WWE
News Bytes
November 16, 2007
by Sassy
Survivor Series is This Sunday!
See
your local cable provider for information on the pay per view.
Who’s
Out
WWE has released developmental talent Ryan Wilson from his
contract. Wilson had been working in Ohio Valley Wrestling as a masked wrestler,
Jacob Duncan where he was the OVW Championship at one point. As for the making
it to the big federations he did a brief appearance in TNA as Trytan. Wilson
signed his developmental contract with WWE in November of 2006.
Source: www.prowrestlingfans.com
Chris Masters has been released by WWE after being suspended
for being on the Signature Pharmacy client list, failing a random drug test and
purportedly having already been through rehab. Masters denied that he had taken
any drugs when he failed the drug test claiming it was something that was
“left over in his system”. WWE obviously didn’t see it that way and having
CNN air their documentary around the same time most likely pushed the release of
Masters. Since Chris Masters is a
WWE trademark name, Chris will have to find a new ring name.
Last Saturday it was reported that all of the WWE Divas had
been removed from the WWE official website Diva’s section.
The only ones left on at the site were The Fabulous Moolah, Sherri Martel
and Vickie Guerrero. The removals were on all three areas: Raw, ECW and
Smackdown.
Brooke Adams, ECW Extreme Expose member, was release for an
alleged verbal altercation with Melina over the fur-covered boots Adams wore at
the Diva Battle Royal.
Carlito has requested a release from WWE.
No word at the time of this Bytes whether or not WWE has granted his
request.
Who’s
In
The rumor mill tells us JBL may be looking to get back in the
ring. In recent weeks he has been
laid out in the ring by The Undertaker and Batista. This may be a one time in ring appearance or due to the
sudden release of so many wrestlers and so many injuries, his return may be
needed to boost the WWE roster.
WWE has signed 2007 Diva Search contestant Lena Yada to a
contract. They offered her a deal at the Raw at the Staples Center this past
Monday, which she accepted. She is set to be the new backstage interviewer on
ECW. Yada revealed all this in a bulletin she sent out on her MySpace page (www.myspace.com/lenayada).
WWE originally wanted her to start training in Tampa, FL at
the FCW developmental territory but Lena had to turn the offer down because her
father is on his last stretch of an incurable fatal lung disease. After she
turned down their first offer, WWE came back to her the next day with a
different offer, that being the new backstage interviewer on ECW. Lena is
expected to make the trip down to Tampa to begin training in the ring. She is
currently training at a local gym learning how to take some simple bumps and
such. The deals are being finalized now, but look for her to make her ECW debut
within the next month. Yada finished in third place in the 2007 Diva Search
competition. Source: www.lordsofpain.net
Kevin Thorn has not been seen lately on ECW or any WWE show.
I thought it was perhaps because he and his wife just had a new baby but rumor
has it that Thorn is being punished for botching a wrestling move a few weeks
ago and injuring a wrestler.
Injuries
Candice Michelle is still out of action after receiving a
fractured clavicle in a match with Beth Phoenix.
Val Venis had surgery on his elbow last week. No word yet on
how long he will be out of action.
Reduced Schedules
It was previously reported that Rey Mysterio asked for a
received a reduced work schedule.
It is now being reported that Shawn Michaels only returned to
WWE after receiving a work schedule that his him working television and pay per
views only. Michaels won’t be doing house shows or overseas tours.
Tryouts
Amy Henning, daughter of the late Curt Henning, recently took
part in a one-week tryout at Ohio Valley Wrestling. Source: LordsofPain.
