Vader's Chinos.

[IANdrewDiceClay]

Did I ever tell you about the time I met Gangrel?

[stewdogg]

1 hour ago, IANdrewDiceClay said:

Did I ever tell you about the time I met Gangrel?

No, can you Walkers through it please? 

[Big Benny HG]

1 hour ago, Chili said:

Absolutely no idea, I just remember catching him in a quiet corner of the backstage area just scranning down and all I could think was that was too much food even for him.

I was of course greatly mistaken.

The version of that story I heard was that one of the trainees/helpers was sent out to collect all the food (burgers etc.), came back and set it out on a table backstage to the point some of the wrestlers thought Fludder was putting food on for them; Vader walked backstage and the helper said "Um, Mr. Vader, your food's ready", to which the big guy went over, sat down and worked his way through the whole lot as, well, everyone watched on.

 

And yeah, the Wetherspoons story was that he had a large breakfast, finished that and ordered another, finished that and went to order another, only to be told they'd stopped serving breakfast, so ordered a large mixed grill instead.

 

That first PCW visit, he'd been miserable when I went to get my photo/autograph with him (grunting and swearing) that we sacked-off the post-show "An Evening with Vader" Q&A/speaking session with him that I'd already bought a ticket for and just went to the pub instead.  The second time, he was seemingly in a better mood as he was hanging around with Rikishi and Terry Funk, but still supposedly made sure to make a point of telling all the British and indie wrestlers on the show to be clear on who the real stars were and who the crowd were there to see and, yes, who should and should not be joining in with the Too Cool dance at the end of the show.

 

Most of my interactions with 'famous' wrestlers have been brief but, aside from Vader and a hungover Scott Steiner, they were all really pleasant, polite and friendly...

[LaGoosh]

1 hour ago, Big Benny HG said:

Most of my interactions with 'famous' wrestlers have been brief but, aside from Vader and a hungover Scott Steiner, they were all really pleasant, polite and friendly...

I feel like I'd be disappointed if Scott Steiner was nice to me. I'd expect him to call me a bastard and threaten to bang my girlfriend. 

[Chili]

1 hour ago, Big Benny HG said:

The version of that story I heard was that one of the trainees/helpers was sent out to collect all the food (burgers etc.), came back and set it out on a table backstage to the point some of the wrestlers thought Fludder was putting food on for them; Vader walked backstage and the helper said "Um, Mr. Vader, your food's ready", to which the big guy went over, sat down and worked his way through the whole lot as, well, everyone watched on.

 

And yeah, the Wetherspoons story was that he had a large breakfast, finished that and ordered another, finished that and went to order another, only to be told they'd stopped serving breakfast, so ordered a large mixed grill instead.

 

That first PCW visit, he'd been miserable when I went to get my photo/autograph with him (grunting and swearing) that we sacked-off the post-show "An Evening with Vader" Q&A/speaking session with him that I'd already bought a ticket for and just went to the pub instead.  The second time, he was seemingly in a better mood as he was hanging around with Rikishi and Terry Funk, but still supposedly made sure to make a point of telling all the British and indie wrestlers on the show to be clear on who the real stars were and who the crowd were there to see and, yes, who should and should not be joining in with the Too Cool dance at the end of the show.

 

Most of my interactions with 'famous' wrestlers have been brief but, aside from Vader and a hungover Scott Steiner, they were all really pleasant, polite and friendly...

Yeah I can confirm that's how the Vader thing went Benny.

Scott Steiner was pretty laid back, but also he was Scott Steiner so I wasn't planning on being a smart arse with him. Bloke is genuinely massive even though he must have lost some  height as we were the same height when speaking.

Rick Steiner was very much like when I worked with Bob Holly. Heard/Seen the horror stories, turns out to be an absolute gem.

Edited December 21, 2020 by Chili

[chokeout]

Can confirm that Rick Steiner was a lovely man and when asking for anything from the two of them you ask Rick because if he agrees Scott would just do it without a fuss. 

On another Vader related note. The gusset on his tracksuit bottoms was so well worn during his live Q and A that every single person in the room could make out the finest example of 'frog eyes' ever witnessed, with both his balls clearly outlined and at eye level due to the stage. 

[air_raid]

For all of the PCW stories that many of us share, I’d like to again share that Mike Bennett and Maria were the nicest people I ever met in wrestling,* beyond approachable and happy to talk to us for as long as we still had questions, in a manner that was remarkable considering this wasn’t a paid gig but a conversation started by us just asking if they were booked for the “hangover show” as our table and theirs were simultaneously wrapping up a Premier Inn full British Isles breakfast.

* Apart from then-JWP champ Hailey Hatred who got us tickets to many shows in Japan, sat with us at many of them, got us free tickets to an All Japan show when we had nothing better to do one afternoon and was quite happy to get shit-faced and on one occasion sing karaoke with us until the first train home.

You know who’s a prick? Raven.

Edited December 21, 2020 by air_raid

[Tommy!]

8 hours ago, Big Benny HG said:

The version of that story I heard was that one of the trainees/helpers was sent out to collect all the food (burgers etc.), came back and set it out on a table backstage to the point some of the wrestlers thought Fludder was putting food on for them; Vader walked backstage and the helper said "Um, Mr. Vader, your food's ready", to which the big guy went over, sat down and worked his way through the whole lot as, well, everyone watched on.

