Lanny Poffo talks about his new book; Johnny Valiant interview as well
On Saturday, March 19, 2005 at 3:47 PM EST Brian Kelley of AudioWrestling.com sent in the following recaps...
The Genius” Lanny Poffo was a guest on the 3/18/05 edition of Monday Night Mayhem which can be heard in streaming audio every week exclusively on the AudioWrestling.com site!
Here are highlights from the interview provided by the show's co-host Shawn Walters of MondayNightMayhem.com and AudioWrestling.com
The Big Mosh and Angry Hero welcome Lanny Poffo to the show, who says he’s “50 yrs old and looks every bit of it”. Lanny remembers his beginnings in the business, using his gymnast moves to differentiate himself.
AH mentions Lanny’s high-flying repertoire, which was unique for the time period. Lanny claims he is erroneously credited with inventing the moonsault (that honor would go to Tiger Mask). He says Jim Brunzell had a better vertical leap than him. Lanny talks about being a “bad copy of Ricki Starr” but it allowed him to capitalize on what made him unique.
Mosh brings up the passing of Curt Hennig, something that shocked and saddened him since Curt took the business so seriously and would never think he was into drugs. Lanny recalls Curt’s outgoing personality and classic “ribs”, prompting AH to bring the infamous Nitro “crap bucket” and padlocking Goldylock’s bags in TNA.
Lanny talked about returning to the WWE to manage the Beverly Brothers and how there was a competition b/w the boys to see who can crap in the most bags. He remembers the story about hiding his bag in Rochester a little too well and AH goes off on a rant as to why wrestlers (ie: Randy Orton) are so fascinated with bodily wastes.
The conversation gets to Lanny’s new book of limericks against smoking, aptly titled Limericks for the Heart (and Lungs). It’s getting him lots of press and helping launch his public speaking career. Lanny sees his book’s message as lighter counterpart to the Truth.com ads and gives the crew a few excerpts from the book.
Lanny comes right out and says he wants to take back the negative comments he’s made recently about Bruno Sammartino, in relation to the WWE Hall of Fame. However, he defends his reasoning behind the comments, comparing Bruno’s bitter stance towards the sport as “urinating on the buffet that is pro wrestling” and even gets in a joke involving Bruno and God.
Lanny feels all Hall of Fames are a farce, the WWE and Baseball Hall of Fame included, since they are fixed and subjective; “who do you like”. He thinks the HoF should be like the movie “The Hustler” – “count your money at the end of the day”. He also claims that both Andre and Jake Roberts are the only two guys to live their gimmicks.
When asked if his brother Randy would accept a WWE HoF invitation, Lanny feels he would and guys like him should get mellower when they get older. AH asks what Lanny thinks about Randy’s rap CD. Lanny helped write the Curt Hennig tribute track but he’s not a fan of rap. He’s more of an easy listening fan and actually broke up with his girlfriend over what music to play in the car!
AH inquires about the Frisbee and poetry gimmick, which started after Lanny’s initial appearance on T-N-T in a suit of armor (Lanny recites the poem). In order to get it over with the fans, he threw the Frisbees in the crowd; much like the Kangaroos did with boomerangs in the 60’s
After getting his thoughts on WWE 24/7, Mosh asks Lanny about Miss Elizabeth, who Lanny says “rose to the occasion” and relays a story about how the WWF make-up lady tried to “punk up” Liz one night.
Lanny loved working the WrestleReunion event back in late-January, although he had no ring gear since auctioned it all off. Despite a “wardrobe malfunction” and his rusty ring skills, Lanny had a great time seeing old friends again.
Lanny asks the crew to give him a topic and he’ll give a poem. AH shoots out “debt collection” but since MNM is Buffalo, Mosh tries “snow”. After reminiscing about his godfather, Ilio DiPaulo (who was based in Buffalo), Lanny recites a Robert Frost poem and shares a story about how he sent a groupie to buy a pack of playing cards in a snowstorm for Andre the Giant in Buffalo.
The interview wraps up with another plug for Lanny’s new book (available at Amazon.com) and his appearance at the Valiant Brothers reunion on May 14th in Carteret, NJ (http://www.wrestlingthenandnow.com)
“Luscious” Johnny Valiant was a guest on the 3/18/05 edition of Monday Night Mayhem which can be heard in streaming audio every week exclusively on the AudioWrestling.com site!
Here are highlights from the interview provided by the show's co-host Shawn Walters of MondayNightMayhem.com and AudioWrestling.com
The Big Mosh and Angry Hero welcome Johnny Valiant to the show, plugging the upcoming Valiant Brothers reunion in Carteret, NJ, taking place on May 14th.
Johnny hopes that MNM’s check clears for the interview and is currently in Queens, NY waiting for a ride. He’s hanging outside of St. John’s University but doesn’t want to get pegged as a “peeping tom”.
The crew gets to talking about the reunion, to which Johnny thinks that “The Rock” and “McMahon” show up. AH starts up about the dominance of the Valiants in 70’s, which Johnny remembers as a simpler time, with no emails and faxes. He talks about all the characters like Andre the Giant, Ivan Putski, and how people had to wait for wrestling to come on as opposed to it being readily available like it is today.
Johnny and AH talk about the territories like the AWA, WWA, the old WWWF. He doesn’t watch the current product as much and realizes he couldn’t get into that style today.
Mosh gets into the virtues of tag wrestling and the Valiants impact on which, asking Johnny what would be a dream match for him and Jimmy as a team. Johnny would rather see themselves against physically bigger guys like Goldberg and Hulk Hogan as opposed to a character team like the Freebirds or Steiners.
Johnny skims over his career, working in WWF as a manager, doing the first three WrestleManias, doing his comedy show. He just got married for the second time to Chinese woman, which is nice but “not all about eating rice all day”. Overall, he feels is very blessed.
Johnny puts over the Pro Wrestling Hall of Fame and its founder, Tony Vellano in Schenectady, NY and how significant it is that Vellano recognizes the older wrestlers from the 30’s and 40’s. This brings up talk of the WWE Hall of Fame and the exclusion of Bruno Sammartino. Johnny says the fans “know who did what in the business.”
Getting back to Johnny’s one-man show, where he talks about the humorous side of the business, including road stories about Andre the Giant. AH asks if a CD is in the works, something that Johnny wants to see down the line once his act gets more exposure. Johnny likens his act to such comedy greats as Jonathan Winters, Jerry Lewis, Don Rickles and even incorporated his influences into his wrestling interviews. He feels the act works the best when the audience knows nothing about him.
Mosh brings up the “fraternity of managers”, especially in the mid-80’s WWF. Johnny loved working with Freddie Blassie, a guy who he grew up watching himself. He also remembers Ozzy Osbourne at WrestleMania 2, saying Ozzy wasn’t “very aggressive” and “in awe of the whole deal”. AH recalls Johnny getting his haircut by Brutus Beefcake all the time, which he writes off as part of the business.
The crew wraps up the interview with Johnny, talking about wrestling in Madison Square Garden and another plug for the Valiant Brothers reunion, taking place May 14th in Carteret, NJ. Check out http://www.wrestlingthenandnow.com and http://www.johnnyvaliant.net for all the details