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Honky Tonk Man Discusses Why He Returned To The WWE, His Chances Of Being Inducted Next Year Into The WWE Hall Of Fame, More

Posted: Oct 16th 2009 By: mikeiles

The Honky Tonk Man Discusses How Close Santino Marella Was To Becoming "The Greatest Intercontinental Champion Of All-Time" (And Why A Match Between The Two At WrestleMania XXV Did Not Happen), Why He Returned To The WWE Last Fall, His Chances Of Being Inducted Next Year Into The WWE Hall Of Fame, Transitioning From His Edgier Persona To A "PG Honky Tonk Man," & His Legacy As "The Greatest Intercontinental Champion Of All-Time" (And Why The WWE Does Not Want To Kill That Legacy)

Courtesy: www.MondayNightMayhem.com

Former WWE Intercontinental Champion, The Honky Tonk Man, was one of the special guests on this week's live edition (10/12/09) of Monday Night Mayhem (presented by ReelWrestling.com), hosted by The Big Mosh, Blade, & "The Chairman Of The Board" Todd Vincent. You can feel The Mayhem live & in streaming audio every Monday night (at 8PM ET/7PM CT), exclusively on The Monday Night Mayhem Radio Network (www.MondayNightMayhem.com, www.ITunes.com. www.AudioWrestling.com, www.Facebook.com/MondayNightMayhem, www.MySpace.com/MondayNightMayhem, & www.OnlineWorldOfWrestling.com).

HTM's return to The Mayhem (as part of the "MNM Fall Tour '09") is now available for free in Windows Streaming Media, or via The Mayhem's official Podcast On ITunes:

The Honky Tonk Man/Monday Night Mayhem Interview (MNM Streaming Audio): http://www.mondaynightmayhemarchives.com/waxfiles/101209.wax

The Honky Tonk Man/Monday Night Mayhem Interview (MNM Podcast On ITunes): http://www.mondaynightmayhemarchives.com/oct09/101209.mp3

Here are some of the highlights of The Honky Tonk Man's exclusive interview, provided by The Mayhem's official correspondent, Paterson From New Jersey:

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"The Greatest Intercontinental Champion Of All-Time," The Honky Tonk Man joined The Monday Night Mayhem Radio Network for his highly-anticipated return to the program for the first time in four years. Indeed, a lot has happened since HTM stepped into The Mayhem's squared circle, Big Mosh, Blade and "The Chairman of the Board" Todd Vincent for his return to The Mayhem after last being on the show four years ago, even seeing a change from his previous edgier personality to more of a PG persona. The Honky Tonk Man thanked The Big Mosh, Blade, & "The Chairman Of The Board" for the opportunity to return back to The Mayhem airwaves. "I'm the only white man that doesn't get mad about that (being referred to by his first name of Honky), so I don't care. Call me anything you want, as long as you call me."

The Honky Tonk Man is one of the few wrestlers from his era to truly evolve with the times & transition to using the world wide web as a way to interact with his fans across the globe. To a large extent, others superstars he has grappled with over the years are stuck in a "time warp" of sorts, and have not embraced the Internet fully. How does Honky feel about talking to fans, as well as getting involved on the 'net? "Other than the ones that are dead, the fans that are still around aren't up-to-date on stuff. This is my business, this is my life, and I love to do it. And if it's your job & your business, you have to stay on top of the game, and the only way to do it now is with the Internet."

The last time HTM was on The Mayhem, he was very adamant about not returning to World Wrestling Entertainment. But as many already know, in the wrestling business, "you never say never." To the surprise of many, he did appear at last year's WWE Cyber Sunday Pay-Per-View, and received the biggest crowd pop probably of the night. "It was really an ambush on me. I really didn't know what they were doing. Someone had e-mailed & told me they were doing this Santino Marella thing, and when they first approached me about it, I said no I'm not interested, I could care less. And when I went back & looked at some the stuff they had been doing, then I called them back, and said 'This is really neat what you're doing.' It was a great idea & great how they did it. It's too bad it didn't last longer, I wish it would have both for him & for me, because I think he (Santino) is a fantastic talent."

