Honky Tonk Man Talks Turning Down WWE Hall Of Fame, Gimmicks Today, Hogan
Donny Wood from Ring Rust Radio and Bleacher Report recently interviewed The Honky Tonk Man. Here are some highlights, via Bleacher Report:
Turning down the WWE Hall of Fame: "When they had the Hall of Fame ceremony here in Phoenix, they contacted me about that, and they contacted me way too late about it. It was like two weeks before, and they said, 'We'd like to do this thing and induct you into the Hall of Fame and we think it would be a great honor for you.' I said I thought it would too and I really appreciated the offer, but I had signed a contract to do these Wizard World Conventions and I was set to go to Toronto. I had to fulfill that obligation, so I turned them down.
"Obviously, when you say no that makes them very upset with you, so I don't know if that particular invitation will ever come around again. If it does; it does. If it doesn't; it doesn't. It's one of those things I have no control over."
Gimmicks today, and if they are harder to pull off than in the past: "I would say that it's much harder to do now because they do not give you the ability to develop your character. Hacksaw Jim Duggan and myself, we did a short Q&A seminar type thing at a comic-con in Albuquerque this past weekend and got the same question. We both agreed that its more difficult now because you don't have the input. You don't have the opportunity to say, 'This is the character I would like to portray and this is the one I think I can do, and this is the one I've been working on for the last five years and I know how to make it work.'?It's more of a theatrical play now, or some type of movie set."
Who he wanted to feud with more than anyone: "?[Vince McMahon] said, 'I could see me and Hulk Hogan teaming together and then I could see you, down the line if we want to switch this and make it into a bad character, going against Hogan.' So I was thinking I would get to have all these matches with Hogan. You asked who did I like wrestling the most, well, that's one answer; Hulk Hogan. Believe me, brother, when you're getting that legged dropped on you and you're making $10,000 to take that leg drop everyday for nine shows a week, that's 90 grand. Believe me. I loved that leg drop."
You can listen to the full interview below: