re one of our top babyfaces! You can’t just flip like that.”

Another moment that was missing from the DVD was when the nWo was really trying to get you to join and it looked like you were about to, but then someone jumped you from behind.

It was Dennis Rodman and Hulk Hogan.

I was surprised that wasn’t on the DVD, especially after the part where you say something to the effect of, “Who was the only superstar to never join the nWo? We’ll get to that later.”

I really wanted them to put the La Parka match in there. That was one of the greatest Nitro moments ever, and they said they liked it, but they didn’t put it in there. I can’t remember why they didn’t.

The whole thing with the nWo was the bookers at the time didn’t want me to drop the nWo. It was my idea and they drew that out for so long. It was the best thing that ever happened to me. There’s something positive that comes out of everything, you’ve just got to keep looking for it. I was a heel and I never fucking changed my promos. Just like Steve Austin in ’97, I just turned my disdain and disgust for the fans to the nWo. That’s all I did. And at some point I became a pure babyface, but that took years.

The same thing happened with the Four Horsemen and several others. It was WCW vs. nWo, so it didn’t matter if you were a face or heel.

One thing that was huge to me was Sting going into the rafters. The only babyfaces we really had were the Big Show [then known as the Giant] and Lex Luger. And Lex was 6’4″, 290 pounds of pure chiseled steel, so they had to beat Lex down. I had a legitimate angle with these guys because I was really tight, best friends, especially with Kevin.

Now that you’ve done this DVD with WWE, are you working on any other projects there?

I’m open. I went in to promote the DVD on Raw and it was great having fun with Booker in the back. There are four guys I really wish I could have worked with. One being the Rock, of course, so it would be the People’s Champion vs. the People’s Champion. Shawn Michaels would absolutely have been another. Triple H and Stone Cold are the other guys I really wish I had been able to work with. But interacting with Shawn on Raw was cool.

I’m really glad I did the DVD set and it would be a natural fit for them to keep me as a host. When people think of Nitro, they think of “Diamond” Dallas Page because I was there from the get-go to the ending. Goldberg was made over that time period, but I was there when we were nothing and we were way down the ladder. And I can remember Eric Bischoff saying, “We’re going to kick Vince McMahon‘s ass.” And I’d be thinking, “What are you smoking, man? How can you even say that?” But first you’ve got to say it and believe it, or else you’re never going to achieve it. And he did. I was there with him for that whole ride.

That Raw segment with Booker T and Shawn Michaels was great, when Michaels said he missed Nitro because he always had to work that night.

Yeah, that was great! It’s total bullshit because we all watched everything we all did. But he was working that thing when he said, “I’ll check that out.”

Sting was obviously a big part of WCW, and a lot of people think he deserves to be in the WWE Hall of Fame. Do you think he’ll ever go to WWE before he retires?

No, I don’t think so. Now that it’s PG, there might be a chance. But I think if Sting comes in it will be under his terms. He’s 52 now and he’s still out there doing his thing. I know how hard it is because I did house shows until I was 53. I don’t want to do it anymore. For Stinger to come back, what does he have to prove? The reason why he could do it is the face paint. He’s kind of ageless. I think he’ll be in the WWE Hall of Fame regardless. Sting is a guy they really want and I think they would do something really good with him.

For more information, go to www.wwe.com and www.diamonddallaspage.com.

MGCW Champion Andy Anderson prepares for WarGames

3 Replies

By Jonathan Williams

Courtesy MGCW

This Saturday, Mid Georgia Championship Wrestling hosts its biggest show of the year thus far with Bash at the Bridge. And while the card features appearances by the New Age Outlaws Jesse James and Billy Gunn, “Wildfire” Tommy Rich and the induction of Curtis Hughes into the MGCW Hall of Fame, there are a few other matches that are likely to have a lasting effect within MGCW. The biggest of those matches is the WarGames main event, where Team Anderson (Andy Anderson, Axil Anderson and two mystery partners) looks to settle its score against Team Exotic (the Exotic Ones Simon Sermon and Rick Michaels, “Vicious” Vic Roze and Vordell Walker). Like the old World Championship Wrestling event of the same name, WarGames will feature two rings inside the same steal cage, with participants from each team entering in two-minute inervals until all eight men are in the cage. As he prepares for one of the biggest matches of his career, MGCW Heavyweight Champion Andy Anderson takes a moment to talk about his career leading up to the WarGames match.

