(This was something else I found going through those old discs, Axeman's In the Spotlight Interview with me. I enjoyed this and thought I'd repost it here for those that may have missed the first time around a couple of years ago.)
This edition of In The Spotlight focuses on "The War Machine," Gene Jackson. I asked Gene a number of questions, and found his responses to be quite interesting. I'm sure you will, too!
As always, I need to remind you that the opinions expressed in this column are not necessarily those of Hollywood Jimmy Blaylock, The Axeman, or anyone else connected with this site.
When & how did you get into wrestling?
"I was a MAJOR wrestling fan for most of my life. I always wanted to get into the business but never really knew how. In early 1996, I found a number to Bill Dundee's wrestling school and I called and talked to him and wasn't really impressed and didn't really think much else about it. Then a DJ in Columbus started running shows at the Lavender Coliseum with Davey Rich, Steve Armstrong, etc. I asked the promoter after the show who I would talk to about getting trained and he told me, "Sammy Hall." So I talked to Sammy and he gave me his number and said he didn't have anywhere to do any training at the time but to keep in touch. Well about a year past and I had finished school at Northeast Community College and I seen a poster for a show in Saltillo, MS. I went to the show and talked to Sammy and he was training Chris Kilgore, Josh Holly, and Tony Dabbs at the time. I went and worked out with them and he agreed to train me. Due to scheduling conflicts with work, I missed a couple of months but around October of '97 I started training regularly and in December I debuted doing a run-in on a match pitting Sammy and Big Bubba Monroe against the Fly Boyz. I couldn't come up with a name and I was kinda thrown out there for my first match so I decided to use the name of the only suitable ring music in my car, 'War Machine' by Kiss. I was only gonna use it temporarily 'til I came up with something better, but it stuck, and despite several attempts to change it over the years, it's still what most people know me as."
Who trained you?
"Mostly Sammy Hall, but Chris Kilgore, Josh Holly, and Tony Dabbs played a major part in my training."
When and where was your first match?
"My first actual match was in January of '98 in Saltillo, MS. teaming with Chris Kilgore (as a masked babyface no less.....don't ask) against Bobby and Rocky Ewing, it was a fun little match and those guys were great to work with. The next month I got my first win in a singles match as a heel against "House of Pain" Keely Rhodes who was very generous in offering to put my green ass over, I really appreciated that."
Who has been the biggest influence on you as a wrestler and why?
"I studied a lot of heels over the years and tried to implement a lot of the stuff I had learned watching them. I really wish I had the time and opportunity to work these days, as I feel after stepping away from it for a while and watching so much old school wrestling I would be a lot better at it today (psychology wise, not work wise). In the past I was bad to do things that amused ME, or friends in the crowd, than doing what would get over the best. (I GUESS THIS IS MORE OF AN ANSWER TO THE NEXT QUESTION) Anyhow, I was kind of ironic as I downed old school thinking and tried to rebel, yet worked a totally old school ring style. But anyway, to answer your question, at the time I started wrestling I was a big fan of the Outsiders, and was a big fan of Brian Pillman's Loose Cannon gimmick, and I really loved Bret Hart's heel run before leaving for WCW, and of course DeGeneration X was the inspiration for a lot of mine and Neil's antics (inside the ring, and in the back) during our run as Southern Destruction and prior to that as 'The New Breed'."
What organizations have you worked for, and where are you currently working?
"Bad Boys Promotions, IWF, CWA, MSWA, MUWA, NWA MS, TWA, and a whole lot of other initials I won't bore you with. No I'm currently not involved with wrestling other than writing for HollywoodJimmy.com."
What championships have you held? Do you currently hold a title?
"The IWF Tag Titles (twice), the ICWF Tag Titles(a few times), the Bad Boys Tag Titles, and the CWA Light-heavyweight Title (no that's not a misprint.....long story). As for currently, I own a replica NWA title belt so I guess that makes me as much of a champion as most on the indy scene."
Hold it, I just gotta know about you holding the CWA Light-heavyweight Title.
