Press Releases
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March 9, 2004 Interview with: Marty Jannetty Interview for Italy By: Michele M. Ippolito First of all, Marty, thank you for conceding me this interview, which is an honour and privilege to me. In Italy we have never forgotten you, and so this is an important occasion to tell the fans something about your life, your career, your projects for the future. Let�s start!!! 1) It�s long time that you have disappeared from the spotlight. What do you do in life besides wrestling? MJ) - I�m wrestling all over the world still, but I now make my home Tallahassee Florida where I am currently helping run Body Slam University. I feel like it is one of the premier professional wrestling schools in the world. Along with partner and friend John Copassaki, a.k.a.-Blaze, a well respected name on the Indy scene, we cover every aspect of professional wrestling needed to be a success in the industry. You can check it out at out our website WWW. CCWTALLAHASSEE.COM We are also running a very successful independent wrestling promotion called Capital City Wrestling. Owner and future superstar in this industry Rod � The Bod� Foys along with his sidekick Barlee Legal are very creative and have a nature knack for producing shows that wrestling fans can really enjoy. As I said before Rod " The Bod" is a future superstar in this industry, he has a look that really stands out in the ring, great body, great face, and excellent entertaining mic skills, and perfect interactions with his valet, you will be hearing his and her name alot in the future. I will be very proud to say I had a helping hand in his career. 2) Are you completely satisfied with your career in the world of pro-wrestling or do you have any regrets? MJ) � No, I am not completely satisfied at all. I am somewhat proud of some of the accomplishments, but I really never released my full potential. I fell hard for the nite life and really let my talents waste away. As well as I did do, it could have and would have been so much more. I may not have the looks of my long time partner Shawn Michaels, he definitely has charisma, but my physical abilities, creativity and knowledge of the industry certainly would have allowed me to do as well as he has done. And , he has done pretty good. A weakness I have is baby face interviews. As a heel I can hang with the best. I just never got much of an opportunity to be a heel in my career. 3) In Italy you have forever been a very appreciated wrestler and many people think that, during your career, you have obtained less than you deserved, especially for your technical experience. What can you say to the many Italian fans who still long for the marvellous Rockers? MJ)- I agree with them, I never got the recognition or opportunities I deserved. Yes, I did party quite hard in my hay day, but that never had a thing to do with my professionalism in and around the business. I have been given the nickname of �Springboard� due to the fact that everyone I have ever tagged up with sprang to the top of the industry. Here is your list - Shawn Michaels, The 1 2 3 Kid ( X-Pac ), Leif Cassidy ( Al Snow ) and Bob � Hard Core � Holly. Quite an impressive list, in fact they are the only people I ever tagged with, and damn, they did pretty good afterwards. I like to think I had a helping hand in their careers. But, as Raven would say�� what about me, what about MJ��well just a little note fyi, I can still go every bit as much as I ever could. So far, I haven�t lost a step. I may not look quite the same, although when my hair is long, there is not too much of a difference, but nevertheless I can still ignite a crowd. Maybe, soon, I will be able to prove this to everyone�in this business, you never know!!! 4) Let�s talk about Shawn Michaels. You two were like brothers for many years, but then something broke down. What happened? And you two are still in touch today? MJ)- It is a matter of perspective. From my standpoint, Shawn was always about Shawn, and in this industry that is the way you have to be if you are gonna get ahead. I still value the friendship Shawn and I once had, but, I am amazed at how close we once were and yet today we barely speak. Once we did the split of the Rockers, he really distanced himself from me. I feel there were professional reasons as well as personal reasons. I will not go into detail on either, other than to say, on both accounts, the reasons were very weak. 5) What do you think about the enormous difference between the careers of Shawn and you as single wrestlers after your split in 1992? Why this happened, although many people thought that you was a better wrestler than Shawn? MJ)- I appreciate the compliment, but I wouldn�t say I was better than Shawn, but I would go as far as to