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RF Video Shoot Interview with Kanyon, Disc Two

This Disc runs at one hour and thirty-one minutes long

You can read the recap of the first disc by clicking on the link below

http://www.rspwfaq.net/2014/12/rf-video-shoot-interview-with-chris.html




Kanyon said that it was awesome working on the set of "Ready to Rumble" but said that a lot of the wrestlers showed up all fucked up on pills and that the helped act as a bridge between them and the producers. He said that Curt Hennig was really stiff during the filming with his kicks.



On getting hired by the WWE, Kanyon said that he was thankful for the opportunity he got and that Vince did not have to give him the U.S. Title and said it was a huge opportunity. He then talks about how he was at WrestleMania XX and took a picture of himself after the confetti fell from the ceiling as he was in the crowd. Kanyon was fired a few months before the show. Kanyon also said that just because Vince hired him does not mean that he is not a "douchebag," "two-faced" or "evil."



He was asked about a few different wrestlers. Kanyon said that Perry Saturn was different and that some guys were scared of him but he loved working with him and said he was an easy guy to work with. On Goldberg, he said that he was overly protective of his character but they will probably remember him in 20 years and maybe he had it right. Kanyon said that he could not be like that about his own character at the expense of others. Kanyon said that Lex Luger was nice to him but felt that he was phony. Kanyon said that at the airport people would ask for Luger's autograph and he would say "sure" but just kept on walking.



About the Jersey Triad, Kanyon said that he felt honored to be in a team with Bam Bam and really noticed how smooth of a worker he was by watching him on the apron.



Kanyon said that when you worked with Chris Benoit he was all about the match and would do whatever it took to put together a good match. Then when asked about the Benoit tragedy, he spoke about how he had been inpatient three times in psychiatric units and knows what mental illness can do to you and cannot judge someone for the three days in which they were not well. He always remembered Chris as being a nice guy. He said he saw his son Daniel a few times and thinks he might have been mentally ill himself. There was also talk of that in the locker room. Kanyon said that he believes Benoit might have killed his son after Nancy because there might not have been anyone around to take of him.



He is asked about several other workers. Kanyon said that he never worked with Sting and said that he should give Ric Flair a Christmas present each year for making his career. He likes Harlem Heat and was ecstatic when Booker T won the title and was one of the first people to congratulate him at the curtain.



Kanyon said that Bischoff told him to hire ten young cruiserweight wrestlers for an idea of a show that would be like a "Saved by the Bell" show on Saturday mornings about kids who wrestled. The show would be the first hour and wrestling matches would take place on the second hour. He even said that Peter Engel, creator of "Saved by the Bell" was on board with the project.



On the "Champagne" gimmick, Kanyon said that he talked with Marty "Cham Pain" Garner who said he could use the name as Kanyon was infatuated with it himself. He went to Russo to film a series of vignettes then Garner went back on his word and said that he would sue but Kanyon had the verbal permission from him and was in the process of filming and did it anyway. Kanyon said that he really struggled playing a womanizer and hated it as it felt forced.



He talks about friends in the business and he made a comment about how when he was in wrestling he would get the "dirt sheets" for free then when he was gone, they stopped coming into the mail.



Regarding the angle with Buff & Judy Bagwell, Kanyon said that he moved on to that after beating Booker T the night he won the title. He thought that he should go on TV saying he deserved a shot for beating Booker T that show and should have been his first opponent but the plan was for Scott Steiner to be his challenger so he feuded with Buff instead.