JBL
Goes from Wrestling God to "God"
JBL and John Morrison got into a physical altercation after
last night's Smackdown taping. The whole thing started when Bradshaw gathered
several wrestlers together backstage including Matt Hardy, MVP, CM Punk, The Miz
and John Morrison. He berated Morrison and Miz for the commentary they did
during ECW and said that their back and forth exchanges overshadowed the
Punk/Jamie Noble match. The oddest part is that Bradshaw was mad that THEY MADE
CM PUNK LOOK BAD. I know - I had to picture the idea of Bradshaw sticking up for
Punk two to three times in my head before I could actually believe it. Bradshaw
told both Miz and Morrison to apologize to Punk. Miz did so with some degree of
grace but Morrison took exception and told JBL that it wasn't his job to tell
him what to do, cursed at JBL, and then SHOVED him. The two then went back and
forth before John Laurinaitis and other WWE staffers broke it up. (PWI) For good
or bad JBL has long been acknowledged as the wrestling enforcer backstage, and
since he's in good with Vince McMahon this is undoubtedly going to turn out
badly for Morrison, who's already skating on thin ice for having to serve a 30
day steroid suspension and drop the title to Punk as a result. Source: www.angrymarks.com.
I didn’t notice the remarks Morrison and Miz were making. I was busy trying to watch THE MATCH and the camera kept
swinging back to the announcer’s table. I
was furious that two talents like CM Punk and Jamie Noble were in the ring and
all WWE cared about was flashing on the announcer’s table. As far as I’m
concerned, Morrison and Miz can talk until doomsday, they can’t make Punk look
bad…WWE CAN, however, when they don’t allow the fans at home to see his
matches.
John
Cena’s CNN Remarks
If you did not see the CNN documentary last week, you missed
what Cena is referring to. The
responses by John on camera left the impression that he has taken steroids.
Due to the cutting CNN did, WWE has released footage of the entire Cena
interview. I don’t mind the media
taking pot shots at WWE’s wellness policy because I do believe it isn’t as
great as the McMahons want us to believe it is, but I DO mind when reporters
take responses out of context.
John Cena did a media call where he said he was disappointed
in the piece that aired on CNN last night. According to reports, Cena felt they
didn't get out to the public that WWE's policy is real and wanted WWE.com to air
the complete interview he did with CNN instead of just the answer to the steroid
question that was shown on the documentary.
Further Information on CNN’s Big Documentary
On WWE.com, there is a big interview with John Cena regarding
CNN and taking his comments on steroids out of context. Cena requested that CNN
apologize for their misportrayal of his personal character on the show. CNN's
Director of Public Relations, Jennifer Dargan sent the following statement to
WWE last night at 10:00 pm EST: "CNN felt that Mr. Cena's statement in the
interview: "My answer to that question 'have you ever used steroids' is --
the only thing I can say -- I can't tell you that I haven't, but you'll never be
able to prove that I have" was a more expansive and complete answer -- and
that's why we used it in the first run of the program. And we stand by that
decision. But, we added the other quote on the Sunday replay where Mr. Cena
first denied using steroids. We did this because of his complaint and the
attention it received so that viewers could see how he said it both times."
While CNN reporter Drew Griffin and his production crew were
putting together their hour-long documentary concerning drugs in the world of
professional wrestling, they were scheduled to do an interview with Dave Meltzer
of the Wrestling Observer Newsletter. On the day Griffin's team was scheduled to
come to his house to interview him for the story, a change in plans occurred.
Vince McMahon wouldn't allow any interviews with anyone in WWE, including
himself, if CNN put Meltzer in their documentary. In the end, McMahon won out as
the documentary featured interviews with WWE employees, not to mention access to
a WWE event backstage, and Meltzer was nowhere to be found in the documentary.
Source: www.prowrestlingfans.com
CM
Punk’s Interview
The Wichita, KS Eagle printed their interview with CM Punk.
You can read the story here: http://www.prowrestlingfans.com/index.php?id=viewArticle&articleID=14892
Not
Necessarily WWE News
Nick Hogan’s (Bollea) friend, John Graziano, has been moved
to a VA hospital. The latest report
we have indicates Graziano is on life support.
Nick’s family told the public that Graziano’s injuries were his own
fault since he was not wearing his seat belt and Nick’s attorney claims they
have a video showing that Nick was not racing his vehicle when the accident
occurred.
