Written by Chris Siggia
AEW UNRESTRICTED 04/16/20: DUSTIN RHODES
Dustin talking about his match with Cody: “When you are sitting at home for a couple of months with another company who doesn’t value you at all, and you know you have so much more to offer and give, you kind of lose your passion. For the first time in 31 years, I lost my passion for the wrestling business. I love wrestling…They just would give me the time of day and I had enough. For the first time I stood up for myself in a big way and said I am asking you for my release. I’m done. I am not happy here anymore. They make you wait it out and it was getting very close to Double or Nothing. Cody called me and said would you like to work a match with me. At first I thought, we have tried this for years and years and they (WWE) told us it was not good enough to be on the big stage. I heard that more than once. Year after year we tried. They didn’t see any value in yet. After years of that I started thinking could it be too late for this match to take place. I’m 50 years old. Could I give a performance for my brother Cody and for the fans that I could be proud of? We finally get there. I was made to feel loved and cared for and respected in the business from day one that I met Tony Khan.”
Dustin talking about when he first left WWE early in his career: “I remember one time when Dad told me this. We were working Million Dollar Man Ted Dibiase and Dad was on his way out. He was going back to Florida to open a territory there or try to revive a territory under a new moniker. I wanted to go with him. I see Dad talking to Vince and Dad told me that I need to ask for my release. I’ve been there about six months. I went and asked. I said I would like to go with my father to back up this company. He said yes. He let me go, right away. It was much different back then than now. But then he pulled Dusty aside later and Dusty told me that Vince said you take him now, but I’m going to bring him back and make him a star. I don’t think Dad was lying to me about that but he kept that from me for a good many years. But Vince made me a star.”
Dustin talking about his first in ring experience: “Dusty didn’t want me to get into the business… One day, I picked him up at the airport. We had about a 40 minute drive. He said I’m going to break you into the business. He gave me a 45 minute crash course of the business. He said you are going to get in your car tomorrow or the next day, whenever it was, and drive to Amarillo while he is on his private jet, the Crockett jet. Go get you a referee shirt. I’m going to have you referee two matches. I get there and I’m nervous. I’m 18 years old. He puts me in 2 tag matches. The second one was the Midnight Express against the Rock and Roll Express. Tommy Young was the head referee and he is looking at me making sure I don’t f..up. Everything went according to plan. I went down for the count, one, two, three. I lift Ricky and Robert’s hands up. I look down at Tommy Young and he is laughing and the whole building is laughing at me. I look down at Tom and he points down to my crotch. I had ripped from the belt all the way back around to the belt in the back and had no drawers on. So, my balls are hanging out for all of Amarillo, TX to see.”
Dustin talking about his past drug use: “I was very bad into drugs and alcohol for a good chunk of four or five years. It got really terribly bad. I did not care about life. I did not care about my daughter. I did not care about anything except drinking and taking pills and doing cocaine. That’s all I cared about and it got really bad. I had a three day binge and I could not snap out of it. It scared me. That was my rock bottom. The third day happens and it’s 4 in the morning. A lot of things are going on in my body. At that point I had lost everything because I pawned everything. I lived in a little garage that was connected to somebody’s house that I was renting. I had nothing except clothes and a few things. No cell services. Dad gave me one of his cell phones. If I needed cell service, I had to crawl up the hill. It is pouring down rain. It is 4 in the morning. My wife is there now with me through all this. She helps me crawl out. I am so shit faced. I crawl up the hill and call my Dad. I tell him that I need help. WWE has the Wellness Program. They got me in the next day. I loaded up on drugs and alcohol going into rehab. I get out of rehab 30 days later and I never turned back. It’s almost 12 years and from that day I got out of rehab, Dad would call me every day to make sure I was working my program. I went an AA meeting for 2 years straight every single night. Every phone call would end with him saying he is proud of me.”
CONVERSATIONS WITH THE BIG GUY RYBACK 04/16/20: DAVID STARR
Ryback talking about WWE merchandise: “I remember working on top with John (Cena). We were the two merchandise guys and signing the $20 photos and signing big stacks of them every single show. I asked a lot of questions. There was a guy in merch that would give me a lot of info which they ended up firing him for. I asked him if he knew how much we were actually getting on these. He said they get them for pennies on the dollar because they buy them in massive amounts. They sell them for $20 to the fans and you get about 83 cents a photo. I had to get to the arena an hour or two early to sign these photos and just the cut is so limited but I asked questions and that probably was a major red flag with me.”
Ryback talking on video game income: “THQ went bankrupt. It was still the best selling game at that point. The video game pay went from $90,000 for what you would make on the game to $11,000. Mark Carrano was in there. I was brand new. I was making main event money which was probably lower than other main event guys got. They had Cena speak up, of all people, and he said guys, we have to tuff this out. We have to be good soldiers for the company. I was pro John Cena up to that point because I didn’t know enough, even though I had some suspicions of stuff with my ankle injury. Then I said, f…, that guy is dangerous because that guy is making his money regardless and everybody else is just looking around at each other and it was one of those moments they knew they had us, because nobody spoke up on that and they paid us that rate for my entire time there. They never fixed it.”
