WWE Byte This! Recap – 06/19/2003

By Michael Hoffman

Hosts:   Josh Matthews, Tommy Dreamer

Guests: Billy Gunn, Mick Foley

Josh and special guest host Tommy Dreamer, with Singapore cane in hand, welcome us to the show.

Three autographed copies of ““Tietam Brown”” by Mick Foley will be given away in trivia contests throughout the show.

Hosts open the show by recapping Bad Blood and Raw, and mention that both Raw and SmackDown will emanate from Madison Square Garden next week.

E-mail question asks about NWA-TNA, related to the former ECW talent now working there.  Dreamer TIVO’s the show every week (…mbh-Insert mandatory Scherer plug here…) and is happy to see his ECW buddies performing.  He enjoys the product most of the time.  Matthews mentions the return of Sting; Dreamer says he would like to see Sting in WWE, and that he’d probably wind up in the Scorpion Deathlock on many occasions.

E-mail question asks about a possible return of the Hardcore Title.  Dreamer says he would like to see it return and that maybe Austin will reinstate the title.  He mentions that he was the final champion, and that Eric Bischoff killed the belt because of his vendetta against ECW, for which Dreamer used to work.

Hosts talk about the return of the United States Title and the upcoming series of matches between Rey Mysterio and Ultimo Dragon.

E-mail question asks if Dreamer is bothered by the way WWE has not used him to his potential.  Dreamer states that he is not “needed” in WWE, whereas he was in ECW.  He says he is always happy with the response he receives from fans at house shows and at Raw.

Trivia Question #1:  Who was the first (then-WWF) Hardcore Champion?  (Mankind)

Hosts talk quickly about the return of Shaniqua (Linda Myles) and Jackie Gayda.

Video Break:  The return of The Ass Man, Billy Gunn.

Billy Gunn joins the show.

Gunn says that he is doing great and that he is happy to be back on the road and on television.

Matthews asks Gunn about being paired with Torrie Wilson.  Gunn says that everybody wants to hang out with Mr. Ass.  He says the gimmick was on hiatus for a while but was brought back because it was the most over he was as a singles wrestler.  He says that he wanted to add the hottest woman in the business to his long list of partners.

Gunn says that he will be wrestling primarily as a singles wrestler for now.  He says that, for the most part, his success has been as a tag team wrestler, and he would like to branch out to see if he can succeed on his own.

Gunn states that his goal is to be WWE Champion.  He mentions his tenure with the company and that he has held every other major championship.

Gunn talks about his rehab stint at OVW, and that the training program there is great.  He is most impressed with Seven; he thinks that Seven has done everything he can in OVW and believes that he will be debuting for WWE very soon.

Dreamer states that he has wrestled Gunn many times, and that he feels he is the most underrated worker on the roster.  He does believe that Gunn could be WWE Champion someday.  Gunn says that while he has faced Dreamer in the past, he has not had the privilege of being struck with the Singapore cane.

Caller Scott from Baltimore asks if Gunn missed teaming as the New Age Outlaws.  Gunn says that he does sometimes.  He realizes that the gimmick had run its course, but he wishes sometimes that he were still involved in that team.  He states that he thinks more about his future than his past.

Gunn says that he is looking forward to returning to Madison Square Garden next week.

Billy Gunn leaves the show.

Trivia Question #2:  What are the Three Faces of Foley?  (Cactus Jack, Mankind, Dude Love)

Josh Matthews states that Byte This will be preempted next week as a result of the holiday weekend.  (mbh-Actually, the holiday weekend is the following week.  It does appear that there will be a show this Thursday, June 26, but not the following week on July 3.)

Video Break:  Mick Foley opening the 06/16 edition of Raw

Mick Foley joins the show.

E-mail question asks about Ric Flair, about whom Foley was very critical in “Have A Nice Day”.  Foley said that it was a big thrill and an honor to be in the same ring with Flair.  He says that while he was critical of Flair’s booking talents, he feels that Flair as an in-ring performer is nothing short of extraordinary.  Foley says that he has always felt that his wrestling career was incomplete because he never had the opportunity to face Flair, Hulk Hogan, or Bruiser Brody.

Foley states that he was hesitant on returning to WWE, but that once he saw Steve Austin and the boys, it felt like he had never left.  He says that Stacy Keibler leapt into his arms when he entered the building; that moment was ruined for him by the vision of Test leering over her shoulder.

Foley also says that he enjoyed being involved in the main event at Bad Blood.  He thinks the match lived up to past Hell In The Cell matches, and he likes that he had something to contribute to this one.

Mick states that he would have been embarrassed to have not been involved in the current storylines in some way and that he wanted to do more than plug his new book.  He acknowledges that he has been in pain as a result of the bumps he has taken the last couple of weeks.  He explains that when you take bumps consistently for such a long time, feeling lousy becomes normal.  Once you are away from that for a while, and your body realizes what “normal” is, going back to taking bumps is quite a shock.

