|
|
|
Kip James Interview: Talks about new name, TNA on Spike TV and more |
» Reported by Adam Martin of WrestleView.com
» On Monday, August 29, 2005 at 7:07 PM EST
Tim Stein sent in the following recap:
WrestleTalkRadio.com: WTR Sunday Night featuring Kip James
August 14, 2005; Hosted by Tim Stein and Tits McGee in Calgary and JJ Sexay in Oklahoma City
Listen to the full show here
Ladies and gentlemen, boys and girls, children of all ages, this past Sunday, WTR Sunday Night proudly brought to you, a former WWE Tag Team Champion of the Wo-o-o-o-o-o-o-orld… the former “Mr Ass”, Kip James.
Kip was introduced to the show in familiar style, and after the niceties were done with, Tim asked what the thought process was behind the Kip James name. He couldn’t explain the full process, but he guessed that it came from the fact that Kip was his mother’s maiden name (and his middle name), so it was just a mixture of his middle name and the real surname of his “adopted brother” Brian James (aka BG James).
JJ asked how hard it was to adjust to changing from Billy Gunn to Kip James. Kip said that everyone’ll always know who Billy Gunn is, and that he thinks that WWE keeping the Billy Gunn name gives them some kind of power over him, despite him not being employed by the company any more.
JJ then brought up how, despite getting several pushes and title reigns, he wasn’t “allowed” to get over with the crowd. Kip said that he could give us a quick synopsis of how that happened, and blamed it on how he felt Triple H felt “threatened” by him. Kip refused to bad-mouth the WWE, and said that he had a good time working for the company, before saying that it was sad that after working there for 13 years, he was cut in a two-second phone call, as they got what they could out of him before tossing him on the scrapheap. He said there had to have been something in him that made the company keep him for so long, but he’s welcoming spending extra time at home with his family.
Kip said that the wrestling business was fun, asking where else you get paid for entertaining people and having fun? He said he was having fun on the independent scene, and working for TNA – even though they’re not selling out 20,000 capacity arenas, the people care about what they’re seeing.
Kip then said that he feels that his role in TNA will be more focused on bringing up the younger talent, as he (and BG James) teaches the younger guys about what works and what doesn’t work in wrestling, and on TV in general, as TNA prepares to debut on Spike in October. Listen to the full show here
Tim asked Kip if Hurricane Katrina had affected any of his travel plans as of late. Kip said it hadn’t, but he wished it’d had, as he had to travel between Florida and California over the weekend for indy shows.
JJ then brought up a former partner, and asked if Kip still kept in touch with Mike Barton – the former Bart Gunn. Kip said he keeps in touch with Mike every day, and he lives about an hour away from him, so it’s not hard to stay in contact. They talked about their run as the Smoking Gunns in the mid 90s, before JJ asked Kip who his preferred tag team partner would be, now that TNA appears to have steered away from a New Age Outlaw reformation. Kip said that he didn’t want to go into tag teaming again, and he wanted to focus on a singles run.
Still going down memory lane, JJ asked Kip if he ever liked the Rockabilly gimmick that he played. Kip said it was more of a nightmare, and it was dreamt up in 30 seconds with no thought of where the character could ever go. Kip said he still gets teased by the boys for the gimmick – like Terry Taylor still gets ribbed about playing the Red Rooster – and said that that character almost killed his career. Kip said that he thought that a lot of the bad gimmicks in WWE were just a rib on the boys during slow times, since management knew they hated playing them.
Kip was asked if they’d ever reunite Billy and Chuck in TNA. Kip said that they had some differences when they split up, and Chuck (Palumbo) was doing well in Japan right now. JJ said that they’d re-done the Billy and Chuck gimmick as the HeartThrobs – Kip said that he’d heard about it, and that it was just a rib on the boys, before saying that they could never pull off what he and Chuck did.
Tim asked Kip who his favourite tag team was: the Smoking Gunns or the New Age Outlaws. Kip said that they were both different teams, as the Gunns were a more solid, actual wrestling combination, whereas the Outlaws were more based on entertaining the crowd. Kip then said that there had to be more balance between wrestling and entertaining the crowd, saying that the WWE’s focusing too much on bad storylines, while the little wrestling that’s being put out is largely of poor quality.
JJ compared the Sacrifice and SummerSlam PPVs, saying that TNA had solid wrestling, while the WWE had matches with bad finishes and nonsensical storylines. Kip said that he thinks the WWE tries to do too much drama, and that a lot of the personal stuff that WWE’s doing now is “out of bounds”. Kip said that he felt the WWE’s product had gotten so bad that they were wheeling out children for shock value, as an attempt to get viewers back to the WWE.
They talked about the Attitude era, with Kip saying that it wasn’t done largely for shock value, but it was good TV because it was “defying the boss” which everyone wanted to do. Kip said that Vince knew how to do good TV then, but he seems to have lost his golden touch now. Listen to the full show here
JJ asked Kip what he saw in Kip James’ future. He said he wouldn’t mind having a run as a World champion, but hinted strongly that he might become a road agent if TNA kept on growing at the rate it is now. JJ then talked about Chris Jericho’s departure from the WWE – and his teased entrance in TNA. Kip said that Jericho does have star power, which would help TNA, but only if he didn’t have an attitude problem. They brought up some questions from the chat room, with one asking when he could see getting a World title run. Kip said it could happen after they get on Spike TV, as casual fans know his face (even if they don’t know his new name).
Tits jumped in and asked Kip again about a possible tag partner in TNA – before Kip said that he could only ever see himself tagging with BG James again, possibly against AMW, with the old New Age Outlaws routine being updated for the current era. She then asked Kip whether he’d be interested in doing a wrestling school, which he quickly shot down, as he’s interested in helping guys improve their trade, rather than teaching people from scratch. Kip ripped on contests like Tough Enough, saying that you can’t do an eight-week contest and suddenly become a wrestler, comparing it to the schedules he worked with when he was starting out in the business.
They asked another question from the chat-room, asking Kip who his dream opponent would be. He said the late Curt Hennig, as he put over his wrestling ability, saying he’d never worked a match with him before his death in 2003. JJ asked Kip for his thoughts on Chris Candido, and Kip put over Candido as someone who cared about the people, bringing up a story about how Chris was the first person to call him after his WWE release.
Tits asked Kip if he still watches and enjoys wrestling as a fan. Kip said that he didn’t get a chance to watch TNA, and he doesn’t watch the “New York shows” unless Bob Holly’s on. Kip said he enjoyed wrestling, but he didn’t like watching it – he had to be out there in front of people entertaining them. JJ chipped in, saying that he felt that the WWE’s downward spiral started when they stopped being the WWF, and that he thought that TNA could be the next big company in wrestling.
Tits talked about the Spike TV deal, and asked if Kip thought the deal could help elevate TNA into a repeat of the WWF vs WCW Monday Night Wars. Kip said that he couldn’t see that happening again, as not all of the elements from those few years remain, but he could guarantee that once TNA hit the airwaves, the WWE would suddenly start putting out some good stuff on their show as they react to the new competition.
They brought up the release of wrestlers, with Charlie Haas’ name being used. Kip said that he could only presume that WWE wanted to clear the decks to bring up some more new talent from OVW, but they were getting it all wrong as most of the guys they’re calling up aren’t ready for the major league.
They wrapped up the interview, with Kip saying that he wasn’t bitter about being cut by the WWE, but he’s saying what he’s saying because that’s the way he feels about the business.
To listen to the full show – including the interview with Kip – Listen to the full show click here.
Back To WrestleView.com
|
|
|
