Vince Russo sent along the following …
This week on “The Swerve” with Vince Russo, things get very, very interesting and the fans get double their money’s worth.
First off, Vince interviews “Above Average” Mike Sanders, a veteran of WWE, WCW, TNA as well as a US military veteran, stand up comic, and TV star (including Burn Notice, Homeland, and The Game). As somebody who Vince describes as “by far the most underrated person I ever worked with in wrestling”, Vince walks Mike through his wrestling career, from his quick start in front of the camera, to how the left the business, and everything he’s accomplished in the entertainment business since the departure.
How DDP got him started in the business: “In 1998, I was training in Main Event Fitness, and at the time, DDP was there, and Ray Lloyd (Glacier), Billy Kidman, High Voltage – basically if you were a WCW wrestler back then, you trained at that gym. And I remember having conversations, I was a 235lb guy, and I remember training alongside guys like Horshu and DDP and just having conversations. And I was like, “I wanna be a stand-up comic!” and DDP was like “No no…bro…you wanna be a pro wrestler!”
How Paul Orndorff tried to fire him, and Russo saved his job: “Paul’s famous line was ‘Put on 20lbs, come back, and we’ll look at you.’, and I left that day. Later on that evening, Terry Taylor called me and said “Man, I know you got released, but I’d really hate to lose you.” So, Terry called me later that week and said, “Would you be interested in doing some Russo-Bischoff security?” We were at the Georgia Dome, and I remember Orndorff wanted Vince to look at everybody including Sean O’Hare, and there was a brief moment when Vince said “Give him his job back.” I was standing right there, Terry Taylor was there, and Orndorff was there. But Orndorff wasn’t happy about it.”
Mike also shares his memories of the WCW Power Plant, including how he went down to the Power Plant as one of 50 students, which then shrank to 3 students, with Mike ultimately being the only one to graduate. Four months later, he was on TV performing as a WCW Superstar.
Vince also discusses Mike’s heat with a number of people backstage, his short time in WWE and why it didn’t work, comedy, religion, and how a 28 year old father of two, working for his dad’s towing business, was able to become a professional wrestler so quickly.
Regarding Mike’s career ending so quickly, Vince also shares what he considers to be “one of the biggest problems in professional wrestling, has been since day one, and will continue to be.”
Plus, if that’s not enough, Vince Russo himself also shares his opinions on the recent comments of TNA’s John “Big“ Gaburick, who claimed that Vince has been “acting in a self-destructing manner that could hurt the company” – and it all started with Russo talking to Jim Ross!
TNA having a problem with Vince and JR: “Prior to the start of my falling out with TNA, I had committed to JR’s podcast. The day before I was to do it, I received an e-mail from TNA management telling me that they did not want me to. Knowing that was coming, because I know TNA’s elementary and childish ways of doing business, I called JR and told him that I couldn’t discuss ANY TNA business during our interview. JR told me that while that wasn’t an issue, he still had to ask in doing his job, so upon his question I could just say that, “I was not at liberty to talk about TNA”. Simple. Easy. Done. I went back to TNA and told them about my conversation with JR. That wasn’t good enough—they still didn’t want me to do it. Also, as a side note, just keep in mind that BOTH Kurt Angle and Bully Ray were ALLOWED to do JR’s podcast just week’s prior—but, not Vince Russo.”
Russo on TNA having bigger problems than him: “In TNA management’s own words, they were worried about me hurting the company by talking to my colleagues and friends, but yet they are not hurting their own company by (a) Not having a new TV deal (b) Possibly losing Kurt Angle (c) Bully Ray “allegedly” telling the locker room that he didn’t plan on resigning with TNA. With the monumental problems that TNA management has before them—they are afraid of the damage that Vince Russo will do by talking to Good Ol’ JR?!”
The audio interview can be found now at http://www.pyroandballyhoo.com/Plus, become a member of #TheBrand to check out Vince’s extended VIP VIDEO INTERVIEW with Mike Sanders (another hour-plus interview), exclusively in our VIP Section. More information here:http://www.pyroandballyhoo.com/vip/
Check out the complete podcast above.
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