MIKE SANDERS DISCUSSES THE PASSING OF HIS FORMER PARTNER LANCE CADE, A MESSAGE TO OTHER WRESTLERS AT RISK, NEXUS VS. THE NATURAL BORN THRILLAS, AND MORE
By WorldWrestlingInsanity.com
Tonight at midnight EST, an All New World Wrestling Insanity will be unveiled. In preparation, James Guttman is bringing you an all new 56 minute shoot interview that definitely registers as “Above Average” as the one and only Mike Sanders joins the Insanity. It’s an unflinching and controversial discussion with a star that made a career of getting under your skin and leaving you S.O.L.
From his time as WCW Commissioner to Vince Russo’s crown jewel of TNA’s Sports Entertainment Extreme, Mike Sanders has been speaking out and rattling cages. In this exclusive and sometimes explosive shoot, Mike talks about everything from his heat with Paul Orndorff to the reason why he wouldn’t return to TNA to all the places you can see him on TV today. For a full list of topics head to: http://www.worldwrestlinginsanity.com/am2/publish/newsnotes/ClubWWI_Mike_Sanders.shtml
For up to the minute information on all the latest guests, events, and tonight’s HUGE RELAUNCH OF WORLDWRESTLINGINSANITY.COM, you can join our Facebook Fan Page at: http://www.facebook.com/pages/The-World-Wrestling-Insanity-Dot-Com-Page/275219172353
James Guttman had scheduled the Mike Sanders interview before the tragic news of Lance Cade’s passing. Lance was a friend to World Wrestling Insanity and a paid member of ClubWWI.com long before he ever did his first interview with the site. Cade’s death at the young age of 29 was reported just hours before Mike’s interview and Sanders, who held the HWA Tag Team Titles with Lance Cade during his time in the HWA, spoke about him and others in the wrestling business who might be at risk for an early death…
“Lance (Cade) was my roommate. Lance was my roommate for a year and that guy would literally just sit in his room, man, on his computer and he was kind of quiet. I think because he was 19 maybe 20 years old at the time. I don’t know. He might have been 21. He had just come out from training with Shawn Michaels and was there under developmental. He was my roommate and he was good guy. Now with that being said, let me just say this. You and I talked about this earlier before we went and got on the show. I am a firm believer of what I’m about to tell you. If Lance Cade has died from any other reason besides drug overdose or related to that, then God bless him. I know right now there are kids without a father. People in wrestling – you are in a box. You’re literally in this box and inside that box is all you know. I can sit here and name a bunch guys who, all their lives, this is all they’ve ever done. I get it. I loved being there. It is
like a drug. I tell people that sometimes I wish I hadn’t tasted that part of success because it drives me. It drives me now and it will drive you crazy. Now before I got into wrestling, I spent four years in the United States army. My dad owned a towing service. I had real jobs in what I call real life. A lot of these guys, that’s all they know and that’s all they’ve ever done. So when it’s not there for them, they don’t know how to go outside that box or that so-called family wrestling world and step into a little bit of reality. Vince Russo will tell you, when it wasn’t there for Mike Sanders, the day I got fired by Paul Orndorff, I got my ass in my car and drove to my dad’s towing service and I said, ‘Hey, you got a truck available?’ He’s like, ‘Yeah. What happened?’ ‘I just got fired by WCW. You mind if I drive and grab one of your trucks?’ Why? Because I had to make a living because I had kids to support.”
Sanders speaks at length about his life after wrestling including his appearances on Army Wives, The Colony, and national ad campaigns. He also speaks about bouncing back from setbacks like being released by WCW before he ever debuted, heat with Paul Orndorff, what Paul said to Mike’s wife when the two recently saw each other, the doomed fates of the Powerplant alumni, why he won’t return to TNA, Jeff Jarrett’s issues with him, how he learned about them, and so much more.
Another topic that James asked about was the Natural Born Thrillas. The group seemed to be years ahead of its time in WCW as Sanders, along with Reno, Mark Jindrak, Sean O’Haire, Chuck Palumbo, and Shawn Stasiak, debuted in World Championship Wrestling as eager rookies looking to make an impact. The comparisons to Nexus are apparent and JG asks Mike about it. Are they the same? Will the Nexus guys benefit from the push or are they better off as singles stars? Sanders gives his point of view to ClubWWI.com members:
“You’re comparing WWE to WCW. Now before I make anybody mad, let me just say this. The thing I think WWE has always been good about, and I haven’t watched much but I’ve watched the Nexus guys recently. WWE has, in my opinion, never had a problem taking a main eventer and using him to put over younger guys and I think that’s why the formula works so well sometimes for them.”
Mike tells a story about a car ride with Lex Luger and Vince Russo where Lex summed the situation up perfectly, his partnership with Kevin Nash, his personal friendship with the members of the Thrillas, how Reno treated his kids, Jindrak’s reaction to Mike’s stand up comedy, what Sting once told him about his WCW push, and more. Although there are negatives to say about how WCW handled the Thrillas, Sanders also sees things a bit clearer now. Years removed, maybe it was just the time period.
“I always heard stories and I guess I really didn’t pay much attention to it, about how WCW just wasn’t big on main eventers putting over young guys. They still had the mentality of working (your way up), but to me isn’t really true because Nash put Rey Mysterio over on that whole mask deal. I don’t know. I think we’re in a different time. WCW was kind of really on the down as we were coming in.”
The conversation continues on ClubWWI.com with talk of whether being the face of a dying WCW actually hurt the Thrillas in the long term, the uplifting story of Alan “Kwee Wee” Funk, being flown to WrestleMania 17, why he thought it was a test, MikeSanders.net, and tons more.
Remember that Mike Sanders is one of over 250 uncut shoot interview guests available the moment you join ClubWWI.com from AJ Styles to Jesse Ventura to Mae Young to Samoa Joe, they’re all on there to hear exclusively. Plus, SummerSlam Sunday, the countdown ends and WorldWrestlingInsanity.com celebrates five years by unveiling a while new face of Insanity. You won’t want to miss it!