Hello everyone and welcome once again to the Superstar Corner. In this edition, you will get to hear a candid, yet very surreal interview with the current TWF Universal champion Jordan Rockwell. Plus, in our Developmental spotlight, which focuses on the mFw this time, you will learn about someone you may not even know was in this year's Royal Rumble. Also, we pull out our favorite segment, "Turning back the TWF clock with another memory from before the TWF was even online. Enjoy!
COVER STORY
Mchael Cole: "He is the most successful young athlete in TWF history and he is Jordan Rockwell. In the next two hours, we will cover the career of the superstar called Mr. Showtime and the man Jordan Campbell, the young man from Los Angeles, California about his matches, injuries, fueds and controversy."
(the shot opens inside the den of Jordan Rockwell's Malibu home with he and Michael Cole sitting face to face)
Cole: "I'm here in the home of TWF Universal champion Jordan Rockwell. Jordan, thanks for letting us into your home and for joining me tonight".
Rockwell: "My pleasure".
Cole: "Let's start at the beginning, what was your childhood like"?
Rockwell: "Well, I was raised in Riverside, California which is a suburb of Los Angeles along with my younger sister by my mother. I come from a single parent household in which my mom worked to support us and pay all the bills by herself cause she and my father never married and he went on to get married to a real nice woman and he now has three other kids. So I'm the oldest of five children".
Cole: "Speaking of your younger siblings, not many people know that one of them is in the TWF, specifically the mFw".
Rockwell: "Geez you find out a lot. (laughs) Yeah Britney Haven is my half sister from my father's marriage".
Cole: "Moving ahead a bit, when did wrestling come into the picture"?
Rockwell: "Well, I'd been a wrestling fan since I was like five years old during the Hogan era since I was raised in the eighties, so I was really into Hogan, Andre, Steamboat and countless others and actually I was in the L.A. sports arena for Wrestlemania two back then and that was when it began".
Cole: "When did you decide to get into the business"?
Rockwell: "Umm.. it was right after I graduated from college, when my best friend called me up and said Trish Stratus was gonna be at the Lakers arena for an on sale date so we went to meet her, and after a few hours we got in and met her but I was so mesmerized by her all I thought of was how do I get into wrestling and she told me to get into school for training. Then when we got to my house, I dropped a magazine and it opened to an add for Dory Funk, jr.'s wrestling school and my friend and I were like what a coincidence and that happened a few times and after a while I realized maybe someone's trying to tell me something. So I got money from my mother and went down to Florida and went through hell with Dory and the other instructors down there for months".
Cole: "Is it true you almost didn't make it"?
Rockwell: Yeah it is, basically after about a couple weeks into my second month, I ran out of money and all I had was my return ticket home and my clothing and nothing else so I was gonna have to leave, so I called Dory and his wife Toni. I told her about my situation and Toni put me on hold to talk with Dory and after a few minutes, she came back on and told me that I could stay on their couch at their house in exchange for me working at the arena slash training facilities and I would continue my training. That really took me by suprise at first cause he didn't know me at all and at the same time meant a lot that they had enough faith and confidence in me to help me out".
Cole: "Is that why the Funk family means so much to you"?
Rockwell: "Among many other reasons, yeah. I mean, when you are a baby your father raises you from a baby to a child into a man and in my case, Dory raised me from a man into the professional wrestler I am, so that's why I say he's like a second father to me cause he's taught me so much and he believed in me enough to open his families home to me".
Cole: "At what point during that time did you meet the man that we know as Nails"?
Rockwell: "I met him five years ago at a Funk family get together. Terry, who trained Nails, brought him to Dory's house andIi was already there cause it was a get together of the family but also of the students as a reward, I guess you'd have to say for all the work we'd put in, and Terry and Dory introduced us and we became friends. After that, it was a while after Nails left terry that he invited me to go see him wrestle down in Atlanta. So I did and I recognized him in his gear,(laughing) he's always been a bit of an extremist and that night he was in a japanese deathmatch and I went to the back after the show and asked him how the hell are you alive after that and he looked at me and said, kid in this business and in life you don't stop till you drop and i got the point and it made sense to me".
Cole: "What was the point of his statement"?
