Latest / What Do You Call It? Podcast! / BARRY HOROWITZ talks WWF, WCW, Bret/Owen Hart, Goldberg, Cornette, AEW, McMahons, Skip & more

Transcript

BARRY HOROWITZ talks WWF, WCW, Bret/Owen Hart, Goldberg, Cornette, AEW, McMahons, Skip & more · What Do You Call It? Podcast!

0:06
Hello and welcome to a very special episode of What Do You
0:10
Call It Podcast. I'm your host GB.
0:16
Today's guest is known for being the ultimate underdog.
0:19
Week after week he stepped into the ring, gave everything he had
0:23
and more often than not walked way without the win.
0:26
But here's the thing, fans have never forgotten him, including
0:30
myself. Please welcome Barry Horowitz.
0:33
Barry, how you doing today mate? You all good?
0:36
George, I am doing great. Thank you for having me on your
0:39
show. It's a pleasure and I love your
0:43
accent and I love the UK. The fans are incredible.
0:47
Thank you mate. Thank you.
0:48
I really appreciate that. You know, you said the name of
0:52
your show is. What do we call it?
0:55
I call it wrestling. That's what I do.
1:00
He was a real vessel, that's the thing.
1:02
So what was your earliest days of breaking into the wrestling
1:05
business like? Oh wow.
1:07
Well, it was basically for me, it was trying hard, paying your
1:14
dues and keeping your mouth shut.
1:16
Do what you're told and that's it.
1:19
Stay on the straight and narrow. No time for you know, this is
1:23
serious. It's it's just like, in my eyes,
1:26
just like any other sport, football, basketball, UFC,
1:30
whatever. You know, if you want something
1:32
to be good, you got to be good. Yeah, yeah, I definitely, I
1:37
definitely understand that, especially it was a lot more
1:40
strict as well with it's kayfabe, you know, like this day
1:44
documentaries and shoot interviews and all that.
1:47
Fans are kind of. Kayfabe was very strong, lot of
1:51
astringent rules that I don't know if some of the guys, I'm
1:55
not going to say all of them, but the guys today, the way
1:58
they're broken in and whatnot, I don't know if they could adhere
2:01
to that. You know, you got to be, you
2:03
know, I'm not I, I don't know certain people, but you know,
2:07
there's a certain things about kayfabe and, and conducting
2:10
business and doing it right and then acting like a professional
2:13
athlete instead of some guy that wrestles at a flea market.
2:18
Yeah, I understand that. I I, I myself because I've grown
2:21
up, you know, in the Golden Boom era, you know, that that golden
2:25
period where I didn't know the wrestlers backstories, like who
2:28
they really were their real names, you know, I just saw the
2:31
gimmicks and who they were larger in life.
2:33
And that for me, you know, allowed me to sort of just enjoy
2:36
it as a fan. And I didn't want to know sort
2:38
of, you know, what the storyline was going to be in six months
2:40
time or, you know, whatever. I just wanted to enjoy the
2:42
wrestling. Yeah, I mean, when I was getting
2:45
trained, you got to understand I was brought up.
2:47
I mean, first and foremost is Professor Boris Molenko and his
2:52
son Jody and Carl Gotch and Carl von Stroenheim.
2:56
I mean, these are serious people that have did well in the
2:58
wrestling business. Of course, Professor Boris
3:01
Molenko, top dog and the way he taught everything.
3:06
There was no Haha and Gaga in in our in our ring are travelling.
3:11
It was all serious and you do it his way or you're going to be
3:16
out or you're going to get stretched.
3:18
And you don't want to get stretched by the Blinkos,
3:21
believe me. That's fair, mate, that's fair.
3:24
That's that's why I'm a fan and that's why you're the pro
3:27
wrestling legend. Thank you.
3:30
What? Was it like working in WWE
3:33
during the 80s and 90s boom? I liked it.
3:37
I liked it a lot. I mean, financially it was
3:39
unbelievable as far as TV and and whatnot.
3:44
And got, I got to finally a great push and got involved in
3:49
in pay per views and a lot of TV commercials.
3:56
Did a toy commercial with a Gucci for karate fighters.
