dishdude714
03-11-2011, 07:50 PM
Posted by Roscoe De Soto on 03/10/2011 at 01:33 PM
Show: Interactive Wrestling Radio
Guest: Road Warrior Animal
Date: 3/10/11
Your Hosts: Patrick Kelley, James Walsh, & Nick Noel
What a rush!
Literally, it was a rush for us to welcome the surviving member of, in my opinion, the finest and most dominant wrestling tag team of all time. In a 40 plus minute interview, Road Warrior Animal discusses everything from the Dudley Boys to the passing of Hawk and all points in between and we, the Wrestling Epicenter, are honored to be the ones to bring this historic interview to you.
No matter if you call them the Road Warriors or the Legion of Doom, you probably think you know their history. But, you don't know half the story until you read "The Road Warriors: Danger, Death, & the Rush of Wrestling", Animal's new book on book shelves everywhere right now via Medallion Press.
To listen to this interview right now in a format playable on every portable media player or to see a youtube clip of the interview, visit www.WrestlingEpicenter.com.
ROAD WARRIOR ANIMAL
- Animal comes on and discusses a variety of topics regarding the career of The Road Warriors/Legion of Doom & his new book chronicling those stories.
- Things start off with Animal talking about the current state of the business, and he feels that a lot of wrestlers today are “very clone-ish” and lack the charisma to be true stars.
- In his new book, Animal doesn’t go out of his way to bury anybody and make others look bad. All he was interested in doing was telling the story of The Road Warriors and give some behind the scenes stories.
- James tells Animal that he was in attendance for one of the final times that Hawk & Animal teamed up (Eloy, AZ) and what an honor it was to witness it.
- On the New LOD with Heidenreich, Animal didn’t think it would work just because nobody could replace Hawk and that The Road Warriors were one of a kind.
- He was inspired to write the book after this disappointing amount of wrestling books that were coming out and he thought there was plenty of room for his story to be told.
- Animal wanted to do the book away from the WWE because he wanted full creative control over what he was writing. He also states that he would have gotten less of a percentage of the profits from the book if he had worked on it through the WWE.
- One of the things that made The Road Warriors so successful was that they were able to work and get exposure for various different territories & international promotions which led to them holding several different titles at the same time. Nowadays, that just isn’t possible with the current status of the business.
- He puts over the fans as the major reason for success of the team and says its amazing how many new audiences find out about them through the WWE’s video library and just the vast amount of information out there.
- When asked about the Scaffold Match from Starrcade where Jim Cornette had that nasty fall, he says from his point of view it was even more incredible. Bubba Rogers (Big Bossman) was supposed to catch Cornette, but was out of position, and Animal had trouble holding Cornette up and then he just dropped. He says that even though he felt bad for Cornette, it somehow managed to be both scary and funny at the same time. He would go on to do a lot more Scaffold Matches and he talks about how unstable the structures always were.
- The current state of Tag Team Wrestling has been lessened in the WWE, and Animal says that Vince has always put more emphasis on his World Title picture and not thought as much of it. Animal feels that tag team matches are more interesting than singles because there are more variables & elements involved.
- Animal talks about an insider term called “A Warrior Pop” where there loud cheers upon their entrance were so huge that they became a basis for comparison.
- He also says he never wanted to have The Road Warriors split because it just never felt right for the two characters to go against each other.
- Upon arriving in the WWE, they felt that WWE tried to hold them back (and underpaid them at times as well), but their popularity always rose to the top.
- When talking about the Summerslam 92 match with Money Inc, he describes the match as being “absolutely, frickin‘, horrendous!” mainly because Hawk was messed up and Animal could tell that Vince was mad. He says that the entrance was very good with the Harleys and loved the reaction they got, but that couldn’t make up for Hawk’s shortcomings.
- On the subject of Rocko, the ventriloquist dummy that Paul Ellering carried to the ring at Summerslam 92, Animal has no idea where that came from. He says that several promoters tried to soften their image a bit for the kids, and maybe that was WWE’s attempt. According to Animal, Summerslam 92 was the last time they used it and he was glad because he hated it.
