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JOHNSON: What are you favorite memories following the business before and after you launched the site?
REYNOLDS: My favorite memories before the site didn't generally have to do with stuff that happened in the ring, but rather hanging out with my friends and watching. I remember my buddy Casey and I going to the local indy shows and heckling the owner, a guy by the name of Jeff Cohen. We'd chant the dumbest things, like "Nice suit Jeff - is it a rental?!" We made buffoons of ourselves. To his credit, I guess, Jeff thought we were funny and asked us to come work for him. I had a lot of fun working with him, but what I really remember is just hanging out with Jeff, goofing off, having fun. We are still good friends to this day. I also met another great friend, Dan Garza, whom I did some work for as a heel manager. He even let me write some storylines, and in doing so, I became the worst booker in the history of professional wrestling. God my stuff was horrible. I complain about Vince Russo, but trust me, my stuff was a zillion times worse.
After the site launched...just getting email from folks that say, "I remember that!" or "I was having a horrible day, but I read your write up on the AWA WrestleRock Rumble and I couldn't stop laughing...thanks!" I think it's really just been cool meeting people, getting to work with folks. I always have said that when I began the site, it was really just to amuse me and my friends. I wound up with a lot more friends than I started with.
JOHNSON: You've got some unique items listed in the Wrestlecrap.com items section. What's the worst piece of wrestling memorabilia you own?
REYNOLDS: The worst item I currently own is probably this vibrating Kevin Nash action figure. To this day, I have no idea why he vibrates, or why WCW marketed a vibrating Kevin Nash doll. It's kind of creepy, actually.
JOHNSON: I had the Chris Benoit figure with that. I remember being so happy that Benoit had an action figure, then I got it and it was like, "What the hell is this for?" [Laughs]
REYNOLDS: The worst item I've EVER owned was this WWF Orange Drink that had a picture of Lex Luger on the side of it. It tasted like battery acid. Of course, I had kept in my refrigerator for like 5 years, so maybe that's why. Not sure what caused me to keep it so long...maybe I thought a plastic jug of crappy citrus sludge with a pic of the Narcissist on the side would go up in value or something, I don't know.
JOHNSON: How did the idea for Wrestlecrap the book come about?
REYNOLDS: I have a mailbag on the site in which I answer questions. Someone asked about a book, and I said I would be interested in doing one, but had no idea who to contact or anything. I thought that was that. Within like a day, a guy by the name of Kevin Flynn contacted me, said he knew a company in Montreal called ECW Press. I thought it was a rib, especially with THAT name! But lo and behold, they were interested and asked me to submit a sample chapter. So I did, and they thought it was really funny. I was all excited, but then they didn't contact me for about six months. At that point, I was like, "Well, I guess I won't be writing a book" and just moved on with life. They finally got back in touch with me, and said they wanted to do it, had a contract for me and everything. "But," they said, "we don't want to call it WrestleCrap because that might offend people." I felt that the name had value, and told them either we did it with the name or I didn't have interest in doing the book. At that point, I KNEW I wasn't going to be writing a book. But they came back and agreed. I was shocked.
JOHNSON: What was the writing process for the book? Was it expanding on the website's material or going back to the well to create original content?
REYNOLDS: It was tough, because people have a certain expectation as to what the book should be. Some folks wanted it to be just like the site, with a bunch of single page entries that detailed this guy or that guy. I thought that would have limited appeal. I wanted something that people who knew nothing about wrestling could read and enjoy. I wanted something that my mom, who doesn't know anything about wrestling, could pick up and laugh at. So I decided to look at the past 20 or so years of wrestling history, and how the WORST of wrestling was really the cause of what happened in the industry. Of course, I had to include some stuff from the site, because a) people wanted that and b) there was some stuff that I simply felt I could not write better. So it was kind of a mix. I've gotten a lot of positive feedback on the book, but ironically some of the folks that didn't care for the book were basically upset that it wasn't set up like the site. It was a calculated risk, but I think, in the end, I made the right decision.
JOHNSON: John Tenta wrote the foreword for the book. How did that connection come together?
REYNOLDS: I had listened to John on a wrestling internet show and found him to be a very funny guy, very honest, very human. I emailed him, asked if he'd be interested in doing an interview for the site. I don't think he quite knew what to make of someone calling him and saying, "Hey, I write about the worst of wrestling, so I immediately thought of you." In fact, he seemed very hesitant about doing the interview, but once he did, he saw that I wasn't going to make fun of him, but rather provide a forum for him to get HIS side of the story out. We did a whole special update, Tentafest, and he thought that was great. In fact, I remember him emailing me and thanking me for putting so much thought and care into it. I also remember when Merle died, he wrote me immediately, and told me just how much he was upset by his passing, since we (Merle and I) had shown him so much respect. I still keep that email right by my desk in fact.
When the book came about, I just asked him if he'd be interested in doing the foreword. He said he'd love to, but he wasn't much of a writer. He said he'd try, though. One night, I got a call from him - he was in Japan. He said he wrote it, and wanted to read it to me. I asked if I could transcribe it, and he said, "Well, it's rough...are you sure?" and I said I was. He read it to me over the phone, and with God as my witness, I almost broke down in tears. Here was this guy who wanted to provide for his family, and was willing to do all this stupid stuff just to do it, like becoming a Shark or being dubbed a "Human Oddity." I thought that was great. What made it into the book was basically just what he read me on the phone that night.
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