3:59
I mean, it was a heck of a year. That year I was voted for a
4:04
Slammy award for Shocker of the Year.
4:07
I mean, played celebrity, excuse me, football, softball in
4:14
Anaheim, CA. It, it was a heck of a run.
4:17
I wish it could have continued, but I'm grateful for that.
4:20
So it was good, very professional.
4:23
And I'm sure it's even more so even now.
4:27
I'm, I'm sure the rules are stricter now because I think
4:31
some people got away with a lot of stuff back in the day.
4:34
Just, you know, shenan shenanigans that you don't need.
4:37
I don't mind joking around. I've been in locker rooms since,
4:41
I don't know, since I'm 1516 years old in high school, junior
4:46
high school, college wrestling. And there's a time to play and
4:51
there's time to get serious. And I like to be in serious mode
4:55
when I'm, when I'm talking about wrestling and performing.
4:59
It's it works for me. How about that?
5:01
It may not work for the other guy.
5:03
I don't care about the other guy.
5:04
I care about Mr. Technical, Barry Horowitz.
5:07
I'm. Going to ask you because you
5:10
worked a lot with him. Kurt Hennig, Mr. Perfects, What
5:14
was he like inside the ring and outside of the ring?
5:18
Inside the ring, a true master, great technical wrestler.
5:22
Loved working with him. Met him a long time ago, had a
5:29
few matches with him hanging out with.
5:30
Never hung out with him outside the ring.
5:33
He traveled with different people, I travel with different
5:35
people, so I really don't know. I just know he would joke
5:40
around. But it was right time, right
5:42
place. When it was time to get serious,
5:45
Curt Henning, I could see in his eyes, amongst other people,
5:48
respected me as as a wrestler, as a worker.
5:53
Brett Hart, he has vouched for you and endorsed you to go to
5:57
the Hall of Fame one day. What was it like working with
6:01
Brett Hart and your response to his comments about you saying
6:05
that well should be an all time? I've been hearing those comments
6:09
on podcast. I see it when I see him at the
6:12
meet and greets traveling all over the world.
6:16
He he reminds me of it. And I like the Bret Hart that's
6:20
retired. He's loosened up.
6:21
He says what he wants to say back then, you know, he's the
6:25
champion. It's a different story.
6:27
You're you're under the thumb of the big boss and whatnot.
6:31
I like the Bret Hart that I see now and there's a couple other
6:34
guys too. It's all about respect and, and,
6:38
and very respect. Love to work with him, but I've
6:41
worked with his whole family and of course Owen.
6:44
I've had 150% classical 20 star matches with him and I've worked
6:52
with him probably more than anybody.
6:54
I worked with him the first night they brought him in and
6:57
nobody know who he was until I left there in I left WWF in 97
7:04
to go to WCW. But my type of worker, see,
7:08
that's, that's I could work with anybody, but that's my type of
7:12
worker. The hearts.
7:15
There's a monk, there's a there's a a ton of guys that I
7:18
could rattle off as far as technicians and wrestlers, that
7:22
they're all my favorite. I mean, yeah, I'd like to work
7:25
with those guys every night, but I don't come complacent.
7:28
So I could I could go out there with Owen Hart for 20 minutes
7:32
and the next night maybe I have to do a favor and put over big
7:36
man or Undertaker or somebody in 2 minutes.
7:40
It's all part of the territory. It's all part of the job.
7:43
But it shows how skilled you are to be able to work with.
7:46
Exactly right. Yeah, because a lot of guys
7:49
can't do that. Their ego, they don't know how
7:51
to do it. They can't accept it.
7:54
They can only go one way. I wanted people to see when I
7:57
wrestled. I may have lost, but they go,
7:59
you know what Barry Harwitz lost in that 12 minute match against
8:04
Brady Boone or or or or Owen Hart or one of his brothers
8:08
Keith or whatever. But he put up a good fight.
8:11
This man can wrestle. He's trained.
8:15
I mean, I'm not just doing these stupid ass chops and making
8:20
noise and yelling at the people. OK?
8:23
I get real heat with real psychology and real wrestling.
8:27
Am I bragging or anything? No, I'm calling it like it is.
