Ken Shamrock Interview

[Guest ligerbomb03]

This interview was recently conducted on Pro Wrestling Radio.

 

Eric Gargiulo: Was it an honor to be one of the first two men inducted into the UFC Hall of Fame on 11/21?

 

Ken Shamrock: What better thing than besides the championship, you know I was the champion in UFC, I was the champion in Japan, I'm a champion in the WWF, everywhere I have been I have reached that goal, you know? This is probably the highest goal you could achieve, to be put into a Hall of Fame in an organization that you were one that helped start out. It is, you just can't put any kind of excitement, or feeling on it. It is just one that wraps everything you have done up together.

 

Eric: Does this induction mean you will be retiring from MMA?

 

Ken: I made that real clear when I was told. I was honored, and like, "Wow this is probably the best award that I have ever received just knowing that I would be remembered forever, and that I will always remember and that this is one of the greatest achievements that I will ever accomplish, but I'm not done." I wanted to make sure that was clear when Dana White (UFC President) told me this. I still have a few things that I need to go in there and do for myself.

 

Eric: Can you talk about your new clothing line, Ground & Pound with Steve Blackman?

 

Ken: Steve came to me along with some guys from Atlantic City that wanted to do something with a clothing line. They had already started it, got it going, and they showed it to us. I said, "Wow, this is a great logo. Ground and Pound." It is something that is used all of the time in mixed martial arts. So I said, "Yeah, I would love to be a part of it." Steve and I got in there with the guys from Atlantic City, NJ, partnered up with them, and we are pushing it forward. If you come on our website, gnpgear.com, you will see the logos, we got beanies, hats, shirts, long sleeve sweaters, everything. I tell you man, you look at the logo and it is awesome. That is all we use, ground and pound.

 

Eric: Will you be expanding your Lions Den dojos into any new markets?

 

Ken: The Lions Den, you know I got injured about a year and a half ago, I had to take some time out and get fixed up, I tried to do two fights prior to that, I did not do so well, so I knew that it was probably time to go in and have some surgery done. Take the time away for me to get healed up, and I have done that. The Lions Den has kind of laid back since I got into the WWF four-five years ago, so I am trying to bring it back now.

 

Eric: Can you update your WWF fans who may not follow MMA, as to what you have been up too since leaving?

 

Ken: I am writing a column on boxinginsider.com to let the people know what I am up too, and what I have been up too. Trying to stay in that area as much as I can by doing interviews like this, radio interviews, phone interviews, television, things to let people know where I am at, and what I have been up too. So far it has been real successful, I have not really been out even though I have been injured and have not been fighting. I have stayed out there in the light with the fans.

 

Eric: What happened to your short run in NWATNA?

 

Ken: At that time I went into NWATNA knowing that I had a fight coming up, and they knew that, and they knew they were going to use me sparingly, and then when my fight was over we would talk and find out if we were going to do anything else. Then the fight was over, and I have not heard from them yet, so I am not quite sure where we are with that, but I am kind of taking it easy myself.

 

Eric: Do you want to do more pro wrestling?

 

Ken: Oh yeah, without a doubt I would like to do some more independent shows. I am with Inoki's group over in Japan. I have 7shows with them. I do have things lined up to stay in that entertainment world.

 

Eric; Looking back on your match with Tito Ortiz, what do you think went wrong for Ken Shamrock in that fight?

 

Ken: Well, you know everyone has excuses and I do not have one. I got beat, bottom line. Understanding, I do have some things that I neglected in there, and that's for myself and not anyone else to know, I am better than what I showed. I can say that, but I need to show it. That is why I need to get back in there and come in the way I know I can.

 

Eric: Has there been any talk of a rematch with Ortiz?

 

Ken: Yes there has been, but whether I will get one or not is another story. He wants a rematch with Randy Couture, but yet he does not want to give me one. So, that is just Tito. He is a selfish person.

 

Eric: Comment on the controversy over Ortiz ducking Liddell?

 

Ken: Yeah, you know he is not a stand up guy, he is a paper champion, he fights who he wants to fight at the time. He knew the situation that I had when I fought him, so that is why he took the fight. At first he would not take it, and then when things came about and he got more information about me, then he took the fight.

 

Eric: How much is preparation is mental as opposed to physical going into an MMA fight?

