Read what Tom has to say about shoots, Bockwinkle, sexual harassment, Pillman and more in the exclusive A1Wrestling interview
 

Same song, second verse. Bischoff found himself some new pockets to pick. But Bedol must already be panicking after reading the first press reactions. Here a quiz for Bedol -"What's the difference between WWF (total value $1billion) and WCW (sale value $15 million)?" Answer - Eric Bischoff. 
In fact, Bedol might just be the right person for positioning WCW into high speed internet access, wrestling on demand - but if he's going to succeed, he should be looking to replace Bischoff within the next few months. 

The bit from the press conference I laughed hardest at, was Eric referring to his buddies as 'brand names' in a last ditch effort to extend their longevity. 

Overall, the sale raises a few questions that I'd like to see the journalists put directly to Bischoff - such as - 

(1) Siegel removed you from the position of President of WCW around 12 months ago. Now you're back, with new financiers, but in largely the same position. Previously you brought the company to the verge of bankruptcy - how did you reassure Time Warner, and your new partners, that you won't do the same thing over again? 

(2) You said in your press conference that you had a personal financial investment in the new company. Can you tell us, what measures you took to satisfy both the vendors and the purchasers that you were acting in BOTH their and your own best interests- at the same time - with no potential for a conflict of interests? 

(3) What would have been the estimated potential value of WCW, if it had remained where it was and realized its full potential inside the new, converging, internet and TV environment of AOL -Time Warner? Was any of this value reflected in the very low $15 million sale price? 

(4) There seems to be some difference of opinion between TBS/TNT and the new owners over whether a major focus of the company will be continuing the Monday night wars with WWF. How much money are you willing to invest in trying to overtake the WWF, and for how long? 

(5) Where does Ric Flair fit into the company's future plans? 

(6) You seemed quite upbeat in your news conference about Dennis Rodman, Karl Malone, KISS and similar high ticket angles you ran on WCW. Will you be running the stalled $1,000,000 viewer prize competition, now you're freed from the constraints of Time Warner.

2. Janitor: In your open letter to Brad Siegel, you raise the question of whether the current deal achieves the best possible return for shareholders. Clearly there are many variables that determine the fair market value of a company. What makes you think that a company that reportedly will lose over 60 million dollars in the past year could be undervalued? 

Several reasons - here are three. Sharon Sidello, a VP at WCW, was reported on the Australian tour saying that wrestling was a license for printing money. Check the WWF for proof of that. They currently expect to make $450 million in revenues. WCW could be making money hand over fist - if only they had the right management. Second, a significant portion of that $60 million loss comes from salaries that were artificially inflated by Bischoff for guys who've been sitting at home, with pretend injuries, doing nothing to add value to the company. In my book they're liabilities, not assets. They're losing the company money and undermining its value. I've read that some people in the industry say this has been part of a sustained ploy to devalue the company - though, personally, I can't comment. With the right booking, surely these guys could be earning money for the company - instead of just burning it up. Thirdly, if WCW had stayed where it was, and closed down for say 6 months to restructure, it was strategically positioned inside the newly merged AOL-Time Warner - one of the largest 'new economy' companies in the world - and been ideally placed to take advantage of all the opportunities that go with being part of AOL-Time Warner, at a key moment when digital media - particularly TV and the Internet - are converging. WCW's location INSIDE AOL-Time Warner, could add tens of millions of value to the company. WCW's location OUTSIDE AOL-Time Warner arguably removes tens of millions of dollars off its value. So, you should include in the value of the company the 'opportunity cost' of staying with, or leaving, AOL-Time Warner's media empire. My understanding is that this sort of information should be revealed in the process of 'due diligence', i.e., making sure AOL-Time Warner shareholders don't lose money through the premature sale of the company - before it had time to realize its full worth in the new AOL-Time Warner environment. 

3. Question: There is a lot of talk about wrestlers as employees vs. independent contractors. Many internet sites have stated that there should be legal action taken against the wrestling promotions. However, I believe that this is a simple matter for the IRS. Clearly, wrestlers are employees. As the watchdog of professional wrestling, why not join A1wrestling in an IRS whistleblower case. 

I'm interested ....... Of course we were NEVER independent contractors - we had no say in anything, so how could we be 'independent'. It was just a convenient tag to avoid paying us our full working entitlements. We had to pay our own Social Security (about 14% of salary) and there was no employer contribution to 410k or compensation when we were injured. This would be a great way to get some money for all wrestling's old timers and guys like Dynamite Kid. 
BTW what about getting the SEC to look over the WCW sale while we're at it....? 

