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Former 1980s WWF/AWA backstage interviewer Ken Resnick joined VOC Nation’s Wrestling with History program to talk about the upcoming “Gathering” convention in Charlotte, his WWF run, WCW being disorganized, failed comeback attempts, today’s product being overly scripted, and more..
You can hear the entire interview at http://vocnation.com; here are some highlights of what “Killer Ken” had to say:
On his upcoming appearance at The Gathering in Charlotte: “I am going to host and emcee the dinner the night before to honor the life and memory of Bobby Heenan, Bruiser Brody, and Randy Savage. The unique part of that is, he put this together in conjunction with the closest family members of those that have passed (Cindy Heenan – Bobby’s widow will be accepting for Bobby; Barbara Goodish – Brody’s widow – will be accepting for Brody; Lanny Poffo will be accepting for Savage). Also, every single table at that dinner will have a wrestling legend sitting with (the fans) for that dinner. Tickets are only available through August 7th at tmartpromotions.com.”
On his WCW Tryout in the early 90s: “WCW called me and wanted to know if I would be interested in coming back to do interviews. The flew me down to Atlanta; I got off the plane and there was nobody there to pick me up. I called the office and (they had no idea what was happening) they asked me to take a cab to CNN Center. Someone finally called and said that they would be bringing me to (center stage) the next day for the TV tapings. Nobody really knew what I was supposed to do so they had me call a match. I went back to the hotel, never heard anything, and I just went home.”
On working for the WWE: “When I was there I was always treated wonderfully. I never had any issues, and I loved my time there. I think when you’re there, and they need you, it’s great. When they decide they don’t (need you) they have the tendency to forget your name.”
On whether he ever had another opportunity in the WWE: “In the late 80s, Vince flew me back out and we had a meeting. All of the interviews were still market specific back then, it was before everything was on USA. Vince wanted to do a segment called Face to Face, where the talent would tape one interview, and I would pretend like I was talking to them from WWF headquarters and we could individualize the interview for each specific market. We agreed on money, everything was set, Vince came out and shook my hand and told me it would be three weeks before we started and not to go (take other work); I didn’t hear from them again for years. Two years after that I got a call from Bruce Prichard and he expressed interest in bringing me back. They wanted my help putting a bunch of vignettes together for Mr. Perfect. So we put together all of these vignettes that they ran for Mr. Perfect, and I never heard another word after that. But I like Bruce, I have nothing but good things to say about Bruce.”
On today’s product being overly scripted: “So much of the (promos) today are so predictable. You know what’s going to happen before it starts. When I was (in the WWF) we didn’t rehearse anything. I would sometimes do 75 interviews a day because they were town specific, and the times that we would have to re shoot things were probably less than 3 percent… I think what has happened today is that so many (of the creative team) in the WWE are not really from the business. They’re from television where every single word is scripted.”
On WWE not creating mega stars today: “In the 80s, people bought tickets to see the individual talent, not necessarily for the overall show. They bought tickets because they wanted to see (the wrestlers) in person. Because everything in those days was unscripted and natural to the talent, those names were able to become larger than life. They no longer want anyone to become larger than life, and in a lot of ways that is unfortunate.”
On Hulk Hogan: “You only had to be around Hulk for one or two shows to know that (Hulk) had the it factor. Hulk gave me the name Killer Ken, and that’s how fans still refer to me today after all these years.”
Wrestling with History airs live on VOC Nation every Wednesday night at 9:30PM ET with legendary guests and listener calls.
Wrestling with History features VOC Nation founder “The Voice of Choice” Bruce Wirt, Albert “AC Smooth”, and former convention and appearance promoter Wrestlingmarx Erik. The VOC Nation Radio Network was born out of AM Radio in Philadelphia, and has grown into one of the most successful independent Internet radio networks in the world.
Featuring guests from wrestling personalities such as Hulk Hogan, Eric Bischoff, Joey Styles, Matt Hardy, and Mick Foley, to entertainers like Lou Ferrigno, The Insane Clown Posse, Roberta Flack, and Kristy Swanson, VOC Nation has given listeners insightful programming for nearly 10 years.
Visit us online at: http://vocnation.com
Link to the interview here: https://www.stitcher.com/s?eid=62949859&refid=stpr
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