WWE CONFIDENTIAL | AIRED: June 1, 2002 |
Thanks to all your feedback this past week. I opened a section on my website where I can actually post it because I'm getting enough. In other words - keep the notes and questions coming. And check it out - my website link is at the bottom. Your slammin' Saturday night continues. TONIGHT: The troubled life of Davey Boy Smith. Who is the real Shawn Michaels? Also, for Matthew Hyson some things never change. Hello Mean Gene Okerlund! Last week's show was a great success apparently, and tonight we'll continue the Shawn Michaels interview. Last week we left Michaels saying the Heartbreak Kid is dead - and we'll find out what he meant tonight. But first On May 19th, Davey Boy Smith died. There are still questions and accusations as to how he died. His toughest battles weren't in the ring, but with personal issues in his lifetime. During the program we'll see pieces of an interview conducted by Jim Ross featuring Davey Boy Smith and Diana Hart. The interview was taped a few months after Owen died - and we'll be seeing it for the very first time. Diana says Davey had a great passion for wrestling. He'd been doing so since he was 12, and had his first match at 15 in England. Bruce Hart met Davey in 1977 in Manchester, England. Someone introduced him to a couple of skinny little kids called David Smith and Tom Billington. They'd revolutionized wrestling in England, so Bruce called his dad and told him about these kids. Stu thought he was out of his mind, since the minimum weight in North America at the time was about 240 pounds. Clips from Wrestlemania III. Steve Regal says they're the best tag-team of all time. Then in the early 90's the Bulldog was a huge star. Howard Finkel saw him as a piston - a sparkplug. Built solid, like a brick shithouse. He had tremendous strength. Brooklyn Brawler remembers the suplexes - especially his vertical suplex where he'd hold you high in the air and you were never sure when he was gonna drop you down to the mat. From August 12, 1999 - the only time Bulldog ever actually heard the cheers was in Wembley Stadium when he fought Bret Hart. Fink says Bulldog was a nervous wreck backstage that night, because he knew it was a chance to shine like never before. Davey was proud of his British heritage recalls Diana. He never lost his accent, read the British newspapers, watched the British TV shows, and thought the flag was the most beautiful flag in the world. Clips from SummerSlam 1992. The Undertaker felt SummerSlam was Davey's peak. Because he was from the UK, and he was highlighted and went over - he relished it forever. Diana describes Davey as a big hearted, generous, hilarious person who was a very gifted athlete. Regal says he'd always be playing pranks and would blame someone else for them. He was just a funny guy to be around. There was a guy named Chris Champion who wrestled in WCW with a Chinaman gimmick. He had the huge hat - and David would take the hat and (I'm not sure if he says pee or be) in it. He'd laugh because the guy had to go to the ring every day in that stupid hat. Brawler recalls that he'd light firecrackers, throw the fireworks in and close the door. Chief Jay Strongbow called Smith "Robot" and called him on the fireworks. Smith immediately would blame Owen Hart. He'd always blame Owen. Taker says if you packed a towel from the hotel and went for a shower - if the towel was missing Davey probably had it. He always forgot to pack one. He'd walk by someone's bag and say "I don't remember leaving my towel there - my towel's in Undertaker's bag!" Davey would by sitting there having taken a fresh shower with a big grin on his face and just looked like he hadn't done anything wrong. And that went on for years. STILL TO COME: More on Davey Boy Smith. When we see our WWE Superstars on TV, it's hard to imagine them as anything but famous. Gene introduces a new feature called Before They Were Superstars - and tonight we'll learn that big things come in small packages. BEFORE THEY WERE SUPERSTARS Sue Hyson - Spike Dudley's mother knew that Matt was going to be beaten up by his brothers. She says he was the easiest baby to take care of - he was just happy being in his crib until he was about 3. Ironically he walked at 8 months and talked at 10 months. His dad remembers Matt would dive under water at age 2 and chase a rock he'd drop. His mom put a harness on, so they could pick him up if they thought he was going under and stand him right back on his feet again. He loved being a fish. Their first 3 kids were 2 and a half years apart, where Matt was 3 years behind them. He was the runt of the litter. He got picked on - and his brother's friends quickly learned they could throw him around and he wouldn't cry or tell on them. In exchange, he got to hang out with them. As long as he didn't whine, he was fine. The three older boys played hockey, but Matt didn't want to. Wrestling was on Saturday mornings when hockey practice was. When it came down to hockey or Bob Backlund, it was Backlund. So he played football instead. He was alright - he'd just throw himself into the fray. He loved getting roughed around, since football was as close to wrestling he could get. He had no idea what he wanted to do with himself, and a friend of his told him he could get a job as a teacher. He