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Terry Taylor talks about Samoa Joe confronting management, Jeff Hardy going to WWE, Why Rhino isn't in the title picture and more

Posted: Aug 17th 2006 By: CMBurnham

The Voice of Wrestling had TNA official, Terry Taylor, on the program last week. Click the link below to listen to the archive. Terry addressed a number of issues within TNA including Bound for Glory, what it means for TNA, whether Samoa Joe and some others are unhappy, Jeff Jarrett being back on top, TNA doubters and critics, Kevin Nash's work with the X Division and much more. An amazing interview with an open, honest Terry Taylor - check it out now! Then, make sure you check out the Voice of Wrestling this Monday night from 7-9 EST as Chris and Nick give away $100 to a random live listener! You have to be there to win.

Chris welcomed Terry by asking him his opinion on the DuRant study. Terry mentioned that movies and video games are also violent, saying "If you watch movies now they show guys get their brains blown out and video games now have that graphic art where you can cut somebody's head off with their arm and it spurts blood ... I don't know how wrestling can make you more violent with all the other stuff." Chris then asked about younger kids aged 4 or 5 who watch wrestling, and whether or not starting out as a wrestling fan so young might carry those more violent tendencies into later years. Terry replied that parents should raise their kids rather than letting TV or schools or other media do it for them. "We can blame wrestling, we can blame wrestling, we can blame games, but if parents do their part then a lot of things that are wrong with the world would be straightened up." Terry pointed out that wrestling when he grew up was a much slower-paced, more believable style where high flying resulted in stretchers being brought in and it was something special. But now that access to wrestling is so easy, a kid can go and try the same things they see on TV.

Chris then switched over to asking about TNA, plugging "Bound For Glory", their first non-Universal Studios pay-per-view in Detroit. Chris asked Terry what he thought going on the road with pay-per-views meant for TNA: Terry replied that he feels it is the first and biggest indicator of the health of TNA, and that TNA's doing really well right now, with big name talents contacting them and solid ratings on Spike TV. Chris brought up TNA doubters and critics, asking whether they have maybe changed their minds about the long-term viability of TNA. Terry feels there's been "an admittance by WWE that their programming is stale ... they've come out with the ECW brand which to a lot of the ECW faithful, not the same thing. But it's also not just WWE." Terry feels anyone who watches WWE brands and TNA will say that TNA has better in-ring talent hands down, who wants to be in the business for the right reasons, and that while TNA does a lot of things wrong, they also do a lot of things right.

Chris asked about some individuals in TNA who may not be as satisfied there as they might like. The first example he put out there was Samoa Joe, asking if that might be sensationalized just because he wanted to be consulted about storylines beforehand. He also threw out the names of Rhino, Monty Brown, and Ron Killings as examples. "It's pretty well documented that Samoa Joe confronted one of our office people in front of the talent," Terry replied. He brought up that they should have spoken in private, no confrontations like that should happen in front of anyone. That said, Terry said that "Joe is not unhappy, Joe's an emotional guy that felt a certain way ... What makes talent creative risk takers, all the stuff that wrestlers are, are the quirks and personality that we have to understand that's how they are." Terry said that TNA encourages its talent to talk to management about concerns, it's just all about timing.

After some technical difficulties, Chris got back to Monty Brown and Rhino and Ron Killings. Terry can't figure out where the Rhino rumor came from, because he's as happy as he's ever been. Terry called him an emotional guy as well, but problem-free and "a model citizen in our system." Chris said that Rhino might have a reason to question how he'd been used creatively after a short stint as world champion, now having so many people in front of him -- what did Terry think of how he'd been used? Terry took exception to the idea that "If you're not in the world championship hunt, you're not figured in." He mentioned that people liked him as champion and that could be revisited; but he had a memorable series of matches with Abyss and Samoa Joe, and is about to get into a feud with Monty Brown; all pretty compelling television. Chris agreed with the idea of the world title not being necessary to create a compelling storyline, and gave the example of Sting and Jeff Jarrett, saying the two of them didn't even need to be anywhere near the world title for that to be an interesting feud. Terry replied that "there's a lot of stuff people don't know about which is going to make this an interesting three or four months."

