Appearance is everything, and so is the right terminology according to ECW legend The Blue Meanie.
Meanie spoke with WrestleZone’s Dominic DeAngelo at Starrcast IV in Baltimore and the ECW Original was asked to expand on a recent tweet he sent out on why he prefers the term “event” over “show” when describing a pro wrestling spectacle. Meanie, who has been almost everywhere in today’s modern industry, gave his insight as to why such terminology can be invaluable when promoting oneself to the world both in and outside of wrestling.
“When you’re in this business, you’re in this business 24/7. If you’re not promoting the show you’re on, you gotta promote yourself. You gotta try to make new fans in and out of the ring,” Meanie said. “Finding ways to work wrestling into our conversation and draw people in to look at our business and stuff like that so there’s certain verbiage I think you either got to eliminate and switch, like people go, ‘Oh yeah I gotta show tonight,’ and people go, ‘Oh, where? You going to the movies?’”
“It’s just a matter of making yourself, no matter where you are at in the business, no matter where you are at on the card. If you exude confidence and you project yourself as a serious entertainer and project yourself bigger than what you are—sometimes that’s a good thing, sometimes that’s a bad thing—but if you’re serious about the business and not a goof. Like there’s a lot of goofs that project themselves that they’re bigger than they are and you’re like, ‘Man, I know your resume.’”
Meanie expressed his love of all types of wrestling and gave a few rundowns as to what wrestling letters he really enjoys watching.
On AEW: “I like that they’re trying to make it more of a sport with like wins and loss records and stuff like that,” he said. “I’m intrigued and I think that they’re doing good things and a lot of people think that they’re doing good things and a lot of people think that they’re doing good things, that’s why they’re drawing the houses that they are and that’s why they’re on TV every week.”
On NWA: “I love the fact that they’re doing a modern twist on something classic and it’s definitely an alternative,” he said. Meanie notes how the product has no entrance music and most of the action stays in the ring which adds to the product standing out.
On MLW: “They’re expanding as well. They’re doing great things and I’ve been very fortunate to be on their events. They like to throw me in there as like a surprise here and there.” Meanie was also very intrigued by the hiring of Chris DeJoseph to the team, who also has a very successful resume with WWE as well as Lucha Underground.
“Da Blue Guy” says he does tend to lean to the NXT product a little more due to the students he has helped train with Danny Cage and his team at The Monster Factory in the Philly area. Meanie has seen talents like Matt Riddle, Damian Priest and Steve Cutler all come through The Monster Factory (as well as talents from ROH) and it’s very rewarding for him to see them flourish.
(Transcription credit should go to @DominicDeAngelo of WrestleZone)
You can hear the complete conversation below, but Meanie, along with his B.W.O. cohorts will be in the upcoming RetroMania video game that will be released on console platforms early next year. Get all of Meanie’s insight on the wrestling business by following his Twitter handle.
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