Today in Wrestling History:

Births and Deaths

Your News: Former WWE tag team The Heart Throbs, Romeo Roselli and Antonio Thomas, were backstage at the TNA Final Resolution PPV. There has been talk with Vince Russo, Jeff Jarrett and Terry Taylor of bringing them in.

My Views: On one had the Heartthrobs weren’t the greatest of “In Ring Talents” on the roster. But on the other hand they are great characters and if given the chance to succeed, especially in the Russo environment they could succeed. The fact of the matter is that TNA’s tag division is HURT right now and they need to rebuild that and do it soon. This might not be a bad idea on a shirt term deal to see how they fit in with the roster, and if they do it could help that once great division.

Your News: The Riggs Brothers have not been signed by TNA yet. They worked a dark match at the Final Resolution PPV. The match was a tryout. The Riggs Brothers were previously signed as WWE developmental talents.

My Views: I had a friend in attendance at the PPV and he said they had a really good match with Serotonin. Honestly I don’t know much about the team, but much like the Heartthrobs they could be given a chance to help rebuild the division.

Your News: Former Tough Enough competitor Kenny King, who has worked with TNA before, was also backstage at the event.

My Views: King had a short stint as an enhancement talent for TNA, and in all honesty was a lot of fun in his work. He has been working FIP and apparently doing rather well. I thought back then and still do that he and Ron Killings would make a very good tag team, and once again we would be strengthening that division back up and would be giving Killings something to do.

Your News: Management has told talent that whenever they get a two hour timeslot for Impact, they will be looking to bring in more talent to the roster.

My Views: I think that they have the deal and are just finalizing the small stuff. I think this due to the apparent build to a women’s division and the looking into other talents. They have a pretty full roster as is, and they need the extra hour to properly feature all of them.

Your News: TNA got a lot of publicity off of the latest Baseball angle from Final Resolution. During the Pre-PPV Show AJ Pierzynski nailed Lance Hoyt with a steel chair. CNN Headline News, the Chicago Sun Times, and ABC, FOX and CBS affiliates as well as WGN all covered it this week.

My Views: While I am sick of celebrity acts right now, if the company is getting good press and getting its name out more, it is a good thing.

Your News: TNA’s debut in Birmingham Alabama drew a reported 1,200 fans over the weekend.

My Views: That’s a pretty good crowd for a house show for a company of TNA’s status. From all reports it was a good show with a hot crowd as well. Hopefully TNA keeps going with their own shows like this and gets back to NC soon.

Your News: It is being reported that Scott Steiner has signed a new long-term deal with TNA.

My Views: BIG POPPA PUMP IS YOUR HOOK UP…HOLLA IF YA HEAR ME! I think this is great news. I thought Steiner’s last TNA run was very solid, with good promos and good matches with everyone really. If he can be like he was on the last run this will be a good thing for the promotion. I expect him to the “mystery consultant” for Cage, which will give us a Steiner vs. Angle program, those promos should be legendary. This also gives TNA that second chance at trying to pull off a Team 3D vs. Steiner’s feud and match. While not a classic in the making in terms of work rate, it would be something never done and may interest fans of those teams to buy a PPV for the match.

Your Rumors: There are rumors circulating that the TNA booking team is trying to come up a shoot concept in an effort to be different than WWE. The vague idea is to have all X Division matches have time limits, but have real judges deciding the outcome based on who gave the best performance in the match. This would be a “shoot” decision. The problem with it is that you’d get wrestlers working selfishly and possibly even going out of their way to make their opponents look bad.

My Views: This is a rumor folks…but…wow. I really hope not. “Shoots” don’t work in a worked sport. The idea is that they go out there, have more spottier spot fests than ever before for 10-minutes and then some judges say they win. BAD idea I think. If anything I could see them doing X-Division under card matches on PPV with a 10-15-minute time limit and “IF” and by that I mean when they book a time limit draw, they go to the judges like in the FSN days. But this shoot stuff is a BAD idea if true.