8:31
This is this is how I operate and I like it and it works for
8:34
me. Anybody who knocks my style, I
8:36
don't really give a damn, OK, They haven't gone through the
8:39
training I have or treat life or or pro wrestling like I do.
8:45
So they could do what they want. It's good to have different
8:49
types of workers, hardcore workers, girl workers, tag team,
8:53
rest, you know, I, I prefer my own.
8:56
I'm not knocking anybody else, but if they're going to knock me
8:59
and stuff and they don't know a wrist lock from a wristwatch,
9:02
well, I'm going to knock them. One person I'm glad to mention,
9:08
he's not everyone's cup of tea. I like him as a manager and as a
9:11
podcaster. Jim Cornett.
9:14
Does praise from someone like Jim Cornett feel different
9:17
compared to other people in the industry?
9:20
Jim Cornett has praised you a lot on his podcast.
9:23
I didn't know that. I did not know that.
9:26
I don't get to watch. I'm like, I want to another man.
9:31
I know. I know him from the days of of
9:34
Dennis Condrey, the Midnight Express, Bobby Eaton.
9:37
I knew him from that locker room lightly.
9:39
I knew him from WWF lightly because he was a manager.
9:42
He was in the office. He was involved in things.
9:45
It's hard to talk to everybody on a serious level.
9:47
Never travel with him, but I was told this, you're like the third
9:50
person who's told me that. And maybe people change as they
9:53
get older. They either stay the same, they
9:56
change for the better, or they change for the worst.
9:59
And that's really bad. But I, I didn't know that I
10:04
liked him as a manager. And I heard he's I, I, I think
10:08
I've seen some of his podcast and it's pretty cool.
10:12
So that's nice that he praised me.
10:16
You know, it's amazing. 20 years ago, I didn't get praised like I
10:20
do now. It's almost like they, you know,
10:23
people change. They're not afraid to say
10:25
nothing. They're not going to get fired.
10:27
Or they, they, they change for the better.
10:30
I don't know. And then like I said, some
10:32
remain the same. The remain the same or knocking
10:36
me. They're just jealous.
10:38
I haven't come across anyone knocking you to be fair, you
10:41
know, from the business. That's good.
10:42
That's good. Yeah.
10:44
Even if I I do, I was taught. Like I said, I was taught by the
10:48
best with everything as far as technical wrestling, getting in
10:52
the ring, handling the shenanigans, the ribs and all
10:55
that. Malenko.
10:57
As far as the rest of the stuff, when I graduated to school after
11:01
18 months on and went on the road with people like Steamboat,
11:05
Youngblood, Rufus R Jones, Jimmy Valiant, Johnny Weaver, the
11:10
whole Charlotte Territory, Mid-Atlantic Championship
11:13
Wrestling, I sat in the back seat and just listen to people
11:15
like Weaver and Roddy Piper talk.
11:18
Mouth was shut. You're not going to learn
11:21
something I hate when somebody goes on, I'm going to show them
11:24
this and show them that and they go, I know, I know.
11:26
No, you don't know. You don't know.
11:29
I know because when I was your age at 21, I didn't know.
11:35
Shut up and listen, and you will become a good worker and you
11:40
don't have to follow anybody. Be a leader, not a follower.
11:43
It'll get you nowhere fast. I don't care if people are
11:47
ribbing me, I'll do this, do that, Do these gimmicks, do that
11:51
gimmick. I don't follow.
11:53
And guess what? I'm here today.
11:55
I'm retired, I'm doing good, and my family's taken care of.
12:01
If something did happen over something stupid, who's going to
12:05
take care of my family? The wrestling business?
12:09
There's only one guarantee in the wrestling business, George.
12:13
There is no guarantee. You had a long career as well.
12:18
And that's the thing, you know, if you did have that bad
12:20
attitude or didn't listen to, you know, your colleagues or
12:23
those that have been there before you, you may have not
12:26
succeeded. In my in my book that is out on
12:29
Amazon and I love the title of this.
12:32
I was proud to be a part of this with my son and the author.
12:39
It's it's Barry Horowitz and I don't know if you've seen it,
12:42
but wrestling is my gimmick. You.
12:47
See what I'm saying with that play on word, you know, and, and
12:52
and the smart marks they, they understand now they do.
