Bret Hart has issued an apology on his Facebook page for comments he recently made about the Fabulous Freebirds being in the WWE Hall Of Fame and other worthy superstars not being in. He also goes on to apologies to Triple H and Seth Rollins for past remarks.
“I’d like to take this opportunity to formally apologize to Michael Hayes. A while back I made comments about the Freebirds not being as worthy of being in the WWE Hall of Fame as others. It was unfair for me to dismiss their contributions to the industry and they certainly did great things in Texas with the Von Erich Family. Michael Hayes always treated me with great respect, as did Terry Gordy, Ronnie Garvin and Buddy Roberts and I’m sorry if I disrespected any of them with my comments. Furthermore I apologize to both Triple H and Seth Rollins for any hurtful comments I made on my podcast. The reality of all this is the reason I quit doing podcasts in general, because they’re for the most part an outlet for negativity, and have left me with a reputation as being angry and bitter. I’m not, I’d spoke candidly and openly but it’s no excuse for minimizing other wrestlers or their contributions. In saying all that, I still believe Jim the Anvil Neidhart of the Hart Foundation, including Owen, Brian Pillman, Davey Boy Smith, The Dynamite Kid, Jimmy Hart, The Rougeau Brothers, The Killer Bees, The Demolition, Rick Rude, King Kong Bundy, and One Man Gang all deserve their place in the WWE Hall of Fame. My apologies to all. Bret Hart x”
Bret previously said
“I am embarrassed that there’s so many great wrestlers out there that have never been given their credit,” Hart told Forbes. “Never got their due.”
Hart is critical of The Freebirds’ induction into the Hall of Fame over the likes of Owen and Rude.
“Why have they been overlooked when you can induct the Freebirds who never did squat in WWE? Ever. Never drew any money, never did anything,” Hart said. “When I remember the Freebirds, they were all drunk and passed out at the gate at one of the airports in my first day in WWF. None of them even made the show that day, they were too drunk to make their plane”
For those that witnessed Monday Night Raw last night, the WWE opened the show with a graphic of Chyna under complete silence. Then, nearly two-thirds into the show, the WWE finally aired a tribute video to Chyna, which was very-well done.
The response from the WWE Universe was welcomed, especially after the flack the company got for not making Chyna’s recovery a priority in the darker days of her life.
After complaints about how the WWE wouldn’t even mention Chyna, the new conversations is beginning Chyna not getting into the WWE Hall of Fame. While that’s still several months away, it’s only a hot topic right now because she passed away.
While being inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame is a huge honor, it doesn’t define the wrestler. That’s what Mick Foley said on his Facebook page when asked if Chyna should be inducted next year.
“Joanie”, I said. “Being inducted into the Hall of Fame was one of the greatest nights of my life – but it doesn’t define me. Don’t let it define you. You’re a legend in our business, no one can ever take away from you the things you’ve done. Don’t let anyone have the power to tell you whether or not your career was worthy of the Hall of Fame. It was! There will never be another Chyna”
So next year, when the announcements are made, if Chyna is not an inductee, don’t be sad. The real Hall of Fame is inside all of us. It’s a Hall of Fame based on the way superstars made us feel, the smiles they produced, the memories they created for us, the legacies they forged that will stand the test of time. By that standard, Joanie Laurer – Chyna; the 9th Wonder of the World was inducted into the Hall that really matters – our hall of memories – a long, long time ago.
Is the Hardcore Legend right? As an inductee into the WWE Hall of Fame, he has every right to comment on this situation.
Whether Chyna gets inducted or not, that doesn’t take away from the impact she had on the WWE, as well as women in pro wrestling.
This shouldn’t come as a surprise to anyone. Since the TMZ story broke about Sting retiring, he has on multiple occasions, since then, denied the report. Sting is set to enter the WWE Hall Of Fame this Saturday on The WWE Network.
