UT was on XTRA sports radio L.A./San Diego Thurs night; 8:20 - 9:00 p.m. promoting WWF
RAW tapings at Anaheim Pond and San Diego Arena.
He first talked about how he got into the wrestling business. He was approached by other wrestlers
at a gym he worked out at and experienced some difficult periods trying to get noticed by
promoters.
He played basketball in college. He was not into football.
Said it is difficult to train while on the road. Said that if he lived a normal lifestyle, he would have
more muscle mass and more muscle definition. He pointed out that in his schedule, quality workouts
are more important than the quantity of workouts.
He said that in Hell in The Cell 2, when Mankind fell onto announcer's table, it was as if it occurred
in slow motion. He referred to the incident as one of the "strangest" experiences in his life. He
compared it to an out of body experience watching Foley fall 15 to 25 feet down onto table. UT
worked the match with 2 fractures in his ankle.
He said Foley is the one of the toughest guys in the business. Mentioned that Foley makes up for
lack of technical skills with guts and a big heart.
He took calls for approximately half an hour long!:
He was asked if he has any off-camera friendships with Austin or DX. He answered question slowly
and carefully by stating that he and Austin don't share beers and does not have friendships behind
the curtain. He says he is too busy on concentrating on other things. (I thought he dodged the
question so that he would not expose his off camera relations with others.)
When asked of Flair coming to WWF. He said he does not know anything about Flair's contract
status. He just reiterated fact that WWF is going with a youth movement with one exception. That
being the middle-aged crazy Terry Funk. He said the Flair question comes up to him very
frequently.
When asked if Ultimate Warrior's coming back to WWF. Said Warrior has probably come back
too many times before. He more or less said Hellwig was a head case and that he thinks Hellwig
does not have much to offer to the wrestling industry. UT believes it takes more than face paint and
rope shaking to perform to the level that crowds expect to see at a house show.
Said Superfly Snuka was way ahead of his time. Snuka did aerial moves when no one else did
them. UT has the utmost respect for Snuka.
Was asked if he was in cahoots with Kane. Said that if he was in cahoots w/Kane, he sure wasn't
about to reveal it on a syndicated radio show.
He said wrestlers have to understand there is a fine line between working hurt vs. injured. Working
injured will take some time away from a worker's career. He said the younger workers often work
injured so they don't get out of favor with the promoters. Once you become an established star,
then you can afford to take time off to heal injuries.
He said he has couple more years on current contract and felt WCW is not an option. He said
WCW told him that he was not star material and proved them wrong by successful UT gimmick in
WWF. He feels loyalty to McMahon for making him a star and will end his career with WWF. (I
was happy to hear this.)
He does not follow the storylines of WCW too much. He leaves that up to the suits backstage. He concentrates on his role as the UT and giving the fans a
good show. He said WWF morale is very high with the recent ratings victories.
He feels no WWF superstar can beat him one on one. He said all his recent losses are the result of
outside interference. He looks forward to Summerslam showdown with Austin since he knows
Austin does not have any alliances with other wrestlers and expects no outside interference in the
match.
When asked of his opinion on Rodman/Malone entering the squared circle he said both are great
athletes.
However, to perform at a high level in front of an audience, it takes a lot of preparation. He more or
less said that Rodman/Malone did not have the proper training to work a match to the level he
expects to see.
He disrespected HBK by calling him a "small man" in the sport. He feels a good "big man" like the
UT will always beat a good "small man".
Every caller was a wrestling fan and complemented UT. They seemed to be WWF fans rather than
WCW fans. UT thanked everyone. In my opinion, many of the wrestling fans out there are very
articulate and are "smart" fans who regularly track the wrestleboards on the internet.