"LOL...O.K. In Corinth they were doing an angle where Johnny Dotson was the CWA Light-heavyweight Champion, and manager Honest John was bringing in challengers each week to try to take the title. Well, after a couple of weeks of failing with light-heavyweights, he promised the next week he had someone who would take the title for sure. The following Friday, Johnny was in the ring and Honest John came out alone. Dotson asked him 'where's the challenger,' so while he had his back turned I hit the ring and they rang the bell and the title match began. I dominated him for several minutes until he finally made a comeback. After a flurry of moves, he got me down and nailed a frog splash from the top rope. Honest John jumped on the apron and distracted the ref., while my valet at the time slid in the ring and nailed Dotson in the back of the head with a high heel shoe, allowing me to get the pin and the CWA Light-heavyweight Title. However then promoter Rodney Grimes came out moments later and stripped me of the title with a ridiculous claim that I was 'over the weight limit' for the division, to which I threatened to file a discrimination lawsuit, but unfortunately the decision stood. So, that's how much like Bret Hart, I was SCREWED out of the CWA Light-heavyweight title.
What are your goals in wrestling?
"To have a couple of more matches and to have people on there way home say, 'you know that fat guy can't wrestle worth a s***, but he's pretty funny'."
What are some of your biggest accomplishments in wrestling so far?
"I've beaten Ricky Franks at least 99 consecutive times. I got to tag with Don Bass (may not mean much to most people but I thought it was pretty cool to work with someone I grew up watching). "Handsome" Jimmy Valiant has put me out with a sleeper twice. I once pinned "Mega Man" Rodney Grimes for the title in Corinth!! (O.K. I made that up, but that woulda been pretty cool huh!). I worked a couple of shows with legends from my childhood like Greg Valentine and Jake "the Snake" Roberts and actually witnessed one of them snorting cocaine in the dressing room (and not the one you'd think). And my biggest accomplishment in wrestling, Tommy "Wildfire" Rich, former NWA World Champion (well for a week at least) talked a Sheriff in Greenwood, Mississippi into not taking me to jail for "trying to run over some people". (Yes that is a true story, ask Neil)."
Hold it, I just have to know about that incident in Greenwood. Details, please.
"O.K., to this day I'm still not clear exactly what happened here, but here's the story. Neil and I went to Greenwood to do an ACW show for Rick Ivey. It was a big show at some kind of festival, and he had Jake Roberts, Doug Gilbert, Buddy Landell, Tommy Rich, Big Don Brodie, amongst others there. Well, we had trouble figuring out how to get to the tent/dressing room, and were basically told we had to drive through the middle of a bunch of people. Well, there was another truck heading in so we followed it. At one point we had to make a sharp turn around a tree, and the wheels kind of slid around a little bit because it was grass, but I really didn't notice anyone around the area. So we get to the tent and are about to go in when this Sheriff walks up and asks to speak to the driver of the silver Buick. So I say 'that's me.' He tells me some woman claimed I was cutting donuts and nearly hit her kids. Well this pissed me off because it was ridiculous, and I told the guy, 'They're full of s**t, I wasn't even close to anyone, and I sure as h*** wasn't cutting any donuts.' He then said, 'well why would they say that?' I replied, 'I couldn't tell why, but it isn't true.' And with that I turned and went on into the tent and started getting ready for my match, not really thinking much else about it. Shortly after that, Tommy Rich comes over to me and tells me I was 'pretty stupid to talk to a cop like that, take it from someone whose dealt with them plenty.' I agreed, but still really didn't think much about it. Later, towards the end of the show, a couple of the guys told me while I was in the ring the cop came back looking for me and was gonna arrest me, but Tommy eventually talked him out of it, assuring him I was just a smart ass kid and didn't mean anything by it. I went and thanked Tommy after-wards and apologized to the cop. From that point on every time I worked a show with Tommy he would ask me 'how many kids did you mow down in the parking lot?' I have to say I gained a lot of respect for him for that, 'cause he didn't know me. He could have easily stood back and let me go to jail and laugh at my dumb ass for getting smart with a cop, but he didn't and that's cool."
What is your biggest asset as far as wrestling is concerned?
"My mouth and my natural ability for making people despise me, whether intentional or not."
What has been your biggest challenge in wrestling?
"Being a fat ass. Not many 60 minute iron man matches on my resume....and my natural ability for making people despise me, whether intentional or not."
In your opinion, what is the biggest challenge facing pro wrestling today?