It’s a bit strange that this wasn’t officially announced yet, but it’s hard to argue with the evidence: Dave Meltzer is reporting at F4WOnline.com that it looks like WWE may have found a way to quickly get some major historical figures into their hall of fame at this Saturday night’s induction ceremony. A WWE Hall of Fame class of 2016 shirt being sold at the WrestleMania store at AT&T Stadium includes not just the announced inductees, but also a “WWE Legacy Award” with Ed “Strangler” Lewis, Frank Gotch, George Hackenschmidt, Lou Thesz, Mildred Burke, Pat O’Connor, and “Sailor” Art Thomas all listed under that heading.
As of this writing, WWE has not said anything else about the new Legacy Award. The obvious inference, though, is that the company is addressing the long-held criticism that they won’t ever put in a number of deserving inductees due to the unofficial “quota” on deceased inductees for each year’s ceremony. This would be a simple way to solve that problem: Induct several missing historical figures each year as a group. If there’s something else to it, who knows? But it’s hard to think of any alternative scenario besides the one outlined here.
While the pre-television era wrestlers included here (Lewis, Gotch, and Hackenschmidt; Thesz and Burke straddled both eras) were never really considered realistic candidates to be inducted. Thesz not being in had been controversial for many years. It goes a bit deeper than that, though: When he and Wahoo McDaniel passed away within two weeks of each other in April 2002, neither death was acknowledged on WWE programming. The uproar online was significant enough that WWE eventually ran a quick feature honoring both. Given the alleged “death quota,” nobody ever really expected him to go in the Hall of Fame, especially after when happened in the first place when he passed away.
Thesz was in the first class of the WCW Hall of Fame, but in the 15 years since WWE bought WCW and the 12 years since the WWE Hall of Fame was restarted, WWE never adopted WCW’s hall as their own. That would have been a quick way to add Thesz and McDaniel, among others.
One would think that the Legacy Award will be officially announced on this week’s edition of SmackDown. We should know that any moment now, as the show has already aired in Canada. If it’s not announced on SmackDown, this may just be a small gesture that WWE is making without a lot of fanfare.
WWE announced on Sunday morning that legendary manager Slick will induct his former client the Big Bossman into the WWE Hall of Fame next weekend.
“The Doctor Of Style” first introduced Bossman to the WWE Universe back in 1988. He later paired his client up with “The African Dream” Akeem to form the Twin Towers tag team.
Their partnership ended when Slick attempted to sell Boss Man’s services to Ted DiBiase, resulting in Boss Man turning babyface and embarking on the most successful chapter of his career.
It was announced on Wednesday afternoon that WWE tag team champions The New Day will induct the Fabulous Freebirds into the WWE Hall of Fame – not Kevin Von Erich, as previously announced. When asked about the situation on Twitter, Kevin responded that he wants to make the induction about the Freebirds, not him or the Von Erich family.
The 2016 WWE Hall of Fame Ceremony takes place on Saturday night, April 2nd from Dallas, Texas. The Class of 2016 includes Sting, The Fabulous Freebirds, Stan Hansen, The Big Bossman, The Godfather and Jacqueline.
– Former NXT performers Sylvester LeFort and Marquis Louis are backstage at today’s TNA Impact Wrestling taping from Orlando, according to PWInsider. They were released from NXT last month after being under contract with WWE for several years.
– Tickets for the WWE Live In London special for Wednesday, September 7th at The O2 Arena went on sale today. Superstars advertised for the show include Roman Reigns, AJ Styles, The New Day, Charlotte and Sasha Banks.
– There’s still no word on who will be receiving this year’s “Warrior Award” at the WWE Hall of Fame ceremony, but we’ve heard WWE is planning on presenting it again this year. There is also expected to be a celebrity induction, Regis Philbin.
– WWE’s latest “5 Things” video spotlights Superstars and Divas who are undefeated at WrestleMania, including Shane McMahon, AJ Lee, The Road Warriors and Rob Van Dam.
Jacqueline has been confirmed as the latest member of the WWE Hall of Fame’s Class of 2016.
The third-degree taekwondo black belt is one of the toughest female competitors in pro wrestling history. Not only was she a 2-time WWE Women’s champion, but she also wrestled men on a regular basis.
