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| A-TRAIN DISCUSSES BEING RELEASED, WWE'S DECISION TO DROP TEST WHILE INJURED, UNDERTAKER, BEING TRADED BETWEEN BRANDS, EDGE, HARDY & MORE by Jimmy Van @ 8:00:00 PM on 5/23/2005 I recently spoke with former WWE superstar Matt "A-Train" Bloom. Matt spoke candidly and honestly for an entire hour about a variety of WWE topics including a near-gimmick patterned after a WWE legend, working with Jerry Lawler in Memphis, Darren Drozdov's accident, getting heat off his body hair, his WWE release and much more. Part two of the interview (which is 28 minutes in length) is now online at JimmyVan.com in Windows Media and Real Audio formats. You can also listen to a five-minute preview clip of the interview in Real Audio format at this link. Here is a text transcript from this portion of the interview. What'd you think about WWE's brand split? "I thought it was good because it would give a lot of guys more TV time," he said. "But I really didn't think it'd be successful in the sense that, they wanted to create competition. And I mean come on, with the Internet these days, and I hate using the word "mark"... but I'm a mark, I mean we're all marks. But there's way too many "smart marks" out there, they know it's not a split, we're still the same group, we just have different TV days. I would have done some things differently, I would have liked to have seen a little more inter-squad matches and all, but I was happy in the sense that, I would get more TV time now because there's not as many people on the roster on Monday night or Thursday night. When they did split I was actually getting a lot of good TV time. That went away," Matt said laughing. 2003 on the SmackDown! side, they were pushing the hell out of you... "Yes they did... I went crazy on Rey Rey, and then Edge, took out a lot of people..." And you worked a program with Taker... "I worked a program with Taker which was a great time." Was there an intimidation factor with Taker? "He was like one of the guys. Just one of the guys. If you ever get to meet him in a locker room scene, he's just one of the guys. Hangs out, shoots the shit, parties with us, he'll drink a beer with ya. He's just a good man." What would you consider to be some of your biggest matches - you had the handicap match with Taker at WrestleMania XIX... "That was great. I got the IC belt vs. Kane at Madison Square Garden. That was like... I was really, really happy just to be able to work at Madison Square Garden... even my first WrestleMania with Test against Blackman and Snow, that was pretty cool. That Seattle one against Taker was definitely a highlight... to work Rock in Pittsburgh, my Alma Mater, that was pretty cool. That was my first time getting color, I was working him with Bossman, that was pretty cool." Did you ever find in your hometown you were supposed to be the heel but when they announced where you're from, you became the babyface? Matt said they were in Boston eight or nine times but he only worked their twice. "Why, I don't know," he said. He worked The Mean Street Posse once and was the big babyface. He worked Crash, "may he rest in peace," the other time. "I still got a pretty good pop," Matt said. The March 2004 draft lottery - you were moved to Raw. What were your thoughts? "For myself, I thought it was a good move because I really wasn't doing anything towards the end of my days there with SmackDown!, I was just kinda watered down. I thought, cool I won't be working Funaki every Sunday anymore," Matt said jokingly. "I figured I get to work new people, try new things, so I thought maybe I'd find chemistry with someone else over there." What was it like going from a taped show to a live show? "That was stressful at first but you just learn just to go with it, go with the flow. But it was fun, I really liked going to the live show." When did you find out you'd be going to Raw? "The day of... actually, the day of right before we left that night. Because I wasn't drafted on TV, I was switched during the night I guess. So when I was leaving, Johnny called me aside and said, 'We're sending you over there too,' and I said, all right, cool." When you went to Raw, the company didn't do much with you. Why do you think that was? "I really don't know JV, I wish I could answer, I've often thought about it. I sound like a whiny bitch to tell you an excuse, but I don't know, I don't know why they didn't use me. I don't know if they just didn't see anything for me. I don't know if maybe my past maybe ruined some credibility of me, what it may have been I don't know. But I wasn't used right, I mean I will say that, I'll be honest, I don't think I was used right a lot of times. I did what they asked me to do, and that's all I could do." Last summer you suffered a torn rotator cuff injury. "Yeah I did, I was working Tajiri. Come off the second rope for a splash, I just landed a little bit odd, torn rotator cuff and four pins later," he said. "I did a good job on it. I tore my rotator cuff from my super splash right off my clavical, they actually did the surgery out here in Phoenix and the doctor was honest with me and said, 'I don't think you're gonna be able to get back into wrestling,' and I said, 'Oh don't you worry I'll be back into wrestling,' and I just rehabbed the hell out of it. And