Glenn Gilberti speaks on his Disco Character, WCW booking team ideas, more
    Submitted by Sudeep Popat on Wednesday, June 18, 2003 at 6:16 PM EST

  • Thanks to Daniel Edler for sending in the following:

    Show: The Interactive Interview (theinteractiveinterview.com)
    Guest: Glenn Gilberti (TNA Special)
    Date: 18th June 2003
    Your Hosts: Daniel Edler & James Walsh
    Recap by: James Walsh

    This episode of The Interactive Interview is a special tribute to the one-year anniversary of Total Nonstop Action. Special guests that stop by for a short stay include Bob Ryder, NWA World Heavyweight Champion AJ Styles, the lovely Trinity, veteran Jerry Lynn, and the "Sometimes Exciting" Jeremy Borash! Add in an interview with Glenn Gilberti, and we have six superstars from the company that celebrates birthday number one tonight!

    Glenn Gilberti

  • Glenn was a wrestling fan growing up. Some of his favorites were Piper, Macho, Flair, and guys like that.

  • He never had a big "awakening" to become a wrestler. He just kind of fell into it and that is what he does.

  • The original blue print for the "Disco Inferno" character came from Raven. Glenn just tweaked it to be what he wanted it to be and did it for a long time. He said there is a good chance he'll never do that character again, though.

  • There is no big story to how he got in WCW. He just called and was there.

  • Glenn feels that he didn't want to do the match with Jackie because at the time, it had not been done. He says he doesn't know how anybody can work with a 120-pound woman and make it work.

  • He said WCW occasionally gave him tiny pushes that never amounted to anything serious. He said his match with Kidman for the cruiserweight belt was when he was in the best shape of his life. He always liked working with Kidman, too. Says they worked together several times.

  • He says the end of WCW came when the NWO originally split. He said if everyone involved had done business, it would probably be alive today but the fans never got the pay off for the red and black against the black and white. He tells a story about a member of the black and red being beaten and then beaten down by the black and white after the match and Nash having to cut a promo in the next segment. Nash didn't do it because he knew nothing he could say could make sense of why he wasn't supposed to go out and make the save.

  • Once the NWO died out, WCW wasn't as "cool." He said that Kevin Sullivan liked to push guys like Ric Flair and other 50 year old guys and he feels wrestling is for young people and that is what they want to see.

  • When Bischoff was removed, he feels he was burned out. He said that the locker room was coming to the arena and looking for a TV to watch RAW on. He says Bill Busch had no clue about wrestling.

  • The morale was high in the locker room when Vince Russo came in. They had seen what Vince did for the WWE in that everybody on the card had a story or a character. Not everything done hit a home run but at least, unlike WCW at the time, everyone meant something.

  • Glenn thinks the feud with the Mamalukes was a fun one with himself and Lash.

  • He says the Souled Out pay per view was very awkward. He said guys were in corners whispering all day and that was when the Radicals were leaving.

  • He really didn't take sides on Sullivan and Russo in terms of a power struggle because he wasn't really a part of the booking team then. He still thought Russo had a more current vision.

  • Glenn liked working with the Filthy Animals. He said it was done because those guys were his best friends at the time.

  • Alex was coming back from an injury and the Berlin character had burned out so they decided to put them together as a tag team again. Ed Ferrara came up with the name "Boogie Knights."

  • He said Madden had been let go by WCW so he filled in with a Nitro broadcast. He said it didn't bother him that he only did the one show.

  • His back injury was suffered from lugging around his bags overseas. He said he didn't feel right going into the match and at the WCW Millennium Final pay per view, he felt it go in the battle royal.

  • He knew WWE had the company. He never even entertained the "work" concept that many callers on WCW Live mentioned Glenn told them.

  • The Fruits in Suits on the first WWA tour was a stupid Australian kids show he had seen that he had to make fun of.

  • He feels that if they had done what they wanted to with the talk show on TNA, it would have worked. But, he interviewed Goldylocks and talked about music and stuff and the next week they interviewed someone that had never appeared on the pay per views before as that character. So, he knew it wasn't working.

  • He left to do another WWA tour and came back when there was a logical way to do so.

  • Being called "Russo's Boy" doesn't bother him because he says so many people talk about you in wrestling that you can't let them get under your skin.

  • He says he doesn't have a big memory of the NWA title match he had with Jarrett other than thinking to himself that he could have gone twice as long as they did. They went about 15 minutes.

  • He thinks the character needs to get sarcastic and more funny. He says the crowd doesn't like a totally serious character so he will change it accordingly.

  • We also do word associations with Glenn with names like Vince Russo, Raven, Trinity, and more! Some of the answers may surprise you!

  • Plus, a few minutes with AJ Styles, Trinity, Jerry Lynn, Bob Ryder & Jeremy Borash on the first year of Total Nonstop Action! For the recap of that segment, check out the official website by clicking the link below.

  • To Download The Show In Streaming Media: Click Here
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    Credit: theinteractiveinterview.com


  • The Interactive Interview Official Website




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