Your News: Right now, the two proposed matches for Hulk Hogan at WrestleMania are against Great Khali or Shane McMahon. There is almost no chance of Big Show returning at this point, which is why Khali was moved to Raw.

My Views: If we want a match that will not be total ass, we want Shane. He will bump his ass off and do wild shit and it would be fun at the very least. Khali can’t move and I don’t want to see it. At all. Never. MEH.

Your News: On Thursday and Friday, WWE released the following talents:
-Tatanka
-Christopher W. Anderson
-Al Snow
-Gangrel
-The Gymini
-Doug and Danny Basham
-Tony Mamaluke
-Jazz
-Rodney Mack
-Sylvester Terkay

My Views: I discussed most of these in my Black Thursday Column last week so my thoughts on most of these are there. Tatanka was released on Friday and really, no loss at all. The only thing that blows is that he beat Yang on Smackdown and then got fired. Poor Jimmy won’t get his win back, but the Cowboys won in the end!

Your News: WWE will tape ECW prior to Smackdown this week, so ECW On Sci-Fi will not be live. WWE wants to air ECW on a few hour tape delay from now on because they aren’t satisfied with the live shows.

My Views: Well, they join the 1-million people that left after the debuting weeks as not being satisfied but that is their own fault. ECW is the ultimate treadmill right now and they aren’t writing compelling TV, well, compelling enough to make people care.

Your News: WWE has signed Cassidy Riley to a developmental deal. He worked against Monty Brown (Marquis Cor Von) on ECW this week as well as some recent dark matches. Riley had been with the TNA promotion since the beginning, first as one half of the “Hot Shots” tag team, and then as a singles performer.

-WWE has also signed Ace Steel to a developmental deal. Steel played Donald Trump on Raw two-weeks ago and has been a Ring of Honor regular over the years.

My Views: I can’t see Riley doing much at all in the E. He isn’t bad by any means, but I just don’t see him as being booked or being capable of doing anything major. Steel has a boatload of charisma and is a good worker overall. But I don’t see them doing a lot with him either. Hopefully I am wrong, but you never know. By the way, Colt Cabana has to be crying right now. I know he has the WSX contract, but what does that dude need to do to get signed?

Your News: WWE developmental talents Mike Taylor, Tracy Taylor, Tony Salantri and Thomas Farra have all been released. DSW trainer Bill DeMott has also been released. WWE has also released developmental talents Seth Skyfire, Jack Bull, and Ryan Reeves who were appearing regularly on OVW TV.

My Views: DeMott has been on the outs with management for his training methods and the fact that for all purposes DSW has sucked a cock. The only developmental talent I know a good bit about is Seth Skyfire, and I thought he had a lot of upside so I am a bit surprised at this release. YAY YEARLY HOUSE CLEANING. In all reality the fact is that WWE has no plans right now to bring back ECW house shows. The original plan when they pulled the ECW house shows was to bring them back shortly after WrestleMania, but that doesn’t look like it will happen. Because of that, they are releasing a lot of talent that would have worked the low-card at ECW house shows. Sucks to be these guys, I will be surprised if ECW actually makes it to December when the TV contract ends.

Your News: Dr. Tom Prichard has been hired to replace Bill DeMott as the head trainer for Deep South Wrestling. DeMott was released over the weekend. Prichard previously worked with WWE in talent relations before being released in 2004.

My Views: Dr. Tom is good people and I thought it was a mistake to fire him back when they did. I am glad to see him back in the fold as he has always done well for the developmental system and could do some good work in DSW, if they keep it around.

Your News: According to Lance Storm, Bret Hart’s son, Dallas, has apparently stopped training to become a wrestler.

My Views: Apparently he stopped coming to training, which is probably good if he really doesn’t want to do it. The boy would have a LOT to live up to. Also, maybe he got smart and saw the bad things the business did to him family and decided to try and be normal.

Your News: It is being reported by numerous sources, including WWE.com, that Scott “Bam Bam” Bigelow was found dead this morning in his home in Hudson, Florida at the age of 45. The Pasco-Pinellas Counties medical examiner has taken the body and an autopsy will be performed to determine the cause of death.