On WCW closing, Kanyon said leading up to the sale he heard that Bischoff''s group was buying the WCW and was going to move the TV tapings to Las Vegas. He saw Ernest Miller at the airport, on the day of what turned out to be the final WCW Nitro, who told him that Bischoff was not buying the company. Shortly after that, John Laurinaitis called him up to say that they were not renewing his contract and on the plane he was hearing rumors that Vince McMahon was buying the company. Once they landed, he called Jim Ross and asked if the offer he had was on the table. Backstage, Kanyon noted how there would be signs all over the door but this time there was one that said WWF and he looked around and saw Shane McMahon walking backstage. He said that they did not know what was real or a work and noted how the WWF dressing room was near the exit and they had a lot of security so they thought it was a work at first. However, Kanyon went to catering, stating that he did not notice the sign that said production only, and saw WCW being handed over to Vince. He noted that everyone was in tears, namely because they were going to be out of a job.



Kanyon then went on about how he cannot believe that Vince is still recognized as a genius due to all of the fuckups (XFL, WBF, IcoPro, Monopolizing Wrestling) and notes how badly he messed up when he signed WCW.



He then talks about how when he was renegotiating his contract with WCW, he had to go to Diane Myers, a lawyer who Kanyon calls a "cunt." He said she hated all of the wrestlers, citing that it was because they made more money than her. She offered Kanyon a shitty deal that also had Kanyon point out how she was working under Brad Siegel, who he claims really worked for Vince McMahon from inside and tells why. A year before Siegel said that the $250 million that Bischoff's group offered to buy WCW was not enough but Vince got it for $4 million a year later. He also heard that Siegel worked for Vince in some aspect on the Pay-Per-Views.



When he first got to the WWE, Kanyon said that the WWF guys were not a fan of them coming into the company. He said that the WCW and WWF guys ate and dressed separately at first.



Kanyon said that he was shocked when named the MVP of the Invasion. After that he switched to the Alliance MVP. He then said that he was dumbfounded as to how the WWE handled the whole angle and how he should have two separate brands today: WWE and WCW.



He then speaks about how the wrestling business blurs the line between reality and fantasy and always seemed to wonder whether or not someone who was pleasant to you backstage was talking behind your back. He said that Stephanie McMahon was always nice to him and has no reason to believe that she was anything but genuine but that you still have to wonder, especially since she is the "spawn of the devil."



On the Undertaker, Kanyon talks about how he heard there was an incident between DDP and Vince. Kanyon said that the rumor was DDP gave Vince a hug after they talked and that Vince was not expecting that and even said that the whole gimmick of Austin hugging people in the ring was a rib on DDP as a result. He then said that DDP either rubbed Vince and the Undertaker the wrong way and gives two stories. The first was DDP had a palm pilot and was an "A-Z Guy," which in this instance means you plan out all your matches before hand instead of calling it in the ring. Well, DDP was supposed to do a run-in against the Undertaker and just before he went out he tripped on the ramp and was bleeding from the forehead. He ran out anyway and that prompted Vince to say that he wondered if DDP wrote that into his palm pilot. Kanyon then said that at SummerSlam he was teaming with DDP to lose the Tag Belts to Undertaker & Kane. Kanyon said that he got $13,000 for working that match and had a lot of ideas because he never wrestled a cage match before. He suggested to Undertaker that he give him the Last Rites or chokeslam him off the top of the cage but Kanyon was told that they wanted him to leave the cage and have DDP get beat up by himself. Kanyon said this was all the result of either Vince or Undertaker hating DDP. Kanyon said that he knew it wasn't because of Kane because he was "one of the sweetest guys in the world." Kanyon then said a fan once yelled to the Undertaker what he thought of DDP, while he was near him. He said that the Undertaker looked at him then the fan before telling the fan that there is a certain way we do things around here and some people come in with their own ideas and those people do not last.



Kanyon is asked about several workers. He liked Tajiri and had no problem dropping the U.S. Title to him. He also liked Kurt Angle and said that his best match ever was with him at a Smackdown taping. Pat Patterson put the match together and he said they were really happy with the match. Kurt and Patterson designed the match to help give Kanyon the rub. The following week, Kanyon asked Kurt what Vince thought of the match because he would sit in on the creative meetings. Kurt told Kanyon that Vince hated the match and felt he was too over in it and after that it was the end of his push in the WWE. He puts over Kurt for being nice but also heard rumors that he is two-faced then tells a story of how Kurt's nickname in the locker room was "Kurt Canseco" due to basseball player Jose Canseco's book in which is named off a bunch of former players who used steroids.



