Foley is Pod - Cactus Jack's Last Stand in WCW [Show Notes] (Patreon)

Mick we’re going to pick up where we left off last year - where we had our first watch along in the history of Foley…is…Pod.

Spring Stampede 1994 where you team with Maxx Payne to take on the Nasty Boys in Chicago.

Your body went through a lot of punishment - and please go check it out in the archives at FoleyonYoutube.com…

But you thought at this point in time you were going to take the time off and get your ear fixed is that right?

The big story around Spring Stampede is that Hulk Hogan is supposedly on his way into WCW. What were your thoughts on the company bringing him in?

There’s a lot of talk that WCW & ECW were cooperating around this time. We covered it in our Sabu episode which you can check out in the archives - but were you aware of the talks between the two companies with WCW running the upcoming Slamboree pay-per-view in Philadelphia?

Did you see Dave Sullivan hurt his knee?

From your book:

I was awakened two days later by the sound of the telephone. It was Kevin Sullivan.

“Brotha, I need a fayva.”

“Kevin, hey, what can I do?”

“Brotha, Evad blew out his knee, I don’t have a pahtnah-brotha, you might think I’m crazy, but I think if the two of us teamed in Philadelphia, we’d blow the roof off the fuckin’ place.”

I tried to tell Kevin about my ear operation, but he could be a very hard person to say no to.

His wrestling “brother” Evad was so named because his character supposedly had dyslexia and couldn’t say “Dave.”

If anybody but Kevin called - what’s the answer?

Was it a money thing? Pride? Or did you just want to help Kevin?

You wrote in your book that Kevin was worried that his spot was going to be in jeopardy without Dave…did you really believe that?

What was Collete’s reaction?

You wrote in your book that it was Ric Flair who called you and said that they were interested in going all the way with you & Kevin…did you really go to TV because of that conversation and you believed him?

The goal at the end of the day was to raise your value either on the independents or with another deal from WCW right?

What would it have taken for WCW to resign you?

Did you already know you were interested in going to ECW?

You were due off TV so you had a Texas Tornado match that was taped in February at Disney that aired on WCW Worldwide. Now a Texas Tornado match is essentially a death match but you can’t say that at Disney can you?

Now this is a year after your original power bomb on the floor that we just watched a few weeks ago - and you do the same finish again.

How crazy are you to have him do this to you again?

How different was this power bomb to the year before?

You wrote this:

“Vader covered me for the easy pin. But the match wasn’t over yet. The referee began his count as I lay prone. One, two, three-no movement. Four, five-I started to move. Six, seven-I was on my knees. Eight, nine-Cactus Jack was on his feet. Then, with the ref’s back turned, Harley hit me from behind, and I went down. Ten-I lost the match. The loss, as is usually the case in our sport, didn’t really matter, because in this case the real victory was a moral one. I had taken the powerbomb and had gotten up. Nothing could be simpler.”

Is there any other business where you can be thrown onto concrete and think you’re the winner?

So in your book you talked about how a good match can make you feel amazing - and you sat down with Eric Bischoff to discuss the story of the match. What was your relationship like with Eric at this point?

This is one of the more prominent quotes in your original book:

Even though Jim Ross was working for the competition, I could hear his voice in my head. “The referee is counting, folks, but it’s just a formality-this one is over. What we really need is some medical attention down here. But wait, what’s this, Cactus Jack is starting to move. My God, he’s on his knees! Ladies and gentleman, in twenty-five years, this is the damnedest thing I’ve ever seen. Cactus Jack is up, Cactus Jack is up!” It didn’t matter who was calling the match, however-this was too good to miss. Only a complete idiot could screw this thing up….

Did you harbor this against Eric for a long time?

-Then when the match aired:

Mick’s book:

“They hadn’t made reference to the injury of exactly one year ago yet, but now the story would surely unfold. Vader picked me up for the powerbomb and sent me crashing down to the concrete. Splat. To tell you the truth, this one actually looked more devastating than the one in ‘93. I listened for the brilliant call-sometimes the right words can

really cement an image in the fans’ minds. Here it comes.

