Speaker 1: But I would never.
Speaker 2: I would have never told balls an axle.
Speaker 1: I mean, what the hell that's yeah, that's ridiculous, but.
Speaker 3: You do your intro.
Speaker 1: Okay, another dear friend of mine, I open with that
Speaker 1: all the time. But another brother that I've kept in
Speaker 1: touch with, it's Tony Devido handsome.
Speaker 4: Hello, what's up, guys? How's it going?
Speaker 1: Hi?
Speaker 4: Franny, Hi, how are you? It's great to see you.
Speaker 1: Let me tell you how dapper you looked at your
Speaker 1: daughter's wedding.
Speaker 4: Well, thank you so much.
Speaker 2: Should have just got married.
Speaker 4: She looked absolutely, thank you so much.
Speaker 1: Stunning. And Tony sent me the pictures because I no
Speaker 1: longer partaking Facebook because I that's right, But thank you
Speaker 1: for thinking of me. I love I love seeing stuff like.
Speaker 4: Well, you know, I've told you I'm always going to
Speaker 4: think about you because back in the r ECW days,
Speaker 4: my daughter was about five and she loved the long dresses,
Speaker 4: she loved the high heels, so she like plunged.
Speaker 5: You right off the bat. So you know she loved
Speaker 5: you then.
Speaker 4: So it's like I just feel there's like some kind
Speaker 4: of a weird bond in a way.
Speaker 1: There's a connection. I love that.
Speaker 4: That's great.
Speaker 2: Well, she looked beautiful. You looked great. How was the
Speaker 2: wedding fun?
Speaker 4: It was really good. It really was nice. It was beautiful,
Speaker 4: great day. I was very happy. My daughter was very happy.
Speaker 4: I was very happy for her.
Speaker 1: So were you able to have a big reception with
Speaker 1: the COVID or you know why, because.
Speaker 4: A lot of people were supposed to come from New
Speaker 4: York down to Florida because I'm in Florida now, of course,
Speaker 4: and a lot of them just couldn't make it. My
Speaker 4: mom came. My mom doesn't care. She's retired. Plus she
Speaker 4: doesn't care. She don't care. Ye hard she's more hardcore
Speaker 4: than I am. She's hardcore cool. Yeah, so it was good.
Speaker 4: It turned out really good. And uh, you know, I
Speaker 4: wish everyone else could have been there, you know, because
Speaker 4: I have a huge family.
Speaker 5: I have four sisters and we all have two kids each.
Speaker 4: We're all have significant others, and all of us are
Speaker 4: like twenty something people. So just my family, you know,
Speaker 4: we're so used to dwarf in every event we're at.
Speaker 4: That's like that.
Speaker 5: So it was weird kind of you know that she
Speaker 5: was on the opposite foot this time.
Speaker 4: For me. It's weird.
Speaker 1: Yeah, Well, at least, you know, you can't keep postponing
Speaker 1: things because we don't know how long this is gonna last.
Speaker 4: That's the thing with her. She's like, I'm not going
Speaker 4: to put my life on hold not knowing what's going on,
Speaker 4: you know. So I agree with that part of it,
Speaker 4: you know.
Speaker 1: Yeah, are they able to vacation anywhere their honeymoon?
Speaker 4: Now, they're gonna wait till spring break because he is
Speaker 4: he just kind of got a year long position with
Speaker 4: a school district. He's trying to become a teacher, and
Speaker 4: he got a year long substitute position, so he has
Speaker 4: no he has to wait till spring break. So they're
Speaker 4: gonna wait a spring break.
Speaker 1: They got their whole lot, and they're gonna marry.
Speaker 4: I'm just gonna go to the keys now, I think lovely.
Speaker 4: Yeah all right, cool.
Speaker 1: Well, I've been dying to get you on. I've I've
Speaker 1: asked you several times, and real life always gets in
Speaker 1: the way with your stupid job.
Speaker 3: So damn, damn job.
Speaker 1: He's on vacation. So that's why I said, we have
Speaker 1: We just interviewed Roadkill before you. Yeah, so that was fun. Yeah,
Speaker 1: that was that was fun. So now I have view
Speaker 1: which I'm thrilled. So let's uh, let's start with I
Speaker 1: hate starting with how did you get into the business.
Speaker 1: You know, that's a that's a but how did you
Speaker 1: get into the business? Tony? You've been around for a while.
Speaker 4: I've been around a long time, around since ninety one.
Speaker 1: So might I say, Might I say, besides your baldy gimmick,
Speaker 1: I really think that the crazy priest would have taken off.
Speaker 4: And we're gonna talk.
Speaker 1: We're going to talk about that in a couple of
Speaker 1: minutes because I don't love it. What year did you
Speaker 1: did you get in?
Speaker 4: And so ninety one is when I first broke in,
Speaker 4: but you know, I was about I think I was
Speaker 4: in sixth grade when I actually found out about pro wrestling.
Speaker 5: A friend of mine brought up sixth grade, so whatever, hell.
Speaker 4: Well, you know as eleven, ten, eleven, I don't know
Speaker 4: whatever at that point, but a friend of mine brought
Speaker 4: a wrestling magazine at the school and Jimmy Snooker was
Speaker 4: on the cover.
Speaker 5: And back then, Jimmy Snooko, I mean, everyone knows he.
Speaker 4: Was shredded, ripped, his hair was crazy, and you know,
Speaker 4: he just looked like a psycho on the magazine.
Speaker 5: So like that drew me in right away. And then
Speaker 5: I started watching wrestling.
