This Very Ring on PW 24/7 with former WWE Superstar Chris Masters
Hosts: Stan Grubb and Mike Prunka
Full show available at http://www.pw247radio.com
Masterpiece Theater
Well, social networking is really blowing up. Zack Ryder has had a lot of success and probably kept his job because of his YouTube show. And you figure “if Zack Ryder can do so well with a show like that, why can’t I?†I’m not trying to take his idea, I’m just basically bringing a camera with me and documenting trips on the road. I’ve been showing fans another side of me and all I’ve got to do is bring a camera with me to these events and it’ll make itself. I feel like I have a message to get out through all this. WWE didn’t give me much of a launching pad over the last few years. I tried to make the most out of every little thing they gave me. The thing is I did have charisma, they just didn’t give me much opportunity to showcase it. I’m just doing things like going down to Axxess and talking to people and doing whatever I can to showcase my charisma. It turns out to be pretty entertaining.
What did your parents think about training at age 16 to be a professional wrestler?
My mom actually drove me to wrestling practice when I was 16, so she wasn’t non-supportive. She wanted me to go into acting or modeling or something like that, but I was such a huge wrestling fan that I got her into it a little bit. She thought it was kinda cool and just supported me with whatever I wanted to do. You know, Cena and I started on the same day down there, I just happened to be 16 at the time. I was only there for a couple of months and then I fractured my ankle trying to do a leapfrog. So then I took the next three years off and spent the time working out and really perfecting my body and came back to it when I was 19. After coming back, I got signed within a year and started working at OVW.
Was it nerve racking for you coming back from your release?
I gotten myself straight and turned my life around. I had hit a rock bottom. I had been completely derailed and lost the job I always wanted. I had seen so many casualties in the business and I didn’t want to be one of them. In that first year, I could tell they didn’t have much for me. To some extent, I was just happy to be back. But, as time went on, I got more and more hungry. I really devoted myself to it. I didn’t have a girlfriend or anything so I had no distractions. I kinda thought “you know, let me put everything I have into this and really work my ass off.†I really felt I had all the tools to be successful, so that’s what led me to working as hard as I did in the last year and a half. Arn Anderson always told me I had come a long way and I could really work and that I was going to give them no choice but to use me, so that’s what I was doing. That was my mindset.
What’s next for Chris Masters?
After my first release, I took full responsibility. This time around, I really think there were people who should have been cut before me. This leads me to a position where I’m not going to leave anything off the table. I want to see what’s out there. Whether its Japan, TNA, or whatever, I don’t want to rule anything out at this point. I’m not going to gear my life towards another WWE comeback, but you never say never. I love wrestling, it’s my passion. I want to do it as long as I can make a living doing it. I don’t want to exclude a life outside wrestling, either. I live in LA, so why not take advantage of that? But I’m in the best shape of my life, both physically and ring shape.
Other topics addressed in the interview include his memories of 9/11, thoughts on the dancing pec gimmick, meeting Sharon Osbourne, working with The Great Khali, breaking Stevie Richards’ orbital bone in his Raw debut, and much more. This interview, as well as the entire show, also including a TNA No Surrender recap, can be heard in its entirety here.
Hosts: Stan Grubb and Mike Prunka
Full show available at http://www.pw247radio.com
Masterpiece Theater
Well, social networking is really blowing up. Zack Ryder has had a lot of success and probably kept his job because of his YouTube show. And you figure “if Zack Ryder can do so well with a show like that, why can’t I?†I’m not trying to take his idea, I’m just basically bringing a camera with me and documenting trips on the road. I’ve been showing fans another side of me and all I’ve got to do is bring a camera with me to these events and it’ll make itself. I feel like I have a message to get out through all this. WWE didn’t give me much of a launching pad over the last few years. I tried to make the most out of every little thing they gave me. The thing is I did have charisma, they just didn’t give me much opportunity to showcase it. I’m just doing things like going down to Axxess and talking to people and doing whatever I can to showcase my charisma. It turns out to be pretty entertaining.
What did your parents think about training at age 16 to be a professional wrestler?
My mom actually drove me to wrestling practice when I was 16, so she wasn’t non-supportive. She wanted me to go into acting or modeling or something like that, but I was such a huge wrestling fan that I got her into it a little bit. She thought it was kinda cool and just supported me with whatever I wanted to do. You know, Cena and I started on the same day down there, I just happened to be 16 at the time. I was only there for a couple of months and then I fractured my ankle trying to do a leapfrog. So then I took the next three years off and spent the time working out and really perfecting my body and came back to it when I was 19. After coming back, I got signed within a year and started working at OVW.
Was it nerve racking for you coming back from your release?
I gotten myself straight and turned my life around. I had hit a rock bottom. I had been completely derailed and lost the job I always wanted. I had seen so many casualties in the business and I didn’t want to be one of them. In that first year, I could tell they didn’t have much for me. To some extent, I was just happy to be back. But, as time went on, I got more and more hungry. I really devoted myself to it. I didn’t have a girlfriend or anything so I had no distractions. I kinda thought “you know, let me put everything I have into this and really work my ass off.†I really felt I had all the tools to be successful, so that’s what led me to working as hard as I did in the last year and a half. Arn Anderson always told me I had come a long way and I could really work and that I was going to give them no choice but to use me, so that’s what I was doing. That was my mindset.
What’s next for Chris Masters?
After my first release, I took full responsibility. This time around, I really think there were people who should have been cut before me. This leads me to a position where I’m not going to leave anything off the table. I want to see what’s out there. Whether its Japan, TNA, or whatever, I don’t want to rule anything out at this point. I’m not going to gear my life towards another WWE comeback, but you never say never. I love wrestling, it’s my passion. I want to do it as long as I can make a living doing it. I don’t want to exclude a life outside wrestling, either. I live in LA, so why not take advantage of that? But I’m in the best shape of my life, both physically and ring shape.
Other topics addressed in the interview include his memories of 9/11, thoughts on the dancing pec gimmick, meeting Sharon Osbourne, working with The Great Khali, breaking Stevie Richards’ orbital bone in his Raw debut, and much more. This interview, as well as the entire show, also including a TNA No Surrender recap, can be heard in its entirety here.