Recently the Shining Wizards Podcast spoke with the "King of Old School" Steve Corino. Here are some highlights:
On his time with OMEGA: It was great. I had met The Hardy Boys in 1996 when we were all just job guys in the WWF and me and Matt hit it off right away and he had told me his plan for OMEGA and I wanted to be a part of it. Myself and Joey Mercury and Christian York would drive down there and be a part of it. It was crazy because we didn't know what was going on, but we were just guys who loved wrestling, and wanted to be something different. Years later people would be like, “wow this is something good.”
His “elimination” from the WWE's light heavyweight title tournament: I was in the original bracket for like a week, and then I was replaced. Because at the time they were doing the qualifying matches on like Shotgun Saturday Night , and this was like before Scott (Taylor) was Scotty Too Hotty, and Brian Christopher was just Brian Christopher from Memphis, and it was just this big thing to put the title on Taka (Michinoku). So you would win a match on Shotgun or Superstars and "qualify" for the tournament. My chance to qualify was in Atlantic City in 1997 and I was wrestling Jimmy Cicero, and we ended up getting bumped off the show because The Iron Sheik & Tiger Ali Singh went way too long. I was angry for like a year at Tiger Ali Singh, but now he's one of my better friends. So they ended up scrapping my match and in return, they sent me to Memphis to USWA for the last few weeks before the company closed.
On his start with ECW & The $100 Toehold Challenge with Tommy Dreamer: I was back on the indies for about a year before I started with ECW. I was working with Nova a lot leading to a big cage match and Dreamer was there, and he liked my anti hardcore thing, and eventually there was an opportunity for a guy to come in (to ECW). And Nova told Paul, "I know you want Reckless Youth, but I think Steve Corino would be a perfect fit." We both got tryouts and I ended up getting a job. And then I was just an opening match jobber for guys like Chetti & Nova for like the first 3 months, and then we were in Trenton, NJ and Dreamer said he would work with me that night. He asked me if I was good on the mic, and I said I was alright. He told me to come up with something funny, and I came up with the whole $100 challenge and we ended up having a 22 minute match and 11 minutes was on the microphone during the match.
On promos being scripted: It's the evolution of wrestling. The WWE is such a television show. They call it sports entertainment, and it's very much like your Law & Order or Modern Family. They follow a script. Would I personally love it to be more of a Curb Your Enthusiasm where you get to improv some stuff? Absolutely. And I think a lot of times the talent is a little more comfortable with that. On a personal level, give me an idea of what you want and I'll just go with the flow. It always worked for me in ECW. Paul would give me an outline and I would fill in the blanks.
Did TNN sabotage ECW? Everybody was so excited about going on TNN, and I remember the first Television taping- I thought it went all wrong. Why were we doing TV in Dayton, Ohio when we were a Philadelphia company or a Queens, NY company? Why aren't we putting our best crowd in there? Not that Dayton was a bad city, but why are we going to a big arena trying to tape TV when we were this alternative blood and guts, smoky arena type of company? I knew right from there that Paul (Heyman) wasn't happy. I think the first taping got scratched and we had to do a second one. And Paul didn't do himself any favors, because instead of being corporate Paul, he was, you know, Paul Heyman. He created "The Network" to crap on the network we were on.
On Ring Of Honor through the years: It's so different. I think that people tend to forget how different it is. ROH is not Gabe (Sapolsky), Doug (Gentry) or Rob Feinstein's ROH anymore. It's a television product for Sinclair Broadcasting. It's basically their brand for their Television stations and I think it's on in 88 different markets, but it's really become a television product. Some of the loyal fans from 2002-2010 say we've lost what we were going for and they just have to realize that it's a different product. Gabe, Doug, and Rob's vision was awesome and so was Cary (Silkin) and Adam Pearce's and now with corporate backing it and with Hunter Johnston as the booker, it's still great, it's just a little bit different. It's a different world.
Does Sinclair have any say in on-air product for Ring of Honor? I'm sure, but I don't know that. It's very quiet about how things work in the office. It's a “don't ask, don't tell" thing also, and things are good, so why poke the bear if we don't need to?