12:56
They didn't 20 years ago. Just before I talk about the
13:01
biggest moment for your career, a lot of fans would definitely
13:04
say at the skip moment, what was your first interaction like with
13:08
Vince McMahon? That's a good question because
13:13
when I first started there, I worked for Vince Senior.
13:17
Vince Junior was part of it, but he was the the interviewer.
13:24
I'm going back. I'm going back a long way, OK,
13:27
I'm aging myself here. But anyway, Vince McMahon,
13:32
senior was very quiet. I didn't get to talk to him
13:35
much, but I did. And Junior the same way.
13:39
I mean, I worked for him. I made money with him.
13:43
I wasn't in that. I don't know if you want to call
13:46
it click or group or anything. I wasn't in his Main Event Ave.
13:50
or whatever, but in my eyes, in my eyes, I could have went with
13:55
Barry. You could.
13:55
Do you want to push me for Main event?
13:58
You want to do this? You want to.
13:59
I think I can handle the load. You load up the wagon.
14:02
I think I could pull it if I if I couldn't see not everybody
14:07
could be lead singer of the rock band.
14:11
It's impossible. You got to have that drummer,
14:14
the bass player, keyboards. If I'm part of it, I'm happy
14:19
that I fulfill my dream. Since I was 13, yes.
14:23
Would I have wanted more financially, the push and what
14:27
have you? Yes.
14:30
But I am not the type of guy that's going to go, well, you're
14:33
not going to give me this belt, You're not going to do nothing
14:34
with me, I'll quit. So you quit a billion dollar
14:38
company and go work the Indies and go work Japan?
14:41
What a stupid move. It's not how much you make, it's
14:46
how much you save. Yeah.
14:48
And if you're going by your ego, let me tell you something, guys.
14:53
I know you hope. You all know it's a work, OK?
14:58
And if you're worried about your win loss record, why don't you
15:01
make a phone call to Dana White? He'll put you in there with
15:05
Brock Lesnar for 30 seconds and you'll get your ass cleaned and
15:10
beg Vince for a job. Don't be a moron.
15:15
Don't be a moron. I your win.
15:18
Loss. Yeah.
15:18
Let me tell you something. When I go to the bank, they
15:21
don't say, did you win or lose, Barry?
15:23
They go. How much would you like to
15:24
deposit, Mr. Horowitz? Yeah, yeah.
15:28
Finally people are realizing this.
15:31
Oh my God. It's called Get a Clue.
15:34
I love it. I love that.
15:38
I'm just calling it like it is. I'm not trying to parade or or
15:41
or politic or anything. I'm calling like this and I
15:44
could back it up. I've been in this business since
15:47
I'm 21. I just turned 67 last year last
15:51
month. Excuse me last week.
15:53
Happy belated. Happy belated. 67 I look pretty
15:57
damn good. I do agree.
16:00
I think you look well mate. You'll keep them well and.
16:03
I try, but you're not. Speaking to you, going to move
16:07
on to the victory, your victory over Skip the late Chris
16:12
Candido. It was a huge moment for fans
16:15
that moment. What do you remember most from
16:18
that night? You mean the first night I beat
16:21
him? The first night, yes, the first
16:24
night. Jim Ross did the commentary.
16:25
I was just frigging I. I don't think I showed it
16:31
verbally or tried to mark out for myself.
16:34
I was just in my mind after that match when I found out on the
16:41
way back to the hotel, from that day on, I said finally, finally
16:47
something happened with my career that they took notice.
16:51
So something must have worked. Because if I did the opposite
16:55
like some of these morons do, you're not getting that.
16:58
You're not getting that. And then some of them do, which
17:01
I don't understand why. But no, I was just elated.
17:06
I was just, I said I got to keep on striving.
17:09
Excuse me? I got to keep on striving.
17:11
And that's what I did. I didn't take it for granted.
17:15
And what a dance partner to compete with.
17:18
Chris Candido, unfrigging, believable.
17:22
He's the mirror of me. No problems, no pulling teeth in
17:27
our matches. We'll do anything.
17:28
We learned how to get the match over.
17:31
And what does that mean in wrestling terms?
