Recap by Chris Dewing of www.Wrestling101.com
Mere days before signing with WWE to become a part of the new Extreme Championship Wrestling brand, Voice Of Wrestling UK (http://www.wrestlingradionetwork.com) caught up with the one and only CW Anderson. As expected, ECW was brought up and CW shared his views on the return, as well as MLW, Ole Anderson, his health, and much more.
— After a few technical difficulties, CW Anderson joins us on air. CW says that he was not trained as such, but learned in the ring of a local promoter, where a number of others would help each other. He did not receive formal training until going to the WCW Power Plant. CW stayed there for a year and a half, but there was no real interest in bringing him into WCW due to his look despite feeling that he was one of the better guys there (names included Mike Sanders, etc).
— The CW Anderson name came from the early 90s when he was given a match and asked if he wanted to be an Anderson. CW was told to grow out a beard and come up with a name. CW was never a Horsemen fan, instead getting behind the babyfaces of the time such as Dusty Rhodes. CW has met both Arn and Ole Anderson separately. He rates Arn highly, having been able to train with him, but had an encounter with Ole that he didn’t enjoy.
— When Mitchell elaborates on the Ole/CW incident on an Indy show, CW admits that he had just come back from Japan and was only on the show because Ole was there. Ole was being an asshole and was talking down on CWs friends. CW thinks Ole has lost his mind, and has little respect for him.
— Talk turns to ECW, and CW thinks it could be a good thing to bring back if ran the right way and brought back by Tommy (Dreamer) and Paul (Heyman) the way it used to be. The fans want it back, so it could be a positive. CW said he hadn’t been called by the WWE yet, but a number of his friends had. (Since the show, CW has been reportedly contacted and signed by the WWE.)
— CW then talks about how he got started with ECW. In June 1999 a buddy and CW were in South Georgia working with Public Enemy, when his buddy was given a tryout by ECW in Atlanta. CW decided to tag along to meet some people, mainly his good friend Steve Corino. CW ended up getting an in ring tryout, and had a 5 minute match with Simon Diamond. Following the match, Paul Heyman asked him to wrestle for more, and an hour later after working with several other ECW wrestlers whilst being watched by some of the major players in ECW, including Heyman. Afterwards, Heyman discussed with CW some information about where he was currently wrestling, before the comparisons were made between CW and Arn Anderson. With a show scheduled for the evening, CW was told to remain backstage. Heyman called him into his office later, and introduced him to Skull Von Krush, Roadkill and Danny Doring. As quickly as that, Paul booked a tag team match between the four of them, and told CW “welcome to ECW!”.
— Talk moves to Mitchell’s favourite CW match, the “I Quit” match between CW and Tommy Dreamer from Guilty as Charged 2001, and whether this match was CW’s favourite ECW moment. CW says that his feud and matches with Super Crazy, including a match where they were given a standing ovation from the ECW Arena fans afterwards, is one of his best moments. He also mentions that following his “I Quit” match with Dreamer, the fans chanted “C F’n Dub” as he made his way backstage, and he notes that this was probably the pinnacle of his ECW career.
— Was ECW a one-of-a-kind place? CW says yes, he had been in the WCW locker-rooms, and the WWE locker-rooms following his ECW stint, and says that the ECW locker-room was far more of a family atmosphere, they helped each other out, kept in contact during time off, and they even exchanged Christmas presents. He didn’t feel that atmosphere in either WCW or WWE.
— CW had heard rumours that ECW had closed down, but dismissed them. Then he saw Paul Heyman on RAW as the new colour commentator, and eventually found out online that ECW had in fact shut its doors, he was never contacted by Heyman himself.
— Post-ECW, CW worked the indy circuit, and was invited over to Japan in 2002, where he stayed primarily for the next three years, only returning to the US for a brief period in Ring of Honor, and the short-lived Major League Wrestling promotion. His connections with ZERO-ONE and Steve Corino are brought up, and the Extreme Horsemen stable. The stable was founded in Dusty Rhodes’ Turnbuckle Championship Wrestling, where Dusty set up the stable of CW, Corino, Simon Diamond and Barry Windham.
— CW enjoyed his time in MLW, and says as far as the locker-room atmosphere is concerned, MLW is the closest thing to ECW. However the promoters were nowhere near the level of Heyman. They also had talent from so many places, the costs of flying them all in from Mexico and Japan meant that profits were basically non-existant. On the theme of money, CW is asked if Heyman owed him money at ECW’s closure, and CW confirms he was owed quite a lot.
— CW has no plans to go back to RoH, and believes RoH have no plans to. He claims they do not like the thought of having to fly CW in for $100 every time they need him.
— Talk moves on to CW’s liver and back injuries, and how badly they affect him now. The liver injury nearly ended CW’s career, as it came out of nowhere and was obviously a serious problem. CW admits that he got back into the ring too quickly, and as a result ended up injuring his back in his Hardcore Homecoming match with Spike Dudley. The back injury left him without feeling in his legs for 21 days. He’s still recovering from it now, and feels the injury at times, especially in his first match since the injury. He doesn’t want to jump into a full-time schedule again too soon, but is hopeful of recovering fully.
— A chatroom listener asks if CW could work with anyone, who would it be? CW always wanted to go one-on-one with Justin Credible.
— CW has never even tried to watch RAW, SmackDown! or TNA, as he has better things to do and is too busy to watch wrestling on TV.
— CW prefers working in front of a Japanese crowd due to their added respect and interest in the actual matches, and you can gauge how well the match is going by the reactions, whereas USA fans have seen it all and will not be impressed as easily. He also confirms that ECW crowds were hard to please due to their high levels of standards, and that they have no problem in chanting “Boring” or “This Match Sucks” if they don’t think you’re doing a good enough job. In regards to internet fans, CW is not sure that the internet has forced wrestlers to evolve, but that at least now there is a quicker way of finding out who is liked and who isn’t by the fans.
— Does CW have any regrets? Aside from taking the supplement that nearly killed his liver, no. Anything left to achieve? CW has no concrete plans, as his future will depend upon how well his body holds up over the next few years. Would he join the WWE or TNA? Although CW enjoys his Japan work, he would love to be a part of the new ECW in WWE. After one last shot at the big leagues, CW would like to finish up his career in Japan.
— Any rib stories? Not that CW could condense down to a swift two minutes, and with Steve Corino to provide the reasoning behind the story. CW will try and post some ribs on his website, http://www.ecwanderson.com, or his MySpace, http://www.myspace.com/cwanderson. Both those sites also include CW’s upcoming schedule. He thanks the fans for their continued support, he enjoys reading e-mails that fans sent and tries to reply to them all.
— That ended an entertaining interview with CW Anderson, he showed himself as an engaging individual and a great guy, and we hope to have him back on the show soon, although if he has signed a WWE contract, that might be difficult. Either way, we wish him well in his future endeavours.
To listen to the show in .mp3 format, check out:
http://www.wrestlingradionetwork.com/archives/vowuk/04302006.mp3
To listen to the show in .ram format, check out:
http://www.wrestlingradionetwork.com/archives/vowuk/04302006.ram
Be sure to check out VOW:UK every Sunday at 2pm ET / 7pm UK on the Wrestling Radio Network, home of Voice Of Wrestling, Get In The Ring, and Wrestling Weekly.
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