FoxSports.com broke the news of Jacqueline’s induction on Monday afternoon and asked her what gave her the confidence to work inter-gender matches.
“A lot of the women didn’t like to wrestle me back then because they said I wrestle too much like a guy,” she said. “That’s how I developed more in the ring, from wrestling guys, and they didn’t take it easy on me either.”
She’ll take her rightful place in the WWE Hall of Fame on Saturday night, April 2nd.
Jacqueline was a fierce, barrier-breaking female competitor. Glad she will take her rightful spot in the #WWEHOF. pic.twitter.com/ABktAt4DG9
The “Nature Boy” Ric Flair revealed on his latest WOOOOO! Nation podcast that he will be the man to induct Sting into the WWE Hall Of Fame during this year’s ceremony.
It was also confirmed that Ron Simmons and JBL will be inducting The Godfather.
Finally, Buddy Roberts’ son and Terry Gordy’s son will be speaking on behalf of their deceased fathers for The Fabulous Freebirds induction, while former storyline rival Kevin Von Erich will have some sort of involvement in the Freebirds induction as well.
The Fabulous Freebirds, one of the most colorful factions in pro wrestling history, will be inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame during WrestleMania 32 weekend in Dallas, Texas. The news was first reported by Rolling Stone and was later confirmed by WWE.com.
Founded in 1979, Michael “P.S.” Hayes, Terry “Bam Bam” Gordy, Buddy “Jack” Roberts and Jimmy Garvin raised hell in every promotion they worked in, including the NWA, World Class, the WWF, UWF and WCW.
They will be inducted near Dallas, Texas, site of their legendary rivalry with The Von Erichs in the early 80’s. Michael Hayes and Jimmy Garvin will accept the induction on behalf of their fallen brothers, Terry Gordy passed away in 2001 while Buddy Roberts died in 2012.
WWE agent Michael Hayes told Rolling Stone, “Well, I don’t know what the rush was. Every year around this time, I’d be on pins and needles, hoping we’d get in, because our career speaks for itself. We put asses in seats…and I think you could take a poll of anybody who ever paid their hard-earned money to come see us, and they’d say they got more than their money’s worth. And that was huge to us, because we were wrestling fans too.”
For more on their induction, check out the Rolling Stone link below:
The Fabulous Freebirds will enter the WWE Hall of Fame and Michael Hayes has plenty to say about it https://t.co/nj3mU1Ly0W
One of the strangest stories this week involved The History Channel’s hit series “Pawn Stars” about the Gold and Silver Pawn Shop in Las Vegas, Nevada. One of this week’s new episodes, “First Lady of Pawn,” was advertised for last night with this description by Zap2It and anyone using their channel guide services:
WWE Hall of Famer, Tammy ‘Sunny’ Sytch, brings in her Hall of Fame ring; Corey checks out a 1927 Essex Sedan rat rod; an 1891 $1 silver certificate.
You can still see that description in the listing on LocateTV. Other guide providers, like TV Guide, just referred to it generically as just a WWE Hall of Fame ring being brought into the shop. Sytch, when asked on Twitter, angrily denied she’d be on the show, including after a fan showed a picture of the on-screen guide from his cable/satellite box:
Given her history as of late (including the storyline where her trying to sell the ring turned into her doing porn when she shot the video close to a year before she “put the ring up for sale”), not everyone believed her, to say the least. Well, the segment aired last night, and it turns out she was telling the truth:
It was some third party selling Paul Bearer’s ring. What exactly the miscommunication was, nobody knows as of yet. Being that it was only on one guide data provider’s listing, it makes you wonder if someone at Zap2It just guessed for some reason stemming from the publicity stunt Sytch pulled about selling the ring to promote her pornographic videos.
– WWE.com announced on Tuesday that a pre-sale for tickets to this year’s WWE Hall Of Fame induction ceremony is now ongoing at Ticketmaster.com with the code “DOTCOM.” The pre-sale ends at 11pm ET/10pm CT on Thursday, January 14th. The 2016 WWE Hall Of Fame induction ceremony, which will be headlined by Sting this year, takes place on Saturday, April 2nd at the American Airlines Center in Dallas, Texas. Tickets for the general public will be available on Friday, January 15th at 10am ET/9am CT at Ticketmaster.com or by calling 1-800-745-3000.
