Tidbits of news

[Guest Trivia247]

WWE.com's RAW preview is teasing that we may see the return of Jim Ross on RAW tonight. The decision to put Ross back on television is a popular one, since most feel Jonathan Coachman hasn't done a very good job since taking over a few weeks back.

 

 

For those in the Philadelphia market, Smackdown will be preempted this Thursday night due to Phillies baseball. Instead, the show will air on Saturday, August 16th at 10 p.m.

 

 

Al Snow is now able to accept independent bookings due to his new contract is as an announcer.

 

 

There is already talk of developmental wrestler Aaron Stevens being brought up to the main roster, and being managed by Daffney (Shannon Ward).

 

(Thanks to 1wrestling.com)

 

 

MAD MIKEY ON NO HOLDS BARRED

 

This past week Mad Mikey formerly known as Crash Holly joined the No Holds Barred radio show to talk about a plethora issues pertaining to his career and the wrestling business. We at NHB have relaunched our website www.noholdsbarredwrestling.com with a brand new look and better access to our audio library and from now on our audio content will be available only on our website. We work very hard to deliver the biggest names in the business for your listening pleasure and we thank each and every one of you for your support of our show. If you'd like to hear the show in your home area you can help by logging on to www.noholdsbarredwrestling.com and filling out the petition on the lower left side of our main page. Now that the business stuff is out of the way, let's move on to the highlights from our interview with Mad Mikey.

 

We started the interview by joking about the fact that Mikey was staying in a hotel in which he was assigned room #316. Mikey said he had no idea why he was given that specific room # but said he's been busy reading "The Hardy Boys" book during his stay however he hasn't been able to get thru Chapter 11 because there were too many hard words for him to comprehend.

 

He said that 2 weeks passed after he was let go by the WWE when NWA TNA called him and when he got the called he was very excited about coming in and working for the company.

 

Mikey said that he did watch a few NWA TNA shows while he was with WWE and felt the product was very creative however he didn't begin considering them as an option until he parted ways with the WWE.

 

He said that the decision to release him was mutual and he was happy that they decided to let him go. He added that if he had made more noise and said a bunch of outlandish things when he left he'd probably have a better chance of getting his job back in the future.

 

He said he wasn't sure who came up with the idea to name him Mad Mikey but he believes that he got the nickname based on his previous friendship and work relationship with Steven Richards. He joked that he used to work for Steviecorp until it was discovered that he used to freebase clearasil while working in the mail room. He added that he did however manage to get his job back and is excited about it.

 

Mikey joked that if he had his way he'd wrestle Funaki for the rest of his career because in his opinion the feud they had should have never ended.

 

He said that TNA has come up with most of the ideas for his character but he has been consulted about things and feels it's really cool to see a creative team trying to focus their energies on creating ideas that beneift their talents in addition to seeking out those who work for them to gather their feedback.

 

He said that when he first learned that he'd be joining Matt Hardy and Shannon Moore he was really excited about things because he felt Matt did a great job of getting over on his own when everyone doubted that he could. Mikey added though that it must have been a curse when he got put into that angle because the 3 of them together should have been hanging from the north pole because that was about as much heat as they could generate as a six man tag team.

 

When he was let go by the WWE he said that he was very open about how he was being used and what he thought of the creative teams ideas. He said the name Mad Mikey would fit well with how he handled things at the time of his release.

 

His favorite time during the 24/7 angle was when he battled The Headbangers in the amusement park. He said the spot was filmed in 1 take and it took place in either NY or NJ. He said that the 24/7 angle worked effectively because of the contributions from everyone involved in the storyline. He felt that without the help of Hardcore Holly, The Mean Street Posse, Tazz and Perry Saturn the angle would have never gained the popularity that it did. He added that sometimes guys get too worked up when they win a title and said that in his opinion a talent doesn't win anything, instead they're given a belt and the responsibility of getting the championship over with the audience.

 

Mikey said that as a talent it's important to be open minded to many different ideas because if you're not you close a lot of different roles for yourself. He said that he enjoyed working as a tag team with Bob Holly and added that at his age now he would probably prefer working in tag team action. He finished his comments by saying he wishes that he would have had more time working with Bob Holly because he really enjoyed their work together.

 

Mikey stated that it was Vince Russo who came up with the name Crash Holly and as a writer he loves his ideas. He said he didn't have enough time to work with him in WWE but is glad to be able to work with him now in NWA TNA as he feels his mind is a benefit to those he works with.

 

He said the differences between the WWE and NWA TNA locker rooms are like night and day. He said that he isn't saying that as a complaint against the WWE but rather he feels that when he was with WWE he would tell people he wanted to help the company and there would be nobody to deal with when you needed to get answers where as in NWA TNA it's a lot easier to get things accomplished. He referred to the WWE writing team as the "Al Queda Writers Network" because he feels there were so many hidden cells and you could never get a straight answer to a simple question. He says that he understands that the writing team has a very tough job and he doesn't know how to turn the company around himself but just wishes that people would be more open to receiving feedback and acting on it.

 

His current contract status with NWA TNA is week to week. He said it's the most fun he's had in the business easily in over 1 year and he's glad to have a chance to work for the company. He ended the statement by saying that as long as he can get work and make himself look like an idiot and entertain people and make them laugh then he's glad to continue performing.

 

Mikey ended the interview by joking about who he'd like to work with the most in NWA TNA. He said that if he had his choice he'd work with the majority of the TNA girls and the focus of their work would be on headscissor takedowns.

 

To hear the interview with Mad Mikey aka Crash Holly log on to www.noholdsbarredwrestling.com. The No Holds Barred radio show is hosted by Jason Barrett and George "The Animal" Farmer and airs every Sunday night on 101.5 WPDH in parts of NY, NJ, CT and PA.

