Arda Ocal sent this in:
Arda Ocal & Jimmy Korderas of R.A.W. Radio spoke with former WWE & WCW front-office executive and the spokesman/leader of the original 4 Horsemen – James J. Dillon
Highlights:
What J.J. is up to now – Cauliflower Alley Club and the continuing with the Pro Wrestling Hall of Fame as a board member
What era’s did J.J. work within and which era was the most difficult to book for:
“Towards the end, I was there when The Rock came in. Things change. It was a transition period, but that’s the nature of the business. The wrestling business is no different than the music business. It’s talent driven. The challenge is you don’t have regional territories anymore so you don’t have the opportunity for young talent to adequately learn and perfect their trade.”
How difficult it is to be the talent relations coordinator and play the mediator between the office and the talent:
“It was difficult. If you got Pat Patterson who was there before me and Jim Ross after me – if you get any of them privately, they would all say the same thing. Vince (McMahon) rightfully so, takes all the credit for anything that is good and never took the heat for anything that wasn’t good or for any of the problems. You’re job is the catch the hand-grenades and send them off before they explode in your lap!”
Why Warrior wasn’t in main events in 1990 despite being WWE champion
Why Hulk Hogan vs. Ric Flair didn’t materialize around WrestleMania 8:
“You take risks. You would’ve thought it would’ve been a natural dream-match. And it didn’t have the box office sizzle that we all would assume that it would. And after a run that was disappointing in markets (like Tampa) where it should have done well and it didn’t…it’s like Vince (McMahon) said – that match got booked 5 years too late.”
Why Lex Luger was never the WWE Champion – especially during his ‘Lex Express’ run in 1993
The differences between working in the offices of WWE vs. the offices of WCW:
“Vince can be difficult to work for sometimes. He’s a workaholic. He’s 24/7 in the wrestling business. On one hand, you have Vince McMahon – who’s been in the business for several generations and really knew how to run a business and make it profitable and on the other hand you had a broadcasting company who really had no idea what they had in hand – and Eric Bischoff who’s not a wrestling-person, who I think had his own agenda – and they couldn’t see what they had in hand and they didn’t recognize the warning signs when things start going bad”
For the full 20+ minute interview, click here: http://radio.thescore.com/episodes/jj-dillon-full-05022011