Welcome to part 2 of the Blue Meanie interview, so far he has talked about his asthma, his family and his career and he began to tell us about ECW…
Mitch: We were going to bring that up. Could you tell us your recollection of the incidents?
BM: Yeah, just the whole… JBL and I just… before I got to the WWE I was a fan of his work, I was a big fan of Stan Hanson and he reminded me of a young Stan Hanson, this guy’s got a good look, he’s cool and all that stuff and I got to the WWE and it was like “hey, how you doing” and all that good stuff and from out of nowhere he just seemed to have a bone to pick with me, I don’t know what I did or what could have made him that ignorant towards me, whether it be comments or taking liberties in the ring he was just a jerk and i’m not the first person he’s done it to, so it’s not like I’s a crybaby going ” Waaaaaah! He’s beat me up Waaaaah!”. You know, I’ve been stiffed by the best of them and hit hard, I can handle that, but there’s a line and a code that you don’t cross, we’re there to make each other look good and not get hurt so we can go onto the next show and the next town to perform and make money. Whereas he gets in the ring and he’s writing it in where you might be injured and not be able to make it into the next town and make money, so I think I was the first person to actually publicly say that he was a jerk and he took exception to that. Actually it was just one blurb, an interview where I said “You know my time in WWE was great, but Bradshaw’s a jerk!”, I said a few more colourful things, I don’t know if it’s good for the website or not but he took exception to that and you know people grab on thing and they build up over the years and at the Pay per view I saw him and said “Hey John how you doing?” he said *with a Bradshaw impersonation* “Meanie… How you doing?” and I thought things were cool but then the whole thing happened in the ring where we’re facing off and I look over and I saw him, I said “Ahhhh, alright, he’s staring at me. let’s try to make the best of this!”. So I go off and pair with Jonathan Coachman and from out of nowhere he just hits me from behind, I already had 14 staples in my head from the Friday night show, and instead of selling I went “Ho! Son of a bitch!” and grabbed my head then tried to fight back as best I could, but he’s got the height advantage and was yanking my shirt over my face and that whole deal happened and we know the rest of the story. *laughs*
Mitch: You returned with a reunion of the Blue World Order, how did it feel returning to the WWE with the Great American Bash Pay per view?
BM: It was cool, even before the JBL thing people thought or think I was back to the WWE because of the JBL thing, which isn’t the case. At the One Night Stand Pay per view, Nova came in talking about maybe redoing the WWE and was like “Get outta here”, he’s like “No I’m serious!”. Well the writers had mentioned that they were looking for an avenue to bring Stevie from Saturday night heat over to Smackdown and they thought “Ooh BWO would be perfect!” and they all think “Meanie would say no!” but I was looking to get more exposure, so it was amazing because the office called me and they were like “Errr we want to bring you in, this has nothing to do with the JBL thing, you wont be ribbed” and all that stuff, so I get there and they’re like “Oh you’re working JBL tonight!” and I’m “Oho! Great!” *laughs* “So what happened to this not having anything to do with the JBL thing?”. Nah it was cool! that night we were ready to go and do the whole JBL parody and I’m sitting there and I look over to Stevie and Nova and I’m like ” Are we really doing this?” *Laughs* “Is it really 2005 and the BWO’s still here but the NWO’s nowhere to be found?” So it was good fun that the parody outlasted the thing that was being parodied. I love Stevie Richards as a friend and a brother and Nova, I love him to death too, those guys were a part of my history and we were part of one of the most popular factions in ECW. It was awesome to be back with your friends.
Mitch: Do you want to ask him some more questions Saz?
Saz: No, I’m fine listening to him to be honest.
BM: I’m just a blabbermouth!
Saz: Don’t worry about that! So am I once I get a few beers down me. Anyway, you mentioned that “people” have taken liberties with you, what is your philosophy in the ring against somebody?
BM: It depends, like I said, I’ve been hit by the best of them and sometimes the punches are going to come through, you’re going to get hit. You know, one punch Ok, two punch Ok, three punch “Hey, what are you doing?”, four punch “Do I owe you money?” *laughs* “Cut that out”, you know, maybe lay back a shot and maybe they’ll calm down but I have no problem with somebody working stiff or tight but there’s a line that you don’t cross and there’s a code you don’t break and that was broken and you know I was actually thinking of suing and a lot of guys behind the scene were like “You should sue, you should sue!” and who knows, maybe I might still. I still get headaches from the whole deal and right in the eye where he hit me it still twitches, so yeah I still have some discomfort, so we’ll see what happens.