On Matt Hardy in ROH: A lot of people don't understand why Matt Hardy was brought in, but they have to understand the television business side of it. Matt Hardy, for a lot of years, was on the WWE and they were in front of 3-5 million people a week. People know who Matt Hardy is and if you can get an extra 10% of those people watching your show (ROH) just because Matt Hardy is on there - it's not that Matt Hardy is being featured, it 's just that fan that says he only watches WWE and who do does Ring Of Honor have, and you say "Michael Elgin, Kevin Steen, Steve Corino, and Nigel Mcguinness," and they've never heard of them, but then you say you have Matt Hardy. They'll say they remember Matt Hardy and his brother Jeff and they watch the show and see Matt. But then they see these guys like the Adam Coles, Michael Elgins, Jay Lethals, and Tommaso Ciampas and Kevin Steens, and they say, "Wow this is what we want to watch." I think that's part of the influence.
On Daniel Bryan: We over-think sometimes as fans. I watch Raw and Smackdown as a fan. I never try to over-analyze and say they're doing this or that wrong. There is no doubt that Daniel Bryan is so over, right? But, you don't think WWE knows this? You don't think a money making machine like WWE doesn't see what's going on? I think us as wrestling fans want Daniel Bryan to be in that main event spot right now, whereas the WWE says we're making money off this guy right now. Let's string it along and see how far we can go because we're going to need a main event for Wrestlemania 31. Stone Cold Steve Austin was over at King Of The Ring 1996, but go back and see how long it took him, as they strung him along, and people wanted to cheer, and they were cheering him at Survivor Series 1996 with Bret (Hart). They were cheering him in every match, and finally they did the turn and put the rocket up his ass a little bit after WrestleMania 13 and he didn't get the belt until the next WrestleMania, so you have a year and a half where they knew he was over and he was going to make big money for them and they just took their time, and I think that's what they're doing here with Daniel. They know he's over and he's not going anywhere. Think about how genius it was putting him with The Wyatt family for 3 weeks. They literally turn him heel and the crowd said no way. The fans feel like Bryan is one of them and he is doing everything they would do if they were wrestlers. I think it's great. To me, if I'm Vince McMahon or Triple H or Stephanie McMahon, I have it in my mind how Daniel Bryan vs. CM Punk is my main event for WrestleMania 31.
If Steve Corino actually believes that WWE plans for Daniel Bryan to be the next Steve Austin then I'm afraid I've got some BAD NEWS...
ReplyDeleteReally interesting stuff. I think he's giving Creative a bit too much credit, but a lot of fans aren't really thinking that, yeah, SOMEONE has to headline from WM 31 on. And the point about Austin is well-taken.
ReplyDeleteI don't know if I agree but he makes an interesting point about stringing along D Bryan
ReplyDeleteHe's right about Daniel Bryan. If they'd kept him as champ, he'd have fallen like CM Punk did in his first reign. Now they've made it so people WANT Bryan to be champ. He now looks, acts, and carries himself like a Main Eventer - and he didn't before he beat Cena.
ReplyDeleteI see what he means. I'm seeing Bryan as a really badly-booked Dusty, but I'm trying to be positive.
ReplyDeleteThat whole month was funny. Triple H interfering in all his six pack opponents matches. Trying to be Kane's partner vs Rock & Sock then hitting him with the sledgehammer when he said no. Attacking Rock after he got chokeslammed through a table then getting jumped by Taker & Show. He was basically feuding with about 6-8 people that month lol.
ReplyDeleteAre these both new? Cause I'd actually wear both of them.
ReplyDeletehttp://shop.wwe.com/Daniel-Bryan-%22YES-Movement%22-Authentic-T-Shirt-Package-w/-FREE-Sticker/W06993,default,pd.html?dwvar_W06993_color=No%20Color&start=1&cgid=superstar-current-danielbryan
I don't care if I get a million downvotes.... but I just checked his merch page, and a lot of people here need to order the Daniel Bryan bib for whenever he loses a match. (Go ahead, it was worth it) :D
ReplyDeleteYeah, those weren't up yesterday.
ReplyDeleteTwo new, nice looking t-shirts and Yes Movement merchandise could be a good sign.
ReplyDeleteOddly enough, going into the Orton/HHH/Cena Triple Threat at WM24 I kinda felt sympathetic for Orton to because he was the champion and being completely over-looked while Cena and HHH debated who was the best between the two of them.