He now talks about how he tore his ACL. In the midst of a long stretch on the road he wrestled Jeff Hardy, who landed low on his leg while performing the Swanton. He said his muscle was so bruised it kept giving out on him but he kept going on and in a dark match against Randy Orton he took a reverse atomic drop and that is when it happened as his leg completely gave out during the move.



While in OVW, Kanyon said that he loved working with Jim Cornette and Johnny Jeter. He also said how he got along well with John Laurinaitis, who gave him a sheet that listed everyone in OVW so that he could give a report on the wrestlers and how they were doing. He talks about how he saw Randy Orton and said the first time he saw him that he was the future of wrestling. He then said that John Cena was #2 behind Orton.



Kanyon got hurt again in a match against Lance Cade in HWA. He landed on his shoulder outside of the ring and at the time he had a cut on his arm. He did not think anything of it but ended up with a major infection. A few days later he woke up in the hospital and they had to perform emergency surgery. He also said he lost 32 lbs in six days.



He confirmed that there was a plan for him to come back as the Mortis character after his injury. Stephanie McMahon liked the idea and he did a few dark matches that seemed to get over okay but the company scrapped the idea after a few weeks.



Now, he is asked about the Boy George segment. Kanyon said that he had no idea who came up with the idea and was told by Paul Heyman that they wanted him to do this. Kanyon said he was just coming back from injury and was thinking about coming out as gay then as he read a Sports Illustrated article that questioned if professional sports was ready for an openly gay athlete but said that it can in entertainment so he thought since the WWE combined those two things it would be perfect. He apparently pitched the idea to someone and he was told that word got back to Vince, who hated the idea. He then said the way Heyman described what they wanted him to do was odd as he was told they built a giant closet that they wanted him to come out of and when he sang to sound like a "fag." Kanyon said that he thinks they wanted to see if he would refuse to do it but that he said he agreed. He thinks that they got pissed when he threw it back in their face about wanting to continue the gimmick. After that, he worked nothing but dark matches until his release.



Before his release he was told that he needed to go down to OVW to get trained. At the time he was working on a "real estate deal" and said that he would go down after that as he could not pass that up. He also had to fly down to Florida to get his car because he was told he would be down in OVW "indefinitely" and since they cut his salary he could not afford to rent one for that amount of time. They called him up a few days later and he told them what he said before about not being able to report their right away then a few days after that Laurinaitis called him up to fire him. Kanyon knew it was coming as they were trying to make him crack with the Boy George thing that he threw back in their face. He said he wasn't even sure that he would have shown up in OVW because how they were treating him.



He said that he taped his conversation with Laurinaitis when he was fired. When asked why he was fired he was told that the writers did not have anything for him and that led Kanyon to ask him why aren't they firing the writers. He then asked if he could go to WrestleMania to say bye to the guys and he approved as he was still under the 90 Day non-compete as he was let go in February. He said it felt full-circle to be at Mania at the Garden as his fandom started with Hogan winning the title and WWE ended when he saw Benoit/Guerrero win at the Garden.



Kanyon said that people knew he was gay in the business as the rumor was out there. He then tells a story, not naming the name, about how he almost fooled around with a pro wrestler at the Ready to Rumble" filming but they both decided against it as they felt it was a bad idea. Kanyon confirmed that the other wrestler was gay and that he is still in the business today.



On whether or not he hooked up with girls to prove to the others that he was not gay he said that he did. Kanyon tells a story about a girl in a hotel lobby he met that blew him and he had his buddy film it to show that he was not gay. The next day his buddy was on the elevator with X-Pac who asked him what happened to the girl. He said that the girl blew Kanyon and he filmed it as X-Pac told him that he always thought Kanyon was gay.



