The following was transcribed by Andy J of www.wrestlingweekly.com:
On July 31st, Wrestling Weekly host Doc Young and Les Thatcher were joined this week by featured guest ‘The Assassin‘ Jody Hamilton.
Wrestling Weekly airs every Tuesday at 8pm Eastern at
www.wrestlingweekly.com
Doc and Les were joined this week by Jody Hamilton. This is what they discussed:
– Les spoke about Jody being the youngest wrestler to headline a show at Madison Square Garden. Doc asked Jody Hamilton how old he was when headlining and Jody said he was nineteen.
– Jody spoke about headlining in more detail, recalling the attendance figure, which was over 20,355 fans and that it was on May 24th 1958.
– Hamilton said he began wrestling training at sixteen and spoke in more detail about training on the mats at the YMCA. Jody went on to say he learned a lot from just watching
– Jody then talked about the beginning of his career in pro-wrestling, saying he only worked out in a ring originally when himself and Johnny Weaver helped set up the ring and then highlighted when he was told about when his first match was going to be.
– Doc asked Jody Hamilton how he was accepted into the wrestling ‘fraternity’ and how he transitioned from being a fan into a professional wrestler. Hamilton noted he worked carnivals, which his brother did also and discussed in some more detail with Les about carnivals, saying it was “an unbelievable lifestyle“. Jody also stated he was given the opportunity to start in the business on September 3rd 1957
– Hamilton continued by talking about himself and his brother getting a push in 1958, where he headlined the show at the Garden.
– Les asked Jody Hamilton about the developmental deal Deep South Wrestling had with WWE. Jody continued by noting he has fifty one years of knowledge and experience in the wrestling business and wants to pass on what he’s learned to the younger wrestlers and also highlighted how the wrestling business has changed.
– Hamilton talked about how wrestlers on the Independent circuit are limited because of the inconsistency of their opponents and can only reach their full potential by wrestling against those who are better than they are, so they can learn. Jody continued highlighting that his greatest learning experience was when he wrestled a few years in Amarillo, Texas – “every night I was there, I worked with some of the greatest workers in the business…Iron Mike DiBiase…Sonny Myers, one of the greatest all-around performers…every night was an education, I got my Masters Degree in this business, wrestling in Amarilloâ€
– Jody then spoke with Les about the differences between training in his day and wrestler’s training today and the importance of having former wrestlers who know and understand the business deciding who to be called up from developmental and the writers role to create more ‘real-life’ type characters, develop storylines etc. Hamilton continued by saying he had to change his style and a develop a new character, based upon his own personality, when he wore a mask as one half of The Assassin’s tag team.
– A Wrestling Weekly listener in the chat room asked whether wrestling should have an off-season, Jody Hamilton replied, “No…it’s never been that way and I don’t believe in making that drastic of a change…I think wrestling is a year round sport…that’s what differentiates us…â€
– Another question is what could WWE do to progress the business forward and the schedule. Hamilton said that he doesn’t think the schedule is that demanding and noted he worked over one hundred twenty plus matches in one hundred twenty four days
– Jody is then asked by the Wrestling Weekly listeners in the chat room if he misses ’Kayfabe’. Jody Hamilton noted that he doesn’t miss it because “I’ve never lost it…the only time I miss it is when I‘m talking to people that think they know everything about the inside of the business, when they really don’t…â€
– Doc asked Hamilton about his future plans for Deep South Wrestling. Jody mentioned he will run towns and is giving opportunities to younger wrestlers, who he says deserve an opportunity.
Jody Hamilton is then thanked by Doc and Les for being a guest. Les noted he will making an appearance at the NWA Wrestling Fanfest, for more information visit:
http://www.caulifloweralleyclub.org/Events-Main.html and a training camp with Harley Race on August 25th in Detroit. For more, visit www.southatlanticwrestling.com and www.nwalegends.com and [email protected]
Next week’s featured guest will be Dory Funk Jr.
Wrestling Weekly is carried live by:
www.wrestlingradionetwork.com
www.audiowrestling.com
www.showdown.net
www.wrestling-radio.com
For more future guest information, visit www.wrestlingweekly.com/ww
and www.myspace.com/docyoung (the official MySpace site for ‘Wrestling Weekly’)