Site hosted by Angelfire.com: Build your free website today!
  

 

 

INTERVIEW

 

Special thanks to Time-Warner Cable Ch. 13, Steven VanBeckum, Ralph Piro, and Jason Ripkus

For providing text transcript of “The Enforcer” Steve Anderson interview conducted on

“Independent Pro Wrestling Review” for April 16th, 2002.

 

SVB: Ladies and Gentleman, our next guest here is a familiar face that we’ve all known to love.

Tonight, he’ll be sitting here in our chair as we conduct a no holds barred shoot interview.

Please welcome back to “Independent Pro Wrestling Review”, “The Enforcer” Steve Anderson.

 

:: Proceeds through the crowd hugging audience members::

 

SVB: Welcome back brother.  We’ve missed you around here.

 

Enforcer: How bad have ya’ missed me “twat”?

 

:: Steve VanBeckum hugs “The Enforcer” in a very homosexual manner ::

 

Enforcer: And you wonder why we call you “Twat” don’t you now!

 

:: Audience laughs ::

 

SVB:  Ok, ok now!  Let’s get down to business here Steve.  Now for those of you joining us tonight, our panels here at “I.P.W.R.” have staged questions for me to ask our guest here tonight.

The best part about our “Hot Seat” is that we’ll also take questions from our audience for the guest. 

So let’s get the ball rolling, and start asking away.

 

:: Audience cheers in anticipation ::

 

SVB:  Now Steve, can you tell us how you got involved in professional wrestling?

 

Enforcer:  Well, it’s actually a long story, but to sum it in a nut shell, I’ll tell it like this.

Many moons ago while I was still a freshman in high school, I was looking through a magazine when I came across an article for a professional wrestling school based out in Gulf Breeze, FL.

I ended up calling the legendary “Exotic” Adrian Street asking about coming to Florida to train.

At that time, I was a complete mark and had no idea what to ask him, but I knew what I wanted.

When I told him I was only fourteen, he told me that I was too young, but we talked for over an hour.

After he learned I was on the wrestling team in school, he told me to focus on that before anything.

After getting off the telephone with him, I remember running to everyone I knew saying to them, “I’m going to be a professional wrestler!”

When I told everyone, they laughed their fucking asses off at me because they thought it was funny.

Even the teachers pulled me to the side telling me that I’d never become a professional wrestler.

To be honest, I couldn’t have given a flying fuck what my peers and mentors had told me. 

What tested my will to make this dream become a reality were my parents telling me this shit.

My own father even wrote a psychology paper about me saying this dream will never come true.

All I do is obsess about wanting to be a pro wrestler, but he knows it could never happen for me.

 

 

 

SVB:  How did you feel when your own family told you to just give it, that it’ll never happen?

 

Enforcer:  I felt like shit.  How would you feel if your parents told you that sort of shit?

 

SVB:  I don’t know.  I guess I’d feel like shit too!

 

Enforcer:  I knew that I had a lot of work to do in order to prove I was serious about all of this.

However, no matter how hard I worked at reaching for my dreams, everyone still laughed at me.

I remember talking to a very important person in my life who inspired me to go after that brass ring.

Her name is Kathleen King, and she is such a wonderful lady who cares so much about me. 

I don’t think she knows how important she is to me, but if she ever finds out, I love her very much.

She told me not to listen to what others had to say about my dreams in life.

During the month of May in 1996, I had received a newspaper article from home.

It spoke of three local teenagers who followed their dreams of becoming professional wrestlers.

This newspaper article spoke of three living legends amongst the independent scene.

I’m talking about Ryan Eatmon, Joe Furror, and Adam Pearce.

After I graduated high school and before enlisting into the U.S. Navy, I took that first small step.

I made a road trip with “The New Age Lumberjacks” Mike and Jerry to the P.W.I gym in Chicago.

They were telling me what to expect when I walk inside of the school and what to do and not to do.

We walked up three flights of stairs, walked to end of the hall to find a two roped ring in a shack.

 

SVB:  What were you expecting to see when you walked into the gym?

 

Enforcer:  I was expecting to see a fancy weight room, and a sauna, and Jacuzzi for after workouts.

Walking into that gym broke me of any preconceived ideas that I had about being a pro wrestler.

After sitting around for a bit, I met with AWA Legend Sonny Rogers about signing up for training.

I remember he took me outside to talk with me about why I had wanted to become a pro wrestler.

He asked me his questions, and I gave him his answers.

I also remember him telling me that a guy my size won’t make it anywhere in the business.

I should just train to be a manager or even a referee.

 

SVB:  I bet you were pissed off like hell when he told you that huh?

