Interview Recaps - Shane Douglas & Mick Foley

Posted in Interview Recaps by Jack at 11:43, Aug 12 2011

by Taso the Greek

Shane Douglas and Mick Foley interview recaps from www.IYHWrestling.com

Jack E. Jones and OneInchBiceps were joined by "The Franchise" Shane Douglas to start the show. JCW is having the annual Gathering this Friday and it will be broadcast "Legends and Icons" on iPPV and Shane was happy to be on the card and to see so many stars of the past were also scheduled for this weekend. Shane touted JCW as a grassroots company that has promoted wrestling in the right way, and that technology has changed over the years so much that now it is possible to have these shows broadcast all over the world cheaper with the internet than traditional PPV. Shane will be in a match facing Raven, Rhyno, Balls Mahoney, Al Snow, & a mystery man. Shane is looking forward to wrestling the guys from the "Island of Misfit Toys", and lauded ECW as a company that changed the face of wrestling and didn't fall in step with other promotions or kissed "Eric Bischoff's ass" and carved out their own niche in the business.

To order the iPPV please visit:
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Jack asked for Shane's opinion of WWE's version of ECW. Shane compared it to having your eyeballs stabbed and that ECW was never meant to be apart of any mainstream form of wrestling or entertainment. He felt that Vince's main objective was to kill the legacy of ECW and to have people stop chanting E-C-Dub in the arenas all over the world. He felt that with all the ECW-raised talent like The Dudleys, Tazz, Justin Credible, etc., in the WWE at the time, there was no reason Vince, with his millions of dollars, could not resucitate the ECW brand, and that Vince should not have cared whose name was on the marquee as long as he was going to reap the financial benefits. Shane conluded his argument with the memories he had of being in WWE for a short stay and McMahon would never utter the letters E-C-W, but he would refer to the company as "that bingo hall" or "that blood & guts promotion".

Jack asked Shane about ICP. Shane felt they were at first written off as non-mainstream but "latched on to the underbelly" of society, and were either lucky or brilliant, and are smart business people. He likened them to having unique ideas and that any genre in any artform can neither be right or wrong but success was measured simply in its purest form. JCW wrestling was drawing good crowds and ICP was making music for so long and had such a large following, so they must have been doing something right. He said they simply had the balls to try something different. Jack pointed to the fact that most wrestling people did not like ICP but that JCW was beginning to have a following in the business. Shane said that he was still running into fans eveywhere who used to watch wrestling but not anymore because the current product was terrible. Jack asked about the TNA PPV tribute to ECW, and Shane buried TNA as a huge money-loser that has spent millions on old wrestlers, which he thought was preposterous in 2011, and that Dixie Carter was a rich spoiled brat that had no clue about the business. The pay the ECW originals were gettting, at $250, was also ludicrous and Shane wanted no part of that PPV endeavor. He thought ECW originals should protect the legacy of the company. His thoughts on Dixie Carter, she is smart, corporate-like, attractive, articulate, but he feels her ideas and style didn't fit in with pro wrestling. TNA has great talent, Heyman could do something with them, they have the a great network, so they should be doing great. Bob Carter should get her out because she is "easily worked". About her on-air character, Jack says a woman in power feels wrong, and Shane feels it's not in her chemistry and that she's not good in her role, and that she at one time said she wouldn't go on air, but she eventually did and he doesn't know why. Jack mentions Ultimate X and Shane says TNA has missed the boat, period, so it doesn't matter what they do. He questions their booking of Samoa Joe and uses it as an example of why TNA is a failure. He puts Bobby Roode over, compares him to Curt Hennig, says he could have been a top guy during his first singles run, and then buries the Roode vs. Eric Young program that he felt made no sense. He also puts over Tracy Brooks, but again, TNA's booking of her as Roode's manager was awful.

Brainz called in with a "what if Heyman was the booker?" Shane says he hasn't talked to Heyman since 2004. If Heyman was the guy he was in 1993, TNA would be succesful. Question #2 was if Shane had his old skateboard and Shane says he does have it, but he wasn't proficient and WCW didn't make the effort to make them look like they could skate. Jack asks did he think Johnny Ace would end up behind the scenes as a corporate guy, and Shane says Ace was once working for Honeywell and had a corporate background but working for Vince means making changes in your ideals and Ace has to be a yes-man to survive in that environment.

Fontana calls in, brings up the NWA title tournament in Auguest of 1994, and what was going on in his mind the night he threw the title to the mat. Shane says he can't remember what he was thinking at that time, but that Heyman gave him choices, did not order him to drop the title, gave him all the options but said the birth of the ECW angle was the way to go. Shane did not want to shit on the NWA and the guys like Race and Steamboat who he admired, but the night of the tourney, Dennis Coralluzzo was trying to sign him to an exclusive contract with the NWA and was badgering him all night, even following him to the bathroom. He was adamant about signing him, but Coralluzzo had also buried him on Mike Tenay's radio show, "don't book Shane Douglas, he will no-show you." This ultimately made his decision. Shane says when he went to the ring he remembered something his father told him, and that is what inspired him to cut that famous promo.