4. I heard you on a radio show once talking about how you and Pillman would go out on the town and score with the ladies. Can you share with us a couple of amusing 
or interesting stories of this life on the road. There has to be some funny stuff in there! (dumi) 

4 a - What is the funniest "road story" you can remember (Kayafaber) 

I don't know if this is the 'funniest' - but off the top of my head - I remember - I was in Syracuse with Brian - we'd a rented a car, a brand new Cadillac and after our match, we went out drinking. Brian was having a mood swing - he was frustrated at the way we were being buried by Ole. Anyway, we were in a bar drinking and someone bumped into Brian and suddenly he went nuts and grabbed a pitcher of beer and poured it over the guy's head. Next minute Brian was fisting him in the head. The bouncers came running and pulled Brian off the guy on the floor - I told them "He's with me, I'll take care of him" and we took off, out through the back door, before the cops arrived. Brian pulled the Cadillac out onto the highway. He was still enraged and gunned the car down the highway - I looked across and we were traveling about 90 or 100 miles an hour - I said, "Take it easy". There were concrete dividers in the center lane and steel guards on the right hand side and two lanes. All of a sudden, he swung the wheel left - we weren't buckled in - and the car started spinning at 100 miles an hour - hitting the dividers and steel guards - front bumper - back bumper, front - back, front - back .. doing 360's down the highway. I don't know how far the car slid before he stopped it. And then we sat there laughing. It didn't roll - it slid perfectly. One in a million chance. We took it into the rental car agency next morning - they had automatic cover. Brian handed the keys over and bolted for the plane. Another time we were driving with Johnny Ace and, I think, Shane Douglas - going to a match somewhere in the Carolinas - and someone cut Brian off. So he gunned the car, chased them for a few miles and then knocked them into midfield, like NASCAR. He didn't stop - he said we're late - and just kept going. 

In all my years in wrestling, we always had a pocketful of cash - every night was Saturday night - every meal was a banquet - we could go anywhere, and we could do anything we wanted. And being a wrestler and working for Ted Turner was like having a 'get out of jail' card. It was a hell of a lifestyle and I had it that way from 18 - 36 - my best years. I never got addicted to the pop but it was a hell of a lifestyle and hard to give up. I wish everyone could experience it. 

5. Do you follow the ECW product at all? What do you think about their prospects for the future? (dumi)

I don't watch ECW at all - but I like Paul (Heyman). I used to hang with Heyman back when I was starting out. But I don't like the way people aren't getting paid. With stories circulating that WCW is running down the Power Plant, and Bischoff claiming he's looking for new talent, I guess Eric will raid ECW for their best talent. That's his style. So if I was Vince, I'd step in right away and help Paul tie up his best workers with guaranteed contracts, which would help out ECW. Or, I'd pretend I was after his best workers and stampede Bischoff into buying them up at inflated prices. Paul's a survivor and ECW's an important part of the mix. 

6. When you look at the WWF right now, do you feel that there are some guys who should be pushed harder than they are, but are likely NOT pushed harder because of politics and established stars wanting to keep their spot? For instance, on the Internet you hear about HHH's political power in the back or the fact that Jericho isn't getting a fair shake. But can you give us your opinion on all this -- who is unfairly protecting their spot, who is being kept down, or is it all a bunch of unfair rumors? (dumi) 

It's ALWAYS politics. That's how guys keep their spots. At the same time, Vince likes to keep everyone insecure. That way, he gets the best performance from them - and that way he's the puppet master. My understanding is that Vince always has a few top guys who he favors, but overall he uses everyone so long as they can make him money. At WWF they use you to THEIR advantage. That distinguishes Vince from WCW. Vince's bottom line requirement is to make money - so he use's everyone from top to bottom for the company's best interests. You just have to be able to draw - (not like Sting and the WCW stars - how long did any of the WCW guys last up in WWF?). My understanding is that at WWF, they plan in terms of years not months - and you've got to be prepared to wait. And that's also part of their 'attitude test.' With Jericho, I would guess someone with stroke doesn't like him or they're protecting their own spot. Check out who's mentoring him and see if they're deliberately giving him bad advice, like DDP does to all his boys? 