 

Enforcer:  Actually, I was now that I admit it, but I did work out there for a bit before I enlisted.

When I enlisted into the U.S. Navy, I decided that maybe Sonny was right, and moved on in life.

 

SVB:  So when did you end up finally realizing that being a pro wrestler was still your destiny?

 

Enforcer:  Actually, I never stopped thinking about it like that.  I just didn’t think about it then.

After I got out of the military, I remember hooking up with a pro wrestler named “Nomad”.

He was talking with me about how he was opening up his own school and wanting to train people.

The first thought that ran through my mind was, “Fuck Yeah!”  He actually believed in me Steve.

He was honest, he was straight the fuck up which is very rare, but I admired that from “Nomad”.

 

 

 

SVB:  Now I know when I spoke to you before off camera, and many times before, you told me about where you and others were forced to train.  Tell us about it if you would for our viewers please.

 

Enforcer:  Well, “Nomad” didn’t have his own gym yet, but was in the process of getting one. 

He also had no ring, so I was kind enough to find us a gym with a ring to be working out inside of.

It wasn’t a wrestling gym or a wrestling ring.  It was a boxing gym with a super stiff ring with no give.

I remember our first day of training, because it was I and eleven other people in that ring.

One of those people would just happen to be “Totally Awesome” Danny Childs. 

The “Nomad” worked all of us inside of that ring paying our dues bump after bump after bump!

Many of the people who were working out with us had walked out on it because they didn’t want it.

It came down to a select few of us, but we kept coming back for more punishment.  I loved it.

I made it a habit to not miss practice because I never wanted to miss out on learning.

During the time I was training though, I was married to a bitch that made my life a living hell.

 

SVB:  Oh that sounds like so much fun. :: Chuckling Cynically ::

 

Enforcer:  During the fall season of 2000, I was in the process of getting a divorce from my wife. 

I took time off from training to get things straight on the home front, but things only got worse.

 

SVB:  What happened if you don’t mind me asking?

 

Enforcer:  My wife was a fucking psycho with a lot of fucking head problems.  She was mental dude!

It’s something I’m not going to get into right now, because all I can say is that bitch is gone now.

Like I was saying, I got divorced, and I was only married for one year and three months.  Cool huh?

 

SVB:  I guess.

 

Enforcer:  I was hoping that it would really work out, but it panned out she was a dirty ass bitch.

After my divorce, I remember wanting to get shit off my mind, so I decided to go back to practice.

Thinking that this would be helpful to get my mind off of everything, I would find out I was wrong.

 

SVB: What do you mean by that Steve?

 

Enforcer:  I mean that I would find out that I was not ready to step back inside a wrestling ring.

I ended up getting hurt inside of the ring during basic drills.

I ended up hitting my head on two belly to backs, and during drop downs, I got hurt even worse.

My judgment inside of the ring was clouded and I was danger to others and myself inside of it.

I would find myself bailing through the front of the gym and walking home nine hours broken down.

 

 

 

 

 

 

SVB:  So at that time, did you find that this would be the end of your professional wrestling career?

 

Enforcer:  As a matter of fact, I thought it was the end of my dream.  I just decided to give up on it.

But during a trip at the mall in Gurnee, I was buying a video from the old RF Video Store.

My friend Jeremy and I were watching some Japanese wrestling videos on the monitor.

Anyhow, I overheard someone talking about buying a belt for their wrestling promotion.

Hearing that, I walked over and asked this gentleman if he happened to be a worker.

When he said he was, I shook hands with him and the two other people with him.

The person I met at RF Video was Mike Mercedes of Powerhouse Pro Wrestling.

He gave me a telephone number to call if I was interested in getting work with Powerhouse.

 

SVB:  Did you jump out of your seat and call the number right away?

 

Enforcer:  Actually I thought nothing of it because I wanted nothing to do with wrestling.

However, the thought of wanting to work kept entering my mind and made me call Powerhouse.

When I called, I had gotten a voicemail, so I left a message with a phone number to be reached at.

Thinking my message would be returned right away, I was anxious for the call of my entire life.

After a few weeks, I just said to myself, “Fuck this business” and threw away that phone number.

 

SVB:  So you threw away the number, you basically said, “Fuck Wrestling”, what happened then?

 

Enforcer:  Well back in February of 2001 when I was on the phone with you, the phone beeped.

Well, not knowing who the fuck it was, I answered the phone saying, “Hello”.

The next thing I heard made me shit in my pants.

 

:: Steve VanBeckum laughs at “The Enforcer” ::

 

SVB:  What did you hear that made you shit your pants?

 

Enforcer:  What I heard was, “Hello, is Steven there please?”  I mentioned that I was speaking.