"The death of kayfabe and the fact that it has become cool to be a smark and rip on everything. I mean does anyone even like wrestling anymore. People go to shows just so they can shred it on the message boards. It's gotten pathetic. With that being said, the fact that there is very little good to be said about wrestling these days from the WWE down to your local Community Center don't help. Times are bad."
What advice would you give to someone who is considering getting into wrestling?
"DON'T!! It sucks you in, it gets to you. No matter how pure your intentions, how much you love it, and your only doing it for love of the business, it gets to you and gets in your head and swells your ego and eventually drains all the fun out of it. I'm not saying that as a knock on anyone, I'm saying that from personal experience. I believed there was no one who could hold a candle to me. Now I watch tapes of me wrestling and I'm totally embarrassed, and I'm pretty sure that most of the guys putting themselves over on the boards aren't seeing the same thing I am when they watch themselves. I don't hold it against anybody, it happens to everybody at some point. Some people come back down to earth while others write fan letters to themselves on the internet."
What do you like best about being a professional wrestler?
"Making people react the way you want them to, that was always the biggest thrill to me, going out there and getting the response I wanted. But besides that, it would have to be the friends I made. They say there are no friends in this business. But I made a lot, a ton of casual friends. But people like Tony Dabbs, BoJangles, Chris Kilgore, Josh Holly, these guys are like family to me. I used to hang out with them all the time outside of wrestling, and even though we hardly even get a chance to talk on the phone anymore, I still consider Neil Taylor to be my best friend in the world. He helped me out in the lowest times of my life, and kept me from getting kicked out into the street on more than one occasion, when I lived in Fulton and didn't have a job. Truth be known, around that time he carried me more outside the ring than he did in our tag matches, and for that I will always be deeply thankful even if I've never said it to him face to face. And on that subject, I'm glad he's getting the chance to work with guys like Bobby Eaton, and be on big shows and on TV. He deserves it, he lives and breathes wrestling, has devoted a lot of time and effort to it, and deserves to get ahead."
What are your other interests, hobbies, etc.?
"Sadly, not many. I go to work, go to school, spend time with my wife, and watch wrestling. Not exciting but it suits me."
Last but not least, if my memory serves me correctly, you were in a match, in the SCW or early IWF days, involving Danny B Good, at the Salvation Army in Tupelo. Danny got really angry about something that happened in the match, and had some not-so-nice things to say to you. What was that all about?
"I wrote a whole big thing on this a year or so ago on my website and don't really want to rehash it again in light of the stuff going on right now. Basically it was something that got out of hand and everyone's temper got out of hand, but I TAKE FULL BLAME FOR IT. And even after all that, Danny has been nothing but nice to me since and I'm not going to bash him just because everyone else is mad at him right now. The thing at the Salvation Army was something that shouldn't have happened and it stemmed from me taking something that was a work personal, because I was green at the time and should have known better."
I gave Gene some names of people connected with wrestling, and asked him to tell me what he thought of these individuals. Here's what he had to say:
Hollywood Jimmy Blaylock: "Never a dull moment with Jimmy. Had alot of fun working with him, be it announcing, being apart of the 'clique', or just sitting around shooting the bull at his store."
Tony Dabbs: "Member of the 'Fulton Bad Boy Clique', he's like family to me, I worked with him from the very beginning training, first person I ever tagged with on a regular basis, we could give each other total hell and neither of us ever took it personal, always had fun whether in the ring or staggering around in his yard on a Saturday night (as Death Wish was so kind to bring up recently)."
Josh Holly: "LOL, man at times some people would have sworn Josh and I hated each other, we would dog the hell out of each other, but he's another one of the 'fulton boys', despite all our b.s we were always tight, We had some great times like our trip to Dallas, which was something I'll never forget."
Chris Kilgore: "My best matches I ever worked were with Chris, we always thought alike and never really had to plan or say what we were gonna do, we could pop the hell out of a crowd with the most simple b.s., I learned a lot from him. Another one of the 'family', I hate we all don't see each other anymore.