7. You might have already answered this, but who are the 3 most overpushed men in each of the Big Two (WWF, WCW). (dumi) 

I think I probably have answered this but I don't mind repeating myself!! By 'overpushed' I mean keeping a top spot without drawing houses or ratings- at WCW (1) over the past 15 years Sting has never drawn houses or ratings -just like Flair hasn't drawn houses since 1989. (2) Sid Vicious has never drawn anything. (3) DDP's push exposes the business. 

In the WWF (1) Stephanie McMahon, (2) Stephanie McMahon and (3) Stephanie McMahon. 
 

8. Janitor: Mic skills play a large role in whether wrestlers reach the top level. Can you name wrestlers that had extraordinary mic skills, but were not allowed to showcase them because of politics? 

This goes back to whether or not you're getting a push. If you have no push, no program and no angle - what are you going to talk about - mic skills or no mic skills? 

I mentioned before a number of ways a wrestler has for getting himself over and all of them are influenced by politics - with the top guys using their stroke to hold the lid down and make sure you DON'T get over and threaten their spot. For example, finishing moves and interview time. There's a whole hierarchy involved in allocating finishers - no one, for example, could use the figure four to finish a match because that finishing move 'belonged' to Flair, etc. So it was considered pretty remarkable when someone like DDP 'stole' Johnny Ace's 'Ace Cutter' and renamed it 'The Diamond Cutter.' You'll always see DDP saying that Ace 'gave' it to him. And, you could tell EXACTLY where you stood in the hierarchy by the finisher they gave you. When I arrived in 1989, Flair gave me the sleeper as my finisher, so I knew right away I was in the deep freeze. Mic time is just as strictly regulated by the bookers and top guys - how often you get the mic, how much time on the mic, and what you can say. I'm sure if they'd allowed me and Pillman more time with the mic, we could have had a lot of fun, impersonating and playing around with all the old guys at WCW. Look at Brian on the stick when he realized he'd nothing left to lose and went crazy with the 'Loose Cannon' gimmick. Brian's angle was to grab the mic live on a PPV when people weren't expecting it. And again, look at his mic work when he left for ECW and WWF. Same for Shane Douglas in ECW. And so on....... 
 

9. Janitor: The Bruiser Brody Shoot stories are well documented. Have you ever been in the ring with a wrestler that shoots? 

No. I've never encountered it. When I wrestled Brody and Snuka in Japan, they were great to me. They worked lighter and easier than anyone I wrestled on that tour. The proper ring etiquette is - if you've got issues to settle, do it in the back room - not in the ring. The rule is to be completely professional in the ring. Some guys break the rule, like Hansen or Vader - if they hit you stiff, then you hit them back stiff. When I was touring Japan with Dan Kroffat, all the guy's were sick of getting hit stiff by Hansen ... it makes for a real long tour, and we all had to get along (in the Japanese style). So, to teach Stan a lesson, Danny put him in a shoot hold arm bar and held him down, then added pressure on it, until the big Southwest Texas Redneck was screaming - "Damn .....my arm ... it don't bend that way"! Danny took the edge off Big Stan and Stan seemed to work better for the rest of the tour. The basic rule is to take care of your opponent's body. Your body is your 'tool of trade' and it's got to be protected in the ring. Like Bret Hart said "You're missing the point, Mick Foley." The business is fake - the REAL thing is how light your touch is. When I wrestled Bret, the first thing I noticed was that he took care to slam me in the center of the ring because that's where the big spring is. (In the locker room, guys coming in from a match used to say "Watch the ring. It's hard tonight.") The whole point is 'Think shoot, but work the match.' In the business, the real mark of respect is when someone says that working with you was "A NIGHT OFF." 

10. Janitor: Which wrestlers with reputations as being tough guys are generally considered whimps? How would you fare in a that sort of fighting?

If you mean 'tough' guys in the ring, that's not really a valid question - wrestling is a work - so everybody in the ring who looks 'tough', well, its just make-believe. Scott Norton is a genuinely tough guy. But, in the ring, I threw myself 20 feet through the air to make Scott Norton look 'tough'. It wasn't Norton who threw me - it was my job to make Norton look 'tough' enough to do it. That's the point. But maybe Sid Vicious is the case in point you're looking for. Spivey told me that Sid Vicious was genuinely frightened of Brian Pillman. Remember the squeegee story that got spread around- it was really an ice scraper - but they reckoned embellishing the story would be a better rib on Sid. 