– Independent wrestling veteran Luke Hawx worked a dark match at the WWE SmackDown television tapings on Tuesday night after briefly appearing in a backstage segment on Monday’s WWE RAW. Apparently other talent from the Louisiana-based WildKat Spots promotion worked tryout matches for WWE this week as well.
– Darren Young posted the following photo that features he and Titus O’Neil with other WWE Superstars on the WrestleMania 32 promotion WWE is doing with the Texas lottery this year.
Sting has been confirmed as the first member of the WWE Hall of Fame’s Class of 2016.
WWE.com published a career retrospective for the 6-time WCW World Heavyweight champion.
“We are truly honored to have Sting take his rightful place in the WWE Hall of Fame,” said WWE’s Executive Vice President of Talent, Live Events and Creative, Paul Levesque.
“His contributions to our industry are unprecedented, and we look forward to celebrating his incredible career with fans all over the world.”
The 2016 WWE Hall of Fame Ceremony takes during WrestleMania 32 weekend on Saturday night, April 2nd from the American Airlines Center in Dallas, Texas.
Well it's official – I have accepted the invitation to be inducted into the WWE HOF! HONORED!!!!
– WWE will be announcing the first official inductee into the 2016 class of the WWE Hall Of Fame on Monday afternoon at 1pm EST. Make sure to visit SEScoops.com later today to find out the first confirmed member of the WWE Hall Of Fame 2016 class.
– Former WWE announcer and current ESPN host Jonathan Coachman announced via social media that WWE Divas and Total Divas stars The Bella Twins will be his guest on the WWE on ESPN “Off The Top Rope” segment on Tuesday evening. The twins will be on to promote the new season of WWE Total Divas on E!.
– Speaking The Bella Twins, Nikki Bella is receiving praise for her work on the E! post-show for the Golden Globe Awards on Sunday evening. The former WWE Divas Champion posted the following photos of herself with her co-hosts during the show last night.
Kurt Angle continues to do the media rounds to promote TNA’s Maximum Impact UK tour next month. During an interview with Digital Spy, the Olympic gold medalist commented on the possibility of returning to WWE one day.
“We’ll see. Would it be a possibility? Yeah. I’m not ruling out anything. I know that next year I will take off and then we’ll see where it goes. I have spoken to TNA about possibly coming back someday. That’s still on the table. The way TNA has treated me the last 9 years, I can’t throw them away.”
Angle noted that he doesn’t need WWE or TNA to continue wrestling. He said that he has a match scheduled against Rey Mysterio in March. He didn’t elaborate which company they’d be wrestling for, but said, “It’ll be kind of nice just to promote myself and wrestle guys like Rey.”
He also spoke about a potential WWE Hall of Fame induction. Angle confidently stated that it will happen, he just doesn’t know when.
“I’ll believe the hype when I decide to talk to WWE. I haven’t. We were going to have some type of meeting last year. Unfortunately, it got cancelled. We really haven’t spoken. I don’t expect them to speak to me until my contract’s up and I haven’t really gone after them to talk to them.”
“Somewhere along the line it’ll happen, I just don’t know when. Would it be an honour to be in the WWE Hall of Fame? Yeah, it’s an incredible honour. Would it kill me if I wasn’t? No, it wouldn’t. The most important thing to me is being in the National Wrestling Hall of Fame, which is Olympic wrestling. That’s where my legacy truly is.”
Comment on this article and tell us if you want to see Kurt Angle wrestle at least one more time in WWE before he retires for good.
An online petition has been started at Change.org to get Republican Presidential candidate Donald Trump from the WWE Hall Of Fame.
As of this writing, 4,903 people have signed the petition to get Trump removed from the WWE Hall Of Fame. Part of the petition reads:
Consistent with this statement, WWE should remove Donald Trump from the Hall of Fame for his derogatory comments about Mexicans and Mexican-Americans, Muslims and other minority groups.