Bobby Heenan was the first to comment on this historic, career-turning moment. “That’ll give you Excedrin headache number nine,” said the brain, with about as much raw, naked emotion as Al Gore on sedatives. “Indeed it will,” added Schiavone. Then nothing. Or nothing that I had suggested, visualized, hoped for, or at least, in a worst-case

scenario, would have settled for. No “My God, he’s on his knees!” No “This is the damnedest thing I’ve ever seen!” No “One year ago to this very day ... ” No talk about last year’s injury. No moral victory. Just “Excedrin headache number nine.” I had said it would take a total idiot to screw it up, and, by golly, they hadn’t let me down.

This was the final nail. I thought about it for two days, and made my decision to quit WCW.”

Why did you hold Bischoff accountable here instead of Heenan & Schiavone?

Did you ever discuss this with either of them? Did they pin the blame on anybody?

So you’re brought back by WCW, to work and then you see this air…now it’s just I have to finish out my deal right?

You wrote this:

“Leaving a six-figure job is not an easy decision to make, especially with the uncertainty of the independent wrestling scene. Bischoff was surprised when I told him the news, but he did not seem all that upset about it. Colette was a different story. “What do you mean, you’re leaving-you’ve got a four-month-old daughter, Mickey,” Colette yelled, trying to reason with me.

“We’ll be all right,” I assured her. “I can work lots of places.”

“But you can’t make this kind of money anywhere else,” she continued.

“Listen, hon, if I stick around, I will be worthless within a year,” I fired back. “At least this way, I can buy some time, and maybe come back when things are different.”

Was this the first time Colette was worried about your career change?

You also wrote about Arn Anderson questioning your move, and how WCW was running less and less shows and it took you recounting the line from Heenan to Arn to make your point. Was anyone else surprised?

At the time the roster was in a bit of upheaval, you had Steve Austin & Brian Pillman on the roster about to be depushed in favor of the people Hulk Hogan is about to bring in. But a guy choosing to leave had to be a surprise right?

You’re scheduled to team with Kevin Sullivan to take on the Nasty Boys for the WCW World Tag Team Titles in Philadelphia, and win. But you’re giving notice for four months…how did you expect this to play out?

You wrote it would’ve been better for you to work Philly, team with Sullivan, and then go home and get your surgery done, collect the check and stay home. Why couldn’t you do it?

Instead of them taking you off TV like most people who have give notice…they pushed you. Stayed on TV. Were you surprised about that?

You would point out though that a bunch of people that came in - as you put it, “wrestlers who had never worked a main event match in their lives began cashing bigger checks than I ever had.” You were talking about Brutus the fucking Barber Beefcake weren’t you?

No one came to you and tried to get you to stay right?

You wrote about this story in your book regarding a match with the Nasty Boys:

“Kevin and I were raising havoc every night with the Nasty Boys. At a show in Melbourne, Florida, in late April, Kevin and I were taking the fight to the Nasties outside the ring. I was working over Saggs, while Kevin tried to get a fan’s beer to throw at Knobbs. The fan resisted, but Kevin physically insisted, and he let a three-quarter-full beer fly. When Knobbs turned around, however, it was obvious that beer was not the liquid that had been inhabiting the cup. Knobbs’s pasty white face and a major portion of his bleached blond Mohawk were now brown. Tobacco juice was everywhere. Knobbs reached with his hands and tried to clear it from his eyes. He opened his mouth, and more came spilling out. He snorted and some came from his nostrils as well. “Sorry, brotha,” Kevin said, laughing, with a warmth that would have made Bill Watts proud. It may have been the most disgusting thing I’ve ever seen in wrestling.”

Is it still the most disgusting thing you’ve ever seen in wrestling?

How difficult or tough is it to work with the Nasty Boys?

Were you happier working with Kevin Sullivan instead of against him?

At TV you overheard Paul Orndorff & Paul Roma cutting a promo about how they won the tag team titles from you - when you had hadn’t even won them yet! First off - what did you think of the Disney tapings and taping weeks in advance? Do you think it exposed the business too much or did that not matter?

When you heard the promo - what ran through your mind?

You wrote that you had a meeting with Flair & even though Ric & Kevin were long time friends, that you did all the talking. You had already given notice though right?

Why were you hot about this if you knew you were leaving?

Ric calls you out for wanting time off for psychological counseling and compares you to Barry Windham who was nursing a year-long knee injury.