11. Can you identify for us 3 guys you see in the business who are relative unknowns or midcarders right now who could, if handled right, be the next big thing. Not talking about the usual picks like Benoit, since he's dabbled in the mains and most folks think he should the next big thing. I'm talking "diamonds in the rough." (dumi) 

Like I said, the top guys in WWF and WCW are politically involved in keeping the lid on things and they're all too young for any dramatic change at the top of WWF for the next five years or so - unless someone just slips through the way Goldberg did. Maybe, if I could put the question around another way - I'd say there's room for some more personas that are currently largely absent from wrestling - that could provide an opening for some young up-and-coming wrestlers. In my opinion, there's room for (1) one or two no-nonsense, take no prisoners, tag teams like the Road Warriors; (2) a nasty dirty heel who loves to be hated - not the current crop of heels, who all seem to want to be cool. Scotty Steiner and HHH are notable exceptions, but I think there's room for more; (3) some pretty boy heels, specializing in getting their asses kicked. 

12. Janitor: Clearly, Vince McMahon has unnatural muscle development. Is it common knowledge of the wrestlers that Vince continues to take steroids? 

Vince's attorney Laura Brevetti confirmed that Vince WAS a steroid user - I believe that's all in the record of his 1994 trial. I don't know what his current habits are. Personally, I hope he's not. I saw him on TV recently and he looks sort of soft. 

13. Janitor: In an interview, you have discussed the homosexual harassment that wrestlers endured at the hands of Patterson and Garvin. Were there other bookers that did similar things to the wrestlers- were pushes ever linked to sexual favors? 

Pushes linked to sexual favors? - not to my knowledge. Isn't a bit implausible for a big tough wrestler to complain about sexual harassment? It was common knowledge about Pat Patterson and his boyfriend Louis and Terry Garvin. And they were all very open about their sexuality. The thing that annoyed me was the fact that they took advantage of their position of power to hang around the showers and locker room, being generally sleazy. And they basically disrespected us in, say, the same way that people at WCW disrespected Missy Hyatt. In my opinion, wrestling is my workplace and you don't use your position at work to mess with people like that. That was one of the reasons I left WWF in 1987. And my termination from WCW came a few days after I offered to go witness for Missy Hyatt in her harassment case against WCW. 
 

14. Janitor: What are you doing now? 

At this moment, I'm entertaining myself by stirring the pot on the internet - and trying to clue in the great booking minds of the 21st Century, down at WCW. Maybe I should have clued them in earlier. 
 

15. Janitor: Many people view you as a watchdog, telling it like it is. Others consider you a bitter person. How do you see yourself? 

I think everyone has a point of view and provided it's based on facts and logically ordered, I reckon it should be given equal consideration - not dismissed as this or that. I think labeling me 'bitter' is short hand for refusing to recognize my point of view or thinking through its implications. I can understand that people like Ryder or Ross call me 'bitter' because they're paid to shill for their companies and defend them against criticism. My critique is that wrestling's best chance was under Ted Turner, and the opportunity was totally squandered by a sequence of incompetent bookers and managers. Helped along by a number of wrestlers who say they love the business and should have know better. I've been saying this, in the hope of changing WCW's direction for almost 10 years, in and out of the business - they didn't listen then - but mostly, what I said has come to fruition. So now Turner has abandoned them. They killed the goose that laid the golden egg. I didn't - THEY did. So go burn on them. I think my ideas for WCW are better - not bitter. The only thing I'm truly angry about is the pile of bodies they left behind. The only dead friends in my life are wrestlers. 
 

16. When Bockwinkel was champion did he put young guys over or did he act like Flair did (Kayafaber)

Nick was a very good, very respectful, 2nd generation wrestler. He was no ring general like Harley Race - he had a different touch - not a smooth worker or technician - a bit stiff and clumsy - but he was a real professional. I was green as grass when I started work with him - but he always put me at ease - he'd say "how many matches have you had kid?" and measure it from there. Or, in one of my early matches, he told me "When you make your comeback, if you get lost (i.e., don't know what to do next), don't worry, I'll cut you off, (i.e., take over and do the finish)". Nick was generous and, in those days, he made me look a lot better than I was - not like Bagwell making a monkey out of David Flair. Nick was a true professional. I don't know whether it was Verne or Nick, but they refused to pass the belt to Hogan. That was a terrible move - it helped bring down the AWA - a bit like the end of WCW - killing your promotion by not doing business the right way.