 

And yeah, the Wetherspoons story was that he had a large breakfast, finished that and ordered another, finished that and went to order another, only to be told they'd stopped serving breakfast, so ordered a large mixed grill instead

Are there any stories of Yoko from his UK tours?

If someone was going to eat a promoter into bankruptcy, stink because they can only wash themselves with a rag on a stick and shit in a bath its surely Yoko in 99 / 2000

[AnotherCrapUsername]

Some various stories of meeting wrestlers and personalities.

Chris Kanyon outside a hotel just before Wtestlemania 20. An absolute gentleman who had all the time in the world for us.

Paul London the night of the 2004 Hall of Fame. Spent around half an hour chatting to him. He explained that he was pissed off that he was the only cruiserweight not booked on Wrestlemania and that he had asked for permission to skip to Hall of Fame to attend the ROH show nearby so that he could take milk and cookies to the guys working it.

D-Von Dudley, asked him for an autograph after Wrestlemania 20 outside the hotel. His response of "Sure. It's too fucking cold out here so come inside the hotel lobby and we'll do pictures and autographs there" was cool. He then found out we were from England and asked what our plans were for the night. We said we were heading back to our hotel. D-Von responded with no you're not, follow me and walked us straight into the Wrestlemania afterparty. Told us to fuck off once inside and enjoy ourselves.

Christopher Daniels. I was roped in to take his polaroids at the pre show meet and greet at International Showdown. The camera then proceeded to run out of film. No worries Mr Daniels has a new roll of film. I asked how to put the film in. His response "Do you want me to take the fucking picture?" I replied "I'm not all that fussed, but the people queueing might be bothered having their photo taken with me rather than you" Samoa Joe and Aj Styles started pissing themselves nearby. 

D-lo Brown is the nicest man I've ever met in wrestling. Spent ages chatting about his match with Val Venis at Summerslam 98 and then went for a banging curry.

Spending the day with El Generico and Super Dragon was decent enough until they decided that all they were going to talk about was raping chicks. Absolutely disgusting pair who I was glad to see the back of.

[Hoptimus]

When Vader wrestled for BCW in Scotland as part of the No Blood No Sympathy weekend Vader had the guy who was his driver for the weekend take him to a kebab shop in Kilmarnock. He ate six large chicken tikka kebabs but replace the pita bread for garlic nann bread.

[SaitoRyo]

Met a few famous wrasslers over the years and some stick out. 

Joe Legend and Tracy Smothers were probably the nicest wrestlers I've ever met. Both wanted to help however they could, had time for everyone and busted their arses even though they were performing in front of tiny crowds. 

Scott Steiner was a good, relatively relaxed bloke who was up for having a laugh and a pint. Also seemed shorter than you'd expect. 

Damien Sandow was nice and amiable but got a bit goosed when, for no reason, he thought the post-show after party was going to be in a gay club. Christians and all that, eh...

Honky Tonk Man was possibly the most carny wrestler I've ever met, which is no surprise really, is it? He was selling Rey Mysterio masks in between drinking vodka straight from the bottle (this was in 2006). 

Raven was an arsehole. 

And Paul Heyman was lovely but quite clearly a little disingenuous, too. He's a charmer and he tells people what they want to hear. 

Never met Vader, but I assume if I had he would've eaten eight portions of fish and chips and shit himself. 

[BomberPat]

Yeah, Joe E's one of the nicest guys in the business. Always helpful, even long after the fact - I know people who have worked with him a handful of times who still routinely ask him for advice, and not just about wrestling, and he always delivers. When CIWW was going through a bit of a rough patch, he reached out and offered to help with some of the booking to take the pressure off. Full of great stories, too. Just a shame about all the conspiracy theory bollocks he shares on Facebook.

[mim731]

1 hour ago, ThommoLincs said:

Spending the day with El Generico and Super Dragon was decent enough until they decided that all they were going to talk about was raping chicks. Absolutely disgusting pair who I was glad to see the back of.

That's both surprising, given Sami Zayn generally seems like a good egg these days, and disappointing. Is it possible it was a poorly considered immature in-joke in really poor taste (not that as a caveat that excuses it)? Probably not, but I quite like Sami Zayn so I'm hoping he's not a wrong'un. 

[Chest Rockwell]

1 hour ago, Hoptimus said:

When Vader wrestled for BCW in Scotland as part of the No Blood No Sympathy weekend Vader had the guy who was his driver for the weekend take him to a kebab shop in Kilmarnock. He ate six large chicken tikka kebabs but replace the pita bread for garlic nann bread.

Was it you, Tommy? Were you the driver?

[AnotherCrapUsername]

When I say that it was constant throughout the day I wouldn't be over exaggerating.

I'd hope that it was a poorly judge immature joke, especially as he does now seem like a genuinely nice bloke.

9 minutes ago, mim731 said:

That's both surprising, given Sami Zayn generally seems like a good egg these days, and disappointing. Is it possible it was a poorly considered immature in-joke in really poor taste (not that as a caveat that excuses it)? Probably not, but I quite like Sami Zayn so I'm hoping he's not a wrong'un.