Dreamer talks about the world title, problems with TNN, his feud with Raven and more!
May 16, 2000
Tommy Dreamer may be the definition of a company franchise; he’s been with ECW as a fan, a friend, a partner and a performer ever since entering the company when it began seven years ago. During his time with the promotion, he’s seen it grow from a regional indy to the third largest wrestling company in the United States, with weekly shows on TNN and six pay per view events a year. Many feel that they are on the verge of overtaking WCW as the second biggest wrestling company in North America.
Despite all this, Dreamer only recently celebrated his 29th birthday, and he’s already worse for wear after years of hardcore wrestling. Last year he herniated two disks in his back, temporarily ending his wrestling career. Ignoring doctor’s pleas to have surgery, Tommy returned to the ring, where he continues to live his dream as a pro wrestler, fighting through pain and suffering, night after night. Nobody is certain how long it will be before his back completely gives out; it could be a day, it could be a year. One way or the other, the former ECW heavyweight champion refuses to yield a step, and continues to wrestle some of the most brutal matches in North America today.
IGN's Blake Norton caught up with the man himself at E3 last week to talk about his life, career, and the future of Extreme Championship Wrestling.
Norton: How are you doing physically?
Dreamer: It’s just one day at a time. I remember I was working against Lance Storm in Poughkeepsie for TNN… and I went for the elbow on the ladder… and I hit it so hard I felt I put everything back in place. It felt so good… I hit it so hard I had feeling in my feet… it’s weird. I heard that a severe blow like that can feel good sometimes.
Norton: That’s good to hear. There’s a lot of guys here, a lot more than I expected. Is the video games thing opening up for you guys?
Dreamer: Yeah. We have something coming out for the Playstation 2 as well. There’s a bunch of guys here just to promote ECW and the video game. It’s my first time here, I got to see Ice T., got photo ops with the Planet Of The Apes, The Simpsons, we’re all having a good time. Everybody but Rhino are gamers.
Norton: Last time I talked to you, you talked about wanting to go down as one of the great wrestlers who never held a world title, like Roddy Piper, Jake Roberts, Ted DiBise… just a few weeks later you end up winning the world title on me! (Dreamer bows his head in shame). Has becoming champion changed your perspective on it?
Dreamer: Um… No. (grins) The whole Mike Awesome situation, with the WWF and Tazz… Paul and myself, I think we turned something that could have been a real negative into an extreme positive. It really proved that no matter who leaves, who comes who goes, this company can take bullets. What could have been bad turned out even better.
Norton: When Tazz came in, I said that it was a bad idea because it took focus off of ECW and put it on the WWF, but by the time it ended, I came out and said “well, people are talking about ECW now.” Was that your plan?
Dreamer: Pretty much. We made history. It was a WWF guy and a WCW guy fighting for the ECW title. And the next day, we made history again, because me, Cactus and Terry were all in port together, that was the ECW, WWF and WCW all together (laughs).
Norton: After that match, Raven showed up and you hugged. Have plans changed?
Dreamer: Raven and I are over.
Norton: What’s going to be your next big program?
Dreamer: Dunno. Justin Credible… whatever. I don’t care.
Norton: Is there a particular reason that your feud with Raven was ended? Heyman said he wasn’t happy with his work, and Raven says a lot “hey, I’m going to the WWF in a few months anyway.” Does that factor in?
Dreamer: I have no clue, Paul is the boss. To me, it makes no sense that if you’re going to leave ECW, you come into your new job and say “in one year I’m going to leave,” why would the company want to do anything with you? Not only in wrestling, if you walk into McDonald's and say that in one year you’re going to Burger King, they’re not going to promote you to manager.
Norton: What’s your next goal? Winning the world title wasn’t even one.
Dreamer: I’d like to work against Hunter. I’d really like that. I’d like to do TV shows and acting. I really enjoyed that.
Norton: We were talking to Don (Cyrus) earlier, and he talked about a TV show with him and another wrestler, it sounded crazy to me.
Dreamer: There was supposed to be a lot of cross promotion, but after June 12th we’ll see what happens with ECW, TNN, the WWF.
Norton: Is there a legitimate chance you’ll end up on USA?
Dreamer: I heard the same rumors. I hope so. I said it a long time ago, TNN didn’t do a lot of what they said they’d do. It’s funny that they don’t give us one penny, yet they offer the WWF $110 million dollars. Like they won the lotto, big game lotto. That’s cool. In ECW, always expect the unexpected. (grins)
Norton: What about changing nights? Friday is a terrible night for a wrestling show.
Dreamer: When we went in, we had no leverage. We’re the highest rated show on a network that gets no ratings, so we’ll see. If the WWF doesn’t go to TNN, they better cough up a lot of money to keep us.
Norton: Do you think that when your contract is up with TNN, you’ll have a lot of other offers?
Dreamer: Yes. And being out here in Los Angeles, I’ve met a lot of TV people too. A lot of people are very high on ECW. A lot of people who are wrestling fans, they went to Wrestlemania and couldn’t believe how big the ECW chants there were, and everyone wants us out in California.
Norton: So the video games, everything else, is to make ECW more mainstream so that when your contract comes up you’ll have more options?
Dreamer: Timing is everything.
Norton: Will you guys be having any shows out here (out West) sometime?
Dreamer: Fall or early winter. We may do Vegas, San Francisco, LA, San Diego. We’re working on it.
Norton: There’s some talk about Canada too, though travel would be an issue.
Dreamer: Also visas, I also think the money, the Canadian dollars are much weaker.
Norton: Well, we hope to see you out here soon. Take care of yourself, Tommy.
