Reported by Adam Martin of WrestleView.com
On Monday, December 12, 2005 at 12:15 PM EST

Interview Highlights with Ernest ‘The Cat’ Miller
In This Corner (12/8/05) with Whicker and The Mechanic

To Listen to the Show:Click Here!

The show opens with Whicker and The Mechanic welcoming The Cat to the program. Whicker mentions that he called his mamma in advance, whereas The Mechanic made the extra effort to call both his mamma and grandmamma.

Mechanic asks if The Cat is wearing his read shoes. The Cat replies that he wears them every night, and that he even sleeps in them.

Whicker seeks an update as to The Cat’s whereabouts since leaving WWE. The Cat says he has been actively involved in karate and is even working with Chuck Norris, but that he has not been wrestling much. Whicker asks if anyone ever called his mamma when he was in WCW. The Cat says no, and that no one ever called even though he always asked people to. Mechanic speculates that fans probably knew better than to actually call. The Cat confirms this, stating that anyone who did would have most likely gotten cursed out, noting, “my mamma doesn’t talk to strangers.”

Whicker asks whether The Cat taught Eric Bischoff’s son karate, which The Cat brushes off, saying that was “what, 10 years ago?”

The Mechanic turns to The Cat’s career in WCW, complimenting him on his ability on the microphone and rating him as one of the top three performers in the company in this regard. The Cat says that WCW gave him a lot of creative freedom, whereas he was essentially told what to say in WWE. He notes that in WWE, the writers would give him material that wasn’t funny. He adds that when wrestlers have an emotional connection to the character they are playing, fans can more easily relate. But, if you try to falsify things, fans can see through that and the gimmick won’t work.

The Mechanic refers to the character of The Cat as ‘The Muhammad Ali of Wrestling,’ by virtue of his verbal skills, to which The Cat agrees. The Cat again states that while he does not have hard feelings against WWE, he does not understand what they were attempting to accomplish with his character.

On this point, The Mechanic asks why WWE would give him, with his verbal skills, a character named Lamont to talk for him? The Cat describes this idea as being ‘a slap in the face.’ He describes Lamont as ‘nervous’ and ‘new,’ but also very intelligent and well-spoken. He says that when WWE would send Lamont out to talk, it was confusing to fans because they did not know whether to cheer or boo The Cat. The Cat says he tried to make the best of it, but knew from the beginning that with this storyline, his character “wasn’t going anywhere.” He further notes that he was released before his character was given time to develop, and was told that the writers did not have anything for him.

Whicker asks what WWE storylines would The Cat have liked to be involved in. The Cat replies that there was consideration toward putting him in a program with John Cena, who he describes as “doing all of the talking” at that time, but that this program wasn’t developed.

The Mechanic compares The Cat’s career in WWE with that of Goldberg’s, in that both of these characters were highly over in WCW, which were not left intact once they arrived in WWE. The Cat says he has been in wrestling since 1997, and that during his time in the business, he feels it is ‘cold’ and ‘cutthroat.’ He states that wrestlers do not care about the office, and vice versa, and that wrestling collectively does not care about the fans. He speculates that if wrestling did in fact care, the business would not be in the position it is currently in. He says that when WWE and WCW were both operating at their peak, fans were being fed enough to be happy.

Whicker asks what it was like to dance with James Brown on a WCW pay-per-view. The Cat says it was a treat, and that it was a ‘fulfilling’ life experience that ‘money can’t replace.’ Whicker says he watched that pay-per-view and that The Cat ‘owned’ The Godfather of Soul. The Cat initially takes a modest approach, noting that he ‘would never say that,’ but then adds, ‘If James had cut into my TV time, I would have kicked him in the back of the head.’ Whickers says that James would have let out one of his trademark screams if that had happened.

Continuing the James Brown theme, The Mechanic informs The Cat that James was in Rocky IV, and that since a sixth Rocky film will be coming out, The Cat should show James how to act, as well as dance. The Cat says that during the Bernard Hopkins fight last week, there was filming being done for the Rocky film. The Cat notes that when he saw Sylvester Stallone, ‘he looked like he was 110 years old’ and that ‘he’s worse than Michael Jackson, from all the plastic surgery.’

