Jack E. Jones sent this recap in.
Recap of Dutch Mantell on In Your Head Wrestling Radio, 05/23/2012
by Vic Schiavone
Hosts Jack E. Jones and One Inch Biceps welcomed wrestling legend Dirty Dutch Mantell to IYH Wrestling Radio for an interview that was three weeks in the making. Dutch apologized for missing the previous two week’s programs and said he was not able to be on due to unfortunate circumstances.
Jack talked to Dutch about his upcoming appearance at the NWA Legends Fanfest Weekend on August 2-5 in Charlotte, NC.
They zeroed in on Thursday night the 2nd, which has been entitled “An Evening with Dutch”. Dutch explained that he will be doing his first stand-up comedy routine that night and would be sharing stories from his life on the road. He said that other wrestlers (such as Mick Foley and Roddy Piper) have tried their hand at stand-up and that he thought he would give it a try in front of a friendly audience.
Dutch then talked about his newest project, a DVD entitled “Dirty Memphis”. Dutch said he basically made this DVD because so many people had asked him why he was not included in the movie “Memphis Heat”. Dutch said he was told by the creators of “Memphis Heat” that they could not find him and that was the reason he was not contacted about the movie. Dutch and Jack both shared their skepticism about this excuse (and rightfully so). Dutch shared stories about the big Memphis run from 1980-1985 when wrestling in Memphis was at its peak and especially talked about 1982 and his legendary feud with Jerry “The King” Lawler. Dutch and Jack talked about the feud, and the psychology involved because this was a face vs. face feud as opposed to the traditional face vs. heel matches. Dutch said the main goal was to have a great, competitive match and let the fans decide who they would cheer for. Dutch said he was very proud of his program with Lawler and how it left the door open for how it could be resolved. Dutch said that the two things you want the fans to feel after a match is (1) I enjoyed it, and (2) I want to see more of this, and he felt that his matches with Lawler accomplished both goals. Dutch said that because wrestling is scripted you can make it mean something, and that is what makes it entertaining. He then talked about MMA, which he called “boring as hell” and said that he didn’t care if it was “real” it still didn’t entertain like wrestling can because with wrestling you can dictate the type of show that you want.
Jack asked Dutch if there had ever been a situation where as a heel he had been cheered by the fans. Dutch said that as the fans became more sophisticated that had happened, but said that he hates “smart fans” because they tend to take some of the enjoyment out of the business. He said that fans like that are the ones who gravitate toward a promotion like Ring of Honor, which he said was great but that there was too much wrestling and not enough story-telling to make it entertaining. Dutch talked about the key to a successful promotion was not only good wrestling but good storylines that will hook the viewer and bring him in.
Dutch talked about working on Ring Ka King in India and how much he enjoyed the experience. He said that in a lot of ways it was like wrestling was about twenty years ago, in terms of the product. He said that the fans sold out every show and that Scott Steiner was the most over wrestler in the promotion.
The interview closed with another mention of the NWA Legends Fanfest Weekend on August 2-5 in Charlotte, NC and that the Dirty Memphis DVD would be available at the event.
This interview is available for listening at
http://www.iyhwrestling.com/viewnews.php?autoid=4607