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PWInsider.com Presents Turnbuckle Madness
Guest: Scott Hudson
Commentary: George Wren
Slogan: Nothing Is Held Back
George: Welcome to another edition of Turnbuckle Madness. Today's guest is former Global Wrestling Federation and World Championship Wrestling color commentary Scott Hudson. Scott thanks for joining us here on PWInsider for Turnbuckle Madness.
Scott: Thanks for having me.
George: When were you born?
Scott: 1964
George: Where were you born?
Scott: Columbus, Georgia
George: Where are you currently residing at the present time?
Scott: I am about to begin my 22nd year of living in Atlanta, Georgia
George: How did you get your start in professional wrestling?
Scott: I spent the 1980's as a subscriber to and pseudo-correspondent for "The Wrestling Observer," "Pro Wrestling Torch," "MatWatch," and "Arena Reports" newsletters. After being a complete mark since the age of 5 (following the Georgia, Alabama / Gulf Coast and Florida territories), discovering what Dave Meltzer was publishing was a godsend. I also spent the 1980's as a radio disc jockey and sports announcer covering high school and college football, baseball and basketball in south Georgia. When I moved to Atlanta in 1989, my best friend Steve Prazak and I began attending every indy show we could find. One of those led to a chance encounter with Joe Pedicino. After watching his ring announcer screw up everything he tried, I approached Joe, introduced myself, told him of my background, and (most importantly) told him I would work for free. I think my exact words were, "I don’t know what you’re paying that goof, but I’ll do it for nothing." I was hired on the spot.
George: Did you ever have any intention as far as doing any managing?
Scott: I had every intention of being World Champion. Unfortunately, you have to play the hand you’re dealt. Despite hours in the gym, there was no way I was going to get abs and I was already losing my hair. So, I stuck with announcing. Never looked back. Plus, I can still walk.
George: You did a lot of your early work in Georgia along with Steven Prazak. How did that all come about, and what promotions did you work for at that time?
Scott: I met Steve in 1987 when I attended a WCW house show at The Omni. As we were the only two guys carrying around legal pads and scribbling out results, we figured we were on the same team. I told Steve I wrote for Dave Meltzer’s newsletter. Through the din of the crowd, he initially thought I said I WAS Dave. We laugh about that still. Dave, of course, has abs and hair. I do not. From 1990 until 1995, Steve and I worked together for the Global Wrestling Federation, Georgia All-Star Wrestling and the North Georgia Wrestling Alliance.
George: From there, I assume you went to Dallas, Texas, to work for the Global Wrestling Federation (GWF)?
Scott: Exactly. If you really want a good laugh, go back to the 1990-1992 era of the "Observers" and read about the genesis of the GWF. What we now know as the Nigerian King Fraud Scheme was brand new at the time and almost sucked Joe in. That was the origin of the "$25,000,000" legend. Once that fell by the wayside, Joe lined up capital to start the promotion.
George: How did it all come about you getting hired with Global?
Scott: Since the GWF was Joe Pedicino’s brainchild and I was his local play-by-play announcer, he asked to join up and I immediately said "sure." From there, it was Dallas, Texas, every weekend with a great bunch of people trying to build a promotion. There are no negatives at all from my time there. I learned an incredible amount in just a short period of time. It was like getting a law degree by practicing law in the courtroom. Experience is the best teacher and this baptism by fire proved it.
George: How long were you there?
Scott: From 1991 through 1992. Almost a full year.
George: Who was actually handling the booking at the time?
Scott: Depends on what day it was. During the time I was there, there was (of course) Joe Pedicino, who was assisted by (at various times) Ray Stevens, Bill Eadie, Eddie Gilbert and Bruce Prichard. I’m sure there were others after I left, but those are the ones I remember.
George: When Global first started out, it showed a lot of potential with talent like Cactus Jack, The Patriot (Del Wilkes), and Eddie Gilbert just to name a few. Why do you feel like Global went from having a good roster of talent, TV syndication, etc. to losing a lot of the talent, and even losing it's ESPN spot as well?
