Gabe Sapolsky Interview - ROH booker talks Cornette, CM Punk & more

Reported by Adam Martin of WrestleView.com
On Saturday, July 29, 2006 at 1:49 PM EST

The following was transcribed by Mr. DFL of Monday Night Mayhem:

The head booker for Ring Of Honor, Gabe Sapolsky, was one of the special guests on this past week's live edition (07/24/06) of Monday Night Mayhem, which can be heard in streaming audio every week (and live from 7-9PM ET every Monday night) exclusively on The Monday Night Mayhem Radio Network (www.MondayNightMayhem.com, www.WrestlingMediaNetwork.com, www.ObsessedWithWrestling.com, www.Dory-Funk.com, & celebrating its 10th Anniversary, www.AudioWrestling.com -- your official home of "The Spring Break Incident" Video-On-Demand, featuring Stuff Magazine's all-new fitness correspondent, the hottest member of this past season's edition of ABC's "Dancing With The Stars," the newest member of the Disney/Touchtone family, & former WWE Diva, Stacy Keibler).

The interview with Gabe is now available to hear for FREE in Real Audio!

Here are some of the highlights from the interview provided by the show's senior correspondent, "Mr. DFL."




"The Summer Of Mayhem: Part III' continues this coming Saturday when The Big Mosh, Blade, & the rest of MNM's extended crew go on yet another road trip -- this time to the second leg of ROH's “double-shot" in Cleveland, OH. "Your Home Of Wrestling Radio" will head down to "King James Country" for what should be an incredible night of action. However before The Mayhem begin to pack their bags, they had to go through the head booker for Ring Of Honor, Gabe Sapolsky.

Gabe was welcomed to the show by The Big Mosh & Blade. As the "mother of all icebreakers," & coming off of the heels of the WWE Great American Bash, Mosh asked Gabe if & when we can see The Great Khali at a Ring Of Honor event? Gabe simply replied with "never say never."

The interview then officially started off by Mosh asking Gabe his thoughts on Jim Cornette’s current status with ROH & his future in the company. "Cornette is here to stay as long as he wants," was Gabe's immediate reply. Gabe said then Jim enjoys the business and is one of the best speakers out there. Gabe also mentioned that Jim has chosen going to ROH events rather than going to a few TNA events -- which show his loyalty to the company.

Mosh then asked Gabe for what a first time fan of the business can expect from a Ring Of Honor event instead of the other two main companies -- the WWE & TNA. Gabe said that a fan can see a collection of wrestlers, all over the world including Legends (“Cowboy" Bill Watts & J.J. Dillon for example), and they will put everything they possibly got into their match. Gabe also mentioned that the fans will not be disappointed at all in the overall product whatsoever.

Sapolsky was very much looking forward to the no ropes, barbed wire match between Necro Butcher & BJ Whitmer -- warning those that attended to "bring their kids home early" -- one of the main reasons why this match was going to take place later on the card. He felt, going in to this contest, that the match could easily end someone's career.

The topic of "the new ECW" was then brought up by Blade & The Big Mosh. Gabe said he is not embarrassed at all, with regards to what he has been seeing on Sci-Fi. Gabe said "this is what he expected, because it is owned by the WWE." Gabe also mentioned that he is extremely glad that Sabu is actually working. Sapolsky then went on then to mention that this version of ECW is Vince McMahon’s product -- and the only thing that Gabe is disappointed about is that so many fans actually thought that this was going to be like the ECW of old. Gabe said with "ECW On Sci-Fi," you still have to seek it out (to a smaller extent) -- just like the original Extreme Championship Wrestling timeslots (not very well known, weird times, etc).

Gabe is very much looking forward to this Tuesday night & the television debut of CM Punk in Extreme Championship Wrestling. He has no doubt that Punk "has the potential both inside & outside the ring -- Punk was born to do this, and that's why they let him have the ROH World Heavyweight Championship before his departure."

To be very honest, Gabe expected a talent raid by the "new" ECW from Ring Of Honor, which thankfully did not happen. But even if that did happen, their roster is pretty full, along with their talent from overseas -- just waiting to be used. Gabe even went so far to say that they are "over-booked." Gabe also mentioned that they are in talks with "The King Of Old School" Steve Corino in an upcoming appearance later this year. Gabe also brought up the tremendous work that the former Four Horseman manager, JJ Dillon, did recently at their show in Philadelphia -- as Dillon treated his ROH appearance as "more than just a paycheck." Gabe said that there are a lot of guys out there, but not enough spots -- but with time, that changes where there’s no enough talent & a lot of spots."