17:33
You want to involve Chris Candido, You want to involve
17:37
Barry Horowitz? You want Earl Hebner, the
17:39
referee involved. You want the people in the cheap
17:42
seats involved? You want the people at ringside
17:45
involved? You want the time keeper?
17:47
You want the whole thing, the whole match.
17:51
Get it over, Not just yourself. Unless you're told by the big
17:55
boss, get yourself over in 10 seconds.
17:57
You do what you're told or you'll be replaced.
18:01
So that's what that's what I did and that's what I strive for,
18:06
telling a story. Psychology make everything near
18:11
perfection. And it got you over.
18:15
That's the thing. I mean, fans of who you were,
18:18
but then in their eyes, you became a star.
18:22
And then you got featured more on paper views and RAW, you
18:26
know, you've got more TV time, you know, I remember Summer Slam
18:28
and then the underdog Survivor Series and then Royal.
18:33
Royal Rumble, captain of my team of Survivor Series, on and on
18:38
and on. And I love when I, George, when
18:41
I go to these meet and greets and I'll see other wrestlers
18:44
that I haven't seen in years. Well, most of them that are
18:46
similar to me. Hey, Barry, how are you?
18:48
And you got to get back to work. You're at your table.
18:50
You're signing things for the fans.
18:52
I'm not there to meet and greet with wrestlers.
18:55
OK, It's the fans that paid the ticket to see to see me.
18:58
And then you got the other type of wrestlers that oh, they'll
19:03
just maybe ignore ya or I'm better than you or I'm this or
19:07
that and I'm going you're a legend in your own mind.
19:12
You're a mark for yourself. It's you know, it's I'll never
19:17
understand that. But I guess that's I guess
19:19
that's ignorance or just jealousy with any walk of life.
19:23
I don't put it over. I don't put over ribs.
19:25
I don't put over any of that stuff.
19:27
You're not bothering me. You're not bothering me.
19:30
You're not bothering me at all. When you start touching my
19:33
family or me or my finances, you'll see Barry go.
19:37
Win, lose or draw, I'll go. Yeah.
19:41
I mean, do you feel froggy Leap? That's fair mate, that's fair.
19:46
I've never spoke about Hakushi on the podcast.
19:49
I think a lot of fans don't necessarily give him the
19:52
recognition he might deserve because of his time in West.
19:55
He was quite, you know, short lived.
19:56
However, I do remember, you know, you 2 having segments.
20:01
But I wanna know wrestling like Kushi and his style.
20:04
Did it feel different from everyone else during that time
20:07
period in the new generation? No, I really enjoyed it because
20:11
he was he was part of us and he was great to travel with,
20:15
Extremely professional. But I've wrestled for All Japan
20:19
numerous times and that's what they're about.
20:22
It's all about being a great performer, a good wrestler, not
20:26
afraid to lay it in, you know, because believe me, if you're
20:30
doing that cartoon crap in Japan, you're on the next flight
20:34
the next day, OK, You can't just have face paint and clothesline
20:39
and shake the ropes and think you're going to get over in
20:41
Japan. They'll laugh at you and then
20:44
you're on a plane the next day you go to you got to know how to
20:47
wrestle and professional wrestle and be tough.
20:52
I I remember Doctor Death, Steve Williams, rest in peace.
20:56
He told me one time on the on the bus in Japan, him and Terry
20:59
Gordy. He says, Barry, you know,
21:02
everybody would be a wrestler if this was ballet.
21:05
He says, this ain't ballet. This is fucking wrestling.
21:10
I never forget that. This is coming from a Oklahoma
21:14
State champion. Yeah, he was.
21:17
He's a beast. He was a beast.
21:21
Did you ever wrestle Dr. Death, by the way?
21:23
I wrestled him. Let me get this.
21:26
I don't think a single, but I wrestled him and Terry and I
21:30
think it was me and maybe Dell Wilkes, The Patriot or maybe Al
21:37
Perez. We tagged and that's a physical
21:40
match. Let me tell you something.
21:42
Yeah, you make the wrong move, that your head will come off to
21:44
your You better keep that head on a swivel with both of those
21:47
guys. They're not out to kill me.