We have seen several sites reporting that Hogan Knows Best is
in danger of not being renewed. It
appears Nick’s major screw up played a role in the possible demise of the
Hogan family series.
Where
Are They Now
Joanie Laurer aka Chyna has legally changed her name to Chyna.
She isn’t the first WWE/WWF wrestler to change their name to their ring
name in order to keep WWE from allowing them to use it again.
It’s that trademark garbage WWE is so hot on using.
Booker T aka King Booker and Sharmel made their TNA wrestling
debut at the Genesis pay per view on November 11, 2007. And no, Sharmel is not
wrestling and yes, Sharmel is still screaming.
Bret ‘The Hitman’ Hart is scheduled to be appearing as
guest at the Toronto Marlies hockey game on December 12th, to raise money for
the March of Dimes. Bret Hart will be speaking on behalf of their Stroke
Recovery Canada program. From every ticket sold for the game, $5 will be towards
the March of Dimes Canada. Source: www.powerwrestling.com
Chris Masters is taking indy bookings at bookings@veselamarinova.com
or 310-663-6811.
Teddy Hart, Cryme Tyme, The LAX and Senshi will all be in
action at the Jersey All Pro Wrestling show on January 19 in Jersey City at St.
Anthony's High School. Source: www.ewrestlingnews.com
Harley Race appeared on Moonshine Matinee.
You can find the entire report here from Jeff Sheridan: www.gerweck.net.
I pulled excerpts pertaining to Harley Race and Race’s interview.
2.Hillbilly says to get on in there, kick off your shoes,
throw them in the corner & he
don't see why you don't stay a little longer. He introduces
himself in Mud Lick, Kentucky, says that Fred Imus is something else, says he
loves him & says those people in the trailer park bash is something else: www.sirius.com/outlawcountry
. He say she's got a wonderful week going, says that he's got an absolute barrel
of moonshine hits that'll knock & sock you into tomorrow. He says he's got
some tunes that you'll love, then says in the 4th hour you'll have a treat like
never before. He says in the 4th hour on his show he'll have 1 of the most
influential wrestlers ever of all time & says it's Harley Race.
Hillbilly says Race's got so much to talk about & says
we'll have lots of fun in the 4th hour. He asks you to call your friends &
neighbors to check out his show because it'll be a good 1. He says he's again
doing his show solo because cousin Spike's not there. He says Spike went with
his pappy [Uncle Percy Mandoberg], thinks that Percy's trying to boost Spike
back up because he had a problem a few weeks ago due to some bad Halloween
partying. He says Spike's not been quite right since, says he'll keep the show
real for you during the 1st hour & says he's got songs from The Derailers,
Travis Tritt, John Fogerty, George Jones, Derek & The Dominos, Webb Pierce,
Kris Kristofferson & says that's just to name a few.
Hillbilly again says that in the 4th hour he's happy &
tickled pink by having Harley Race on the show, who's a true legend to him &
means it from the bottom of his heart. He again tells fans to tell everyone to
tune into the 4th hour, to hear them talk about the way that wrestling was &
is today, as well as get insightful tips from Race who's a legend. He says he'll
play a tune ["By The Time I Get To Phoenix"] by a guy [Glen Campbell]
who's a songwriter that really captured the way America felt in the 60's. He
says some of the guy's songs went to being the greatest of all time, says
they're iconic & the song was written by a guy named Jimmy Webb. He says it
was recorded in '67 & it went to being #1.
18.Hillbilly says it's that crazy Junior Brown that he loves
so much who's from Austin, Texas. He says that crazy player's got what's called
a "get steel" which's part guitar, part steel guitar & says no 1
can burn it up like Brown. He asks if he'd be wrong if he didn't bring you the
best, says he would be wrong & says it's why he brings you the best every
time he gets a dog gone chance & it's his pledge to y'all. He again says
Race's coming in the 4th hour, says he's fired up about it
because of all his days Race's the most influential in his
career. He says Race's 1 of the real legends, says if you start talking about
meeting Elvis [Presley], Race was wrestling's "Elvis".