You wrote this:

“This was a perfect example of office gossip leading to factual errors, and the very rare occasion that the old cliche “When you assume it makes an ass out of you and me” was actually correct.

“Ric,” I said, “I think you’ve got a few things mixed up. I did want six months off, but that was for ear surgery. I canceled that because you asked me to come back. I am seeing a psychologist for post-amputation depression, but even if WCW does pay for it, we’re talking about four hundred dollars, not four hundred thousand like Barry. And to insinuate that I’d milk any injury is an insult.”

Flair took this all in. “So you want to wrestle?” he asked.

“Yes I do, Ric-until my contract is up, you can book me on every show you run.”

Do you think you earned some respect from the Nature Boy standing up to him about this?

What did you & Kevin discuss after this?

Was he still worried about his spot?

The match at Slamboree is a Philadelphia Street Fight with Philadelphia Flyers hockey legend Dave Schultz named the special guest referee. Any thoughts with your impending plans to return to a hotbed of your career in Philadelphia of how important this match was to your future plans - not WCW?

Is that a weird feeling - to be planning your exit of the company while you’re about to win the tag team titles?

Slamboree is a legends show back then - Terry Funk is there wrestling Tully Blanchard, but the WCW Hall of Fame with the Assassin, Ole Anderson, Harley Race, Ernie Ladd, the Crusher & Dick the Bruiser inducted and there’s more there. Did any offer up of any advice to you?

Were you happy to see Terry on the card?

Meltzer would write this about the match: Jack replacing Evad looked to make the difference between a horrible match & a memorable match. I mean the other guys in the match had to be happy about to you have in it right?

You wrote that you thought it was better than your match in Chicago. What’s the difference having Kevin Sullivan in there compared to Maxx Payne?

Your dad was in the crowd for this match - was it because it was in the Northeast?

Does that add anything to it for you?

From the Observer

6. Cactus Jack & Kevin Sullivan won the WCW tag titles from the Nasty Boys in 9:36.

Another incredible brawl, on the same level as their match in Chicago which makes this a must-see match. They used chairs, crutches, garbage cans and lids and a fire extinguisher early. Sags wound up bringing out a table and hiptossed Jack off the ramp onto the table, breaking it. Sags then kept pounding on Jack with the broken off wood from the table while Sullivan and Knobs traded chair hits. Jack suplexed the table onto Sags. Cactus then took some shots with the table and a trash can lid. Jack juiced hardway.

Was the plan to bust you open hardway or did it just happen? Did you get any heat about it?

Earlier Jack went for an elbow off the middle rope to the floor but nobody was there and crashed into a garbage can, which was pretty well destroyed. Sags hit the elbow off the top rope on Jack, but refused to pin him. Sags then began arguing with special ref David Shultz, famed hockey goon of the early 70s Philadelphia Flyers. Sags went for Schultz' hockey stick at ringside but Schultz got it away from him. Sags pushed Schultz, who pulled Sags shirt over his head like in a hockey fight and threw several fast punches at him before Jack hit Sags with the hockey stick and got a fast count pin. After the match Maxx Payne came out and destroyed Sags with a guitar over the head and Evad Sullivan cracked his crutches on Knobs' head. Amazingly, no serious injuries resulted from this match. ****1/2

How did everyone survive this?

Taped 5/24/94:

WCW Saturday Night 6/11/94: WCW Tag Team Champions Cactus Jack & Kevin Sullivan defeated Paul Orndorff & Paul Roma when Orndorff was pinned after Roma accidentally hit a splash on his partner

You’d actually wrestle Orndorff & Roma on an upcoming Saturday night before your match at Bash at the Beach. You’ve talked about your love of Paul Orndorff in our archives but Paul Roma - what say you? A horsemen?

Well WCW wouldn’t be WCW without being WCW…

From the Observer:

Sunday (6/19) was one of the more embarrassing days in the recent history of pro wrestling. World Championship Wrestling opened the day of blunders by airing the "Control Center" segment scheduled to run on 6/26 one week early. While that would be a minor problem under normal circumstances, this being a week with a major show (Clash of Champions), the segment revealed that Ric Flair had beaten Sting "this past Thursday" to become unified world champion and that because of what took place at the Clash, Hulk Hogan wanted a shot at the title at the 7/17 Bash at the Beach PPV.