Speaker 4: After that and that got me into it, and you know,
Speaker 4: and then I just wanted to be a pro wrestler
Speaker 4: from that time on, you know, I knew that's what
Speaker 4: I wanted to do in my life. Yeah. So, and
Speaker 4: then you know, years later, of course, we found out
Speaker 4: about a school and we met a guy at a bar.
Speaker 4: He was actually going to doctor d David Schultz's school
Speaker 4: in Orange, Connecticut, and we met this dude and he
Speaker 4: hooked us up with that and then that was it.
Speaker 4: We started going and you know, we joined up. That
Speaker 4: was it.
Speaker 2: When you say we who was your so a.
Speaker 5: Buddy of mine? Aaron Ferguson.
Speaker 4: He don't. He doesn't work or anything now, but he barely.
Speaker 4: You know, he did a little bit of stuff. He's
Speaker 4: done some TV, some indies. But anyway, he actually met
Speaker 4: this guy at first, you know, this guy Carl, and
Speaker 4: that's how it all worked. He went to the school first.
Speaker 4: I came afterwards, and we all joined up basically at
Speaker 4: the same time. And you know, then later on Mike
Speaker 4: Bell got involved. Mike Bell went to the same school,
Speaker 4: and that's how.
Speaker 1: I met Mike right, Yeah, I think I met Mike
Speaker 1: through you.
Speaker 4: Yeah, probably when he came in. Yeah, okay, right at
Speaker 4: the tail end.
Speaker 2: So you train, you start doing indis right like.
Speaker 4: Everybody, Yeah, start you know right away. Well it was
Speaker 4: weird because you know, David Schultz, as good as he
Speaker 4: was for us, he really couldn't get us any bookings
Speaker 4: because as we know, he slapped the crap by the Johnson.
Speaker 3: That was in the middle of him being blackballed basically,
Speaker 3: so he was out.
Speaker 4: Yeah, he was out. So he really couldn't get us
Speaker 4: any work. So Paul Roma lived in that area also,
Speaker 4: and Paul Roma had just started his boxing career, if
Speaker 4: you guys remember back in that day. So Paul just
Speaker 4: started boxing and he was working out boxing at the
Speaker 4: same gym that I was going to the wrestling school.
Speaker 5: And Paul Roma actually.
Speaker 4: Went to the same wrestling school but years of late,
Speaker 4: years earlier with Tony Altimore and because they ran and
Speaker 4: Tony Altimore ran the school back then, and then Schultz
Speaker 4: took over after him, and Mariomansini had a school in there,
Speaker 4: like all kinds of guys at schools in this place.
Speaker 4: It's kind of crazy. So anyway, Paul Roma started coming
Speaker 4: in and then somehow they talked and Paul Roma kind
Speaker 4: of like took over the classes and he got us
Speaker 4: doing some shows. And it took Paul Roman to do it.
Speaker 4: So that's I owe him a lot of credit too
Speaker 4: with that aspect of it. He got me gone.
Speaker 2: Who got you your try out for w w F.
Speaker 4: Paul Roma, Paul I never I never paid Paul you know,
Speaker 4: I paid David Schultz money to train me and never
Speaker 4: paid Paul Roman to train me or any of us.
Speaker 4: And Paul just came in and just helped all of
Speaker 4: us out, you know, myself well to you know, to
Speaker 4: go forward a little bit. Just incredible. As we know
Speaker 4: PJ Walker. So PJ actually started. PJ also lived in Connecticut,
Speaker 4: so that's how I met PJ. He trained at the
Speaker 4: Heart Camp in Calgary, came all the way back to
Speaker 4: Connecticut and found out there was a school in his backyard.
Speaker 4: They didn't know about it, so he started coming to
Speaker 4: our school after he had trained up there. So that
Speaker 4: was cool. So that's how I met PJ. I met
Speaker 4: Nick Barbary that way.
Speaker 1: A couple other people you knew PJ before ECW Yes, you.
Speaker 4: Know, yeah, basically we trained together. Also, I mean we
Speaker 4: started out in the business together. I should say, you know, because.
Speaker 3: I remember you in like ninety one ninety two, right
Speaker 3: or is that when you were Yeah, I remember very
Speaker 3: clearly back in the day watching.
Speaker 1: Yeah, so you're working, you know, you get try out
Speaker 1: for Vince, you're working Dark Matches and like you know,
Speaker 1: Superstars or whatever the show was back back.
Speaker 4: Yeah, all those all those shows.
Speaker 1: Yeah, hey, work is work, right, that's right. What were
Speaker 1: the talks like, like, did they ever tell you we're
Speaker 1: gonna you know, we're gonna move you out, we're going
Speaker 1: to use you. Did you ever talk to Vince at
Speaker 1: this point because it's early nineties.
Speaker 4: Yeah, you know, I would never had access to Vince
Speaker 4: that way, Like I always would greet him or whatever,
Speaker 4: but it wasn't Vince. You know, TV's they were always busy,
Speaker 4: so you know, you could talk to agents, you could
Speaker 4: talk to other guys about stuff. Vince never had that access.
Speaker 4: I used to talk to Shane mcmanon a lot back
Speaker 4: and Shane was heavily involved back in that day. And
Speaker 4: Shane was so cool, and Shane talked to anybody and everybody.
Speaker 4: If you said, hey, man, can I have a minute,
Speaker 4: he gave it to you. So that was years later
Speaker 4: though too. That wasn't right in the beginning. But again,
Speaker 4: I just kept my mouth shut. I learned from guys.
