Between the ropes interview

[Guest Trivia247]

Recap of Tully Blanchard on Between the Ropes

by Richard Trionfo

 

This week on Between the Ropes, Fritz, Dickerman, and Vito DeNucci were joined in studio by one of original members of the Four Horsemen, Tully Blanchard to talk about his NWA World Title match against Jeff Jarrett at last month’s Wrestle Reunion, his comments on the overall convention, his work with ministries at prisons, and many other issues.

 

Tully was asked about the Wrestle Reunion convention last month in Tampa, Florida. He said that one of the best things was to be able to have his father involved in the show. He talked about how his father was a tag team champion with Nick Bockwinkel. The key to these shows are the wrestling fans, and the wrestlers need to be able to interact with the fans because that is what they pay to see, the wrestlers. Tully enjoys being able to talk to the fans as a human being, not being yelled at and cussed at by the fans like when he was wrestling. The yelling and the cussing was part of the business because of the emotion at the time. People hated the Horsemen and it was a fond memory. Tully was told by Johnny Valentine, if they respect you, they will dislike you more. The appreciation was not from talking to the fans at the time, but by seeing sold out shows.

 

Tully mentioned that the addition of Dory Funk Junior and Nick Bockwinkel at the convention, and how it brought in another generation of wrestling fans that other conventions had missed out on. He talked about wrestling Dory Funk Junior in San Antonio for the World Title for 60 minutes. He talked about being too tired to move at 30 minutes, and then realize that you have everyone watching you for another 30 minutes. Add to that you are being stretched and embarrassed in your home town. That match changed his career because he was never out of shape again for a match. Tully was asked about He started training for the match with Jeff Jarrett on September 1, 2004 and he did not want to embarrass himself, the fans, or the guy who was footing the bill for him to appear.

 

Tully asked about being back in the ring to wrestle for the NWA World title. Tully says that he was concerned about the quality of the match. The hardest type of match is a ‘heel’ match. It also did not help that the fans were probably more in tune to the business. He thinks the fans were in awe at the fact that Baby Doll would be there. Tully wonders what she was thinking to be in Jeff’s corner. Tully says that if J.J. Dillon had not been able to appear with him, then Baby Doll would have been in his corner. He thinks there could have been some more things involving J.J. and Baby Doll, but it didn’t happen. Tully says that Ricky Steamboat was supposed to be involved in the match as the referee, but instead Kevin Von Erich refereed the match barefoot. Kevin even put Tully in the claw.

 

Tully says that he had a match in November against Ricky Morton and felt that it was a good match. The match went 18 minutes. He also wrestled Dusty Rhodes, as well as Dory Funk Junior for 30 minutes. Tully wanted to be in the ring before the convention because he had never wrestled Jarrett before and did not want it to be his first match back in five years.

 

Tully mentions that he has a match scheduled for the end of April, and he is able to keep up that level, but he is not in the wrestling business, and he does not want to wrestle every week. He knows that he cannot go at it sporadically because of how you feel after the matches. It is not the same as wrestling continuously. It is a good way to make some more money, but he does not want to depend on wrestling.

 

Tully was asked about wrestling with Ricky, Dusty, and Dory since he was familiar with them before facing Jeff Jarrett. Tully says the Jarrett match was nothing flamboyant, and they did not know how to react to each other. Tully thought the interview that Jarrett had about Baby Doll was excellent. The match was as good as it could be, but he expected to go 20 to 30 minutes. There were a number of factors and that much time was not wanted for the match.

 

The emotional attachment is something that was discussed, and how it is not the same now as when Tully was wrestling full time. Tully suggested that it is the wrestlers trying to be characters than personalities. Tully talked about an interview he heard from Lex Luger when he called himself a ‘cartoon character’ and Tully wanted to puke because if that is his image, he is ‘missing the stinking boat’. Ric Flair and Tully Blanchard were personalities. Tully is able to perform the way the fans want to see him is to see him sneak up behind someone and hit them with a chair. The fans want to see the old Tully Blanchard while talking to Tully Blanchard as he is today.

 

Tully was asked about the fan reactions. The reaction was mixed. Walking in it was ‘Oh my gosh . . . it’s Tully.’ The people were chanting for him, but when Dusty came in they cheered him. As soon as Dusty entered the ring Tully smacked Dusty with his jacket and it was like things were 15 years ago. Tully says that the crowd for the Jarrett match was not like that because they were applauding everyone. Tully says that he is a terrible babyface.