The segment also revealed, among other things, that both Steve Austin and Cactus Jack & Kevin Sullivan retained their respective titles at the Clash and would be defending them against Rick Steamboat and Paul Orndorff & Paul Roma at the Bash at the Beach.

Needless to say, WCW officials, who are attempting to put all the past miscues behind them and proclaim a new era with the signing of Hulk Hogan, saw the new era get underway with yet another of the seemingly endless gaffes that have plagued the company in recent years.

When something like this happens - does the talent just shake their head and go LOLWCW?

At the Clash you would wrestle the Nasty Boys and just as WCW had predicted on TV earlier - you defeated the Nasty Boys.

From the Observer

1. Cactus Jack & Kevin Sullivan retained the WCW tag titles beating Nasty Boys in 10:35.

The match had two referees, which wasn't previously announced. It was all brawling, but much sloppier than the previous match and obviously way toned down since this was on broadcast TV rather than PPV and there is a great deal of concern within the WCW and WWF about airing things that people would categorize as violent on television because of current governmental sentiment and outside network pressure. The actual brawling was way off, particularly involving Sullivan. Jack took a few great bumps, the most significant being a diving elbow off the apron when the Nasty Boys moved which enabled him to crack his head on the rail.

This is quite the bump Jack - but the thought process going into it of being TV over pay-per-view - is this something you 4 collectively knew you had to tone down or were you told by the office?

Sags then posted his shoulder and back suplexed him on the floor. Back in the ring, Cactus and Knobs did a double knockout from simultaneous clotheslines. Kevin tagged in. Knobs then attacked Dave Sullivan - wearing a t-shirt that read “Hulk Selur” (Rules) - at ringside.

Sags attacked Dave as well. Dave hit Sags with his crutch while in the ring Jack used the double-arm DDT on Knobs for the pin. *3/4

Amazing how Kevin was worried about his spot - and here he makes sure Evad has a Hulk Rules shirt on..how about that?

You happy to escape this match without any injuries?

The next day you wrestle Sabu in ECW - which you can check out in the archives. Was anyone from WCW coming up to you knowing you were about to work ECW and ask about possible spots available for them?

Do you think a WCW-ECW relationship could’ve been successful back then?

WCW Pro has a match where you & Kevin defend the tag team titles against Harlem Heat. Is this one of the few matches you’d wrestle with Booker T?

“WCW Tag Team Champions Cactus Jack & Kevin Sullivan (w/ Dave Sullivan) defeated Harlem Heat at 5:12 when Sullivan, the illegal man, pinned Stevie Ray with a double axe handle off the top as Stevie had Cactus covered; prior to the match, Dave wore a shirt that read “Hulk rules” to the ring but Kevin tore it before the opening bell; after the bout, Kevin shoved Dave around before Cactus intervened, with Cactus and Kevin yelling before agreeing they had to stick together.”

You had to know at this point with Pretty Wonderful about to win the tag team titles from you guys that you & Kevin would be breaking up right?

On Saturday Night the Nasty Boys get another rematch but Pretty Wonderful come out…assault Dave Sullivan’s injured knee - but then also hit Saggs in the back with a crutch to keep their title shot going and you guys get the win. This is the first match back for WCW TV after the Sabu match - did anyone talk to you about it or was it a non factor for most?

In the leadup to the upcoming Bash at the Beach pay-per-view, a taped Main Event airs and it includes you & Kevin defending the tag team titles against Tex Slazenger & Shanghai Pierce in 8 minutes. What can you tell our listeners about the future Godwinns at this point in their career?

But before you would actually wrestle that day at Bash at the Beach…you would visit a doctor.

From your book:

A nurse showed me my MRI results, which revealed two bulging discs and one herniated disc.

He started by saying, “Well, Michael, it looks like you’ve got two bulging discs.”

I kept waiting for him to continue, but he didn’t. Finally, I continued his diagnosis for him. “What about the herniated disc?” I asked, which startled him.

“Oh, how did you know about that?”

My reply was simple. “I read the report.” He was clearly caught offguard, and began backpedaling with his brain. “Well, it is but it isn’t,” came his somewhat less than scientific reply.

This has to be - somewhat terrifying does it not?