Gabe went on to talk about what the definition of Ring Of Honor means to him -- and that is that "they are their own brand. They can do what they want, and they do not have to answer to a network. ROH is a place where talent can be found." Some of the talent who work for World Wrestling Entertainment now (Paul London, Brian "Spanky" Kendrick, & James "Jamie Noble" Gibson) made huge names for themselves in ROH, and when they left, it created spots for younger talent. Gabe said that Ring Of Honor is about letting guys go out there and have the best matches. He 100% believes that this will be purely evident in the United Kingdom in just a few mere weeks for their two shows scheduled there.

Gabe is also counting the days until ROH's full-time running in The Manhattan Center in New York City. He feels that the company will do extremely well, because they can fit over 1,100 fans regularly, all shows running from that venue will be special in nature, & the crowds will be rocking. From a business perspective, it will be essential to have a "staple" in their system, besides their regular hometown of Philadelphia.

To close out the interview, Gabe put a lot of the internet rumors to rest -- saying that the ROH/CZW wars are now "over," and was glad it drew plenty of fans & sold DVD's for the company. He also believes that the overall Ring Of Honor product is one of the best wrestling promotions out there -- period. For Gabe's personal assessment of particular talent in the company/how much o an impact each one has made, his "mid-season" grade on each of them & his uncensored comments on the internet rumors between ROH & TNA (and there are plenty of them!), make sure you check out the full, uncut interview -- now available on The Monday Night Mayhem Radio Network.

Head on over to www.ROHWrestling.com for all of the latest results on the first leg of their Ohio "double-shot" (from Dayton) & for all of the latest, in-depth news & notes going into the epic Cleveland show -- featuring the return of Christian Cage to ROH!

*The manager of The Rottweilers, Julius Smokes also joined The Big Mosh & Blade on the 7/24 edition of The Mayhem -- which is now available for download. He broke down this weekend's Dayton/Cleveland OH double-shot, in addition to discussing all of the happenings within Ring Of Honor -- including the latest on the relationship/future with TNA, upcoming DVD/shoot releases, a preview of ROH's European debut headed your way next month, & the future of "The Notorious 187" Homicide within the company.

*Former five-time WWE Champion & WWE Hall Of Famer, Bret "Hitman" Hart, was also guest on the special 7/25 edition of Monday Night Mayhem. Bret discussed his recent dealings with the WWE, as well as some of the current projects he is working on -- in addition to his thoughts on Brock Lesnar leaving the WWE, Harry Smith's future in World Wrestling Entertainment, The Ultimate Warrior's falling out with the WWE, Kevin Von Erich selling the World Class Championship Wrestling video library, & so much more. Bret did not refuse to answer any of the questions thrown at him during this 30+ minute interview which is now playing for FREE in streaming audio on www.MondayNightMayhem.com & www.AudioWrestling.com.

"The Hitman" will be at the Capitol Legends Fanfest in Rockville, MD from August 11th-13th. He said that will feel like one of the fans when he gets to see legends, such as "Superstar" Billy Graham. For more information on the entire weekend's fanfest lineup (including guest lineup, autograph sessions, Q&A times, & much more), log onto www.CapitolLegends.com.

*From Bret "Hitman" Hart & Konnan to "The Franchise" Shane Douglas & Chris Jericho, "Your Home Of Wrestling Radio" has brought you the very best and most diverse guests/programming. Yes, it's hard to believe that "The Summer Of Mayhem: Part III" is starting to draw to a close, but we still have a little more than one month of Mayhem left to go wrestling fans!

Join The Big Mosh, Blade, & special guest co-host, Gerweck.net's very own Michael T (formerly of "Michael T Mondays" on The Gerweck Hotline) LIVE this Monday night (July 31st), as we continue to pay tribute the WWE Hall Of Fame's "Class Of 2006." Former WWE & AWA Women's Champion and one of the greatest managers in the history of professional wrestling/sports entertainment, "Sensational" Sherri Martel, will be joining the program in her first radio/internet interview since the induction ceremonies this past April.