Bigelow’s career spanned over 20-years as he competed in Japan, WWE, ECW and WCW.

My Views: That was on Friday, and I am still getting over it as Bam was a favorite of mine. I wrote up a bio piece on him, which I have gotten a lot of kind feedback on. Unfortunately I am getting all too good at writing those things.

Your News: Former WWF and NWA star Dick Slater is once again in trouble with the law. He has been accused of violating a domestic violence injunction taken out by an ex-girlfriend, the same girl he was charged with stabbing in 2003. Slater allegedly called the woman in question three times and then left an envelope containing old bank statements at her home.

My Views: Here is the keeper quote from the whole deal, “Slater told police that he didn’t remember doing those things but might have while he was high on drugs.” Wow. It’s always sad to hear when people’s life take a turn like this. Let’s hope he gets his shit together.

Your News: FIP would like to announce that on March 10th we will be holding The Eddie Graham Memorial “Battle of the Belts” in Crystal River, FL. The guest of honor will be Florida Legend Mike Graham. This show will feature an 8 Man tournament to crown the first ever FIP Florida Heritage Champion. More info will be announced soon on this website.

My Views: This sounds pretty damn cool. FIP has been on an upswing as of late with a mix up in talent and continued good booking. I will be very interested to see who they bring in for the tournament and who wins the new title. I vote SWEET AND SOUR BABY!

Your News: It was officially announced that the Versus TV network will be airing World Extreme Cage fighting this summer (now owned by Zuffa, aka UFC), with three live shows and six one-hour highlight shows.

My Views: Versus is one of those special HD channel deals for some people, and on some systems a regular channel, so not everyone gets it. The good news is that I do in fact get the channel and that will enhance my MMA coverage, which you can now catch in the sports zone~! But this is a solid deal for what is basically a UFC “minor league.”

Your News: Takeshi Morishima is coming to ROH in February!!! The main page of ROHwrestling.com announced yesterday that Morishima is set for competition in ROH. He has already signed an ambitious schedule of matches. Here is Morishima’s first tour of ROH:

-2/16 in NYC vs. Samoa Joe
-2/17 in Philadelphia vs. the ROH World Champion for the title
-2/23 in Dayton will see Morishima in a main event quality match against an opponent yet to be named
-2/24 in Chicago will have Morishima & Nigel McGuinness vs. Samoa Joe & Homicide

My Views: Morishima coming to ROH is a great thing. If you haven’t heard of him or caught any of his work you need to as he is the next great big man in the business. The people in Japan are already making comparisons to Gordy and Vader, very high praise indeed. Let’s look at the matches he has set up:

-First match vs. Joe is what a lot of people have been waiting for, ala Joe vs. Kobashi. This should be a brutal match and if they can work together as well as I think, it has MOTYC written all over it. Morishima wins.

-Second match will likely be against Homicide as I don’t think he’ll drop the title so soon. A lot of people are showing concern because the size difference will be huge. But Morishima has a history of working really well with smaller opponents and selling enough to not hurt himself but make them look good. Not sure if ROH would take the title off of Homicide, so he retains.

-Third match is too hard to call who the opponent will be. Daniels could be fun though.

-Fourth and final match of the tour is NOAH vs. ROH as McGuinness has been a big part of defending NOAH thus far. Should be a great match, McGuinness takes the fall to Homicide, setting up a title match later between them.

All in all this is great for ROH and they will sell a TON of DVD’s off of the run.

We hope that you enjoy this special shoot interview and at this time I would like to thank you all for your continued support of not only Mr. Cook and myself, but of 411mania as a whole. Thank you and enjoy.

One quick note before we begin. This was scheduled to be the 1000th column, but due to some unexpected circumstances it is actually the 1005th column. Close enough for jazz!

Steve Cook: Welcome to the latest installment of the SC Video Shoot Interview Series…today we are joined by the Living Legend of internet wrestling writing, Larry Csonka. How are you doing today, Larry?

Larry Csonka: Well, I’m here so that says something I suppose. Where’s the courtesy bar?

