Inside The Ropes Radio with George "The Animal" Steele
Show airs Thursday nights at 10:00 p.m.
Available at InsideTheRopes.podbean.com.

How he finds Vince McMahon backstage: He’s above and beyond everybody. Even The Hulkster. He’s the guy that put this stuff together. They’re an odd family. They are good at business. People who are business savvy tend to come off a little cold. They don’t get too close to the performers. My first meeting with him was very cool. I told him in due time, I could definitely be a huge player for WWE.

Who came up with Masterpiece Gimmick: Dr Tom Prichard changed my name to Masters. My friend Matt Morgan and I were sitting one day and he said Masterpiece. I brought it to Jim Cornette and he ran with it, WWE ran with it. I joke that I give 10 per cent of my salary to Matt Morgan. I’m just kidding. He always ribs that he’s responsible for it but I tell him he just had one moment of brilliance. (laughs)

Working with John Cena in 2005/06: That guy had some heavy fists. Carlito and I used to joke around that in tag matches with Cena and HBK, we would literally rush to get to Shawn Michaels, because he wasn’t as heavy with hands and the other guy would be stuck with Cena and you’d be potato’ing each other left and right. I remember at the Elimination Chamber I felt like I was in a real shoot fight. It’s not that he’s bad, he just gets really fired up and he’s got big hands, he doesn’t realize his own strength.

Thoughts on his TNA Dark Match and ending up working for Dixie: I think there’s a good chance I’ll be working them in the future. It’s a different vibe to WWE. I like that Dixie Carter makes herself accessible to the talent. Jason Hervey came up to me after the match with a camera and just let me talk, it wasn’t some writer giving you stuff to say. There was a good reaction from the crowd. All in all it turned out as good as it could go. I’ve planted all the seed I could. It’s up to them if they want to capitalize, if not I’ll just go about my way.

Other topics:How he broke into wrestling, his first WrestleMania, working a program with HBK, The WWE’s Wellness Policy and the infamous Pec Dance gimmick.

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