Saz: Or maybe just kick him in the bollocks…
BM: Yeah, yeah… Assuming he has any!
Saz: *pauses* We’ll cut that one out then…
BM: *laughs* Oh there’s a few stories I could tell you that would make the cutting room floor!
Saz: Well, tell us about them then.
BM: Aw Nah! I don’t want to get involved in that! This stuff is true, but I really can’t!
Saz: We’ll ply you with alcohol and get it out of you later!
BM: Yeah later, when the camera’s off! *laughs*
Saz: *Laughs* So what would you say the best thing about wrestling in the UK would be?
BM: Well, the fans really appreciate it, just like every other sport, they’re die hards. The first time I came over was amazing, just to see how many people showed up and the distance that they travelled to come to the show, there were people who would travel from different parts who were almost at every show. I remember specifically meeting this one family, husband wife and kid, and they made all three shows, they travelled all over and the UK is die hard about their sports. They love their soccer and they love their wrestling.
Saz: Do you understand soccer?
BM: Soccer?
Saz: Yeah.
BM: Naaaah! Any sport where you can’t use your hands I don’t know about, nah, I’m just kidding.
Saz: Perhaps the goalkeper then?
BM: Yeah, yeah *laughs* I could definitely block a goal, I’d just try not to spill my beer! *laughs*
Saz: Goalkeepers do a lot of landing on their sides, so you’d be good!
BM: Yeah, I’m good at doing that!
Saz: *laughs* Would you say there’s anything different about working in the UK and working in America?
BM: The UK fans are really passionate, they’re similar to Philadelphia fans, that’s one thing I know, Philly fans know their wrestling and if you suck, they’ll let you know *laughs* and I happen to see that a lot in the UK fans too, they appreciate good wrestling and if you suck, they’ll let you know about it! So hopefully I won’t get booed out the building!
Mitch: But you don’t mind that sort of fan? The one that tells you if you suck?
BM: No, they paid their money, they paid their ticket to say whatever they want.
Mitch: Because you hear a lot about the WWE not taking kindly to something a fans says…
BM: Aw, they paid to say whatever they want, to a certain point where they take things personal with a wrestler or something like that. Sometimes on message boards in particular in the States you get guys who are wrestlers going on these message boards posting things about other wrestlers and that’s just cheap! And you know who it is because they’re mentioning stuff nobody else would know and it’s cheap! But as far as the casual wrestling fan goes they paid their money, they’re a customer, they got the right to say whatever they want, they get to cheer who they want and boo who they want.
Mitch: So do you think the Internet has been a good tool for wrestling?
BM: Good and bad, same with everything, without the internet there might not be as big a following, there’s someone who might not know about me but then heard about me, went on the internet, read about me and became a fan through the internet. There’s good and bad with everything, you can’t say the internet is the reason why the wrestling business is down, the wrestling business goes down and fluctuates, it fluctuated before the internet. So to blame the internet is cheap. you just have to work harder on better storylines, better action and actually let the wrestling people run the company rather than these Hollywood writers who are used to writing shows with canned laughter!
Saz: Have you been in the strange situation where the Internet knows what’s happening in your match before you do?
BM: Er *thinks* no. There’s when I first went to the WWE and it leaked out that I was going here and there but it wasn’t all over the place. WWE called me on a Tuesday and I talked to them over a couple of days, I tried calling ECW back to say “Hey, give me a reason not to go” but they never called me back, so some people at the ECW show in Florida found out that that there was an announcement by the WWE, so that kinda leaked out but nothing major to spoil my run in on Sunday night Heat. There has been times where I’ve found out I’ve been going places before I was even told, like one time when I was in the WWE, I was reading on the internet that I was going to Memphis to wrestle, they were sending me to developmental territory before the WWE even called me, I was like “Oh, that’s great! yeah, that’s nice!” *laughs*
Saz: Have you had any factual information about yourself that was incorrect?
BM: Oh, there’s just garbage out there! There’s rumour out there that I’d been killed in an accident. You know like the whole “There’s two Ultimate Warriors” thing? Well there’s actually a second Blue Meanie on the loose, retarded, I just got a different hairstyle! You know, you change your haircut and you’re a new Meanie! Other than that, not really… luckily!
Mitch: But as the Blue Boy you had lost a load of weight and looked great…
BM: Thank you very much.