E-mail your questions/comments for Sherri to MondayNightMayhem@hotmail.com, post them on The Mayhem MySpace (located at www.MySpace.com/MondayNightMayhem), or the MNM Uberfun Message Board (located at www.MondayNightMayhem.com).

Sherri will be aboard to promote the upcoming Capitol Legends Fanfest Weekend (August 11th-13th in Rockville, MD). For more information on the entire weekend's fanfest lineup (including guest lineup, autograph sessions, Q&A times, & much more), log onto www.CapitolLegends.com.

We all know that Sherri's acceptance speech was the highlight of the WWE Hall Of Fame Ceremonies, so we will be getting her own personal thoughts on sharing the stage that night with her fellow inductees -- including the late Eddie Guerrero & our guest this past week, Bret "Hitman" Hart. Sherri will also be giving her takes on coming back last year to the "E" as part of the Kurt Angle/HBK storyline, what it was like managing "The Macho Man" Randy Savage (and whether or not she will be looking forward to the new season of VH-1's "Surreal Life), being in the corner of "The Heartbreak Kid" Shawn Michaels, & if she ever pictured "The Million Dollar Man" Ted DiBiase ever coming back to the WWE and Booker T becoming as big as he has in his stint in World Wrestling Entertainment. And exactly what is her opinion of the current crop of WWE Divas (and the ones in "training," as part of the 2006 WWE Divas Search)?

In addition, the director of "Heroes Of World Class: The Story Of The Von Erich's & The Rise And Fall Of World Championship Wrestling," Brian Harrison, will be joining the program as one of our very special guests.

E-mail your DVD/WCCW questions for Brian & your personal memories of World Class to MondayNightMayhem@hotmail.com, post them on The Mayhem MySpace (located at www.MySpace.com/MondayNightMayhem), or the MNM Uberfun Message Board (located at www.MondayNightMayhem.com).

With the sole surviving Von Erich brother, Kevin, recently selling the WCCW library to Vince McMahon & the WWE, we very well know that this intimate DVD is something that will never be seen again -- so we will be giving away one copy to a lucky Mayhem listener. You have to tune in LIVE to score your chance on getting one of the best wrestling documentaries at your fingertips.

This DVD includes plenty of footage from the heyday of World Class Championship Wrestling, and one of the most awe-inspiring moments you will ever see -- the powerful moment of Kevin returning to the now dilapidated Sportatorium.

Log onto www.RightHerePictures to get more information on the film and how to purchase it.

And if that isn't enough -- we are now less than one month away from the return of the largest independent wrestling event in the country -- Ballpark Brawl. The Big Mosh & Blade will be joined by the event's promoter, "The Brawl-chitect" Christopher Hill, as he will run down all of the latest news & notes on the event that has been sweeping the country for the past few summers. Head on over to www.BallparkBrawl.com for all of the details on the event, which will be taking place Sunday afternoon, August 27th at Dunn Tire Park in Buffalo, NY!

E-mail your Brawl-related questions & comments for Chris to MondayNightMayhem@hotmail.com, post them on The Mayhem MySpace (located at www.MySpace.com/MondayNightMayhem), or the MNM Uberfun Message Board (located at www.MondayNightMayhem.com).

This Monday night, The Mayhem returns LIVE (starting at 7PM ET/6PM CT) to close out the month of July with another "exclusive," a little "class," & some "brawling."

*The Mayhem also encourages all new & old listeners The Mayhem to check out some of the archived interviews now available on www.MondayNightMayhem.com, www.WrestlingMediaNetwork.com, www.ObsessedWithWrestling.com, & www.AudioWrestling.com, including: Y2J himself...Chris Jericho, Tyson Tomko (in his first interview since leaving the World Wrestling Entertainment), Charlie Haas, WWE Hall Of Famers Bret "The Hitman" Hart, Bobby "The Brain" Heenan & "Mr. Wonderful" Paul Orndorff, Christy Hemme, Lance Storm, The Fabulous Rougeau Brothers (Jacques "The Mountie" Rougeau & Raymond Rougeau), former NWA World Tag Team Champions America's Most Wanted, "The Fallen Angel" Christopher Daniels, Tito Santana, Jeff Jarrett, Paul Roma, & many more.

Remember, you can feel The Mayhem (live & worldwide) each & every Monday night on The Monday Night Mayhem Radio Network from 7-9PM ET.