WWE not only employs Muslim and Middle Eastern talent, but has also recently launched the Network in the Middle East. The WWE must realize how many of its fans are Muslim. What message does it send to them to honor Donald Trump on the WWE’s Hall of Fame?
And Mexico is one of WWE’s biggest international markets – the WWE has a history of working with Mexican professional wrestling promotions as well as recruiting some of Mexico’s top wrestlers. Many of WWE’s most beloved superstars represent their Mexican heritage in the ring.
Additionally, it was mentioned in the petition that WWE removed Hulk Hogan from their “online properties,” including the Hall Of Fame section of their official website for a similar offense. That part of the petition reads as follows:
Donald Trump has no place in the prestigious WWE Hall of Fame. The WWE Universe has continually expressed outrage at his induction, even booing him off the stage during his induction ceremony in 2013. He is a stain on WWE’s ability to be a positive influence to its 650 million fans worldwide.
Hulk Hogan’s immediate dismissal and removal from WWE’s online properties due to racist comments have shown us that WWE will not tolerate those who disrespect their commitment to celebrating diversity. This is a critical moment for the WWE to scrub its ties with Donald Trump immediately.
Earlier, Eric noted that late last night, Variety reported that WWE Studios (in conjunction with Great Point Media) has hired Josh Gad and writing partner Ryan Dixon to write a script for a biopic of WWE Hall f Famer Gorgeous George. Gad has written before, mostly for TV, but he’s best known for voicing Olaf in Frozen and currently co-starring with Billy Crystal in “The Comedians” on FX.
The Gorgeous George project has been floating around within WWE for several years. He was inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame in March of 2010 over WrestleMania weekend. A few weeks later in April, Deadline first reported that WWE Studios had optioned the 2008 book Gorgeous George: The Outrageous Bad-Boy Wrestler Who Created American Pop Culture. Written by John Capouya, it’s a heavily researched look into the life and career of George Wagner, the man behind the Gorgeous George gimmick. Much of it is sourced from his interviews with Wagner’s ex-wife Betty (who accepted his HOF induction), and it’s about as detailed as you could ever hope a book about wrestling from the early television era could be.
Before long, the project was turned into a documentary, with WWE even soliciting relevant home movies and memories from locals in the paper of record in Wagner’s old home town, the Houston Chronicle. Not long after that, Betty Wagner passed away, and it seemed as if the projected had been permanently shelved. That was the last anyone heard until last night. While projects with big name writers can still fall apart, this news definitely shows a renewed commitment on WWE’s part.
WWE Hall Of Famer Jim Ross recently updated the Q&A section of his official website, answering questions from fans on a wide variety of topics. Below are some of the highlights.
On if Seth Rollins should modify his style as a heel, as fans don’t boo high-flying moves: “Most traditional heels don’t do a great deal of high risk/showy moves and I do believe that they should be used cautiously and in a timely basis by pro wrestling villains.”
On why WWE puts so much stock into their social media numbers: “It’s a trend within the show biz world that they believe has credence. Its another way to measure one’s audience and topicality.”
On if Tim Tebow could make it in WWE: “I suggested this last year and the year before. I don’t know Tebow’s aptitude for the biz or if he has any interest in it whatsoever. If he wants to play football he should held north to the CFL.”
On if not airing Hulk Hogan and Jimmy Snuka content will hurt the WWE Network: “I’d say it is a non issue and won’t affect the network whatsoever. They may not be featured but I’d be surprised if they still aren’t on the network from time to time.”
On if Owen Hart should be in the WWE Hall Of Fame: “I’m happy the DVD is being produced and I feel Owen is WWE HOF worthy without question.”
Check out more JR Q&A updates at JRsBarBQ.com. You can also order JR’s Bar-B-Q products online at WWEShop.com.
– The post-SummerSlam edition of WWE RAW at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn, New York, is officially sold out after another set of tickets for the show were released.
– ECW Originals Raven and The Blue Meanie have put their stamp of approval on the late “British Bulldog” Davey Boy Smith as a future WWE Hall Of Famer. The two posted the following videos endorsing the late wrestling legend.
