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SHOW: BWR on BarbaricWrestling.com
HOSTS: Shasta McNasty & guest co-host JD Drury
GUEST: Frank Trigg
DATE: January 23, 2009
RECAP WRITER: JD Drury
Trigg opened up the interview proclaiming himself the true MMA expert of the show after host Shasta McNasty/Brett Buchanan says that his guest co-host for the interview (due to conflicting schedules with regular co-hosts The Constant Gardener and Sanford Gomph) is BWR's MMA expert JD. Pro wrestling started off the chat, as Trigg described his situation with how he got started in TNA, starting with his relationship with Kurt Angle to the bizarre situation where he called Jeff Jarrett and was being called by Jarrett at the same time. Trigg then talked about why he has not been in seen in TNA lately, describing his next fight and scheduling conflicts were the culprit, and that the door to TNA is certainly still open. Trigg talked about the real time put into pro wrestling and how he felt as though he should only get into pro wrestling if he could do it 100% and jump into it, which he talked about nto being able to do right now. Trigg mentioned his frustration in his match with AJ Styles, how it was an MMA style match, limiting what he was able to do when it came to pro wrestling. He said he thinks TNA's idea of having MMA style pro wrestling matches just didn't go over. He talked about the possibility of returning to TNA would mean true dedication to pro wrestling, which he needed time to decide he wanted to do. Trigg put over AJ Styles as being great in their match, and mentioned again his frustration with his first match, as well as putting over BG James, Terry Taylor, and Vince Russo for their support of him in preparation for his first match.
Trigg went in depth about his thoughts about the transition of MMA to pro wrestling, believing that more MMA guys need to be brought into pro wrestling rather than wrestlers going into MMA. The topic then got personal as Frank is a well known good friend of the Angle family, and talked about Kurt and Karen's divorce, and mentioned there was no awkwardness in working with Karen as she was professional the whole time she was in TNA and especially after the divorce. He also gives a few more juicy details regarding the divorce and why Karen likely left TNA. Shasta mentions that Kurt is rumored to head back to WWE in the fall and this question goes over Trigg's head, although he does mention how Angle has been talking the possibility of MMA seriously and that the two have been training together for a possible Angle debut in Mixed Martial Arts. Backstage rolling between Angle and Lesnar came up, with Trigg claiming Angle tapped Lesnar in shoot wrestling matches many time backstage when the two were with WWE, although he mentioned how things would be different if the two met again. Shasta said he had heard Brock Lesnar had won those.
Shasta then asked if Trigg thinks Brock Lesnar is legit, Trigg says he believes Lesnar to be for real now after beating Couture, although he picks Frank Mir to defeat Lesnar in their UFC 98 rematch for the Undisputed Heavyweight Title.
As MMA became the focus of the conversation, Trigg talked about not being brought back in to do the color commentary for the second Affliction show. Trigg believes that the reason he was not brought back was due to a clause in Fedor Emelianenko's contract saying, in order for him to fight, his M-1 Global announce team must be used, leaving Trigg out of the picture. Trigg talked about how the new announce team was set up for failure as the two M-1 announcers don't have MMA backgrounds and how Tito Ortiz was just not meant to be a color commentator. IN this exchange, Trigg also claims how he is not a fan of Joe Rogan's style of commentating based on frequent yelling. He must not be a big fan of TNA's announcing if this is his stance on Rogan.
The topic jumped to the comparison of Japanese fans to American fans, and how he believes Japanese fans are more respectful to fighters, and that it will take generations of Americans to close the gap between the two. When asked about his fight with Robbie Lawler and a possible late shot due to Trigg's eye gauging and disrespect, Trigg calls Lawler a 'punk' and describes his relationship with Matt Hughes as 'butt buddies.' He talks about Lawler and Hughes' inability to admit they have been losing a fight, as he was beating both in their fights yet was given no respect by either. Trigg goes on to mention that his next fight will take place in February around Valentine's Day although nothing has been signed as of the taping of the interview. Fan questions included Trigg claiming he has not seen Valkyrie, the UFC's ignorance of pro wrestling, his fear of AJ Styles' looks, as well as him looking similar to Kurt Angle. When a fan asks about a loss to Nogueira, Trigg calls that fan 'an idiot' and 'f'ing dumb' for obvious reasons.
A fan then asks about losing to UFC Welterweight Champion Georges St-Pierre, mentioning his blown ankle in the fight and his frustration with any loss, not just a St-Pierre loss. UFC fighter Matt Hughes is brought up again as he is quoted as saying Frank Trigg was his 'easiest win in the octagon ever.' When Trigg admits to making things blown out of proportion to hype their fights, he talks about Hughes taking things too seriously, claiming Hughes has not so easily forgotten, mentioning how Hughes wrote 40+ pages in his book about Trigg. Trigg ends the Hughes conversation with the quote "At the end of the day, he's a douche bag." Trigg talks about his relationship with Frank Mir before going onto talking about his belief of beating UFC Middleweight Champion Anderson Silva. Trigg claims SiIva is easy to break down, and he can easily be beaten if you get inside him and take away his reach.
Trigg talks about how he believes he can beat Brock Lesnar, Anderson Silva, and any fighter in the world. He added that he believes every fighter should believe they can beat any other fighter in the world. Trigg says Henderson fought like an idiot in his first Silva fight, but believes he would beat him in a second fight between the two. Trigg puts down talk of Lawler possibly being able to beat Silva, although he also surprisingly mentions Patrick Cote as Silva's biggest threat at 185 pounds in the UFC. When asked about the St-Pierre/Penn superfight, Trigg breaks down the first fight between the two before picking BJ Penn to win the second fight between the two at UFC 94. He said UFC hype every fight as "the biggest fight ever." As the topic moved to top heavyweight in the world Fedor, Trigg claims it is not the UFC's fault as he demands his entire team be brought with him in order to sign a contract with the UFC. He doesn't see many fight possibilities in the UFC, and doesn't think Fedor will ever land in the UFC. When asked if Chuck Liddell's loyalty to the pit might have stunted Chuck's growth, Trigg mentions how his loyalty to John Hackleman and his family might be a reason he has hit a rut in his career, and needs to bring in better training partners as he prepares for big fights.
Memorable quotes:
"At the end of the day, he (Hughes) is a douche bag."
"Lawler's a punk... He and Hughes are butt buddies, that's all there is too it."
"It's very easy to beat Anderson Silva... everybody that's fought him is a f'ing moron."
"You better f'ing believe I think I can beat Anderson Silva... I think I can beat Brock Lesnar."
"Patrick Cote has the best shot (at beating Anderson Silva)."
Trigg also discusses his next fight a little more in detail, whether he'll ever return to UFC, Vince Russo's booking, and a lot more about Kurt Angle. The hilarious and controversial interview even features constant crying from Trigg's son, who Shasta confuses with Josh Koscheck. Download BWR's full 30 minute interview with Frank Trigg now at BarbaricWrestling.com, the interview starts about 30 minutes into the show.
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