 

Tully was asked about whether he would be interested in coming back for a few shows for a company like TNA, whether it is in ring or another way. Tully says that he will not call them, but if the opportunity arises that he might be willing to do it. He might be smaller than they would want him. Tully was asked if he might be someone to act like a mentor for younger wrestlers. He mentions that his feud with Dusty supported Crockett promotions from 1984 to 1988. If the powers that be want to do it, he is open to doing it.

 

Tully was asked about his relationship with Ole Anderson and Ole’s comments. Tully said that the Flair for the Gold pay per view was supposed to be the reformation of the Four Horsemen. He met with Ole and Dusty, and Ole wanted Tully to come back and do it at a good fee of $500 per day. He would not do it and he sent a registered letter to Ole. He talked to Ole about it 6 or 7 years ago in Philadelphia. Tully bought the pay per view to see how they explained his absence. He says that Paul Roma walking out as the fourth Horsemen, it cost Ole his job. Tully says that Ole is angry about a lot of things.

 

 

Tully was asked what he would say if he was given lines by a writer. He says that it happened on Saturday Night Main Event with Dick Ebersol. He says that he would never say it, so he changed it around. He says that the matches were not scripted, and if they didn’t like it they would be sent back out. He mentions that he was on after Hogan, and appeared on four of the five. Tully says that Ebersol wanted them, even though they were not scheduled to be on the show. Tully mentioned that the ratings stayed up after Hogan’s match was done. They won the tag titles on one of the Main Event shows.

 

Tully was asked about the personalities that are missing in the business; and how the best people in wrestling are people who are themselves enhanced. If they are reading scripts, they do not have the emotion. Tully was asked who he sees today who are good with promos. Tully says that he has not watched that much wrestling over the last 15 years because he did not have the access to wrestling shows. He says that he does not know all of the characters.

 

He was asked about the rumors of a Four Horsemen DVD, and Tully said ‘Go Vince Go’. Tully says that he did 5 or 6 hours of interviews with the WWE for Confidential, so they have a lot of footage. Tully says that he might need to renegotiate his percentages if they decide to do a Four Horsemen DVD. Tully says that the WWE made about half of what they paid for WCW with the Flair DVD.

 

Tully was asked about how things were different in how the tag teams were used between the NWA and WWF. He says that there was more emphasis in the NWA, but it was probably because the main event people were in the tag matches. It was suggested that at the time, tag team matches were at the top of the card because of the teams. The wrestlers were together forever, but now they are just thrown together.

 

Tully was asked if he would ever consider being a road agent, and he said that he would consider it if it was the path where he was supposed to go. Tully says that he thinks they cannot have someone who has never sold a ticket, never sold out a building, nor been in the ring to give those ideas to a wrestler. An agent needs to have been a main event star to be able to help people get to that level. You cannot lead someone to a place they have never been.

 

Tully says that his goal every night was to steal the show. He might not have done it every time, but he tried it every time. That raised his performance level, and everyone around him. The wrestling fan got the benefit whether it was in a singles or tag team match.

 

Tully was asked if he thought that Vince was not interested in the tag team division. Tully thinks that Vince signed them away from Crockett to damage the company more than to enhance his own. He says that he walked into the WWF as the hottest thing that they had in a long time, maybe ever from the other company. He mentions that they were running around trying to take Four Horsemen signs from the crowd. He talked about his matches with Marty and Shawn on television, and he was told about how they would be the champions, but then they would lose to the Bushwhackers on house shows. He says that the WWF booking was confusing because he did not want to be used as a pawn. He says that WCW almost dissolved after they left because of all of the talent that they took from Crockett and humiliated them. He talked about what they did to Dusty Rhodes and Barry Windham. Tully says that Vince is a mastermind in the business because he did what he wanted. He caved in the bigger companies as well as the smaller ones.

 

Tully was asked if a feud like he had with Magnum TA could be done without any legitimate heat between the opponent or is it due to respect. Tully says that you just need to be good at what you do. He got along well with Magnum. At that time, it was his job to establish Magnum to take Barry Windham’s role as Dusty’s protégé. The Four Horsemen was getting ready to take off and it was up to Tully to elevate Magnum into the star he became before his auto accident. Tully says the people he had legitimate heat with in the locker room were people that he never wrestled.

