LionDen
03-21-2007, 12:13 PM
The Sun in Great Britain interviewed WWE United States champion Chris Benoit while he was overseas promoting the company last week. The newspaper posted the audio of the interview on their official website this morning. To listen to the interview, click here (http://www.thesun.co.uk/article/0,,2006300002-2007130062,00.html).
Highlights of the 30 minute discussion include:
High Points of His Career: "My dream growing up was to wrestle for Stu Hart, Stampede Wrestling. Everything after that was icing on the cake. Wrestling in Japan. Winning the IWGP Junior Heavyweight title, having seen Dynamite [Kid], Tiger Mask win it. Working for ECW, working for WCW. Winning the title, coming to WWE, Winning the World Heavyweight title there."
ECW in 2007: "You know, I don't watch it that much but for a lot of the fans that watched it back in in the day, it's not like that. You can't go back. It'd be like me going back to Japan and expect it to be the same. Society is different. Fans want to see something different but you have that group of hardcore fans that want to see the blood and the gore and all that. It's just not there anymore. I don't think the general population of fans want to see that anymore."
TNA: "I don't watch the product. Once in awhile. I'll tell you, there was one week, he had a night off. It was a Monday that the dog show was on. They were unopposed and they had two hours and I was appalled...I could not believe the show they put on. We were sitting there looking at each other, scratching our heads....They have some incredible talent there, but no direction."
Samoa Joe: "He's great, great. From all I've heard and seen, I'd love to wrestle him. I'm a big Samoa Joe fan, big AJ Styles fan, Christian Cage obviously. I'd love to see [Joe come into WWE.]"
Development of New Talent: "One of the problems with guys from OVW and Deep South is they are brought up and thrown to the dogs on TV and they are expected to produce. Back in the day, there were 20 regional territories so Vince had his pick of the litter. Now, they don't have that system anymore. Now, they are trained for a year, two years and then they are expected to carry the ball. It's difficult."
Why WWE Now Teaches History to Developmental Talents: "There was someone in OVW, her name was Linda Miles [Former Smackdown Diva Shaniqua] and she didn't know who Andre the Giant was."
Tough Enough: "I don't think they were an insult to the business. As they unfolded, I think they realized that these weren't the thing to do. In the beginning, it was a great idea. As they got into it, it wasn't the way to go."
Wrestlers Breaking In Today: "I hope the guys that are breaking in now feel the same way [as Benoit did breaking in.] That's what's important, the passion for what you do, you do that. A lot of guys, believe it or not, come into the developmental system now and they won't know..one guy, some guys were watching tapes and one guy asked, 'Does Rick Rude still work here?' They do not know the history of the business. Perhaps cosmetically they look great and someone says, "Hey do you want an opportunity to become a wrestler, you look great' and they show up, but they're not fans."
WWE stars That Will Make It to Stardom: "Ken Kennedy, MVP, those are the two guys right now. Lashley as well."
Was WCW As Bad As It's Perceived Today: "The amount of talent and the amount of money they had at the time, they were spending money like it would never end. It was absurd. Looking back on it now, it was a great learning experience. A learned a lot of what not to do, how not to run a company. Back at the time, there were a lot of miserable people there, that's why we left...I had just won the World Heavyweight title there and it meant nothing, I wanted to get the hell out of there."
Leaving WCW: "At the time [I took a pay cut to go to WWE]. I was prepared to go back to Japan. There was no fear involved at all. I was dead set and I was leaving and that's it. Originally there were 18 of us who got together and we're going to ask to be released. When it came down to actually going into the room and asking for it, there were 12 of us. Now, when we're all in the room, it was down to five of us..me, Dean, Eddie, Perry, and Shane Douglas. When it came down to we're gonna leave, we're gonna stay, there were four of us. We were all strong, we all wanted to leave really bad. We all left the building, we got in the car and we all agreed we reached the point of no return. As long as we all got an opportunity, we go and we stick together. After we get that opportunity, it's up to each of us to carry the ball."
MMA: "I watch it when I can. Massive fan of those guys, tremendous athletes."
WWE Hall of Fame: "I'd like to see Allen Coage in there, Bad News Allen."
Benoit also discusses growing up a Stampede Wrestling fan, the differences between the on-air personas and wrestlers' real life personalities, Dynamite Kid, the former WWE star that couldn't deal with the pressures of being on road, Ric Flair, Rey Mysterio, Batista, comparing John Cena today to the early runs of The Rock and Steve Austin in WWE, Mistico, JBL, Undertaker, a potential autobiography down the line, and more.
