13 Questions With The Honky Tonk Man
1. Four Decades And Counting
You’re still wrestling at the age of 63, four decades after you entered the business. It stands to reason you enjoy it.
“I always say that if you don’t love it any more, stop doing it because it’s detrimental to you mentally and physically because, if you’re not happy, you won’t take care of yourself. If you’re not happy being there, it’s detrimental to the kids in the locker room who look up to you and were fans of yours. If you can’t go there with a good, positive attitude and have fun and enjoy doing it, then stay home.
“I enjoy doing the One-Man Show stuff that I do: it’s really different. I enjoy doing training seminars. One of my students in Switzerland [in the 2000s] was Cesaro. I did another seminar about two months later in the Netherlands and, I’ll be darned, the first guy that showed up for class was him. He was better than most of the guys in WWE at that point in time, and he ended up showing that he is very good. I’m proud of him, and I’m proud of the fact that he came and listened to what I had to say and took part in that.
“I enjoy teaching and training. But I will say this: I don’t enjoy going into the ring with some of the young kids who only know how to be a stunt man. I’m not a stunt man: I’m a pro wrestler, and I do pro wrestling-style stuff like a 60-year-old man does. I’ll do six-mans and tag matches, and have fun with it.
“The secret to any business is longevity. The longer you can stay around, the more things that can happen for you. Lucha Underground obviously knew that I was still out there and doing stuff, and they called me and I got a cameo appearance on the season opener of season three. It was a big positive.”
Catch The Honky Tonk Man’s One-Man Show on these dates:
November 10: The Counting House, Edinburgh
November 12: PCW Academy, Preston, Lancashire
November 13: One Call Stadium, Mansfield
November 14: The Bedford, Balham, London
November 16: Symphony Rooms, Leicester
November 20: Tivoli, Dublin
For more information, visit: www.honkytonkman.net