Interview recap of Brian Lawer on No Holds Barred Radio
Submitted by Matthew Tremley on Monday, April 21, 2003 at 11:23 PM EST


• No Holds Barred sent in the following:
  
  This week, on the No Holds Barred radio show Brian Lawler joined us and here are the highlights.
  
  Brain started out by talking about his world class ribs on fellow talents. He said he is proud of shaving off 23 eyebrows and he says his next victim is going to be Shawn Stasiak because Stasiak keeps calling him to ask him for help with landing a position with NWA TNA.
  
  Brian said it was Jerry Jarrett who started him in wrestling and not his father. He began wrestling as a junior in high school and on the advise of Jerry Jarrett he began pursuing a career in the business full time after one semester of college. He mentioned that Jerry Jarrett and Jerry Lawler would swap the book for 6 months at a time and he spent 8-9 years working for them as part of the Memphis Championship Wrestling territory.
  
  Brian said he has no idea of his status with NWA.TNA. He stated that he was with the company for their first show and he signed a contract at that time for a certain amount of money. When TNA had financial problems he agreed to take a paycut to help them out. He was told at that time that he would receive a new deal when things picked up again but since that time, a new contract has not been offered. He says right now he works with the company when he is called upon and is enjoying his time with them despite the lack of a new contract.
  
  He says that being a second generation wrestler is both positive and negative. He mentioned that by traveling with Jerry it enabled him to be around the business his entire life. It was Jerry's idea for Brian to not take the family last name, instead telling Brian to make a name for himself. He said too many guys are in the business just because of their fathers and not because of their talent. He listed David Sammartino as an example.
  
  Brian said the key to making it in the wrestling business is passion. He said its not size anymore but how bad you want it. He added that he never went to a wrestling school or was professionally trained and he learned most of his trade from watching wrestling and being around people in the business.
  
  Brian's favorite WWE moment was debuting with Scotty Too Hotty as Too Cool. He said he knew that the gimmick would work and was glad he got his chance after being with the company for as long as he was.
  He also credits the Too Cool tag team for helping launch the career of Rikishi.
  
  He credits Vince Russo and Vince McMahon with creating Too Cool. Although, the famous dances he did coming down the aisle in the WWE were all of his idea. He calls his two favorite dances the Dig Em and the Thriller. The Dig Em was obviously when Brian looked like he was shoveling snow and the Thriller was the move he does with his head.
  
  He admitted to talks with the WWE and although he is not starving at this point, he does have the urge to work with the WWE again. He said things looked good a while back but after Scott Taylor's injury things slowed down. He says he's waiting for the opportunity to go back and prove to everybody that he can do some good, put some butts in the seats and that he can be a key contributor to the show.
  
  He feels that NWA.TNA is not far from landing a TV deal and added that if they had a cable deal TNA would rival the WWE in the ratings. He said the casual wrestling fan is not watching as much but the pure wrestling fan would watch TNA on TV every week just like they watch the WWE product.
  
  When asked about Vince Russo, Brian said he has a great mind for the business. With that said, he doesn't believe he should be the # 1 heel. He used an example of fans coming to see Russo get beat up and since he can't work a match, the people get cheated out of what they came to see. He said as long as Vince wants to be around the business he will have a job but he doesn't think the show's are as good when Russo books himself in all of the main storylines. He finished the statement by joking that Russo's saturation on the show at times comes as a result of Vince wanting to see himself on TV.
  
  We joked with him about working with David Flair. He jokingly said David can work...he has a great job at Burger King and he does real well.
  
  Brian said although he has been around for a long time he is only 28 years old and has a lot left to do. He wants to show all promoters he means business and will do a good job with whatever is asked of him.
  
  To hear the entire interview log on to www.noholdsbarredwrestling.com. The No Holds Barred radio show airs every Sunday night from 9 to 11pm on 101.5 WPDH FM in New York.
  
  Recap by George Farmer of NHB

  
  

  
  
  

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