21:49
They love me. But these are Japanese trained
21:53
wrestlers. And on a scale of 1 to 10, being
21:56
that 10 is the worst as far as drilling you, they're a good 7
22:01
1/2. In the States there are three
22:04
A4. Yeah.
22:06
Yeah. Oh yeah.
22:08
Just one or two more questions, Barry, and then I'll let you
22:10
enjoy the rest of your day. That time recording still early
22:14
afternoon for you. It's quite cool.
22:16
I get to ask this because me being a new Generation fan.
22:20
This. Please explain to me the how did
22:25
you come up with the pack yourself back celebration?
22:27
I love it. I know you.
22:29
I didn't actually realise until I got older.
22:31
You've been doing it before, like the new generation, the I
22:34
just love it. So if you could explain the pat
22:37
your back well. Sure.
22:38
Well, when I was amateur wrestling in high school, there
22:42
was a match that we had in St. Petersburg, FL, that's where I'm
22:46
from and I scored an extra. I forgot what happened, a
22:51
takedown or a double leg. I don't know what I, I did maybe
22:54
a single leg takedown and I looked up and I saw that I, I
22:58
got like one or two extra points and I don't know what maybe I
23:02
jumped up. Now, it wasn't the professional
23:05
thing that I do today. It was just quick and of course
23:08
I heard the horn sign. I got points taken away.
23:11
I got reprimanded by my, my coach.
23:13
I got, you know, joked at and stuff.
23:15
This ain't pro wrestling, blah, blah, blah.
23:17
Well, I knew what I wanted that to life.
23:21
Would I have loved to been an NCAA champion, AAU champion,
23:26
Olympic champion? Yes, but I didn't strive towards
23:29
that. I did strive towards my amateur
23:31
career up until college at FSU and I just said I'm going to put
23:37
this in my back pocket and I'm going to be a hell of a heel and
23:41
this is going to get over. And that's what I did.
23:44
So I would pat myself on the back before a good move or after
23:48
a fancy suplex, pat myself on the back while the guy's down.
23:52
And man, those people were pissed.
23:58
So I said, well, I got to stick with this.
24:01
You don't want to overdo it. You don't want to underdo it.
24:03
I'll never forget Tony Guria telling me that you don't want
24:06
to do it too much because then it's it's overkill.
24:10
It's just like when you, you punch a guy in the ring. 1234,
24:14
fuck, everybody stops at 10. Why?
24:18
Why? You, you, you, you're getting
24:19
the people involved. Well, bravo, but I know you're
24:23
entertaining them, but it's your match.
24:25
How about don't do that? How about stopping at six?
24:29
How about stopping at 12? See the psychology of different?
24:33
That's how I think with certain things, I may be dissecting or
24:36
picking apart and other people would knock what I'm saying.
24:40
I don't care because I'm going to do it.
24:43
And I can't remember three times in my whole life that I ever did
24:47
that. You've definitely got good
24:49
things, psychology. I try.
24:52
It's very important. Say anybody could drill somebody
24:57
or give them a groin shot or whatever or outside or whatever
25:01
and yell at the people. But when you get it with
25:03
wrestling or psychology or being devilistic, if you if you will,
25:09
or cheating and you don't get caught, the referee doesn't
25:13
catch that gets heat. It gets heat, it gets
25:17
professional wrestling heat and they like it and they get even
25:21
madder because they go well, he did that, but all of a sudden
25:24
the guy turns around. He did a standing dropkick,
25:27
followed with an arm drag, followed with a submission hold.
25:31
Well, he can wrestle, so it gets even double he.
25:36
No, I definitely, it's so interesting to hear this tape
25:39
because I think a lot of fans think they're smarter than what
25:40
they are. But I think listen to yourself,
25:43
you know, as a wrestling legend, someone who actually probably
25:46
has tried different things in your career, I think it's a very
25:49
good take and. Oh yeah, and, and I had the
25:53
platform to do that because let's say when I go on the road
25:57
with with the WWF, maybe I'm wrestling every night, maybe for
26:04
a week or two, then you go home for a few days.