ReplyDeleteCorino makes a damn good point about Austin's ascension to being the top guy.
ReplyDeleteThis is the girl that managed to save you from purchasing a large pepperoni last Friday... she had been seeing someone else... I deaded that... sadly I now have a :: gag :: girlfriend though...
ReplyDeleteGiving creative way too much credit.
ReplyDeleteWell, mazel tov, I guess. Anything or anyone that saves me from spending money is A-OK in my book.
ReplyDeleteSeriously, I say this as one of the niches guys on here.
ReplyDeleteThe top poster gimmick is REALLY GAY. Like, homosexual men look at you guys and say "you guys are really gay."
I still think that you, Stranger In The Alps, and OfficerFarva have formed an unholy alliance to try and take me down!
ReplyDeleteYour opinion is noted.
ReplyDeleteI don't feel bad for Batista's backlash.
ReplyDelete45 year old men should not have nose rings.
I'm not sure the nose ring is what the backlash is about...
ReplyDeleteHardly fantasy booking.
ReplyDeleteWasn't the same month where Val Venis randomly challenged Austin to a match on Smackdown?
ReplyDeleteThat's one of the most random trios you could have brought up.
ReplyDeleteThe nose ring and the douchy ring attire don't help, though.
ReplyDeleteCM Punk only fell in his first reign because the booking sucked. Had Punk gone over Trips and gotten a conclusive, clean win over Cena it would've been different. Instead, he was given a year long title reign that gave a rub to a person who didn't need it.
ReplyDeleteWell Stranger had a hand in me becoming less single, and you and Farva stand to gain the most from it (you in not having to buy me a pizza, Farva in trying to pass my post count) THE EVIDENCE IS ALL RIGHT THERE IF PEOPLE WOULD JUST OPEN THEIR EYES TO THE TRUTH!!!!
ReplyDeletehttp://infowars.com
I didn't wanna say anything, but...
ReplyDelete*THIS*
See it as a case of tough-love, it had to be said.
That was the following month after Russo.left.
ReplyDeleteConcur... but I think "Not being Daniel Bryan" is the biggest crime he has committed in the fans eye's.
ReplyDeleteTheres stringing a guy along and then there is killing a guy's heat by never giving him the payoff. Also the Austin thing is entirely different because the company had other top marquee guys to use until the ascension, and I don't think the crowd chanted "We Want Austin" in an important match Austin wasn't in until the corporate bit started.
ReplyDeleteAt least the hair's been fixed now.
ReplyDeleteYeah, I finally did check out the link that was posted to the pic, good Lord. Simply amazing.
ReplyDeleteIf they were handling Bryan exactly like Austin, he would be fine, but they're not. They're handling Roman Reigns exactly like Austin, and guess what? He's doing F-I-N-E fine. It doesn't matter if Roman does heel or face things or is winning the title or not, he's over and drawing. They turn Bryan heel for 3 weeks and guess what, shit spirals downward and they have to do an emergency switch.
ReplyDeleteSometimes it's too late to do things. Put the title on Bryan ASAP and then proceed accordingly.
I think the issue with the Daniel Bryan thing is an issue that has become more apparent in society as a whole: wanting a product NOW as opposed to being patient. Sort of like a drive-thru mentality. We, as a collective, see what we want, and want it right now. If Daniel Bryan is still shuffling in the upper-mid card this time next year, then they have failed.
ReplyDeleteYou can thank the internet in part for that.
ReplyDeleteI hate the meeting friends phase. It might just be because I'm somewhat anti-social and dislike people in general unless I have time to get to know them on my own terms, but it's my least favorite part of being in a relationship.
ReplyDeleteHanging out with a group of people who are telling stories you can't possibly have any connection to, reminiscing about times when you weren't around, telling inside jokes. Meanwhile, I'm sitting there trying to follow along and doing everything I can to not make a snide comment.
This might be why most of my gf's friends dislike me...
I'm sure plenty of people back then were BEGGING for Austin to become the champion.
ReplyDeleteI am in the same boat... so far it is her cousin and the cousins fiance... all of whom have a long history... meanwhile I sit there, twiddle my thumbs, and try to pretend to be interested and resist the urge to pull out my phone and play on it the whole time... they aren't even bad people or anything, I just take a long time to get to know someone and until then just generally find them boring.
ReplyDeleteLance Storm said he wouldn't have tried that move and he's a better wrestler than Aksana. So I suppose that's a fair reason.
ReplyDeleteHe just looks...weird now, the nose ring, the odd tattoos, the *interesting* wardrobe choices. Just trying too hard to look young.
ReplyDeleteThe guy could rock a suit back in the day, go back to those.
Daniel Bryan vs CM Punk main events WrestleMania when the Ultimate Warrior blows Hulk Hogan in the center of the ring.
ReplyDeleteSo, we have to wait until WM 32?
ReplyDeleteThat wasn't his first reign.
ReplyDeleteHe first won the title by beating Edge cheaply. And, at that point, wasn't particularly good on the microphone. I mean yeah, they did him no favours, but it wasn't until he beat Hardy that he really figured out how to work a WWE crowd... and then with his pipe bomb that he became a flat-out star.
... Bryan's had more than Austin had in an equivalent time. Austin didn't win anything until he beat Owen at Summerslam.
ReplyDeleteYeah, and the worst injury Bryan got so far was a concussion.
ReplyDeleteOf course a long ass interview about a multitude of topics turns into a discussion about DANIEL BRYAN
ReplyDeletePunk knew how to work a WWE crowd from the beginning. If he had come in as Straight Edge Asshole from the start and was given a former addict foil to work against he would've done essentially the same stuff he did in the Jeff Hardy feud, which itself was stuff similar to his feud with Raven in ROH.
ReplyDeleteNot to mention, Punk's first two runs also failed due to reasons outside of his control, like creative not giving him more than 3 fucking weeks with the belt, not wearing a suit to the airport to satisfy the Undertaker, etc.
They kept everyone satisfied by giving him the IC Title.
ReplyDeleteAnd now the IC title (and US title) is nearly a "demotion" to all but comedy jobbers
ReplyDeleteI love his logic for Matt Hardy...BECAUSE IT WORKED SO WELL FOR TNA.
ReplyDeleteIts not possible to do great long feuds though. Yes, there may have been some 6 month encounters that produced multiple 4+ star matches in the 80s and 90s, but the problem with those kinds of feuds lie simply in the fact you have to do so many kinds of finishes and different match patterns(like tag team or six man matches), to keep the feud going until the final, decisive match.
ReplyDeleteLook at Orton/Christian, which was like 4-5 months of feud that could've easily been done in 2. They wanted to put Orton over, but they had to do various stupid things in a failed attempt to keep Christian viable and convince people that maybe he can win the decisive match, but it failed because he looked way too weak, and since Christian isn't the kind of heel that should win clean matches unless you want to say hes decisively better than x wrestler, its hard to extend it. The story should've been Orton wins, Christian demands rematch, gets controversial loss, cheats to win over Orton in tag match, gets one last shot, loses.
As Scott once said, sometimes less is more.
Bryans still pretty over
ReplyDeleteEven the most fired-up mob will eventually pack up their pitchforks and go home. If Bryan never gets his moment he'll need to be jumpstarted like Punk was during the dog days of the New Nexus, and theres no guarantee that there is a bullet in WWE's chamber for that.
ReplyDeleteThe story for Bryan was piss easy. Beat Cena, lose to Orton, get screwed, maybe get screwed again, proclaim hes had enough and will sell out to the corporation, swerve them all by elbowing Trips in the face, knee Orton, get match, win, Cena gets rematch, win, Punk attacks Bryan post-match out of jealousy because Punk's fans turned against him and only care about Bryan, build up to WM, win.
They would've gotten a far stronger reaction of unabashed joy from the crowd if they had just put Bryan over Orton at HiaC or whatever, rather than waiting til ER and hoping the Jersey fans care long enough to shout "YES!" at the top of their lungs when Bryan wins the title, instead of just assuming that Bryan will get fed to Batista or Orton again (Which could very well happen. WWE's not above trolling a Pennsylvania crowd)
I've ranted on this alot previously so am tired of talking about it. Let's just say I agree with about 50% of your analysis.
ReplyDeleteI think by over analyze, he means predict doom and gloom.
ReplyDeleteCompare his babyface work against JBL to his work against Lesnar. The former had no fire, the latter dripped with it.
ReplyDelete