Hillbilly says he'll explain more about it when he gets to
the 4th hour, again tells fans to call their friends & neighbors to have
them check it out. He again plugs his email & toll free request line, then
talks about this Canadian boys [The Guess Who]. He says these guys are a
Canadian rock group from Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada. He says they were 1 of the
1st to establish a real major successful following in Canada while still living
there. He says worldwide everyone knew their names, says there's real big songs
coming from these guys & some real big stars coming from that band. He says
he loves them so much then & now.
24.Hillbilly says that's the 1st time that he went into a
song & came out of the same song at the same block. He says "Ordinary
People" is for all the "Neil Young Heads", says he told you it
was a long 1 & you had to get yourselves ready for it. He says he's having
lots of fun, then mentions the sad news for the world & him of the passing
of The Fabulous Moolah: http://tinyurl.com/27gn54
who died [11/2] who's a [WWE] Hall Of Famer. He says her real name was Lillian
Ellison & known worldwide as The Fabulous Moolah. He says she died in her
hometown of Columbia, South Carolina. He says on a personal note, she was a
sweeter & nicer lady that you'll never meet.
Hillbilly says Moolah was a 100% lady & was as prim &
proper as she can be. He says he
loved her so much & has many memories of her by traveling
with her & being with her & just talking to her was so educational. He
says she knew the business inside & out & may mention that during his
conversation with Race later on. He says he had lots of fun with her, says he
always had a good time being with her & Mae Young. He says she always had a
smile on her face & was also very encouraging. He says if you thought Moolah
couldn't wrestle you were wrong. He said she was a "wrestler's
wrestler", said she had a switch that she can hit & when she hit it, it
was full tilt.
Hillbilly says the other [wrestler] ladies were horrified
with her when she wanted to keep it real. He says we lost her & will never
forger her because of her legend lived on. He says she lived a nice long life
& was in her 80's [NOTE FROM JEFF:she was 84 when she died], says she had an
unfortunate thing due to a [shoulder replacement] surgery & some meds that
she was on that
may've been the cause of her passing [NOTE FROM JEFF:Rumor
has it that it may've been
either a heart attack or a blood clot that related to the
shoulder replacement surgery]. Anyhow he says the word was that after her
surgery she went home, said that she was tired & didn't feel good. So she
took a nap & then as she laid down, she never woke up.
Hillbilly says we lost her but we still have some things that
we can find & remember her for. He mentions the documentary DVD
"Lipstick & Dynamite:The 1st Ladies Of Wrestling": http://tinyurl.com/2433yc
& you can pick it up. He says it was released in 2005, says it's out on DVD
& you can get it. He says it has Moolah, Mae Young, Ida Mae Martinez, Penny
Banner & others. He says he'll miss Moolah & loves her & he'll now
play a tune ["You Ain't Woman Enough"] for her.
26.Hillbilly asks if "Colorado Cool-Aid" sounded
good, says it's kind of a lonesome studio this week without Spike there. He
again says Spike's with Percy & both are talking it over, says he misses
Spike & then says Spike don't do much there as well as being kinda lazy. He
says Spike will never drown in his own sweat, doesn't get any busy & stays
about 2 jumps ahead of a 1/5
when he gets on him. He again says he misses Spike &
wishes he was there, then says after the break he'll have Race on the show. He
says Race's a man's man, says he'll talk to Race as to what's been going on with
his life as well as talking about the old days & inform him as to how
wrestling used to be. He again tells fans to call their friends & neighbors
to tune into the 4th hour.
28.Hillbilly introduces someone that he has more respect that
anyone in wrestling & it's Harley Race via phone. He tells Harley that he's
tickled pink that he's on the show, says that he's making no bones about it when
he says that he loves him & respects him for everything that he's done. He
says the real highspot in his career was being around Harley, says it's because
when young guy come into the business Harley was a legend & says when he met
Harley, he was not
disappointed because he was every bit of the legend that he's
heard that he was. Harley says he appreciates it, Hillbilly says both will talk
about some of the early days.
