Written by Chris Siggia.

SITTING RINGSIDE WITH DAVID PENZER  04/13/20:  ECW’S JASMIN ST. CLAIRE

St. Claire talking about women’s wrestling:  “It’s too much.  Let’s keep it the way it was.  You can mix it but I think it is too much catering to this whole me too movement.  I’m not trying to be biased against what their talents are.  Lita was very talented but it’s too much.  Let’s drop it now and let’s go back to what really sold tickets back in the day.  This sells as well, yeah, but it’s not the same.  It really isn’t.  I don’t think it is.  It’s like to have the matches in there, it’s great, it’s like to have the women in there as managers because that always sold.  It is sex and violence itself.  She (Tessa Blanchard) should get her recognition but stop trying to push the whole thing.  We get it, women can do it to, we understand that, so let’s drop it and let’s go back to our regular program.  We get it, you guys proved your point.”

St. Claire talking about people saying they are a victim:  “If you want to live with the mindset of a victim, then it is all people are going to see you as and you’re never going to grow as anything in your life, case closed.  It’s one thing if you are an elderly person that was killed, let’s say by the Nightstalker.  It’s one thing not really being able to defend yourself.  Those are really bad things that happen.  But when you hear about these other things, oh I’m a victim, if that’s your card you are going to play, fine, do that.  A lot of bad things have happened to me along the way, make no mistake, but you don’t hear me crying and complaining and becoming this and doing that about it.  It’s not in my blood and not in my mindset.”

83 WEEKS WITH ERIC BISCHOFF 4/13/20:  TNA LOCKDOWN 2010

Bischoff talking about coming to TNA 4 months before TNA Lockdown 2010:  “I wasn’t excited about going to TNA.  I didn’t aspire to end up there.  I felt it was a step, not to sound like an arrogant prick, it was a step down from my last run in WWE as a performer.  Certainly, a step down from running WCW…it was not something I was generally excited about in all fairness.  I did it.  I made the choice to go to TNA partly because I was missing the business a bit.  Jason Hervey in I, at this point, 2009, 2010, we were absolutely crushing it in the television business.  We had our own production company in Los Angeles.  We were just killing it as far as creating, producing and selling shows to various networks.  So it wasn’t, again, a career move for me necessarily but it was trying to scratch that itch a little bit.  Mostly the decision was driven by the fact that TNA didn’t want me.  They didn’t aspire to have me on their team any more than I aspired to be on the team.  We had mutual disinterest in each other.  I think that’s fair to say.  But the common denominator was Hulk Hogan.  Dixie Carter really wanted Hulk Hogan to join TNA.  Hulk wouldn’t consider joining TNA unless I was positioned, at the very least, to watch over his creative.  I wasn’t interested in running creative, or even being part of the creative team on TNA with the exception of those storylines and or characters that directly interfaced with Hulk Hogan’s character in his storyline within TNA.  That is why I went there.  I negotiated Hulk’s deal at the time.  At the same time all this went down, Hulk was probably in as much pain as I had seen him up to that point.  He had a hard time getting out of bed.  His back was so bad…At one point he said look Eric, I can’t even talk on the phone, it’s that bad, and if I can get on the phone, often times I’m not listening to what people are saying because the pain is so bad. So, he said, do me a favor and negotiate my deal for me.  Just know that you speak for me.  Whatever you agree to, I’ll agree to.  Whatever you don’t agree to, I won’t agree to, because I can’t deal with it any longer.”  

Bischoff talking about why he discontinued the 6-sided ring:  “It was stupid.  Here is the logic I heard.  When people flip through the channels, people are going to stop and say hey, what’s that.  That was the entire psychology and strategy behind the 6-sided ring.  First of all, people don’t click through channels, even in 2010…I was very vocal about it.  I pissed off 75 or 80% of the people in the TNA office because, of course, they thought they were the greatest thing in the world since sliced bread because they had no point of reference.  None of them ever been in the wrestling business before.  None of them really knew anything about the wrestling business.  They were not really interested in the wrestling business.  They were just interested in being popular in Nashville in certain pockets of the business community…I asked them how does the 6-sided ring change the performance in the ring?  What does the 6-sided ring mean?  What is the statement it makes? How does it make the product more interesting to watch? The answer was…crickets, they didn’t have one.”

Bischoff talking about James Storm:  “I don’t mean this to be a criticism but I’m sure he is going to take it that way. James, let me apologize right off the bat, because I’m about to bury you.  James is a great performer.  James is a great character.  There is a lot of things to like about James Storm as a performer.  One of the flaws in his game, and this became a running joke for a while.  If you want to know who is going to win or lose the match, all you have to do is watch James Storm’s entrance.  Seriously, you can know nothing about wrestling and you could look at James Storm and you could tell by the way he made his way to the ring whether he was going to do the job or not.  Whenever James Storm would make an entrance and he was going to lose, he would look like somebody just set his puppy on fire.  When he was going to go over, he was all fired up.  That was the first thing I noticed because of that running joke about James Storm.”  

CORNETTE’S DRIVE-THRU 4/13/30

Cornette talking about Ronda Rousey saying the fans are ungrateful:  “I should have known something was wrong when she had the nervous breakdown twice when she lost two MMA fights. She broke down crying and basically quit the business because she lost twice.  So, she’s a mental case.  But now we find out, oh it was just so hard. I was on the road 200 nights a year making seven figures.  I don’t know exactly what her contract was or what her pay was for the year.  It’s been reported a million and a half someplace…My asshole bleeds for you.  Try working 100 days in a row for Bill Watts for $2,000 a week instead of $200,000 a month.  You’ve insulted every single person who ever got in the wrestling business that didn’t come in given a six figure contract from the WWF and their efforts and diminish that.  You wine and you gripe…bleep…because you were on the road 200 days a year.  You have no more respect, and you gained no more respect for the business than to come out, and now that you are done with it obviously, calling it fake fights and playing with your friends.  You were just enjoying yourself for a couple million bucks a year, while Vince flew you around the country and pampered you.”