PWInsider - WWE News, Wrestling News, WWE

MARK MERO TALKS ABOUT HIS TIME IN WWE/WCW/TNA, SHOOTS ON HOW HE FEELS ABOUT SABLE AND MORE

Former WWE Intercontinental Champion, former WCW World Television Champion, & the owner/operator of Marc Mero Body Slam, "The Wildman" Marc Mero, was the special guest on this past week's live edition of Monday Night Mayhem (05/14/07), which can be heard in streaming audio every week (hosted by The Big Mosh & Blade and heard LIVE at 9PM ET/8PM CT every Monday night) exclusively on The Monday Night Mayhem Radio Network (www.MondayNightMayem.com, www.OnlineWorldOfWrestling.com, www.ProWrestlingPress.com, www.AllWNYRadio.com, www.Showdown,net, & www.AudioWrestling.com).

Members of AW ON-DEMAND 360 now get exclusive access to "The Best Of Candice Michelle" broadband video featuring WWE's bad girl & former Mayhem guest, Candice, in all of her hottest & most revealing moments from outside of the WWE. Log onto the front page of www.MondayNightMayhem.com for more information. For $4.95, you cannot go wrong fans! 

Mero's first appearance with The Mayhem is now available for FREE in Real Audio.

Here are some of the highlights from the interview, provided by The Mayhem's official recapper, PWUSandman41, as well as The Mayhem's co-host, The Big Mosh.

---

*The Mayhem Crew welcomed Mero to the program, and right off the bat, Western New York's very own "marvelous" one wanted to let the fans know about his roots in Western New York/Buffalo (the "hometown" of The Mayhem) -- which included watching the Buffalo Sabres/Bills when he was a kid with his father, as well as going to "The Aud" and watching the wrestling matches that happened every week there, which included The Original Sheik vs. Bobo Brazil, which "scared" him, due to the intense, crazy nature of the matches and how often the two of them bled against one another. Yes, in WCW, Johnny B. Badd was from Macon, GA, but the master of "the kiss that don't miss" has his roots in upstate New York.

*One of his favorite memories in WCW was working under the Johnny B. Badd gimmick, and receiving the key to the city of Macon, GA, and telling the fans he was from "Rock 'n' Roll" high school, and staying in "kayfabe" even during such a momentous occasion. He said he got into the wrestling business after watching wrestling on TV and telling his friends he could do it and they laughed at him and thought they would throw him around and a year later he had his first match but didn't have his match until he was 30 years old.

*Marc's first match was not until he was 30 years old, and he credits Boris Malenko, for training him thoroughly. He remembers vividly driving almost 10 hours from Florida to Atlanta to be on WCW television, just to be a jobber. WWE Hall Of Famer, "The American Dream" Dusty Rhodes, was one of the higher-ups in WCW at the time, thought Marc had an uncanny resemblance to the legendary Little Richard, and the rest they say is history -- complete with the feather boas, the pink lipstick, & the makeup. "Making six figures made it a lot easier." 

*Marc described the early days in WCW as "tough," especially since he was thrown in with guys who had more experience than him, when he himself really didn't know how to wrestle. It created "some animosity" backstage, especially when he was putting over some of the established veterans, such as Tom Zenk, Ricky Morton, & Arn Anderson. However, after putting in some time at the WCW Power Plant with Jody Hamilton, Diamond Dallas Page, & Scotty Flamingo/Raven, the transition was made easier. This improvement led to the fans voting him as 1991's Pro Wrestling Illustrated "Rookie Of The Year."

*He said his legitimate/real boxing background (being a former Golden Gloves winner in New York State) actually made it harder for him in professional wrestling, because he had to learn how to throw a "worked punch in wrestling." Marc tried to combine the boxing & wrestling characteristics in his matches as Johnny B. Badd. He also credits Muhammad Ali for one of his catchphrases he used in WCW, "I'm a bad man." 

*Marc went on record with The Mayhem, saying he was indeed very sad reflecting on the fact that out of everyone he has competed against in the ring, that 22 of his fellow in-ring competitors have since passed on, several of them being very instrumental in him getting more experience in the business. 

*Some of his favorite matches in his career took place in WCW & the WWF (at the time) with "Stone Cold" Steve Austin, including the King Of The Ring Semi-Finals contest, where Austin christened his long-lived catch phrase that night "Austin 3:16 says I just whooped your ass."

*"You never made it in professional wrestling unless you went to the WWF." Marc made the transition from World Championship Wrestling to the World Wrestling Federation, as he was offered a deal that he could not turn down -- with a guaranteed salary over three years. Having to leave his Johnny B. Badd character behind, he did not know what his new character was going to be. 

*One of Marc's first programs upon entering the WWE, was working with Triple H, better known as Hunter Heart Helmsley at the time. He described "The Game" as a "great performer, someone who kept getting better & better," and the two of them had some great matches. 

*Marc went on to mention how it was "difficult to find his niche early in the WWF," even in the early days of his first new character there, "The Wildman." He remembers meeting with the creative team wondering "what the heck is a wildman?" Then he did have a transition from being on his own to having his then real-life partner by his side...

