Reported by Adam Martin of WrestleView.com
On Tuesday, September 13, 2005 at 3:08 PM EST

The following was transcribed by Betsy Byrd of wrestlingweekly.com:

In a special jam-packed program on September 11, Wrestling Weekly featuring Doc Young and Les Thatcher welcomed three incredible wrestling superstars to the show. Ring of Honor (RoH) Pure Champion, Nigel McGuinness, former Word Class Wrestling (WCW) and indie Superstar, Marcus "Buff" Bagwell, and the return of the legendary "King of the Ring" himself, Harley Race.

Nigel McGuinness

Our very own Les Thatcher was the man who contributed his expertise early on to a young wrestler in training, Nigel McGuinness, seven years ago. Nigel began training with Les at Heartland Wrestling Association (HWA) in 1998 after inquiring with several wrestling training facilities as an exchange student attending classes at Kent State University. His visas were limited to 6 months at a time, requiring him to return to his home in London periodically, but after two and a half years, Nigel completed his training at HWA. According to Les, "He's worked his ass off."

Inspired as a boy in the mid-80s by the "British-style" wrestling he saw on TV in England, he was hooked after seeing wrestling tapes from the U.S. And although many young boys dream of becoming a pro wrestler, Nigel admits he "never grew up." Once he contacted Les at HWA in 1998, he chose his training school because "Les was the only one who wrote him back by hand."

Once Nigel finished his chemistry degree at Kent State, he pursued wrestling as a career and has been living in the U.S. on and off for years. Recently, he became the RoH Pure Champion when he defeated Samoa Joe and made an appearance September 11 on WWE's "Heat." When asked about his RoH Pure Champ title, Les said he had trouble thinking of Nigel as "pure." Nigel joked by saying, "I'm a pure idiot!"

When asked about his backstage experience on "Heat," Nigel said, "Everyone was really cool." He said he's been at WWE three times for various reasons and even though he heard that people weren't happy there, he said everyone was polite and friendly. He made a point to keep to himself and added, "No one 'big-leagued' me." He said the locker room was packed with wrestlers and he had a really good time. It was a professional and fun atmosphere and it was clear that the people there were trying to make a living at it and took being there seriously.

Nigel was asked about Paul Heyman and he said, "I have nothing but good things to say about Paul." He also complimented him on his booking, saying that is the best thing about him. Nigel said Paul's reputation for being a good booker is warranted. He listens to people and feels that "anybody can contribute something." Nigel said Paul has the ability to get the best out of people because he books according to their strengths.

When the conversation turned to Samoa Joe, the man Nigel defeated to acquire the RoH Pure title, he said, "Backstage he is a fantastic guy." He said Joe is "smart," meaning he has wrestling smarts. Joe understands the psychology of wrestling, getting over, and what it means to be a superstar. Nigel talked to Joe about his own gimmick and he has been enormously helpful to him in that regard. Nigel summed it up by saying about Joe, "He's just a credit to the business."

Nigel was asked from the chat room about his influences and gave credit to Les who helped build his love for the sport and gave him a sense of professionalism and respect for the business. Asked to sum up Les in 10 words or less, he joked, "I can't fit Les Thatcher in 10 words!"

Doc asked Nigel if he has any plans to return to IWA Mid-South. He said he hasn't had any contact with them for about a year. This doesn't have anything to do with heat, but it was clear to him some time ago he wasn't going to get rich working for them. This brought up the prospect of NWA-TNA. He is interested in TNA because "They pay money and I like making money." But Nigel added, "I don't know whether my style will fit in there."

For more about Nigel, check out his Website, www.nigelmcguinness.com.

Harley Race

Harley Race made a return appearance on Wrestling Weekly to discuss the upcoming NOAH Training/Tryout Camp in Eldon, Missouri on September 21-24. The training camp features NOAH Superstars Kenta Kobashi, Manufuji, and KENTA. Two athletes will be selected to travel to Japan and live and train for three months in NOAH's Dojo. The camp also promises an appearance by Johnny Ace as he scouts for fresh new talent. The cut-off date for the camp is fast approaching, so for anyone still interested in joining the 35 other students attending, Harley said "if they get off their rears, they can make it." For more information, log on to www.harleyrace.com.

Harley talked about some of the legends' reunion shows he's participated in, his training methods, his firearms collection, and the old territories. Harley recently attended WrestleReunion2 and was pleased at how the events are becoming better organized and better attended than ever before. He would like to see some of the "names" booked for these events to be whittled down for the sake of the fans. He said it's impossible to talk about wrestling and take questions from the audience in 30 minutes.

Talk turned to Harley's training methods. He said he likes to make sure that the wrestlers he trains are having input in the training process. He believes this is important because he wants trainees to be happy with the outcome. Even though he doesn't focus as much on the workouts as Les does, he is a big proponent on encouraging elasticity and flexibility in wrestlers because the more elastic the muscle, the easier it is to bounce back from injury.

Someone from the chat room asked Harley about his collection of firearms. Harley said, "I don't have a real big collection now." He said even though he was interested in the guns in the past, as he's become less mobile, the interest has waned. He also has an antique violin in that's been in his family for years that he plans on passing on to his son.