Speaker 4: You know, Scott Hall came in. Scott Hall actually took
Speaker 4: us under his wing. You know, people don't give Scott
Speaker 4: a lot of credit, but that's another guy that I
Speaker 4: owe a lot to. Scott came in and started talking
Speaker 4: to us, started you know, giving us pointers, started telling us, hey, man.
Speaker 5: You know, me and Mike Bell used to do this thing.
Speaker 4: We'd be a tag team and we'd like do a
Speaker 4: high five, come down and we'd point to the camera
Speaker 4: and Scott Hall was like, man, that's you guys are
Speaker 4: smart to do that, because that's your time.
Speaker 5: He's like, he's like, if.
Speaker 4: That camera's on you for five second, and that five
Speaker 4: seconds is your time to get over and he's like,
Speaker 4: you do what you got to do. So and then
Speaker 4: years later they started using the whole point thing.
Speaker 5: But that gimmick right there, I don't care no one anyway.
Speaker 1: It's hilarious. Okay, So so you're just happy at this point,
Speaker 1: you're still kind of green.
Speaker 2: You're just happy to learn.
Speaker 4: Yeah, I mean I only did like one or two
Speaker 4: indie shows and I went right to TV so I
Speaker 4: learned there, you know, And like I said, a guy
Speaker 4: like him, you know, took us under right away like
Speaker 4: that when he came into the company. I'd been there
Speaker 4: a little bit by the time he came in. But
Speaker 4: you know, the funny thing is skinner, you know, Steve Hern,
Speaker 4: he actually so the first round of TVs we ever
Speaker 4: got booked on. You know, we're there three nights. They
Speaker 4: didn't use this any of the previous two nights. So
Speaker 4: myself and Mike Belwin up to Tony Gria because he
Speaker 4: was our agent basically, and we said, hey, can we
Speaker 4: you know, can we get in the ring? Can we
Speaker 4: show you what we can do? You know, like we
Speaker 4: really want to work, And he let us go out
Speaker 4: and work. Before the doors opened, we did a match.
Speaker 4: Steve Kern is the only guy that came up to
Speaker 4: us and gave his advice.
Speaker 1: Steve was my favorite agent.
Speaker 4: Yeah, there he was so many, he was great. He
Speaker 4: didn't I didn't know this guy, he didn't know us,
Speaker 4: but he gave us, you know, he came up and
Speaker 4: then gave us some pointers, told us what was good,
Speaker 4: what wasn't what to do better?
Speaker 5: That's awesome, And that night they put me on TV.
Speaker 2: So you're there, you're working. How long were you with them?
Speaker 4: So you know, my timelines are so bad, Franny? But
Speaker 4: I know from ninety two to ninety six, I definitely
Speaker 4: was doing shows. But I think I still did a
Speaker 4: couple into ninety seven, which.
Speaker 1: Really shocked the ECW.
Speaker 4: So why go to ECW until like ninety ninety ninety
Speaker 4: eight the end of ninety eight?
Speaker 1: Why do I feel I feel like you were with
Speaker 1: us for like longer than because.
Speaker 4: You grew up watching me on TV, Franny?
Speaker 2: Because I have a baby the YouTube like, hey.
Speaker 4: Ro kill say that to me all the time. I
Speaker 4: grew up watching you on TV. Screw.
Speaker 1: He's funny when when you make the transition, like you
Speaker 1: you you leave w W E or w F at
Speaker 1: the time, right, are you bitter? Are you thinking? Like
Speaker 1: what you know, I'm here for four years? They're not
Speaker 1: really doing much with me.
Speaker 4: Well, so during that time, like if you if you
Speaker 4: go back timeline wise, you know, like that's when PJ
Speaker 4: actually got signed. You know, we were there and they
Speaker 4: signed Pija. You know they just I'm telling you right now,
Speaker 4: I was I was in girl position. To night, vincemc
Speaker 4: man noticed PJ Walker and he was wrestling Movid Borga
Speaker 4: at the White Plains UH County Center, and Luca used
Speaker 4: to Ludvid Borga used to be like these uppercuts to
Speaker 4: the gut and PJ just sold it so well. And
Speaker 4: Vince's like, oh, this kid looks really good. It's like, dude,
Speaker 4: you've seen him wrestle one hundred matches, are right, But anyway,
Speaker 4: it's just little thing to notice.
Speaker 5: They and then you know, everything worked for him.
Speaker 4: He was Portuguese, they needed, they wanted to expand their
Speaker 4: markets and worked out great for him.
Speaker 5: Plus, listen, I think he's under it. He is a
Speaker 5: great worker.
Speaker 4: I mean I'm a little biased, but.
Speaker 1: Yeah, but you're seeing PJ, and you're seeing PJ advanced.
Speaker 1: What about Tony?
Speaker 4: Yeah, well, I mean I've had conversations with some agents.
Speaker 4: You know, Tom Pritchard had started running the school at
Speaker 4: that point. You know that he started training in the
Speaker 4: warehouse in Stanford. They used to bring me and Mike
Speaker 4: Bell into to work out with the guys, Like I
Speaker 4: worked out with Draws, I worked out with Lawrence Taylor,
Speaker 4: I worked out with Oh jeez, the truth commissioned guys.
Speaker 4: I worked out with Edge when Edge came, but the
Speaker 4: main guy was Draws because Draws was their first training,
Speaker 4: you know, Okay, and we used they used to book
Speaker 4: us to go to the warehouse all the time to
Speaker 4: go work with them. It was great.