Hillbilly says he knew Harley broke into the business as a
young man, he was still a teenager & says it had to be unbelievable for a
young guy breaking into the tough business as a kid. Harley says back then it
was, says there weren't any wrestling schools or anything like that around but
you just had to look & find something where you can get with 1 of the guys
& the trust level. He says it "tucked" to build with the guys from
that era was quite a while, says he lucked out with Ray Gordon & Buddy
Austin. He says Ray was the wrestler's wrestler who beat Pat O'Connor in New
Zealand for the New Zealand Games.
Harley asked Hillbilly if he knew Buddy Austin &
Hillbilly says yes. He tells Harley that he thinks of those days & knows on
how tough the old timers can be on the young guys. He says the business has
always been tough to get in & says at that time you had to be particularly
tough. He says they had to put Harley thru some hoops & Harley says yes
& went thru a couple of them. Hillbilly says Harley didn't come out the
worst because he became 1 of the all time living legends in the business. He
says that he's been looking at some of Harley's records, says it's amazing that
8 times or more that Harley's been the NWA heavyweight champ.
Hillbilly says Harley's wrestled in all of the big promotions
worldwide, says again that Harley was 8 times champ & says when they didn't
drop the belts very often. He says it was tough to get those belts, says
Harley's lost & regained the title 8 times & it has to be something that
he's proud of. Harley says yes, says [Lou] Thesz held the record for many years
& thinks Austin was next &
thinks he's held it 4 times. He says Thesz had it for 6 &
when the 7th time came around it was the highlight of Harley's career. He says 1
after that was just a plus, Hillbilly says Harley's had many wonderful things
& will go thru them all thruout the show. He tells Harley to hold on till
after the break.
30.Hillbilly says he knows that Harley's driven up & down
the road a lot of miles & bets that he's listened to lots of country music
in his day. Harley says yes, mentions about a Nashville radio station that's
still there today. Hillbilly asks if it's WLS & Harley says yes. Hillbilly
says Harley had to come thru lots of country stars in his day & bets that
lots of them were wrestling fans. Harley says yes, says he was friends with
Boxcar Willie, Willie Nelson & others from that era. He says it's because
they traveled the same road that they [wrestlers] did, Hillbilly says he did the
Farm Aid shows: www.farmaid.org for Willie
in '87 & says that Willie told him to say hi to Harley.
Hillbilly says Willie remembers Harley & talked about him
all the time, says he feels that sometimes when doing the things that they did,
they didn't realize that they got fans & lots of country music fans are fans
of them & vice versa. Harley says it's true, says they're just a great group
of people & back during his era, they moved around the same way they
[country stars] did. He says the ones that afforded the buses moved a little
better then they did but were still on
the same highway. Hillbilly asks Harley as to who were some
of his early influences in wrestling that he looked up to. He says everyone
looked up to Harley, Flair & guys from Harley's era & knows that
earlier, he spoke about Thesz.
Harley says Lou was a tremendous name in the business in that
point of time, says as the tough guy image with Lou & Verne Gagne. He says
on the other side, the thingthat drew money had Ray Stevens, The [original]
Shiek & different guys. He says it took the whole mixture of everyone to put
it together. Hillbilly says those guys were great with Thesz & others that
really knew how to get it done in the ring. He says he was thinking of Harley's
early career, says when he got famous was in the AWA & worked in Nashville
for a while. Harley says yes & was there for a year as Jack Long, asked
Hillbilly if he remembers John Long & Hillbilly says yes.