David Starr talking about video game income: “I had a friend of mine that became very popular in the cruiserweight tournament and then got assigned to NXT shortly thereafter. He told me he heard stories from Hurricane and Billy Gunn that they were making bank on video games. This wrestler said they were going to include the 205 guys on video games. They offered the 205 guys apparently $2,800 flat and then somebody said no and they were told directly that the office is not going to like that.”
AFTER THE BELL WITH COREY GRAVES 04/16/20: DREW GULAK
Gulak talking about John Cena: “Any chance I ever had to interact with John Cena, he has been the most generous guy with his time and he really does love this. He would sit and watch 205 Live every night after Smackdown because he wanted to. He would be giving out advice all the time.”
Gulak on what he did before wrestling: “One of my part time jobs before WWE happened is I worked as a circus clown for Jewish kids. I used to work at a recreation center. I was a swimming instructor…Northeast Philly has a strong Jewish community. One of the other instructors said she needed somebody to help her. She worked as a clown. I would have to put on the rainbow wig and I would go all out and get as crazy as I could. I would wear crazy colorful shirts and pink socks pulled all the way up. We would go to a synagogue or a Jewish Hebrew school in the area and entertain them for a while.”
GRILLING JR 04/16/20: VICKIE GUERRERO
Jim Ross talking about Vickie’s daughter, Shaul Guerrero (Raquel Diaz): “I was going down to Florida a lot when she was there. She was having issues taking a flat back bump. Not that it is really easy, it isn’t easy…She really had issues executing some of the basic physical things, not out of lack of effort, but it just wasn’t natural. She didn’t have the great aptitude to be an in ring performer. Because of her father being one of the greatest of all time, he casted a massive shadow and I think she always felt like she had to do some things like her dad did, have some of that Guerrero mystique and stylings. I just never thought she was comfortable in the ring. I will say this, she is a beautiful young woman. I think she was miscast, so to speak. She should have been an interviewer or a color analyst or a ring announcer or a studio host, something along those lines. But getting in the ring and taking the bumps wasn’t her thing and I’m glad, I’m really glad, that she got that out of her head and moved on. I think she will be happier and healthier in the long run.”
Ross talking about Vickie falling out of favor in WWE because she appeared on an episode of AEW Dark: “How Mickey Mouse is that shit. You’re going to take her off for being on a YouTube show? Did she say anything disparaging regarding your brand? Not a damn word. You got to be shitting me. That’s incredulous to me that we are even talking about that because you would think, that can’t be true Conrad. Vickie would not have said she had been cut off, whatever that means. What it meant was it probably she is just not going to get anymore bookings. She probably hasn’t been under contract for quite some time, but it is just childish. I’m embarrassed to even think about how that was, after all she had gone through with that company. She delivered the goods for three years. She was a significant character on television as any new talent that WWE had in a long time.”
BUSTED OPEN PODCAST 04/16/20: Shane “The Hurricane” Helms
Tommy Dreamer discussing his comments he made against Zack Ryder: “I jokingly made fun of Zack Ryder which I always do. It’s called shooting on the square about when he just recently spent $40,000 on action figures and how much money he put out there for a Rhythm and Blues Greg the Hammer Valentine action figure which was like $14,500 which he was outbid. People are bringing up what I said and saying I look like a real dick for what I said. Number 1, I hired Zack and Curt (Ryder) into WWE. I feel he will definitely land on his feet because of what he did for his own brand. He brought social media to professional wrestling. But, I was also kind of playing with Zach, and coming up, which will be released tomorrow, they asked me to cut a promo for them on their podcast heeling on Zack for what an idiot he is for purchasing that stuff, and I talk about when he is fired from WWE he is going to regret that. So, I was asked to do this, and I did it, and I know people are going to jump all over it on social media. Just like I was asked to heel on Luchasaurus on Being the Elite, I was playing the role and that went into what we were discussing with Ronda Rousey. So, that is not my personal character, which I’m sure will be attacked, but I’m putting it out there already and I welcome any personal attack to discuss it like a man, but there are not a lot of people that want to know the true story.”
Shane “Hurricane” Helms on whether he understands why he was released: “I completely understand. Nobody is buying tickets. There are no live events. I understand cutting costs…I was basically paid to sit at home and do little to nothing. That can only last for so long. So, I completely understand…I would review scripts and give feedback, but other than that, there was not a lot I was able to do. Most of the producers they kept were Florida producers and lived there and they didn’t have to travel.”
KEEPIN IT 100 WITH KONNAN 04/16/20: Taya Valkyrie and John Morrison
Taya on not working Impact’s TV tapings: “They had tapings last week. They asked if we wanted to go or not. I said I didn’t feel comfortable and California’s rules are stricter than other places, so, it kind of freaks me out.”
John Morrison talking about difference between WWE last time he worked there and now: “The backstage culture is, it seems like there are less assholes.”