Then it was, “Hi this is Robin Thompson from Powerhouse Pro Wrestling.  How are you?”

She was calling to apologize for not getting in contact with me any sooner, but she had been busy.

While I was sitting on the phone talking to Robin, she had asked me if I’d be interested in working.

Well, you’ve known me long enough, but for those of you who don’t, I never turn away any work.

I told her that I’d be interested in wrestling for Powerhouse Pro Wrestling and the rest is history.

 

SVB:  Now when did you make your professional wrestling debut and who did you wrestle?

 

Enforcer:  I made my professional wrestling debut on February 3rd of 2001 in Kenosha, WI.

My opponent for that match was Big Daddy who basically kicked my ass in that ring.

Before the show even started, I came across the other wrestlers who would be working that night.

I was nervous as hell, but they took me in like I was family, and that made it easier for me.

At first, I was going to wrestle Big Dawg and go over in my first match ever, but things changed.

 

 

 

SVB:  You have any idea why you wrestled Biggz instead of Big Dawg?

 

Enforcer:  Well, I think the match changed because I ribbed Big Dawg about his fucking man titties.

 

:: Steve VanBeckum, production crew, and audience laugh ::

 

The reason why I ribbed him was because he asked if he should come out with or without a shirt.

When he took it off, you couldn’t help but to say something about it.

I just happened to tell him that he had bigger titties than my ex-wife.

Maybe that’s the reason why I got my ass handed to me by Big Daddy in the ring that night.

 

SVB:  So can you tell us how you felt about your first professional wrestling match?

 

Enforcer:  I was nervous about fucking something up inside of the ring during the match.

Especially since the promoter told me that I’d be working as a baby.

I thought, how in the hell can someone with my name work the crowd over as a baby?

Well, when Big Daddy and I went over our match, I learned exactly how it could be pulled off.

 

SVB:  How many people did you wrestle in front of on your professional debut?

 

Enforcer:  I wrestled in front of 12 people.  The majority of them were sitting at the bar drinking.

 

SVB:  How did that make you feel?

 

Enforcer:  It made me nervous.  It was my first match.  I was just afraid of fucking shit up.

 

SVB:  Well did you fuck anything up inside of the ring?

 

Enforcer:  Actually, once the bell rang, I stood there for a second telling the ref, I forgot the match.

The ref ran over to Big Daddy and told him that I forgot the match, so I ended up getting squashed.

However, for a squash, it looked awesome because I was rookie trying to battle a 335 lbs monster.

 

SVB:  How did you feel after that match?

 

Enforcer:  I felt I could have done a better job, but it was my first match, so what can I say?

 

SVB:  Ladies and gentleman, this is Steven VanBeckum and you’re watching “Wrestle Source”.

My guest with me tonight is independent professional wrestler “The Enforcer” Steve Anderson.

If you’re just joining us here tonight, I recommend you don’t change that channel.

Now, besides Powerhouse Pro Wrestling, whom else have you worked for in pro wrestling?

 

Enforcer:  Well, I’ve worked with Flatland Superstars of Wrestling, Future Shock Wrestling, and a few other promotions that are no longer running shows called Hardcore Pro Wrestling Alliance and Insane Championship Pro Wrestling.  Awesome promotions to work for, just sadly didn’t make it.

 

 

 

SVB:  Now I understand you just returned from Tennessee after having wrestled in the Main Event.

 

Enforcer:  Yes, that’s right Steve.

 

SVB:  What promotion did you wrestle for in Tennessee?

 

Enforcer:  The name of the promotion is South Eastern Championship Wrestling.

 

SVB:  Who operates South Eastern Championship Wrestling?

 

Enforcer: It’s owned and operated by “The Working Man” Johnny Raynor who’s a legend in TN.

 

SVB:  How did you like working out there in Tennessee with S.E.C.W.?

 

Enforcer:  I don’t say this too often, but I’m proud to say that it was a honor to work with fine people like Mr. and Mrs. Johnny Raynor, Perfect Pat, Madd Dogg, and The Deathrow Inmates.

It was my pleasure to also have tagged with rookie sensation Jay in the Tag-Title Tournament.

The moment we walked out to that ring in Lake City, we had that crowd wanting to kill us.

He took the microphone and literally impressed the shit out of me that he almost made me mark.

From the second the bell rang, he was a consummate professional inside and outside the ring.

However, he unfortunately hurt his back inside the squared circle, and I could tell he was hurt.

So being the veteran of the team, I asked him if he felt like he could continue the match.

Even though he told me he could, I knew he was lying, so I took it home for our team.

This was Jay’s first main event match, and from what I know his first payday in pro wrestling.