This Saturday you’re involved in the WarGames match, which is something we haven’t seen since the WCW days.

Yeah, it’s the same format and same style as the WCW one. It’s me, my brother Axil and two mystery partners we’ll announce Saturday night. We’re taking on Rick Michaels, Simon Sermon, Vordell Walker and Vic Roze. The two team captains start the match, which will be me and Simon, and every two minutes we’ll do a coin toss to see who the next participant will be. Once everyone is in the ring, WarGames will start and the only way to win is by surrender or submission.

How do you prepare for a match like the WarGames match?

It’s probably going to be at least a 45-minute match. So you’ve got to do a lot of cardio because it’s going to be a long match and there’s going to be a lot going on.

You’re title is not on the line in this match. When will you be defending your belt again?

I defend the title again on July 9 in McDonough, Ga. against a guy named Tokyo Monster Kahagas from Florida.

My first time seeing MGCW was when you guys invaded Platinum Championship Wrestling a few months ago. When did MGCW start and how long have you been part of it?

I got my start in Deep South Wrestling, the former WWE developmental school, in ’06. I got my feet wet there then took about a year off. I came back in ’07 and trained here and there with people like Tommy Rich and Ricky Morton. I went out to Texas this past April to train and I’ve done various other training. Then I started MGCW back in ’09 with Jackie Marler, my [business] partner.

When did you originally win the MGCW title?

I won the title in October of 2010. Shane Marx took it from me in January, but I got it back in February.

Courtesy MGCW

MGCW is doing a lot of big shows, monthly TV tapings and other things that a lot of other indie promotions aren’t doing. What is your goal with MGCW?

Our goal is to get as big as possible while trying to keep a little bit of that old school tradition. We want to keep it a wrestling promotion and not a production type of thing. We’ve got a few guys in our promotion that try to do the whole WWE mainstream-type work, but most of us shoot more towards the old school style of wrestling.

Is that one of the reasons you bring back things like WarGames?

Yeah. It’s something people haven’t seen since WCW did it in the ’90s. It’s something different for the fans. Before we were all workers, we were all fans, too. So it’s something I’ve always wanted to see and it’s something different. It’s an old concept, but at this day and time it’s kind of new. Other promotions have announced WarGames, but it ends up being only one cage and one ring. We’re trying to go back to the traditional two rings in two cages. We’ll see how it goes. Hopefully it will go well. All of our fans are excited about it and I think it will turn out pretty well.

How often do you wrestle for other promotions? Is that something you’d like to do more of?

I’m actually doing a show in Panama City for the Fourth of July, so I’m definitely trying to venture out more. I’d still like to get my name out more. I’m going to try to go to Puerto Rico in July or August and maybe do a few runs out there. There’s a lot of independent promotions out that way and that’s my next step is trying to really get my name out there.

Ever since the MGCW invasion of PCW, I’ve noticed more and more PCW guys wrestling at MGCW shows. Do you think you’ll ever return to PCW and try to take their title again?

Oh, yeah. I loved working with Steve [Platinum] and Shane was great and I had a great time. We kind of had different ideas and went separate ways, but you might just see Platinum at our show on Saturday night. You never know. The invasion thing honestly never really ended. We’ve got plans for that still and that will all unravel as things play out.

Bash at the Bridge. $7-$15. 7:30 p.m. June 11. Stockbridge Middle School Gymnasium, 533 Old Conyers Road, Stockbridge, Ga. 678-699-8206, www.mgcwnow.com.

