The longest reigning WWE Tag Champion ever Paul London joins James Guttman for a one hour shoot interview that is going to leave many cages rattled across the wrestling industry!
Few wrestlers have the following that Paul London does. From his amazing work in Ring of Honor to his time with Pro Wrestling Guerrilla to his big success in WWE, Paul has always been an Internet favorite. When he's out of the ring, though, no one shoots like London. Straight forward. Hard hitting. In your face. Paul tells it like it is and doesn't just lift the backstage curtain...he tears it down and sets it on fire. Covering topics like WWE's Manson Family atmosphere to the insane story of Billy Gunn and Luther Reigns refusing to pay $10 to a gym to wrestling WWE Wrestling Buddies on a backyard trampoline, this interview will leave you speechless.
Paul London has a reputation around the business for going against the grain at times. James Guttman brings up how WWE wants stars who don't think like that. They'd rather you be dependent on them for exposure and obsessed with the fame you get from being on TV. It makes you easier to control and more willing to do whatever it takes to stay there. London appears to be the direct opposite of that. JG asks him about this and Paul couldn't agree more.
"I love you. I love you. You get it. The Twitter Effect, I call it. The Twitter Effect…Sadly, James, being a professional wrestler is all I ever wanted to with my life. Aside from acting, but to me it was the best of both worlds. I can be an actor and an athlete? This is awesome…Being around it all the time. The sunglasses. The botoxed lips. It just digusts me. You know, it's like hanging out with a bunch of puppets. A bunch of cattle."
Paul talks in-depth to ClubWWI.com listeners about that very attitude, guys wearing their L.A.M.S., egos, politics in both WWE and TNA, the horrible TNA angle he recently saw, biting his lip backstage, Mr. McMahon kiss-ups, and more.
One name that springs to mind immediately is Matt Hardy. James acknowledges that Paul London and Hardy have a pretty well documented past. But regardless, Matt is an example of The Twitter Effect. It seems that, even to his own professional determent, Matt jumps on Twitter because he seems to relish in getting attention from his fans. Recently, he's been speaking out against internet rumors and it doesn't seem to be doing him any favors. London responds…
"Matt Hardy, he's definitely one of those guys who's very phony to his fanbase. I think he tells them what he thinks they want to hear so they continue to kiss his ass. But he's very much one of those guys who won't even take his sunglasses off to talk to somebody, like if he ran into a fan at an airport or something like that. It's disgusting. When the camera's on you and people are watching, of course they're going to be fan friendly and 'I love my fans! Hey!' and all that stuff. But when it gets down to it, they couldn't be nastier about their fans and talk nastier about their fans. And it's not just that goof, but most of those guys."
The backstage environment at WWE seems downright depressing when you hear about it from someone who doesn't subscribe to the star-struck appraoch. With so many guys paranoid over spots and how to get over, London never fell into that situation. Rather than worrying about pushes or wins, he took the initiative and got over even by losing sometimes. JG and Paul discuss his amazing Royal Rumble elimination bump at the hands of Snitsky, getting in trouble for it, false praise from Pat Patterson and "the big schlep" Michael Hayes, why more guys don't do things like that, and more. Then the ClubWWI interview shifts to Paul's demeanor in the locker room. As many have heard, he sometimes could have what others describe as "a maniacal look" on his face. While that may seem over-the-top or funny, it takes a big turn when you hear about the reaction it got from some of the other stars…
"I was noted as having a maniacal sadistic look on my face several times staring off into the distance. Then someone would bring it up to me and say, "Are you ok?" I was like, "Yeah. Yeah. I'm ok. I was off thinking on something." Now I've had this conversation at least three times when I was there with a top guy - different guys each time - they said, 'You look like you're ready to kill somebody. If you ever come to work and decide to Columbine this place, start with me.' I'm not kidding you. I'm not kidding you. One of them is no longer alive. So, it's bizarre."
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