Speaker 1: But do you feel like, because I asked ro Kill
Speaker 1: the same question, do you feel like you would have
Speaker 1: been more successful as a singles wrestler?
Speaker 5: And I think I'm a better tag team wrestler.
Speaker 4: I really yeah, But you know, I think it's very
Speaker 4: hard getting a tag team over getting a tag team booked,
Speaker 4: especially in the indies and things. You know, that's that's
Speaker 4: very tough. So I think it's easier as far as
Speaker 4: the singles for that, But I don't know. I think
Speaker 4: I am a tag team wrestler. I really believe that.
Speaker 4: I like doing singles, but I like tagging. Okay. And
Speaker 4: like you said before, there was I had no bitterness
Speaker 4: towards when it ended for us, because I think it
Speaker 4: was time, you know, I learned there, Like I don't
Speaker 4: want to change anything, Like a lot of people look
Speaker 4: down on going to TV and doing jobs and this
Speaker 4: and that. I learned a lot at TV doing jobs.
Speaker 4: I learned from Scott Hall, I learned from Seawn Michaels. Uh.
Speaker 4: There was tons of guys that would give us advice
Speaker 4: because at some point they accepted us as you know,
Speaker 4: we were guys. They knew we can come in and
Speaker 4: work great matches with them, and they liked that about us.
Speaker 4: So those guys taught us stuff.
Speaker 5: So I learned a lot from guys that were on
Speaker 5: the road working all the time.
Speaker 1: And besides troublemaker, you're not going to try and politic
Speaker 1: and whatever.
Speaker 4: Not a politicer. Now I'm not a river and I'm
Speaker 4: not a politicer. Not a river.
Speaker 1: Come on, okay, So PJ, get you, uh, get you
Speaker 1: to try out with us, you PJ.
Speaker 5: You know, PJ of course was still signed with w
Speaker 5: W at the.
Speaker 4: Time, but then he was going to us w A
Speaker 4: and then with us w A because they kind of
Speaker 4: were working together and then Paul kind of had somehow.
Speaker 4: I think w W and e c W were kind
Speaker 4: of having that little thing going back and forth. So
Speaker 4: I think that's how PJ got in so and Chris
Speaker 4: Candido I think helped him out a lot. Also. I
Speaker 4: think that's a big word for PJ and yeah. So
Speaker 4: once PJ got in, uh, you know, I started hanging out.
Speaker 4: I started coming around, and you know PJ kind of,
Speaker 4: you know, would grab Paul's ear sometimes or Tommy's ear
Speaker 4: and try to, you know, try to get me in there.
Speaker 4: And I think that had a lot to do with it.
Speaker 4: But you know, I came there and I worked my
Speaker 4: ass off too.
Speaker 1: Oh of course you did.
Speaker 2: I mean, come on, who came up with the baldies?
Speaker 4: Well, you know polled it, I guess. You know, Well,
Speaker 4: it was weird because I go back to the day
Speaker 4: where Tommy first told me I was going to actually
Speaker 4: be like something I was gonna be. I was gonna
Speaker 4: be somebody in E CW. I wasn't just Tony Deviato
Speaker 4: like I was. He said, hey, you ever watched American
Speaker 4: History X? And I was like, I have no idea
Speaker 4: what that is. And then he told me what it was,
Speaker 4: and he goes, you need to go home and watch
Speaker 4: that this weekend, and that's what we need you to be.
Speaker 4: And apparently that was Paul's idea. So I don't even know.
Speaker 1: What that is.
Speaker 3: She never seen any movies, Tony, So right over and
Speaker 3: I know exactly what.
Speaker 2: You're talking about I've seen movies.
Speaker 1: Everyone that that's mentioned, get you.
Speaker 4: You never saw I'm a mother. I don't have time
Speaker 4: to see mother. So American history X was basically white supremacists.
Speaker 4: They were white supremacists. So here's Paul Hayman, a Jewish
Speaker 4: man whose mother was in an in. Tim Mcamp wanted
Speaker 4: me to do a not he can makeing.
Speaker 1: Wow, And I never heard this story.
Speaker 4: Well if you remember, if you can go back and remember,
Speaker 4: me and Bill Wiles were basically remember Billy was like
Speaker 4: my manager. He'd come out with me. He was a Nazi,
Speaker 4: So sorry, Bill, love.
Speaker 2: You, Okay.
Speaker 1: So that didn't fly though, That didn't work.
Speaker 4: So that happened, and then like next thing, I know,
Speaker 4: h one night, Tommy grabs me, he grabs Angel, he
Speaker 4: grabs Vito, he grabs Rod Price and Pean News and
Speaker 4: he puts us all together and he goes, Okay, you
Speaker 4: guys are the Baldies now. And we're like, oh, like that,
Speaker 4: that's great. Yeah. So Tommy got us together before a
Speaker 4: show one night, said you guys are the Baldies. We
Speaker 4: went out, we beat up Spike Dudley and that's how.
Speaker 1: The bald started. And who's the leader of the Baldies.
Speaker 4: Well, Angel likes to say he is.
Speaker 1: Everybody takes credit.
Speaker 5: But if you look at me, an Angel, I don't
Speaker 5: think me and Angel ever said I'm the leader.
Speaker 4: I'm the lead.
Speaker 5: Like we might have done that joking around, but there
Speaker 5: was never.
Speaker 1: So who who says that they're the leader of.
Speaker 4: Garbage? Not a fan.
Speaker 1: I am not. I don't force anyone to say anything
Speaker 1: that they don't want to say.