they (WWE) released me which I really didn't see coming because I was kinda sending in some ideas. They called me up one day and, 'We've got nothing for you, we're gonna let you go.' I was like, wow, I didn't see that coming, that was like a black eye. But that's how the cookie crumbles." That's the next thing I was going to ask you about - they claim it was budget cuts? "That's what they claimed, yeah," Matt said. It was Johnny Ace that told you? "Yeah Johnny Ace... Johnny Hatchet," he said. Were you injured still? "I was about three weeks away from being cleared, four weeks away from being cleared," he said. "I really busted my ass and I was looking forward to it, and I was doing a lot of cardio trying to come back looking different than I did when I left, in a better way. Really didn't see it coming... called me at 8 o'clock in the morning, I rolled over and answered the phone, it was him, as soon as I heard his voice I was like, ah you gotta be shitting me. He was like, 'Yeah we are,' and I was like, 'What's your reason? Or what's the reason you're gonna tell me actually?' That was the reason he told me... I took a contract cut many months before that so my budget wasn't very high." How did that come about? "I had a year left, they said, 'We're gonna offer you another deal for more years but a little less money, would you be interested in doing that?' and I said you know what... my downside's a little less but I could always have the opportunity to make more... yeah I'll give it a shot. They were offering me an extension, so I was happy about that. I loved what I did." That sounds like the Bret Hart deal... "Well yeah, but Bret had a few more zeros," Matt said. Test was released around the same time you were. In his case he'd just had neck surgery. What did you think when you found out that they let him go? "I was shocked," Matt said. "I don't remember the last person that got released when they're out on injury such as a neck injury like that... That's just crazy to me. I don't understand why they worked out like that but they did. Andrew will always land on his feet, he's a successful guy, he'll do well as much as I hate him," he joked. Johnny Ace became the VP of Talent Relations... "I was there when he got the position there..." I heard some of the boys don't like the way he does things compared to how Jim Ross did things... "Yeah that's the rumor, that's what I'm hearing," Matt joked. What'd you think about the dress code? Matt laughs. "When I first heard about it, I thought it was amusing like, how are they gonna make these grown men... tell them what to wear. But as I thought about it, here we are we're a public company. We need to represent WWE now... we're walking through the airports, you have some guys wearing T-shirts that say "Something from your mother," or whatever... and I was one of those guys sometimes. So I think the premise of it... it's a good idea. Your first impression is pretty much a lasting impression so when they see these guys wearing nice clothes, nice slacks and nice dress shirt, that's a good impression. So I understand that. Walking around backstage once you're in your "office", I dunno I think you should be able to throw on your sweats and be comfortable, you're there pretty long... high part of the day. But I don't make the rules." What did you think about WWE's decision to release Matt Hardy? "I was shocked, I really was... I don't think that Edge should be released either. You can quote me on this, I think that Edge is a piece of sh** for doing what he did... you can call him and tell him I said it, because you don't do that to friends. Especially good friends like that, you just don't do that. But I don't know why Matt got released. I'd like to think it's not because of that. They say, through my friends, that they just didn't have anything for him. Is that the truth, I don't know. I don't think that Edge should be released for that either because that's personal business, it shouldn't interfere... he'll get his, I'm a big believer in karma. Seeing Matt get released, it sucked because Matt's a good worker, Matt was definitely putting asses in seats. It's sad." Apparently WWE was upset because he went public on the Internet with it... "Yeah but Matt Hardy's a big Internet guy, that's one thing that we always knew about Matt. He took a lot of pride in his website and talking to the fans through the Internet. I also agree with the company that you shouldn't air your dirty laundry. That should have been kept internal. It could have been kept internal, but it got out. Matt definitely ignited the flame there." I've heard that some guys are ticked at Edge about it... "I don't see how they can't be," Matt said. "I was a friend of Edge, I would have let him stay at my house, I would have given him a hot plate of food, I'll tell you what though, if he ever came by my house knocking now, I wouldn't let him in. How can you trust someone like that?" You think he's still deserving of a big push? "I don't think that should interfere with his business. Can't take it away from him, he's a decent worker, he's a pretty good worker, he knows what to do, he knows how to get the crowd going, as a babyface, as a heel, he was a successful tag team with Christian. Do you punish him for that? I don't know how you punish him for that," Matt said. |