Scott: This is a cliche but, at the end of the day, wrestling remains a business. The travel expense, the logistics of operating a building, the general overhead - these expenses were, for a time, being funded strictly by television and start-up capital as there were no house shows or ther revenue streams. The GWF had great talent, compelling episodic television and worldwide exposure. But, it did not have sufficient revenue streams to be viable. Those businesses do not last and that is really too bad.
George: How was Global different from other groups like WWF, WCW, etc.?
Scott: First and most obviously, we did not have the lineage of WCW or the WWF. Although we rose from the ruins of the USWA and World Class, the GWF did not claim that legacy. That is a negative to be sure (e.g. "The English Lords: Sir Charles and The Commoner’). On the positive side, we pushed new talent along with proven talent. We acknowledged other wrestling promotions and past feuds in our commentary and branding. We pushed talent that was under 6 feet and under 210 pounds.
George: Many didn't realize that Global was really operated from Atlanta, but taped TV in Dallas at The Sportatorium. Can you shed some light on this?
Scott: The initial plan was to run the entire promotion from Atlanta. When the Nigerian scam financing fizzled and Joe began lining up new investors, the focus shifted to Dallas (where the money, building, and TV facilities were already in place). Since the office was already up and running (just north of downtown not far from Georgia Tech), the office stayed here with the TV done in Dallas.
George: What was the reason for your departure from Global?
Scott: Business. When the balance sheet stayed in the red, expenses had to be cut. Travel was the biggest line-item and the first to be slashed. If I had lived in Dallas, I could have stayed. In the story of Global you can follow this change from a national talent base to a Texas talent base. When that happened, it was due to the slashing of the travel budget. Nobody was making anything close to a full-time salary there so it was not the talent expense (me included) that was the problem. It was travel. Flying in everyone from around the country as well as a front office staff and crew from Atlanta every week REALLY eats up the money.
George: What did you enjoy the most working for Global?
Scott: Working with Jon Horton ("Craig Johnson"), Joe Pedicino, Boni Blackstone and Steve Prazak. We are all still great friends to this day. Also working with, in my opinion, the greatest wrestling mind of all time, Eddie Gilbert. Finally, seeing then-new talent at the beginning of their careers (Scott Levy, Sean Waltman, Jerry Lynn, Mark Bagwell) and established, underrated talent get the chance to prove themselves (Mick Foley, Terry Gordy, Del Wilkes).
George: Where did you go after Global?
Scott: Back to the local Georgia promotion. Actually, I never left. The Georgia show was still going during the GWF run. Taping once per month for 4 weeks of television.
George: How did it come about you working for World Championship Wrestling (WCW)?
Scott: It’s no secret that I have been in the legal field as a federal employee for a long time in addition to my wrestling duties. I always did both (which made for many, many 60+ hour weeks). One Friday in December 1995, my office was conducting their annual Holiday Luncheon and Award Ceremony to close out the year. We were all in a restaurant here in Atlanta called The Abbey (a renovated 19th century church). I was fortunate enough to win the employee of the year award. As I accepted the award and sat back down at my table, the waiter approached me and asked if I was Scott Hudson. I said yes and he told me I had a telephone call. I thought it may be related to the award I just won or possibly a rib. I grabbed the house phone at The Abbey and heard "Yo, Scooter, this is DDP. I got somebody that wants to talk to you." With that, Page handed off the phone and I heard, "Scott, this is Eric Bischoff. We have an opening for an announcer position and want you to audition. I’m familiar with your work and think you might be a good fit. Can you be here tomorrow?" I guess you can imagine my answer. THAT was a helluva day.
George: You worked along side of Bobby "The Brain" Heenan" for the World Wide tapings. How was it working with Bobby?
