Pinfalls: How long were you involved in Judo before you turned towards pro wrestling as a career option?

Bad News: I was in Judo for 14 years, I started at the age of 18 and retired after the 1976 Olympics. In 1977 I started training to become a pro wrestler.

Pinfalls: You spent quite a bit of time in Japan--what is your favorite memory of Japan and how different was it performing overseas versus the States?

Bad News: My favorite memory was my first pay check as a trainee (Judo never paid to train). Performing in Japan, the crowd was more conservative they would applaud you when your name was announced at the start of the match, sit quiet and applaud you at the end. Wrestling in the States was a drastic change, the crowds were really rowdy, screaming, cheering and booing. In Mexico the crowd was dangerous, they would throw peso, dirty diapers, soda cans, whiskey bottles ... you name it they threw it.

Pinfalls: You were also heavily involved with Stu Hart's Stampede Wrestling. How was it working for Stu and did you enjoy your time with Stampede?

Bad News: I loved working for Stu, (hated working for his dumb ass kids) [because] he was a funny guy to be around and he treated me well. Working for Stu is how I met my beautiful wife.

Pinfalls: Who would you rate as your all-time favorite opponent and why?

Bad News: Dynamite Kid was my all time favorite, He was the greatest worker pound for pound worker in the business. Everything he did looked believable and we had some classic matches together.

Pinfalls: What lead to you joining the WWF?

Bad News: When McMahon bought out Stu Hart part of the deal was that Dynamite, Davey Boy Smith, Bret Hart & myself go to the WWF. I didn't go at that time because my wife was pregnant and I wanted to be with her for our son's birth. A couple of years later Hogan suggested Vince bring me in. Vince called me promising the world and I went.

Pinfalls: Did you enjoy portraying a heel character in "Bad News Brown" or would you had rather been a face?
Bad News: I loved being a heel as I was throughout most of my career.

Pinfalls: How did the fans react to your no-nonsense tough guy persona?

Bad News: They left me alone, they believed in my gimmick so I wasn't constantly harassed for autographs.

Pinfalls: On those same lines, what is the oddest experience with a fan that you have had?

Bad News: After I left the WWF I went to wrestle in Mexico, during my match some fan who had believed that I was afraid of snakes (Because of my matches with Jake the Snake in the WWF) threw one into the ring. I stomped that snake to death and threw it out of the ring. The fan went crying to the police. Another time while working for Stu in Red Deer, I was wrestling Jim Neidhart, I threw him out of the ring and started beating him on the floor. This woman in the front row jumped up and called me a "f@$#ing asshole" and when she did her false teeth flew out. Jim, myself and the referee burst out laughing and I told her she better get some poly grip.

Pinfalls: You have spoken negatively regarding your time with the WWF. What would you view as the crux of your difficulties there?

Bad News: Vince McMahon, he lied to me from day one and continued lying to the day I left.

Pinfalls: You never won the WWF title, however rumors indicate that a title reign was planned but abandoned. Are there any truths to these rumors and if so, why were these plans changed?

Bad News: They promised me the title before I got there [and] according to Vince's discussions with the office members, Vince was afraid that if given the belt I wouldn't give it back and no one there was tough enough to take it from me. I told Vince that I've always been a business man and when it was time for me to drop the strap I'd drop it and if he was really afraid that he could fire me and make a new belt. That was his feeble attempt to cover up for the lies he told me.

Pinfalls: Your feud with Bret Hart turned him face; however at first it was actually two heels feuding which was virtually unheard of at the time. How do you feel about the trend of today where the differences between faces and heels are sometimes vague and ever changing?

Bad News: I don't like it, I think it takes away from what wrestling is all about --good versus evil. Today there is barley a distinction, you don't know who's suppose to be the heel or face.

Pinfalls: Your feud with Roddy Piper (which culminated at Wreslemania 6) was very controversial and was one of the first mainstream wrestling angles that involved racism. How did you view this angle and how was it working with Piper? Also, it seemed that the feud beyween you and Piper would continue after WM6 ... was your program with Piper supposed to last longer or was it ended early?

Bad News: I hated the angle, I hate racism and I knew Piper for a long time and knew he was a racist ... that just proved my suspicions that McMahon was also a racist (that half black face was those two morons putting their pea brains together). Piper was a good talker but never a good worker. The reason we didn't continue our feud was because Piper left to do a pilot for a TV show which everyone knew about except me, they kept me in the dark until the last minute [but] I was happy with the outcome ... I didn't want to work with Piper again after that match.

Pinfalls: On your site, you describe Jake Roberts as "Great worker, excellent in ring psychology, all around good guy." How did you enjoy your feud with Roberts and what is your favorite Jake The Snake story?

Bad News: I loved working with him, he was the one who replaced Piper which without McMahon realizing it was a great thing for me. During one of our matches I hid the snake and he couldn't find it. The fans went wild trying to tell Jake where it was, I was suppose to be knocked out in the ring but I couldn't stop laughing.

Pinfalls: Bad News Brown was unquestionably one of the most intimidating heels in WWF history. In reality, how would you view your own personality in comparison to Bad News?