I took my MRIs and sought a second opinion. Dr. Armstrong was the guy wrestlers went to when they didn’t trust the other one. Armstrong took one look at my MRIs and strongly advised me not to wrestle until I saw a back specialist. He said the MRI detected a portion of the disc that had fragmented and was floating freely in my spinal column. If this fragment lodged in the wrong area, it could be serious trouble. Unfortunately, I had to leave for Florida the next day and didn’t have time to see a specialist.

Dr. Armstrong wished me luck and sent me off with a note that read, “Do not wrestle. To do so would risk serious and permanent injury including, but not limited to: loss of control of bowel and bladder function, loss of sensation in extremities, and paralysis. Do not wrestle until seen by a specialist.”

Did you actually think you’d go to Orlando and not wrestle?

This is a gigantic show - supposed to be the biggest of all-time for WCW. Hulk Hogan was making his WCW debut against Ric Flair. Mr. T was going to be there, along with Muhammad Ali & Shaquille O’Neal. This was going to be some major exposure - any of that enter your mind?

From your book

I called WCW and told them the news, but told them that I would come to Florida anyway.

When I got to the Residence Inn, Kevin called me into his room. “What’s going on here?” he asked.

“They don’t believe me, do they?” I said sadly, knowing that my question was merely rhetorical.

“Of course they don’t,” Kevin shot back. “Ric thinks you did this because he yelled at you about spitting on the belt.”

I was getting hot. “Where is he?”

This is now the second time you’ve been questioned by Ric about your health. This really didn’t help your relationship with him did it?

I went to a boardroom, where Flair was sitting with several other members of the booking committee. “Cactus,” Flair began, the tone of his voice sounding like trouble to me. “Kevin tells me you won’t be able to wrestle tomorrow, is that true?”

“Yes, Ric, it is,” I answered.

“Are you sure?” he shot back, as if I were on trial.

“Yes, I am, Ric,” I answered again.

Now he’d hit a nerve. I pulled out Dr. Armstrong’s note,

and with more than a little anger in my voice addressed the Nature Boy. “I’ve got a legitimate medical note from a respected orthopedic surgeon that tells me I would be risking loss of bowel and bladder control and paralysis if I wrestle. I’m actually scared, Ric, and none of you seem to give a damn, and for once in my life I’m going to put myself and my family before this business. I am not going to wrestle.”

You knew WCW was going to make you wrestle did you not? Did you think about using this for leverage in the future?

They would go on to question you and you would talk about the second opinion you got from the non-WCW doctor but they pressure you to head to the hospital to get another opinion and with the last minute nature of things - that didn’t happen. Do you regret wrestling that night after conceding?

At the Bash you wrote in your book about a conversation you had with Harley Race and the fact you sent him a Christmas card. What do you remember of that conversation?

From the Observer

5. Pretty Wonderful (Paul Roma & Paul Orndorff) won the WCW tag titles from Cactus Jack & Kevin Sullivan in 20:11.

Although Paul Orndorff is great at working the crowd, these guys are flat when it comes to being tag champs. The match wasn't good, and unless you knew what was going on coming in (with the violence ban meaning those matches Cactus Jack had on the previous PPVs are now never going to happen until things change), you'd have come out of it terribly disappointed.

This violence ban Meltzer references - did you know there was an edict handed down to tone down the violence with Hogan coming on board?

He would also report that Brian Pillman was flown in to substitute for you if you couldn’t make the match. Do you remember hearing that?

The Observer would continue…

Match was dull. The crowd was doing the wave and paying no attention to the match. It went on forever. Finish saw Jack do the double-arm DDT on Orndorff, but Roma tripped him from outside and with Jack's legs way out of the ring and the ref right there seeing Roma hold them, still counted as Orndorff did the pin. 1/2*

Somehow you’re even rougher on yourself than Meltzer was on the recap.

“I did wrestle that night, and I was scared as hell. It was the worst Pay-Per-View match that I have ever been in, and the fans knew it. Now, I’ve been in some stinkers before, but I always had this feeling inside me that no matter how bad things sucked, I could always somehow pull it out of the gutter. I got that same feeling in Orlando that night as we cluster fucked to a symphony of silence, but I waited on the ring apron until the feeling went away. After twenty-two minutes of a match that was about nineteen minutes too long, we dropped the tag team titles to Orndorff and Roma- just as they had so mysteriously predicted over ten weeks earlier.”