“Insight Editions” revealed today that they are officially announcing August 22nd as “Ultimate Warrior Day.”
Warrior passed away in April of 2014, just days after being inducted into the WWE Hall Of Fame after a lengthy period of being “on the outs” with WWE.
Below is the press release Insight Editions sent out today.
Join Insight Editions at The Powerhouse Arena for Ultimate Warrior Day!
Including a Book Signing with Dana Warrior
Saturday, August 22, 2015, is Ultimate Warrior Day, and Dana Warrior will be at The POWERHOUSE Arena celebrating Ultimate Warrior’s enduring legacy and promoting Insight Editions’ new book, Ultimate Warrior: A Life Lived “Forever.”
Known for his vibrant face paint, Ultimate Warrior’s true colors can be seenin Ultimate Warrior: A Life Lived “Forever.” Releasing on Tuesday, September 15, 2015, this biography showcases the WWE Hall of Famer through stories and photographs of his historic matches, as well as rare candid, behind-the-scenes images and personal ephemera from his family, making this the ultimate collectible for diehard Warrior fans worldwide.
This book launch will feature an autograph table, Warrior statue, museum displays, a face paint artist, and more! Ultimate Warrior Day, on Saturday, August 22, 2015, begins at 3:00 p.m., and is open to the first 300 fans at The POWERHOUSE Arena, which is located at 37 Main Street, Brooklyn, NY, 11210 and is exclusive to Ultimate Warrior book purchases made at POWERHOUSE.
WWE Hall Of Famer Terry Funk recently appeared as a guest on Busted Open Radio to talk about one of his biggest career rivals — the late, great Dusty Rhodes. Below are some highlights from the interview.
On Dusty Rhodes and the chemistry he had with the fans: “He just had a great amount of charisma. Why did I love going in the ring with him? Was it because I was his great buddy? I was his friend, was that the reason? No. What the great reason was that why I enjoyed so much going in the ring with him… and believe me, as I loved him too and everything else and I love him for those two other reasons … but I loved going in the ring with him because I made more money with him than I did with anybody else. He was a tremendous attraction. That’s why I enjoyed going with him (laughs) ya make more money with him. The Dream was something special. He was a phenomenal in-ring performer but his greatest attribute was his mind and his ability to interact and talk to the people themselves… to the fans themselves.”
On the last time he spoke to Dusty: “Oh heck, I don’t know when it was. Probably a year or two ago… that’s how we always went. Wrestlers are that way. We say we love each other and we say goodbye then we go onto the next town. We don’t ever really say goodbye … just go to the next town… the next day. And whether you see those guys … you see them again. I talked to him a few times through the years… probably a couple times a year. Telling him … whatever, you know … or just running into him. We always feel like we are going to run into each other again … we never say goodbye… it’s just like, going down the road.”
On Dusty inducting The Funks into the WWE Hall of Fame: “It was [a special moment]. Of course it was. Like I said, he was a special guy. I just had so much compassion for him. You don’t start out with somebody and go up and down the roads with em and learn together like we did. I would say that it was an education traveling with him and he would have told you the same thing about traveling with me … it was an education traveling with me.”
On Dusty’s relationship with Vince McMahon and the WWE and working deep into the NWA territory: “If going to the WWE was like going to school, he was just in his freshman year. The WWE is a wonderful, wonderful, great place. And Dusty had so much ability and they realized that too, that’s why he was there. Dusty was the best at talking and teaching people to talk. Dusty was an innovator. Dusty wasn’t just a wrestler, he was a manipulator… and that’s very true. He was great at whatever he did. He had such compassion, such love and he instilled that love into his two kids. You watch those kids, and I call them kids now and they aren’t kids anymore, but they are going into their prime now and you watch them in the next 10 years. They are going to be very well known in the business for one reason: they idolize Dusty, both of them. And they should have idolized him because he was one of the very best in the country. I truly believe both of them are just wonderful pieces of talent that are going to be pushed to a different level than what they have been … at least I’m hoping that they will… I think that’s the smart thing.”