- When asked about whether or not Demolition was a “rip off” of LOD, he says they weren’t. He respects Bill Eadie (Ax) & Barry Darsow (Smash) is one of his best friends, so the gimmick had his blessing. He also feels that WWE dropped the ball by rushing the program with Demolition by having them kill Demolition so easily. He saw the feud as something they could have gotten a year’s worth of material out of and even thought about putting both teams together to form one unstoppable force.
- Animal feels that upon their introduction, they should have come in as Hogan’s tag team partners in a main event program as that would have put them on top right from the start. They were paired with Ultimate Warrior in some Six Man Tags, but he hated it because they were told not to do clotheslines & gorilla press slams because that’s what Warrior does. Animal’s response was “Well where do you think he got them from?”. Ultimately, he felt the matches didn’t work because they were just on the sidelines watching Ultimate Warrior do his act.
- LOD always got a long well with Andre the Giant and tells a story about when he sat next to him on a bus. Ric Flair saw the scene and laughed, saying that Animal looked like a ventriloquist dummy on Andre’s lap. He also talks about he first met Andre in a club in Japan where his frame took up five stools.
- Paul Ellering wrote the Foreword to the book and when asked about him, Animal says that he was the only true manager in Professional Wrestling. What he means is that Ellering actually did handle their bookings, work out their payments, & even help mapping out their matches. Most other managers were just an add on to the gimmick of the wrestler, but Ellering acted as a true manager in and outside of the ring. When asked why Paul didn’t come a long with LOD to the WWE right away, Animal isn’t sure why.
- He was not a fan of the New Age Outlaws chanting “O.L.D.” at them because he just saw it as cheap heat, and it wasn’t even really true since they were in their 30s.
- With his brother John Laurinaitis in a big role behind the scenes in the WWE, Animal was interested in being back there in a training capacity. He says he is “a coach at heart” and would love to have a role helping out young talents, but they haven’t brought him in for that role, and he doesn’t know why. He’s not upset about not being there, and isn’t going to worry about it if they don’t.
- Animal’s role in LOD was, as Paul Ellering put it, “The Rock” and basically the glue that held the team together as Hawk was a very intense individual.
- In a final plug for the book, he says that it should appeal to both fans & non fans who just want to hear a good & interesting story. He also says that most people, whether they are fans or not, have seen The Road Warriors somewhere before.
Show: Interactive Wrestling Radio
Guest: Road Warrior Animal
Date: 3/10/11
Your Hosts: Patrick Kelley, James Walsh, & Nick Noel
What a rush!
Literally, it was a rush for us to welcome the surviving member of, in my opinion, the finest and most dominant wrestling tag team of all time. In a 40 plus minute interview, Road Warrior Animal discusses everything from the Dudley Boys to the passing of Hawk and all points in between and we, the Wrestling Epicenter, are honored to be the ones to bring this historic interview to you.
No matter if you call them the Road Warriors or the Legion of Doom, you probably think you know their history. But, you don't know half the story until you read "The Road Warriors: Danger, Death, & the Rush of Wrestling", Animal's new book on book shelves everywhere right now via Medallion Press.
To listen to this interview right now in a format playable on every portable media player or to see a youtube clip of the interview, visit www.WrestlingEpicenter.com.
ROAD WARRIOR ANIMAL
- Animal comes on and discusses a variety of topics regarding the career of The Road Warriors/Legion of Doom & his new book chronicling those stories.
- Things start off with Animal talking about the current state of the business, and he feels that a lot of wrestlers today are “very clone-ish” and lack the charisma to be true stars.
- In his new book, Animal doesn’t go out of his way to bury anybody and make others look bad. All he was interested in doing was telling the story of The Road Warriors and give some behind the scenes stories.
- James tells Animal that he was in attendance for one of the final times that Hawk & Animal teamed up (Eloy, AZ) and what an honor it was to witness it.
- On the New LOD with Heidenreich, Animal didn’t think it would work just because nobody could replace Hawk and that The Road Warriors were one of a kind.
- He was inspired to write the book after this disappointing amount of wrestling books that were coming out and he thought there was plenty of room for his story to be told.
- Animal wanted to do the book away from the WWE because he wanted full creative control over what he was writing. He also states that he would have gotten less of a percentage of the profits from the book if he had worked on it through the WWE.
