by Brandon Truitt

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Happy Lundi Gras to everyone! Since I'll be getting a paid holiday for Mardi Gras, I'll be giving you a little lagniappe and posting an additional shoot interview tomorrow night. As of now, it will probably be with ECW owner and commissioner / WCW mole Tod Gordon, which I have nearly finished reviewing. If I don't get it finished because I sat around playing Drink Drink Revolution and Grand Theft Auto 3, I'll post the Lance Storm shoot instead.


Upcoming shoots will include the aforementioned Storm and Gordon ones in addition to Sid Vicious, Konnan, Mike Awesome, and probably Disco Inferno. Jimmy "Mouth of the South" Hart was scheduled to be reviewed soon but, since I've gotten the chance to order a better copy of it cheaply, I've decided to wait on it. (Believe me, this will be worth the wait if I can hear the tape clearly while reviewing it.)

Be sure to keep on the lookout for polls posted in the Smartmarks Forum's Site Feedback folder where I ask for suggestions of shoots to review. Lance Storm, Sid Vicious, and Jimmy "Mouth of the South" Hart were the top three finishers in my most recent poll and are being reviewed soon as a result. Since I wasn't planning to review the Storm or Sid shoots anytime soon, these polls are a good chance to vote for interviews that I may have overlooked (It's hard to remember what you have at times when there is a large box of tapes to choose from).


The house show circuit has majorly impacted some WWE storylines this week... Randy Orton and Batista of Evolution and Bubba Ray Dudley all came up lame after an Orton and Batista vs. the Dudley Boyz match on Saturday. Orton broke several toes and will be out for months, Batista tore his tricep and will be out for months, and Bubba strained his back but may not miss ring time. The match was thrown together at the last minute because William Regal had a double-whammy of a stomach virus and fallout from a concussion suffered at.

The big pisser of the weekend just came out today, as Kurt Angle reaggravated the neck injury he suffered in 1995 while wrestling a house show match on Smackdown's South Africa tour. If this injury is serious, this will cause the main event scene of Wrestlemania to become a major clusterfuck. Of all the current "main event" matches, Angle vs. Lesnar is the only one involving two fresh talents.


These developments will make RAW interesting tonight if for no other reason than it leaves Ric Flair as the only healthy member of Triple H's handpicked Evolution stable... and he's about 53 years old. Coincidentally enough, this comes at a time when Triple H can least afford to have his plans fall through. Both Austin and Rock will be on RAW until Wrestlemania and Triple H is already hurting severely.

Considering that his engagement to Stephanie McMahon has, symbolically, given him full control of the WWF, he needs to fear the Ides of March (March 15) like Julius Caesar nearly 2100 years before him. Don't be surprised if he gets stabbed by the entire locker room and his last words are "Et tu, Regal-uh?"

As a sidenote, it would have been more appropriate for something like this to happen to Hogan in 1998 because HIS best friend, like Caesar's, was named Brutus.


Be sure to check out Jay Spree's Gamecube Action Replay review, which will be especially helpful to those of you who play Animal Crossing and several other Gamecube games with secrets that are nearly impossible to unlock.


As always, you can feel free to Drop me an e-mail, read the archives, buy me stuff, or buy yourself stuff at Highspots.com.



Rey Misterio Jr. Shoot Interview (7-17-2000)


We start off with a rap video for Rey which shows a lot of his big moves including the 619 and the top-rope tornado DDT. His main opponent on the matches shown is his eternal nemesis Psicosis. This includes footage of Rey with and without the mask.


How did he get started in the business? When he was very young, he’d be living with his uncle Rey Misterio Sr. because his parents were always travelling. He ended up growing up in the business as a result and started training to wrestle around the age of 7 or 8. He was very tight with his uncle, who was like a second father to him. His first match was at 14 or 15.

How did he develop his skills? He watched a lot of tapes and learned from Negro Casas and Super Astro. Everyone trained on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Thursdays, but Thursdays were for professionals only and he was one of the only young guys allowed to be at the Thursday sessions.

