Recap of Scott D’Amore on Between the Ropes

by Richard Trionfo

This week on Between the Ropes, Fritz, Dickerman, and Vito DeNucci talked to Total Nonstop Wrestling and Border City Wrestling’s Scott D’Amore to talk about the new television deal for TNA on SpikeTV, what else is going on with TNA, his career in professional wrestling, and other issues in the world of professional wrestling.

Right now his role in TNA depends on the day of the week and what people think about him. He put over the talents of the creative team and mentioned that it included Mike Tenay, Dutch Mantell, Bill Banks, and Jeremy Borash. Scott joked that Jeremy was the best thing this side of Disco Inferno for being funny.

There are a number of approaches when it comes to booking and writing. Most people feel that it helps to have a logical progression. They want to make people wonder what is going to happen next. It is like old school wrestling with some shocks where things happen that people did not expect. If you go with the grain and go against it, there is something that might stir some interest without ruining the product.

There will be a distinction between the X Division, heavyweight division, and tag team division. Scott talked about how you still see teams that work together and use double team maneuvers. You have America’s Most Wanted, Team Canada, 3 Live Kru, and The Naturals among the established teams. It is good to have two wrestlers team up for a special cause, but you still want to have a solid tag team base.

He talks about how he started in 1992 and was trained by ‘The Canadian Destroyer’ Doug Chevalier. He was a guy who was a great trainer because he had the patience to put up with Scott. Then he trained with Irish Mickey Doyle, and teamed with Mickey. He trained with Al Snow as well. He was a jobber and enhancement talent for WCW and the WWF. Then he wrestled in Japan and Germany as well as other parts of Europe. He joked that his career was ended by either a lack of talent or post concussion syndrome and the jury is still out on which contributed more. Jeff Jarrett gave Scott a chance at age 28 to be an assistant and agent in TNA. He did the same thing in WWA. Team Canada was his idea and Jeff thought about the need for a coach. Scott said that Bret Hart would be the best option, but Jeff decided to go with the cheap instead of the good with Scott. That kept him in a role until the current spot.

He says that the TNA locker room is one of the most talented and most athletic locker rooms. Scott talked about how he worked a show with Bret Hart where they had a Hart Foundation reunion. He enjoyed being able to shoot the breeze with Bret.

There is a need for long term direction. While you might not hold things off, you might draw them out. Scott talks about how you have Raven and Sabu teaming up against Rhino and Jeff Jarrett. He also talks about the Super X Cup Tournament. He says that in his biased opinion, TNA is providing the best wrestling product. TNA has a better athletic product right now. Someone told him that they don’t feel ashamed to be wrestling fans when they watch TNA.

You need to look at a game plan with what you want to do. You might have the first few plays scripted, but you need to make some adjustments. If you need to make a change, you can cut it out and go a different way. They might look ahead a few months or a few weeks based on the story arc.

There is a reason why a Roddy Piper is brought in by a WWE, but you need to remain focused on the talent you need to build around. If you want to bring in a Bret Hart, Kevin Nash, or Sting you need to have other reasons to get people to watch the product. One of those guys might bring someone into the product and hope that they will stay around to watch A.J. Styles or Sonjay Dutt. They are a band-aid, but not the core of the product.

He thinks that A.J. Styles needs to be the focus of TNA as well as Monty Brown. He likes Rhino, who he thinks WWE creative dropped the ball with. There is also America’s Most Wanted who are a great tag team. He thinks that Lance Hoyt can be a breakout star. You need to keep an open mind to see what hits in case there is a dark horse who gets over with the audience, they can use that person. Scott joked that he is not the most creative man ever to come into the wrestling business and does not have a 143 IQ, but the creative team will work together to put the talent in a position to make things work the best way. If the talent busts their asses and put on memorable performances you will get the people to watch.

Simply because someone was not on top in another company that does not mean that they are not a great talent. Scott talks about how Steve Austin was not given the chance in WCW. There was someone who doubted the popularity of the People’s Elbow before a show in Ontario. Scott jokes that is why the Rock is a millionaire in Hollywood and he is doing radio interviews.

Scott does not know if he is going to be back on television. There are some who think that he needs to be on television, however there are some who think it is best to stay behind the scenes. It is hard to be involved in the creative process as well as being on television because of the potential for there to be a conflict. Scott liked the use of the photograph in the locker during the pay per view, and it was Dutch Mantell’s idea.

When TNA announced the television deal with SpikeTV, there was a wave of excitement. It had been rumored for so long that there was a sigh of relief that it happened. October 1^{st seems like a long time away, but there is only a short time to get things done. Scott does not know how long the deal was on the table, and joked that in his current position, he is on a ‘need to know’ basis. He found out the same way that everyone did. It was on a conference call where the announcement was made. It was a way for the people in TNA to know before the general public.}

Between the Ropes airs every Wednesday from 10:00 p.m. until Midnight on 740 The Team in Orlando, Florida with hosts Brian Fritz, Dickerman, and Vito DeNucci. Check out www.betweentheropes.com to listen to the live stream of the show every week. Archives of past interviews with Paul Heyman, Mike Tenay, Terry Funk, A.J. Styles, Rob Van Dam, Tully Blanchard, Mick Foley, Ric Flair, Matt Hardy, Jerry Lawler, Bobby Heenan, Steve Corino, Shane Douglas, Elix Skipper, Harley Race, Bubba Ray Dudley, and many more people in the world of professional wrestling can also be found on www.betweentheropes.com.