The CEO of Hardcore gives the inside track on his journey through the WWF and ECW!
August 31, 2000
Norton: So how did you end up in this crazy game?
Grimes: Way back when… I don't know what year, but I was a football player, and got speared in the back. I slipped a disc. I was playing the Hayward Outlaws on the minor leagues at the time. I tried to make a comeback but I couldn't do it. It was a bad time for me. I did the wrong things, danced on the wrong side of the tracks. So my mother shipped me off to my dad's in Missouri, and he straightened me out pretty good, got my life back together. One day we're talking outside a movie theatre, and he says "So what do you want to do with your life?" So I say I want to be a wrestler. "Why don't you try that fake stuff on TV?" he asks. Well, I tell him that I don't know how to do that. So he says "If I find out how to get you in, would you do it?" So I say "Yeah, sure."
So the next day he comes back to me with a magazines which has an ad for a book, which reads "How to Become A Professional Wrestler." I don't know if you've ever seen it, one of the writers was Percy Pringle… (Paul Bearer)
Norton: Wow, yeah… I ordered the same thing like six years ago. That was a good book, it had information about all areas of wrestling…
Grimes: …exactly, and one of those things was a list of wrestling schools you could go to. But there weren't any in Missouri. However, there WAS a bunch near where my mom was…
Norton: …in California.
Grimes: Exactly. So I go all the way back to California and check them out, and I saw one up the street; Roland Alexander's APW. It was one of the best ones. I didn't waste any time, I just walked in and said "let's do this."
Norton: So who trained you there?
Grimes: A bunch of people. Rick Thompson, the worked father of Robert Thompson. There's Matt Hyson (Spike Dudley), Mike Modest. Manny Fernandez had a part in it too. And Dory Funk Jr.
Norton: He was out there for a period of time?
Grimes: Yeah, I worked with him in the WWF training camp.
Norton: So when did you start?
Grimes: I started in March, 1995. I was so eager, there was a class ahead of me and I kept showing up for that one and pretend to be in that class. I'd bump with them and stuff, and ended up joining that class.
Norton: What led to you getting a tryout with the WWF?
Grimes: I was wrestling for APW. I liked documenting on film everything I was doing at the time. Roland had his . Peter Holmes, J.R. Benson. J.R. was one of the managers in APW at the time. He'd bring a camera. Roland didn't mind as long as he could get a copy of the footage. I didn't know at that time that J.R. himself took some of that footage and sent it off to ECW. So in ECW, I think it was Steve Richards or Blue Meanie who got a hold of it. They gave it to Tom Prichard, who gave it to Jim Cornette. Cornette saw it, liked it, but had no idea who I was. The tape wasn't labeled. J.R. sent some more stuff, directly to Cornette. He knew Jim from Smokey Mountain wrestling. Cornette asks him about me, and gets my number. So Jim calls me up and says (Vic puts on Cornette's voice) "Hi, this is Jim Cornette, with the WWF up in Stanford, Conneticut." So I'm thinking yeah, whatever, it's one of the boys, so I just reply "okay Kelly, I know it's you!" All of a sudden I say "I have to go," I'm getting out of the shower and all that, so I hung up on Jim Cornette.
So he calls me back. He says "Is this Vic?" I say "Yeah." He says "This is Jim Cornette… again… from Titan Sports. I'd like you to get a pen and paper, I'll give you my number, you can do whatever you want with it." So from there we schedule a tryout!
Norton: I understand you could bring someone along to work with for the tryout, and that person was Erin O' Grady, better known now as Crash Holly. Why did you pick him?
Grimes: In actuality, this was my tryout. Erin himself was on a lot of footage that Jim saw, I guess, we used to work together a lot. So I asked "can I bring someone for the tryout, or will I be working with one of your boys?" So he says "why don't you bring along that guy you were working with, he looked pretty good." So it was my tryout, but instead of squashing him, I fed him some moves, gave him a lot. We went back and forth, and when it was over, they liked both of us. They said we had the best tryout match in the last five years, and that in the last ten years, this is the first time they've ever signed both guys.
Norton: You've worked for Roland, Vince McMahon and Paul Heyman. What do you think is the one thing which makes each successful in this business?
Grimes: I'd say Vince because of his creativity and storylines. Heyman is great for allowing people to be pretty much themselves and let them do what they want. Roland has a good eye for talent. He knows what to watch for in the moves. He's an old-schooler. He likes to keep it real on the mat. He knows what he's doing.
Norton: You do moonsaults, senton bombs, somersaults. What inspired you to learn moves that 99% of wrestlers can't do, and no other 380lb wrestler I've ever seen can?
Grimes: In actuality, when I started in this business I wanted to be… I sound like a mark saying this (laughs)… there aren't too many Mick Foleys out there. I know I have the ability to take a lot of pain, and to do a lot of the stuff he was doing. I wanted to be the first big heavyweight doing the high flying, hardcore wrestling in wrestling. Doing that at 350 pounds, and being successful, I figured that would make somebody want me… and I guess it's worked!
Norton: I caught you wrestling over the weekend for APW. The most crazy asinine bump I've ever seen took place when you and Jardi Frantz simultaneously performed senton bombs from the top turnbuckle to the concrete. I go into the dressing room to talk to you after the show and you say "it's okay, I'm used to it." What's the worst injury you've ever gotten? I couldn't believe you were walking!