How was he treated in the locker room- It was different as first because he was so young and small. He also used to have long, blonde hair and got heat as a result. The only respect he got was for being Rey Misterio’s nephew, which he didn’t like at the time. He now wishes he’d gotten respect for being him.

Winning the national welterweight title from Phantasmo- Konnan had recommended him in AAA and, as a result, he was getting his first big push. AAA was his first big promotion, although he’d started out in Mora, which was a smaller promotion.

Who else did he train with? Psicosis for one, although he started way before Rey. Thunderbird, Damien, Halloween, Junior, and Psicosis’ brother (who has no wrestling name mentioned) were the other guys who were coming up at the same time as him and they were a bit of a clique.

Which high flyers had a major influence on his style? Tiger Mask, Dynamite Kid, Super Astro, Chumbo Kando, etc.

Early impressions of Psicosis and Juventud Guerrera- “Awesome.” He and Psicosis started out in the business together and were roommates for three years. He goes back now and watches their matches from AAA and realizes all the crazy shit they used to do. Juvy hung out with them all the time and was an awesome wrestler in his own right.

Konnan- Very young, very green. When he was about 13 and Konnan had just started in Tijuana, Konnan used to try out his shoot holds on him. Konnan wanted to understand everything step-by-step.

AAA- Konnan called him up and told him they were opening a new promotion and asked him to come in, but was told that he was to busy to do it at the time because he was still in high school. Konnan talked him into it and he went down for two months during the Summer vacation and just never came back. He met the promoter, Antonio Pena, for the first time there. Pena didn’t have much time for Rey and the other wrestlers for the first few months because he was setting up the promotion and hammering out a TV deal. When he got all that done he sat down and watched them work and thought “DAMN… this guy’s talented, that guy’s talented” etc., and realized he had some rising stars.

Did he prefer the 6-man matches or the singles matches? He preferred to do the 6-man and regular tag matches because he’d always done singles matches to curtain jerk for Mora.

Memories of Art Barr- The best. Out of the three or four years he was in Mexico, he’d only really clicked with Konnan until Art came down. Art ended up becoming a huge friend of his.

Drugs in wrestling- They’re bad but, if you abuse them, they’re even worse. Doing a little bit of cocaine, steroids, pot, etc. is one thing, but losing control of yourself due to them is another. If they can do them and not be screwed up in the ring, more power to them.

The AAA: When Worlds Collide pay per view- “That was the shit.” Everyone was hyped up. He ended up in a 6-man tag involving Latin Lover, Louie Spicoli, Fuerza Guerrera, etc. They’d all sit down and brainstorm for new spots before the shows and would end up keeping the crowd interesting.

Going to Japan- He went over and ended up involved in J-Cup 1995 in a non-tournament match against Psicosis. It was a very good experience. There was also a match against Chris Jericho the second time he went which is available as a fan-cam.

Why did he come to the US and, more specifically, ECW- Konnan hooked him and Psicosis up in the US, which got Konnan a lot of heat in AAA because him and Psicosis were always the first guys to go anywhere. They watched a few tapes before they went and adapted their styles as a result. As for leaving AAA, part of it dealt with screwy shit like AAA trying to get WCW to send their paychecks directly to AAA. Rey was the only one who was able to get his check sent directly to him, as he had a US mailing address. All the other Luchadors in WCW had their checks go to AAA first and there is a lot of speculation that AAA took a cut of the money they were making when they wrote checks to the wrestlers who’d actually earned the money. Konnan pissed off AAA by asking that they find another way for AAA to get a cut without handling all the boys’ money. Rey himself left on good terms for AAA, although he’s not sure if anyone else did. If he ever goes back to AAA, he wants to do it with a group of guys and not by himself.

Memories of the Psicosis matches in ECW- They are mainly of the crazy moves they did. He gives himself and Psicosis a lot of credit for coming up with a lot of interesting stuff.

