By Jason Powell, ProWrestling.net Editor (@prowrestlingnet)
The Two Man Power Trip of Wrestling Podcast with Danny Doring
Host: JP John Poz
Twitter: @TwoManPowerTrip
Website: www.tmptempire.com
Interview available at Tmptow.podomatic.com
On WWE: “They (WWE) weren’t going to see anything in us and they didn’t see anything in me personally, no matter what idea I pitched. And it just wasn’t going to happen there. It’s sad because that’s your childhood goal as a kid to kind of get in there and be a WWE wrestler. And once you achieve that goal, it’s almost as if it’s the worst part of your career. And then after that, just doing the independents for a while wasn’t as much fun because you’re just basically just going on a tour and putting guys over and going through the motions. It’s just not as much fun. So now all of a sudden I’m having fun again. I’m really enjoying myself and it’s been a wild, fun ride.”
On ECW: “It’s one of those things where it was a lot harder mentally, believe it or not, than physically. Physically, it was hard and grueling, but I was an athlete, so I was used to all that kind of stuff. But the mental aspect of trying to take yourself out there and all kinds of things, the road. You’re not guaranteed anything. You’re not guaranteed a spot was tough, too, because you weren’t really making money. So you were sleeping in a ring truck. You were sleeping on parking rest areas, wherever we could find a place to lay down. So all those kinds of things were, I guess in what we would call paying dues. It was the hardest part for me. It was the mental, financial kind of burden breaking in more so than physical, not the downplay of physical, because that was tough, too. But just trying to survive financially and mentally was a lot tougher than anything else.”
On Taz/Perry Saturn interviewing him: “I went in and did an interview. At that time, you did an interview with Taz and Saturn, to see if they would accept you to be a student, and I passed that, and then I started training a week later. It was intimidating because Taz did most of the talking, and Perry just kind of looked at you. You know what I mean? I remember Kronus coming in and Kronus acted like it wasn’t an act. It wasn’t a gig. He was just all over the place. And I was like, I guess it’s a way to weed out some of the other guys, the interview process, you know what I mean? But it was definitely intimidating. But like I said, once I got started getting my feet wet, I was really into what I was doing with kind of all the training and breaking in.”
On the dying days of ECW: “Even when there’s a curtain call that we did in the Arkansas loop, where Sandman brought everybody out. Everybody had a beer, and they played the music, and I’m like, I don’t know. I don’t understand what’s happening here, what’s going on? And they’re like, well, this is it. I’m like, sure, whatever. Because it just didn’t even occur to me. And there was rumblings and stuff like that, but I never bought into it. I was like, it’s not going to happen. Whatever. We’ll figure it out. And then it was actually it, but I really didn’t even think it was at the time.
“I remember turning to Joey Matthews and Christian York, who were new at the time, and they were like what’s happening? I was like, don’t even sell this. Don’t even sell for it. Don’t even listen to it. We’re fine. And I was wrong. I had no idea what’s coming. I’m just kind of sitting home. I was like, okay, these two weeks have gone by, and we’re not in any shows and just kind of holding on hope until we saw Paul [Heyman] on Raw that we were like, oh, okay. So I guess we’re splitsville. And even then, I was kind of like, oh, maybe he’s doing something there to kickstart the name again or whatever, but it just wasn’t.”
Other topics include WWE, ECW, Paul Heyman, Vince McMahon, Roadkill, Tommy Dreamer, Taz, Perry Saturn, the end of ECW, 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, Taskmaster Talks with Kevin Sullivan, Pro Wrestling 101 with Justin Credible and the University of Dutch with Dutch Mantell.
Wonder how many people who watched ECW remember in 1997 he teamed with Roadkill and they were managed by “Angelica”, who was his “girlfriend” in the company, who later went to the WWE and became….Lita.