say I was every bit as good. Like I said earlier, I probably cut my own throat with the heavy partying I was doing. I don�t know that my career would have skyrocketed though had I not been partying. Vince had told us once that he saw a superstar in Shawn but he just didn�t see that in my future. I asked if he would give me the chance to prove him wrong, in which he said � I�d be glad to, I Iike that attitude�. Then I went out and got drunk as hell to celibrate the opportunity. Just kidding but, I will say, after that meeting, I really let his words go to my head and sorta just gave way to them, and went whole heartedly into the partying, chasing girls and just having as much fun as I could before it all ended. The sad part to me is, I could have proved him wrong, had I been just a little more headstrong at the time to ignore his suggestion that I wasn�t that good. I respect the hell out of Vince , he is a genius for this industry, so, when he said that to me, it was almost like I was hypnotized into believing it. To bad we can�t hit a rewind button and go back in time to correct our mistakes. 6) Which are the highlights of your wrestling career? And the funniest moments? MJ)- The highlights are so numerous, I don�t know where to begin. The first time Shawn and I won the AWA Tag Team Championship was quite an amazing feeling. We had gone one year chasing after Buddy Rose and Doug Summers better known as, The Playboy and the Doughboy. It had come to a point where we had reached a peak, and actually were started to fall off of it, and the fans knew it too. If the Gagne�s had waited any longer, our careers may have ended right there. The nite we won, it wasn�t a full house but, the fans that were there made it sound like 100,000 people, they were so happy we had finally got our dues. It was a quite a feeling, even though it is a work, it still must be done right, and the fans know this. That nite the fans and us � The Midnight Rockers� were as one in jubilation. As far as the funniest moments. There are so so so many. Curt Hennig was always a blast to be around. He was always playing practical jokes on everyone. One of the most memorable funnies I have is on a flight back from Japan. Pat Tanaka, who is a great wrestler and even greater friend, had taken some valiums to go to sleep on this 14 hour flight. A lot of the guys do this to make the flight less miserable, we just try sleeping thru it. Well, when we landed in Los Angeles and Mr. Tanaka woke up, everyone was just staring at him. He was very "dis-oriented" at first from just waking up from his long nap and he couldn�t understand why everyone was staring at him. Hulk Hogan was sitting in the seat in front of him yet everyone was staring at him. He looked at me and threw his hands in the air and asked me why??? I told him in a whispering low voice, � go to the bathroom and look in the mirror�, he then asked why, and I tried not to die laughing and just repeated myself, � go to the bathroom and look in the mirror�. So he immediately darts off to the bathroom goes in shuts the door�then about 5 seconds later we all here him scream as loud as he could � Oh My God��.we�re all dying laughing ..all the wrestlers, the flight attendants and other passengers are just dying laughing�what Tanaka saw when he looked in the mirror ( first picture a guy with beautiful long shinny black hair and a Foo man choo, or however it is spelled, beard and mustache ) was one side of his head shaved bald, I think it was the right side, his left eye brow shaved off, and the left side of his foo man choo shaved off�.sometimes the boyz are brutal�.Well, that nite we, The Rockers, were wrestling against the Orient Express ,Tanaka and Sato in Los Angeles. We get to the arena, and it�s sold out 20,000 screaming fans and Tanaka is in a panic on what to do. So, I told him get some eye liner and draw his mustache, beard and eye brow back on, and just wear a bandana on his head during the match. He did and it looked good for him until him and I hooked up in the ring. I snatched him over in a snap mare and grabbed a rear chin lock on him, then proceeded to pull his bandana off�he started squirming and yelling., � what the F*CK are you doing stop it�..the crowd started roaring with laughter as this Japanese wrestler is stomping mad running around the ring with just one half a head of hair, so I grabbed him again in the rear chin lock then reached around and started rubbing his eyeliner make up off until you could see the hilarious sight. The crowd was going bezerk with laughter as Pat was running around the ring trying to hide. You gotta understand that Pat has the type personality that you could enjoy this and not feel like you were being cruel to him. We couldn�t get the match back on track after that so we basically clowned around the rest of that match but the crowd appreciated it anyway as they gave us ( both teams as we left ) a standing ovation for the entertainment we brought to them. It was definitely a nite all who attended will never forget. 