Did they get heat in AAA for all the high flying stuff? No, because most of the vets said “Damn, you kids are crazy. You’re going to get hurt.” It wasn’t like in the US where they’re told “Tone it down.” Blue Panther, Fuerza Guerrera, and others were supportive of them.

Eric Bischoff- They met him at the peace festival and he was cool. When problems started coming up, such as Luchadors not having visas or driver’s licenses for car rentals, etc., they took a lot of heat.

Heat in the locker room- The other wrestlers would ask themselves “Do we need that many of these guys here?” until they say them in a match, although they changed their minds when they saw them wrestle.

Going over Dean Malenko for the Cruiserweight belt- Kevin Sullivan approached him with the idea of him winning the belt the night after Bash At The Beach 1996. He puts over Dean heavily for teaching him in the ring and for being a great guy. Dean never tried to put him down in any way and treated him with total respect.

Matches with Chris Jericho- They had a bunch of good matches. Jericho was one of the guy who put him out for 6 months because his ACL went out on him. He never got to work for him in Mexico although they had some great matches in Japan.

Ultimo Dragon- He’s always looking out for himself. They had some really good matches. Hard worker. He likes to lay them in during the matches.

Eddy Guerrero- He was originally supposed to lose his mask to him in the mask vs. title match at Halloween Havoc 1997. He talks about the honor that goes into the mask and how his uncle never lost it in 10 years of wrestling. “Masks make you a legend like Santo.” He had a dispute with Bischoff over the mask. He eventually gave into Bischoff and agreed to lose it, although they came back 10 minutes before the match and told him he was going over. Eddy was behind him all the way on the mask. They had the match of the year that night although they were both stressing out beforehand. He’d learn something different from him every night.

Did he have any problems losing his mask? No, he doesn’t regret it. It didn’t help that Scott Hall was fucking with his head by telling him that it was a mistake. He eventually gave into it when Kevin Nash promised to take care of him, which happened in the way of Nash putting him over in the center of the ring the next night on TV. He’s not sure why he never made it to the next level, whether it was politics between Bischoff and the suits or with all the other wrestlers. They start talking about how a big problem WCW had was that whenever someone starts to get over, they get squashed. (Hmm… sounds familiar.) He claims that Konnan was very over for a long time but was continually held down.

Him and Jennifer Aniston in the National Enquirer- It was total bullshit. He doesn’t know who it came from or why they did it.

Knee surgery in 1998- He was scared of losing his spot while he was gone. Konnan had told him that he needed to work hard when he came back to ensure that he would get back to where he was.

Ultimo Dragon’s botched surgery- Dragon’s surgeon was the same guy who fixed his knee. He’s thankful that it didn’t happen to him.

Sidenote- Dr. Cipella, the WCW surgeon, had operated on Dragon’s elbow, had told Dragon it was okay to fly to Mexico soon afterwards. In flight, the pressure hurt Dragon’s arm in some way, possibly nerve damage, and the doctor crawfished on his earlier comments and said he’d never told Dragon he could fly to Mexico. I think this was also the same guy who Mick Foley wrote about in Have A Nice Day who gave him an “It is and it isn’t” answer when asked about some damaged discs in his back. I don’t know for sure because Foley called him Dr. Rosenrosen “in order to protect my bank account.” (For the 90% of people out there who don’t get the Dr. Rosenrosen comment, that’s one of the fake names that Chevy Chase uses in the movie Fletch.)

Does he wish he’d lost his mask to another Mexican rather than Kevin Nash? That would have been an option, and he even tried to pull that off once but it didn’t work out. He wishes it had been someone like Psicosis. He also wishes that he’d lost it on the Friday show the week before the PPV.

Tagging with Juvy- It was getting over too well so it was squashed.

WCW’s treatment of the Cruisers- Outside of himself, Juvy, and Psicosis, they treated the cruisers like crap. La Parka was used well every once in a while though. He doesn’t know if it was a style thing or because they don’t speak English or what. He says in the WWF they’d have a guy who would be in charge of all the Lucha guys and would find something for them to do.