 

Ken: You know you have to be 100% to step into the ring anymore, there is just no question. You have to be 100% going in. Obviously there are little things you have to overcome in training, and things of that nature. You can't go in there being limited on your abilities, otherwise you are not going to come out on top. That is what happened with me. I thought that I could overcome anything that was wrong with me and that just did not work out.

 

Eric: Have you had a chance to see the Smashing Machine?

 

Ken: (Laughs) Yeah.

 

Eric: What are your thoughts on the movie?

 

Ken: Ouch, ouch. I guess it was good as far as knowledge for the fans, it is not all glitz and glory, there is a lot of emotional trauma that goes on, but it is like this. It is all on ourselves. We can control how we want to be. You cannot let it take over you. Mark Kerr is just one of those guys where you see how things just took control of him.

 

Eric: Do you think it opened up the sport to new fans or do you think it was a black mark for the sport?

 

Ken: I don't know, I don't know how to take it. It can be that way or it can be a wake up call for the fans to understand that we are human and the things that we go through are not always nice, and there are injuries. Sometimes you have to do things that are not as pretty as people would think they are. I don't agree with it personally. I think if that is the problem than you need to sit out and get fixed. Again, I am not going to judge anybody for what they do. You have to judge yourself and you have to please yourself.

 

Eric: What were your highs and lows of your WWF run?

 

Ken: The high would probably be working with guys like Shawn Michaels, Steve Austin, and the Rock, Undertaker. Being tag team champion with the Bossman. There are a lot of guys out there that have a lot of star in the WWF, which is now the WWE who I got to work with, and learn a lot from, so those were the high points in my stay with the WWF. Just the fans, and the relationships that I built when we were on the road. I learned a lot, and I got to meet a lot of great people.

 

Eric: What are your memories of your match in Japan against Vader in which you were spitting up blood?

 

Ken: I got powerbombed twice, I had a problem before I went there. I had a tear in my lung, and I did not realize it at the time. I was coughing up blood earlier than that, I just passed it off as whatever, it goes away. Then when I went to Japan, I got powerbombed twice, and I remember choking, I could not breathe, I was spitting up blood. I was about to pass out because I was drowning in my own blood. It was pretty serious. Then when I went to the doctors they said that I had torn my lung.

 

Eric: What happened during one of your final WWF matches against Chris Jericho in the cage with Curtis Hughes?

 

Ken: Well, he (Hughes) came in and it was his first time in there. It had been awhile. I remember that Jericho was on me, and this guy started putting the boots to me, and hit me in the head a couple of times, and I remember it was like, "Ok I am getting up and I am going to drill this guy." I let it be known that I was not happy that I was getting kicked in the head that hard. So, I got up and warned him once. It happened again, I jumped up, popped him in his head, and I told Jericho, "If he touches me again I am going to kick his ass." We ended it that way. When I went back to the locker room, everyone was there, I let it be known that I was not happy. "I just got back," well then you know what, stay on the shoulders, and do not go to the head. There is a right way and a wrong way to do things, and if he wants to make it a shoot, we need to make it a shoot and nothing else. I was a little unhappy with that. That was the only time in the WWF that I ever really lost it, just that one time.

 

Eric: What are your memories of Survior Series night 1997 in Montreal?

 

Ken: Oh yeah, I was actually in the locker room there. You know what, I do not know enough about the story to even put my two cents in, but I do know this. How do you call anybody wrong when you really don't know the stories? It was quite interesting (laughs) the way it happened. So, I will leave that for Bret and Vince to talk about.

 

Eric: What were some of your favorite matches when you were in the WWF?

 

Ken: I think the Bret Hart-Shawn Michaels matches, besides the one where he got screwed. I would say those guys had some great matches. The Rock and myself, that was really a highlight for me to do. The matches that we had for the WWF Intercontinental belt. Shawn Michaels, Steve Austin, I think the most memorable match that sticks in my mind, probably the best match that I had seen was Stone Cold Austin, and Bret Hart. The one I refereed in, that was a great match. I thought that was really good because everything in there looked real to me, it felt real, so it was good. I would have to say my matches with the Rock, the last one that we had. The one where he had taken the numbchucks out of my trunks, and we went in that direction. I thought that was a good match. That was probably my most memorable moment.

 

Eric: How much longer do you want to fight for?

 

Ken: As I sit here now I can't tell you because my mind and my body are feeling really good. Where it was a year ago, I thought I was done, because I felt really disappointed, then I fixed all of the things that I had wrong. I need to get them fixed, go in there and fight, and then I will be able to decide, I think that I will be really surprised at how well my body is, and what I want to do with it. So, I am happy with it.