Grimes: As I used to say in ECW, I'm the CEO of hardcore. it's just another day at the office (laughs). A difference between me and Mick Foley is injuries. Foley is such a great worker, a class act I have so much respect for the guy. Of course, he got hurt a lot, because of the risks he took for the fans. Somehow, I've been real lucky, I haven't been badly hurt. I can't explain it! (laughs) But then, I haven't been in the game as long as him either. My mom used to say that I fear nothing but responsibility, and I just got married! As far as the craziest bump… or the one that hurt the most, I was wrestling Mike Modest from WCW / Beyond The Mat. I ripped off a door and tried to hit him in the head with it. He blocked the shot and smacked me with it, then set it up between two chairs. He went to T-Bone suplex me through it, and I landed on the doorknob. I think I broke a rib on that one, it hurt like hell.
Norton: My lord! That must have been back at APW then.
Grimes: Yeah. I've taken some crazy bumps in ECW, but luckily only walked away with bruises.
Norton: On that, I was at Living Dangerously early this year and couldn't have been more than ten feet away when you and New Jack fell from the top of a 20 foot scaffold to the concrete. Many thought you were dead. What happened?
Grimes: Man, that day… that was probably the most exciting day in my pro wrestling career, as far as the biggest high I've ever had, hearing the fans go crazy chanting "ECW." It's an unbelievable feeling to be up there. I had so much energy. But when I got up there, I said "this ain't that high! As long as I hit those tables, I'll be alright!"
Norton: Ironic words.
Grimes: Yeah. Things went wrong, that day. We couldn't get our footing up there. Most people don't know he was going to suplex me. We couldn’t get our footing, so I kept screaming "throw me off! Throw me off!" He said "No, we're going together!" So I said "hook me, and let's go!" I guess he couldn't get his footing, so we just said "fu*k it, here we go!" He pushed me, not pull me… I knew I was going to hit him on the way down. So I flipped out as far as I could so I wouldn't land on the guy. I don't think I hit any of the tables at all. I'm sad he got hurt. I wish we had the opportunity to do it again properly, make sure someone didn't get hurt. That was one of the biggest bumps in my career so far.
Norton: You also took on Balls Mahoney in an exploding ring match. That's something you don't see in the United States.
Grimes: I was grateful to be there. Balls and I were the first to ever have that match in the U.S. Balls didn't like the pyro guy too much after what happened at the end; he powerbombed me off the top rope onto the barb wire, but the explosion didn't go. He was pissed!
Norton: Did it scare you at all?
Grimes: I got nervous before doing it, but when I was out there, I was just thinking "this is no big deal!" It's funny, because I've done the barb wire, thumb tacks, explosions… I think all that is great, but I'd rather just wrestle, personally (laughs). I'll take it to the extreme if anyone wants to do it, though.
Norton: Let's jump to the WWF. You debuted, made television, they took you off, unhappy with your gimmick. You went through Memphis and ended up in ECW.
Grimes: They weren't happy with the gimmick. They wanted me to get some more experience, too, so they sent me down to Power Pro. Shortly thereafter, Paul Heyman picked me up for ECW. I was there nine months, and I feel I did real good, but I'm not sure if the WWF was watching me during that time. I got a big chance to wrestle there, but a lot of that didn't air.
Norton: You have a reputation as a total brawler, but you can also wrestle pretty well, use the ropes and that stuff, from what I've seen.
Grimes: All anyone thinks I'm good for is the hardcore crazy stuff. I can work, too, it just depends who I'm in the ring with. I wish I had the chance to go back to the WWF to show them what I could do.
Norton: Think that's likely?
Grimes: They did say that there might me a possibility. IF they don't have a spot for me now, that doesn't mean they won't in a week, month a year.
Norton: And at least now they know you better, as does the rest of the industry, which gives you more opportunity.
Grimes: Right. I really enjoyed working for both companies. I'd love to go back to ECW. Man… ECW was me. It was my style, and I felt at home there.
Norton: Were you happy to be sent to ECW originally?
Grimes: Before I signed with the WWF, I actually wanted to go to ECW. So yeah, I was very happy to go there. I was nervous at first, thinking it was all barb wire and tables. But they work very hard. It's not all garbage wrestling.
Norton: What's your status with ECW right now?
Grimes: They never officially let me go. The bottom line is, they're not even using a lot of their own workers right now, and they're working towards their new TV deal. I hope that when I talk to Paul, when they get their new deal I can go back there. I didn't leave on bad terms. I really do love that company.
Norton: What are you planning in the immediate future?
Grimes: I've been doing local indys all over. You just saw me Saturday. I'm talking to some companies… basically about going to Japan. FMW, anyone willing to take me. Outside that, I've submitted my stuff to WCW and re-submitted to the WWF. But right now I'm just waiting an announcement, waiting for something to happen.
Norton: Thanks for chatting with us. Anything you'd like to say to your adoring public?
Grimes: It ain't over until the fat lady sings, and she ain't singing yet. You'll see me back there real soon… something like that (laughs).
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