Honky Tonk Man Speaks On RAW X, Piper Feud, I-C Title, More
Submitted by Matthew Boone on Tuesday, January 14, 2003 at 3:01 AM EST





I recently sat down to chat with former WWF Intercontinental champion the Honky Tonk Man to discuss several topics in a 30+ minute interview. Here are some of the highlights on what was covered:

On RAW 10th Anniversary...

>> Honky Tonk Man said he's in Phoenix, Arizona, so no, he will not be at the RAW 10th Anniversary in Times Square, New York tonight. He said he was never much of an instrumental figure on RAW as his in-ring era was before the show began, but he did do some commentary work in the early days of RAW, as well as managing "Rockabilly" (Billy Gunn).

On WWE Dropping The I-C Belt...

>> Honky Tonk said it wasn't necessarily a bad thing. He said that once a title is degraded to the point that the Intercontinental title was, it doesn't serve much of a purpose. Honky Tonk said the turning point in his eyes was when Steve Austin threw the title over a bridge and into an ocean. He felt having Chyna hold the title wasn't the greatest move in the world either.

On Others Stealing The Guitar Gimmick...

>> HTM said that it is somewhat flattering, but at the same time a knock on the creative team for recycling past gimmicks. Honky Tonk said that you'll see Jeff Jarrett and some other guys use a guitar during a match and since he originated it, it's somewhat flattering that people still use the gimmick to this day.

On How He Won The I-C Title...

>> Honky Tonk Man said originally, "The Natural" Butch Reed was in line to win the title from Ricky Steamboat, but no-showed. He said he happened to be walking in a hallway during the day of that show and while Vince McMahon and Hulk Hogan were discussing who to put the title on, Hulk said: "What about him?" Vince McMahon went for it, and the rest is history.

On How He Lost The I-C Title...

>> HTM said that Hulk Hogan was more concerned with Hollywood when the decision came to take the Intercontinental title off of him to build up another main-event superstar. HTM said that the general consensus was Ultimate Warrior was the guy, so he did the job. When asked his thoughts on jobbing the title in squash-fashion after a 15 month reign, Honky Tonk simply said "they had to" (to put over Ultimate Warrior).

On If He'd Ever Appear On NWA-TNA...

>> Honky Tonk said he doubts he'll follow the trend of past superstars doing short-term appearances for NWA-TNA to go up against Vince Russo. HTM said that he feels Jerry Jarrett holds a grudge on him to this day due to their work in Memphis way back when, and doubts he'll appear on TNA anytime soon.

On Jerry Lawler's Comments...

>> HTM said he hasn't read any of the series of autobiographies on wrestlers that has come out recently, but did have someone read to him the part about himself in Jerry Lawler's book. He said Lawler mentioned in the book that he felt betrayed when Honky Tonk Man left his promotion for WWE, which was all he needed to hear. HTM claimed he wasn't working for Lawler's promotion at the time, and went to WWE along with Bret Hart and some others who were in Stu Hart's Calgary-based Stampede Wrestling promotion.

On His Website Returning Free...

>> Honky Tonk said his website, TheHonkyTonkMan.com has now returned and it is once again a free website. He said he plans to continue the controversial commentary, as well as the infamous audio shoot-interviews from time to time. It's all for free, and it's all at TheHonkyTonkMan.com.



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