Eddy Mansfield on his ABC 20/20 piece with John Stossel and whether he felt swerved, his relationship with David Schultz

By Jason Powell, ProWrestling.net Editor (@prowrestlingnet)

The Two Man Power Trip of Wrestling Podcast with Eddy Mansfield
Hosts: Chad and JP (transcription by John Poz)
Twitter: @TwoManPowerTrip
Website: www.tmptempire.com
Interview available at Tmptow.podomatic.com

Doing the 20/20 video with John Stossel: I’m going tell you what wasn’t told on Viceland (Dark Side of the Ring) and that is this; when I did 20/20 with (John) Stossel, my agreement with them, was for them to compare the billion dollar wrestling business at that time with the NFL, Major League Baseball, and NHL hockey. You know all the pro sports and compare how you know professional wrestlers are treated compared to the professional athletes. Compare the difference in the treatment of professional wrestlers to the treatment of the other athletes out of the other leagues. What it comes down to and what it pertains to is no health benefits or 401K for the professional wrestlers.

What happened when the video turned into him exposing the business: What that was what I had to do in order for them to do the other to do the comparison story. You see what I mean, so I had to give up something for them to do that, do the comparison or they wouldn’t do the story. I wanted to show everybody that thinks wrestling is a joke, that wrestling is not a joke, it is one of the biggest businesses in the world, just ask Vince McMahon.

Thoughts on John Stossel and if he felt swerved: He’s a huge egomaniac. I love professional wrestling and he made a joke out of it. My respect for John Stossel is very little. I think he is a joke, I think he was a joke and he’s a liar. I’m going to tell you why he’s a liar. He never got slapped on his ear, he got slapped on his face, and I have been slapped harder for free. He got slapped and made 280,000 dollars off of it.

Did he think that he was going too far in exposing the business and whether it bothered him: No, it didn’t really bother me and I’ll tell you why. It’s because the business was starting to change and go more in a TV environment. Things were becoming more entertainment, it was getting bigger and better. When I did 20/20 it really shined the light on the business and it made it bigger. I mean the spotlight on the wrestling business got bigger.

On his relationship with “Doctor D” David Schultz: Yeah, I talked to him the other day. I do my own thing and he does his own thing. I’m not associated in his world, I stay in my own world and he stays in his. David and I very rarely talk except every now and then I talk to him. I feel like people maybe wouldn’t know this but he’s a former tag team partner in Ron Fuller’s Southeastern Championship Wrestling, we were a great team together.

Other topics in this rare interview include being blackballed, John Stossel, exposing the business, Viceland’s “Dark Side of the Ring” series, his full career, his regrets, and more.

You can listen to other shows apart of the TMPT Empire including Shane Douglas’ Triple Threat Podcast, Taking You to School with Dr. Tom Prichard, Talking Tough with Rick Bassman, and the University of Dutch with Dutch Mantell.