Thanx to PWInsider.com for the news.
Highlights of the 30 minute discussion include:
High Points of His Career: "My dream growing up was to wrestle for Stu Hart, Stampede Wrestling. Everything after that was icing on the cake. Wrestling in Japan. Winning the IWGP Junior Heavyweight title, having seen Dynamite [Kid], Tiger Mask win it. Working for ECW, working for WCW. Winning the title, coming to WWE, Winning the World Heavyweight title there."
ECW in 2007: "You know, I don't watch it that much but for a lot of the fans that watched it back in in the day, it's not like that. You can't go back. It'd be like me going back to Japan and expect it to be the same. Society is different. Fans want to see something different but you have that group of hardcore fans that want to see the blood and the gore and all that. It's just not there anymore. I don't think the general population of fans want to see that anymore."
TNA: "I don't watch the product. Once in awhile. I'll tell you, there was one week, he had a night off. It was a Monday that the dog show was on. They were unopposed and they had two hours and I was appalled...I could not believe the show they put on. We were sitting there looking at each other, scratching our heads....They have some incredible talent there, but no direction."
Samoa Joe: "He's great, great. From all I've heard and seen, I'd love to wrestle him. I'm a big Samoa Joe fan, big AJ Styles fan, Christian Cage obviously. I'd love to see [Joe come into WWE.]"
Development of New Talent: "One of the problems with guys from OVW and Deep South is they are brought up and thrown to the dogs on TV and they are expected to produce. Back in the day, there were 20 regional territories so Vince had his pick of the litter. Now, they don't have that system anymore. Now, they are trained for a year, two years and then they are expected to carry the ball. It's difficult."
Why WWE Now Teaches History to Developmental Talents: "There was someone in OVW, her name was Linda Miles [Former Smackdown Diva Shaniqua] and she didn't know who Andre the Giant was."
Tough Enough: "I don't think they were an insult to the business. As they unfolded, I think they realized that these weren't the thing to do. In the beginning, it was a great idea. As they got into it, it wasn't the way to go."
Wrestlers Breaking In Today: "I hope the guys that are breaking in now feel the same way [as Benoit did breaking in.] That's what's important, the passion for what you do, you do that. A lot of guys, believe it or not, come into the developmental system now and they won't know..one guy, some guys were watching tapes and one guy asked, 'Does Rick Rude still work here?' They do not know the history of the business. Perhaps cosmetically they look great and someone says, "Hey do you want an opportunity to become a wrestler, you look great' and they show up, but they're not fans."
WWE stars That Will Make It to Stardom: "Ken Kennedy, MVP, those are the two guys right now. Lashley as well."
Was WCW As Bad As It's Perceived Today: "The amount of talent and the amount of money they had at the time, they were spending money like it would never end. It was absurd. Looking back on it now, it was a great learning experience. A learned a lot of what not to do, how not to run a company. Back at the time, there were a lot of miserable people there, that's why we left...I had just won the World Heavyweight title there and it meant nothing, I wanted to get the hell out of there."
Leaving WCW: "At the time [I took a pay cut to go to WWE]. I was prepared to go back to Japan. There was no fear involved at all. I was dead set and I was leaving and that's it. Originally there were 18 of us who got together and we're going to ask to be released. When it came down to actually going into the room and asking for it, there were 12 of us. Now, when we're all in the room, it was down to five of us..me, Dean, Eddie, Perry, and Shane Douglas. When it came down to we're gonna leave, we're gonna stay, there were four of us. We were all strong, we all wanted to leave really bad. We all left the building, we got in the car and we all agreed we reached the point of no return. As long as we all got an opportunity, we go and we stick together. After we get that opportunity, it's up to each of us to carry the ball."
MMA: "I watch it when I can. Massive fan of those guys, tremendous athletes."
WWE Hall of Fame: "I'd like to see Allen Coage in there, Bad News Allen."
Benoit also discusses growing up a Stampede Wrestling fan, the differences between the on-air personas and wrestlers' real life personalities, Dynamite Kid, the former WWE star that couldn't deal with the pressures of being on road, Ric Flair, Rey Mysterio, Batista, comparing John Cena today to the early runs of The Rock and Steve Austin in WWE, Mistico, JBL, Undertaker, a potential autobiography down the line, and more.
Thanx to PWInsider.com for the news.