Terry Taylor asked him one day if he was gay. Kanyon said that Taylor does not have a filter and will say whatever comes to his mind. He said that Raven always asked him if he was gay too. He then said that after he came out his friends that were still in the WWE said that William Regal and Chris Jericho always asked them if he was gay.



On his arrest in 2004, Kanyon said that he does not drink. The camera then shows how Kanyon has finished off four energy drinks and a cup of coffee already at this point. During the shoot you will see Kanyon constantly drinking them then he talks about his manic episodes. That is just the worst thing to do if you are prone to manic episodes. He then talks about being on the "Howard Stern Show" and said he was shocked when Ric Flair called in and said that the bet with Artie Lange was legit. He said he was in the midst of a manic episode when he called in and said that Artie legitimately tried to help him because he did try to kill himself (Lange made a serious attempt shortly after this interview and never returned to the show).



Kanyon is asked about the lawsuit he was part off with Raven and Mike Sanders against the WWE for classifying their wrestlers as independent contractors. He said one reason he agreed was that Raven needed people do go in with him and a lot of wrestlers were afraid to go up against Vince. He did say that since it was ongoing he could not talk about it but promised that he would when it ended.



He is asked about his comment that Bret Hart once told him that the "Montreal Incident" was a work. Kanyon said that Bret liked him a lot and tells a story. Kanyon was wrestling Booker T and nervous about a spot in which he accidentally spiked himself when Booker powerbombed him off of the top rope. He talks about how Bret was the first person to ask if he was okay then said that he went to him at a bar and wanted to work with him. He then tells the story about everything that happened in the WWF and wanted him to see "Wrestling With Shadows" and if it exposed the business too much. The next day he said that he asked Bret if Vince presented the whole thing as an angle before it happened, would he have done it? Kanyon said that Bret went "ssshh" and Kanyon took that as it was a work but did note that it could have meant anything.



Kanyon said that Vince should pay for psychological counseling if he is going to pay for rehab. He thinks that will be a lot more beneficial. He said that it is almost a reward that you can get him to pay for help if you are fucking around with drugs.




Final Thoughts: This was quite the shoot. Kanyon held nothing back at all. The interview itself was all over the place and it didn't really follow a timeline like most shoots did but that not make me enjoy it any less, although I could see how it could drive some people crazy.

Even watching this you could see Kanyon struggling with his mental illness. From the constant drinking of energy drinks to the way he struggled to stay on topic at times. It was sad to watch at times. Also, the way he was treated by the WWE, if true, was horrible. There was no excuse for that.

Overall, a fantastic interview that I highly recommend. You can purchase the video for $20 by clicking on the link below.

http://www.rfvideo.com/shootwithchriskanyon.aspx

Comments

  1. I really feel sorry for Kanyon. He had innovative offense and was a pretty good worker but I think he would have been better off not being a wrestler in the first place. Of course, you could say that about a lot of guys.

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  2. Now I want to know who Kanyon almost hooked up with in Ready to Rumble. Where's Detective Marv?

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  3. I'm guessing Juvy, Iaukea or Tony Shiavone. Maybe Hammer? Hopefully Sid.

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  4. Ready to Rumble with David Arquette? I'll guess the Big Show.

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  5. Juvy is probably a good guess.

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  6. Iaueka is my guess

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  7. The Ghost Of Meekin's MoobsDecember 12, 2014 at 1:53 PM

    Yet more evidence that Undertaker is a prick

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  8. It really is something that in 2013 Darren Young can come out and WWE embraces him as "The First Openly Gay Superstar," but just 10 years earlier it's used as a way to break and humiliate a truly good worker like Kanyon

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  9. This was in 2009 and the said wrestler was still in the business soooo.... Booker T?

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  10. More like I-a-GAY-a? AMIRITE fellas?

