Former WWE superstar and trainer, Dr. Tom Prichard recently spoke to PWMania.com about the cross promotion between Smokey Moutain Wrestling and WWE as well as the differences between his relationship with Paul Heyman, Vince McMahon and Jim Cornette. Here are the highlights.
Explain why the crossover promotion of Smokey Moutain Wrestling and WWE didn’t work.
“It was pretty much a done deal when cable TV came in and when Vince was taking over it was done. There was nothing if you wrestled in the territories or wrestled in the smaller towns like in Tennessee or Kentucky it’s not big time pro wrestling/sports entertainment. Whether anyone likes it or not, Vince is what people consider professional wrestling. Vince would rather consider it sports entertainment. So Smokey Mountain and territories like this that were not going to survive because why go see cats and dogs that you could look at next door when the circus is coming to town. We want to see bigger, badder, louder, better, shinier, flashier, better pyro instead of going to the flea market. The comparison is that there is no comparison.”
Prichard went on to say…
“Once again it’s like anything else in life you have to especially in a performance field like that you have to connect with not just the fans but you have to connect with everybody backstage too and you got make other people want you to be there. Not sure if that was necessarily the reason or the why. I do know that when we went in we got hired and then we got sent back down. There are a lot of elements you have to consider and it’s not an easy gig. I give all the respect in the world to those guys and girls that are working down in NXT right now because they are busting their ass and doing a great job. That is kind of the way it was back in the late and 1980’s and early 1990’s it was just that we didn’t have a developmental system. Smokey Mountain was going to be the guys that weren’t going to get the push and it wasn’t going to be in existence very much longer. So to make a long answer even longer when the Rock n Roll Express went in for a cup of coffee, I don’t know who it could have worked with at that time.”
What are the differences between his relationship with Paul Heyman, Vince McMahon and Jim Cornette.
“They are all the same in sense that they had that passion and that drive for the business. I think Paul and Jim are very similar in their beliefs and they might be at the opposite spectrum at times. They both had a passion about them. I think that everybody says this and it’s true that the closest guy to Lorne Michaels on TV he just reminds you of Vince. That guy in control of everything that guy that has to know everything. I think that’s why he’s been so successful because he knows about everything going on and that’s why he will not be beat in sports entertainment by anybody. Paul is a mad genius too and some of the last promos he’s done for Brock and the buildup to Wrestlemania 31 was just so great and that was all Paul Heyman. I have a ton of respect for Paul. I have a ton of respect for Jim Cornette too. Jim knows he gets passionate. He knows he gets carried away at times but that’s what makes him Jim. It’s what makes Cornette, Cornette. Not everyone is going to love him and he’s okay with that.”
You can read the entire interview here.