Rockwell: "Basically, that in the wrestling business and in life, you keep going no matter what obstacles may fall in front of you and you don't ever give up till they put you in the ground in a coffin".
Cole: "How did you come into the TWF"?
Rockwell: "that's kinda a weird story. Jack Briscoe is a friend of Terry and Dory since the old days and one of them, I forget which, called Jack to come look at their students for Jack to put them over with Jerry to get some of the guys a possible tryout with the company, so he did and ironically I wasn't there that day so Jack in turn called Jerry who came down to see for himself and this one guy couldn't make the show so I was a last minute substitute and Jerry saw me wrestle and I guess I impressed him cause a few days later, Dory got a call from Bruce Pritchard about me and wanted him to send me to Nashville to the SMW to meet with him and needless to say, I went down there a few days later".
Cole: "What happened next"?
Rockwell: "Next, I met with Bruce and he wanted me to have a tryout match to show him what I could do so he set me up in a dark match on SMW and he was real impressed so I signed to wrestle for the SMW".
Cole: "But that was a short lived thing, right"?
Rockwell: Yeah, right when I was scheduled to make my debut in SMW, Jim Cornette got a call from Jim Ross telling him they needed a guy to wrestle on RAW as a replacement for an injured wrestler and than Bruce Pritchard told him about me and that I was the one to be sent up so Corny called me into his little office and said that I'd been called up to wrestle on RAW and swear to god I damn near passed out from the shock of what he told me".
Cole: "And that lead you to your debut in the TWF against Billy Gunn"?
Rockwell: "Yeah, April 7, 2001 in Salt Lake City, Utah, I made my debut against Billy Gunn and I was so nervous it wasn't funny simply cause Billy is a world class athlete who is the greatest tag team wrestler in the business and even though I lost that night, it was an unforgettable experience".
Cole: "Now what proceeded that match was the start of something special, that being the birth of the New Breed, how'd that come about"?
Rockwell: "I was in the TWF training facilities while a lot of the wrestlers were and I kept to myself all day till Jessica Lopez approached me and we got into talking and we thought up the idea of us working together and we over heard Shawn Stasiak talking to Sean O'haire and Chuck Palumbo who have been tight for a long time. They were saying that they may get axed and I'm a real fan of theirs especially Sean O'haire, so we all sat down and agreed to hook up as a group to save their careers and to help jump start mine, so we brought the idea to Jim Ross and he liked it and said he'd run it buy Vince McMahon and a few days later, we got called to Vince's office before a show and he asked if we had a name in mind. Of course we didn't, so I thought to myself and I blurted out New Breed and he liked it cause we were a new group of young talent bread to be the best".
Cole: "And that lead to Foul Play in Tampa on April 28 th, what was that like"?
Rockwell: "That was simply exciting since it was my first pay-per-view and the beginning of as you said, something special".
Cole: "Obviously injuries are part of the business, tell me about the injuries you've had in your career".
Rockwell: "uhhhh.... Okay well first, I fractured my wrist and broke my hand during the Billy Gunn feud and I've also had like 6 known concussion in a year and a half, most being one after the other. That lead into the elbow injury and most recently, I've had some knee trouble".
Cole: "I wanted to get some thoughts on a few of your rivalries here in the TWF, starting with Drew Blood".
Rockwell: "Well, with Drew and I, it was about two young guys trying to get ahead in this company, the only problem was that I was in his way and he was in mine, so we just clashed and it made for great tv and great pay-per-view and in the beginning, yeah I lost more then I won against him, but fact is, no one will ever get under his skin or push him to limits like me".
Cole: "Most recently there was Triple H".
Rockwell: "That is the one shocker of this year cause no one thought I'd be in the ring with him, none the less beat him for the TWF title and I've done both so I'm happy to know that I did both".
Cole: "Let's talk about your run here in the TWF. First came the TWF European title at Wrestlemania. How was that night"?