Chris asked again why TNA didn't run with Rhino's momentum, "fixing something that wasn't broken" with him as world champion. Terry reminded Chris how Rhino got that world title shot -- Kevin Nash got injured, and Rhino won a tournament of sorts to get his shot at Jeff Jarrett. Terry pointed out that promotions are built not just around world champions, but also around credible opponents. "You have to have stars, and I think part of what we're doing now is getting people positioned so anybody can go into that mix ... Rhino one of them, Joe one of them, Monty one of them ... not everybody can be elevated at once, and Sting and Jarrett are the focus of the title picture right now. Scott Steiner's in there too, so is Christian ... otherwise it's too crowded. But you can slide Rhino in there anytime, Joe, Monty."

Nick threw in a question about Jeff Hardy leaving TNA for WWE. Terry replied that Jeff did very well by TNA, making a couple mistakes but that he worked really hard and took incredible risks. Terry says they wish he could have worked out in TNA, but they wish him well in WWE and timing is everything. "Up there he's going to be in a more controlled environment, plus his brother's there, and I think that means a lot to him. He wants to be where Matt is." Terry said that when Jeff came to work he was great, just "creative people" can be different.

Chris mentioned an earlier interview on the show with Glenn "Disco Inferno" Gilberti in which he said he could come back if he wanted, but TNA hadn't paid him enough. Terry replied that "every coach in the sport brings in his team ... Everybody has different personalities ... with Russo, Jeff Jarrett and those guys, Glenn just figured in. A different guy came in to write the shows, and didn't see Glenn in that light." Terry still feels the door would be open for him, he hadn't made a big push to come back either. Chris agreed with that, mentioning Jim Cornette had always been big on Matt Morgan and he'd been backstage at some recent TNA shows. He asked Terry if he had many positive feelings about Morgan. Terry feels Matt has a very big upside; the only concern is that he's so big. Terry compared him to Kevin Nash, saying he's more mobile than Nash but less experienced, and they don't have too many people to match him up with just yet. But that he could fit in nicely eventually. Right now he has a very good deal in Japan, but the door is always open.

Chris closed up with asking the Jeff Jarrett question, and how long he's been on top. Terry replied that it's a good mix if Jeff Jarrett as heel champion is being chased by the top babyface, which is Sting right now. "Jeff as a heel champion now has some pretty good contenders he can defend against. He could drop to any one of them and it would still be good TV." Some examples Terry cited were Rhino, Kevin Nash, and Jay Lethal. Terry feels Jeff Jarrett could have a good match with anyone, he just needs big stars chasing him.

Chris then threw it to some questions from the VOW chatroom. The first question was whether Kevin Nash winning the X Division title would take away some of the division's credibility. Terry reminded us of the X Division slogan that "It's not about weight limits, it's about no limits", citing Samoa Joe. Chris and Nick pointed out though that the problem isn't with Nash's size, it's his wrestling style and ability. Terry Taylor suggested putting Gail Kim in the X Division, and Nick thought she'd fit in better than Kevin Nash. Terry Taylor acknowledges "Kevin will tell you, Kevin has got three moves". But he can still get a good match out of Chris Sabin or Alex Shelley. That said, he hasn't won the X Division title yet so Terry reminded everyone not to put the cart before the horse, and had Nick shill for the upcoming pay-per-view Hard Justice before leaving the show.

Terry Taylor addresses all this and much more on Voice of Wrestling. Tune in to the archives, found at the Wrestling Radio Network. Hear just where his famous black and red robe ended up, as well as his thoughts on some prospective stars who might be on their way to TNA, TNA commentators, working with the volatile Scott Steiner, and whether or not Samoa Joe might fear UUUUUUUUUUUMAAAAAAAAAGA! Also, don't forget to tune in to "Voice of Wrestling" every Monday night from 7-9 EST with Chris Cash, Nick "The Man of 1000 Names", featuring Kevin Kelly.