Scott: Brain was really an enigma. He was a complete, 100% professional on the set. When the floor director’s hand dropped and that red light came on, he was one take. Honestly, so was I. I cannot remember the two of us having to re-take anything unless it was related to the technical issues (i.e. lighting, sound). Brain was funny, smart and passionate about wrestling. When the red light went off, he was not a happy guy. I think he really had a distaste for what WCW had become (or maybe had always been). It was not the AWA or the WWF and he just seemed to resent that. Personally, he was great to me and I have nothing but nice things to say about him. I just wish he could have enjoyed his time in WCW more. He deserved that.
George: You were right there in the mix of things. What do you feel like hurt WCW as a whole?
Scott: The inmates ran the asylum. When Eric and the other members of the creative team developed the nWo angle and the promotion took off like a rocket, my opinion is we did not know how to deal with success. We had been treading water for so long, when this lightning in a bottle story hit and we were rolling in money - it was overwhelming. Talent were given contracts that grossly overpaid them vis-a-vis their value to the company, allowed them creative control over their use and allowed the talent to limit the number of dates they could be used. That is a recipe for disaster and disaster is what we cooked up. It was not one angle or one man that collapsed the company - it was a systemic corporate failure to deal with huge success.
George: Many stated that it was so chaotic in the locker room from the big egos in the office, from different ones having problems putting someone over, to unnecessary money being tossed around. Why couldn't everyone come to peace and work together and those that couldn't work together and that was holding the company back could hit the road. Why do you feel like those people were still kept around just draining the company dry?
Scott: Wrestlers are, by nature, all about the money. There are some that put their craft and ability on par with the financial aspect of their career, but money is always at the top. When it came to a choice of doing what is best for the company vs. doing what is best for the wrestler - they chose themselves. That is not the wrong answer. They have a career, families, kids, and a future to think of - plus they had no idea how long it would last. They jumped on the gravy train and rode it out. Unlike the private sector, free-market economy driven businesses, wrestling will always have a "what have you done for me lately" mindset on the part of the promotions and the wrestlers. It’s a volatile mix. Remember, these guys could have been future endeavored at any time so they wanted the most money in the shortest time.
George: What did you think once Vince Russo and Ed Ferrara left WWF as writers and came to WCW. Many think the duo helped WWF but why weren't they able to help WCW or was it to far gone once they arrived?
Scott: Vince and Ed did help. A lot, actually. Keep in mind, it was not a void of creativity that did WCW in. It was contracts that left the promotion powerless to control the talent and were bleeding the coffers dry. Vince and Ed had a vision of re-branding WCW from a national version of a southern wrestling company to a national television program that did house shows. That worked well for a while but, again, if the top of the card talent can just say "No, I’m not doing that. I’ll be at my house. Just send me my check." financial success can be really hard to achieve.
George: What did you think of the whole Oklahoma gimmick of Ed Ferrara making fun of Jim Ross Bells Palsy illness?
Scott: Did not like it. No offense to Vince or Ed, but that just seemed too over the top. I understand why they did it (and, honestly, Ed was hysterical doing the bit), but I would not have done that. However, it is just business. I would not have done Gillberg either. Why put the other company’s talent over on your programming even if you think you’re making fun of them? That does not make sense to me.
George: What did you think once the talent started jumping to WWF did you think WCW wouldn't be around too much longer?
Scott: Talent jumping is as old as the business itself. The exodus of talent from WCW to the WWF did not cause me any concern about the future of WCW any more so than I was concerned about the future of the WWF when the situation was reversed 4 years earlier.
George: When did everyone actually get the news that Vince was purchasing WCW?
Scott: I got the news on Friday March 23, 2001. Up until that day, everything had been completely up in the air. Would Eric and his investors from Fuscient Media buy the company? Would we somehow stay in business and ride out the joke that Jamie Kellner and Brad Seigel had made of TBS (and as it turns out, that may have been the best course)? Would we be sold to the WWF? When the word came down, everyone knew it was over. Despite what rumors were being floated by the WWF, WCW would not be maintained as a separate brand or operated as a separate promotion. We knew that in a matter of days or perhaps months, we would cease to exist. Turns out it was months, not days, but dead is still dead.
George: What was your thoughts when you got the news?