Working with Ric Flair- He was nervous because it was a WCW title shot in the main event. If it had been built up a little more, the ratings probably would have been higher. It was a good memory though.

Billy Kidman- He started adapting to the Lucha style once they came into WCW.

Chris Benoit- “One of the best guys I’d get a rush off of when I’d wrestle.” He’s known for his chops. He didn’t get a chance to wrestle him until the end of his run in the company.

What does WCW need to do to get back on top? They need to start making stars. He says they’ve been doing it because the last few shows have been centered on new talent and not Randy Savage, Lex Luger, etc.

Hulk Hogan at Bash At The Beach 2000: Shoot or work? He and Konnan have been discussing it and they think it’s a shoot. If it’s a work, they better keep pretending it’s a shoot because it’ll piss people off.

Best memory of WCW so far- When they started putting him over because he thought it would never end.

The Filthy Animals- They were partying and having a good time wherever they went, so they just made it into a stable. It was mainly him, Konnan, Disco Inferno, and Billy Kidman. Juvy was off and on with them, as was Psicosis. The name came from a comment Disco made one day, as they’d all been at a club one night and Disco had left before everyone else. When he asked them how long they’d stayed and they said “Until 6 or 7”, he said “God, you filthy animals…” People would be checking out of their rooms while they were coming in during the morning.

What does he think of the cruiserweight term? It’s a good term but the belt isn’t positioned right. The heavyweight belt is treated as a huge deal while the cruiserweight belt isn’t treated as being all the top cruisers.

New Japan- He doesn’t know why he hasn’t gone there. Juvy and Kidman were supposed to go there but it fell through. At one point while the Radicalz were still there, someone pitched the concept of all of them going over there and having a J Cup of their own. He heard that he was supposed to go against Liger at the dome but that someone like Randy Savage got the spot instead.

Being held down- He doesn’t know which of the older guys do it but a lot of the young guys aren’t given the shot they deserve for whatever reason. He leaves the politics to Konnan. The only thing he does is to calm down Konnan if he starts getting too hot about something. He wishes he knew why guys like Hogan think all of them can’t make it.

Does he get along with the office guys? He gets along with Kevin (Sullivan or Nash? I don't know...) and Terry Taylor.

The Radicalz- He wanted to leave along with them. Konnan ended up being sent home the night after Souled Out 2000. He and a few other people walked in that night and heard about Konnan and started to go talk to management only for Sullivan to come up and ask him “Are you with us or against us?” Kevin played the “I helped you guys get started” card but Rey threw the times that Sullivan tried to screw them back in his face. He and Juvy then decided if the other guys went, they were leaving too, and they talked for Psicosis even though he wasn’t there. Shane Douglas got worked by the other Radicalz over their meeting with Vince McMahon in Connecticut, and he feels that was because Shane had heat remaining with WWF management from when he left in late 1995. They ended up staying because Konnan was doing all the communication with the Radicalz and he ended up losing contact with them. On top of that, the WCW lawyers had realized that half the roster was attempting to jump ship and started cracking down on contracts. Once they realized that they weren’t going to the WWF, they sucked it up and tried to make the best of what they had in WCW. They ended up getting jobbed out for a while and taking a lot of heat. The good thing for him was that he was hurt, so they were unable to screw him over as much as Juvy and Konnan.

Was he ever worried about going to the WWF after seeing what they did with TAKA Michinoku and Papi Chulo? Not really. He figured he’d be going in with a group so they’d be less likely to screw with him.

How did he re-injure his knee? He did it filming Ready To Rumble.

David Arquette, WCW champ- Most of the locker room was pissed off over it, although he and Disco didn’t care too much. David’s a good guy and appeared to be a huge wrestling fan, so they didn’t have any problems with him.

Is he ready to go back? He can go back but he’s only at 80% rather than 100%. Vince Russo has bitched a lot over the Filthy Animals being hurt a lot because he’s really wanted to push them. The way things worked out, though, is that Konnan, Juvy, and Rey have been out injured, Kidman was broken off from the group to feud with Hogan, and Disco Inferno was the only one healthy and still in the stable.