Rockwell: "Uh god, probably both a nervous night and much anticipated evening as well in my life and career with the storyline going with me and steiner, I recieved as well as the TWF officals, several questions from fans as to when I'd face Steiner to finally get my pay back and some gold. So Jerry Briscoe came to me and said I'd be facing Steiner for the European title at Wrestlemania in a ladder match and I was so awestruck cause I was going to my first Wrestlemania and it was gonna be for a title in my first high stakes match in three months. That night I was working on so much energy and adrenaline it took me like several hours till I was calm later on that night after the show. But yeah, that was a special night for me to win my first title at our major event and the coolest thing to me was that we were the lead into the main event that night".
Cole: "Then came the night on PrimeTime when you unified the title with the Intercontinental title after beating Stone Cold Steve Austin, what went through your mind"?
Rockwell: "Funny thing, I wanted to strangle Shane so bad because I'd had the title so long. I was a few days away from breaking the record for longest title reign and he tells me this. But eventually I said fine if you wanna do it then whatever, so the match happened as you said and thankfully, I came out on the winning end that night with the Intercontinental title. Oh and true story, Shane actually let me keep the European title so I have it right over there on my mantl". (points over to his mantle on the fireplace)
Cole: "Then it was into MeltDown and the triple threat match with Triple H and Stone Cold, how nervous were you that night"?
Rockwell: "Man you have no idea. I felt like I was gonna puke all night backstage. I was so restless, I literally couldn't sit still. I know a lot of people didn't think I'd be there with two big names fighting for the world title and to be honest, neither did I. But I knew I had to turn it up to the last notch if I had any shot at winning the TWF world title and by the grace of god, I did".
Cole: "And recently, you won the TWF Universal title and became the first to hold it, a great accomplishment for you, which you predicted"?
Rockwell: "Yes I did and that was a first for me to do that by going on tv and saying I predict a win for me, for me failure isn't an option. I needed to go to that pay-per-view and win to show the first time was no fluke. (taps the title laying on the table next to him) And I did exactly that".
Cole: "Tell me about When World's Collide in Madison Square Garden".
Rockwell: "That was a real special evening with what went on in New York on September 11th. It was the right thing to do in my opinion and everything that we did leading into that night was a experience that I'll never forget, especially since I have family that lives in New York and that lead into the pay-per-view itself and the champion versus champion match with me and King T of the GWF in which I won proving that I was better then him and that the TWF is the top company in the business".
Cole: "Amen to that. Now can you tell me about your relationship with Lita"?
Rockwell: "We started dating in the end of May 2001. She honestly just took hold of me with every thing she did and I can honestly say that from the minute I met her, I knew I had to have her and that she was the one for me. So for the first time in my life, I've settled down with one woman and I love it and her".
Cole: "Any chance on wedding bells in the future"?
Rockwell: (laughing) "Geez Michael, put me on the spot why dontcha? To be honest, I'd say that is something that will happen. I can't say when, but it's an absolute strong feeling that we have for each other and that won't be broken ever. So like I said, no clue as to when, but it's more then likely gonna be".
Cole: "Now in this interview, we've promised controversy and now's the time to deliver it to the fans".
Rockwell: Yes it is. (takes a breath and brushes his hair from his face) During my TWF title reign, in the beginning of it I should say,(pauses for a moment) I was addicted to drugs and specifically prescription pain killers".
Cole: "Why did you decide to address this issue today"?
Rockwell: "One of the things that I pride myself on is being a positive role model for kids and for my own daughter, but the fact is that I couldn't do that without being honest and truthfull about this. I mean, how could I look my daughter in the eye and teach her to say no when I didn't? And so I really felt that this was something that I had to do for myself, my family and the company and it's fans".
Cole: "What went on during this time"?
Rockwell: "Basically I was always in pain, after all, my whole body was killing me. I wasn't resting properly due to my responsibilities and my own stupidity, so my elbow hurt me along with my knee and my lower back along with that was all the concussions I had. So one day, I was in the trainers room and he had some on a shelf so when he turned around, I stole them and I took them and after they wore off, I got my doctor to write me a prescrition and I took all of them and I took them for any little ailment that I had and then I lied to get them by saying the open bottle fell down my sink or in the toilet or whatever. So I'd get a new prescription written and I'd still take from the trainers room and after a while, he realized that they were gone when I was there so he put two and two together and went to Jim Ross who in turn went to Shane McMahon who told Vince and I was at home one day when Vince called me up and after some small talk, he was like, I've heard through the grapevine that you have a little problem on your hands. Bottomline, if you aren't over this problem by the time you are scheduled to return don't bother and he offered to get me into rehab with a friend of his and it would be done quietly and i had two options, either i go through the rehab or i'd be fired, so i took him up on his offer".
