»Reported by Adam Martin of WrestleView.com

On Tuesday, July 5, 2005 at 3:03 PM EST

Tim Stein sent in the following recap...

WrestleTalkRadio.com: WTR Sunday Night featuring Tom Prichard

July 3, 2005; Hosted by Tim Stein, Jason Clevett and Harmony (in Calgary) & JJ Sexay (in Oklahoma City)

Recapped by Ian Hamilton

Listen to the full show by clicking here..

WTR Sunday Night celebrated a belated Canada Day and an early Independence Day as Tom Prichard joined the show.

The show opened with a rebuttal by Tim Stein on certain anti-Canadian issues, including the ever-lasting claim of "Canadian wrestling fans refusing to forget the Bret Hart/Montreal incident".

After a break, JJ Sexay joined the show where he talked about the Razorback All-Star Wrestling show in Arkansas over the weekend, where they crowned a new TV champion in a battle royal, along with the debut TV show from NWA-Universal. At this point they recapped over some of last week’s news stories, including TNA switching to an improved method of broadcasting Impact online, Matt Hardy, and the end of the WWE draft lottery.

The show came back with a pre-taped Johnny Devine promo putting over Canada (well, WTR is 75% Canadian…), before they talked more about draft lotteries, Randy Orton, Booker T vs Chris Benoit, Triple H possibly overtaking Ric Flair’s title reigns before Christmas rolls around, the new Diva Search (including a potential new career for Vince McMahon…), WWE’s latest round of cuts, and a variety of ECW-related stuff.

After another break, WTR welcomed Tom Prichard to the show. He opened up by talking about Saskatchewan, before Jason asked him about the OVW training camps, and how much he remembers from each group of students. Jason then asked Tom for his thoughts on: Scotty Mac, who Tom called "a very good cruiserweight"; JD Michaels (Prichard wasn’t around for that camp, but he had little chance to get in the WWE with his current gimmick, especially since Michael Shane couldn’t get in with the ‘nephew of Shawn Michaels’ character); Belle Lovitz (who he didn’t remember much about); Zach Mercury and Wavell Starr (Tom said that he should have been signed a long time ago, especially because he came down "on his own dime" to work for OVW; and that he had the size, talent and physique – only he was in the right place at the wrong time)

Jason asked Tom what a prospective wrestler would have to do to get to an OVW camp and stand out. Tom talked about the process, how Jim Cornette makes the cut down to 50 people for each camp. He mentioned how guys often sent in old photos, and showed up looking out of shape (from their submitted pictures), while other guys struggled to tell a story with their matches.

Tom talked about Bobby Roode, and how he performed in an OVW camp, before he got cut because Johnny Ace said he wasn’t ready to be in WWE. He also talked about how Joe Legend couldn’t get a deal with WWE, despite being good friends with guys already in the company (Edge & Christian) – and said that all of this was down to politics, and who had the most "stroke" to make something happen for them.

Jason then asked Tom about what it takes to mould a "green rookie" into a world champion – like John Cena, Brock Lesnar and Randy Orton. Tom said that some guys had "it", and would be tagged as a "can’t miss" prospect. However, there were no set processes, because there were some guys who were "can’t misses", but still failed when they hit the big time: like Kevin Fertig/Mordecai. He then talked about how the likes of Nick Dinsmore and Rob Conway were left to "waste away" in OVW for years after they were ready because of their size, and even revealed how Dinsmore (who would become famous as Eugene) was on the verge of quitting before he got called up to the main roster.

Tom then talked about his role with the WWE’s developmental system, including how the Rock, Mark Henry and Achim Albrecht were signed for the system. Tom started training them in a ring set up at the WWE’s TV studios, while Jim Cornette watched on – before Cornette pitched the ideas for OVW to become the full-time developmental territory it is today. He then said how he was a road agent and a writer for short periods of time, before talking about his exit.

Tom said that he was no longer in WWE because the company’s way of thinking had changed – which he put down to the arrival of Johnny Ace, saying his ways of doing things were counter-productive and a waste of time and money.

Jason asked Tom about wrestlers opening up schools – like Lance Storm and Booker T. Tom said it was great, if people got their money’s worth, as a lot of wrestlers in the past charged extortionate fees for something they knew they couldn’t deliver.

Harmony asked Tom for his memories of Lance Storm wrestling. Tom brought up Storm’s run with Chris Jericho in SMW, before saying that he had to keep an open mind with his school, as Lance’s way of doing things won’t work for everyone. Tom talked about THE Jericho/Storm match in SMW, where Jericho broke his arm trying a shooting star press before the show, and then worked the match with the broken arm.

Jason talked about the tag-team scene in wrestling today, and how it was light years away from the old days, where you had the likes of the Rock n Roll Express, the Midnight Express. Tom said it was like that on the indy scene, but as soon as you got to the WWF, people couldn’t care less the "Southern-style" matches that the better tag teams put on. He then talked about how he (as a part of the Heavenly Bodies) went from putting on a MOTYC with the Steiner Brothers, to having to do a dark match at WrestleMania X with the Bushwhackers. Tom admitted that he had some personal issues at that time, and the team with Jimmy Del Ray wasn’t really clicking – because the two of them weren’t really close outside the ring.

Harmony asked if Tom still kept in touch with Del Ray, to which he said he didn’t, before admitting it wasn’t much of a change from when they were working together.

They then talked about Tom’s run in the Body Donnas as Zip. He talked about his chemistry with the late Chris Candido, and what issues working with a young Sunny brought along. Jason then brought up the tag team of Owen Hart and Davey Boy Smith, before asking Tom for his memories of them.

Tom said that Owen and Davey truly had chemistry as a team, before saying that they were easy to work with. He said that Davey was a more intense worker, but both of them were "interesting people". The natural progression followed, as Tom talked about Harry Smith, saying that Harry was an impressive worker, who was making a "smart move" by doing Japan before going to WWE. Tom also said that Harry could be the next breakout star (but hopefully not in the mould of Mordecai…)

Jason then asked Tom what keeps him motivated enough to be involved in wrestling. Tom admitted that there’s times where he watches matches and he gets depressed about the state of wrestling, but there’s also moments when he realises that there has to be those workers with a passion for the business that could make a difference. He put over one of Ricky Morton’s protégés, Brad Thomas, saying he was one of the hottest prospects around. Tom said there were a few kids who want to learn the business and respect it – before saying that there’s some kids he’s worked with, and can’t understand why they’re not "in New York" (with WWE) right now.

Tom talked about the indy scene, including some of the OVW guys who aren’t under a WWE contract like Elijah Burke, and that there’s some guys on the scene who want to BE wrestlers, and not ACT like a wrestler. He then compared today’s scene with the past, saying that while you can’t bring back the matches from the past, the basics are still the same: there’s still the struggle of good vs evil, but the realism of wrestling needs to be brought back into matches.

Before he left the show, Jason asked Tom if he blamed the internet for the death of kayfabe – Tom said that "we can’t put the genie in the bottle", and while people are entitled to their opinions, he doesn’t like everyone focusing on the negatives.

Listen to the full show by clicking here – but don’t miss this Sunday’s show as well: A special TNA guest to preview the No Surrender PPV will soon be announced, as well as the indie wrestler who is hitting the headlines all over the world: Matt Striker.