26:06
So there's times where I'm wrestling 5 different people at
26:10
night, or I'm wrestling Owen Hart five nights in a row, but
26:15
one shots in Detroit, one's in Montreal, one's in Madison
26:19
Square Garden. Barry and Owen would always
26:22
change it up #1 just in case. Number 2, don't become
26:27
complacent. Yeah.
26:30
I'm a versatile technical wrestler.
26:32
That's how I see myself. So what are the biggest
26:35
differences to working in WCW and WWE?
26:40
Well, I'm going to say WWE was more professional, a bigger
26:44
product financially. I mean, you know, at when I
26:51
first started with WCWI was working for them kind of full
26:56
time. And then I was getting the same
26:58
money if I worked once or twice a month, which was Nitros and
27:02
Thunders. And Saturday night I did
27:05
participate in Halloween Havoc and I just, I participate in
27:11
other things. But there's no complaints.
27:13
You're paying me. I'll do what you want.
27:15
You know what I could do. You know, you got a lot of
27:18
people. Aaron, who knows who the Booker
27:20
was at that time. Maybe I do know.
27:23
Maybe he wasn't directing traffic, right?
27:26
I don't know. That's not my department.
27:28
My department is to get there on time, look the part and be a
27:33
good wrestler and have a great, great match.
27:39
That's what's important to me. I remember you and Goldberg had
27:42
a fun match on WSW Thunder. It was like a minute or two, but
27:45
it was quite memorable for me. Crowd just like mental because
27:49
you sell so well. Well, I'll tell you something,
27:52
and we're talking like this now. That match wasn't supposed to
27:55
be. There was another wrestler that
27:58
was supposed to be there. For some reason, he disappeared.
28:03
I don't know where he went. I don't know if he left.
28:05
He was in the bathroom. They couldn't find him.
28:08
But Mr. Dependable, not Mr. Technical.
28:11
Mr. Dependable is there for Bill Goldberg.
28:15
So that's why I was in that match.
28:17
I really don't care. Again, I'm doing my job.
28:20
I'm getting exposure. And for that guy to do that, I
28:24
mean, I think I know who it is for that guy to do that.
28:27
Very unprofessional. I don't know what your problem
28:30
is. Are you afraid you're going to
28:31
get hurt? Are you afraid to get beat on
28:33
TV? What is your deal?
28:35
What is your problem? Because if I was in charge and I
28:38
found him and CNET, yeah, you need to take your bag and go
28:42
home. Yeah.
28:44
And you got the spotlight. Barry, thank you so much for
28:47
your time. Oh.
28:48
Thank you. If you don't mind.
28:50
I just wanted to just couple of shout outs if you don't mind.
28:53
Of. Course that I just about my book
28:56
on Amazon and also if you go to KWK my new action figures are
29:01
there. There's four of them.
29:02
They're really incredible and pro wrestling Tees has four of
29:07
my shirts and I'm very active on cameo Facebook.
29:12
Just shout outs to all these people and they've been really
29:16
good to me and that's it. And the only thing else is is is
29:22
I'll see everybody on the meet and greets.
29:23
That's all I'm doing now is I do meet and greets and I do this is
29:27
my favorite. I do seminars on wrestling.
29:31
So let's say an indie group from Buffalo NY calls me up.
29:36
I fly in and I'm in that ring 3 to 4 hours.
29:41
I try to touch on everything I learned in the wrestling
29:45
business in four hours. It's impossible.
29:48
So I go over things. Hey, maybe you do my slam.
29:53
Maybe you do somebody else's slam.
29:55
You're going to learn from different people like I did down
29:57
the road when I travel with people.
29:59
So you just you just you could just listen to me and then
30:03
there's certain things I will show these guys and I go has
30:06
anybody ever shown you this or take a bump like this or do this
30:10
for a warm up. No, we weren't told.
30:14
I really I'm truly blessed that the great Malenko came into my
30:19
life and taught me because I mean I would have eventually got
30:24
there. But I'm sorry, I don't know what
30:26
everybody else does. These trainers, some of these
30:30
guys aren't qualified to train. They haven't been in a retired
30:33
pro wrestler like the Great Milenko Superstar all over the
30:36
world like him. And between him and his sons and
30:40
Carl Gotsch and Carl von Stroenheim, I'm truly blessed.
