By Jason Powell, ProWrestling.net Editor (@prowrestlingnet)
Insight With Chris Van Vliet with guest Diamond Dallas Page
Host: Chris Van Vliet
Podcast available via Podcasts.Apple.com
On MJF: “Well, you know, it’s so hard when you’re trying to come up and you’re trying to get noticed. I mean, wrestling is the world of look at me, let me push your buttons. You know, like, I’m personally no MJF, he will be pissed off at me for saying this, he’s the nicest. He’s the nicest guy, he really is, to me. But to everybody out in the open, he’s an asshole. And it’s not him being an asshole, it’s him living the gimmick. He could turn babyface in an instant and he would be over even bigger, I think. But as a heel, oh my God.
“One of my favorite MJF stories, this was on the Jericho Cruise, which is amazing. If you haven’t done it, and you’re thinking about doing the Jericho Cruise, do it. I did a couple of them. And I love Chris Jericho. There’s another goat, I mean, capital GOAT I mean like big time, but one of the comedians was up on stage. And it’s a packed house, you know, that particular night. And I can’t remember his name. But he said, you know, you have to really appreciate MJF’s commitment to being the character. He’s never out of character. My buddy and I, we love to listen to him. So we’re waiting in line [for autographs]. He’s charging more than anyone. I don’t know if it’s a particular moment. But I remember, there was a point of charging for autographs, and MJF when he was nobody put himself at like $150. And they paid it!
“[MJF said] I don’t give a f— if you come here and want my autograph or not. I’m better than you and you know it. I mean, that was one of the great, that’s a great tagline. And I put the kid over because I love him. But he says you have to appreciate MJF’s commitment to being MJF. My buddy and I finally get up to the front. And we say, bro, we love your shit. Now my buddy’s drinking a coffee at the time. MJF grabbed his cup, took it, spit in it, gave it back to my buddy and said so what the f— do you two want? I mean what a roar., you know, but that’s him, he’s committed to the character. So oh my God. I could talk about MJF for hours.”
On nearly getting sued by Nirvana: “You know, that’s fascinating because I went to see Jimmy Hart. First, let’s go back to where it comes from. Jimmy Hart’s musical genius and you know, he had a number one hit at one time with The Gentrys. Did you know that? Again, number one hit. So what it was a one-hit wonder, he was number one when it meant something like when it got paid and sh*t, yeah. But we went down I went down to Florida. He said so what music do you like? I said right now I’m listening to Nirvana. I really liked them. I think there’s a sound of the ’90s. And he goes, which song do you like, it was between Smells Like Teen Spirit, and I can’t remember the other name of the other one, but it was between both of them.
“And I said, let’s pick Smells Like Teen Spirit. And then he did something with the music. I go, That sounds amazing. Sounds just like it, he goes, all I did was flip the beat. So instead of going bump, bump it went bump, bump, bump, bump, bump. So if you notice you played to both at the same time, you’d hear the difference. Dude, I tell you, I was so bummed out when the WWE changed my music. And on all the WCW stuff, all the Peacock stuff, they changed the music, because they didn’t want to get sued. And then I also found out that it wasn’t David Grohl who owned it. It was Courtney. She probably wasn’t even aware I was using it.”
On Dominik Mysterio: “I said this six months ago or five months ago, whatever it was. I said, if I was booking, I would put Dominik over every time he went to the ring. Just because the heat is so amazing. The heat he’s got and you’re talking about a kid who has been thrown in the middle, in the middle of the fire. Like not like you learned to swim, you get thrown in the middle of fire water. And I think he’s done an unbelievable job. When he’s not on the road? He’s like, what I did, I would go back to the Power Plant. He’s going back to the Performance Center.”
On who is on his pro wrestling Mount Rushmore: “Oh, yeah, of course, gotta be Flair, you know? Gotta be Jake [Roberts]. Dusty’s up there because it’s, you know, I just thought he was unbelievable. And I will put up five guys, put Hogan and Austin up there, you know? It was like those guys did a lot, just monstrous for the business.”
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