SC: The room right next to your locker room…you were distracted by the strippers and coke, weren’t you?

LC: Obviously, and I thank you for that. Not everyone springs for the quality you did, it is appreciated. JT, go snag me some Yuengling’s from that bar you little fag.

SC: Good good, me too faggot. Let’s start off with the same question we ask everybody here…how did you become interested in pro wrestling?

LC: Well Steve, it all began back when I was a small lad, 4 or 5 I would say. My grandmother was a huge wrestling fan and I would watch with her on Saturdays. Every Saturday I would go to the corner store, pick up her ice cream, I would get a drink and come home and we would watch TBS, Saturday Night wrestling. Those were the days brother. There is nothing like watching your 65-year old grandmother yelling at the heels while hooked up to oxygen. I just fell in love with it and it was just great. My brother (7-years my elder) was also into it, and we would watch when Gram was ill or there was SNME on. Good times.

SC: So you started out at an early age…when did you know that you actually wanted to wrestle?

LC: It had to be shortly after that. It is kind of cliché and all, but there was just something about the shows that drew you in. Dusty cutting a promo about being the average guy making you believe if he could do it you could as well, the Horsemen with all of the money, cars, watches and titles looking like kings. It just pulled me in back then and I wanted to be them. Other kids wanted to be a fireman, I wanted to be the champ.

SC: So eventually you started training under a true wrestling legend…tell us a little bit about Ivan Koloff. How was he to train with?

LC: That came much later in life, back in early 2001. Also to clarify, Mr. Koloff wasn’t as much of a trainer as he was the guy that lit the fire under my ass. I went to a show in the town I first moved to in NC, and met him. He was a very nice guy and easy to approach. After an autograph and Polaroid we began to talk and he said I had some good size and asked if I ever wanted to get into wrestling. I obviously did and he got the ball rolling for me. He introduced me to the man that would do the bulk of my training, Allen, as well as a lot of the local guys. They all had a hand in my training and even if I had only done that I would have lived a dream just meeting and talking with a legend. Mr. Koloff was always there if I needed to talk and to me, that was just an amazing experience.

SC: Tell us a little bit about your wrestling career…you’ve told us about some of your exploits, but perhaps you can elaborate more on the life and times of “Tremendous” Tom Lawrence.

LC: JT…more beer fag!

SC: Me too fag! You’re right, this IS fun.

LC: Rock man, as for your question I would love to tell a tale of success and total dream fulfillment, but that would be a lie. In the end I was the ultimate weekend warrior. On Friday’s I would train after I taught at school for a while, and two Saturday’s a month I would eventually have a match. I helped set up the ring at first and then did some ring announcing to “pay my dues” and then I got to work. I would do battle royals, which are either fun or a total disaster. Some nights I would do the battle royal under a mask and then do another match later down the card. All of that for the glory of performing in front of 50 people most nights and for a hefty pay day of $30 or so. But then again I would be lying if I said I didn’t love it. I did. It was really a dream come true, from play-acting with my brother to doing it for real. I got to work with some people I idolized as well as I got to work with the Rock and Roll Express one time in a big multi man match and Disco Inferno. I was able to be part of some shows for a good cause, such as Katrina relief and some other things. I got to eat at the Waffle House with some “tag legends” and watch one of them go and snort a line off of my car, and then get head in the parking lot. It may not sound like much to you, but to me I made it and that was that.

SC: Eventually you made a transition to becoming a wrestling internet journalist. Tell us a little bit about what started you down that path.

LC: It is really ironic actually, because my journey began after many frustrations with 411 itself. I had been a longtime reader of the site, and became disgruntled with the quality of some of the content. I applied several times and was then turned down rather rudely one time, and that set me off. I began doing ‘Weekly TNA PPV Recaps” on the 411 forums as an “anti” recap to the one 411 ran. Most times people didn’t even reply, but the ones that did were positive. Eventually, two of the forum members (Trent – aka – Voodoo Penguin and Lino – aka- Takerfan) started up their own forum and were going to have a main page, sort of an alternative to 411. That was all I needed to hear, and after an offer to join up with them at the then TWTF my career began.