Bad News: I'm a great actor and did my job well ... I am nothing like the character I portrayed. People are always surprised once they get to know me.

Pinfalls: Your Harlem Street Fight with Randy Savage (which appeared on a video from Coliseum Video) was the predecessor of today's hardcore style matches that have slowly infiltrated mainstream wrestling. It would be years before we would see another match similar to the Harlem Street Fight on TV. At the time, did you ever consider the notion that the "hardcore" style would become as prevelant as it has?

Bad News: No, I was doing the Harlem street fights with Dynamite Kid and with Kevin Sullivan in Florida, long before the ones with Randy (that's where Vince stole the idea). I didn't think anything of it at the time.

Pinfalls: I remember your very last televised match for the WWF was at SummerSlam '90 against Jake Roberts. What brought about your departure from the organization?

Bad News: That was to be my last day with the WWF (6 weeks prior I had given them notice) but McMahon begged me to stay until November of that year because Jake and my matches were so good that he wanted us to go another two times around the territory which would start with street fights, turn into cage matches and loser leave town. The day of SummerSlam I did 50 television interviews for the upcoming matches. The first time around I put Jake over every night. They wanted me to put Jake over at SummerSlam that night which would have killed all the upcoming matches and I refused, business wise it made no sense, [and] who the hell would pay to see us if he already kicked my ass at SummerSlam? So an argument ensured with twinkle toes Pat Patterson. I told him to shove his finish right where he liked it most and him being in this business for 30 years he should have known better. Him and Vince then tried to have the guest referee Big Boss Man take me down but Boss Man knew better, he wasn't a dumb as he looked.

Pinfalls: Were you ever contacted by WCW (or at the time, WCW/NWA)?

Bad News: No, I tried to contact them but they wanted nothing to do with me.

Pinfalls: What is your favorite Owen Hart story?

Bad News: We were in Hershey Pennsylvania and he was [portraying] the Blue Blazer. When I went out to wrestle him, I entered the ring first and when he came in (he always did a back flip off the corner turnbuckle) for some reason the second he came off his spin I clotheslined him. Feathers went flying all over the place, he looked like a plucked chicken. All the boys in the back were laughing their heads off and the office was mad because the robe cost a lot of money and most of the feathers were gone. Owen loved it because he hated being the Blue Blazer.

Pinfalls: What are your current views of Vince McMahon nand woul you ever consider working for him again?

Bad News: I think he is a genius in marketing, a snake in the grass and a egotistical maniac. I would love to work just one match against him, it wouldn't be a spit in the face like Bret Hart it would be Vince in a body cast for 6 months. Couldn't stand him them and can't stand him now.

Pinfalls: If you could pick the weirdest moment you ever witnessed in wrestling, what would it be?

Bad News: When Andre the Giant shit all over me during a match in Mexico.

Pinfalls: During your time with the WWF, who would you view as the most under-rated and over-rated wrestlers with the company?

Bad News: Underrated was Dynamite Kid, overrated was The Ultimate Warrior.

Pinfalls: What are your views of the infamous Survivor Series 1997 Bret Hart "title change?"

Bad News: Bret knows that when you leave a territory you drop the strap to someone else, that the way it's always been and everyone does it, Bret believed his own bullshit and thought he was better than everyone else. If Vince was a real man he would have told Bret to drop it instead of the sneaky underhanded way that he did it.

Pinfalls: Yourself excluded ... who would you consider to be some of the industries' legitimate tough guys?

Bad News: Haku, Barbarian, Afa & Sika, Dan Spivey, Billy Jack Haynes, Kurt Angle and High Chief Peter Maivia (The Rock's grandfather).

Pinfalls: The veil of secrecy which, for decades, was a vital part of wrestling has now been lifted. Which do you prefer--a protected or unprotected business--and why?

Bad News: Thanks to Vince McMahon for exposing the business which killed most territories, people liked to believe that it was all real. It gave them a release to go out a scream and yell at the heels, get out their frustrations in a couple of hours without really hurting anyone else. If you look at crowd reactions now it's drastically different than it used to be. I think he hurt the business. I much prefer the way it used to be.

Pinfalls: What would you view as the best gimmick of all time, the worst gimmick of all time and the most under-appreciated gimmick of all time?

Bad News: The best gimmick in my view was Jake "The Snake" and "Macho Man" when he was with Elizabeth, The worst was and is Vince McMahon trying to be tough and The Godfather. I don't really know about the under-appreciated one.

Pinfalls: Your web site states that you have a book in the works. When will the book be available to fans?

Bad News: I'm hoping it's available by June.

Pinfalls: What are your views on the recent sale of WCW to the WWF?

Bad News: Vince once again has a monopoly and the ones who will get hurt by it are the wrestlers, a lot of careers will prematurally die, cause if you don't blow you don't go.

Pinfalls: And finally, what's the most frequently asked question posed by fans and if you could answer it one last time and never have to answer it again, what would that question be?

Bad News: When am I coming back to wrestle and why did I leave so soon. After 22 years in the ring and both knees replaced, it was time to retire.