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Following last night's episode of Dark Side of the Ring on Vice TV, After Dark hosted by Chris Gethard featured a discussion of the New Jack documentary with New Jack, Mustafa Saed, Tommy Dreamer and The Sandman appearing.
Sandman and Mustafa joined the show early on, talking over Gethard. When asked what ECW meant. Sandman said, “Lions and Tigers and Bears, Tables and Chairs, Extreme Championship Wrestling. Even under today’s standards, it’s Extreme dude.”
Sandman said that he knew New Jack wasn’t your average wrestler the first moment New Jack got out of the car and met The Gangstas after they had driven for hours to Essington, PA before their debut that night. Paul Heyman had sent him to meet them and he noted that at the time, it wasn’t like now when everyone has a computer in their pocket so he hardly knew what Smoky Mountain Wrestling was. The second they got out of the car and he met them, he knew “these boys are going to work “ right then and there.
Mustafa was asked about teaming with New Jack and when he realized this was going to be something beyond what he prepared for in wrestling school. He said the way he saw Jack talk; he knew he wasn’t going to out-talk him. He puts Jack up there with The Rock as a talker and said that he’s even better than Rock. He wanted to act the fool and be the backup for Jack.
They were asked about being backstage with New Jack and what’s the difference between Jack and Jerome Young. Sandman said he doesn’t believe he’s ever met Jerome. Mustafa said Jerome is the guy who loved his kids. New Jack was the man. Mustafa said he was just a regular guy wearing trunks and “eating raw meat” and when Jack said they needed to change things up, he knew it was going to be special.
Mustafa was asked what New Jack’s ultimate legacy is. Mustafa said that it was a big fun party. The thing that some people were surprised at, he wasn’t, because he knew the type of person Jack was.
They aired a deleted scene with Jack talking about his first armed robbery, which he did at the age of 10.
Tommy Dreamer joined the panel. He joked he was once again a Man in the Box.
They were asked about the Mass Transit incident. Sandman said that he was the next match and there was a lot commotion in the back. He was nearby but didn’t realize how insane the situation was until he saw the tape with the closeups of Jack cutting Eric Kulas and the blood afterward. He said there was always a lot of blood in ECW and he made sure he was really bloody in his match to try and take some of the heat off Jack.
Dreamer said ECW excess and violence but they weren’t trying to hurt each other. Jack said New Jack’s finish looked evil but it didn’t really hurt him. He said one of his favorite memories with Jack was a big three-way bout where everyone was brawling with weapons and all over and he and Jack got in the ring and started trading armdrags and hiptosses. The crowd started chanting and they were just showcasing wrestling with all the violence and carnage. Jack told him to hit him with a weapon because he’s “all blown up.” ECW was a championship team that went out to perform at the next level to entertain the people and he doesn’t think anyone on the panel regrets any of it. They say they don’t.
Dreamer said the word Extreme got blown out of proportion with “WWE promoting the blood and the guts” but ECW had some of the best wrestlers ever. It was about going above and beyond to entertain the fans.
They aired a cut scene of New Jack and Sandman going out to get cocaine while on the road.
New Jack joined the panel. Gethard said that he gave his entire body to wrestling. What does wrestling mean to him to have done that. Jack said it was a job but a job he enjoyed doing it. He did it for so long because of how much he enjoyed it. He doesn’t regret doing any of it but is currently laid up after a surgery on his ankle from all the dives.
Gethard asked Jack about the intention of the Gangstas (in Smoky Mountain Wrestling) was to piss off white people. He was asked if he was working with writers, which cracked up the panel. Jack said they didn’t have writers. Jim Cornette told him to come to him and piss off white people. The first promo Jack did, after they got out of the ring, they were heading to podium, Mustafa asked him what he was going to say and Jack said he had no idea. The only points Cornette gave him was to piss off white people and to mention OJ Simpson.
Mustafa was asked what was going through his head as Jack mentioned OJ. Mustafa said he was loving it.
Jack was asked about the Vic Grimes incident, noting Grimes didn’t reach out more to him. Was it the injury or Grimes not reaching out that was the bigger issue. Jack said when you hurt someone, it’s only proper for you to reach out to the guy to see how he’s doing. When Jack returned to ECW in Buffalo, he slapped the sh** out of Grimes in the locker room and dared him to get up, because Jack was going to cut him. He wanted to get him back. When XPW came up with the scaffold match, that was his way in. He had no regrets and wouldn’t have cared if he died. He doesn’t give a F*** about him.
Mustafa left the panel.
They aired a commercial for next week’s Brawl for All tournament episode of Dark Side of the Ring.
Gethard asked Dreamer the last time he saw Jack and Sandman. Dreamer said they worked one of his House of Hardcore shows over the summer. Sandman said, “We did?” Dreamer reminded him it was Virginia. Sandman said, “The one outside where it was hot as sh**?” Dreamer told him it was. Sandman said there’s a lot of concussions in this room. Dreamer said Sandman looks great for someone who died three times.
Dreamer told a story about New Jack wrestling in Jim Thorpe, PA and some fan used the “N” word. Jack got into it with the fan and there was a riot and the locker room emptied to defend him. There were police officers and State Troopers with guns to their faces and the entire locker room was ready and willing to get shot to help protect Jack. That said a lot about how tight the ECW locker room was.
Once in Wichita, Kansas, Dreamer was running the show when everyone in the locker room gasped and Angel from the Baldies came in the back and fell down and said, “Jack got me. Jack got me” and there was a BBQ pitchfork hanging out of his rear end. Dreamer pulled it out.
Jack was asked what he thinks his legacy will be. He said it’s being one of the most violent men in the world, the most violent wrestlers. He put something original together. When people saw him and heard “Natural Born Killaz”, they knew sh** was going down. He did hurt people and sh** happened, but “they’ll be alright.”
Sandman thanked everyone involved in the project because he loves reliving this stuff. Dreamer said that they could do an entire season on ECW. Note from Mike: I DID THREE seasons on this stuff (and counting) with Legends of Extreme, which you can watch now at www.HighspotsWrestlingNetwork.com.
They was the panel.
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