Conrad asks Mark is WCW announcers had to contend with a list of words they couldn’t say, or if producers were ever “screaming in their ear.” Mark says that if there was a list, he didn’t know about it. And probably wouldn’t have followed it. He says that “guys who worked for Vince” would come in and start yelling in the headset—guys like the aforementioned Terry Taylor. Mark eventually told them, “Listen, if you have a good idea—and I mean a GOOD idea, then tell me. Otherwise stay out of my way.” The overproduction in the headset is said to have ceased from that point forward. Mark says that Tony Schiavone is one of the greatest wrestling broadcasters of all time, but perhaps overworked himself. He was at one time appearing on Nitro, Thunder, Saturday Night, and pay-per-views. In addition to his on-air duties, Tony was in charge of the other announcers, and had an array of duties around WCW’s office. Tony has moved on to work in baseball broadcasting, and Ric mentions that he threw the first pitch at a recent game. Ric says, “I’ve got to get to a place where I can throw the ball to home plate.”
They talk about Ric Flair’s WWE sponsored autobiography that Mark was asked to “tweak” after the original author failed to deliver what Triple H and Vince McMahon envisioned. Mark says that he was brought into a board room with Ric, Vince, and Hunter, and Vince said: “This book isn’t good enough. Can you make it better?” Ric says that Mark made his book legible and Madden interrupts: “Uh, no—I made your book great.” They both agree that the problem wasn’t the original author’s style, but his affinity for Bruno Sammartino and ignorance toward the true legacy of Ric Flair. Madden says the book needed to be written by a Ric Flair fan, because otherwise, this “is just a book about some wrestler.” Ric says that the first author made him sound like Freddie Blassie: “He made it sound like every other word out of my mouth is F, F, F! I’m not going to pretend I don’t say it, but not like that.”
They wrap things up and talk about the current state of TNA. Mark Madden blames all of their troubles on the ego of Dixie Carter. He says that her ego will not allow her to take a step back, and let people who know what they’re doing take control. He says that going backwards in terms of paying talents per appearance is a sign of the end, especially since there are only a handful of drawing stars left under contract. He says that Kurt Angle is in a strange predicament; he calls him a “Top 5” athlete who belongs in the same conversation as Ric Flair and Shawn Michaels. He says that Kurt has always been the greatest wrestler as long as he’s been performing, and that hasn’t changed since he’s gone to work for TNA. Mark feels that the “stench of TNA” is what makes people feel that Kurt Angle isn’t as good as he used to be. They slow down the conversation and talk about basketball and college football, before sending things home for another week on “Wooooo! Nation.”
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Nick was born and raised in Detroit, Michigan, and lived there until the age of 18, when he decided to pack his flack jacket and move to New York City.
