Bull James Talks Wrestling Today Having Too Many False Finishes, His Schedule
Recently on The Steve Austin Show, WWE Hall Of Famer and podcaster extraordinaire Steve Austin welcomed Bull James, formerly NXT Superstar Bull Dempsey, to the show. Among many other things, James talked about why he enjoys calling matches in the ring and the importance of pro wrestlers knowing their place on the card. James discussed his ongoing run with DDT Pro-Wrestling as well as his future plans.
According to James, he likes to call matches from underneath to keep himself sharp and give the experience to the younger pro wrestlers with whom he shares the ring. 'Hoss Daddy' divulged that he did this in the past for an inexperienced MJF.
"I like calling matches from underneath on the fly just to keep myself fresh and on my toes," James acknowledged. "I think the last time I did it was with MJF and he was still really, really green and nervous, so to me, it was the perfect opportunity to do that. And, it was on, like, a camp show, so the footage wasn't going anywhere if it turned out terrible, but I think it helps me as far as keeping myself on my toes, but I also like to do it for the younger guys and girls because they get a chance to experience it when it's not like it used to be and it would be every night. They don't really get a chance to have somebody that knows how to go in there and go, 'hey, just listen – I got this' and walk them through it."
In the view of James, pro wrestlers need to know their place on the card and not every match needs 20 falsies.
"It's just my opinion, but there's nothing wrong with knowing your spot on the card and not every match needs 20 false finishes," James opined. "I think that you need to have a little bit for everybody, but you also need little breathers here and there in between the 20-minute classics. You need a 5-minute squash. You need a big guy or girl going up against a little guy or girl. It's a circus. It's always going to be that. But I think if every match that goes out there gets 20 minutes, you're just going to wear the people out, and, by the end of the night, they're not going to remember half the stuff they saw."
On the subject of James's run with DDT Pro-Wrestling, the Brooklyn, New York native knew things would be fine when DDT's President Sanshiro Takagi expressed his appreciation for Bull's Bruiser Brody t-shirt.
"I'm going over [to Japan] for DDT. DDT was known for a while for their comedy stuff. It's where Joey Ryan first did his infamous [dick] flip. They have a young roster." James continued, "they're known for a lot of their comedy and a lot of the outrageousness that they do, but their young crop of guys are actually really, really talented and they're just good wrestlers. And when I got off the plane in March for my first tour, I had a Bruiser Brody shirt on. Takagi-san, who is the President of DDT, he saw the t-shirt and tweeted me that Bruiser Brody was his favorite [pro] wrestler growing up. And I was like, 'oh, we're going to get along just fine.'"
James, who was released from WWE in 2016, said he will work 11 shows for DDT Pro-Wrestling and conduct a few seminars, as the Japanese promotion is interested in the big man passing on the knowledge he picked up from his time in WWE's developmental system.
"It is 11 shows and I believe I will be doing, like, 3 or 4 seminars at their dojo because I did that the last time and they seemed to get enough out of it with – I needed a translator to reach most of them with what I was trying to say to them, but they wanted to pick up on what WWE was doing at the [WWE] Performance Center, at least when I was there and learn kind of the more American style, just to see the differences and learn a new style, so that they're more well-rounded. So I'll get to do that, which I think is pretty cool too." James added, "just different drills and what the psychology is, American [pro] wrestling now and even old school and I'll tell them, 'hey, this is the way I was taught, but now this is the way things are. Here [are] the differences and here's how you can try to mesh the 2.' It's hard to do with the language barrier, but it helps having the translator there, so at least as long as some if it gets through, they're getting something out of it."
During the podcast, James mentioned that he is open to signing with one of the genre's major promotions.
"I'll always take more work when it's there because it's what I love to do, but I'm going straight from Japan, I'm going to the UK for 3 weeks to start off the new year. And then, I'm heading back here to the [United] States. And then, just filling up my schedule as it comes. I love the freedom of being out on the independents, just doing what I want to do and having my own schedule and stuff and I like that a lot. I value that." James noted, "obviously, if there's an opportunity with a bigger company, it's not something that I'm going to sneeze at or not take seriously."
Listen to the podcast here. 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.