Post by The Ultimate Nullifier on Apr 3, 2014 16:15:18 GMT -6
Interview with Rick Bognar/Big Titan/Razor Ramon v2
garymehaffy@hotmail.co.uk
@gmehaffy
I interviewed Rick this past Wednesday, April 2nd, for close to an hour where we talked about a variety of things wrestling, and non-wrestling, related. Among the highlights were:
How the injuries in wrestling affected him and how he turned his life around:
“After wrestling I was hooked on painkillers and I wasn’t in a happy place……..When I got out (of wrestling) I found out that that aggression didn’t help me at all in real life, in normal life. It’s a big adjustment…… I cracked my C5 and C6 vertebrae as well, so that was part of the reason for more use of the painkillers…….I went to bed every night wishing I wouldn’t wake up, and that’s close enough for me. ……I started to read up on different philosophies, and study a little bit of everything......even though I still believe in a God I liked the principles of Buddhism…….I began to accept (that I wouldn’t wrestle again)……I managed to find a way of letting things go and relaxing and finding some peace and calm within myself. It just totally changed my life.”
What he is up to now:
“I didn’t know how to do anything else at all (apart from wrestle)…….I got better (at sales)…and I ended up managing three different health clubs. I sat there for a while, doing well……I always had a dream about being a realtor……At 36 I went and studied for my real estate course……That led to doing some coaching on letting go and some coaching on anger…..(I’m also) coaching people who are new to business on the sales process and the structure of that……..I’m also doing mission statements and vision statements for people who are entrepreneurs….I also do keynote speeches for oil and gas companies – the speech that I do is on what it took to be a champion in wrestling. ”
How he ended up wrestling for FMW in Japan and why he liked it:
“Ricky Fuji who was wrestling in Stampede….was one of the contacts out there……It was like a brotherhood, it was pretty cool. I can honestly say probably that was the only time that I can really think of in my wrestling career that there was great camaraderie and total honesty and true friendship.”
How Sabu got him into ECW:
“Sabu called me out of the blue and he goes “Hey Titan. Wanna come to ECW?” as soon as I picked up the phone! I didn’t even know what to say. It took me a while to even register that I was getting a phone call from Sabu, I hadn’t spoken to him for so long. I said “Yea, I’d love to, sure.” He talks to me about it. Part of it was Paul E. wanted to have Big Titan get beaten by Sabu……..I knew that. But that was cool.”
Becoming Razor Ramon and what he thought about it:
“Vince McMahon called me on my answering service, and I thought that was the greatest thing in the world. “Rick, this is Vince McMahon. Can you please call me at my home number at your earliest convenience?” ……..He ends up saying to me “Rick, the people want Razor Ramon back and I heard you do a great Razor Ramon.” I’m like “Ah, excrement.” I knew what was going to happen, there and then, and it did happen. Only an idiot could not figure that one out, but for me it was maybe this would be my only chance to be in the WWF and live my dream.”
Among the other topics covered in the interview are how he managed to get trained in a roundabout way, taking naturally to wrestling, being a club bouncer, his friendship with Mike Awesome and whether he thinks he could have helped him, wrestlers hurting each other, ribbing Shane Douglas, personal training mid-40’s women and why he always thought everything through – even to the color of his wrestling boots! He reveals why he dislikes the Dudley Boys, wrestling Sabu, how Paul Heyman betrayed Shane Douglas, how Stu Hart could always tell his weight by looking at him, watching Stampede Wrestling, wrestlers beating up promoters, Ricky Fuji singing karaoke, Horace Boulder/Hogan, the downsides of wrestling, imitating Scott Hall in ECW before WWF, Bret Hart possibly getting him hired, why WWE released a lot of Canadian wrestlers in 1998, why he isn’t sure if the Montreal Screwjob was really a shoot, Atsushi Onita, Kane, Hack Myers, why a stable family life is good for wrestlers, the ups and downs of winning championships and his true thoughts on Vince McMahon. He also shares his impressions of Stu Hart, Sabu, Paul Heyman, Hulk Hogan, Scott Hall and Vince McMahon and much, much more. It’s a great listen. The link to the interview is:
garymehaffy@hotmail.co.uk
@gmehaffy
I interviewed Rick this past Wednesday, April 2nd, for close to an hour where we talked about a variety of things wrestling, and non-wrestling, related. Among the highlights were:
How the injuries in wrestling affected him and how he turned his life around:
“After wrestling I was hooked on painkillers and I wasn’t in a happy place……..When I got out (of wrestling) I found out that that aggression didn’t help me at all in real life, in normal life. It’s a big adjustment…… I cracked my C5 and C6 vertebrae as well, so that was part of the reason for more use of the painkillers…….I went to bed every night wishing I wouldn’t wake up, and that’s close enough for me. ……I started to read up on different philosophies, and study a little bit of everything......even though I still believe in a God I liked the principles of Buddhism…….I began to accept (that I wouldn’t wrestle again)……I managed to find a way of letting things go and relaxing and finding some peace and calm within myself. It just totally changed my life.”