didn't want to, but he took it anyway. He wasn't sure he could wrestle because of his size, but in 1993 he saw a commercial for a wrestling school and just went for it. It was brutal. The big guys would throw him around and take their anger out on him. He was living a dream though and loved it. His mom and dad spent tons of money on a college education, money that they probably didn't need to spend if they knew he was going to be a wrestler. So Matt decided not to tell them until after he had his first match. He came home and had a tape, which he showed to them. On Father's Day of 1994 he was in a match against Frank Dalton. He fell off the top rope and landed on his head. (OWWWW - they show the bump!) He lost via Torture Rack. His parents figured he was going to die soon doing this - but encouraged him anyway. He put together a video tape and resume, which he mailed to every major promotion. WCW and WWF rejected him, but Taz in ECW told him he'd have a job if he moved to the east coast. The crowd will always root for the underdog. Some kid once told him that if he wanted to be a wrestler, he'd have to learn the crazy moves. Matt told him he doesn't agree, and figured if you can wrestle and do it well, you'll be set regardless of your size. The guy told him that's why he won't make it. Matt looks back and wonders where that kid is now. Confidential is brought to you by Snickers, Honda, and Stacker 2. From January 23, 1984 - Hulk Hogan wins his first WWF World Heavyweight championship. Gene interviews him, and Hogan's ecstatic. Gene wonders who the handsome guy with the hair was next to Hogan. He finds it hard to believe that 18 years later Hulkamania is still running wild. When it comes to Hulkamania, he'd never seen a more serious case than Chicago's Chris Sader. Chris met Hogan in 1983. A little boy about 3 years old started screaming "It's Hulk Hogan!" at the hotel. He's been the #1 fan forever. In 1989, Hogan asked him what he'd done with all the stuff he'd signed. Chris told him he'd framed everything, and Hogan laughed saying there's no way he could have framed all of it. Chris told him it's true and invited Hogan to come by someday to see it. February 19, 2002 Hogan finally came by to see the room. Hogan says Chris has got more Hogan stuff than Hogan himself does! The main attraction is the first pair of nWo boots that Hogan sported. At first it was weird to see Hogan in his house, but the fact he's down to earth makes it easy. Chris shows us a bunch of stuff he has, and has over 5000 autographs. Over the past few years, Hogan's become close with Chris. When his dad was dying, Chris was a registered nurse and was there with him. Chris called Hogan and Hogan told him his dad was in the hospital and couldn't see him that day. Chris asked if there was anything he could do - and he quit his job just to look after his dad. Hogan thought it was unbelievable. Hogan says the soul of the fans is amazing. Gene's posing when we return - and says he's practicing for our next piece. A bunch of fans pretend to be WWE superstars. Some do decent impressions - and others aren't so decent. STILL TO COME: Who's the sexiest male superstar in the WWE? WWE REWIND: SummerSlam 1995, Shawn Michaels defeats Razor Ramon in a ladder match for the Intercontinental Title. Who is Shawn Michaels? Well that's a question Shawn's struggled with throughout his career. Vince McMahon says Shawn's always pushed the envelope. He'd drive you insane, but it was because he wanted to be the best at anything he was going to do. DX was when they started sell Attitude. WWF came up with the name, but Shawn and Hunter decided to go the obnoxious route. Something people always respond to is a great laugh. They'd write every obnoxious thing they could think of. At times they probably went too far - and it upset his wife greatly. It opened the door though to get to the other places the company hadn't been before. Royal Rumble 1998 - Shawn Michaels gets backdropped in a casket match with The Undertaker onto the casket and screws up his back for good. He finished the match and did TV the next day. However, the following day he couldn't move in his bed. He phoned Vince and told him he couldn't do it. He told Vince the injury was bad, but had to wrestle at Wrestlemania. He was aware that Wrestlemania XIV was going to be his last match. He wanted to do an awesome job for Steve, even if he couldn't. He wanted to be the guy to jumpstart that. He couldn't deliver the way he wanted to. He's been hurt in matches before, but never like that before and felt it the whole way through. Because of the injury, it was easier to accept it being his last match. On an emotional level, it wasn't too hard to accept. He was put on a certain path, and knows that wrestling was part of it. Hey - there's Whisper. Only now, he's where he wants to be. Vince thinks Shawn is in control of his demons and is at peace with himself. He knows deep down that the Heartbreak Kid is still there - and wants to see him once more. Shawn promises the Heartbreak Kid is dead. What you'll get if Shawn comes back is Shawn Hickenbottom. He wonders what people would think if they gave them himself. UP NEXT: Davey Boy Smith's demons. Here's some clips of Davey's last match in Top Rope Championship Wrestling, where he wrestled in a tag-team match with his son Harry. How did it all unravel for Davey? In the ring, he was an impressive and powerful individual. Outside though, he was losing a battle with addiction. 