Alex Obert sent this in.
Journeyofafrontman.com recently did an interview with Tommy Dreamer about the House of Hardcore events this weekend. Here are some excerpts from the interview:
On having Edge appear at the first House of Hardcore event:
“Having Edge at my show was important to me because he’s one of my closest friends and it was his first event after leaving WWE. And what impressed me the most was him watching the show, helping guys and talking to them, and then he got so swept up in how good the show was, he wanted to go out there and talk about the show, as well as myself. He wanted to go out there and just cut a little promo for the fans, which he’s never done outside of WWE. He really put over the Young Bucks and Paul London and Brian Kendrick for tag team wrestling. He put myself over for really, really caring about the business. Him endorsing the product gives you the nice stamp of approval and validation.”
Thoughts on Curt Hawkins’s wrestling school:
“It’s awesome, man. He’s a very, very talented guy and he wants to give back to the business. I think a wrestling school should be run by guys like myself who are kinda at the tail end of their career, he still has a contract with WWE. I think it’s cool that he’s opening up a wrestling school, but I don’t think he should count himself out for an opportunity to go back to WWE. I don’t know what they’re doing with him, but it’s cool to give back to the business. A guy like him is technically really, really sound. You have to devote a lot of your time to a wrestling school. I’ve had one for a long time and it’s a lot of time. You’re taking men and women under your wing and you’re trying to teach them the business and they’re also paying you, so you need to be there for them. There’s periods for myself where I couldn’t be at my school because I was traveling so much, almost five weeks. To answer your question, I think it’s cool for Curt to be teaching a school out in Long Island, but I hope he doesn’t give up on his own hopes and dreams.”
On the importance of House of Hardcore for fans:
“I’m a father of twin girls. I recently went and saw the movie, Maleficent, and it was okay. They enjoyed it, I did not. It was just okay. I wound up spending about seventy five, eighty bucks, and I don’t want that feeling. I know what it costs to go to a WWE event. I have top-rate stars at a lesser value. You’re actually able to meet and greet with the wrestlers and it’s not gonna break your wallet. I want you to say, “Wow, I got the most bang for my buck!” after that show. And also, some of my greatest memories are from me being at wrestling matches with my father, with my friends, my girlfriend, and I want people to experience that as well and say, “Wow, I saw one kickass show and it’s really worth my time, as well as my money.” I want people to enjoy it. This is my vision of what the business should be. No politics, no BS, just wrestling. And that’s what you’re gonna get.”
Thoughts on Christian:
“Christian’s amazing. Always has been, always will be. He’s one of my top ten favorite opponents and one of my favorite matches. I lost the ECW Championship to him and I wish he would have went out as the last ever ECW Champion, that would have been cool, but it is what it is. He’s a future hall of famer. He’s another guy that can still go out there and go. If I have House of Hardcore still goin’ on and he ever wants to do it and wasn’t working for WWE, I’d book him in a second. I love Christian.”
On RVD potentially being apart of House of Hardcore:
“Rob Van Dam was actually the first person I contacted for these upcoming shows. He said, “I’ll probably be back in WWE by then.” He was kinda pissed because he really wanted to do it. I’m blessed to have a lot of good friends in the business and I would love to have Rob at these shows. I first started thinking about it four and a half, five months ago. And that’s the best part about what wrestling should be. People should be able to keep a secret. Rob told me that he was going back to WWE. When he came back, it was really a nice, big surprise for the wrestling fans. I always like there to be surprises at my shows with unadvertised guys, that’s the stuff that I miss about the business.”
On The Sandman’s entrance at ECW One Night Stand:
As a fan, since I was nine, I’ve seen some amazing entrances. During Hulkamania in the eighties, Hulk Hogan coming out to Eye of the Tiger. The Road Warriors coming out to Iron Man the first time they ever came to the Meadowlands. I’ve been in the ring when I heard the glass break and here comes Steve Austin and also The Rock’s theme and entrance. My favorite entrance of all time in the wrestling business is The Sandman’s entrance at the Hammerstein Ballroom. To have that many people singing, it was an amazing, amazing thing. My favorite entrances are that, The Undertaker, and Gangrel coming up through the fire. The best entrance in the wrestling business is The Sandman’s, if you watch that, that entrance represents ECW. It’s not like he was on TV every single week where people can know his ring music. He had been off TV for almost five years. And then you bring him back and it’s just like BOOM!”
On Bully Ray:
“I’ve been wrestling him since 1992 and he’s really, really stepped up. He’s lost a lot of weight, he’s finally started working out, doing cardio and caring about what he eats. Bubba is a very good “good guy”, but he’s probably one of the best bad guys. Because he really is a bad guy.”
HOUSE OF HARDCORE EVENTS COMING UP THIS WEEKEND IN POUGHKEEPSIE, NY AND PHILADELPHIA, PA (CHECK OUT MATCH CARDS AT THE LINK):http://houseofhardcore.net/
Journey of a Frontman: On the Line with Tommy Dreamer