SC: Tell us about your time at TWTF, do you have any memories that stick out in particular from there?

LC: Sure. I have many great memories of my time there. It was a really fun time as I began to start my writings. I went from a guys who did basic recaps to one who became very good at detailed recaps. Trent and Lino were VERY good to me and allowed me a lot of freedom and with that the “3R’s of Wrestling” were born. They also began as a very basic column covering Raw, TNA Weekly PPV and eventually Impact and Smackdown. While I was there I also made some friends that the 411 readers know, yourself included and Geoff who co-writes the R’s with me. It was a great launching pad for me as a writer, but helping run the place was a pain, like it is at 411 right now. Dealing with spammers sucks, but all part of the job.

SC: Soon you were on 411. How did you end up getting hired there?

LC: JT…

JT: Yes I know, more beer fag, more snacks fag, do a Nancy dance because I am a little faggy fag.

LC: Yeah, that’s about it. As for the question, eventually 411 needed someone to cover TNA Weekly PPV, and for some reason they came to me. Shortly after that, just a week or two Impact began and I recapped that as well. At one point my recaps were on TWTF, 411 and Live Audio Wrestling. A lot of hard work paid off and I was being read by a huge audience; which was a great feeling.

SC: How did the audience react to you at first? Did you immediately attain a certain level of popularity, or did it take time for you to catch on with the people?

LC: It took some time to be honest with you. I will say that it was not due to my skills, but because at the beginning I was only covering TNA. TNA wasn’t a priority to the wrestling fan at the time, and to be honest still isn’t. It was an uphill battle, but one I defeated I feel.

SC: Tell us about how you became the 411 Wrestling Zone editor.

LC: Oh yes…that old question. Well, it all goes back to the big “SPLIT” here at 411. Around 2 ½ years ago, one half of the 411 empire, Widro, decided that he wanted to begin his own venture, known now as Inside Pulse. Widro did this and took along with him the comic and video games people, a lot of the Movie and Music staff as well as the so called “Big guns” of the wrestling zone. 411 was left with a skeleton crew and with only the founder, Ashish, at the helm. When this went down I had my first real talk with the boss. He explained to me the situation and the status of 411, which was rocky at the time. I was offered the chance to edit the zone along with Randle, and with that came tremendous freedoms. I was allowed to hire writers and to write what ever I wanted to. I took over the floundering Sunday news slot, brought the 3R’s to 411 and began doing some video reviews. I structured the wrestling zone to be stronger than ever and the rest is history, as 411’s readership is higher than ever and the wrestling zone is probably the best content for content anywhere.

SC: Certainly it ended up being a great decision, but why do you think Ashish chose you for the role over some of the other staff members that had stuck around?

LC: You know, I wish I had a simple answer for the question. I would guess that it had to do with the conversation we had way back when. In many ways I felt as if he was interviewing me. I had the drive, I had the personal content and I had a vision of what I wanted the zone to be. That was good enough for the boss.

SC: What exactly was your vision for the wrestling zone when you became editor?

LC: Expansion, plain and simple. The zone, while having quality had way more potential. Most days there was a News Column and two other columns, and some days a video review, but not everyday. Also the site was predominantly WWF/E content. That had to change as the business was changing. We hired guys to do ROH reviews exclusively, we added the Column of Honor as well to cover the always growing promotion. TNA content was bulked up as well. The video/DVD review staff was hugely expanded to the point that we have at the very least ONE video review a day.

The content as a whole was bulked up as we feature up to 4 columns a day as well as the news column to kick things off. We added alternative recaps to all of the TV shows, allowing 2-3 opinions on the shows and are still trying to expand into more International coverage. Finally, and this was my baby, we added the 411 Wrestling Hall of Fame. That was something I felt 411 should have done a long time ago and needed. It has been along journey, but one that has been very successful.

SC: You have made several important additions to the 411 staff since becoming editor…tell us about the most important one, Steve Cook.