- One of the things that made The Road Warriors so successful was that they were able to work and get exposure for various different territories & international promotions which led to them holding several different titles at the same time. Nowadays, that just isn’t possible with the current status of the business.
- He puts over the fans as the major reason for success of the team and says its amazing how many new audiences find out about them through the WWE’s video library and just the vast amount of information out there.
- When asked about the Scaffold Match from Starrcade where Jim Cornette had that nasty fall, he says from his point of view it was even more incredible. Bubba Rogers (Big Bossman) was supposed to catch Cornette, but was out of position, and Animal had trouble holding Cornette up and then he just dropped. He says that even though he felt bad for Cornette, it somehow managed to be both scary and funny at the same time. He would go on to do a lot more Scaffold Matches and he talks about how unstable the structures always were.
- The current state of Tag Team Wrestling has been lessened in the WWE, and Animal says that Vince has always put more emphasis on his World Title picture and not thought as much of it. Animal feels that tag team matches are more interesting than singles because there are more variables & elements involved.
- Animal talks about an insider term called “A Warrior Pop” where there loud cheers upon their entrance were so huge that they became a basis for comparison.
- He also says he never wanted to have The Road Warriors split because it just never felt right for the two characters to go against each other.
- Upon arriving in the WWE, they felt that WWE tried to hold them back (and underpaid them at times as well), but their popularity always rose to the top.
- When talking about the Summerslam 92 match with Money Inc, he describes the match as being “absolutely, frickin‘, horrendous!” mainly because Hawk was messed up and Animal could tell that Vince was mad. He says that the entrance was very good with the Harleys and loved the reaction they got, but that couldn’t make up for Hawk’s shortcomings.
- On the subject of Rocko, the ventriloquist dummy that Paul Ellering carried to the ring at Summerslam 92, Animal has no idea where that came from. He says that several promoters tried to soften their image a bit for the kids, and maybe that was WWE’s attempt. According to Animal, Summerslam 92 was the last time they used it and he was glad because he hated it.
- When asked about whether or not Demolition was a “rip off” of LOD, he says they weren’t. He respects Bill Eadie (Ax) & Barry Darsow (Smash) is one of his best friends, so the gimmick had his blessing. He also feels that WWE dropped the ball by rushing the program with Demolition by having them kill Demolition so easily. He saw the feud as something they could have gotten a year’s worth of material out of and even thought about putting both teams together to form one unstoppable force.
- Animal feels that upon their introduction, they should have come in as Hogan’s tag team partners in a main event program as that would have put them on top right from the start. They were paired with Ultimate Warrior in some Six Man Tags, but he hated it because they were told not to do clotheslines & gorilla press slams because that’s what Warrior does. Animal’s response was “Well where do you think he got them from?”. Ultimately, he felt the matches didn’t work because they were just on the sidelines watching Ultimate Warrior do his act.
- LOD always got a long well with Andre the Giant and tells a story about when he sat next to him on a bus. Ric Flair saw the scene and laughed, saying that Animal looked like a ventriloquist dummy on Andre’s lap. He also talks about he first met Andre in a club in Japan where his frame took up five stools.
- Paul Ellering wrote the Foreword to the book and when asked about him, Animal says that he was the only true manager in Professional Wrestling. What he means is that Ellering actually did handle their bookings, work out their payments, & even help mapping out their matches. Most other managers were just an add on to the gimmick of the wrestler, but Ellering acted as a true manager in and outside of the ring. When asked why Paul didn’t come a long with LOD to the WWE right away, Animal isn’t sure why.
- He was not a fan of the New Age Outlaws chanting “O.L.D.” at them because he just saw it as cheap heat, and it wasn’t even really true since they were in their 30s.
- With his brother John Laurinaitis in a big role behind the scenes in the WWE, Animal was interested in being back there in a training capacity. He says he is “a coach at heart” and would love to have a role helping out young talents, but they haven’t brought him in for that role, and he doesn’t know why. He’s not upset about not being there, and isn’t going to worry about it if they don’t.
- Animal’s role in LOD was, as Paul Ellering put it, “The Rock” and basically the glue that held the team together as Hawk was a very intense individual.
- In a final plug for the book, he says that it should appeal to both fans & non fans who just want to hear a good & interesting story. He also says that most people, whether they are fans or not, have seen The Road Warriors somewhere before.