Harley says "Nick Gulus" & "Roy
Welsh" at that point & time had the foresight to see the what the 2 of
them can do together. He says both had a great combination, says if it had not
been for him breaking the small bone in the calf of his leg, maybe the rest of
this wouldn't have happened. Hillbilly says he's looked at Harley's life where
he's done so many miraculous things, says Harley's came back from horrible
injuries, accidents & bad things. He says it seems as if when
everyone counted Harley out, it's when he really hankered
down & went ahead, because he didn't let nothing slow him down. Harley says
he appreciates it & tried not to.
Harley says he came back from a couple of things, says by the
grace of God he was still able to go on. He says they [doctors] were ready to
amputate his right leg just above the knee. He says "Gus Karis" who
got him started in wrestling came to visit him in the hospital & talked to
Harley's parents about taking him to a bone surgeon. He says they saved his leg
& arm, feels that if it hadn't been for that, no 1 would've heard of Harley
Race. Hillbilly agrees. says he thinks of Harley's career & when he went to
AWA & teamed with Larry "The Ax" Hennig. He says Harley was
"Handsome" Harley Race, Hennig was "Pretty Boy" Larry Hennig
& says both took that thing by storm.
Hillbilly says Harley's career went on & on, says he had
legendary matches with Verne Gagne & others & says he went thru the
whole thing. He says he got to meet Harley & was honored to do so, says
Harley already became an established legend when he came to WWF. He says they
were fired up about him coming there, says when he met Harley he was like a kid
meeting him. He says he's still like a kid around Harley, says he told listeners
earlier that Harley's equal to wrestling like Elvis was to rock & roll.
Harley says he don't know if he can go quite that far,
Hillbilly says it's without the "Shake, Rattle & Roll" but Harley
did have the sideburns.
Harley admits to having the look back then with the sideburns
that were full & strong & weren't gray. Hillbilly says Harley came
around the time Wrestlemania 3 happened, Harley says he came 3 or 4 months ahead
of that & says on that [card] was JYD [Junk Yard Dog]. Hillbilly says they
used to have fun with JYD & knew that Harley would torture JYD with some of
the things that they did in the dressing room. He says it was some of the
funniest stuff in the world & asks Harley to talk about it. Harley says that
JYD was a person that was super jumpy, says you could walk behind him if he
didn't know you were there. Then you'd grab a hold of JYD & you'd liable of
getting knocked out on your rear end.
Harley says he knew of lots of things that JYD was horrified
about, such as when Jake
["The Snake" Roberts] had that snake [Damian]
around & when you took the snake out of the cage, JYD would do just about
anything in the world to get away from it. Hillbilly says that Harley put on
some real good shows in the dressing room, says Harley was a top performer but
in the dressing room, he put on some good shows to scare JYD. He says he still
laughs at that from time to time, says he tries to tell that story as much as he
can & is glad that Harley can bare it out for the fans. He says JYD was a
jumpy guy & they took advantage of that.
Harley says he imagined at different points of time if JYD
could've taken care of Harley in a way that he wouldn't have been around, he
would've been much happier..
Hillbilly says Harley tormented JYD, then says he'll play a
song by JYD that's from the "Wrestling Album". He says JYD got a gold
record for this song.
31.Plays Junk Yard Dog & Vicki Sue Robinson's "Grab
Them Cakes", Emmylou Harris' Outlaw Country promo & Emmylou Harris'
"Born To Run".
32.Hillbilly says it does his heart good to know that
Harley's still out there & still viable & doing his thing. He says he
was with Harley a few years ago when he was inducted into the WWE Hall Of Fame
& what a weekend it was. Harley says it was lots of fun, says they went thru
1 of those
"a weekend to go" when they went to the New York
Hall Of Fame. He says he wasn't able to make the induction ceremony for some of
the guys that just went in due to a car accident. He says he rear ended & it
cranked his back up a bit, says he was able to go a week ago on the 3rd of that
month & he had a great time. He says he signed autographs & thought it
would never end & says that's what it's all about.