30:46
I mean that because they taught me well.
30:48
Now, you could teach somebody well, but if they're not
30:51
absorbing it or not thinking or following the wrong, I followed
30:56
them because they led me into greatness.
30:59
I mean that and I, I always think about it that I am so
31:03
happy that Malenkos trained me. I am so happy they were meant
31:08
for me. Because if I got another person
31:10
to train me and he's half ass or he's a goofball or he's not all
31:14
there, I, I don't want that. I need good instruction to
31:19
follow. And it worked because like I
31:22
said, you can't play in his class.
31:24
It ain't going to work. I don't know how many people
31:26
actually graduated from the Malenko School of professional
31:30
wrestling that really did well. I mean, you know, I mean, I did
31:34
good. I'm sure guys did better.
31:37
There's other names, but there was a lot that went through
31:39
there that didn't make it or quit or got hurt.
31:44
So but yes, I, I always think of them and I'll, I'll never, I'll
31:49
never forget them at all ever. I mean, so and I just that's all
31:55
my shout outs. I just wanted to tell all you
31:57
guys and the fans are they're really they're really good to
32:00
me. And what's what's really cool,
32:02
George, I'll be at the meet and greet table.
32:05
I'm signing and somebody will come up to me and say, hey,
32:08
Barrier, you look like you could still wrestle.
32:10
You look like you in the 90s. And I go, thank you, I
32:13
appreciate it. I tried.
32:14
And then you'll get the ones that'll go.
32:16
You know, I came, I went to Madison Square Garden or Nassau
32:21
Coliseum in Long Island or whatever in New York and it was
32:25
eight matches and the main event.
32:28
It was good, but I'd rather have watched.
32:30
You won the third match and I said, why is that?
32:33
He says, well, you wrestled more, see what I'm getting at?
32:38
Then you got your other, you got your other.
32:40
Educated fans, they want to see hardcore.
32:43
They want to see you flip off the ladders and tables and
32:46
chairs and what not. Nothing wrong with that.
32:47
I don't do that, but don't knock my way.
32:50
I won't knock your way 'cause really when it comes right down
32:53
to a professional wrestling, it stems from wrestling.
32:56
And then it got glorified a little bit.
32:58
You know what I mean? Definitely different gimmicks,
33:01
doink the clown and and different things with the
33:04
ladders and stuff like that. But the actual era of an ECW,
33:08
you know, there's just so much. Exactly, I mean nothing against
33:12
it, nothing. I'm just, that's not my cup of
33:14
tea or Forte I I like my style. And I like star team mate, the
33:20
fans like I've mentioned at the beginning, still remember you.
33:24
They'll watch you on YouTube or Netflix like WB all paper views
33:28
and they will look at your content and they'll be like he
33:31
was awesome Barry. I appreciate that, George, very
33:36
much, and I'm glad they do. And there's plenty on YouTube
33:40
with me that's kind of cool too. I mean, I'm talking from the
33:43
beginning to like right now, I, I, I forgot even just what was
33:50
it, George? Three years ago, I wrestled
33:53
Johnny Swinger on Impact. Yes.
33:58
My God, you did? Yeah.
34:00
I did, I did. I changed my outfit to look
34:02
different, you know, to something different, and I also
34:06
did AI did a heel promo for AW Oh.
34:11
For MJF, wasn't it? It was for it was to knock
34:15
Warlow. Yes, a couple years coming now
34:18
if you didn't. Yes, I remember right, right JF
34:21
in the beginning. JF yes, yes.
34:23
So that was nice to be part of that.
34:25
So, yeah, I, I think the only thing left in my career that's
34:31
it is I, I want to do an audio book and I would love to be a
34:35
coach in one of these billion dollar companies in the
34:39
backroom, if you know what I mean, Just helping out with
34:42
matches. I don't need to be, I don't need
34:45
to be the top guy. I don't need that.
34:47
I just want to help out with a finish or how to apply a hold or
34:51
some kind of idea that nobody's thought of that they're going to
34:55
see this on TV and go where did that come from?
34:58
Well, Barry thought of that. Or somebody thought of.
35:01
This guy I just want. To just want to be part of it.
35:36
The. The.