LC: Oh you crafty bastard. Yes I have made many great additions to the staff here at 411. Yourself is included in that. I brought you aboard at the beginning of my reign here as the alternate Impact reporter. From there you took over for me on the Sunday news report and then have moved to Thursday’s and now head up Ask 411. You’ve done very well and have made me proud. Other additions I am proud of are the little fag JT. JT is good people and went from a lowly WWE Byte This recapper to one half of the hidden highlights column. Another is Ari, who was already a part of the 411 Music Zone. The Column of Honor has been a tremendous addition to 411 and every week Ari makes me look like a genius for hiring him for that spot. In reality there are way too many to name, but the staff right now is the best it has ever been and I take great pride in that.

SC: Do you think your time as a wrestler has helped you as a writer?

LC: It has without a doubt. I have been lucky enough to be, for lack of a better term “inside the business” for a while. I have a good idea how thing work, more so than John Q. Casual-fan, and I also think that it gives me a strong insight into reviewing and critiquing the product. It is an extra tool that I have that others don’t. That doesn’t mean I am more right than someone else, but it is different, and something they don’t have and I use it to my advantage.

SC: Tell us about working alongside Co-Editor Stephen Randle. Some have said that he isn’t exactly the most competent guy around, is this true?

LC: Stephen is good people, even if he is Canadian. Stephen has a lot on his plate with school and real life obligations. He does what he can and the Wrestling News Experience is chugging right along in its Monday spot and probably will be for a long time.

SC: Everyone knows that you put a lot of effort into 411, how do you do that while in a marriage with a child and working three jobs?

LC: Well it is hard, I won’t lie. First of all my top priority is my wife and daughter. During the days I take care of Hana, who starts Kindergarden next year. We play, practice schoolbooks and all of that during the day. When she wants to watch a movie I work on the laptop doing 411 business. I work at the Church “technically” 2-days a week, but with church business and all I put in a minimum 10-hours there. And finally four days a week I work at the restaurant for 4-5 hours with my Greek friends. This is every week. And in between that I find the time to do all I do with 411, writing, editing, hiring and so forth. Then when my wife is done with all of her work, we have our together time. I won’t lie, it is hard as hell to balance, but we make it work.

SC: How supportive has your wife Christi been as it relates to all of this.

LC: Very. Let me put it this way, if she wasn’t supportive of me, I would either not be here or would be writing angrily every week discussing my impending divorce. Send her a thank you when you have a chance.

SC: Do you have any bad feelings towards Inside Pulse? There is a rumor that higher-ups there did not want you to follow them to the new site.

LC: At the time of the split I would have to say yes. When the big split happened I wasn’t offered the chance to go; probably due to them thinking I would never mean anything to the betterment of their site. In the end though that is fine because it worked out very well for me and for 411, so now, it is just a life experience I look back on and thank the lord the right thing happened.

SC: Back when you were still relatively new as a columnist, you used to give yourself a rather elaborate introduction with many different nicknames. This got under the skin of some, why do you think it did and do you plan on bringing it back anytime soon?

LC: I don’t know really, probably because they have a stick up their ass. I mean, if you know it is coming then just skip it if you don’t like it and get to the meat of the article. To me it was something fun, something to add to every week and it gave many people a good laugh. I will most likely bring it back sometime, when the readers most likely expect it. Nostalgia works for everyone else, why not me?

SC: Some readers believe that you are biased against WWE…is there any reason at all for them to believe that?

LC: I would guess that is because I am not a fucking sheep suckling at the TEET of Vince McMahon. When the product is good, I praise it, when the product sucks I trash it, analytically of course. WWE offers up 16 PPV’s a year at $40 a pop, I am not going to recommend a show to someone if it sucks. People read my columns and sometimes base spending money off of it. I will not lie. If I give a shitty recommendation and they waste their money, they complain to me and I lose credibility, along with 411. I don’t fake the positive, and before anyone shits a brick positive guys that is not a knock at you, that is a fact. I shoot from the hip and give my unvarnished opinion. I will never apologize for expressing my opinion, whether good or bad. If people don’t like that, there are tons of other columns and articles to read. I will say that there are a lot of things I like about the WWE product and I do feel that there are times where they cannot be touched as it comes to quality…but then there are times where I think, this company hates money, how are they still in business.

