If your a fan of ECW and want to hear all about the early days of ECW this shoot is a must. Some people say it was the feud with Ian and Axl that made ECW extreme. Some people say it was the most violent feud ever in the United States. I would happen to agree because never before have we seen barbed wire bat matches, glass matches and thumbtacks used until Ian and Axl brought it into the states. Ian talks all about his ECW career from the start. He talks about his learnings from Terry Funk. Teaming up with Axl when they worked the Public Enemy, Bad Company, and The Pitbulls. Ian talks about his problems with Paul Heyman and what happened when they got into a huge verbal fight backstage at one show. What was it like to do those insane hardcore matches. Did any of the other guys yell at them for it?
Ian also talks about working in ECW when Axl left him. We talk all about his training with Axl Rotten as well. Ian talks about working down in TV for Global and Chris Adams promotions in TX. He also talks about going to Memphis as well. There are alot of classic road stories on this DVD.
We talk about why Ian left ECW and how he started up IWA MId South. Ian talks about his promotion in great detail. We discuss many of the major stories that has come out of IWA Midsouth in great detail. You will hear Ian discuss his feelings on CM Punk and alot of the other workers that work for him. We talk about the hardcore style in IWA MidSouth and if Ian ever thought it was to much. Ian also talked about the major feud they did with CZW as well. What does Ian think about John Zandig? Ian talks about working for XPW and alot of other wrestling companies and what his future plans are in Philadelphia. We talk about working for Big Japan and also IWA Japan. There are a ton of great stories in here that I never even knew about. If your a fan of hardcore wrestling this shoot interview is a must for you. Ian is the one guy in wrestling that started the Strong Style that everyone sees these day’s but he never was given any credit. If it was not for Ian Rotten alot of the guys you see today would not even be around as he has helped many of them by giving them a chance to shine and make a name for themselves. You can order this shoot interview in our new release section today!!
Here is a list of topics that we talked about:
Were you a fan growing up
Did you play sports in high school
How did you get started
What was the hardest thing about training
What do you remember most about training under Axl Rotten
Memories of your first matches
Who’s idea was it for the Johnny Lawler character
What kind of reaction did Jerry have to it
Memories of Zach Blades
Thoughts on Skandor Akbar
How did you wind up as Ian Rotten
What were your and Axls gimmick early on
How did you wind up in Global
Who did you ride with Global
Any good road stories from the area
Memories of working with Bradshaw
Memories of working with Bobby Duncam Jr.
Memories of Mick Foley
Memories of Scott Levy
Did you think it would succeed
Memories of working in Memphis with Axl
Would you say Axl was always the captain of the team
Memories of the Eliminators from Memphis
Did Jerry Lawler hold the old gimmick against you
How did you hear about ECW
Who contacted you
What were you told about the company before you came in
Thoughts on Chad Austin
Memories of your matches with Bad Company
Memories of matches early on with Public Enemy
Did you think of ECW as just another indy
Thoughts on Tod Gordon
Axl said he was pretty upset when you guys had to job for Tony Stetson and Johnny Hotbody, any memories
Is it true that one of the times you went over Public Enemy was by accident. (Story is Paul E ribbed Rocco Rock about doin the job and he did the job by mistake)
What was Paul E’s reaction when you guys came back to the locker room
What did you think of Paul early on
Were you offended that Paul E considered the win a joke
Memories of early matches with the Pitbulls
Axl said the Pitbulls were their own worst enemies, do you think that is true
How did you wind up as Funks Good Men
Memories of putting together the 3 way dance with Shane, Funk, and Sabu since you and Axl interfered
When did you realize ECW was taking off
Memories of working for WING and Victor Quionnes
Fav matches from WING
Who’s idea was it to break you and Axl up, were you for it?
Who’s idea was it to take the feud to the level of gimmick matches you guys did
How dangerous were the matches
Axl said that you guys got heat from some of the other boys for being too hard to follow, he cited Raven as 1 guy, thoughts?
How supportive was Paul E to you guys since you guys were tearing yourselves up
Does it bother you that guys like Raven, Sandman & Dreamer were being pushed as the hardcore guys and you and Axl were taking a backseat, promotional wise
Memories of the Barbed Wire Bat match
Memories of the Tai Pei Death match
Where did the idea of that match come from
Did you get any heat from some of your friends that had been vets in the business, like saying your killing the business, etc
Do you think you and Axl should have been headlining the ECW shows
What were the plans for you and Axl from Paul Heyman, post feud
Was ECW as much of a family as it is portrayed to be
What happened after Cyberslam and your confrontation with Paul E
Did Axl support you
Do you feel betrayed that not enough people supported you
What were your plans after you left ECW
What brought you to Kentucky
How did IWA MS start
Did you get any heat from Victor for using the name IWA
How did you scout talent
Talk about your relationship over the years with Axl
What are your favorite matches and innovations from IWA MS
Why do you think it never took off nationally
You were quoted saying CM Punk was a great talent, terrible attitude, thoughts
Why do you think Punk got more immediately out of the Hero matches then Hero
What was it about those two that made their rivalry for you so good
Memories booking Eddie Guerrero
Memories booking Rey Jr
Has anyone ever refused to do a job for you and if so who, and the circumstances
Has anyone ever screwed you over and shot a finish on one of your guys on one of your shows
Thoughts on Necro Butcher
Thoughts on Cpl Robinson
Thoughts on JC Bailey
Was it hard putting together your first King of Death matches tournament
How do you react when people say you are exploiting the guys by putting them in these matches
How did you wind up in Big Japan
Thoughts on Ryuji Ito
Thoughts on Mad Man Pondo
Thoughts on the ICP
Thoughts on Hido
How did the whole angle with CZW come about
What did you expect to come out of the angle
Did you have a problem in your locker room with Nick Gage and Chris Hero (He did)
Memories of your matches with Zandig
Do you think the angle was successful
Thoughts on Balls Mahoney
Thoughts on BJ Whitmer
Does it bother you that ROH gets a lot of credit for the talent that you actually first started and exposed
Why did CM Punk back out of doing commentary at the King of Death matches a year or so ago
Thoughts on working with TErry Funk in IWA MS
Thoughts on Dusty Rhodes
Thoughts on Chris Candido
Thoughts on Tracy Smothers
All of the talent you have used, it is hard to fathom that you arent a very successful company, why do you think that would be
Jess Mcgrath on pwinsder.com referred to iWA MS as the best shows on the indys nobody knows about, thoughts?
Thoughts on Nate Webb
Have you ever had to stop a match out of fear of injury
Thoughts on AJ Styles
Thoughts on Steve Corino
Memories of working with XPW
How did you feel when they called IWA MS a developmental territory for XPW
Who do you think is the best indy wrestler out there that nobody knows about
Who do you think is the most overrated indy wrestler
Who did you see through the years that you thought had a ton of potential that for some reason never made it
Thoughts on Sabu
Thoughts on Abdullah The Butcher
Can territories be successful today
Thoughts on running the ECW Arena in June
Do you feel slighted not to be a part of either ECW show
How did you patch things up with Zandig
Are there any matches you were close to booking in IWA MS that never happened that you wish would have
What kind of toll have the death matches taken on your body
Thoughts on backyard wrestling
Thoughts on the current lack of kayfabe
Who do you enjoy watching today
Fav matches
Fav and least fav guys to work with and why
What is the craziest thing you think someone has done on an IWA MS show