The plan right now in WWE is for the company to present live quarterly specials on the WWE Network in 2016, such as the Elimination Chamber, King Of The Ring, or the upcoming live special from Japan on July 4th.
Another plan right now in the company is for WWE to make the Slammy Awards a standalone event as opposed to an episode of RAW. The idea would be to air the special on the WWE Network and have it be similar to the annual WWE Hall Of Fame ceremony, where WWE rents a small theater type building instead of a major arena.
Brian Knobbs, one-half of the legendary Nasty Boys tag-team, recently appeared as a guest on The Two Man Power Trip Of Wrestling podcast. Below are some highlights from the interview.
On who was a favorite tag team of the Nasty Boys to work against: “We had some of our best matches with The Rockers. We liked each other and trusted each other, they are the ones that innovated the different maneuvers that you didn’t see before like the double leap frogs, double drop downs, double hip toss, double elbow/pop up a lot of double stuff put together and that was all done by Shawn (Michaels) and Marty (Jannety). We were more of the brawlers. But we worked so fantastic together. I remember a match against them that still holds up in my head and it’s on one of the Coliseum Videos from the WWF. Nasty Boys against The Rockers at the Royal Albert Hall in England. We were the tag champs at the time and what a great match we had, we just clicked and you could see that. When you are in with a group where you are learning from them or and maybe a little older then you in the ring and you get along then you can see the work that happens in the ring and how smooth it works and how good everything looks.”
On working with Jimmy Hart as the Nasty Boys manager: “I consider him to be our true manager. He is the one that took us to the top and he is definitely one of the best managers out there. From Capt. Lou Albano to Bobby “The Brain” Heenan you’ve got a lot of different managers out there, but Jimmy Hart is the hardest working man in show business and he still looks fantastic. He is still out there doing his thing and he loves this business and was a true manager for us when we first broke into the business. When we got to WWE, he said that he would ride with us and get a room together and help us out. After 10 days we landed in Tampa and he said “Nasty Boys, I love you but you guys can handle it from here”, he lasted 10 days with the Nasty Boys and we weren’t rooming or riding together anymore. But those were the crazy days, what can I say?”
On the origin of the Nasty Boys look: “When we were in Memphis, we came out in black ladies rain coats that looked like leather and had these spandex gold tights and long boots and Jerry Lawler said “if you are supposed to be Nasty Boys you don’t look like you are from the streets.” So me and Sags went out and really became the first ones who decided to cover up their bodies. Our arms looked great but everything else didn’t look that great so we could cover everything else and if our arms got any smaller we would have just worn long sleeve sweatshirts. We started to cover up and added the splash with the Nasty Boys logo and actually the only thing I didn’t like was that he (Lawler) painted our face and that was the Road Warriors trademark so we got rid of that right before we left Memphis.”
On today’s wrestling scene: “I still love the wrestling business, but the only thing I dislike is there are not too many places for the younger guys to go work. When we were growing up if you were good enough there were other places you could go work to become the very best at what you do and work on your craft. Today, I think that is missing in the wrestling business but everything changes and you have to go with the flow.”
On possibly being inducted into the 2016 WWE Hall of Fame: “That would be the final liner in the Nasty Boys legacy to get actually inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame. That would put the ultimate stamp on our careers and we are getting older, me and Sags are both 52 and that would be the honor of all honors to get inducted. So I hope people are out their rooting for us because it would be our highest honor.”
There is renewed buzz regarding WWE constructing a physical Hall of Fame building in Orlando, Florida.
Universal Studios in Orlando announced this week that NBA City at Universal City Walk is shutting down after they chose to not renew the NBA’s lease a few months ago. NBA City will be closing down in August and there are already plans underway to add some new attractions to City Walk.
According to theme park website BehindTheThrills.com, Universal is looking to add a Cheesecake Factory restaurant, a restaurant with a “movie set” theme as well as a WWE Hall of Fame themed restaurant.
With WWE establishing such a strong presence in the Orlando area with the Performance Center and Full Sail University serving as the home of NXT, it should be interesting to see if this report pans out.