Scott: Anger at Kellner. Still is my thought. I have no respect or use for that man to this day. He effectively killed the company when he announced that TBS and its family of networks would no longer air professional wrestling at all because it attracted the wrong demographic. We were still the highest rated programming on any TBS network, but this fella devalued a TBS corporate asset by a factor of at least 50% just because did not like wrestling fans. Worthless. He was gone in less than two years and TBS has yet to fully recover.
George: What did you enjoy the most working for WCW?
Scott: First and foremost, working with my heroes. I have been a mark since 1969 when I watched Bob Armstrong, Bill Dromo, Dick Steinborn, and Oki Shikina. To be able to count men like Jeff Jarrett, Diamond Dallas Page, Ric Flair, Hulk Hogan, Randy Savage, Scott Steiner, Gene Okerlund, Kevin Nash, and Scott Hall, as co-workers was awe-inspiring. To establish personal friendships with Tony Schiavone, Mike Tenay, and Larry Zbyszko and learn from them is priceless. I get asked a lot what I miss most. I do not miss the notoriety, the money, the travel or the business - I just miss my friends.
George: How were you able to cope on the very last Monday Nitro knowing it was a end of a era?
Scott: We are professionals. We have a job to do. I will not say it was not tough - it was. But, like always, we had a storyline to get over and matches to call.
George: What were your thoughts when Vince tried to do the New World Order (nWo) gimmick again in early 2002, when the gimmick had already been done and ran its course for way too long in WCW. Why do you think Vince thought the people would buy into the gimmick again?
Scott: Wrestling has a history of trying out angles that just do not work. Booking is risk taking. Sometimes the risks do not pay off. Sometimes there are huge losses. Sometimes there are huge rewards. The nWo rebirth in the WWE was an idea that just did not work. No harm - no foul.
George: From there you went and worked for Bert Prentice in Nashville for USA Championship Wrestling.. What was your thoughts on working for Bert?
Scott: I met Bert in the GWF during the early 1990's as he was friends with Joe Pedicino. I have heard all of the Bert stories, but I can say he was never anything but professional with me and allowed me to transition from WCW into TNA in the early 2000's. Bert is a very smart guy and an excellent promoter. I think Bert’s problem is that he cannot keep the fire going long enough to truly succeed long-term. When he’s motivated, he’s as good as any promoter in the nation. I really hope he has one more good promotional run in him. I could be lured out of retirement if he did.
George: How long did you work for Bert?
Scott: From 2001 until TNA came calling in late 2003.
George: So you knew Bert from back in your Global days?
Scott: Yes, through Joe. Obviously, I knew Bert from watching Memphis and the POWW promotion shows.
George: Around 2002, Bert promoted a show that was headlined by Jerry Lawler vs. Dusty Rhodes (as I was ringside covering the show and taking pictures for our magazine). Memphis was never able to book the match but Bert did and you worked commentary with Jim Cornette. What was your thoughts on working this card that night?
Scott: Just imagine. I still consider myself a mark (sorry Mr. Kellner) even after the WCW run. I am in Nashville, Tennessee, announcing a professional wrestling television show with Jim Cornette as Jerry Lawler faces Dusty Rhodes. Does it get much better than that? I knew I was the odd man out of that foursome, so I had to step it up several notches. Jimmy and I did a good job that night. King and Dream do a good job every night, so we had to be up to the challenge.
George: When did you actually start working for TNA?
Scott: I was actually there from the ground up. I stayed friends with Vince Russo and would stop by his CD Warehouse store in Marietta, Georgia, after WCW ended. He would keep me updated on the vision he was working on for what would develop into TNA and eventually asked me if I could come on board. I respectfully declined as felt my announcing days were behind me. Tony Schiavone and I drove to Huntsville, Alabama, just to watch the inaugural TNA broadcast. Eventually, TNA brought in Goldylocks to be the backstage interviewer and quickly realized that a gorgeous, talented blonde was being wasted holding the mic during promos. They wanted to use her in a different role and asked me step into that spot for a while. That much responsibility I could handle so I quickly accepted. Of all of the promotions I have worked for (GASW, NGWA, GWF, WCW, WWF and TNA) TNA is easily my most favorite. There was real camaraderie among the talent and crew.