Mitch: …and perhaps that was the reason behind it?
BM: That might have been the catalyst for it, yeah, that is a whole double edged sword, they were like “Meanie, lose weight, meanie lose weight!” and I lost all the weight and it was “You don’t look right without that weight, gain the weight back, gain the weight back!” and I’m like “Come on people make up your minds!” *Laughs* “You know? You want me fat or skinny?”. So I’m in between right now *laughs* I’m not as big as I was, but I’m not as skinny as I was.
Mitch: And how are you health-wise?
BM: You know I’m fine, other than my knee’s aching, my back aching and the last for homecoming I’ve twisted my ankle and I couldn’t walk for about four months.
Mitch: I did read about your childhood and I have been a fan so congratulations on overcoming your Asthma and doing what you wanted.
BM: Oh, thank you, it’s just a matter of finding the right doctor, who was two towns over from me, and properly diagnosed my asthma and what I was allergic to and gave me the right medication. Then my hospital visits gradually declined but I still get asthma attacks here and there, i’m not totally through with it. It still affects me in the fall, with the seasonal change.
Saz: Would you like to tell us about your match with Tracey Smothers?
BM: Ah, my match with Tracey Smothers! Tracey and I have a deep history going back to ECW, where Nova and I wrestled the FBI every night for years and this one night he took it particularly personal, took chairs to us and busted me wide open and our feud lasted for another good six to eight months! As much as we’ve feuded I’ve respected the guy, he’s a veteran, he’s a guy who’s been around way longer than I have and he’s seen it all and done it all. Going toe to toe with him is a privilege and I’m very fortunate to actually be pushed by a veteran like Tracey Smothers. We’ve feuded all over and we’re finally bringing our feud over to the UK! Tracey’s an amazing athlete and I have a lot of respect for him.
Saz: So the UK fans will have one hell of a show?
BM: Oh, they’ll have something *laughs* I dunno yet, but we’ll figure it out!
Saz: *Laughs* As long as it’s not an asthma attack!
BM: Yeah, oh no, you know, that would be a great spot, we’re there, I take out my inhaler and “Phsst” ahhhhhhh! *Laughs*
Mitch: Was that a rematch from Hardcore Homecoming?
BM: Which one?
Mitch: Tracey Smothers and yourself.
BM: Oh, we’ve been feuding since 97/98 way deep in ECW and any chance to do an ECW style show with Meanie/Smothers because we can’t do Meanie/Nova/FBI because half is here and half is in the WWE but the fued’s just fueled on and now we’re taking it International.
Saz: Globalisation of a feud, there’s nothing like it!
BM: Yeah! Global silliness *laughs*
Mitch: What are you looking forward to most in your match?
BM: When my music hits and going through that curtain, then seeing how the fans react. I want to get out there and put on the best performance I can.
Saz: Have you ever been to www.wrestling101.com?
BM: I will now! I will be now! I haven’t yet but I definitely will.
Saz: You’ll probably want to find out what we’ve said about you.
BM: *Laughs* Hey, I’ll definitely check it out, I’m always looking for new sites.
Mitch: I’ve interviewed you before for Wrestling101 and you told me an amusing story, I think about Al Snow and yourself in a car.
BM: Travelling from New Jersey to Ohio?
Mitch: I think it involved farting.
BM: YES! Actually Al and I were talking about this story on the way over, I just totally killed that kid’s car… with my ass. *Laughs* It was brutal, yeah I do remember that, I remember that interview now because somebody else picked up on it and said “Did that really happen?” and yes it definitely happened, I ruined that kid’s car! Ruined it!
Saz: Were there stains?
BM: No, no but anytime the sun hit the seat just right, you know *makes a rising motion with his hands*, you know, like the Undertaker *makes the rising motion again this time with a whooshing sound effect* a tea kettle *carries on making the whooshing noise* it even whistled *whistles”, yeah but enough of that! Enough about my ass!
Mitch: Are there any last words to your fans out there?
BM: Thanks for the support over the years and can’t wait to see everybody at the show, which you’ll read after the show, so yesterday, or a few days later. But definitely, it’s awesome to be back in the UK and I can’t wait to get out there in front of the fans.
Saz: Thank you very much for the interview.
BM: Oh no, thank you and thank you for letting me ramble!
When the camera was turned off, the conversation turned to bridesmaids…
Mitchell Jones & Saracen