Would he change his style? No, he’ll just limit the amount of stuff he does where he will land on his feet. He’ll just land on his back, stomach, side, etc. instead.

Does he feel pressure from WCW management to come back? Yes, because he was given six months off the first time he was injured, wrestled two months, took two months off for another surgery, etc. This time, they cut his pay 50% after 3 months to force him to come back. He just hopes that he doesn’t get injured again because they rushed him.

Vince Russo- They don’t talk much but he’s a stand-up guy. He relates a lot with Konnan. Russo is the first boss to treat him with a lot of respect.

Does he have a problem with the Sportz Entertainment mindset behind WCW currently? He feels it’s too close to the WWF. He wants at least two 10-minute matches with the soap opera stuff earlier in the show. He wants the storyline to be set up and then have 20-minute matches on the PPV just like the WWF.

Would you consider the WWF as an option since Jericho, Benoit, etc. are all there? Sure, although he feels that WCW has turned a corner compared to early 2000 when the Radicalz left due to the lack of upward mobility.

What was the reaction in Mexico to losing his mask? It was bad. Everyone knows it’s a work but they were still pissed that he lost it in the US rather than Mexico. When he wore his mask and tried to lose it again, the fans booed the shit out of him, so he went to the center of the ring and tried to talk. When the fans wouldn’t let him talk, he just took off the mask and threw it in the center of the ring. When Psicosis saw everyone turning on Rey, he found a way to get the crowd to cheer Rey. At the end of their match, he took off his own mask and handed it to Rey.

Why did you make it and Psicosis didn’t? He thinks that the timing was bad for Psicosis. On top of that, Psicosis was a heel and didn’t have anyone to feud with while Rey was a face and was able to move on to work with Dean Malenko, etc. Psicosis also got frustrated that the office was mistreating him and jobbing him out, so he started skipping shows. If the company had treated him right, they’d at least be at the same level now.

What promotions does he watch besides WCW? He keeps track of Mexican wrestling every so often, including AAA. He isn’t familiar enough with their talent to figure out who the next big breakout star is though.

Name association-

Heavy Metal- Good wrestler, very professional. When it comes down to work, he’ll put his mind to it and come up with good matches.

Mil Mascaras- Very political. He did a lot for wrestling and he respects him, but if he did what Konnan did he’d be on top of the world, by which he means helping people out.

Tiger Mask- One of the best wrestlers in the world.

Jushin “Thunder” Liger- Great wrestler, very professional.

Bill Busch (WCW executive)- He’s spoken to him a few times but didn’t really know him until he was president. He was perceived as weak and couldn’t pull off a good run as president.

Kevin Nash as a booker and the other executives- Nash definitely pushed his friends too hard, but he was very convincing when you talked to him. He does a lot of things that are bad for business. He still respects him for doing him right, though.

What are his best matches- He has to think about it for a while before deciding on one for each of his major opponents. His best with Psicosis was in Mexico over the Welterweight title. His best with Eddy Guerrero was the Halloween Havoc 1997 match. His best with Juvy and Kidman was the three-way at Starrcade 1998.

Favorite tag team partner- His favorites were Konnan and Kidman. Those two are definitely the two guys he’s bonded most with in the ring.

Does he want to book? He has never thought about it. Maybe in a few years once he’s had more experience with politics, but he’s more interested in the in-ring product for now.

How did Disco get involved with booking? He’s always had good ideas which got used, even if he was goofing around when he suggested them. He knows what he’s talking about. He feels that Konnan should be in the same position within the next year.

Vampiro- He knew Vampiro and Konnan had heat, as well as Vampiro’s reputation for talking shit behind people’s back. Now that Vamp and Konnan get along, he’s willing to deal with him. Konnan told him that Vampiro used to be very paranoid about people fucking him over.

