Brian Fritz sent this in.
Tommy Dreamer spoke with Brian Fritz of BetweenTheRopes.com to talk about this Saturday night’s House of Hardcore 2 event in Philadelphia, getting chants from The Sandman at last weekend’s U.S. Open golf tournament, facing Rob Van Dam for possibly the final time on Friday night, the current WWE product and the excitement around it and more.
You can listen to the interview online at http://www.betweentheropes.com/2013/06/19/between-the-ropes-podcast-tommy-dreamer-june-19-2013/.
You can also subscribe to Between The Ropes on iTunes at https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/between-the-ropes/id652853185
Here are some excerpts from the interview:
On slowing down and thinking of retirement:
Yeah, some days. I recently hurt my neck really, really bad again and I had already broken my neck. It was just on an indie show and I came to the back and I was like ‘man, I’m hurt’. And I don’t want to be hurt in my life. I live pretty much – miraculously – pain-free and I don’t want to have a lesser quality of life. Wrestling takes a toll and I’ve destroyed my body already. I’ve broken so many bones. I’ve broke my neck, I broke my bad and I’ve yet to have a surgery and I’m still going. I want to be able to pick up my kids. I want to enjoy life and not always be in pain.
On getting Tommy Dreamer chants at last weekend’s U.S. Open golf tournament:
It was very funny. One, because The Sandman was there and he kept on texting me and was like ‘dude, make sure you watch Tiger’s putt it’s going to happen in 20 minutes’. But I was at an appearance in Long Island in the day and I was like just don’t get arrested. Tiger would be putting and he would just be screaming out my name and then there’s other people. It’s also in the Philadelphia area and my other friends are there. One guy is yelling and he’s filming it and the other guy starting yelling ‘Tommy Dreamer’ and says ‘doesn’t he have a show coming up soon? Yeah, House of Hardcore’. Then three guys start chanting House of Hardcore. Ridiculous but very, very funny.
On the current excitement with the WWE product:
It’s amazing. Most people have been very down on wrestling for quite some time and they’ll have those brief moments. This from Sunday and once they announced Rob Van Dam and with a good crowd in Chicago, such a perfect place. And the perfect time to bring back CM Punk. Then that Raw was fabulous. It reminded me a lot of the Attitude Era in the sense of I have to watch this program. I don’t know what’s going to happen or who’s going to show up. That’s what WWE 100% needs because you think about it, a lot of people were down on WWE for bringing in The Rock, we’re bringing in Undertaker or Triple H, Brock Lesnar, all these part-timers but if you think about it, you need those part-timers to help fill a huge stadium of WrestleMania.
Again, no team wins without veterans, without guys in their prime and without rookies. And if anything was a great buzz of what, to me, what wrestling should be. More people have been talking about these last two episodes than I want to say these last two and a half, three months.
On facing Rob Van Dam for possibly the last time on Friday night for Family Wrestling Entertainment in Corona, New York:
Yep, I totally said that to myself the other day thinking this will probably be the last time I get to wrestle Rob. I love Rob. We’re great friends. I’m happy that Rob’s coming back (to WWE). I know I’m going to kicked really, really hard and I know I’ll be hitting him back really hard and in the end we’re going to really hug each other and just really, really take it back. I know for me it will be something really special.
On if he feels pressure to try to make each House of Hardcore show bigger than the previous one:
Yes. I never had gray hair in my beard until I worked in the WWE office and I call them my WWE’s. Then I started losing more hair when I, I don’t want to say I went out on my own, I started losing more hair when I did my first show and now I have more gray hair on the side of my head. If nothing else, I will definitely get a Just for Men bears and hair sponsorship out of this because I don’t like the salt and pepper look. I have very high expectations. I’m so wanting to up main events, up who I’m going to bring in.