5 bells are rung. Diana wondered how you could help someone addicted to painkillers. Bruce didn't think he was a victim, he just didn't know how to get out. Davey couldn't do as he was prescribed to do according to Diana. From the JR interview in August 1999, Davey recounts Fall Brawl 1998 where he and Neidhart faced the Boogie Knights. He didn't know that in one of the rings there was a trap door for The Ultimate Warrior. He hit it and he knew something was wrong. He went to the doctor, and he was put on painkillers. Then he was put on morphine. Diana says she'd find pill bottles all over the house from doctors all over the USA. She found syringes inside cowboy boots loaded with morphine. Davey was so dependant it went from morphine tablets to injections right into the vein. It shocked her. In the interview, Davey says Diana took an overdose of pills. He got up - and he was out of it. She'd taken 100 of his pills and told him "this is what you do to us - how do you feel?". He couldn't do anything, because he was so out of it. She called 911 and told them she didn't want to die. Davey just sat there and couldn't do anything. 2 days later she woke up and was told she'd died 4 times on the way to the hospital. Davey knew right then and there he had a problem. He went to rehab. He stayed for 7 weeks to clean himself up - and in the 6th week he was in so much pain he was crying. The doctors told him it was withdrawl, but he told them no, he was actually hurting. He flew back to Calgary and couldn't find a problem in his back. Meanwhile, his 27 year old sister died so he flew home to have her buried. In February, 2 days after rehab he was asked to come home. So he flew there, and his mom died the next day. Diana says he had a real hard time dealing with that and started back on pain killers - to ease his physical and mental pain. Finally they did an MRI and within 15 minutes they found he had a staff infection that's eating away his spine and he might die. Diana then came to the hospital with a Federal Express envelop which he opened. He had been fired from WCW because of his back. He was so mad. He was addicted to painkillers because he broke his back in their ring. He wasn't taking morphine for fun. Unfortunately, they put him on morphine in the hospital. He was there until April 17, and the WWF came to town. Owen Hart and Vince McMahon called him up and told him they'd do anything to help him. Davey just got too far into it. She put him in rehab, Vince put him in rehab, the police put him in rehab - and she wishes more could have been done but how much more can you do? Steve Regal went to see Davey in March 2000 when he was in the same facility Regal had been in. It was the last time he saw Davey, and it's not easy to have that as your last memory. The Undertaker knew he was sick and spent time in the hospital - and after that he was never really the same. He never had the same glimmer, and always looked preoccupied. Something wasn't right. Diana found it painful to watch Davey go through his problems since she didn't know how to help him. It was rough to see him get frustrated - and they split up. However in the past year, they'd gotten better. Davey was honoured to get a chance to wrestle with his son. Diana's so happy they got the chance to wrestle. Harry hopes Davey got the most joy out of watching him wrestle, and hoping some day they'd be a tag-team. Davey told him he was proud that he'd learned from his mistakes, and learned from his good points. Regal says he'll be remembered as The British Bulldog - one of the greatest wrestlers of our time. Bruce Hart knows he's one of the best workers and most popular guys ever. Diana says the memories are great. He was a fantastic wrestler and changed the sport with Dynamite Kid. Undertaker thinks he'll be remembered as a tremendous athlete - and for the most part he enjoyed life, maybe too much. As a wrestler, he'll go down as one of the all time greats. He told Harry never to quit. "Failing, quitting, retiring is not on my mind. It's not on the menu today, I can't say it's on the menu Jim. I'm not hungry to fill." 5 more bells. David Smith Last week, Ivory brought up the issue of breast implants. This week, Ivory and her fellow divas discuss the sexiest male superstar. They all agree on The Rock right off the bat. Ivory says Billy Gunn, Terri likes Kurt Angle, and so does Jacqueline. Terri says Kurt's her baby. Jackie loves his butt. Ivory looks at their cans all the time. She finds Ron Simmons sexy as well and mentions the "junk in his trunk". Yikes! Trish thinks Triple H has a great manly presence. Ivory says Bob Holly is a hunk and a half. Torrie Wilson's not arguing - it's Billy Kidman hands down. Lita picks Matt Hardy without hesitation. Ivory likes Randy Orton and says they pick on him a bit. Trish goes for Vince McMahon - only because he pays the cheques. And here's a shot of them French kissing. Ugh. "Obviously, that feature was shot before I made my return." Gene is god! Next week we'll look behind the scenes of Tough Enough 2. We have a very revealing piece about it. Goodnight, and remember, it's Confidential! |