Fondest memory of being in the business- When his uncle came up to the ring without him knowing it and announced him as Rey Misterio Jr., putting the Rey mask on him.

What’s the best rib he’s ever seen? He’s heard a lot of stories but he thinks that most of the good ribs were done in the past. He said that one of the best ribs he’s heard about was Sunny getting a shit sandwich in Germany “because she was acting like such a cunt.”

Does he have anything to say to his fans? Keep it real. Support wrestling and, for all its worth, they know what they and their families go through.


Note- The interview portion of this one is a bit short time-wise, coming in at about 1:30, but there was more information in that time than in some interviews twice that long.


Matches:

The first match is Rey-Psicosis from J Cup 1995. This is like any other Rey-Psicosis match, which would be a putdown if their average match wasn’t still great. Rey wins with a top-rope hurricanrana followed by a standing hurricanrana.

The second match is a title match from AAA pitting Psicosis (in an American flag suit and with Juventud Guerrera as his second) vs. Rey Misterio (with someone I don’t know as his second). This is a 2 of 3 Falls match. Rey wins the first fall with a submission move that looks like one of Ultimo Dragon’s pins. I think that move is called the La Madrigal. Psicosis wins the second fall with a submission move that I can’t even describe. Rey wins the third fall with what appears to be an octopus stretch.

The third match is from AAA: When Worlds Collide, one of the best PPVs of all time. It is between Psicosis, Fuerza Guerrera (team captain), and Madonna’s Boyfriend (Louie Spicoli) vs. Rey, Heavy Metal (team captain), and Latin Lover. This is under Lucha Libre rules, so you can win the match by getting a decision over the team’s captain or to eliminate the other two members of the team. The Rudos team (Psicosis, Guerrera, and Spicoli) win because the Tecnicos team captain Heavy Metal tapped out to Guerrera.

The fourth match is a 2 of 3 falls AAA 6-man tag match with Psicosis, La Parka, Espectoro as the Rudos team vs. Rey Misterio Jr., Rey Misterio Sr., and Lizmark as the Tecnicos team. Lizmark gets a double-armed overhead suplex on La Parka to eliminate him Espectoro takes a standing hurricanrana from Rey Jr. to give the Tecnicos the first fall. La Parka does a top rope legdrop on Lizmark to eliminate him and Espectoro puts a submission hold on Rey Sr. to win the fall for the Rudos. Lizmark picks up the pin on Espectoro after a top rope elbow while Psicosis and La Parka are counted out, giving the Tecnicos the win.

The fifth match is the infamous 2 of 3 falls match between Psicosis and Rey Jr. in ECW. GREAT match here. Rey hits a standing hurricanrana to take the first fall early in the match. Psicosis counters a Rey moonsault plancha into a tombstone piledriver to win the second fall. Psicosis hits Rey with a chair, puts it on Rey’s chest, and does a moonsault into a senton onto Rey to win the third and deciding fall.

The sixth match is from Mora and is Rey vs. Psicosis, yet this time it is Rey without his mask. Psicosis wins the first fall after a top-rope legdrop. Rey wins the seco
nd fall after reversing a top rope hurricanrana by Psicosis into a power bomb. Rey wins the third and deciding fall with a top-rope tornado DDT. Rey wins Psicosis’ mask as a result.

The seventh match is Super Calo, Winners, and Rey Misterio Jr. vs. Psicosis, Magento, and Marabunta. I don’t know Winners, Magento, or Marabunta are, so it will be too hard for me to keep track of who’s pinning who. Next.

The eighth match is Rey Jr. vs. Mr. Condor. Rey beats Condor with a running hurricanrana into a pin, winning Condor’s mask.

Rey vs. Tony Arce- Rey beats Arce with what appears to be an octopus stretch for the submission.



Thoughts- The interview on this one is above average but nothing special. The match footage, though, is some of the BEST I’ve ever seen on one of these shoots. Unfortunately, the video quality of the matches leaves something to be desired. It’s still a kickass package despite that problem.

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