How disappointing is it to you the match itself or was it really about the predicament the company put you in for?

Did you ever actually get cleared?

Right away you’re back working at Center Stage - losing again to Orndorff & Roma before going on the road to Jacksonville where you & Kevin would defeat Bunkhouse Buck & Col. Robert Parker - who was a sub for Terry Funk. Was it a disappointment to not get to work Terry before you left WCW?

When does Gary Juster reach out to you about wrapping up your deal if you put Sullivan over at Fall Brawl?

Did Kevin know your feelings?

From your book

I still had one more controversy to handle, however. The phone rang, and I was dumb enough to answer it. I should have just sat at home and let the machine pick it up, or better yet, thrown both the phone and the machine into Lake Allatoona, but I didn’t think quick enough. It was Janie Engle, and she said that Flair had a big angle to turn me heel on Kevin and he needed me at TV.

“I thought you guys were done with me,” I said to Janie.

“I know,” she replied, “but baseball went on strike, and Turner’s giving us more hours to fill, and Ric really needs you.”

“Damn,” I thought as I hung up the phone, “I don’t want to be a heel.” It was early August and since I had given my notice three months earlier, my phone had been ringing steadily with independent offers. I had already taken several opening dates with ECW and some other groups as well, and was booked on a two-week tour of Austria. My weight was down to 280, and with my back pain reduced (it’ll never be completely gone) I was really in a groove. For merchandising purposes, a must on the independent scene, it was vital that I be considered a “good guy.” But what could I do? The wheels of the heel turn were already in motion.

Can you talk about how important merchandise was on the indies to supplement your income?

Were you disappointed that they wanted to do an angle to build to your match instead of just doing it?

Was it an insult to have Janie to reach out to you instead of Ric?

The program is laid out and you like it - except for the fact you were turning heel. You turn to Rip Rogers and ask him for his professional opinion. Rip’s stature in this business has increased in recent years due to his training - but you wrote that he was “the cheapest man in wrestling.”

This is what you wrote in your book

“I really wish I could leave this place as a baby,” I said, before adding, “This angle’s going to change all that.”

“No it won’t,” Rip shot back quickly and assuredly. “You don’t think leaving Kevin lying will turn me heel?” I asked.

“Cac,” Rip said, laughing, “Kevin Sullivan is the least sympathetic character in the business, the fans will love you for it.”

“What about Dave? He’s sympathetic.” I countered, waiting to see what the ketchup soup drinker would come back with.

“Yeah he is,” Rip had to admit. “But Cac, even the fans can tell he’s just a mediocre worker.”

It was true. Dave Sullivan was one of the nicest guys in the business. So nice, in fact, that the boys would always mention what a hell of a guy he was before they mentioned what an abysmal worker he was.

Did Kevin know you were worried about turning heel and the loss of the future income?

Did Rip’s response really reassure you or were you worried WCW was going to mess it all up?

The angle happens - and you are a babyface! Dropping Kevin and Evad you were cheered massively. That’s gotta be satisfying right?

Kevin called you while you were home about the angle - was he disappointed you were the babyface?

Kevin would turn heel after all this anyway and work with Hulk Hogan so I think it worked out for him as well…

Getting to work with Gene Okerlund for the angle had to be a big deal for you didn’t it? He helped and added so much didn’t he?

The match with Kevin really is a great match but this write-up from the Torch tickled me.

Torch:

Kevin Sullivan faced Cactus Jack in a short TV main event. Early in the bout, Sullivan dove through the ropes in an uncharacteristic move for him (that is, leaving his feet) and hit Jack with a bodypress. As Sullivan went for the kill, Dave Sullivan grabbed him and held him back, still not wanting his "family" to be broken up. Jack took the opportunity to DDT Kevin onto the cement floor. Dave cried, "Oh no. What have I done?" as both men were counted out. Jack then hit Sullivan with an elbow drop from the ring apron.

The Kevin not leaving his feet thing - do you think his work is underrated by people and he doesn’t get the credit he deserves?

“The program ended with a Cactus Jack interview.

He started it by speaking German, repeating what he said after losing his ear in April. Jack blamed the fans for him not having his ear re-attached and saying how now his wife and kids are afraid to get near him.