Hillbilly says when he throws out the word legend, we can't
throw it out too much for him because in Harley's day when he went out there,
there was no ring music. He says Harley went out with boots & trunks on
& got it done. He says Harley was legitimately a tough guy in the business
& everyone knew that when Harley came to a town, he'd give you 150% &
his matches were amazing. He says he remembers being in the ring with Harley
& says he never felt more like he was in the ring with anyone in control
then when he was with Harley & meant it. He says with all the guys that he's
ever worked with, Harley's had the most balance & knew about his awareness
of where he was in the ring then anyone that he ever knew.
Hillbilly asks Harley if he's always had that gift or was it
something that he developed over the years. Harley says that no 1 walks in the
ring with it, says lots of people have good ideas & stuff & says it
takes time to be able to put yourself together, where you can walk in & lead
anything that's in there.
He says for some of us it's a lot easier then others, says
that Hillbilly was real easy to go
into the ring with & move around & says he knew for
sure that Hillbilly would be right on time. He says that's 1 of the tough things
is when you have that doubt in your head when you're headed to do something
that's risky. He says if the guy's gonna be right where he needs to be on time.
Hillbilly says that Harley had a reputation of working with
anyone in their styles, says he remembers years ago when Harley had a match with
a guy named "George Gulas" in a 2 out of 3 match. He says he didn't
know how he did it but he led George thru the whole match, says it was amazing
& Harley made George look amazingly great. He says it was a great match that
the fans could love & says not everyone could do that.
Harley says if you love the business & wanted to make a
living out of it like he did for all those years, you had obsticles to contend
with. He says just about anyone could've went in there, beat the guy up &
went from there & accomplished absolutely nothing.
Harley says you need to have guys that're capable of taking
just about anything & making it a wrestling match for the people. Hillbilly
asks him if off the top of his head of a most memorable match, Harley says
that's the easiest question in the world to answer & says when he became
world champ the 1st time, when you hit the impitamy of what you'd set out to do
& every wrestler in the business' looking up at you at that point in time,
it don't get any better than that. Hillbilly says he's often heard this about
Harley but has heard "that there's nobody tougher on God's green Earth in
that ring then Harley Race". He says every time Harley got in that ring, it
didn't matter if he was injured, he brought it every time.
Hillbilly thinks that Harley knows & felt the respect
that we all had for him, Harley says he appreciates it & says if you're
respected by your piers, it does it lots better than that. Hillbilly says lots
of us didn't feel like we were worth tying Harley's boot, says we mean that
& it's the truth. He says Harley was so far in advance in what he was doing
in the ring that it was like poetry to watch
him work & it was amazing. He asks him as to what's his
take on the wrestling industry
now as an overview. He asks him if he feels that it's going
in a good place, says they don't have to get into all of the specifics &
asks as to what does he feel about it in general.
Harley says he was just at a show at the Manhattan Center in
downtown Manhattan, New York that ROH ran [this past 11/3]. He says each guy
went out there, says if you only saw that match, you would've had to say they
had a good match. He says each 1 that went out there virtually had the same
match, says he told them that when they came back into the locker room &
says lots of them didn't like hearing it.
Hillbilly says it's like cookie cutters, they all look &
do the same, says in his feelings' that
if you do the same, you'll get the same results. Harley says
you start getting the same results but after the 3rd & 4th 1 goes out there
& people are watching the same thing, that's when fans start sitting on
their hands.
Harley says he's never heard the word boring because there
was lots of excitement. He says they did this a lot in their era but they knew
what was out there ahead of them, Hillbilly agrees & Harley says they knew
what exactly the guys were going out there was going to do. He says the obvious
thing was to think of something different, Hillbilly agrees & says it's
words of wisdom from a man that would know. He tells Harley he'll have him back
after another segment of music, says he'll play him a tune ["Sharp Dressed
Man"] that reminds him of Harley & sees him like this.