Speaker 5: I want to say, don't worry if you if you.
Speaker 1: Want to spread your truth.
Speaker 4: By all, and you know we all know it's truth.
Speaker 1: I listen, I'm friends with all people everywhere.
Speaker 3: You're like mother Teresa, spread love and enjoy to all.
Speaker 1: So I was a big fan of you guys. Very violent.
Speaker 5: Yeah, there new jack and balls, and you know it's true.
Speaker 1: I felt like I always saw you bleeding in every
Speaker 1: single match that you were you you were good with that.
Speaker 4: Yeah, I didn't mind that, to be honest with you,
Speaker 4: and to me, like that was my spot, that was
Speaker 4: our spot. So you know you, I mean, listen, you
Speaker 4: know you're gonna do what you gotta do. And if
Speaker 4: it's bleeding, it's bleeding. I didn't care. I could work
Speaker 4: that style too, So bothered me. I didn't and the
Speaker 4: way I cut myself. Look at my head. I don't
Speaker 4: have scars.
Speaker 1: Yeah, not too bad.
Speaker 5: I have wrinkles. I don't have scars.
Speaker 2: Did you do the little gig? Little gig?
Speaker 4: The way I would never slice? I would just and
Speaker 4: when you exactly any little incision and you could do
Speaker 4: several off of the place, and you just keep bleeding
Speaker 4: and you're sweating, so you're sting. Yeah, you got a
Speaker 4: lot of guys that wanted to slice their heads open.
Speaker 4: I ever wanted to slice.
Speaker 2: I didn't love that.
Speaker 4: Yeah, well, you know, David Schultz taught me that way.
Speaker 4: The only thing he told me differently is twist. You know,
Speaker 4: if you wanted to just twist the blade, which to
Speaker 4: mean you're whisting, it just seemed like you're going to
Speaker 4: annihilate my head. So I just stopped with just sticking
Speaker 4: it in, and that was it. Stick it in.
Speaker 1: I love.
Speaker 4: You're a father.
Speaker 1: Don't talk like I'm a mother. Do you feel like
Speaker 1: E c W was your best run in the business.
Speaker 4: I mean, I definitely do. I mean, I mean it's
Speaker 4: the most I mean, listen ring on honor.
Speaker 5: It was great. I had a great time in Ringing Honor.
Speaker 5: But I was also in Ring Honor from.
Speaker 4: The beginning, you know, the first I don't know, for
Speaker 4: whatever years it is, for four years, I can't remember.
Speaker 4: So whatever, whatever it was, was the beginning of it,
Speaker 4: you know, and it wasn't as big as as what
Speaker 4: it is now. I mean, I think it's still respected,
Speaker 4: but I mean, you know how it works in this business.
Speaker 4: You know, I'm not.
Speaker 5: They don't even these kids and Ring Honor now don't
Speaker 5: even know that I was bringing on a champion back then.
Speaker 4: I was.
Speaker 3: I'll tell you what the cartage crew man that is.
Speaker 3: We're probably the most exciting. And I said the main
Speaker 3: events were great, but I mean they were awesome. I
Speaker 3: mean I would have loved to see you guys beyond
Speaker 3: you know, one of the major promotions at that point
Speaker 3: because it was such a great team.
Speaker 5: Well, Loke always wanted Listen, Loke still wants to be
Speaker 5: in a major promotion.
Speaker 1: I know he is on Twitter just pushing, which is great.
Speaker 2: Listen. If you don't push yourself, nobody else will.
Speaker 4: Nobody else will, so God bless for it. Listen. I
Speaker 4: give him a ton of credit. He wants to do it.
Speaker 4: He's having fun. That does nothing wrong with that. And
Speaker 4: we're in a little different position because he'd be like, listen,
Speaker 4: let's go to TNA, let's do this, let's do that.
Speaker 4: I'm like, dude, I'm kind of good. Yeah, I mean
Speaker 4: like I love it, I'm going to do it still,
Speaker 4: but I don't want to be on the road anymore,
Speaker 4: Like I don't want to travel that that's the real
Speaker 4: reason the Ring of Honor run even came to him,
Speaker 4: and because I went up to Gabe and I said, man,
Speaker 4: I'm like they were expanding and they were traveling like
Speaker 4: every weekend, two days at a time. And I was like, listen,
Speaker 4: I'm done. I have a real job. I can't I
Speaker 4: have you know, I can't do it no more. You know,
Speaker 4: I can't do it no more. So I said, I
Speaker 4: want to come in part time. I just want to
Speaker 4: do part time stuff. And that was the beginning of
Speaker 4: the end for Ring Honor right there for us. So
Speaker 4: unfortunately I ruined it for a.
Speaker 1: Look, he's a big boy, he'll I mentioned before. H
Speaker 1: So you know the e CW thing we fold devastation, heartache, sadness.
Speaker 1: You get a little bit of life in w W
Speaker 1: E and you become this character, which I went back
Speaker 1: and I watched it.
Speaker 2: Because because I know you.
Speaker 1: And that was such a stretch. It was the weirdest.
Speaker 4: Do you know what I'm talking about, chat, I'm searching.
Speaker 4: I don't.
Speaker 3: I don't remember on the top of my head.
Speaker 2: Tell us.
Speaker 1: So you go, you go to w W. How does
Speaker 1: this come about? And creative wise, who's putting? Is this
Speaker 1: your idea? No?
