Interview with Jeff Meacham.

Though you may not know Jeff Meacham, he's around. He has an online talk show that focuses around wrestling news and wrestlers. If you're a wrestling fan he's the one to go to for news and for information. Jeff has been a long time friend. Check out Talk Wrestling here.


When did you get interested in wrestling?

- I first started watching wrestling in 1990. The interest began after a fellow student at the after school club I attended brought in a Lex Luger action figure. Even though the Luger figure was WCW-made, I originally began watching the then-WWF (now known as WWE). I didn't start watching WCW until 1994.


Who is your favorite wrestler ever?

- Who was a wrestling fan during the '80s and '90s and wasn't a fan of Hulk Hogan, huh? He was the reason I got interested in the WWF and not WCW, and was the VERY reason I started actively watching WCW in 1994, as that was when he signed with the WWF's main rival. Even when he turned heel in 1996, I was one of the few people I know who didn't stop being a Hulkamaniac. Even today, with all of his sporadic apperances, he's still my favorite of all-time.


What is the name of your online talk show? What made you want to start your talk show? Was there any certain wrestler that made you want to start it or was it just something you thought of one day?

- The name of my current show is Talk Wrestling with Jeff Meacham, but this is the third online show I've been a part of in the last 5 and a half years. In the summer of 2002, I was approached by the webmaster of theMAYHEM.com (now NoDQ.com) - who I had done several live event reports for - about doing an online audio show with his best friend at the time. The original show was called Xtreme Mayhem and ran from October 2002 until February 2004. After a 7-month hiatus (because we were burnt out on doing a show for a while), we returned in September 2004 with the spinoff video show, Xtreme Mayhem Video (commonly shortened to XMV), which ran for an additional two years, until June 2006. During the last few months of XMV's run, I started doing a second audio show with my girlfriend entitled Ringside Insanity, which was named by said girlfriend. That show ran for just a few weeks and briefly spunoff its own video show as well, but by Spring 2007, I was done doing Internet showss ... or so I thought. In late-May of last year, the NoDQ webmaster and I got together and decided to launch a show exclusively for me to answer various questions from the wrestling fans, similar to the show "Talk Sex," which is where the name Talk Wrestling came from! Since the shows launch in June 2007, I've discussed anything and everything pertaining to wrestling. On episodes 14-16, I brought in the first guest on the show, Rob Van Dam.


How many interviews have you done and who have they been with?

- I don't have the exact count on the number of interviews I've done, but I do know I've interviewed over 70 different personalities over the last 5 and a half years (I've interviewed some people more than once). They are as follows: A.J. Styles, Alan Funk (formerly Kwee-Wee in WCW), Angel (from XPW), Babi Slymm (SoCal wrestler), Bo Cooper (SoCal wrestler), Bobby "The Brain" Heenan, Brian "Crush" Adams, Bryan Alvarez from the Wrestling Observer, Buff Bagwell, Chris Harris, Chris Hero (SoCal wrestler), Chris Sabin, Chris Yandek (Sports-Entertainmetn Journalist), Christopher Daniels, Colt Cabana, Daffney, Dan "The Beast" Severn, D'Lo Brown, Dusty Rhodes, Elix Skipper, Frankie Kazarian, Gary Yap (SoCal promoter), "Mean" Gene Okerlund, Goldylocks (formerly of TNA), GQ Money (from XPW), Harley Race, Hawk from Tough Enough 2, the Human Tornado (SoCal wrestler), the Iron Sheik, Jamie Noble, James Mitchell, James Storm, Jayden Kane (SoCal wrestler), Jeff Jarrett, Jerry Lynn, Jerry Tuite (The Wall in WCW), Jimmy Hart, Joanie "Chyna" Laurer, Jonah from Tough Enough III, Kaos (from XPW), Kid Kash, Lash Leroux, Michelle Deighton (former wrestler who competed on Cycle 4 of America's Next Top Model), Mike Awesome, Mike Sanders, Mike Tenay, Missy Hyatt, Petey Williams, Randy Savage, Rob Van Dam, Ron Killings, Sakoda, Samoa Joe, Sean Waltman, Shane Douglas, Sid Vicious, SoCal Val, Sonny Siaki, Supreme, Taylor Matheny from Tough Enough I, Terry Funk, The Sandman, The Stro (formerly the Maestro in WCW), Trinity, Trish Stratus, Veronica Caine (from XPW), and Vince Russo


Give a brief explanation of wrestling and its changes since the early days for those people who aren’t wrestling fans or those who aren’t too into wrestling.

- Well, even since the early days, and I'm going back to the turn of the 20th century here, wrestling has always been a form of entertainment. The difference since the very early 1990s is that it's now openly referred to as "sports-entertainment" and no longer presented as an actual competitive sport. Since the WWF's admission of the "fake" aspect of it, the terms "work" and "shoot" have become prevalant in the business, with "work" referring to something that was pre-determined in a match and "shoot" meaning something that was real. Regardless of the pre-determined nature of the industry or the matches presented, the participants are very real and are often portrayed as characters that are merely offshoots of who they really are, such as Stone Cold Steve Austin being depicted as a beer-drinking, truck-driving, finger-giving redneck from south Texas.


If you were a wrestler, what would your name be and why? What would your theme song be? Would you have a manager or a tag team partner?

- Well, I actually am involved in a company based in Southern California as a manager, which is what I've wanted to know for so long. I never had any aspirations to actually step in the ring, but if I did, I'd use my real name because I've never been a fan of the overly-gimmicky names. I'd have a hard rock theme song (nothing set in stone, just something cool) and would not be a tag wrestler or have a manager; I like to do things on my own.


Which wrestler’s theme song do you like most?

- Of all the themes ever used, I'd have to go with the ones used by former WWE and ECW Champion Rob Van Dam. In ECW, he used "Walk" by Pantera (later recorded by Kilgore for the ECW CD). When he moved to WWE, he used "One of a Kind" by Breaking Point. Both of his songs rock!


What’s your favorite finisher?

- Again, gotta go with Rob Van Dam and his 5-Star Frog Splash


What is your favorite PPV ever? Why?

- Hmmmm, that's a toughy. I may have to answer that one after this year's WrestleMania, because I will be attending! Of the ones I've already seen, I'd have to go with WrestleMania VII, strictly because it was the first PPV I ever saw.


Have you ever attempted to wrestle?

- Nope. As I said, I currently manage, but have never attempted to step through the ropes as a competitor.


What do you think of the whole ‘Money’ Mayweather vs. Big Show angle?

- Personally, I think it's a sad use of the returning Big Show. Everyone reading this knows there is NO WAY Mayweather is gonna lose a fight - staged or not - heading into his big rematch with De La Hoya in September, and that leads to the Big Show having yet another loss at WrestleMania. Since debuting in WWE in 1999, Big Show has one exactly ONE match on the company's grandest stage, that being a tag win with Kane as his partner over Chris Masters and Carlito back in 2006. The whole angle is ridiculous.


What’s your favorite angle in wrestling history?

- WOW! What a toughy! I'd probably have to go with the original introduction of the New World Order (commonly shortened to nWo) in WCW. From the introductions of Scott Hall and Kevin Nash to the formation with Hollywood Hogan at Bash at the Beach '96 to the continuing "membership drive" in 1996 and 1997, every part of that angle was done so well. Unfortunately, the same angle led to the downfall of WCW in the end, as it was WAY overdone.


How many wrestling events have you been to?

- Oh boy. I'm gonna break this down for you ...

WWF/WWE events: 18 since 1991
TNA events: 1 in 2004 (pay-per-view at that!)
WCW events: 1 in 1994
California independent events: 49 since 2003!