David Arquette On Why Vince Russo Thought His WCW World Title Win Would Be A Good Idea
Former WCW World Heavyweight Champion David Arquette stopped by 317 Gimmick Street for a conversation with WWE Hall Of Famer Steve Austin. Among many other things, Arquette discussed his pro wrestling fandom, why he is getting back into the pro wrestling genre, and winning WCW's top prize nearly 20 years ago.
According to Arquette, he was always a fan of pro wrestling and taking on the film project of Ready To Rumble was just a way for the legacy actor to reconnect with his beloved pastime.
"I loved [pro] wrestling since growing up." Arquette recalled, "I saw Andre The Giant and Hulk Hogan back at the Sports Arena. We'd go to all the roadshows growing up, so I always loved it. And then, Ready To Rumble happened and it was just a chance for me to sort of tap back into something I loved as a kid and sort of tap into the crazy fan that I was. And then, I got to meet all my heroes. I got to travel with Hulk Hogan and Sting, 'Diamond' Dallas Page, and get to know the guys. And in promoting the movie, they had me go on the road and I ended up the champ. I don't know what happened, but it happened."
Also during the interview, Arquette shared that he started training for pro wrestling recently because people gave him so much grief for his failed world title run in WCW.
"I never really got the opportunity to wrestle, so just 18 years later, after a lot of people gave me grief, I was like, 'I want to do it right,' so I've been training with Peter Avalon, a great wrestler/trainer." Arquette continued, "I'm getting back into [pro] wrestling 18 years later. I just had my first match... It was amazing... Against RJ City. I got my butt kicked, but it's alright. It was good. It was a good match at Championship Wrestling From Hollywood."
Apparently, Vince Russo, who crowned Arquette WCW champ, thought the world title run would have worked out differently because Arquette was a true fan.
"I actually recently talked to Vince Russo on his podcast." Arquette remembered, "and then, he explained it to me. He said that part of the reason he thought it would be alright because when I first got there, I was running around. I did something with, Jarrett, Jeff Jarrett, and I had his guitar and I went around all the wrestlers and had them sign it. I was just a fan. And he was like, and that was part of the reason I was different. I wasn't just an actor. I was truly a fan of wrestling, so that's kind of the idea behind it."
Arquette noted that he thought being WCW World Heavyweight Champion was a mistake, but he was talked into it.
"Yeah, I said I didn't think it was a good idea!" Arquette admitted, "but, then, after a few minutes, I thought it would be fun just to travel and get a little taste of the business. So yeah."
So here's to ya! If you use any of the quotes from this article, please credit The Steve Austin Show with an H/T to Wrestling Inc. for the transcription.
Source: The Steve Austin Show