7) Which tag team do you think has been the greatest ever in pro-wrestling? In Italy we appreciate very much Hart Foundation, British Bulldogs, Steiners, Demolition, Road Warriors MJ)- well, I agree with all the teams you just listed as being the best, just add the Rockers to that list and it is complete. The Road Warriors made the biggest impact on the industry, as they were the first to come in with huge bulging muscles combined with the whole hard core look, with painted faces and kick ass music and basically a style that perfectly accented their size and characters, which was..no selling...total kick ass.... The British Bulldogs and The Steiners were absolutely amazing to watch... 8) You have worked briefly for the Wcw. What kind of impression did you have of that playground? Why they did not give you a decent chance to demonstrate your skills? MJ)- At the time I was there, they had so many cliques that if you were not in one, you didn�t have much of a chance. Eric Bishoff, Dusty Rhodes, Ric Flair Kevin Nash just to name a few, all had there crew and was in heated battle with other cliques but they were beating WWF at the time in ratings, so it didn�t matter. I enjoyed my short star there although WWF was a better playground as far as I was concerned. 9) Which is your opinion about the crisis of the wrestling business today? What do you would change if you were in charge of the Wwe to fight the decrease of TV ratings and people at the shows? MJ)- I think the potential is still there to remain the biggest draw in the sports/entertainment industry. At this point, Vince needs competition. He has nothing to push himself against. Basically, he can do whatever he pleases, and the viewing fan has no other option but accept it, or simply walk away. The skits, or dialogues are too damn long. Certain people can hold our interest for 10 minutes of talking, such as The Rock, Stone Cold, Jerico and maybe a couple of others but for the most part, we lose interest waiting for the excitement to begin. While some of the storylines are exciting, most of them are redundant and stale. They simply need me in there to turn up the heat stir up some new ...um..stuff, and ..bring back the Rockers for a re-union, and if Shawn doesn't like it, well, he could recieve a nice stiff super kick ( or sweet chin music ) to the side of his head, and ...the fued will be on.....I still can rock and roll, strut and stroll, slam and jam just a well as ever if not better. I see he has lost a step or two in his ..um...senior years.....you never know, keep your eyes peeled wide open Mr. Michaels..... 10) What do you think about Nwa Tna and his X Division? Don�t you think that maybe the X wrestlers are grow up watching all the Rockers� match on TV in their childhood? MJ)- Unfortunately I have not been able to keep up with NWA TNA or X-Pac, oops I mean the X division..but I am willing to bet that they are exciting to watch.... 11) Who is the best wrestler you have ever worked with? And the toughest? MJ)- Well I have to say that without a doubt, Shawn Michaels is the smoothest I have worked with but then that would only make sense, since we were a tag team for 7 years and basically, to become as good as we were we had to become one unit with each other, sorta blend into one wrestling machine. You have to be pretty in tune with each other to do that. In some of our matches when we went back and studied the video's , even Shawn and I would be amazed at how we would do a series of 3 or 4 moves with certain degrees of difficulties required such as flips , spins or twisting bumps and yet we would be in perfect sync with each other...thats blending ( zenning, for those who know what that is ) and becoming one... so, the matches him and I had were so so smooth and easy. It's like we knew exactly what the other was thinking and was able to accomadate the next series of moves without ever skipping a beat .......magic...... 12) Now, let�s play a classic game. Give me just few words about these men of the wrestling business:
13) I know that you sometimes come here in Europe. Have you ever been in Italy? What would you like to say to the Italian fans that still love you? MJ)- actually, I am half Italian, the better half, and yet I never have been to Italy..I would absolutely love to come visit, and would love more so to perform for my Italian fans..there is a saying in my business and it goes .."you never know".....thanx to all of you who have been fans of mine, throughout everything, my mistakes and my accomplishments...I love you all...... |