Jack took a shot at Schiavone by saying, "Despite what you and your broadcast buddies might have been feeding these people, I don't get off on seeing my ear thrown out in a garbage can in a foreign country".

Cactus Jack's interview to close the program was delivered beautifully. His bitterness over WCW's treatment of his ear severance came through in the interview.”

It’s a shame this didn’t happen months and months earlier - isn’t it?

At Fall Brawl 1994 you finish up with the company - but you’re coming back from Austria that day. What do you remember of that trip?

It forces you to be running late, as you fly from Austria to Vienna to Frankfurt to Atlanta to Roanoke…

From your book

Pay-Per-Views usually require the talent to be at the building six hours before bell time. I got there fifteen minutes before the first match went on. Kevin and I were second.

“Brotha,” a relieved Kevin said with a sigh, “we were panicking.” My final WCW match was billed as a loser- leaves-WCW match. Because I already had three months of independent dates booked, the outcome was in about as much doubt as the night I showed up at the Sportatorium in Dallas with everything I owned stuffed into my ‘80 Plymouth Arrow.

“Give me a slam off the second turnbuckle to the floor” was all I said as I rushed to the dressing room.

As my Michael Hayes-penned entrance music, “Mr. Bang Bang,” began, Kevin called out to me, “Brotha, do I stand on the floor or the apron when I throw you?”

I looked at the five-foot, seven-inch former Games-

master and before stepping through the curtain for my final WCW match ever, answered his question. “Kevin, if you stand on the floor ... you’ll never reach me.”

This is one of those things in your book that I know is true - but just the thought process of this conversation is just great.

You guys don’t go over anything else and you already have your finish - so you guys go out there and man you guys have a hell of a match.

From the Observer

2. Kevin Sullivan pinned Cactus Jack in the loser leaves town match in 6:08.

Although Cactus turned heel on television, he got a tremendous face reaction live and played to the crowd in his last night in. Sullivan got the heel reaction. Jack took several great bumps, the most memorable of which was him being on the middle rope ready to do the elbow to the floor (after picking up the protective mats). Dave Sullivan stopped him and Kevin got up and bodyslammed Jack off the middle rope to the concrete floor. Dave stopped Cactus from using a chair but also stopped Kevin from using one. Sullivan attacked Jack's ear and Tony Schiavone got this over great by explaining beforehand how the nerves in the ear were exposed so it would be more painful.

Finally Cactus charged at Kevin, who moved, and he hit Dave, and Kevin pinned him. **¼

Hey look Tony got a story over!

You wrote this

With no preparation, and with twenty-three hours of traveling behind me, I charged into Kevin. Guess what? We had a pretty good match. Anyone with an appreciation for spontaneity and give-and-take brawling would have enjoyed it especially. WCW had certain rules pertaining to violence, but we ignored those right off the bat. I mean, what were they going to do-fire me? The announcers were still trying to portray me as the bad guy, but the fans cheered me harder than ever.

Did they give you any shit afterwards? I mean you know they didn’t punish Kevin…

Going out on a high note even with losing…you wrote this:

Yeah, I lost the match. Looking at the fans, I made the decision to run into the crowd, where I was mobbed by hundreds of well-wishers, some of whom were genuinely moved. WCW could have shown this special moment, but they cut instead to a sterile, pretaped backstage interview. The thought hit me to disrobe gradually until all my wrestling attire was thrown to the fans, but, thankfully, common sense prevailed. After all, I would much rather be known as the guy who gave it his all, instead of the guy whose ass looked like a piece of Swiss cheese that had backed into a belt sander.

This…would've been amazing.

You wrote this:

I was in the shower, cleansing not only my body, but three years of memories, when Bischoff approached me. He thanked me for my effort, and told me if I behaved myself, I’d be welcome to come back at a later time. He hugged me, and, while the hot water produced its steamy fog around us, we held each other for a long, long time.

Come on, you didn’t really buy that, did you? No, there was no shower, no steam, no hug, and no holding for a long, long time. Actually, he caught up to me as I was walking out the door. He did thank me, did tell me I could come back, and then shook my hand. I then walked out into the cool, autumn breeze-a free man.

Did you think you’d ever be back in WCW?

Was your relationship with WCW really about your strained relationship with Eric?

When did you & Eric actually mend the relationship?