While many wrestling fans don’t know the name Mike Shaw, they certainly will remember some of the memorable characters Shaw has portrayed in his “illustrious” career. Norman the Lunatic. Solomon Grundy. Friar Ferguson. Trucker Norm. Bastian Booger. Makham Singh. These personalities and many more were played by Shaw during his time all across the wrestling landscape including Mexico, Stampede, WCW and the WWF. Now, Mike Shaw and all of his characters sit down with RF VIDEO for a very exciting and informative shoot interview covering his entire career!
Mike Shaw has wrestled all over the world, from South Africa to the frozen tundra of Canada and we grilled him on each territory. Shaw shares with us his memories of wrestling legends such as Gene Siniski and Stu Hart before going in-depth on his contemporaries like Owen Hart and Brian Pillman. Shaw’s WCW area is covered in-depth, answering each and every question you could possibly have concerning a man who not only came to the ring with a teddy bear in his Norman persona, but also had a series of hard hitting matches with Cactus Jack. Shaw also compares the savage Singh gimmick he played in Stampede compared to the mentally retarded Normal character in WCW. Shaw talks about he politics in the WCW locker room while also giving the dirt on many of wrestling’s top personalities of that era, including Ric Flair, Terry Funk, tag team partner “The Juicer” Art Barr, and Paul Heyman. No shoot interview would be complete without Shaw discussing his legendary Bastian Booger character, including his thoughts on why Booger got over as a face. Shaw also gives us his perspective on the current scene of wrestling!
Were you a fan growing up
Can you talk about your amateur background
How did you break in, who trained you
What was his training like
Did your amateur background help
What was the hardest thing to pick up in training
Memories of your first match
You wrestled in your 4th match in the Boston Gardens, how did that happen
Memories of the locker room, anyone give you any advice, etc
How did you wind up from Kowalski to Vancouver
Memories of Gene Siniski
Memories of Klondike Mike
Memories teaming with dean ho
Memories of South Africa
Memories of Stu Hart
Memories of the Harts
What was the travel like
How did the idea come up to change your gimmick to Makhan Singh
Did you have a lot of fun with the gimmick
Memories of announcing with Ed Walen
Did you ever rib him
Memories and thoughts of your series with Brian Pillman
Memories and thoughts on your series with Owen Hart
Who called you from WCW
How many times did you hear from them before you went to WCW
What was it that got you to go the final time
Who came up with Norman the Lunatic
Initial impressions of WCW
What did you think of the gimmick
Thoughts and memories of your series with Kevin Sullivan
Memories and thoughts on your series with Catcus Jack
What did you think of the teddy bears
you went from having real athletic matches with Owen and Pillman to WCW, were you ever frustrated
What were the politics like in the locker room
Memories of Teddy Long
Memories of Eddie Gilbert
Memories of Dick Murdoch
Memories of matches with Ric Flair
Memories of Terry Funk
Memories of Paul Heyman
How did things change for you when Ole took the book over
Thoughts on the Trucker Norm character
Did you know that WWE are currently featuring one of your matches with Catcus on their 24/7 channel
Why do you think you and he didn’t click
Why did you wind up leaving
Is it true that Sting and Luger both went to bat for you
You opened up a school, did anyone of note graduate
You wound up in Global, how did that happen
Did you think Global would work or was it just a pay day for you
Memories of Scott Levy in Global
Do you think that the guys were being worked about how much money was truly invested in Global
Did you regret leaving WCW at all
Your weight kept going up, when was it a problem for you
Memories of working in Mexico as Solomon Grundy
Memories of your hair match
How crazy were the crowds
How were your contacted by the WWF
Were you surprised you had to try out
What happened the night of your try out
Initial thoughts on Vince
How did the Friar Ferguson gimmick come about
What was the locker room like
Who did you ride with
Why was the gimmick dropped
Did you find the Bastian Booger gimmick humiliating
Memories of your series with Bam Bam
How do you explain that Bastian got over as a face
Is it true that you were supposed to have a mask
Memories of wrestling on WWF pay per views
Did the other guys rib you about the gimmick
Do you think if you had gotten into the WWF earlier in your career that things would have been different
Why were you let go by the WWF
Were you surprised
Did you leave on good terms
What have you been doing since then
Was it hard to adjust to life after wrestling
Have you addressed your weight situation over the years
What do you think of MMA
How do you think you would have done with a wrestling background
How do you think Brock Lesnar will do
Is there anyone you didn’t get a chance to work with that you wished you would have
What is your favorite moment in your career
Would you ever write a book
Best ribs you ever saw
Road stories from anytime
Would you like to go back to the WWE
Were you ever contacted to go back even just for a skit
Final thoughts on Owen Hart and where were you when you heard the news he had passed