George: How was TNA any different with Russo being there?
Scott: Vince is always creating. Not just always thinking creatively, he is always creating. Literally, if you were walking down the street with Vince, you could point to a random stranger and say, "what’s his character?," Vince could have his storyline booked for six months within five minutes. It was not much different except the talent was more cooperative and more content.
George: What made you turn down a full time position with the WWF?
Scott: Easy. They wanted me take a 75% pay cut (no), quit my job (no), and move my family to Connecticut (no). That was one of the easiest decisions of all time.
George: Do you ever regret turning down their offer?
Scott: Never. Not once. Best decision I ever made.
George: There is a story with your mom having breast cancer and Jeff Jarrett's wife going through the same situation. Where Jeff even went up and talked to your mother. Did this ever make you and Jeff closer?
Scott: Absolutely. My mother was fighting breast cancer during my entire run on Nitro (2000-2001). There were good days and bad days for her, like in any cancer battle. Jeff’s wife Jill had, at the time, just fought off cancer herself so I sought Jeff’s counsel on what to expect, etc. My mother always watched the show and, for whatever reason, she really did not like Jeff’s character (she also did not like Chris Jericho’s character in WCW which led to a really funny conversation with Chris and I back in 1998). Anyway, I was on the phone with my mother in 2001 at a Nitro building, during some of the bad days. With no warning, I asked Jeff if could talk to her, just to boost her spirits and get her blood flowing. Jeff is one of the nicest guys ever to grace this business, so he agreed and talked to mom for about a half hour. After that, she felt a ton better and became the biggest Jeff Jarrett fan ever. She passed away in November 2002 but talked about that conversation with Jeff to anyone that would listen until the end of her days. Jeff Jarrett sets a standard by which every wrestler should be measured. I am very, very proud of him and his success.
George: Why didn't you never work Memphis?
Scott: They never asked. Plus, with Lance Russell (the greatest announcer of all-time, bar none), Dave Brown and Corey Maclin, I do not think they were looking for help. I would have greatfully done it though.
George: What was your thoughts when The Dallas Sportatorium was torn down in 2003 with that building having so much history?
Scott: Mixed emotions. As a wrestling fan who appreciates the history of our sport (and as someone who worked in that building for a year), I hated to see it go. But, as a realist, the building was an eyesore, rat trap and a fire hazard. So it had to come down. A building is just a building. The memories are what made The Sportatorium legendary.
George: You have a background in working in the Criminal Dept. for the Federal Government... Can you shed some light on that and tell the readers a little on what you do in that field?
Scott: Obviously, I cannot divulge a lot, but I work for the United States District Court in the Northern District of Georgia as a court investigator. I love my job and my co-workers. It is never the same day twice (about the best thing you can say about any job). I’m very lucky to have a career I enjoy this much.
George: Do you have any road stories you would like to share that come to mind?
Scott: None that would not get me beaten up by those involved. I have tons of stories, but with all due respect, but I’ll leave them for the men and women who actually got in the ring and sacrificed their bodies for our entertainment. They have earned the right to tell them.
George: What are your thoughts on the fans?
Scott: I’m still one. Always have been and always will be. I feel really sorry for an announcer that is not a fan. It is really easy to spot a professional wrestling announcer who is not a fan. Their passion is just not there. I’m looking at you, Michael Cole.
George: Do you have any regrets in your career?
Scott: None. I’m a firm believer in the adage that where you are right now is the sum total of every decision you have ever made. I have an awesome wife, a smart and funny daughter, a nice house and a great job. If I had any regrets, that means I may have made a different decision at some point - and may not have ended up here. I like it here a great deal. No regrets.
George: Are there any closing words?
Scott: This interview, unlike most I do, has caused me to recall events and people I had long since forgotten. Thanks for that.
George: Scott I would like to thank you for your time, and wish you all the best.
Scott: My pleasure, George.
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