Tyson Dean continues his quest for the MGCW TV title this weekend

Leave a reply

Tyson Dean takes it to "Hard Luck" Harrison at MGCW's first TV taping. Photo courtesy MGCW

By Jonathan Williams

With live shows every month or so and monthly TV tapings airing on Saturdays on SBN TV, Mid Georgia Championship Wrestling is quickly becoming one of the most active indie wrestling promotions in the Atlanta area. And even though he hasn’t even been wrestling for a year yet, one of the most promising wrestlers on the MGCW roster is Tyson Dean. With the managerial acumen of “Screamin'” Marty Freeman, Dean has had some impressive showings in MGCW as of late, most notably in the tournament to crown the first MGCW Television Champion. After two impressive victories at last month’s TV tapings, Dean looks to continue advancing in the TV title tournament, which comes to a conclusion at June’s Bash at the Bridge event. In the meantime, Dean will be part of this weekend’s Saturday Night Wrestling event at Stockbridge High School, as well as MGCW’s next set of TV tapings at People TV on Sunday. As he prepares for these two big events, Dean takes a moment to talk to Wrestling with Pop Culture about getting into the wrestling business and his goal of becoming MGCW’s first Television Champion.

Over the past few months, you’ve really started to make a name for yourself in MGCW. Have you wrestled in other promotions or do you mostly just work for MGCW?

I’ve primarily worked for MGCW. We did a little bit of stuff with Platinum Championship Wrestling a few months ago, when Andy Anderson and Shane Marx [had a feud]. I’ve done a few tag matches, worked with Renegade Championship Wrestling up in Chatsworth and Championship Wrestling Overload down in Milledgeville, but that was really more of just a ringside thing with Andy Anderson than me actually working there.

Did you train with MGCW or did you get your start elsewhere?

Andy and I have known each other for around 20 years now. I ran into him at a show MGCW was putting on and got to talking and he knew that I had a background in boxing and Sambo. I had been a wrestling fan since I was a kid, so he opened the door for me and asked if I wanted to come over and train with them. That’s how I got started.

So has Andy Anderson been the only person to train you?

I’ve done work with Andy and we’ve done a little bit of work with Tommy Rich. The athletic part’s the easy part, but to get the insight of a guy who’s been around that long, that was really cool getting to work with him.

You’re currently competing in the tournament to become the first MGCW Television Champion, and have had a good showing thus far. What would it mean to you to become the first MGCW TV Champion?

Oh, it’d mean everything, especially since it comes so close to the end of my first full year as a pro wrestler. It would be awesome to cap it off by becoming the first MGCW TV Champion.

How would you say that title compares to the MGCW Heavyweight Championship currently held by your friend Andy Anderson?

I think it will be a good stepping stone for the guys on the rise. It will mean a lot because it will primarily be defended at the TV tapings. So for a guy like me who is less than a year in, it would be an awesome stepping stone to one day maybe having a run at the heavyweight title.

You have two shows coming up this weekend. You’ll be competing in the TV title tournament again on Sunday, but do you have a match at the show on Saturday?

There are a couple of names that have been thrown out there, but no one has been confirmed for Saturday yet. The names that I’ve heard are guys that I’m really trying to get in the ring with. They’re guys that I’ve seen work live and seen video of and I think it’s something I’m going to have an awesome time with and the people there should really be entertained by it.

You also recently employed “Screamin'” Marty Freeman as your manager. What role does he play in your career at the moment?

I had seen Marty at the Platinum shows and got to talking to him and just always liked his ring presence and how he handles his guys. He’s just gold on the mic and seeing him pick up and say a lot of things for me better than I could ever say them myself, that’s why I really value Marty.

"Screamin'" Marty Freeman raises Tyson Dean's hand in victory at last month's MGCW TV tapings. Photo by Lynda Davis

Everywhere else I’ve seen him work, he and his wrestlers use some pretty dirty tactics. But with you he seems to take a different approach. Why is that?

What he told me when I approached him about being my manager was that there was a short list of guys in MGCW that he’d be interested in managing and I was at the top of that list. He thought it would be something that would be new for him, but something that we’d definitely both benefit from.

Who do you anticipate being your biggest challenge in the TV title tournament?

Mr. X. He’s like me – new to the sport, hungry and a big strong guy. He moves well for a guy his size and I think it will be a good match should we get matches up.

MGCW’s Saturday Night Wrestling. $5-$10. 8 p.m. May 21. Stockbridge High School, 1151 Old Conyers Road, Stockbridge, Ga. 770-474-8747.

