Pinfalls: Back on WCW ... you had a program with Johnny B. Badd [Marc Mero] as well
as Vader ... which would you consider to be your favorite feud?
Maxx: Oh, it is definitely with Marc. I had such a good time working with him, I really did
... I love Marc and I don’t know what he thinks of me, I just know that I had a blast
working with him. We went through a hell of a lot together--I enjoyed every moment of
the rehearsals, getting ready to shoot him with the Badd Blaster and all the things that
went down before and after that. We had the opportunity to do some stuff ... they were
trying to push Johnny and trying to figure out what to do with him ... so, I’d have to say
Johnny definitely in WCW.
In terms of moments in WCW, definitely working with Cactus Jack against the Nasties in
Chicago. I didn’t like working with the Nasties because those guys are pretty much
ass-holes who don’t care about the personal safety of anyone they work with ... I enjoyed
the United Center match we did but it was extremely horrifying ... and in the WWF I really
didn’t do anything. I worked with Bob Backlund in the WWF and I frankly I had a blast
working with Bob. And I worked with Louie in the WWF at the end and that was
awesome.
Pinfalls: Actually, the next question I had was about you teaming with Cactus. With the
Chicago Street Fight at the 1994 Spring Stampede ... at the time, did you foresee the
hard-core style of match becoming such a wrestling staple?
Maxx: Oh I knew it man. It was funny because for sure that wasn’t the first hard-core
match for me. Chris Benoit and I had been working with Fit Finley and a guy name
Bruiser Maustino and we had been doing street fights, or what we called then, ‘Irish Street
Fights,’ in Europe. And oh my God, we had some fun. We fought all over the buildings,
outside, inside, in the beer tents ... we did it all over the place. Someone, in fact I think it
was Mick, came over to Europe when I was, as well as Owen Hart and some others, said
we need to bring this back to state-side.
And when we did that match and saw the hard-core come to be and the absolute
culmination of it at the United Center in Chicago ... it was an interesting moment in my life
and probably the most profound wrestling moment I personally ever had. Because there
was a moment in Chicago where there was no question in my mind that the crowd was
prepared to accept death. And that’s a pretty profound statement and what I mean by that
is that we all felt that anything went there ... there was this moment where the crowd,
everyone was on their feet, and the crowd was just prepared to watching anything happen.
It was really a pivotal moment for me--I went, this is not what I want. This is not what I
am trying to succeed in as a wrestler and as an entertainer. This was not the direction I
wanted or what I wanted to accomplish.
And it scared me in a sense that--it’s not far away from gladiator days. And the great thing
about pro wrestling--the fact that I love over amateur wrestling--is that it was a work. The
danger factor was reduced because we were co-operating, not trying to kill each other to
please the crowd ... I thought that the crowd would had walked away from there going,
‘Wow, the dude died--his head chopped off!’ and I just thought it was a dangerous
precedent, I really did. And it proved to be prophetic because after that, the sky kind of
became the limit--the hard-core matches then flowed like blood.
And I will say this on the record and off the record--hard-core matches are, in my opinion
(and it’s going to piss a lot of people off) they are not what professional wrestling is
about. Wrestling has advanced there because that’s where it is today, but the art of
professional wrestling is understanding and controlling a crowd without killing yourself in
the process. And that’s the part that I totally disagree with ... but it’s not going to change
in the near future...
Pinfalls: Today's wrestling crowds have the tendency to become blood-thirsy...
Maxx: Oh absolutely. I have felt it! I have personally felt it! It was probably the highest
moment in my wrestling career but I say that with mixed feelings because I don’t know if
that’s something to be proud of.
I think what makes professional wrestling so great is customer satisfaction. It’s the ability
to suspend some disbelief. You step into the arena knowing it’s pro wrestling--it’s all
choreographed, it’s extremely dangerous but what can you do to impress me? It doesn’t
have to be falling from 30 stories onto thumb-tacks and glass. It doesn’t! A great
wrestling match will stand all by itself ... I don’t want to distract from the high flying stuff.
