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The biggest question that most fans might have for "Sarge" Dwayne Bruce is
about Dave Batista. In his book, Dave said that during his WCW tryout, Sarge
worked him out until he vomited, told him he'd never become a wrestler, and had
a "Napoleon Complex." James Guttman tells Bruce that he knows he's often asked
about the harsh comments, but has a different spin on the question. James
mentions how he took some classes at a local wrestling school before he began
writing about wrestling. The experience taught him to respect even the simplest
of bumps but also included some insane training methods. The first day, the
trainers had everyone running until they threw up and all Guttman could think
was how awful the trainers were as people. But, as James got older, he
understood the reasoning. After pledging a fraternity, being the new guy in
different situations, and just learning more how the wrestling business worked,
Guttman had a better understanding of why the trainers did what they did and
what they were preparing their students for.
This leads to the question.
Batista's harsh comments about Sarge's training didn't come out early in his
career. In fact, they came out years into his big time run. Guttman asks Bruce
if he was surprised that, by that point, Dave Batista still hadn't "gotten it"
or if that's common. Dwayne doesn't feel it is and asks ClubWWI.com host Glacier
if he agrees.
"No, that's not…I wouldn't say…Ray, do you think that's
common for people not to 'get it' that far into their career? It just went along
with the training, didn't it? You know what? I told everybody at every tryout
that they would never be a wrestler. Listen, if I can tell anybody anything to
get a little more out of them, and believe me, I've evaluated every person that
tried out. What their strong points were, what were their weak points, what we
had to work on - throughout the tryout, I did that every night. They talk about
squats and all that, but listen brother, I did that with them."
The proof
is in the pudding and even in the infamous Louie Theroux documentary that Sarge
discusses in-depth during his ClubWWI.com appearance, you can see him working
out alongside the hopefuls. It's how he runs his training session and those who
studied under him can attest to that.
"I lead by example and, the thing
is with Batista, I don' t really remember him trying out. That's how much he
stuck in my mind from the tryout. Yeah, I guess I did tell him he was never
gonna make it and all that and whatever. But maybe he's blessed that he didn't
make it through the Power Plant. I think he turned out OK… You've got to be
mentally tough. You've got to be physically tough. If you're not mentally tough,
it's so easy to get led astray. That's another reason why the Power Plant was so
hard…I guess I told him all those things. But you're supposed to be smart enough
that by the time you made it through and you're making the kind of money that he
was making, at the time (he wrote his book), I guess he should have gotten it.
But some people never get it."
As the ClubWWI.com interview continues,
Dwayne reminds us all that wrestling is constantly changing. Some of the intense
training methods are put into play to gage whether someone can stick with a
business that often sticks it to you. Bruce once again shows that he lead by
example - even when it came to TV time.
"Ray's put all his heart and
soul into everything. Even as gimmicks change. My gimmicks changed. Hell, I've
been a freakin' leprechaun. What the hell? (laughs) You've got to take
everything at face value and know there's a price. Blood, sweat, tears is what
you have to pay."
As mentioned, although the show covers a ton of topics,
there are always more, and Bruce says he looks forward to returning to
ClubWWI.com for another show with Ray Lloyd, who he has nothing but respect for.
"I'm so honored to be on your site. I'm so honored to be on the show with Ray.
I'm out for anything that Ray does. I can truly say this, from the bottom of my
heart, Ray is family and I consider him like one of my boys. He's always been a
true friend to me through the years. He's a genuine person. It's been an honor
and a privilege."
Remember, this discussion with Ray "Glacier" Lloyd,
"Sarge" Dwayne Bruce, and James Guttman goes on for over an hour and is just one
hour out of thousands available the second you sign up on ClubWWI.com -
featuring tons of audios and hundreds of top wrestling stars in uncut shoot
interviews for less than the price of a magazine!
If you enjoy PWInsider.com you can check out the AD-FREE PWInsider Elite section, which features exclusive audio updates, news, our critically acclaimed podcasts, interviews and more by clicking here!
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