SC: On the other side, they will also claim you are biased in favor of TNA…any truth to that?

LC: Once again, I give my opinion. If I was biased for TNA I would do nothing but praise them. Hell, I even invented a “NEW R” for the 3R’s column just for TNA and it isn’t a good one. I call out the company on a regular basis, but it is hard to see that when you are sucking off Vince and getting raped on 16 PPV’s a year at $40 a pop. I like MOST TNA PPV’s as they are good, as far as the TV show, I regularly pan it and if people would read instead of guess, they would realize that.

SC: A man like you has a rather large fan base. Could you tell us about some of your bigger fans, and some of your more interesting interactions with them?

LC: The readers are the best part of the job, whether they give you good constructive feedback or try and bash the living hell out of you. It makes the job a constant adventure. I would say one of the site’s biggest fans would be “Dwayne.” You know who I am talking about Steve. Dwayne is a rather passionate fan who emails a lot of the staff with his opinions on the site, wrestling as a whole and his life. He and his crew, including my favorite “Da Weed Man” will also review old WWF videos and such, which I featured a few on my blog. They were always a fun one.

On the other hand you have the people that hate me. These are the guys after every PPV call me biased, wish death upon my wife and child and even mock my dead mother and father. These are the people that tend to bring out “Angry Larry” as some of the staff calls me. That can actually be a lot of fun. Another guy once accused me of having an affair with Dixie Carter in return for favorable TNA Coverage. I wish I could have nailed Dixie Carter, have you seen that chick? She’s pretty fine. The list goes on and on. I try to reply to all of my emails in column or personally, but these days that has come almost impossible. I will say that I do enjoy the occasional rant on idiots, it keeps the stress level down and the peeps seem to love reading it.

SC: Your “retirement” a few months ago…what was the story behind all of that? And did you expect the reaction it got?

LC: Ah the “retirement.” Once again, that was one of those things that came to fruition through one of our conversations. You were positive that no one would believe it because of my workload, so we placed the seed. To your credit you played it masterfully with the whole “Cooke Regime” shtick. I personally thought no one would believe it for the same reasons and did it for fun. Some people bit on the bait and the floodgates opened with emails asking me to stay and or thanking me for my service. Hell, a good percentage of the staff bought into it. In the end it was all in fun, and if anyone got pissed, they need a sense of humor.

SC: Tell the truth…out of all the different columns you do, which one do you like doing the most? And do you have a certain article that you consider to be your best effort?

LC: You don’t hold back Steve, that’s a hard one to answer. I love all of my columns, like a child really. The TNA stuff brought me to the dance, the news column I can cut loose in, My Take On is something to rant on random things but in the end I will have to say the 3R’s is my favorite.

It has become a labor of love, it is hard some weeks to break it all down the way I do. Some weeks are fun, some are a chore when you have to be so negative when the shows are bad. I think a lesser writer would have packed it in, but here I am over #150 on that particular column and still going. Also I get to write with my buddy Geoff, so that is always good. As far as my “best effort” I will probably go with the tribute column I wrote about my mother when she passed away, as many people have told me that it is the best thing I have ever written and I take great pride in that fact.

SC: I think it’s time for some word association…Buff Bagwell.

LC: A no selling, egotistical cock sucker.

SC: Dixie Dynamite.

LC: My greatest opponent, and teacher.

SC: Ashish.

LC: The boss, a friend and very respectful of myself and my family.

SC: Widro.

LC: Never saw my potential.

SC: JD Dunn.

LC: Extremely creative, without a doubt the best “rant style” recapper on the Internet today.

SC: 411 Fan Forum.

LC: They can be a lot of fun, but at the same time not as important as they think they are.

SC: Andy Clark’s girlfriend.

LC: She wants me. Don’t forget to call baby.

SC: Newton Gimmick.

LC: Plagiarizing asshole.

SC: TheGunIsGood.