I mean, how much high flying does Stone Cold do? Look at Hogan--Hogan was NEVER
a high-flyer! That’s why the guys who are doing the Mexican style of wrestling are not the
guys on the top of the card. They never have been and I don’t foresee them doing main
events in the near future. It’s about personality and what you bring as a dynamic
performer.
Pinfalls: What are your views on the sale of WCW to the WWF?
Maxx: Well, I have to say, once again, I’m one of the guys who, well, I don’t want to say
I saw it coming but I definitely saw the fall of the WCW coming. Right after the first sort
of announcement that they were selling--to the guys Eric Bischoff had found--I sent them
a letter and I said that the biggest problem in the WCW is that the 'powers-that-be' are marks
for the wrestlers in the company. And until the controls of World Championship Wrestling
is turned over to people who have the courage to care about what the fans think and not
what the boys and the jabronis in the dressing room think (guys like Ric Flair, Kevin Nash
and Scott Hall) ... that are back there making the calls, thinking that they understand the
wrestling business ... but until you turn it over to a seasoned veteran that doesn’t care that
Flair is not on top because Flair doesn’t sell tickets anymore ... that people aren’t coming
to watch Ric Flair anymore because the guy should be in a geriatric ward of an old folk’s
home for God sake’s not on pro wrestling. He should truly be the poster boy for the fact
that no wrestler should be able to get into the ring past the age of 45.
It’s [WCW] not going to change and until you are willing to make that move ... and I told them that anyone at
WCW who would be interested in talking to me further about it, I’d love to talk but I’m
sure it didn’t make it past Eric Bischoff. And I know it’s hard to believe, but I never
received an e-mail response back ... but now, WCW’s in the hands of the competition.
Vince will make it work, let’s not kid anyone. He’s the greatest promoter on the face of
the planet--Vince McMahon is unconditionally, unparalleled is the greatest promoter in the
history of professional wrestling, no question about it. And he will make the WCW work
by ... getting rid of all the guys people are tired of seeing at the top and putting new faces
in there and starting fresh and from what I’ve heard, that’s already what he’s started to
do.
[Editor's note: to view the actaul letter Maxx sent to WCW, click here]
Pinfalls: Do your kids currently watch wrestling?
Maxx: Well, they’re fans and of course they’re still fans now, but they were the biggest
fans on the planet when their dad was doing it. They were the most loyal, faithful fans in
the world. But they’ve been through the down-side with me so they are realists and they
are smart to the business--they grew-up with it. I have a second to the oldest son who is
six foot three, 265 pounds who was a state championship wrestler this year, who has
actually foregone all of his scholarship offers to go on the road with his rock-n-roll band
... actually he is the drummer for the band who did the song for the three minute trailer for
the movie ... the band is Kyros GP6 and they have a web site at www.kyrosgp6.com and
I’ve got about 10 other bands I’ll end up using in the soundtrack for the movie that are all
bands that I have worked with locally and my own stuff as well.
Pinfalls: Earlier, you touched on incidents with the Nasty Boys. Would you mind detailing
any specifics about them?
Maxx: It’s funny because the Nasty Boys for me are a double-edged sword. In the same
breath as some of the worst incidents of my life happened with them, some of the best and
most intense happened with them as well. And most people don’t see this because they
only saw the manifestation at the end where the times that they intentionally set forth--or if
it were not so much intention or just their own clumsiness ... one night, they ran me into a
post and didn’t protect me one night and I couldn’t protect myself because they had my
hands blocked and I lost the feeling in my face for two weeks. They dropped knees on my
head and knocked me completely unconscious in the ring. And their careless disregard for
everyone they wrestled was absolutely the critical predecessor of the match we had in
Georgia where I broke [Brian] Knobbs’ shoulder...
To read part three of Pinfalls' interview with Maxx Payne, click here!
© 2002 pinfalls.com
All Rights Reserved.
|
|