Since he left WWE in November 2001, Foley has had a couple more children, finished “Tietam Brown”, and has written another book that is scheduled for release in 2004.  He enjoyed the time off to spend with his children, but says that being on the road has been a nice break away from them.

Dreamer says that seeing hardcore legend Mick Foley having children gives himself hope for starting a family of his own.  Foley recounts a conversation he had with Robert Fuller in 1989, where Fuller said that the style that Mick worked would kill off his sperm.  Foley jokes that he only tried five times to have four children, so his success rate is excellent.

Kevin from Ontario CN asks if any of Foley’s other incarnations would appear on Raw after next week.  Foley does not remember how he phrased his promo – whether he said “I” or “Mick Foley” – but clarified that neither he nor his characters would appear after Monday night.  Foley says that there is a rumor of WWE planning to do something special for him at Raw this coming week, which may involve Tommy Dreamer and fellow hardcore legend Terry Funk.

Dreamer recounts how he cried in the ring the last time he wrestled at Madison Square Garden.  Having grown up in New York, his match with good friend Rob Van Dam to unify the Hardcore and Intercontinental Championships was very emotional for him.

Josh from TN asks about the inspiration for “Tietam Brown”.  Foley felt that he did not have enough material for another wrestling book, and wanted his first two books to stand on there own.  He came up with the idea of a father/son relationship after watching “Affliction” starring Nick Nolte and James Coburn.  Over the next year, Foley accumulated his thoughts for the book and once he started to write, they just flowed out.  Foley feels that non-wrestling fans will find “Tietam Brown” appealing.

E-mail question asks whom Foley would like to face in a final match.  Foley says that he regrets turning down the match with Vince McMahon a couple years ago, and also lists Flair and Randy Orton as possible opponents.  Matthews suggests Al Snow; Foley laughs, but says that he is happy with what Snow has achieved with WWE and Tough Enough.

Dreamer expresses his thanks to Foley for being his in-ring inspiration.  Foley says that is was fun to reminisce about ECW.  Foley is proud of the hardcore matches they did in ECW, but says he particularly enjoyed the anti-hardcore match with Terry Funk, which resulted in Funk receiving third degree burns.

Justin from GA asks for advice on becoming a wrestler.  Foley advises to be realistic:  The chances of succeeding are slim, and of getting seriously hurt are very high.  He says that one should pursue an amateur wrestling background and to go to college.  He states that he does not feel bad for broken-down, beat-up ex-wrestlers, only for the broken-down, beat-up, uneducated ones.

Foley said that he spent some time completely away from the WWE product, but that he slowly eased back into watching the shows.  He has been critical of some storylines along the way, but he enjoys the performances that he sees now, particularly from Team Angle.

Foley requests times for a cheap plug for his book.  He and Vince feel that if the book is successful, both Foley and WWE will benefit.  There are plans to post excerpts from the book on either WWE.com or MickFoley.com, should that site be reopened.

Foley jokes about the shirt size that Dreamer wears, which shows off his “man-boobs.”  Foley points out that he prefers a larger shirt so that his girth is hidden.  He says that the smallest shirt he has ever seen a grown man wear was by Vince when he was the referee for Stone Cold/Dude Love.

Dustin from Boise asks if Foley was interested in opening a training facility.  Foley states that he was at first, but after watching Tough Enough and the job that Snow did as a trainer, he decided to leave the training to him.  Foley puts over Snow’s talent and states that if he know Snew would eventually become a commentator, where he has a forum to say whatever he wants, he would have been kinder to Al in his first book.

Trivia Question #3:  What are the four currently released books written by Mick Foley?  (Have A Nice Day, Foley Is Good, Christmas Chaos, Halloween Hijinx)

Foley is not sure of the cities involved on the book tour, but states that it starts in New York City (on July 9) and Washington, DC.  He mentions that he will also be participating in book readings as part of the tour.  He will appear on Today on July 8, and is currently being interviewed for a story in Entertainment Weekly.  Foley states that non-wrestling fans may find his book disturbing, while wrestling fans will find it cuddly.

Mick Foley leaves the show.

Vladimir in FL asks Dreamer about the biggest difference between WWE and ECW.  Dreamer says that besides actually receiving his paychecks, the workers in ECW were focused more on the good of the company instead of themselves.  He also mentions that the WWE schedule is more grueling.

Matthews plugs the 6/19 edition of SmackDown as the show concludes.

Final Video:  Brock Lesnar vs. Big Show from the 6/12 SmackDown

Tentative guests for next week:  To Be Announced

(Comments:  To hear more from Mick Foley and the release of his new book, be sure to listen to the interview conducted by Dave Scherer and Buck Woodward last week.  The link to the interview is on the main page.)

Byte This! can be seen live Thursdays at 4:00pm Eastern time at WWE.com.

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