Speaker 4: So once again, Tommy reaches out to me. Tommy dream
Speaker 4: reaches Listen, Tommy's another guy. I'll give him a lot
Speaker 4: of stuf. Tommy helped me out through a lot. As
Speaker 4: you know, Tommy's helped a lot of guys. Oh I know, now, okay, Sorry,
Speaker 4: Tommy contacted me when they first came back, and now
Speaker 4: he didn't call me for the first show.
Speaker 5: I was on the second show. So the zombie was
Speaker 5: on the first show.
Speaker 4: Yes, I came out as Macho le Bret the second show,
Speaker 4: so I had the Jack Black outfit on, you know,
Speaker 4: except I talked to Macho Man's voice and they gave
Speaker 4: me the slim gym and all that. Yeah, So I
Speaker 4: mean I did that, and you know, whatever I did it,
Speaker 4: I think they were fine with it. But there was
Speaker 4: no you know nothing. And then there was another spot
Speaker 4: they needed and it was this preacher thing. So once
Speaker 4: again Tommy called me. He goes, I need you for
Speaker 4: this date. You need to go out and buy a
Speaker 4: you know, he told me, you have to go buy
Speaker 4: a button up black shirt, buy a jacket, a pair
Speaker 4: of slacks. He's like, and just you know, bring the receipt.
Speaker 4: And they paid for it all too, which is great.
Speaker 4: So you know, I bought what I needed and I
Speaker 4: showed up in Philly that night. That was in Philly.
Speaker 4: So that was the night after RVD and sat Book
Speaker 4: got busted. I was there. It was in the building.
Speaker 4: I was.
Speaker 1: So they tell yeah, they tell you that you're going
Speaker 1: to be this wacky preacher.
Speaker 4: Yes, so I think Tommy must have told me right
Speaker 4: away what it was going to be, but I don't.
Speaker 4: I guess he told me, but I don't remember. Then
Speaker 4: I get there and they, you know, they filled me
Speaker 4: in and everything, and you know, I think at the
Speaker 4: time when it was it was Tommy and Paul telling me.
Speaker 4: But Vince was one hundred involved in the whole angle,
Speaker 4: that whole angle. Vince was out there the whole time,
Speaker 4: not Paul, not It was Vince so because I think
Speaker 4: they were really trying to get sand Man over at
Speaker 4: the time, because all these angles were for Sandman, So
Speaker 4: I think they were really trying to put some effort
Speaker 4: into him, you.
Speaker 2: Know, right.
Speaker 1: I just remember because it was such a different vibe
Speaker 1: than a baldy And I remember I'm watching and I'm
Speaker 1: saying to myself, I don't know what I'm looking at.
Speaker 1: I love that you're working because I was thrilled for you,
Speaker 1: but in the same token, I'm like, what what am
Speaker 1: I watched?
Speaker 4: Yeah, And you know, the funny thing is that there
Speaker 4: was you know, it was just a one night gig
Speaker 4: apparently too.
Speaker 5: There was just like the other one was. It was
Speaker 5: in one night thing. But you know, it's weird.
Speaker 4: They gave me a ticket, you know, to sit in
Speaker 4: the seat and everything, like they gave me tickets and
Speaker 4: I actually put it in the top, you know, the
Speaker 4: top pocket of the jacket I was wearing.
Speaker 5: They gave me, you know, the little priest thing and stuff.
Speaker 4: But you know, at the end of the promo too,
Speaker 4: like I wasn't supposed to be a priest, you know,
Speaker 4: like I tore it off and said, you know, I'm
Speaker 4: not a man of the cloth, So I really wasn't
Speaker 4: a priest.
Speaker 5: I just used it to get in the building.
Speaker 4: Well. So, but the funny thing was I had the tickets,
Speaker 4: like I said, and moved. Samman comes over to me.
Speaker 4: The whole thing happens because I cut a promo, you know,
Speaker 4: and Joey and task on me to shut up, and
Speaker 4: you know, I, you know, Vince is like, can you
Speaker 4: can you get over the rail slowly? You know, because
Speaker 4: you know I'm a worker and we jump over the rail. Well,
Speaker 4: He's like, can you get it? You know?
Speaker 5: So I, you know, I make it like I'm you know,
Speaker 5: I can't get over yah.
Speaker 4: Yeah, So Vince loved all that stuff, apparently because on
Speaker 4: the headset he was going crazy. So so anyway that
Speaker 4: all happens, I get back on the other side of
Speaker 4: the rail. Saman's coming over yelling at me or not
Speaker 4: even yelling this in my face, and I start going,
Speaker 4: you know, you can't do this to me. I have that.
Speaker 4: I take the tickets out.
Speaker 5: I'm like, I have tickets, I have tickets.
Speaker 4: You can't do this, you know, And I'm yelling at him.
Speaker 4: Vince was going nuts. He's like, oh my god, I
Speaker 4: love this and I never heard it, but this is
Speaker 4: what I'm told. So he we do the whole thing.
Speaker 4: I go back and Paul grabs me. So I went
Speaker 4: back through the crowd and Paul actually met me wherever
Speaker 4: I came through the crowd, and Paul goes, you need
Speaker 4: to go to Gorilla right now and see Vince.
Speaker 5: And I was like, what the hell, what do you
Speaker 5: mean I He's like, get over there now.
Speaker 4: I get over there and Vince grabs me and hugs me,
Speaker 4: and he's like, that was Can I curse it all? Yes?
Speaker 4: That was fucking great, and he just hugging me. He
Speaker 4: gave me a thousand dollar bonus that night. To me,
Speaker 4: what all the all the guys on headset, you know,
Speaker 4: all the camera guys, they all thought.