I was truly impressed with his skills inside of the ring that night on April 12th in Lake City, TN.

Even my manager Fyre had an excellent match against Lil’ Azz Lori in Lake City, TN.

Even though I think Lori cheated, overall, it was the best show I’ve ever been part of.

 

SVB:  It sounds as if you had a blast out there!

 

Enforcer:  Oh fuck yeah I did!  I even brought some good old Tennessee mountain holy water here.

 

SVB:  What in the hell is that if I may ask?

 

Enforcer:  You’ll find out.  Trust me, it’ll put hair on your face “Twat”.

 

SVB:  Well, I can see where this is going to lead, so right now, it’s time to take questions from you.

 

:: Steve VanBeckum proceeds through audience with microphone ::

 

SVB:  Hello.  What’s your name and where you from sir?

 

 

 

 

 

 

Jimmy:  My name’s Jimmy from Kenosha.

 

SVB:  What’s your question for our guest “The Enforcer” Steve Anderson?

 

Jimmy:  I would like to know what your thoughts are on backyard wrestling sir?

 

Enforcer:  Well, my question for you is if you participate in it yourself?

 

Jimmy:  Yes.  That is why I ask.  Will it help me to become a pro wrestler?

 

Enforcer:  Well, to answer if it’ll help you become a pro wrestler.  The answer is hell no!

What it’ll help you do is become dead in an instant.  Backyard Wrestling is a dangerous thing.  More people alone get injured in backyard wrestling than trained wrestlers do inside the ring.

My thoughts of backyard wrestling are strictly political, but I’ll share it with you here.

Backyard wrestling is the death for any prospective professional wrestler.

It’s an insult to this business, and it’s an insult to those who pay their dues for this.

I’ve met backyarders who think because they see some shit on Monday night they’re a wrestler.

Parents who put the blame on us as professionals for children being stupid have confronted me.

They cuss, they get physical, they tend to act as stupid as their damn children at these shows. 

You want to know the worst thing about it all?  There are parents who actually support this shit!

They’ll defend their children by saying, “He trains all the time” and that right there is just bullshit!

If you’re serious about wanting to become a pro wrestler, contact a pro wrestling school.

If you’re not old enough to train at a school, get on the wrestling team at your school.

Whatever you do, just stay as far away from backyard wrestling as possible.

 

:: Audience applauses “The Enforcer” for his comments ::

 

SVB:  Our next question comes from Tina from Kenosha.  Go ahead Tina.

 

Tina:  Hi there!  Umm, I was wondering if you had a girlfriend?

 

:: “The Enforcer” Steve Anderson blushes ::

 

Enforcer:  Actually, I don’t have a girlfriend right now at this time, so I’m on the open market still.

 

SVB:  Okay, okay!  We have time for one more question.  Who has a question for our guest?

 

:: Steve VanBeckum approaches an audience member ::

 

SVB:  What’s your name?

 

Anthony:  My name’s Anthony and I have a question for your guest?

 

SVB:  Shoot Anthony!

 

 

 

Anthony:  I was wondering what your thoughts were about the “Tough Enough” television show?

 

SVB:  Oh my!  Talk about an excellent question for “The Enforcer” Steve Anderson.

 

Enforcer:  I’m so glad that you asked me that question.  My thoughts are very negative.

What wrestling fans don’t understand is that we pay our dues to reach our ultimate dream.

Then Vince and MTV decide to let a bunch of mizarks have a chance to win a WWF contract.

Personally, it’s a bunch of fucking bullshit because there are so many talented workers who truly deserve the opportunity of being signed to a contract with the World Wrestling Federation.

In my eyes, anyone from “Tough Enough” is not a wrestler in my eyes.

Maven is not a wrestler.  I don’t care if he’s on television.  He is not a professional wrestler.

The Champ put it best when he said to them:

“You’re miles away from where you should be paying your dues right now!”

If you look at their faces, not a single fucking one of them knew what the hell he was talking about.

Those who didn’t win that contract are getting the shit kicked out them on the independent circuit.

When you pay your dues inside of a sweatshop with the blood from your wounds,

The sweat from your determination to want this business,

And the tears that we shed from pain and humiliation,

You know that deep inside of yourself, you have earned the right to be called a pro wrestler.

 

:: Audience applauses “The Enforcer” Steve Anderson ::

 

SVB:  Ladies and gentleman, for the “Independent Pro Wrestling Review”, I’m Steven VanBeckum.  I’d like to thank our guest, “The Enforcer” Steve Anderson for joining us here this evening.

You can visit his official website at https://www.angelfire.com/ego/theenforcer and get all the 4-1-1.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 
 
Copyright 2002. All Rights Reserved.
Xanthlore Designs