FIP Radio #14 w/ Jerrelle Clark is now available to download at:
http://www.fullimpactpro.com/images/radio/fipradio014.mp3
Here is the transcript:
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MSL: And we are back on FIP Radio! Mister Saint Laurent here joined at this time by our special guest, Jerrelle Clark. And Jerrelle, having you on the show for the first time, how does it feel, to be on FIP Radio?
JC: It feels good to be here on FIP Radio. I’ve actually been sitting back wondering when you were gonna’ actually ask me to be on FIP Radio!
MSL: We finally ask you to be on the show! We saw you recently return to FIP, you were gone for a little bit, what was going on? Where was Jerrelle Clark?
JC: Well, actually what I needed to do was take some time off. Sit back and re-evaluate what was going on with my career. For the last several years I’ve been known as “Mr. 630†Jerrelle Clark, you know, the guy that flies off the top rope, does a double front flip, landing on top of people, killing people. And, honestly, I didn’t want to be known as that anymore. So I had to take some time off, sit back, think about where I wanted to go and how I wanted to elevate my career. Sat back and I talked back with the office here at FIP, and it was a mutual agreement. That’s pretty much it.
MSL: Now let me ask you this, we’ve seen you in recent times, you were in a tag team called The Fast and the Furious, with Jay Fury. And you guys had a lot of success, and Jay Fury, haven’t seen him in FIP, not sure if he’s wrestling anywhere at this time. So loosing Jay Fury as a tag team partner, did that play a role in deciding that, ‘Hey, maybe I need to step back, take a look at my career, re-evaluate, and come back stronger than ever’?
JC: That was definitely a selling point. Over the last year or so, me and Jay sat back, and we had phenomenal matches, against some of the top teams here.
MSL: Saw great wars with Miracle Violence Connection, Steve Madison and Erick Stevens….
JC: Yes. Steve Madison, Erick Stevens. Battled over in Brooksville, battled in Orlando, you know, just all over the place. We had great matches against the Briscoes, wow, that was awesome right there. Then at Impact of Honor, working it out with Roderick and Austin. You know, sat out there and busted our butts. That just made me and Jay want to take it to the next level. And then, after that, Jay just disappeared on me, and we haven’t seen or heard from him since. You know, I’ve been giving him calls, e-mailing him, trying to touch base, just don’t know where he is. So that kinda’ left me out in limbo here in FIP. So, it brought me back into singles competition, so….
MSL: What made you decide to go singles, as opposed to maybe finding a new tag team partner? What were some of the factors that you were weighing on each side of the equation there?
JC: I don’t know. I mean, let me see, how did I start with Jay? Me and Jay, we wrestled back in the earlier days in FIP, and I saw something special in him. So I actually approached him, talked to him. And we were brought together for a show, and it worked out, it worked out very well. So we kinda’ went with that. But once Jay went AWOL on us, like I said it left me in limbo, and I needed to re-evaluate and think. So here I am, back at square one if you will.
MSL: We saw you recently in Inverness, one on one against Steve Madison. Hard fought match, Steve Madison came out on top. Now what do you think you have to do when you’re facing someone like Steve Madison, that’s got the size advantage? What do you gotta’ do differently, next time out maybe, to pick up the win?
JC: Just have to go back and look at the footage of the match. And see where I went wrong and what I can improve on. That’s pretty much it. You learn from each match that you have. The wrestling business, it’s a learning process, if you don’t grow with the business, you don’t grow as a person.
MSL: Now it looked to me in that match-up, that maybe you got hurt, you were looking real good. Took a shot to the stomach, I don’t know if maybe he knocked the wind out of you, or maybe you injured a rib. How are you feeling, have you recovered from that? Was there a rib injury in that match-up?
JC: He definitely caught me off guard, and knocked the wind out of me. Ribs are fine, but at that point it was hard to gasp for breath, and I just had to fight an up hill battle from there.
MSL: Now let me ask you this, you look at the FIP landscape, you see the different people that are out there. Who are some of the people you’d like to wrestle, in the coming months here at FIP? Who do you have your eyes set on?
JC: I definitely have my eyes set on Erick Stevens, and Roderick Strong. Of course they’re the top two guys in the company at this time. In the past I’ve wrestled both of them, and felt that I had a great match, felt that we had a great match. There’s great chemistry there. So I definitely look forward to wrestling with them again. Also the Briscoes, I’ve wrestled both of them, and another duo where I had great chemistry. As far as the up and comers…man, there’s just so many of them coming in. You get a chance to see them get in the ring and do their thing. It’s just, ‘Do I have enough time in my career left, to get a chance to operate with each and every one of them.’.
MSL: Well clearly, Jerrelle, you’ve got championship gold on your mind. Because I ask you who you want to wrestle, and you say Roderick Strong, the FIP World Heavyweight champion, you say Erick Stevens, the FIP Florida Heritage champion, and you say the Briscoes, the FIP Tag Team champions…Now if you were to battle the Briscoes again, who’s someone on the FIP roster that maybe you wouldn’t mind teaming with to maybe go after that tag team gold?
JC: Wow. You’re definitely putting me on the spot right there.
MSL: Putting you on the spot! In a perfect world, you can pick anybody on the roster to be your new tag team partner, tag team titles on the line. Let’s say the match was tomorrow, and you’ve got to get on the phone, you’ve got to call someone up, who are you calling first?
JC: First definitely on my list, would be Roderick. Honestly, the early FIP days, me and Roderick, we had some battles, with the then tag team champs, DP Associates. So I would definitely give him a call first.
MSL: Now it’s interesting, Jerrelle, that you bring up DP Associates. Because for people that have watched FIP DVD’s, and even Ring of Honor DVD’s, through the years, with Dave Prazak and myself doing the commentary, anytime you pop onto that monitor, Dave Prazak’s got some choice words for you. So what is the background, of this long running feud, between Dave Prazak and Jerrelle Clark?
JC: Well it started back…waaaay back in the days. Dave Prazak approached me and Insane Dragon, right after one of our matches, offering us a contract to join DP Associates. Of course, since I’m not in DP Associates, you can pretty much figure out we refused, and tore the contracts up right there.
MSL: So Dave Prazak got shot down! You rejected Dave Prazak!
JC: Yes, and I really don’t think he took too kindly to it. In fact, I think he hit me!
MSL: You got hit by Dave Prazak?
JC: Yes!
MSL: Did it feel like getting hit by a girl? I’m just asking!
JC: Actually, yes. Yes it did. Sorry Dave, get some power behind your punch.
MSL: So you got hit by Dave Prazak. Is that really all there is to it? All this time later, he’s still hung up on the fact, that you were one of the few people to say ‘No’ to DP Associates?
JC: I think that pretty much pissed him off right there. So, he’s used to getting his way. And at that time, he just didn’t get what he wanted, and he cried like a little girl.
MSL: Well Jerrelle, you’ve always done things your own way through the years. You don’t like to take orders from anybody. Not surprised that you weren’t very interested in being one of the sheep, in DP Associates. And certainly, you’ve got FIP Radio rooting for you here at FIP. Want to see you do good things! So thank you for coming on the show! Jerrelle Clark, we’ll be looking out for him, and hopefully have him on the show again in the future. But let’s take a quick break, and we’ll be right back, on FIP Radio!