Speaker 5: That I was one hundred percent part of that company now.
Speaker 4: They thought I was a brand new angle coming in
Speaker 4: and because they wrote me.
Speaker 5: So the very next week, Tommy calls me up.
Speaker 4: It's one week later. It's I don't know, Tuesday, whatever,
Speaker 4: the night they taped it on. I can't forget. I forget.
Speaker 4: Tommy calls me up that day and he goes there,
Speaker 4: I don't know. They're in Detroit, Michigan. I don't know
Speaker 4: where they were. They were, They weren't anywhere close to
Speaker 4: my house. He goes, what's up, man, I goes, Hey,
Speaker 4: what's going on? Tom He goes, we have a problem
Speaker 4: and I go what. He goes, You're written into TV
Speaker 4: tonight and I go, I'm just sitting home on my couch, Tommy.
Speaker 4: He goes, yeah, I know that. He goes, they think
Speaker 4: you're part of the show and they wrote they the
Speaker 4: way Vince reacted. He goes, they think you're a new
Speaker 4: character and they wrote you into the show.
Speaker 2: Why didn't they send you a plane ticket?
Speaker 4: That's because I think they, the writers, all thought I
Speaker 4: was already part of the whole thing because of the
Speaker 4: way Vince acted.
Speaker 5: So it's very weird because I never got Johns.
Speaker 2: So somebody either put the k bosh on you.
Speaker 4: Yeah, I got a k bosh, but all the all
Speaker 4: the guys were getting k bosh back then.
Speaker 1: We're not going to say who, but I know you
Speaker 1: told me unless you want to. Okay, now I know
Speaker 1: who it is, which I still don't understand.
Speaker 4: I don't either, But if you do think about it,
Speaker 4: all the other easy to ECW guys, the original ones,
Speaker 4: they were all being let go of that. Oh, of course,
Speaker 4: we were all being pushed out the door.
Speaker 1: We never had a chance. I knew before I even
Speaker 1: signed I was gonna get fired.
Speaker 4: No, you never got it. You never got a chance.
Speaker 4: You never got a chance. So and you were there
Speaker 4: that night too, so so so that we so anyway,
Speaker 4: Tommy called me, told me about that. He booked me
Speaker 4: for the very next weekend, I think, which was we
Speaker 4: were back in the Hammerstegn and that's where me and
Speaker 4: I saw you finally Frandie, because you were both right
Speaker 4: sign also like your first show or something too.
Speaker 2: But I don't I don't know what the hell I did.
Speaker 2: I I know you know what it was.
Speaker 1: They used me for a promo there that it was
Speaker 1: the first time I was on screen.
Speaker 4: On screen, but I didn't work.
Speaker 1: Yeah, the first time I was on screen because Paul
Speaker 1: was like, we need boobs in the promo.
Speaker 4: Yeah, yeah, okay. So Tommy books me for that building again,
Speaker 4: for that for that show, and I'm thinking, oh my god,
Speaker 4: like I'm gonna like this is finally, like listen, since
Speaker 4: I was a child, and you know, I'm not going
Speaker 4: to bullshit anybody. I've always wanted to be a contracted
Speaker 4: wrestler with the World Wrestling Federation, that we whatever you
Speaker 4: want to call it. That was my one hundred percent goal.
Speaker 5: People that tell you that that's not their goal, they're
Speaker 5: full of ship.
Speaker 1: It wasn't my goal. Honestly. Now you're up wanting to
Speaker 1: be in the business, there was a difference.
Speaker 5: There's a difference to differ so that I believe.
Speaker 4: But you understand a guy like me that's wanted to
Speaker 4: do since I was a child, this is my goal.
Speaker 4: So I really thought, Wow, this is it, Like I'm
Speaker 4: actually gonna get booked. I got to the Hammerstein and
Speaker 4: all the all I'm telling you, all the writers, all
Speaker 4: the guys, the camera, everyone's like, hey, preacher, Hey, preacher,
Speaker 4: how you doing. I don't know these guys, they're all
Speaker 4: talking to me. I'm like, holy shit, Like this is
Speaker 4: really gonna happen.
Speaker 1: I'm so over here.
Speaker 4: Yeah. And then because me, you were catering together. We
Speaker 4: were hanging out catering and I did nothing that night.
Speaker 5: I got paid. I did something.
Speaker 1: Do you think that they held it against you that
Speaker 1: you didn't make it to the town the week before?
Speaker 1: I don't know, like like in their mind, oh, this
Speaker 1: kid wants he should have been to the town, even
Speaker 1: though he was thousands of miles away.
Speaker 4: No, because I think Tommy explained it to them that, hey,
Speaker 4: you Tommy told me he goes. You need to if
Speaker 4: you guys want him. He works a real job, he
Speaker 4: is a real life You guys need to sign him
Speaker 4: to a contract if you want him.
Speaker 5: He actually said he told.
Speaker 4: Him that, and that's why, you know, I thought, Okay, well,
Speaker 4: you know, it's weird. I'm not bitter about ECW. I'm
Speaker 4: bitter it sucks that it ended because that was that
Speaker 4: was definitely our platform. You know, guys, people like me,
Speaker 4: people like you, that was our platform.
Speaker 5: That was our niche. I really believe that I'm.
Speaker 4: A little guy. I'm not a giant. You know, there's
Speaker 4: guys that have made money in w W not being giants,
Speaker 4: but I don't know if I was going to be
Speaker 4: one of them, and I think ECW is my niche.
Speaker 5: I would love to have tried in you know, WWE.