LC: Old school former writing partner, unfortunately all but disappeared.

SC: Michael Melchor.

LC: I am his favorite writer! He’s a good family man and an important part of 411.

SC: Ron Gamble.

LC: A cornerstone of the 411 empire and most importantly a STILLERS fan~! Doesn’t get the respect he deserves.

SC: Chris Hyatte.

LC: Who?

SC: Exactly. Vince Russo.

LC: The master of Russonomics. The worst decision TNA made in 2006 was bringing him back.

SC: Is there anything you’ve said in any of your articles that you regret saying?

LC: Of course not. Whenever I wrote something, I mean it at the time of that writing. I never have nor ever will apologize for anything I have written.

SC: Got any good rib stories?

LC: I never got to do a good rib on anyone because I never had any seniority. But one time I was working a show in Wilmington, and there was this local guy that was walking around and talking like he had been in the business for years and had done something. In reality he was just a guy that fixed cars for a living and only had about 30-matches over 5 or 6 years.

He was part of the battle royal that night and proceeded to “lay out the match” to everyone, including Disco Inferno and the Rock and Roll Express. This as you can imagine did not go over well and they decided to spike his drink with laxative. We’ll just say that he left a trail from the ring to the locker room that night.

SC: Tremendous! Any rat stories?

LC: I wish. Even on the Indy scene the rats are plentiful. Not all good looking but plentiful. But as a married man I has to abstain from that particular perk of the business. The only good story I can relay is watching a certain “tag team legend” almost miss a match due to getting head in the parking lot from a chick that was probably a teenage fan of his from back in the day.

SC: Is the IWC full of rats, or is that just a common misperception?

LC: Outside of Clark’s girl, it is mostly a falsehood. You get the occasional chick that emails you some topless shots, but nothing serious. Of course, I would have to abstain from that, being a married man/man of the cloth and all.

SC: Where do you see pro wrestling going in 2007? And what do you see for the future of the IWC?

LC: The outlook for 2007 isn’t as grand as most think. WWE looks to remain stagnant. There are no Rock’s, Austin’s or even Foley’s waiting in the wings for them. They will continue to push who they want, hire muscle bound freaks that cannot talk or work and we will have to sit through it, paying $40 a pop.

TNA has a TON of potential, but unless they have a plan and start to execute it they will continue to draw a 0.9-1.2 rating and 40,000 PPV buys. ROH can be tremendous, but I know that I don’t have the cash to keep up with them as much as I would like.

Japan is a mess for the most part as no one is drawing that well and there isn’t a ton of future prospects around to replace the older stars that are still there to help draw.

Lucha is fun as hell, and is they get US TV exposure on a large level they could be a force. MMA is the new hotness and is drawing like mad and will continue to do so and rule PPV.

As far as the IWC goes, it will go as wrestling goes. Wrestling will have spikes and so will the IWC. But as far as the whole deal goes, it will be there and stay strong, but not as important as a lot of them think they are. I think the IWC needs to look at themselves and speak the truth instead of spreading their particular brand of propaganda. Don’t apologize for your opinions if they are actually that.

SC: Is there anything left you’d like to get off your chest, or anything you’d like to say to all the fans out there reading this?

LC: Well, in the end I am just one person. I work hard at what I do, and I am damn good at it. I never expect anyone to agree with me when I write a column I expect disagreement because my opinion is my own. If you agree with me and appreciate the work, the occasional email is appreciated. If you disagree with me, send me an email and explain whey you disagree with me. I love a good argument and defending my point of view. But when you cross the line and disrespect me, don’t expect Mr. Nice Larry. I will get pissed off and I will fire back.

To all of the assholes that dog me and what I do as a whole, never question my dedication to this site. I put my entire effort into this site and spend more hours a week in its running than you could comprehend. I don’t want anyone to kiss my ass, just show some respect as I do to you. In under three years I have produced a workload second to none in the all hallowed “IWC.” You don’t have to like it, you don’t have to agree with it, just respect it.

SC: Thank you very much.

LC: It has been your pleasure.