Doc asked Harley about the old territory days, a subject that has come up again and again, especially during the "legends" interviews on Wrestling Weekly. Will they ever come back? Harley said, "Never say never." He believes, however, that "the McMahon Dynasty" will have to "slip, stumble, fall" in order for this to happen. He doesn't see that happening anytime soon. He says the problem with the territories and why they fell had a lot of do with the age of the promoters at that time. Many of them were around his age at that time-62-and they weren't interested in re-investing their life's savings to fight for the territories. Harley said the confidence wasn't there to fight a fight they could lose.

Marcus "Buff" Bagwell

A "no-show" last week, Buff made a point to say he called Doc last week to apologize for forgetting about his scheduled appearance on Wrestling Weekly September 4. To make amends, he rounded out the big show September 11 to talk past the 8:00 pm cutoff about his views of the business, working the independents, and "crashing" a WWE house show.

Marcus said about the missed show, he always shows, always comes through and confirmed Sunday that "Buff is here." Les joked that he was probably caught up with a real cute girl and Marcus laughed, "It was actually a really cute guy. A guy named Les Thatcher!"

He alluded to some "personal trouble" as of late, but was not specific about the nature of the trouble. He said he had taken the month of June off to deal with it and he's back working in the independent circuit. He said with the debut of his Website, www.therealbuff.com, he is on the indie track and making a living doing it. Even though he would like to belong to something and misses being part of a team, he is relatively happy working the indies. And the indies must be happy with him because he is booked every Friday and Saturday for three months solid. He said, "Not many guys can make a living working the independents" but he is paying his bills and he can do it without traveling overseas. He said guys who live out of a nap sack and travel to places like Japan should be admired for their dedication but "I can't do it." The long traveling and the paycheck just don't add up for Marcus anymore.

Les asked Marcus about his start in pro wrestling where he made a meteoric rise from male stripper to indie wrestler to "big league" pro wrestler in a relatively short time. He said he was so green then that when Magnum TA called him to arrange an interview at WCW, he didn't know who it was. He said Dusty Rhodes hired him on the spot "because I had pretty teeth." He said everybody at WCW liked him but "Bischoff hated my freakin' guts!" His initiation with the guys came because he had been in jail more times than most of the locker room, which many of guys considered to be a cool thing. And beginning at age 21, he went on to have a good 10-year run with WCW.

Marcus talked about when a buddy bought tickets to a WWE house show invited him along to watch the show. He said as soon as he walked in the arena in Greenville, NC, people were all over him for autographs and pictures. He said he was trying to act normal but it was a "mad house." He said the show was going on but no one was watching. Marcus joked that if he were to do it again he would do a RAW show because those are broadcast live. Eventually, Johnny Ace approached him and said, "Why didn't you call me?" referring to getting tickets for the show. Marcus said, "Your phone don't ring back." Johnny asked him to come in the back and Marcus knew that if he said no he would get heat and if he said yes he would get heat. Marcus eventually agreed to go backstage and talked over an hour with them. About the meeting, he said three months ago they said they would call him the next day.

Marcus was critical of the current WWE product. He said, "I'm not a mark, but I do want to see a match." He said every match on Nitro was big and every match on RAW is WAR was big and now that WWE is the only company, they feature matches like Chris Benoit vs. Eugene. He doesn't mind seeing pretty girls, but most of the show is dominated by the Divas. But asked if he would accept an offer from WWE, he said, "Absolutely, I would." Marcus added that they would have to make it worth his while financially though. Compared to what he's making in the indies, he would require making a couple hundred thousand a year if he were to accept.

He knows that to the young guys just starting out, the $100,000 salary sounds great but these guys have to sleep four to a room and four to a car just to make it. He said about McMahon, "I don't think he would give me enough money." Back in 2001 when WWE bought the fledgling WCW, Marcus did sign with WWE, taking a $50,000 pay cut in order to "seem like a team player." He said, "Team player didn't work." He was soon released. He wishes he had done like many of the other WCW guys did and kept the $50,000 Vince offered and stayed at home instead.

When he talked about his release, he said he was brought into a room with Johnny Ace, Vince McMahon, and Jim Ross. He thought to himself, "Oh boy." Finally he asked them directly, "Are you firing me?" They replied, "No, we're going to release you." Never one to stay quiet in any situation, Marcus asked them what the difference was. They answered if they release him they won't have to re-do his contract when they bring him back in three months. Jim Ross added that they wished they could capture the heat he had backstage and put it in front of an audience. Marcus laughed that at the time he suggested that they start making some heat.

Keep checking Buff's Website for upcoming appearances including a few with Scott Steiner as his tag team partner. In Addition, he is slated to appear October 15 in Christian Wrestling Entertainment's first-ever "Uniting Champions" event on October 15 at the John Q. Hammons Arena in Tulsa, OK. For more about this event, check out www.unitingchampions.com.

Wrestling Weekly Radio featuring Doc and Les can be heard every Sunday from 6:00-8:00 pm EST at http://www.wrestlingweekly.com.