MGCW TV tapings. Free. 3 p.m. May 22. People TV, 190 14th Street NW, Atlanta, Ga. 404-873-6712, www.mgcwnow.com.

WrestleReunion brings legends like “Cowboy” Bob Orton and Bruno Sammartino to Atlanta on WrestleMania Sunday

Leave a reply

Here are links to my preview of this Sunday’s WrestleReunion in Atlanta, as well as interviews with “Cowboy” Bob Orton and Bruno Sammartino. I’ve also included a little bit of the Sammartino interview that didn’t make it into Creative Loafing‘s wrestling guide.

http://clatl.com/atlanta/wrestlereunion/Event?oid=3004466

http://clatl.com/atlanta/wrestlereunion-bob-orton-casts-a-legacy/Content?oid=3010321

http://clatl.com/atlanta/wrestlereunion-bruno-sammartino-reminisces/Content?oid=3010323
Do you see any wrestling promotions today that are more in keeping with the type of wrestling you were part of?

No, it doesn’t exist. Unfortunately all the new promotions try to copy WWE. When I heard that TNA was coming up and going to be different, I watched it one time. I never watch wrestling on TV anymore, but I watched TNA because I wanted to see how different they were. But I didn’t see any difference, I really didn’t. I think the mentality is that the way it’s supposed to be today and when new promotions come up they don’t get the wrestling of yesteryear. It’s an era gone by and this is now. But I don’t understand that because when they try the arenas they’re not successful. Even WWE, which is the biggest organization, of course, we’re lucky here in Pittsburgh if they come here twice a year. Madison Square Garden maybe twice a year, but it’s always for Raw or one of the TV shows. And even with that, they paper a lot of it, so they can’t get a legitimate, genuine sellout. Everybody says how much bigger it’s gotten and, in some ways, yes, because they have merchandise, which we never had, and pay-per-view events, which we never had, and they go to as many as 125 countries television-wise, which, of course, we didn’t. But what we did do, we had local TV shows in different cities and we’d draw the crowds at the arenas. The people would come out and go out of their way to buy a ticket and come into the arena. That’s the way wrestling belonged. And besides that, they say some guys make more money now than ever. Very, very true, but the problem is that in my day we had what they called territories, therefore you had a lot of different promotions throughout the United States and Canada and they all employed a pretty good number of wrestlers. When Vince McMahon, with the help of Dick Ebersol from NBC, came and said they could go anywhere and became so powerful, they were in opposition of everybody and drove all the other promoters out of business. Then McMahon himself couldn’t sustain those territories because people didn’t buy that kind of wrestling. As a result, what do you have? You no longer have any territories to speak of and therefore all those wrestlers that used to wrestle for all those different organizations are out of work. The only wrestlers employed are those that WWE can use, or some in TNA. Overall, there are a lot of wrestlers that could be making a living at it that are no longer there.

Cody Rhodes returns to his home state for WrestleMania XXVII

Leave a reply

Photo courtesy WWE

In the interview WPC did with Cody Rhodes for Creative Loafing‘s wrestling guide, he talked about his WrestleMania XXVII match against Rey Mysterio and what it was like being he child of an Atlanta wrestling legend. Below is the link to that interview followed by a few more words about being the son of “The American Dream” Dusty Rhodes.

http://clatl.com/atlanta/wwe-cody-rhodes-vows-to-unmask-rey-mysterio/Content?oid=3001733

Your father obviously has a lot of history in Atlanta, home of WrestleMania XXVII. What was it like growing up here where your dad has always been such a big star?

Photo courtesy WWE

I wouldn’t have been a Georgia boy and grown up near Atlanta had wrestling not been a massive part of Atlanta. When I moved here, my dad was the executive producer at World Championship Wrestling and before that Jim Crockett Promotions. That’s why so many veteran superstars and talents from the past still live in the area because of the fallout when such a massive company with such massive roots was here. For WrestleMania to be in Atlanta, formerly a place that was taboo for WWE to come to, it’s further proof that when they say World Wrestling Entertainment it truly is the world. On a personal note, it’s great to be in a city that my dad was such a prominent entertainer in and getting the chance to sing my own tune and be on the same marquee he was.