Thursday, March 28, 2024
NewsCW Anderson Comments On WWE Changing His Name During His Run There

CW Anderson Comments On WWE Changing His Name During His Run There

1,506 views

TRENDING

During a recent interview with Interactive Wrestling Radio, CW Anderson commented on being part of WWE’s ECW run, WWE changing his name, and more. You can check out some highlights from the interview below:

On who told him in WCW he wasn’t cosmetic enough for TV: “Paul Orndorff and James J. Dillon. I was in the last match there, and man they had the Natural Born Thrillers there, Elix Skipper, Lash LaRoux, Mike Sanders… Guys like that. They were all under contract. I was not. I got to wrestle with a good buddy of mine, a guy I traveled up and down the road with. It was inevitably through him, through Lodi, through Raven, that I got my job with ECW. He was doing pull overs and stuff that Kid Kash and I would be doing later in ECW. We had an ECW match there (at the WCW Power Plant). Brad Armstrong came over to me and “Toad”, that was his wrestling name, said, “Man, that was awesome!” Guys were high fiving! Then, Paul Orndorff and JJ Dillon walked over to me and said, again, cosmetically, I was about 250 pounds then, 255? They said they didn’t think I had any kind of look, that WCW was a cosmetic company and not as much wrestling, that I was an OK wrestler but their opinion was that I couldn’t make any kind of waves in WCW.”

On Jim Cornette and Eric Bischoff trying to taint the memory of ECW: “I’ll start out with Jim Cornette. I was a huge fan of Jim Cornette. I still am! I listen to snippets of his podcast every week. I have nothing but respect for Jim Cornette and his opinion. I’ve always valued his opinion. Eric Bischoff? I think I met him on on a couple of occasions. But, I don’t really know him like that. But… Some people don’t like the stuff that we did in ECW. I get it. It wasn’t their forte. They didn’t grow up with it. They like a more old school wrestling style. To others, it didn’t make sense and didn’t tell good stories. We were ladders, tables, and chairs. But the “hardcore” wrestling wasn’t about tables, ladders, and chairs. It was about us going out there and wrestling our ass off knowing we weren’t getting paid! Knowing we were back-dated pay and owed checks. Knowing we were wrestling injured – For instance, one night I had to wrestle Raven and New Jack on the same night and my back was out on me. I remember Paul (Heyman) and Bill Wiles carrying me to the Gorilla Position, my music hit, and I went out there and wrestled Raven and then Nw Jack, I came to the back and collapsed and Road Kill put me in the back of his van and took me to the airport. That is the hardcore style that I remember. Guys from WCW, guys from WWE would never have wrestled like that without getting paid. They were spoiled! They were used to getting catered and used to making six figures when I was making $75 a night paying my own way. The legacy to me and the fans, you know, I can’t get in the ring now, 20 years later, without the crowd chanting “ECW, “ECW!” Most, I won’t say most but some of the fans were either very young or weren’t born yet. Hey, that’s thanks to the WWE Network who still airs us. A lot of the older guys don’t like us. That’s OK. That’s their stuff. But, there is a volume of fans that do because of the cult that we were. We were like the Rocky Horror Picture Show of wrestling! You don’t hear people go to shows chanting “WCW” or “WWE”. But, every show I go to, you hear “EC-Dub, EC-Dub!” and that is because of the Hardcore, the heart and the soul that we put into it.”

On ECW wrestlers deserving more respect: “There was a guy from ECW who went on to be a long time champion in WWE – He wrestled Steve Austin, Ric Flair, and a lot of top guys, and he told me that I was one of the best guys he was ever in the ring with. Dave Hebner once told Steve Corino and I, “You guys are my favorite guys to ref.” We were like like, “You mean nowadays in this promootion?” He was like, “No, ever!” I know my talent speaks for itself. So, again, jim Cornette. I respect that. That is his opinion. Midnight Express? Bobby Eaton was and still is my idol! He is the guy I patterned my style after – It wasn’t Arn. It was Bobby because I wanted to be able to go out there and wrestle Ric Flair or a broom stick and have a 5 star match!”

On modern MLW: “From what I’ve seen, I’ve liked. They’ve got Low Ki, Tom Lawlor, and a lot of other guys that I know. It is a newer style. But, from what I’ve seen, it is very interesting. I’ve talked to Court a few times about me coming in to work for him again if anything opened up.” He continues, “It sucked. It was a Disney version of ECW. If Vince (McMahon) would have kept his hands out of it, it would have done well. The only reason i signed (with WWE) was because Tommy (Dreamer) called me and said “Paul (Heyman) and I will have complete control of ECW. It will be exactly like it used to be. We’re going to run little towns, little shows, you’re going to be one of my top heels again. We’re going to pick up right where we left off.” And, at the first night at the ECW Arena, he (Vince McMahon) didn’t like how it looked on TV and he took control of it. He implimented his own people and it just wasn’t ECW. Not at all. Once that happened? I couldn’t get out of there fast enough. I was actually excited the day I got fired.”

On his name change in WWE: “I wrestled one TV match with CM Punk which was fine. I always liked wrestling Punk. And, they were getting ready to push me. But, I wrestled Kevin Thorn and I blew out my F5 and S1 again. I was done. I would be left off of loops. It would be Saturday night and I’d be at home or hanging out at a local show and WWE would call and say, “We need you on a plane in the morning to get back on the road.” I’m like, “What the Hell?” But yeah, that whole WWE version of ECW sucked because he (Vince McMahon) had control of it and started implementing his guys and didn’t let Tommy and Paul have control of it.” He continues, “And then they changed my name to that stupid Christopher W. Anderson because he said, “I don’t want people to think you work for the CW Network.” Who do you think they got the idea from? The very first time the two actors were promoting the CW Network in TV Guide, they’re doing my CW sign! And then he was like, “Well, we’re going to change your name because CM Punk, CW Anderson, it is too close!” Yeah, i get it! I was a little heavier then, Punk was slim. Punk had hair, I was bald. He wore trunks, I wore a singlet. I guess people would see us as twins!”

On if he settled things with Paul Heyman after their online feud: “I haven’t talked to him since. Tommy (Dreamer) was trying to mediate saying, “Paul, what the Hell are you doing calling CW a low level stooge?” Who did I ever stooge off to? He was paying me $75 a night and yet I was his flavor of the month when I first came in. I couldn’t do no wrong! I guess he didn’t mention on Twitter that he got down on his hands and knees and begged me not to go to WCW after my Massacre on 34th Street (2000) match? I guess he didn’t mention that. He thought I was going to WCW. I wasn’t going to because I’m loyal to who hires me and I loved ECW and I would have stayed. He got mad that I said he was in LA filming Rollerball when he was telling us that he was out there to save us by talking to the USA Network. It is funny because I did an interview with 3 or 4 ECW guys including New Jack and New Jack started telling that same story and he never saw me post that before. Of course, Paul didn’t say anything to New Jack because he knew New Jack would kill him. Paul felt he could pick on me because I wasn’t New Jack. What people don’t realize is because they were kiss asses and they were kissing Paul’s ass. When I came back with my story, you could hear crickets. The people that sided with Paul were trolls because they didn’t know the true story. That story (Rollerball) was told to me from higher ups. I didn’t make that shit up.”

- Advertisment -

LATEST NEWS

- Advertisment -

Related Articles