What he is up to now:
“I didn’t know how to do anything else at all (apart from wrestle)…….I got better (at sales)…and I ended up managing three different health clubs. I sat there for a while, doing well……I always had a dream about being a realtor……At 36 I went and studied for my real estate course……That led to doing some coaching on letting go and some coaching on anger…..(I’m also) coaching people who are new to business on the sales process and the structure of that……..I’m also doing mission statements and vision statements for people who are entrepreneurs….I also do keynote speeches for oil and gas companies – the speech that I do is on what it took to be a champion in wrestling. ”
How he ended up wrestling for FMW in Japan and why he liked it:
“Ricky Fuji who was wrestling in Stampede….was one of the contacts out there……It was like a brotherhood, it was pretty cool. I can honestly say probably that was the only time that I can really think of in my wrestling career that there was great camaraderie and total honesty and true friendship.”
How Sabu got him into ECW:
“Sabu called me out of the blue and he goes “Hey Titan. Wanna come to ECW?” as soon as I picked up the phone! I didn’t even know what to say. It took me a while to even register that I was getting a phone call from Sabu, I hadn’t spoken to him for so long. I said “Yea, I’d love to, sure.” He talks to me about it. Part of it was Paul E. wanted to have Big Titan get beaten by Sabu……..I knew that. But that was cool.”
Becoming Razor Ramon and what he thought about it:
“Vince McMahon called me on my answering service, and I thought that was the greatest thing in the world. “Rick, this is Vince McMahon. Can you please call me at my home number at your earliest convenience?” ……..He ends up saying to me “Rick, the people want Razor Ramon back and I heard you do a great Razor Ramon.” I’m like “Ah, excrement.” I knew what was going to happen, there and then, and it did happen. Only an idiot could not figure that one out, but for me it was maybe this would be my only chance to be in the WWF and live my dream.”
Among the other topics covered in the interview are how he managed to get trained in a roundabout way, taking naturally to wrestling, being a club bouncer, his friendship with Mike Awesome and whether he thinks he could have helped him, wrestlers hurting each other, ribbing Shane Douglas, personal training mid-40’s women and why he always thought everything through – even to the color of his wrestling boots! He reveals why he dislikes the Dudley Boys, wrestling Sabu, how Paul Heyman betrayed Shane Douglas, how Stu Hart could always tell his weight by looking at him, watching Stampede Wrestling, wrestlers beating up promoters, Ricky Fuji singing karaoke, Horace Boulder/Hogan, the downsides of wrestling, imitating Scott Hall in ECW before WWF, Bret Hart possibly getting him hired, why WWE released a lot of Canadian wrestlers in 1998, why he isn’t sure if the Montreal Screwjob was really a shoot, Atsushi Onita, Kane, Hack Myers, why a stable family life is good for wrestlers, the ups and downs of winning championships and his true thoughts on Vince McMahon. He also shares his impressions of Stu Hart, Sabu, Paul Heyman, Hulk Hogan, Scott Hall and Vince McMahon and much, much more. It’s a great listen. The link to the interview is: