WWX magazine: Candid interview

{{wwximage=http://i7.photobucket.com/albums/y257/The_Pit_Bull/old-man-poster-web.jpg}}

Ruthless Russ Riker is on the cover of "WWx Magazine's" February issue, which features an "explosive, controversial" interview with the Mississippi Mauler. The self proclaimed "Wrestling Sensai" was given this forum to voice his concerns with WWX's brain trust, his fellow wrestlers, who deserves a better shot, and whether anything will change following his return to the sports entertainment organization. Highlights from the interview are as follows:


[Fade in]

[The scene opens with a wide shot from inside the Toyota Center located in Houston, Texas. A sea of unoccupied chair surrounds the ring. The arena is completely empty, with the exception of two men seated in the middle of a WWX Ravage ring. Slowly, we zoom in to see that the two men are none other than WWX's very own Chris Saunders and the Mississippi Mauler, Ruthless Russ Riker resting comfortably in a pair of matching black director chairs. Both dressed in casual attire. Chris wearing a blue button down long sleeve shirt with tan khaki's and black calf leather loafers. The Mauler dawning more black than Johnny Cash, decked out in black wranglers and black button up. Riker lifts his left black and red trimmed cowboy boot and sets the heel on his right knee, casually crossing his legs as Saunders shuffles through a small stack of 8-x-10 index cards. He quickly reviews the written questions and talking points one last time before turning to Riker starting the interview.]


Chris Saunders "First and foremost, thanks for taking the time to join me here today and granting this interview. Now i realize that time is money, so let's delve right into this, if i may. It is no secret that you are a man who is not afraid to share his opinion. So i'd like to hear your thoughts. In your estimation, what do you feel is wrong with WWX right now, and what would you do to change it?"


Riker "That's a loaded question if i've ever heard one! This is what you choose to start with? (chuckles) You're just trying to get me in trouble, ain'tcha kid. What's wrong with WWX right now is the same thing that has always been wrong with professional wrestling. All you need to do is open your eyes and take a look around you. Let's start with the boys in the back, and i DO mean BOYS. You have a locker room filled with whiners, crybabies, blow hards, knuckle heads and no-it-all wannabe's who don't know if they should scratch their watch or wind their arse."

"Sure there are a few guys that are the exception to the rule and the select few out there know who they are without me even saying it, but most these young punks today resemble B-movie actors and juvenile delinquents more than they do an actual professional grappler. I'm sick and tired of seeing people who are excellent wrestlers get passed over for people who have abs, the 'right look' or who were good second-string linemen in a European football league. I think there are a lot of people who, on their own terms, have made their own personas and perfected their craft simply out of love for what they do. They're not trying to be bodybuilders or footballs players who fail miserably and then call their uncle or their dad and say, 'Hey, I'll give that wrestling thing a shot because I suck at everything else.'"


Chris Saunders: "What are your thoughts on the youth movement here in WWX and you're fellow rookie classmates, if you wieeeeeeeell.. (trails the sentence off with a Dusty Rhodes mannerism which only receives a raised eyebrow from The Mauler) umm, sorry. Go ahead and answer when ready."


Riker "It's no secret that i'm, let's say 'seasoned' in both life and wrasslin' but i've shat out more talent then some of these rookies will ever have. I don't flaunt or taunt my capabilities braggadociosly because i prefer to let most my actions do the talking for me. That's the main difference between myself and most rookies here. The size of the unearned ego's and self entitlement i've seen since coming here boggles the mind, it's like these puke stains think they've finally become some amazing 'WWX SUPERSTAR' simply because they've figured out how to spell out their name on the dotted line, as if that alone gives them the right to play dress up for a few minutes in front of the tv camera's, pretending to be a wrassler while thousands of screaming fans continue to feed their already over sized ego's when in reality, they have no idea what it takes to not only survive and succeed in this business but to flourish and thrive in it. Seems to me like most of today's youth would rather bump their gums, flap their lips and spout off a bunch of hot garbage from the mouth, polluting everyone's ears with delusional mindless drivel of how great they THINK they are. Rather than preparing and focusing on their match, training hard for it, then going out to the ring and simply PROVING their worth."


Chris Saunders "I am getting the impression that you are not particularly fond of some of the younger talent here in wwx.."


Riker "That's the understatement of the day. The pretentious young prima-donna sissy boys of today are more interested in playing video games or wasting time building their farms on facebook and trolling on twitter than they are about honing their craft and developing the skills needed to better themselves as a professional wrassler but that's only a fraction of the problem that i see here. The true cancer in WWX lies within the luxurious ivory towers where the office stiffs and big |BLEEP|s dwell.  A small, select group of blood sucking leaches. Dirty vermin and disgusting parasites camouflaged in suits and ties. Feeding us all the same typical lies we've heard before and come to expect. All while they continue on with their back stabbing ways, politicking backstage all in order to get what they want; pulling strings to get their friends, brothers, sisters, cousins, aunts, uncles, nephew's, nieces, neighbors, baby momma's, long distance pen pals, dog sitters, in-laws and acquaintances all put on the show and pushed to the moon all in hopes that it gets over with the crowd just as long as it'll help them someway in return. The favoritism within the locker room and office isn't just sickening, it's blatantly obvious with all these inner circle jerk offs which is one of the many reasons why i will always remain an outsider in this company, and i'm perfectly fine with that. Did any of that answer your question?


Chris Saunders (chuckles) "Yes, and then some. Now i'm going to ask about the white elephant in the room. You are fifty nine years old. HOW do you manage to still compete in what is widely considered a young man's sport?"


Riker "Maybe you noticed this but i'm not your typical senior citizen. You can say i'm cut from a different cloth because I can outrun any eighteen year old put in front of me then show you thirteen different ways to knock his dick in the dirt. I didn't get the name RUTHLESS by playing nice with others. This is a cut throat business. Not only does it take strength, technique and skill to compete at this level of the game, it also takes natural talent, experience, intelligence, cunning and RUTHLESS aggression! All traits that yours truly possesses."

Chris Saunders "Many superstars have come and gone here in the WWX over the years. Now three of the longer mainstays are seemingly in control of running the company. The Lost Soul, current IWA and AAA champion. Tommy Lipton who has been recently diagnosed as clinically insane and last but not least, the interim GM Xavier Pendragon. What are your thoughts on the current status of World Wrestling Xistance?" 


Riker "Isn't it obvious? This place is in complete disarray and Javier is doing the best he can to keep this sinking ship afloat. Somewhere along the way I think WWX lost the Midas touch. I also think the people who love what we do aren't going to go and do something else if they get fired. Like Caleb Leber. He's a perfect example. He might be naive and unproven but at heart, he's a wrassler. If he gets put onto the card and it doesn't work out, he'd be wrasslin' somewhere else the next day. He's not trying to shoehorn himself into an accounting job. He's a wrassler. No matter how you dress em' up. He's always going to be there. So I just think if you love wrestling sometimes—maybe-you're punished. You're placed last in line. The attitude is: You're always going to be here, maybe we can use you later if we need you, but right now we're going to use this guy because he has this many followers on twitter."


Chris Saunders "You mentioned Caleb Leber. I noticed that you have recently taken him under your wing, so to speak, along with a GIANT of a man that goes by the name of Aaron Frost. As luck would have it, both men are making their official WWX debuts against each other in a dark match on Ravage. Who do you think has the advantage? Is there anyone you are pulling for to win?"


Riker "I don't play favorites. I think it's safe to say that Leber is by far the underdog against the Alaskan Ice Man 'Arctic' Aaron Frost but i wouldn't count Caleb out just yet. The kid is very crafty, all it takes to win in this business is capitalizing on that crucial three second mistake."


Chris Saunders "Not many may know this but you have your very own wrestling school that you currently run located in your hometown of Jackson, Mississippi called Ruthless Wrestling Academy. Word has it that you've trained some past WWX champions. Is there any truth to that rumor?"


Riker "I am not going to sit here and drop names but yes, i have trained close to a dozen wrestlers and a few have held championships here in WWX at one time. Far as my training school, anyone is welcome to join with a one time only $500 sign up fee. No refunds so don't ask. We don't rewards quitters here at RWA."

Chris Saunders "Another thing we noticed is that you used the 'W' word a lot. how much do you dislike saying "sports-entertainment"?

Riker "I don't hate it as much as you would think (awkward pause) alight yes i do. (chuckles) I loathe the wold, 'sports entertainment' (cringes) It's ridiculous when you're discouraged from saying 'wrestling.' At the end of the day, that's what goes on in that ring. That ring is our stage. What we do on that stage is we wrassle. I'm not playing grab-ass. I'm out there fighting to win. Wins and losses mean something. Wrasslin' happens to be damm entertaining."

"So is it weird to call yourself a 'Superstar' as opposed to a wrestler?"

Riker "Absolutely. Brad Pitt is a Superstar. That annoying Beiber kid, even he's a superstar to all those little teeny boppers out there. Do I think Brad Pitt or Justin Beiber can do what we do? Not a friggin' chance! Brad Pitt gets scripts and lines to study months ahead of time. Justin Beiber has people write his songs then lip sync's on stage. Both have a very controlled setting in which they look the best they possible can. They put makeup on, there's lighting, there's people doing the sound and everything. We are more than a superstar. We go out there on live TV every show and kill it. That's where the entertainment part comes in. It's more entertaining then a Brad Pitt movie. There are no retakes, you know? There's no Take 1, Take 2—'I screwed that up, let me do it again.' If we screw up, we screw up and it get's posted on a botchapalooza youtube video. That's the entertaining part."


Chris Saunders "You have been up and down the roads countless number of times throughout your wrestling career. One of the things that you have grown a reputation for over the years and 'ribbing' other wrestlers in the locker room. Do you have any pg stories that you could share?"


Riker (rubs chin, contemplating. then pulls a half smile) "Let's see...Come to think of it. There was this one kid, Napalm Steele, or as i like to call him, fire crotch. (cracks a brief smile that quickly fades away) He had a bad habbit of playing with matches and burning things. So one day, i noticed that a small waste basket in my wrestling school had been torched. Inside the trash can was a single burnt match which was a dead give away. The whole place could have burnt down and this son of a gun wouldn't even admit what he had done so i know that i had to teach this pyromaniac punk a lesson. Long story short, i emptied an entire bag of itching powder. Keep in mind you are only supposed to use a little, like a pinch. I broke into his locker and dumped the whole damm thing into the crotch of his wrestling tights. By the end of training he was sweating tears so i told him to hit the showers. The thing about that is, water makes itching powder a hundred times worse. (a devilish grin peeks out)  The funniest part of it all was the next day when he blamed it all on some new shampoo that he thought he must've been allergic to, that dumbas$. There are others i could tell but dont' think they'd qualify for that pg rating you were looking for."

Chris Saunders "I'd like to thank you for your time. In closing, what does the year 2012 hold in store for Ruthless Russ Riker?"


Riker "2012 will be the first and last year that i will compete in WWX. You heard me right, i'm making it official. After this calender year i'm hanging up my boots for good. I've come back to wrasslin' after a long hiatus to give it one last run and before i go, i'm planning on taking a piece of gold with me. I realize that nobody expects me to win. I'm that old man who, for all intents and purposes, never should have even made it to WWX. I had roadblock after roadblock thrown in my way just to get here and they're just going to keep on coming but Not only will I get past these roadblocks like i have in the past, I will do it while flipping off the people who put up those roadblocks with a smile on my face."

[Fade out]