Dreamer: Later guys.
May 16, 2000
Tommy Dreamer may be the definition of a company franchise; he’s been with ECW as a fan, a friend, a partner and a performer ever since entering the company when it began seven years ago. During his time with the promotion, he’s seen it grow from a regional indy to the third largest wrestling company in the United States, with weekly shows on TNN and six pay per view events a year. Many feel that they are on the verge of overtaking WCW as the second biggest wrestling company in North America.
Despite all this, Dreamer only recently celebrated his 29th birthday, and he’s already worse for wear after years of hardcore wrestling. Last year he herniated two disks in his back, temporarily ending his wrestling career. Ignoring doctor’s pleas to have surgery, Tommy returned to the ring, where he continues to live his dream as a pro wrestler, fighting through pain and suffering, night after night. Nobody is certain how long it will be before his back completely gives out; it could be a day, it could be a year. One way or the other, the former ECW heavyweight champion refuses to yield a step, and continues to wrestle some of the most brutal matches in North America today.
IGN's Blake Norton caught up with the man himself at E3 last week to talk about his life, career, and the future of Extreme Championship Wrestling.
Norton: How are you doing physically?
Dreamer: It’s just one day at a time. I remember I was working against Lance Storm in Poughkeepsie for TNN… and I went for the elbow on the ladder… and I hit it so hard I felt I put everything back in place. It felt so good… I hit it so hard I had feeling in my feet… it’s weird. I heard that a severe blow like that can feel good sometimes.
Norton: That’s good to hear. There’s a lot of guys here, a lot more than I expected. Is the video games thing opening up for you guys?
Dreamer: Yeah. We have something coming out for the Playstation 2 as well. There’s a bunch of guys here just to promote ECW and the video game. It’s my first time here, I got to see Ice T., got photo ops with the Planet Of The Apes, The Simpsons, we’re all having a good time. Everybody but Rhino are gamers.
Norton: Last time I talked to you, you talked about wanting to go down as one of the great wrestlers who never held a world title, like Roddy Piper, Jake Roberts, Ted DiBise… just a few weeks later you end up winning the world title on me! (Dreamer bows his head in shame). Has becoming champion changed your perspective on it?
Dreamer: Um… No. (grins) The whole Mike Awesome situation, with the WWF and Tazz… Paul and myself, I think we turned something that could have been a real negative into an extreme positive. It really proved that no matter who leaves, who comes who goes, this company can take bullets. What could have been bad turned out even better.
Norton: When Tazz came in, I said that it was a bad idea because it took focus off of ECW and put it on the WWF, but by the time it ended, I came out and said “well, people are talking about ECW now.” Was that your plan?
Dreamer: Pretty much. We made history. It was a WWF guy and a WCW guy fighting for the ECW title. And the next day, we made history again, because me, Cactus and Terry were all in port together, that was the ECW, WWF and WCW all together (laughs).
Norton: After that match, Raven showed up and you hugged. Have plans changed?
Dreamer: Raven and I are over.
Norton: What’s going to be your next big program?
Dreamer: Dunno. Justin Credible… whatever. I don’t care.
Norton: Is there a particular reason that your feud with Raven was ended? Heyman said he wasn’t happy with his work, and Raven says a lot “hey, I’m going to the WWF in a few months anyway.” Does that factor in?
Dreamer: I have no clue, Paul is the boss. To me, it makes no sense that if you’re going to leave ECW, you come into your new job and say “in one year I’m going to leave,” why would the company want to do anything with you? Not only in wrestling, if you walk into McDonald's and say that in one year you’re going to Burger King, they’re not going to promote you to manager.
Norton: What’s your next goal? Winning the world title wasn’t even one.
Dreamer: I’d like to work against Hunter. I’d really like that. I’d like to do TV shows and acting. I really enjoyed that.
Norton: We were talking to Don (Cyrus) earlier, and he talked about a TV show with him and another wrestler, it sounded crazy to me.
Dreamer: There was supposed to be a lot of cross promotion, but after June 12th we’ll see what happens with ECW, TNN, the WWF.
Norton: Is there a legitimate chance you’ll end up on USA?
Dreamer: I heard the same rumors. I hope so. I said it a long time ago, TNN didn’t do a lot of what they said they’d do. It’s funny that they don’t give us one penny, yet they offer the WWF $110 million dollars. Like they won the lotto, big game lotto. That’s cool. In ECW, always expect the unexpected. (grins)
Norton: What about changing nights? Friday is a terrible night for a wrestling show.
Dreamer: When we went in, we had no leverage. We’re the highest rated show on a network that gets no ratings, so we’ll see. If the WWF doesn’t go to TNN, they better cough up a lot of money to keep us.
Norton: Do you think that when your contract is up with TNN, you’ll have a lot of other offers?
Dreamer: Yes. And being out here in Los Angeles, I’ve met a lot of TV people too. A lot of people are very high on ECW. A lot of people who are wrestling fans, they went to Wrestlemania and couldn’t believe how big the ECW chants there were, and everyone wants us out in California.
Norton: So the video games, everything else, is to make ECW more mainstream so that when your contract comes up you’ll have more options?
Dreamer: Timing is everything.
Norton: Will you guys be having any shows out here (out West) sometime?
Dreamer: Fall or early winter. We may do Vegas, San Francisco, LA, San Diego. We’re working on it.
Norton: There’s some talk about Canada too, though travel would be an issue.
Dreamer: Also visas, I also think the money, the Canadian dollars are much weaker.
Norton: Well, we hope to see you out here soon. Take care of yourself, Tommy.
Dreamer: Later guys.
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