A TNAWRESTLING.COM INTERVIEW WITH CHRIS CANDIDO
When Chris Candido recently returned to wrestling for TNA, he did so not only with a second chance at his career, but perhaps his life as well. Candido’s story is well known to many fans on the internet, as his problems often made wrestling headlines. But after going to hell and back in his career and life, the Chris Candido of today is excited to have a fresh start. In this TNAwrestling.com exclusive interview conducted by Bill Banks, Candido discusses his comeback for TNA, beating his demons and what his longtime girlfriend Tammy Sytch is up to these days.
BB: The last time wrestling fans saw you on a national level were in the dying days of WCW. Tell us a little about what you were up to during that time before arriving in TNA.
CANDIDO: I stayed pretty busy right after WCW closed down. I worked for New Japan Pro Wrestling for about a year and a half and then XPW opened up. Me and Shane (Douglas) were there together for a while. The independent promotions were busy but there wasn’t a whole lot of money to be had. Then, I was in Puerto Rico for about 6-8 months before coming back to the mainland. I’ve been back here about a year now trying to wrestle as much as I can.
BB: How did the opportunity to come to TNA arise?
CANDIDO: Me and Dusty Rhodes appeared on a few independent shows together. We had met a few times in the past, but we ended up having a heart-to-heart talk about me getting cleaned up, getting back into ring shape and doing the right thing while I’m still young and able to make another run at it. He was proud of me for admitting my problems and trying to fix them, and he told me if he was ever in a position to offer help he would. As soon as he got into that position in TNA he called me right up. I owe him a lot.
BB: You’ve been in WWF, ECW and WCW, now TNA. How has your experience in TNA been thus far?
CANDIDO: I’d relate it to being a starving person who hasn’t eaten in a while who’s all of a sudden given a big fat juicy steak. It’s the best steak you’ll ever eat. Although I was trying to keep busy in the independents, it wasn’t anywhere near the level of TNA. It’s good to be back on a national show that’s professionally run with a good bunch of guys in the locker room. It’s also probably the first time since my start in WWF that I’m enjoying doing this with a clear head and a straight frame of mind. When me and Tammy (Sytch) were first brought to WWF, we weren’t mentally ready to handle the spotlight at 20 years old. To enjoy wrestling again is a real blast.
BB: How would you compare the TNA roster to the many promotions you’ve wrestled for?
CANDIDO: Wherever you go, not only in this business but also in the working world, you’re always going to have people who don’t get along with each other. But TNA reminds me of the way ECW was at the beginning when we had a good group of veterans and young talent. Now in TNA, you have guys like BG James, Konnan, Jeff Jarrett, Kevin Nash and other major longtime names along with the future young lions of this sport. Another big difference to me is yesterday before the Pay-Per-View a couple of us were kicking back in the locker room and laughing about stories all day. In the WWF locker room there was never much laughter to be had. If you did, you usually got in trouble for it.
BB: What’s Tammy up to these days? Does she still watch wrestling? (Tammy is formerly “Sunny” in WWF, Candido’s longtime girlfriend)
CANDIDO: The wrestling business is still the most important thing to her, but the way things were going I think she knew she had to move on to something else. She opened a tanning salon in our town last May and she’s been busy as hell. She’s there 10 hours a day. When I was in Puerto Rico she wrestled with me – not for any fame or notoriety but because she loves this sport. She enjoyed being able to work in the ring in Puerto Rico. She also got depressed with some things in her life as well, but she’s put her life back together too working so much and being in the real world. She was happy when TNA came along for me, and she still loves doing wrestling shows once in a while. The business has always been important to her and always will be.
BB: You talked about the young lions of TNA. Now that you’re much more experienced in the wrestling world, what advice do you try to give them – whether it on life or wrestling?
CANDIDO: As far as life advice – I’ve pretty much done everything wrong. So I try to steer them in the right direction by telling them what I did wrong. As far as wrestling…back when I broke into the sport I was doing some cool moves and stuff that had never been done before. A generation before me the Rock N Roll Express were doing things nobody had ever done. Now what I do is tame compared to the stuff AJ Styles and Christopher Daniels do. A lot of these guys try to get in the ring and go crazy with moves, but sometimes you don’t need to go a million miles an hour. I was guilty of the same thing when I started. If I can help better themselves in the ring I’m happy – and I’m not saying I’m perfect in the ring, but I’ve learned from mistakes and experience. If they ask me for advice I’m more than willing to give it.
BB: Outside of the ring, how is home life now? What do you do for fun or to relax?
CANDIDO: I usually help Tammy out with the salon. I go over there with her when she opens at 8 o’clock every morning. I usually turn on the lights and drink a lot of coffee (laughs). I also tan in a different bed every day to make sure they all work. Then I go home and do the housewife stuff like clean the house and do the laundry. Then we go to the gym at night and get to sleep early because we’ve got to get up early. It’s really a different lifestyle for us now, because we were used to going to bed at five in the morning. For fun, well….I stuffed a lot of fun into my first 31 years so now I just try to do the home thing. It’s funny…me and (wrestler) Hack Myers were hanging out a couple weeks ago and he told me that some mutual friends were telling some Chris Candido stories that were new to him. Well, they were new to me too because I had done a lot in those years that I don’t remember doing. To think about those years and what we went through, I feel excited to be able to lead a normal life now.
BB: What’s been the highpoint of your career thus far? What’s something you’ve done in wrestling that you consider a personal accomplishment that you take to heart?
CANDIDO: Obviously, winning the WWF World Tag Team Title at a WrestleMania with Dr. Tom Prichard (as The BodyDonnas) who was a best friend and mentor to me. That was fantastic. Getting to be with Shane Douglas and Bam Bam Bigelow in ECW as the Triple Threat was great, because they’re my two closest friends. But one of the coolest things I ever got to do was something that happened behind the scenes that no one ever knew I was involved with. We did a Terry Funk retirement show in Amarillo, Texas, which was about his 15th retirement (laughs). Funk and Bret Hart were going to wrestle in the main event that night and they both called me to help them with the match. That was one of the coolest things ever in my life.
BB: At the same time, you’ve been through a lot of lowpoints. What’s one thing you never want to go through again?
CANDIDO: (laughs) Most of the lowpoints were all my fault, so I promised myself I’d never do them again. The worst I’d have to say was near the end of WCW when I broke my arm. I came to the television tapings the next week with a cast on my arm. Eric Bischoff yelled at me for wearing a cast, which I guess meant I was a jerk for breaking it or something. So he made me cut the cast below the elbow so I could wrestle. A week after that, I was fired by him because I was hurt. That was the worst thing ever in my career. On top of it, it wasn’t even my fault.
BB: Last question – a lot of fans on the internet have followed your career and know what you’ve gone through. Anything you personally want to say to them?
CANDIDO: Obviously, me and Tammy did a lot of stupid things but some of it got blown out of proportion worse on the internet. We were legitimately stupid, but we became even stupider when you read about us on the internet. The word of the internet fans goes a long way now. For some reason the business has been greatly influenced by somebody typing on their computer all day. I guess it’s a good thing, but in a way it hurt us. So now, I just want to ask the internet wrestling fans to give me the opportunity to watch for me what I am and I hope you enjoy my work. But at least I can say me and Tammy always gave the internet something good to talk about (laughs)
BB: Thanks for taking the time to do this interview Chris
CANDIDO: No problem, it was a pleasure