*On Rena "Sable" Mero: "I have nothing really bad to say about her." Marc strongly believes she did receive some unfair press. The two had a good run in the WWE. He had no problems with the storyline of putting her over in the matches against him, despite what some in the locker room said how it might ruin his career. "We were making so much money at the time, as it was all going to the same household." They had a very amicable break/divorce, and "went their separate ways in life." Marc wanted to let the listeners know that he is engaged now and has a great life. 

*Marc said that it was/is more difficult when someone going out with you or married to you is with you 24/7 (from personal experience in his career & to several individuals in the business today), simply because you are always traveling with that person, instead of getting closer to a lot of the guys backstage." Personally, he was more focused on making his marriage work vs. making friends backstage

*After eight surgeries as a result of his time in professional wrestling, his doctor went on to tell him about "high intensity training," and how that got his life on the right track physically, emotionally, & spiritually. He then went on to open up his own business, to get the word out there about what he was indeed able to learn. More information on Marc Mero's Body Slam, the new generation of personal training, can be found at www.MarcMeroBodySlam.com, or call (407) 678-BODY.

*He sincerely hopes that TNA Wrestling can take the spot that WCW used to have in the "Monday Night Wars" against the WWE, as that time period was great for the business, and thinks it might get to the point in the future. Marc has nothing but fond memories of his stint working for TNA. He says the Monday Night Wars were great for wrestling and he hopes TNA Wrestling can take that spot. "Realistically though, there is only one game in town now though."

*Marc closed out the interview with The Big Mosh, Blade, & The Angry Hero, by saying thanks to his many fans throughout the world who have supported him in everything he has done. Marc said that he appreciates the love very much, as he has gotten to tour all over the world and have a great life because of the fans' admiration & the business as a whole. He looks back on his time in wrestling as of the greatest things he has ever done in his life. By staying in shape, he sees a long, healthy life ahead of him.

*A solid 35+ minute interview with the former Johnny B. Badd, in which Mero gave his takes on working with the current WWE SD General Manager, Teddy Long, Arn Anderson, & Jackie Moore, why he feels he never received a main-event push in WCW, how he almost won the WWE Championship early in his WWF run, if he thinks there will ever be a union in the business, in addition to his thoughts on a possible return/comeback (either in the WWE or TNA) -- is it out of the question? The only way to find out the answer is by listening...

The entire May 14th edition of The Mayhem is now available for download (streaming: www.mondaynightmayhemarchives.com/waxfiles/051407.wax & podcast: http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/mondaynightmayhem/~5/116863519/051407.mp3), which also features a complete WWE Judgment Day PPV Preview (w/The Mayhem's National Correspondent & former WCW/TNA announcer, Scott Hudson).

*Throughout the entire month of May, The Big Mosh & Blade will be giving away plenty of prizes as part of "The May-hem Sweeps Month" -- including a copy of the brand-new Bruiser Brody book (written by Emerson Murray & published by www.CrowbarPress.com), copies of the "After The Fall" XPW DVD, "The Heroes Of World Class" double-disc DVD set (courtesy: www.BigVisionEntertainment.com), some nice threads courtesy of The Mayhem's official clothing line, Pierced Clothing (with more information being found at www.PiercedClothing.com), & much, much more. In order to qualify for this, your only requirement is to register at Monday Night Mayhem's official Message Board (found exclusively at www.MondayNightMayhem.com). The second winner will be announced LIVE this Monday night.


*We invite you fans to call the all-new Mayhem Line (presented by The Monster Factory) @ (716) 989-6630 (long distance charges may apply), e-mail the program at MondayNightMayhem@hotmail.com, take part in the interactive chat room & The Mayhem Message Board (both located at www.MondayNightMayhem.com), as well as visiting The Mayhem on MySpace (at www.MySpace.com/MondayNightMayhem) if you wish to interact with The Mayhem Crew as well.

*All new & old Mayhem listeners can still check out the archived programs/shows of "Your Home Of Wrestling Radio" (including the voice of Monday Night RAW himself/WWE Hall Of Famer, Jim Ross, WWE Diva, Candice Michelle, TNA President, Dixie Carter, "The Notorious 187" Homicide, Danny Doring's first post-WWE interview, Diana Hart Smith, "The Mouth Of The South" Jimmy Hart, "Black Machismo" Jay Lethal, & the official Monday Night Mayhem WrestleMania 23 Countdown Special from Detroit's Hilton Garden Inn)...now available on www.MondayNightMayhem.com, www.OnlineWorldOfWrestling.com, www.Showdown.net, & www.AudioWrestling.com.

*Don't forget to stay tuned to The Monday Night Mayhem Radio Network, as "The Summer Of Mayhem 2007" begins in just TWO weeks...complete with the show moving to its new timeslot, 8PM ET/7PM CT, beginning June 4th. 

*We will see everyone this upcoming Monday night, May 21st (beginning at 9PM ET/8PM CT), as "Your Home Of Wrestling Radio," Monday Night Mayhem, presents for the first-time ever, "The Bruiser Brody Career Retrospect" (featuring author, Emerson Murray & videographer, George Mayfield). We'll see everyone then...

If you enjoy PWInsider.com you can check out the AD-FREE PWInsider Elite section, which features exclusive audio updates, news, our critically acclaimed podcasts, interviews and more by clicking here!

• Tweet