Thanks to Wrestling Radio Live for sending the following in:
One week before becoming Voice Of Wrestling: UK, the final Wrestling Radio Live radio show from the UK was graced by the presence of US indy star Sterling James Keenan. The topics of discussion ranged from 1PW to RoH as well as SJK’s upcoming week in Ohio Valley Wrestling on the heels of his WWE dark match showing a few weeks ago. SJK was very polite and came across as a friendly, humble guy, and was a pleasure to listen to. If you wish to find out more about Sterling James Keenan, check out his official website at http://www.sterlingjameskeenan.com
— The hosts introduce SJK onto the show, and briefly ramble about production. SJK comments that he can’t hear Colin, which Colin thought was due to his accent but was actually due to the production values (or lack thereof, lol).
— SJK got into the business by training at the Pittsburgh Wrestling School with NWA East, before going to the Funking Conservatory to polish up the skills he’d already learned. “It’s great credibility when people ask ‘who trained me’ and I say ‘Dory Funk Jr”. He moved on from NWA East to the IWC where he met CM Punk, Colt Cabana and others who were brought in. Colin asks about the tough crowds of Pittsburgh, and Keenan admits that they were tough and he had to work hard to silence the crowd.
— Mitchell asks about 3PW and ROH as popular feds amongst the internet fans. SJK appreciated the exposure that they gave. Keenan doesn’t see all smark fans as a negative, and uses the constructive criticism to help better himself and to “try and please most of the people most of the time”. SJK brings up that he read a topic on a UK wrestling fan forum (UKFF) and how it wasn’t completely positive.
— A question from the chatroom, are there any plans for SJK to be brought into the ROH/CZW fans. Keenan thinks not, as he is a “utility guy” who is there when needed. SJK thinks he just has to wait.
— On the topic of 1PW, SJK was brought into the company by his friend Kingdom James who put in a good word due to his mic skills. Mitchell notes that many see Keenan as 1PW’s “golden boy”, and wonders where the idea to work with Abyss came from. SJK admits that James Mitchell may have been unable to come in, hence he was needed to fill in as the mouthpiece for Abyss. Keenan thinks he is now the 1PW guy due to not being as big a star anywhere else. SJK has adjusted to the UK fans and style fairly easily, made more comfortable by the amount of TNA guys that he knows through other indies.
— Mitchell admits to having seen the first 1PW show and being impressed with SJK. Sterling knows of some of the UK names, but is still learning of a number of guys thanks to 1PW. The subject of Kingdom James being released by 1PW is brought up and SJK found out the day before AKJ found out. Keenan didn’t understand why 1PW flew in a number of staff from the US. When asked about working for other UK promotions, SJK said he would if the chance arose, and didn’t understand the politics of not being able to work elsewhere if not contracted.
— SJK mentions that he and CM Punk teamed up for a WWE dark match, and will be sent down to OVW for a week of evaluation. Tommy Dreamer is pushing for SJK and CM Punk to team up, but TNA have showed no interest as of yet. Keenan tries to keep up to date with the WWE product due to the TNA presentation being hard to watch. SJK would like to have the job security of being in the WWE and would take a job with them if offered. Keenan says that he’s totally focused on wrestling right now and has always dreamed of being in the WWE. SJK expresses interest in going over to Japan.
— The hosts ask about the conflict between financial security and being in a prominent position on a specific roster. Both SJK and Punk prefer the security, and he understands how the fans sometimes don’t understand why a guy would go from the top of Ring Of Honor to the bottom of Ohio Valley Wrestling. Keenan appreciates that the mentality of smart fans will not go away, but that they don’t really understand what goes behind the decisions that wrestlers make. On the subject of the influence of the internet, Sterling says it has its upside and downside. He thinks that the internet can take some of the fun out due to spoilers, but the networking and advertising is a plus. Sterling credits the internet with getting him noticed by 1PW.
— Sterling also plays the world-famous Word Association game with such names as Dory Funk, 1PW and CM Punk.
If you wish to listen to the show in full, download it at http://www.wrestlingradio.co.uk/archives/wr230406.wma
Also, be sure to check out our new radio show, VOICE OF WRESTLING: UK EDITION over at http://www.wrestlingradionetwork.com this Sunday at 7pm UK/2pm ET with Mitchell Jones and Colin Gear talking about the US and UK wrestling scenes, as well as talking to former ECW star CW ANDERSON.