Whicker asks The Cat who were his most and least favorite opponents. The Cat replies, ‘your mamma’ because ‘she was the biggest and the heaviest.’ The Mechanic corrects The Cat, stating that Whicker’s mamma is not heavy. The Cat then responds that he enjoyed working with Disco Inferno, whom he describes as having a good time and very smart. He says that Disco could ‘talk his way into and out of a room.’ He also says Goldberg was fun to work with, given the contrast between their personalities. He relays a funny story about how when they got into the ring together for the first time, Goldberg kept whispering to The Cat, ‘don’t make me laugh.’ The Cat describes his time in WCW as generally fun, ‘even when the millionaires took breaks and went home,’ noting that WCW would pull in a 3.2 rating even without top names.

Mechanic asks The Cat who he would have liked to work with, when WCW was at his peak. The Cat replies that he would have liked to work with Hulk Hogan. He then releases a bombshell, stating that Hogan advocated to Eric Bischoff and the creative team for The Cat to defeat him for the world title. The Cat goes on to say that Hogan felt that The Cat had enough heat on him, that there was a program to be had in Hogan losing the title to him and then chasing him to get it back. The Cat also states that Mean Gene Okerlund was a fan of his character, noting that he seemed to be having a good time, and that characters like that have greater creative longevity.

The Cat says that he did not have a good time while working for WWE, stating that people were ‘on edge, thinking about their jobs’ and acting in a ‘hush-hush’ manner.

The Mechanic yearns for the program between The Cat and Hogan that never was, speculating how it would have been entertaining for them to have a dance-off, followed by The Cat giving Hogan ‘The Red Shoe of Doom.’ The Cat asks what the hosts think of Hogan’s reality show. The Mechanic says it is not bad, and that he would not say anything bad about Linda Hogan because she is somebody’s mamma. Whicker describes Nick Hogan as ‘the man’ because he sleeps with women. The Cat says that watching Nick Hogan is like watching ‘a blank tv… no action.’

Whicker asks if The Cat still watches wrestling today. The Cat says he watches occasionally, and that he did see the tributes to Eddie Guerrero. He notes that he could watch one week, then not watch for three months, and then tune in again to see the same storyline on a different character. He says he has not been following TNA but that he may, if they acquire some more names.

The Cat expresses his preference for wrestling past, describing himself as a fan of ‘old-school.’ He says he was more of a fan when there were characters that ‘had fun’ and ‘talked a lot of crap,’ such as Bobo Brazil, Ernie Ladd, Dusty Rhodes and Thunderbolt Patterson. Today, wrestlers seem to approach the business like it is a job, and that getting fans to cheer for them confirms they are doing their job well. The Mechanic says that half of the crowd response is electronic anyway, to which The Cat replies, ‘you already know the secret.’ He says that when he was in WCW, it was very different, because he was able to get the crowd get as loud as he wanted. He said that there was no response in WWE, due to his ‘stupid ass’ character.

The Cat compliments Vince McMahon over the way he runs his company, but expresses regret that there is not more attention paid toward ensuring that wrestlers are not doing things that are causing harm to themselves. He describes this approach as being ‘a disregard for what’s right’ and cites Eddie Guerrero’s recent passing as an example, saying greater attention was being paid to whether he was hitting his spots in the ring.

The Mechanic attempts to close the interview, as time was running short. The Cat tells both hosts, ‘kiss my ass,’ noting that they called him while he was ‘sitting here with a beautiful young lady.’ The Mechanic attempts to remedy the situation, to which The Cat humorously shouts, ‘Shut the hell up and let The Cat finish the show!’ The Cat asks The Mechanic, ‘where you at , brother?’ The Mechanic lets out a shout to his homestate of Tennessee and says he’ll meet The Cat anywhere. He further tells The Cat that he’s not hard to find, and says, ‘I’ll dance you right out of my house.’ The Cat says, in response, ‘I’m going to dance all over your ass when I see you.’ This gets a laugh out of the Mechanic, who invites The Cat back onto a future edition of In This Corner. He offers to buy The Cat a beer. The Cat says that someone wants to talk to The Mechanic, and hangs up.

Chris Cash joins the program briefly, stating that The Cat does this at the end of every interview. He also promises a big announcement on the next edition of Voice of Wrestling Monday night.

The show concludes with The Mechanic challenging The Cat, if he’s listening, to a ‘barbed wire dance-off’ on next week’s show. Whicker says that he will give The Mechanic’s address to The Cat. The Mechanic compliments The Cat on a good interview and offers to buy him a beer, once again. The Steel Cage airs every Tuesday, from 8-9 EST, live on the Wrestling Radio Network, www.wrestlingradionetwork.com.