Pure Destruction: "Bruno (Cody), I've known for quite awhile since he was working for Sammy when I first started. Didn't hang out with him much outside of wrestling, but he was always nice to me and easy to work with in the ring. Brody, I worked with some but don't know all that well. They started their team right after I left, but from what I've seen they've taken that brother gimmick and ran with it and became one of (if not the) most successful tag teams in the state."
Sammy Hall: "Sammy and I have not always seen eye to eye on everything but I've always respected him and have always appreciated all he did for me, training me and giving me the opportunity to get started in wrestling. I learned a lot from him and even though I may not have seen it at the time he really did a lot of things to make sure we were trained properly and knew how to work, and honestly I ripped off alot of my heel stuff from him."
Keely Rhodes: "Keely gets a bad rap sometimes but I have to say that Keely was one of the first people who helped me out in the business and offered to put me over in only my second match, when he really didn't have to and I've never forgotten that.
Leslie Jones: "Leslie and I have had an interesting friendship as long as I've known him dating back to when he was running Trendz in the mall, working for SCW and I was working for Sammy and I would come by and we would compare notes on things. I like Leslie and I think he likes me although I've always felt he doesn't totally trust me for whatever reason, but he did push the hell outta me and Neil in the IWF even though it wasn't popular with the 'home team', and for that I'm grateful."
Johnny Dotson: "Great worker, I had a lot of fun teaming with him and Alan Steel when I first started in Corinth, glad to see he's still working."
Johnny Morton: "I've gotten along good with Johnny except for one night in Batesville when Neil and I caused him to throw a hissy fit in the dressing room over our commentary of his match."
The Stud, Scott Porteau: "Smooth worker, hilarious in the dressing room. I always enjoyed working with him and he and Wraith went out of there way to make 'Southern Destruction' look good when we came to IWF."
Ricky Franks: "I've had hundreds of matches with Ricky Franks, poor Ricky took some helacious beatings that were supposed to be matches by being around at the wrong place at the wrong time when I was pissed about different things. A great guy outside the ring with a lot of heart for wrestling and eventually learned how to inject some personality into it, which made a world of difference."
Outlaw Don Bass: "Legend...it's so entertaining just to sit and listen to him tell stories and cut up in the dressing room...and in the ring. Being in Bass' Posse in Corinth was a lot of fun."
Jimmy Valiant: "It was so strange to be in the ring with someone I had grown up watching all my life. My dad was really amused by the fact I got to work with Handsome Jimbo."
Tommy Rich: "Another guy I had watched all my life. Very moody, one time you'll see him he'll be the nicest guy in the world the next time he was like a total different person. But I've heard the same said about me so....."
Don Brodie: "One of the nicest guys I met in the business. Always liked working for Brodie, he was always very good to me."
Jake Roberts: "Crack head...disappointment. I was so excited to get to be on a show with Jake 'the Snake' Roberts the first time, but to see what he has become is pathetic. Beyond the Mat was a dead-on portrayal of what a sad sad story his life has become."
Doug Gilbert: "Easy to work with but a lot like Tommy, you never knew which Doug you were going to encounter."
Jerry Lawler: "Never gotten to work with him, but I've watched him all my life and he is a legend, and it's just sad his legacy is gonna end up being that of the 'dirty old man' commentator, rather than the Memphis hero he portrayed for years."
Bo Jangles: "A great friend and another person I had good matches with. Anywhere you went people loved him, he has such an energy when he comes to ring, classic baby face!"
Bobby Eaton: "A legend of tag team wrestling, The Midnight Express vs. Rock-n-Roll Express will always be the greatest, longest running tag feud in history. He, Lane, and Cornette complemented each other so well, they were like a machine."
The Asylum (Psycho & Wraith): "Wraith is a great guy, I worked with him (and for him) many times. Psycho, I know a little from Gibson. I hear they are a great team, I've never gotten to see them work together."
Danny B Good: "Danny is one of the few workers who is just as a good as a baby face as he is a heel, I've seen crowds goes nuts cheering and I've seen people ready to kill him and he does them both well.
"In closing, I just want to say to my critics, I know I was a not a good wrestler, and I don't claim to have been, nor do I think that people really care what I have to say about anything. I just think that I do know a little about this business and might have some views that some people may find entertaining, and to those people, I thank them for reading, and to the others, well you need something to b**** about, so I'll provide something. Everybody wins."
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