Speaker 4: But I'm not. I'm not negative about any of it
Speaker 4: really because everybody that got me to where I was,
Speaker 4: I'm just appreciative of that. And it's funny because I've
Speaker 4: had this talk with Tommy and I go, Tommy, I've
Speaker 4: made it further than a.
Speaker 5: Lot of people ever will. So I got to be
Speaker 5: happy about that.
Speaker 4: Like, I can't be a grumpy old man and think,
Speaker 4: well I should have been this and I should have
Speaker 4: been that.
Speaker 1: You know, chances, I.
Speaker 4: Don't regret anything. You know, I had a great time.
Speaker 4: I love my career.
Speaker 1: You know. So what are you doing now?
Speaker 4: Well, you know what I do.
Speaker 1: But I know, but they don't know.
Speaker 3: They don't know I work for that, So please tell
Speaker 3: me service.
Speaker 4: I'm a freaking mailman. Now we can deliver the mail
Speaker 4: and freaking deliver it. But I tell you what, I
Speaker 4: really like it. I really like this job. I mean,
Speaker 4: I like being a pro wrestler better. Don't get me wrong,
Speaker 4: but I love it. I actually love delivering mail. My
Speaker 4: customers on my route love me. I guess I'm personable.
Speaker 1: You're very personable. I love you. I mean, you're you're
Speaker 1: a good guy. So watch I love you. Christmas is coming.
Speaker 1: You're going to get all those bonuses in the mailbox.
Speaker 5: Oh man, Christmas time is coming.
Speaker 4: I can't wait you coming.
Speaker 1: Well, the biggest disappointment of twenty twenty is knowing that
Speaker 1: in twenty twenty one, I might not come to Disney
Speaker 1: and I might not get my dinner with Tony and Jen.
Speaker 1: So I'm very upset about.
Speaker 4: That we haven't been able to get together for the
Speaker 4: past few years because of my job, and now I
Speaker 4: don't have to work.
Speaker 1: Like I used to, right, So I'm waiting for this
Speaker 1: pandemic to leave so I can have my dinner.
Speaker 4: It will happen again, Franny, We're gonna Well.
Speaker 1: I'm just I feel and I say this before, I
Speaker 1: feel so blessed that I still have like you guys
Speaker 1: in my life because you are family to me.
Speaker 2: You are a family to me. So I just feel
Speaker 2: good that that you.
Speaker 1: Guys, and you know, we're still that we still have
Speaker 1: that bond and we can still call each other if
Speaker 1: we need something, and we can still bullshit. So it's
Speaker 1: it's such a pleasure to sit here and talk to
Speaker 1: you today.
Speaker 4: Yeah, listen, I think me and you, for whatever reason,
Speaker 4: always had that bond like brothers, sister and and I
Speaker 4: don't know if it was because of my my daughter.
Speaker 4: You know my daughter loves me, oh god. At that point. Now, yeah,
Speaker 4: for me, it was it's like, man, you're like one
Speaker 4: of my sisters because I like I told you, I
Speaker 4: grew up before sisters, you know, so it's like I
Speaker 4: kind of I understand how to you know, communicate with
Speaker 4: with women as crazy as you guys are.
Speaker 2: I know, I'll be the first to agmit it.
Speaker 1: We have our moments.
Speaker 5: Listen, I'm crazy too, but you know, well.
Speaker 1: Let me too, and if you came from me, CW,
Speaker 1: you're gonna have a little bit of that shoe craziness.
Speaker 1: So it's okay. Where can people find you on social media?
Speaker 4: I mean, I you know, my page is. I really
Speaker 4: don't have a fan page or nothing like that.
Speaker 2: But you're you're you're out there.
Speaker 4: Yeah, I mean I'm on I'm on Facebook, but it's
Speaker 4: just like I said, it's more of a friends it's
Speaker 4: not really a fan thing. So but I am on it,
Speaker 4: you know. On Twitter, I am, but I don't ever
Speaker 4: go on it. You don't tweet, okay, I don't tweet.
Speaker 4: I don't twat, I don't do any of that.
Speaker 1: We don't do the tweeting.
Speaker 4: Okay, that's too much work for any I can't be
Speaker 4: I can't do.
Speaker 1: Listen, tell me about it. I'm talking all the time.
Speaker 2: My hands hurt.
Speaker 1: I'm a mass right you know, but I I again,
Speaker 1: I'm so grateful that you and I are still friends.
Speaker 1: So I'm glad I grabbed you. I love you too,
Speaker 1: and I'm so glad I grabbed you today and finally
Speaker 1: got you on. And hopefully next year, whether it's at
Speaker 1: a show or just your time, will be able to
Speaker 1: spend some time together.
Speaker 4: Well yeah, I hope you guys can get the Disney
Speaker 4: just for your own sake. You guys love it so much.
Speaker 4: I know. I'm so sad junkies.
Speaker 1: Watching YouTube ride videos and pretending we're on them like.
Speaker 4: It comes to drop the chair the.
Speaker 1: We're desperate.
Speaker 2: But tell Joan and the kid tell.
Speaker 4: Her for me.
Speaker 5: Your family are good people, Frannie.
Speaker 1: Same to you, buddy.
Speaker 5: So I love you, Thanks for thanks for giving me
Speaker 5: this time.
Speaker 4: So no no problem.
Speaker 2: I love you too, and we'll talk to.
Speaker 4: You all right.
Speaker 3: Thanks, see you later, Tony, I'm not all right, yeah.
Speaker 4: H Francine.
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