 

Eric: How do you think Mike Tyson will do in K-1?

 

Ken: If he is fighting Bobbish, Mike Tyson will knock him out. Bobbish is too slow. Mike Tyson is still fast, Bobbish will get his lights kicked in. And that is if Mike Tyson is not afraid, if Mike goes in there and throws his punches, and doesn't worry about those kicks, he will knock him out. Because Bobbish is too slow.

 

Eric: Any plans for a rematch with Don Frye?

 

Ken: No, I am done with Don. Don and I did our thing, and I am okay with Don. I did what I could with him, and it did not work out. I lost a split decision, but I thought it was one that could have went either way. And Don Frye is not the same fighter after that fight because there was damage that I had done to my knee, more damage that that I had done to my knee after the thing with Don, and the damage I did to his ankles, he was not able to go into that fight and fight the way he needed to when he fought the Japanese Judo guy. He could not move because his ankles were messed up, and that was the same thing with my knees when I went and fought Tito. We both kind of did some damage, and fortunately for me I am able to recover, because I am able to go in and get the surgery and get it fixed, and I am not sure what is going on with him, but all of the best to him.

 

Eric: Have you followed WWE since you have been gone?

 

Ken: No, I have been on the road doing a lot of things, but I know there is a lot of young faces and new people in there. It just seems they are all getting pushed too fast, that is just kind of what I feel.

 

Eric: It seems that an absolute natural would be a Ken Shamrock-Kurt Angle program?

 

Ken: Yeah, you know that is something that we can go back on. We can do that. I am not sure if that opportunity will be there, but boy if they want to put it there, I am definitely there for it.

 

Eric: Are there any plans to re-release your autobiography after all of the successful pro wrestling books and the Smashing Machine?

 

Ken: Yeah, we are going to do something, in fact someone called me the other day about doing something with the book. I will just have to wait and see how that is going to work out. It is like the legends of Martial Arts I think, and the guy wants to do that with me, so if that works out. We will see how that works, so far if that guy goes through with it then we can get that book out there again. But I was the first one to have the book. Before the Rock, before Mankind, before Smashing Machine, all of those I came out with a book first, it just did not get the same push that those books got. Still, it is a good book.

 

Eric: Did it bother you when WCW would make references to the Nasty Boys, "kicking Ken Shamrock's ass."?

 

Ken: No, I have to let things go, and that was part of letting things go was understanding that these guys, the reason why, what they did, and how they did it. It does not even surprise me that they would say something like that. The funny thing is that after my book was written that I caught Saggs, which is the tall one in the airport in front of all of the boys. Billy Gunn, Road Dogg, all of those guys were there, and I punked him out, he ran like a little girl, he dropped his bags and said, "If you hit me you know it's a federal offense?" And ran like a little girl, like he was being punked, and he didn't do anything about it. That to me was probably the defining moment of letting it go, that everyone saw what he did, and all of the things that he was talking, being a tough guy, that he totally wimped out like a little, little girl, being afraid. I was like, "Ok that's all I needed." Plus the boys saw it, that was enough for me. When he does say things like that, it gets in that circle, they all know the truth.

 

Eric: I want to congratulate you on your Hall of Fame induction into the UFC on 11/21 and the best of luck with gnpgear.com.

 

Ken: Thank you very much.

 

For more info on KIen Shamrock, check out gnpgear.com and Boxinginsider.com.

 

Check out http://www.prowrestlingradio.com to hear this interview with Ken Shamrock. The site contains transcripts and audio from past interviews including a recent appearance by "Stone Cold" Steve Austin, Mick Foley, Bruno Sammartino, and more.

 

Pro Wrestling Radio airs every Saturday on WBCB 1490 AM and online at http://www.wbcb1490.com from 12:05-1PM/EST. This Saturday, 11/29 I will be joined by 1Wrestling.com's own, Jess Mcgrath. We will discuss all of the latest news and gossip from the indy world and more. I will also be taking your calls at 1-888-922-2149 or 215-949-1490 Email me at [email protected] for more details. You can listen to the entire radio show online with no downloads at http://www.wbcb1490.com. Coming soon: Kevin Von Erich takes your calls for an entire hour, Superstar Billy Graham, the Year End Review, Steve Blackman exclusively recapping WWE PPV's, and more.

[LJSexay 0]

I love that man.