Post by Pennyroyal_Tea (admin) on Oct 9, 2005 14:52:02 GMT -5
The following are excerpts yada yada..read the rest at www.pwinsider.com/ViewArticle.asp?id=13373&p=1
-- JJ is proud of what he saw in the wrestling business as he started with stars like "Argentina" Rocca and saw the early TV stars from wrestling all the way through when WCW was sold to Vince McMahon and how it progressed and changed over the years. JJ describes the dying days of WCW and what Vince bought as, "All that was left was the video rights."
-- When JJ got into the WWF, he was in charge of talent relations which involved personal appearances and such. He also was one of the people that met with some of the wrestlers and Vince to see if he wanted to give that young wrestler an opportunity. It was in this position that he got off to a bad start with Mick Foley because Mick was told he blocked him getting a job there. JJ says, "Vince takes full credit for things that are good but wants nothing to do with things that are unpleasant or not good." JJ says he explained that to JJ somewhat recently and he and Mick are now good friends and Mick is aware of the above fact.
-- "I was the head of talent relations with the WWF. I followed Pat Patterson and after me was Jim Ross. Jim was an announcer too. I don't know how he did that for all those years like he did."
-- "My job was to be the fall-guy and to take the heat for anything and everything including pay offs," says JJ.
-- JJ mentions an experience he had with Vince where he felt Randy Savage was more valuable on a card and deserved a bigger pay off. Vince didn't agree. Well, Savage called and said he was disappointed as he felt he meant more on the card than that and, of course, Vince agreed and said he didn't know what JJ was thinking.
-- "Vince McMahon is very difficult to work for. I was married 3 times and divorced for 3 times. The last marriage before I retired, I had twins when I was 50 years old. I have another baby that just turned 11. I was worried about my future and supporting them. After the steroid trials, he didn't cut all salaries for all his employees which I could've lived with. He picked a handful of people who had a quote unquote wrestling background like myself, Lord Alfred Hayes, Pat Patterson, Gerald Brisco... Because I was high management, it meant a 40% cut for me. Like everyone else, I had bought a home and obligated myself to a mortgage and between a Friday and a Monday, my salary was cut 40% which lead to me declaring bankruptcy," says JJ. JJ says he's always been a survivor and would live in a phone booth if need be but the minute you take food from his children, he can't forgive you for that.
-- "I told Vince the day that I resigned that I had lost all personal respect for him and professional respect. The day I sold my house, which took me a year and a half, I told him I couldn't work for him anymore and walked out the door."
-- JJ feels he never stopped growing in this business and he feels he learned a lot from Vince. JJ says the difference between the WWE and WCW was WCW only had a handful of people doing the job whereas the WWE had 10 different people doing a job similar like his.
-- About Starcade 1997 and what made the Hogan and Sting match fail was because Hogan played politics better than perhaps anybody in the history of the business. JJ says Vince knew that nobody could be more important than his brand or his company and that included Hulk Hogan. In WCW, it wasn't that way. In the end, "He inmates were running the asylum."
-- As for Eric Bischoff and his big contracts, JJ says the problem with WCW was always, "It wasn't his money. That's the difference."
-- JJ is proud of what he saw in the wrestling business as he started with stars like "Argentina" Rocca and saw the early TV stars from wrestling all the way through when WCW was sold to Vince McMahon and how it progressed and changed over the years. JJ describes the dying days of WCW and what Vince bought as, "All that was left was the video rights."
-- When JJ got into the WWF, he was in charge of talent relations which involved personal appearances and such. He also was one of the people that met with some of the wrestlers and Vince to see if he wanted to give that young wrestler an opportunity. It was in this position that he got off to a bad start with Mick Foley because Mick was told he blocked him getting a job there. JJ says, "Vince takes full credit for things that are good but wants nothing to do with things that are unpleasant or not good." JJ says he explained that to JJ somewhat recently and he and Mick are now good friends and Mick is aware of the above fact.
-- "I was the head of talent relations with the WWF. I followed Pat Patterson and after me was Jim Ross. Jim was an announcer too. I don't know how he did that for all those years like he did."
-- "My job was to be the fall-guy and to take the heat for anything and everything including pay offs," says JJ.
-- JJ mentions an experience he had with Vince where he felt Randy Savage was more valuable on a card and deserved a bigger pay off. Vince didn't agree. Well, Savage called and said he was disappointed as he felt he meant more on the card than that and, of course, Vince agreed and said he didn't know what JJ was thinking.
-- "Vince McMahon is very difficult to work for. I was married 3 times and divorced for 3 times. The last marriage before I retired, I had twins when I was 50 years old. I have another baby that just turned 11. I was worried about my future and supporting them. After the steroid trials, he didn't cut all salaries for all his employees which I could've lived with. He picked a handful of people who had a quote unquote wrestling background like myself, Lord Alfred Hayes, Pat Patterson, Gerald Brisco... Because I was high management, it meant a 40% cut for me. Like everyone else, I had bought a home and obligated myself to a mortgage and between a Friday and a Monday, my salary was cut 40% which lead to me declaring bankruptcy," says JJ. JJ says he's always been a survivor and would live in a phone booth if need be but the minute you take food from his children, he can't forgive you for that.
-- "I told Vince the day that I resigned that I had lost all personal respect for him and professional respect. The day I sold my house, which took me a year and a half, I told him I couldn't work for him anymore and walked out the door."
-- JJ feels he never stopped growing in this business and he feels he learned a lot from Vince. JJ says the difference between the WWE and WCW was WCW only had a handful of people doing the job whereas the WWE had 10 different people doing a job similar like his.
-- About Starcade 1997 and what made the Hogan and Sting match fail was because Hogan played politics better than perhaps anybody in the history of the business. JJ says Vince knew that nobody could be more important than his brand or his company and that included Hulk Hogan. In WCW, it wasn't that way. In the end, "He inmates were running the asylum."
-- As for Eric Bischoff and his big contracts, JJ says the problem with WCW was always, "It wasn't his money. That's the difference."