William calls in, question is what is Shane's favorite match and favorite title. Shane says the UWF, the angle with Sting and the TV Title, his first title, were fond memories. He also says the Eastern Championship Heavyweight Title was huge because he felt that they had something with ECW. The night he threw down the NWA title was a defining moment of his career and another favorite. He is proud he never held the WCW Title, he is proud he never wrestled on a Wrestlemania, and he did things his way.

In conclusion, Shane puts over Terry Funk and Roddy Piper as guys who are alive and still contributing to the business. He feels wrestlers have lost too many of their colleagues and that a union would be good. He wants people to start a new revolution in wrestling by tuning into JCW and that it has to start somewhere, so why not here and now.

Mick Foley is the next guest! Mick Foley will also be at JCW. He puts over the JCW card for this Friday because it is jam-packed with talent. Foley will be doing commentary. He says he will call the action respectfully and not make a joke about it. Foley hard-sells http://juggalogathering.com/

Jack asks why is he doing comedy now? Foley says jokingly he never made anyone laugh but he wanted to try now. He says his books made people laugh. He says that wrestling promos are done once, but with comedy you can "chisel away" until you get the best way to tell a certain story. Jack mentions Piper at the NWA Fanfest doing comedy and telling stories and how it was very good. Foley says he can find his niche like different comedians, he does his own thing, he wants to see Piper do it, and it is all about how to intergrate stories of wrestling and life on the road into an act. Jack mentions Piper was at a horror convention, and Foley agrees that wrestling fans have broad tastes and fit in anywhere, from a sci-fi show to a monster truck rally. He says people can identify with wrestler's stories. Observational humor, Foley calls it, and says he has seen a lot of stuff in his career.

Foley talks about his tweet about TNA, Anthony Weiner, and makes a penis joke. Does twitter get wrestlers in trouble? Foley says don't tweet and drink, he was tired, driving all day, and made a mistake. TNA got mad at him and it was the "straw that broke the camel's back."

What was his TNA's highlight? He said it was his match versus Flair. It should have been on PPV. More people saw it on Impact than on PPV, so maybe that was a good thing. They should have advertised it better. They didn't air a package that they had ready because the show was running long, basically, but his promo and that match were his favorite part of being in TNA. Jack brings up the Lethal vs. Flair woo-off, and Foley puts Lethal over as very talented and if he could channel his impersonations into his own character he would do great. He called Bully Ray a cheap Mick Foley rip-off, but he was pretty good, and Bully Ray said Foley was a rip-off of The Funker. All in jest, of course. Foley says Bully Ray is doing great, no one saw this coming even though the Dudleys are a legendary tag team, but he says Bully Ray is a highlight of Impact.

Jack goes over the JCW card, the main event being Funk versus Piper, and Foley puts Funk over as a great performer, period. The host and Foley put over Memphis Madness and the legends in that match, plus Tito Santana versus Greg Valentine, and Foley remembers their matches from the past. Jack and Incher bring up the Mesh Cage versus Blue cage argument. Foley says the Blue Cage is good for climbing but not for bumping and when Chyna threw him into it he hurt himself badly. He likes the mesh cage, but also said the blue cage has its place.

A caller mentions the USWA, Foley says he was there when it changed from World Class, he was there when they pulled down the WCCW letters. What was his biggest moment with the USWA? Breaking his wrist in a scaffold match was not great, but otherwise he enjoyed wrestling the Kerry Von Erich & Eric Embry.

Gene the Drunk called in with a question: the pros and cons of yesterday and today in the business? Foley says there are not enough places to learn anymore, he and a few other guys are the last who wrestled in the territories. He was able to learn before he made the big stage but the guys today have to learn on the job. Question: Flair and his troubles and transitioning from wrestling to the real world? He says Flair paid a price for being the Nature Boy because he lived that life for real. He suggested guys work a gimmick where they start out at the bottom. He says he paid for a recent trip to Europe and he had to sit near the toilet on the plane, so don't live the gimmick. The term poo-dust enters the vernacular of IYH history at this point. Question: What happened to hardcore? Foley feels it's good in small doses because it creates great moments that can be remembered.

Brainz called in with a question: Who will make a good opponent for Undertaker and would Foley would be one of them? Foley says there about five natural match-ups and he might be one, and he would like to be considered but doesn't know if he could physically capable, and that probably he is not their first choice. Question from Nikhil: Happy about J.R. back on commentary? Yes, big move, J.R. is an institution. But he also likes Michael Cole and enjoyed the Cole Mine.

The interview finished with Foley talking about his comedy and how some people feel weird about watching him do comedy and would rather wait in line for four hours for an autograph. He will be recording stuff on the 24th on Long Island, New York, for people to check out.

The remainder of the show consisted of Jack E Jones, OIB, and The Flea talking about their time at the NWA Fanfest in Atlanta and all their great experiences over the weekend. Spec_Sun & Playboy Don Douglas were also at the NWA Fanfest and called in with their own stories. Even President Clinton called in with his own stories, and had an awesome one about Tony Atlas in the toilet. The IYH crew talked for over an hour about the NWA Fanfest and all the craziness that ensued, with stories about everyone from Abdullah the Butcher, Roddy Piper, Stan Hansen, Adam Pearce, Big Mama, Jimmy Snuka, and more.

For 2012 Fanfest info please visit: www.NWALegends.com

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