Cole: "Do you regret this at all"?
Rockwell: "What I regret is letting it go as far as it did and I regret lying about it to everyone and I regret the embarressment I brought to everyone in the TWF, to my family and to my friends. But I assure everyone I've been clean and I'm gonna stay this way from now on".
Cole: "I wanna thank you again for the interview here in your home and for being so honest with me and the world on this".
Rockwell: "My pleasure".
(the two shake hands and the shot goes black)
mFw SPOTLIGHT..... JESSE JAMES MORGAN
hgt: 6'4 wgt: 243lbs
hometown: San Antonio, Texas
finisher : The superkick
age: 24
bio: Jesse James Morgan is the student of wrestling legend Shawn Michaels and was one of a couple of mFw superstars that wrestled in a now closed independent promotion with mFw figure head Jesse Steele. Following in his mentor's footsteps, Morgan has perfected the use of the superkick and is someone mFw officals expect big things from.
"Sensational" Steve Mcbride: "I grew up with him in San Antonio and I can tell you that my best friend means business. After Jesse, Brian Parker and I got a raw deal where we were and he swore things would be different here and I believe he'll live up to those words."
Brian Parker: "I met him through Steve Mcbride back in the mid to late 90's and he was determined to succeed back then but we weren't given the chance to. Here we are, so all the mFw fans can expect to see him bust his ass to get ahead here in the mFw, cause he will do exactly that. Why? because that's the only way he knows how."
Jesse Steele: "I met him in like 1997 and I saw a kid that wasn't getting a chance to be something that he could be and even though he wrestled down in the southern promotion and I wrestled in the northeast section, I watched him and his crew back then and had to get him here. Trust me, this kid is legit because he knows and believes in hard work to get ahead. I expect big things from him now that he has the freedom to grow."
LOOK FOR JESSE JAMES MORGAN IN THIS YEAR's TWF ROYAL RUMBLE MATCH!
TURNING BACK THE TWF CLOCK IT's TIME AGAIN FOR OUR FAVORITE SEGMENT OF THE CORNER! AND THIS TIME, WE TURN THE CLOCK BACK TO JANUARY 2000, BEFORE THE TWF WAS ONLINE, FOR OUR FIRST ROYAL RUMBLE. THE STAGE WAS SET. IT WAS A BALMY DAY IN ANAHEIM, CALIFORNIA. JANUARY 13, 2000 WAS THE EXACT DATE. IT WAS ABOUT 60 DEGREES OUTSIDE BUT THE TEMPERATURE INSIDE WAS SCORCHING AS OVER 20,000 FANS PACKED THE ARROWHEAD POND FOR WHAT WAS TRULY A GREAT NIGHT OF ACTION. Gerald Briscoe: "I remember that night very well. If the fans didn't have total respect for Mick Foley up to that point, they did at the end of the show". MANKIND WAS SCHEDULED TO DEFEND THE TWF TITLE IN A STEEL CAGE MATCH AGAINST THE TEXAS RATTLESNAKE, "STONE COLD" STEVE AUSTIN, AND HE DID. IT WAS A BRUTAL, BLOODY MATCH THAT LASTED 22+ MINUTES. MANKIND WAS HIT OVER THE HEAD WITH A STEEL CHAIR AND A BARBED WIRE COVERED BASEBALL BAT