After inducting Koko B. Ware into the WWE Hall Of Fame several months ago, WrestleMania XXVI is going to be held Honky's home city of Phoenix, Arizona. Journalists, fans & fellow superstars like have said for years that The Honky Tonk Man should be in the WWE Hall Of Fame...next March may be his perfect time to be enshrined. Todd Vincent asked him about the odds of going in at this upcoming WrestleMania. "I'm not sitting here like a dog waiting on a bone. If it happens, it happens, and if it doesn't, it doesn't. If for some reason I'm booked that weekend somewhere, I'm not gonna cancel my booking for the Hall Of Fame. I will continue on doing what I do, because this independent thing I've been doing for so long has fed my family, kept me alive, & kept me in the spotlight, and I will not give that up for one payday from the WWE." Blade mentioned that with the possibility of both Honky & rumored induction of The Ultimate Warrior, hell will have truly frozen over in the WWE Universe. "This is a company, the WWE, that office is extremely unpredictable. Just when you think you have the answer to the question, they change the question."

With The Honky Tonk Man still working & still "Shake, Rattlin', & Rollin'" around the country & the world, the question for Honky is what's next for "the greatest Intercontinental Champion of all-time?" "'Never say never' is the thing, because in our business when you never, it means they're coming back. As soon as Vince says 'He will never be back,' they'll be back. I've evolved, I'll keep evolving. I change with the times. I do what I have to do to take care of my family & my kids."

In closing, The Honky Tonk Man let The Mayhem Nation in on something that very much could have happened just several months ago that could have altered the landscape of the WWE & the rest of the wrestling world, with regards to the WWE Intercontinental Championship, Santino Marella's current WWE status as a full-time wrestler with the company (instead of just appearing in backstage vignettes), & HTM's legacy as "the greatest Intercontinental Champion of all-time." "I thought, wished, I even pushed for it. I even asked them about Santino Marella. I said 'This kid has really got it going...Push him all the way.' Do this thing, take it to WrestleMania, and do a match where I say 'Ok, if you could beat me at WrestleMania XXV in Houston, then you're the greatest Intercontinental Champion of all-time, and I'll bow down to you.' And they didn't want to do it. It's not me saying it, obviously they don't want to kill the legacy."

More is contained in this exclusive interview with The Honky Tonk Man, including his candid thoughts & comments on inducting Koko B. Ware at this past year's Hall Of Fame Ceremony in Houston, what makes a good heel, & if he has been approached to compete in next month's "Hulkamania" tour in Australia, plus why he believes why "Hulkamania" will not be touring in North America. Log onto the official website of The Honky Tonk Man, located at www.HonkyTonkMan.net, the only official place for official HTM news, media, & merchandise.

"Your Home Of Wrestling Radio" is officially presented by ReelWrestling: the latest & hottest innovation from the coverage of professional wrestling online.Want to be a part of the RW movement? It's simple...head on over to www.ReelWrestling.com, and subscribe (via e-mail or SMS) for free announcements on what's hot & fresh on ReelWrestling.com. Your favorite Superstars & Divas are just one click away! The award-winning Monday Night Mayhem (voted on by you, the fans as the "Show Of The Year" in the 2009 Wrestling Radio Awards), is also sponsored by: Sizzlin' Sauces (the official hot sauce of The Mayhem's "Fall Tour '09:" www.SizzlinSauces.com), The History Of WWE.com (bringing you the best in the illustrious history of our business since 2002: www.TheHistoryOfWWE.com), TicketRelief.com (the official online traffic school of The Mayhem: www.TicketRelief.com), & ACN (get info about the ACN home-based business opportunity, video phone, & network marketing by contacting Shawn Allen at www.ssallen.acnrep.com).

All new & old members of The Mayhem Nation can check out the official Monday Night Mayhem Audio Vault, which contains the finest programming/audio content from over five+ years of Mayhem goodness. You can re-live interviews with some of your favorite WWE superstars (CM Punk, Chris Jericho, Ted DiBiase, Cody Rhodes, & "The Glamazon" Beth Phoenix), WWE Hall Of Famers (Bret "Hitman" Hart, "Rowdy" Roddy Piper, Jim Ross, & Jesse "The Body" Ventura), plus some of the biggest names in the worlds of sports, entertainment, & Hollywood (Dennis Rodman, Jim Kelly, Curtis Granderson, Ice-T, Nancy O'Dell, Michael Buffer, Brooke Hogan, & many more). All this is now available World Wide & 365 at www.MondayNightMayhem.com.

Tags: Honky Tonk Man, WWE, Koko B. Ware, Ultimate Warrior, Beth Phoenix, Roddy Piper, Jim Ross