 

Tully was asked about Ric Flair and whether he might be losing his grip. They talked about the issues between Ric Flair and Mick Foley including the stuntman comments, and the face to face confrontation between them at a WWE television taping. Tully was asked about the image that fans have of the great wrestlers and whether it is hurting his legacy. Tully says that Flair is playing a character, not a personality. He is doing his job and to the best of his ability. Tully mentions the freedom that they had as personalities, and when the creativity and personality is taken out of it things change.

 

Tully was asked about comments that Evolution was better than the Four Horsemen, but Tully says that there will never be anything better than the Four Horsemen because it was not promoter generated. It was built up by the fans, and the promoters ran with it. People remember the Horsemen better than most things in wrestling.

 

Tully says that people make so much money that few try to be the best. When he wrestled, if you didn’t perform, the people might not come back next time. If the people did not come back, you might not be in the main event.

 

Tully was asked if there was anybody who it turned his stomach to do good business with them because they did not have a spot that they had. His ‘A’ game was to be in charge in the ring. Tully talks about telling Animal to do what he told him. People knew to listen to him because it would benefit them more. Tully knew who he could make money with. He wrestled with people at a different level based on what he thought and what the fans thought. He would sell like a son of a gun for a Ricky Morton even though he did not have the size. He talked about how Lex Luger was one of the best wrestlers from a physical aspect, but he might not have been ready. He says that they could have made a lot of money when Barry was brought in to the Horsemen and Luger was made a face. You need a catalyst, and Tully was the catalyst. It was not the same when it was only Arn who came back to WCW. Tully was asked about any problems that he had with Arn after the failed drug test. He knows it cost Arn some money. Tully joked about how he was the only person doing drugs in the business at that time.

 

Tully was asked about Randy Orton, but Tully says that he has not seen enough of Randy, but his father and grandfather were great performers. He would probably not be able to recognize Randy if he saw him because he had not seen enough of Randy’s work.

 

Tully asked about his favorite ‘4th Horseman’. He says that Barry Windham was probably the strongest ‘4th Horseman’ and was the best value. He says that Ole and Luger were stars, but in certain roles, they could not excel. With Barry, the four of them could do whatever thing needed to be done. Tully says that some people were put in a position they could not handle. Tully suggests that he would be out of his element if he was told to play on the defensive line for the Bears.

 

Tully was asked about Cowboy Bob Orton being inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame and whether the WWE had talked to him about it. Tully mentioned that he didn’t even make Dave Meltzer’s book as one of the 100 greatest wrestlers of all time. Tully would have no problem getting in together with Ric Flair and Arn Anderson.

 

Tully’s main work is through his ministry and it is much more than last year when he appeared on the show. Tully is now based in Dallas. He says that they did more than 60 events last year and saw 50,000 plus people who wanted help and guidance. Tully was asked if people went to the appearances simply to be able to meet Tully and he says that it happens all of the time. He feels that if they come for the wrestling stories, they will be able to hear what happened to him and that changes them in some way. Tully says that the prisons appreciate the concept that they bring because it is dynamic.

 

Tully says that he is not ashamed of what he is today, and over the last 15 years, he has a new appreciation for people all over the world. He talks about dealing with the fight to avoid being rejected. People liked him as the football star or the wrestler. He was driven towards perfection because of the fear of rejection or being alone. Those insecurities have been healed and have changed his perspectives. He enjoys seeing people who have been changed, and one of those people was a part of the Manson family. That man was going to try to break Manson out of jail. He talks about ‘Murph the Surf’ who has changed his life. His story is not something that is not real.

 

Tully says that people who know him from the business scratch their heads because he does not look the same or sound the same, but he is not the same person that people saw on television because of his current motivations.

 

He was asked about how people react to what he does, and the people who think it is a charade for people to draw money. Tully says that his situation is different than the others because they are trying to minister to the churches while he is not as promoted. Tully goes into prisons and teaches Christians how to share their faith. It happens to occur in a prison yard. It is not to draw crowds. He says that going into the prisons, he gets nothing from the audience so he does not have to deal with the type of questions that others who are trying to spread a similar message.

 

Between the Ropes airs every Wednesday from 10:00 p.m. until Midnight on 740 The Team in Orlando, Florida with Brian Fritz, Dickerman, and Vito DeNucci. Check out www.betweentheropes.com to listen to the live stream of the show every week. Archives of past interviews with Paul Heyman, Rob Van Dam, Mick Foley, Ric Flair, A.J. Styles, Bobby Heenan, Steve Corino, Shane Douglas, Elix Skipper, Harley Race, Bubba Ray Dudley, and many more people in the world of professional wrestling can also be found on www.betweentheropes.com.