34.Hillbilly says he's late in the 4th hour & has had a
wonderful 1, says it's 1 of the reasons why he's happy to be in this industry
which's the radio business & says it's to be able to do an interview with
Harley Race. He says Harley's 1 of a kind & to not let anyone tell him
anything different & Harley says he appreciates that. Hillbilly says he's
never had a match with anyone
that he's trusted more in the ring to call
do things that you'd wanna do. He says that Harley talked about guys
gotta be there when he does a spot there, says he's never worried about Harley
being there & says Harley's the kind of guy that hurt himself before letting
anyone else hurt themselves & says it was amazing.
Harley says when you've headed into wrestling back in the era
that he & Hillbilly was in, it was a given rule that you went in there to
have a great match & entertain the people. He says the object was to be able
to do the very same thing the following night, says by taking care of each other
it was how they were all able to do it. He says it's why there's lots of guys
nowadays that's getting
hurt, says they're not doing that but going out there with
getting themselves over rather then the "in" product. He says they're
getting wrestling over & continuing "it" on & says they're
primarily interested in getting themselves over. Hillbilly agrees, says when
Harley did a match & was on a
card, he was there for the whole goodness of the card.
Hillbilly says in their day it seemed to be more like that,
says he agrees that these guys have that cookie cutter look & all seem to be
doing the same thing. He says if you turn off the lights & turn them around,
you couldn't tell anyone different & maybe they'd had a different ring
entrance music or something. He says after the match begins, it's the same
match. Harley says it's what he said a few minutes ago, says it's kind of the
way it's become & it's why some of the people's ratings [WWE] are dropping
& says it's why lots of guys are getting hurt. Hillbilly agrees, asks Harley
to talk about his WLW promotion: http://tinyurl.com/frkqh
& his wrestling school:
Harley says he started it in '99 & decided to move to the
lake of the Ozarks full time. He says his wife [BJ] decided to retire out of
"Bankie", says they moved there during the summer & it's fabulous.
He says there's 7 to 10 million people that're in & out of there during that
period of time & after the people leave & close the lake down for the
year, there's 7 or 8 people move in & out of
there. He says he & his wife made a decision that they
wanted to both stay busy, says if it wasn't for his wife this wouldn't exist. He
says his wife has the knowledge to do the technical & financial part of it
& he feels that he's got a 1/2 way decent head as far as the wrestling end
of it is concerned.
Harley says he & his wife started World League Wrestling
in the Fall of '99, says they've been doing 50 to 60 shows yearly at every year
since. Hillbilly asks Harley to plug a site where fans can get in touch with him
& Harley says it's www.harleyrace.com
. Hillbilly says it's been a pleasure to have Harley on the show, says he won't
make any bones as to how he feels about him & says he loves & respects
everything about him. He says there'd be no Hillbilly Jim if it weren't for guys
like Harley Race, Harley says he appreciates that & says characters like
Hillbilly is the reason why wrestling really flourished at that point in time.
Harley says Hillbilly had the charisma to come in the ring,
carried it thru so people can see it & people heard it & says Hillbilly
was man enough to carry it off. Hillbilly says he's had a fun time doing it
& got to meet some of the best people in the world & Harley's 1 of them.
He says he'll see Harley as soon as he can & tells him to say hi to all the
boys, his wife & says from the bottom of
his heart, he appreciates him. He plugs Harley's site, says
anyone that goes to a Harley Race school & comes out of it will be trained
up right & guarantees it. He says thanks to Harley & Harley says thanks
to him
36.Hillbilly says he's at the end of the 4th hour
& what a show it's been. He says the Harley Race thing's got him all pumped
up & says he's had many things that he wanted to talk to him about. He says
1 of them was about Moolah's passing but wasn't able to & had about a
million things in his head. He says he had about 3 inches of paper on Harley
that he could come out with things
to talk about. He says Harley's promised to return to his
show & appreciates it, says it was something else & applaudes to Harley.
He again says Harley's a man's man if there ever was 1 & there was no 1
tougher that stepped in that ring.
WWE NEWS BYTES / NOVEMBER 9
Wrestling Bodyslam . Com