By Jason Powell, ProWrestling.net Editor (@prowrestlingnet)
Insight With Chris Van Vliet with guest Ken Shamrock
Host: Chris Van Vliet
Podcast available via Podcasts.Apple.com
On not being in the WWE Hall Of Fame: “That’s a great question and I get asked that a lot, which I guess is a good thing, right? I probably think I’m in four or five different ones, wrestling included. But no, when people ask that, it’s not really something that I think about a lot. I enjoyed my time in wrestling. I thought while I was there it was enjoyable. I mean, I went into it because it was an opportunity for me because the MMA was struggling and I wasn’t able to make the money I needed to support my family, so I had to make a decision. So I made that decision to go into wrestling, not knowing how that would turn out. Obviously, it was risky, but I did it. And fortunately for me, I fell in love with it. It was a great opportunity for me, and I enjoyed, all the moments that I had there. A lot of them with The Rock, and a lot of people think it’s crazy, but I enjoyed the chair shot.”
On if a WWE Hall of Fame induction could happen: “Obviously any athlete that goes through a career and has made an impact wants to be recognized, and I do want to be recognized. But I don’t think of it until it’s brought up, right? It’s not something that I dwell on because I felt like everything that I’ve done in my life, I’ve been blessed to have been in those moments. What comes after that is just icing on the cake. And if that happens it’s going to be a true thrill. But like I said, it’s not something that I lose sleep over. I’ve really enjoyed my journey and very happy with the way my life has turned out.”
On that chair shot from The Rock: “I enjoyed the chair shot. Everybody keeps looking at that, and they say it over and, oh, man, that must have hurt. For me, it’s funny, because it would hurt so much more if I didn’t see it coming. I wanted it. I was like, ‘Bro, you were not hitting me in the head, the top of the head or back of the head. I want you to hit me right in the face.’ He’s like, shut up. He thought I was kidding. I was like, ‘Bro, come on, man. I’m not taking it to the back of the head or top of the head. If you’re gonna swing, you swing for my face and I’ll take care of the rest.’ I mean, I literally said that, swing for my face and I will protect myself. He looked at me with this bewildered like, where’s the punchline? Where’s the joke here? And I looked and I said, ‘No, I’m serious.’ And he’s like, ‘I’m not doing that.’ I said ‘[then] I’m not taking it.’ I said ‘Swing from my face. I’ll protect myself.’ And he goes, ‘You sure?’ And I was like, Yeah. And I remember, I looked at him in the eyes and I go ‘You better swing it.’ And he says, ‘Oh, I’ll swing it.'”
On how he protected himself: “Well, he swung for my face like I asked him to. And I told him it’s not his responsibility. It’s mine. You, swing it and I’ll do the rest. And so he did, and all I did was just like I would in a fight. I tucked my chin and it hit me right in the forehead. Anybody knows how the skull is put together, the thickest part is your forehead. Just like in football, and now they can’t do it, but you usually hit with the forehead. And if you get punched, most of the time, if you hit somebody in the forehead, you break your hand. So I just logically thought if I was going to get hit in the head, hit me in the hardest part. That was a great moment, though, because I had no idea what it would look like or what the impact of that would be. It was just basically a thought in my head, because I saw everybody else doing it, and I was like that is just a dumb way to take a chair, getting hit in the top of the head, back of the head, and I ain’t doing that. Hit me in the forehead.”
On potentially taking the first People’s Elbow: “It had to be [one of the first], that’s a long time ago. I remember looking at that video. I mean, I don’t even think Rock knew how to perfect it yet. Because when he was just starting, I remember laying on the mat looking up at him, going, bro, this is just not a good site. You don’t have to be standing over the top and with your legs spread pointing to the crowd that long, make your move! [laughs]. That was one thing great about working with The Rock is that I felt like that was a great opportunity for us to really put ourselves in the mix with the greats. Shawn Michaels, Stone Cold, The Undertaker. That was a loaded roster, and I felt like me and Rock had the opportunity to put us in the mix on one of the best matches on the card those nights that we were together. It felt like the more that we worked together, the better we became. To a point where I believe that we were rivaling any main event that they put on our card, and that was a testament to The Rock and some of the hard work that he put into those matches with me and him.”
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