 

 

JIMMY HART ON NO HOLDS BARRED

 

This past week "The Mouth Of The South" Jimmy Hart joined the No Holds Barred radio show to talk about a bunch of different topics including the status of Hulk Hogan, the loss of the manager's role in the wrestling business, the reasons for the wrestling businesses popularity drop-off and a whole lot more. We at NHB have relaunched our website www.noholdsbarredwrestling.com with a brand new look and better access to our audio library and from now on our audio content will be available only on our website. We work very hard to deliver the biggest names in the business for your listening pleasure and we thank each and every one of you for your support of our show. If you'd like to hear the show in your home area you can help by logging on to www.noholdsbarredwrestling.com and filling out the petition on the lower left side of our main page. Now that the business stuff is out of the way, let's move on to the highlights from our interview with Jimmy Hart.

 

Jimmy opened up the interview by saying he was grateful to Vince McMahon for bringing him to WrestleMania 19 and to "Mean" Gene Okerlund for doing a Confidential piece on his music. He also said he was surprised to see ESPN SportsCenter use some footage of himself during a feature they ran recently called "The Most Traveled Managers" where he came in overall at number 5.

 

He said Hulk Hogan is doing great since parting ways with the WWE. He added that Hulk has spent a lot of time trying to help his daughter with her pursuit of a career in the music business. He added that Lou Perlman (the man responsible for launching the careers of Britney Spears, N'Sync and The Backstage Boys) is involved with her career and he will be casting next week for more talent in the Miami, FL area. Jimmy finished by saying the funny thing he's noticed is that 90% of the wrestlers want to be singers and 90% of the singers want to be wrestlers.

 

Jimmy said his last short stint with the WWE when he was with Hulk Hogan was never intended to be anything more then a short term thing. He said Hulk Hogan invited him to accompany him for a few days while he was working for the company as a way to help Jimmy take his mind off a personal situation (his son was dispatched to Iraq to fight in the war and he was worried about him making it thru). Jimmy said that while he was there Vince approached him about being at WrestleMania weekend and he went but he never expected anything more then that to take place.

 

On the topic of the wrestling business' popularity decreasing and numbers being down, Jimmy says he's not so sure that when WCW and WWE were thriving years ago that it wasn't many of the same audience flipping back and forth making the business look stronger then it really was. He said it's like any other program on TV. When you see the same guys on the same show 52 years per week it can get kind of boring and in his opinion it's very important to shuffle talent in and out in order to keep things fresh and exciting.

 

Jimmy talked about the injury bug in the business and said that back in the 80's, talents worked 7 days a week and sometimes even twice per day because the more they worked the more they got paid. He said at that point there were no big paydays and guys would never go on the injured list because they couldn't afford to plus if they did there would be someone else waiting in the wings to fill their spot. He added that in WCW there would be times when a guy would suffer a minor injury and would not even hesitate to sit out because they had guaranteed deals and things like that definitely hurt the company and the product overall.

 

He feels the loss of the manager's role is due mostly to the addition of T & A on the shows. He said that the manager should still be able to serve a role in the business because sometimes a female doesn't blend with a certain talent but a manager could help that performer get over (he mentioned that a female being paired with Chris Benoit or Chris Jericho would be an example of a mistake because the focus would be taken off of the performer and in there cases, they are 2 of the best around). He thinks that females do deserve to have a chance in the business also but thinks that they should be paired with talent's who don't work that great in the ring and don't talk on the mic particularly well. He ended the statement by saying that when it comes to a payoff and a talent getting his hand on the manager/valet you have to be careful because if you hit a female it can cause problems however if you assault a male it's not as criticized.

 

Jimmy commented on the Roddy Piper special and said that he didn't see it but feels that for Piper to blame Vince for anything is completely ridiculous. He added that Vince gave people a chance to go to work and it's up to each individual to take care of themselves when they get off of work. He thinks that the day that Vince McMahon decides to either shut things down, retire or go on an extended vacation will be the day when the business dies. He ended the statement by saying that everyone who works in the business should pray that Vince gets up everyday and goes to work because he's the only game in town until something else pops up.

 

He talked about his current Memphis wrestling promotion in which Jerry "The King" Lawler is also involved in. He said they ran a show recently at the Coliseum where they were able to draw 1,900 fans despite being hurt by poor weather conditions. He said the company is very different then the WWE product and it's closer to the older days of professional wrestling. He mentioned that the company has been able to produce a 4.3 and a 5.1 in the ratings in their market over the past couple of weeks.

 

Jimmy said that Vince McMahon was the person who came up with the idea of him using the megaphone. He said Vince had picked one up while on business in Japan and came back with it and told him he was going to use it. He never knew it would become as big as it did.

 

He discussed the plans for the XWF and said they felt they had a great idea put together with great talent but the biggest problem came when he learned that Hogan and Lawler were contacted by the WWE to return and that changed their business plans in a hurry. Jimmy said that they weren't able to negotiate a TV deal with networks because they didn't have the talent to back it up and added that FOX had been very interested until they learned that Hogan and Lawler were no longer involved.

 

Jimmy ended the interview by announcing that he has a book coming out this fall and by talking about a rib pulled on him by Howard Finkel and Greg "The Hammer" Valentine.

 

To hear the interview with Jimmy Hart log on to www.noholdsbarredwrestling.com. The No Holds Barred radio show is hosted by Jason Barrett and George "The Animal" Farmer and airs every Sunday night on 101.5 WPDH in parts of NY, NJ, CT and PA.

[DerangedHermit 0]

Lou Perlman + Hulk Hogan = hell is invading earth