BUT HE CONTINUED TO FIGHT. FINALLY, AUSTIN HIT THE STUNNER AND EXITED THE CAGE TO WIN IT. BUT MANKIND INSISTED HE COMPETE IN THE ROYAL RUMBLE MATCH ITSELF, IMMEDIATELY AFTERWARDS. Tony Garea: "We all looked at Mick and said, there's no way, you had a good match, you probably need fifteen stitches. But that was Mick, he was tough as nails. HIS INSISTENCE ON COMPETING GOT HIM INTO THE MATCH, BUT TO EVERYONE's SURPRISE, AS CACTUS JACK. BANDAGED UP, HE ELIMINATED 5 SUPERSTARS BEFORE INADVERTENTLY ELIMINATING HIMSELF GOING FOR A CROSS BODY BLOCK. BUT LATE IN THE MATCH, IT WAS DOWN TO THE UNDERTAKER, THE BIG BOSS MAN AND CHAZ WHEN THE HORN SOUNDED FOR #30 TO COME OUT. IT WAS MANKIND! EVEN THOUGH MANKIND WAS HATED AT THE TIME, THE FANS ROSE TO THEIR FEET IN OVATION. JUST AS UNDERTAKER THREW OUT THE BOSS MAN, MANKIND CLOTHESLINED CHAZ OUT, LEAVING 1 FINAL SHOWDOWN. AFTER ALMOST 5 MINUTES OF BRAWLING, THE UNDERTAKER FINALLY DRILLED MANKIND WITH A RUNNING BOOT AND KNOCKED HIM OVER THE TOP ROPE TO WIN THE MATCH. MANKIND TRIED TO GET BACK IN FOR MORE BUT WAS RESTRAINED BUT THE 5 REFEREES WHO SURROUNDED THE RING. IT WAS THE FIRST OF TWO ROYAL RUMBLE MATCHES THAT THE UNDERTAKER HAS WON, BUT ALSO A MEMORABLE NIGHT BECAUSE OF FOLEY's PERFORMANCE. Vince McMahon: "Even though he pissed me off by going out there after I told him not to, I'd have to say it was one of the more courageous things I've ever seen a wrestler do in one night and that event will always stand out in my mind for that reason".
HOT OFF THE PRESS... INTERNATIONAL TOUR NEWS.... WITH THE SUCCESS OF TWF OUTBREAK LAST YEAR, THE TWF HAS DECIDED TO MAKE THEIR INTERNATIONAL TOUR AN ANNUAL EVENT. TWF OUTBREAK WENT A LONG WAY LAST YEAR IN OPENING NEW AVENUES FOR THE TWF, BY GIVING IT SOME OVERSEAS EXPOSURE. WITH A NICE MIXTURE OF TWF SUPERSTARS, LEGENDS OF THE RING AND DEVELOPMENTAL TALENT, TWF OUTBREAK WAS ONE OF THE BETTER EVENTS OF 2002. PLANS FOR THIS YEAR's EVENT WILL BE SIMILAR. IT HAS ALREADY BEEN ANNOUNCED THAT THE EVENT, TENTATIVELY SCHEDULED TO BE CALLED "WIDESPREAD PANIC", WILL BE HELD IN SINGAPORE. THE TWF FELT THIS WOULD BE A GREAT PLACE TO GO AND GIVE THE PEOPLE THERE A CHANCE TO SEE SOMETHING THEY'RE NOT USED TO SEEING, BUT ALSO TO GIVE AMERICANS A LOOK AT A COUNTRY THAT IS REMEMBERED MOST RECENTLY FOR THE CANING OF A FELLOW AMERICAN AS PUNISHMENT. TICKETS FOR THE EVENT WENT FAST, SELLING OUT IN UNDER 2 HOURS AND OFFICIALS EXPECT OVER 30,000 PEOPLE FOR THE EVENT WHICH WILL BE A RAW AND PRIMETIME PRODUCTION. SMW AND mFw TALENT WILL ALSO BE USED AS WELL AS SOME NAMES FROM THE PAST. CURRENT UFC LIGHTHEAVYWEIGHT CHAMPION TITO ORTIZ, ALSO KNOWN AS THE "HUNTINGTON BEACH BAD BOY" HAS AGREED TO APPEAR AT THE EVENT, ALTHOUGH IT's UNKNOWN IF HE'LL BE COMPETING OR NOT. ALSO, TWF OFFICIALS HAVE SPOKEN WITH KING KONG BUNDY THE LEGION OF DOOM AS WELL. WE HOPE THIS EVENT IS AS SUCCESSFUL AS LAST YEAR's AS WE WILL CONSIDER DOING THIS TWICE A YEAR IF IT IS.
