Written by Chris Siggia.

GRILLING JR TALKS ABOUT RAW 05/23/05: 05/28/20

Ross said Muhammad Hassan had a great potential, had a good look, was a smart guy but was saddled with the wrong character at the wrong time.  He mentioned that Shelton Benjamin was the best pure athlete that he had signed during his entire WWE tenure.  He thought Benjamin’s promos were good because he was himself but needed a manager to convey that message better.  Tyson Tomko got stuck in the secondary role, was a nice guy, but didn’t have the charisma.  Chris Masters had a lot of potential, but did not improve his ring skills, so the gimmick ran its course.  At this time, John Laurinaitis replaced Jim Ross as head of talent relations.  Ross said John wanted his own team, even though John was part of the team Ross created.  Ross had 5 minutes to tell the roster, who had already been assembled over the years by John, to tell them John now has the job.  Ross said there was no reason after signing all these talents and working his ass off, to give the job to “smiling John”.  Ross asked how many talents did John sign that was trained and raised in the WWE system.  He said John signed CM Punk, but Punk was already a big star before he got there.  John said he had a completely different management style.  Ross said that he had a more hands and talent friendly than John.  Writer John Gerwitz was burned out at this time.  Gerwitz was the writer for Raw, in particular for The Rock, whom he still works with to this day.  Ross feels Gerwitz was a very good writer, understood the business, and was able to get close to Vince McMahon, which was a good thing.  Ross heard wrestlers tell him that Viscera would take Viagra in his hotel room and watch porn.  Ross like the announce desk being at ringside as opposed to further away.

SCHOOL OF MORTON:  RICKY STARKS 05/28/20

Ricky Morton said he and his son, Kerry, has been operating their wrestling school.  They make sure everybody is in good health.  After they are done wrestling, the use Lysol and different sprays to wipe down the ropes and the mats.  They clean the showers and make sure they do everything they can do remain healthy.  Today’s guest was Ricky Starks.  Starks has been wanting to wrestle since the age of 7.  Mr. Mexico #2 trained him.  Starks’s contract with NWA ended this past April.  They ended their relationship amicably and has nothing but great things to say about the NWA and enjoyed his time there.

AEW UNRESTRICTED:  DARBY ALLEN 05/28/20

When Allen turned 18 years old, he was only 120 pounds.  He dropped out of film school.  He wanted to make documentaries based on Craig List fetishes.  His goal was to interview these people who had strange fetishes and why they were seeking these out.  It never came to fruition as the other person he was going to work with, his neighbor, went to jail.  Allen lived in his car for 3 years, stating he didn’t want to buy anything he couldn’t afford, and wanted to stay focused on his goal of making it big in wrestling. He described having a girlfriend while homeless was weird.  They would go for a ride or to a concert, come back, and sleep in the car.  Allen was offered a tryout at the WWE Performance Center but turned it down.  He said the people that asked him to come already knew about him and seen his work, so they should either want him or not.  He did not want to play the game of trying out, then sent to 205 Live never to be heard from again.  He came up with the name Darby Allen using the first name Darby from Darby Crash and Allen from GG Allen, both of which are punk rock singers who are both dead.  Even though they both died of drug overdoses, he said they were both captivating personalities.  Darby Allen is straight edge.  Allen’s next goal is to main event a Pay Per View.