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  11. "When asked why he was fired he was told that the writers did not have anything for him and that led Kanyon to ask him why aren't they firing the writers" -- This is awesome, and a great question to boot.

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  12. I felt that way about Vince's brass ring comment and how Austin should have asked him why Vince wasn't hiring guys that wanted the brass ring.

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  13. YankeesHoganTripleHFanDecember 12, 2014 at 2:40 PM

    Kanyon comes off as a bitter queen in my opinion.

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  14. loved the triad

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  15. Undertaker....smh

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  16. Juvy. Vampiro often makes comments about how Juvi got his breaks blowing the old AAA promoter. Konnan giggled at that but didn't say that's not true but added Juvi was into 3 ways with one girl and a guy

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  17. Can you dig it, cock suckaaaaaaa?

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  18. Yeah, probably. But Taker is FAR from the only wrestler to hate DDP. The guys in WCW sure didn't appreciate his never-ending push thanks to being buddies with Bischoff, and his over-the-top personality (check any interview or conversation with the guy ever) can definitely rub people the wrong way. Wrestling seems to be a business of introverts who keep to themselves, so a guy like DDP can seem overly-friendly and annoying.

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  19. Poor Kanyon. The guy was legitimately talented in the ring, but his funny speaking voice and goofy face were always gonna hold him back just a little bit. He also didn't seem to be friends with anyone important in the WWF, so he was up shit creek.

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  20. but that doesn't come close to justifying how they treated the guy.

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  21. What makes him a queen?

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  22. You know how wrestlers like to perceive themselves as tough guys, I can imagine an old school guy like Taker looking down on the whole yoga thing.

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  23. I dunno, you always seemed to cram the other guy's face REALLY deep into your crotch during the Juvi Driver. Just saying.

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  24. Hardcore Holly bitched about this too- the writers were constantly telling him that "you need to be giving us IDEAS", but then ignored all of his suggestions (which he never really names).

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  25. He always comes off as such a jerk. I'm amazed that wrestling never changed DDP. He always seemed upbeat and cared for people way more than your usual guy.

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  26. I'm putting my money on disco inferno being gay. I think iaukea and juvy married to women

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  27. according to wiki iaukea is married to a girl and has a kid. its gotta be disco inferno

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  28. Tyler Rex's shoot interview was released today. He apparently dishes out the dirt as he is done with wrestling and does not care if he burns any bridges. He also had a problem with Cena.

    http://www.rfvideo.com/tylerrexshootinterview.aspx

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  29. Page getting a big push in WCW never bothered me because the guy obviously had charisma, he was really over with the fans and (most importantly) he was working his ass off to improve himself. He didn't coast just because he was Bischoff's buddy. I'll bet a lot of his haters in WCW wouldn't have worked half as Page did if they'd been in his position.

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  30. I remember they asked DDP about Disco being gay in an interview and he said he'd never seen Disco with a chick before, but wasn't sure if it was because he was gay or because his entire life revolved around wrestling and gambling and didn't have time for anything else.

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  31. While I admit that doesn't help my case, I still maintain that it wasn't me.

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  32. And you come across as a complete cunt.

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  33. Can you suck it, digaaaaaaaaaa?

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  34. 'The camera then shows how Kanyon has finished off four energy drinks and a cup of coffee already at this point. During the shoot you will see Kanyon constantly drinking them then he talks about his manic episodes. That is just the worst thing to do if you are prone to manic episodes.''

    Oh man, it was devastating to see that. As you said, worst thing possible to do if you're feeling down...but for an interview that involves sitting down for a few hours? C'mon Kanyon.

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  35. Dude got to have sex with Kimberly for like ten years while looking like he did- Big green tattoos all over a flabby, disgusting body and an ugly face. DDP owed the universe, and paid it back with charity.

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  36. I had to look up who that was and I'm still not sure.

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  37. His strong resemblance to Queen Elizabeth.


    Obviously.

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