Jonny was recently interviewed by ring announcer/commentator Matt Gaines for the
Hour of Power.
Hour Of Power w/ "Old School" Jonny Rokket First of all, I would like to thank you for taking your time to join me here for this edition of Matt Gaines' Hour of Power.
JR – No problem Matt.
1. Who were your favorite wrestlers growing up, and why?
JR – Well it should probably come as no surprise that most of my favorites are "old school" wrestlers. The original Four Horsemen, not that crap that came later with people like Lex Luger and Paul Roma. Tommy Rich during his CWA Tennessee days, Mr. Wrestling, Gino Hernandez, Harley Race, and most especially The Fabulous Freebirds. Michael P.S. Hayes was an influence right off the bat.
2. Did you prefer to watch WWF, WCW, ECW, Smoky Mountain Wrestling, American Wrestling Alliance, etc.?
JR - I've always been partial to the NWA territories: World Class in Texas, CWF in Florida, Mid-Atlantic in North Carolina and Georgia/World Championship Wrestling. But Tennessee wrestling has always been my personal fave for obvious reasons. WWF was cool but at times a bit schlocky and ECW was always more about who can try and kill someone else.
3. Favorite match of all time, and why?
JR - Well most of my faves have to do with Ric Flair. His matches vs Dusty Rhodes, Harley Race and especially Ricky Steamboat still hold up to this day. The Midnight Express vs The Rock & Roll Express had a big impact on the high flying wrestling we see today. You can talk about Hogan and Andre, the Undertaker/Mankind cage match, whatever…for my money Ric Flair vs Rick Rude at Fall Brawl '93. There was so much hype leading up to that match and they both delivered sevenfold. Textbook match on what a great match is supposed to be like.
4. Why did you become a legendary wrestling personality?
JR – Well I've always been sort of a "personality" starting off with music back in the day. Being a public figure is kind of old hat to me but it never gets old. As far as area wrestling is concerned, believe or not Morgan McNeal had the biggest hand in Joey and I getting involved with FCW. Morgan's brother Fred is the guitar player for my band G-City Rockers and following a tour we took up the east coast in 2006 we became aware that Morgan wrestled. Once day Fred shot us a message that Morgan mentioned that FCW was looking for commentators and the rest is now FCW history.
5. Thoughts on the current standings in the "big leagues" of WWE, TNA, and ROH?
JR - I've only caught bits and pieces of ROH and it seems pretty cool. TNA was cool until the whole Kurt Angle/Samoa Joe thing was regurgitated for the seven millionth time. TNA lives by these old stars, who are still talented but they treat them like that's all they have to offer and all they really do is change which one of them is taken on the other. They've botched up the X Division by strapping some pretty stupid storylines on them. As far as WWE? Complete utter crap. Watch NWA Anarchy Wednesdays on WBEK. Much better.
6. Is your "Old School" persona just how you are every day?
JR – Do you mean am I totally obsessed with rock & roll, blunt and forward with my opinions and convictions, and totally "old school"? Definitely.
7. If you could have one interview and/or match with anybody in the world, who and why?
JR – How cool would a sit-down dinner with Jonny Rokket, Michael P.S. Hayes, Ric Flair, Terry funk, Jim Cornette and The Iron Sheik be? We could do it at "Good Ol' J.R.'s BBQ joint in Oklahoma and have Brooke Hogan dress up in a skimpy outfit and wait on us. C'mon Matt, let's make that happen! As far as in the ring? I would say Flair just to be able to say I did it.
8. Thoughts on FCW?
JR – WOW! Puttin' the Rokket Man on the spot! But seriously, love FCW. Daniel E. Mayne gave Joey and I our start in the area and we are very thankful for that. Now are there things I would change? I liked it when there were 2-3 SEPARATE title rivalries going on. Now it all falls under the V.I.P. umbrella and can get a bit cluttered. But even so, show me anything better within a sixty mile radius.
9. Thoughts on AWA?
JR – I assume you're referring to the AUGUSTA Wrestling Alliance. (chuckles) You had a couple of guys with some great ideas to bring something unique to the Augusta area. Unfortunately great thinkers don't always make for great business people and in the case of the AWA those great ideas were thrown out before they were ripe for public consumption. Maybe they can turn it around we'll just have to wait and see.
10. Thoughts on TWF?
JR – Joey and I like to give TWF a good bit of grief from time to time but honestly what you have in the TWF is a good basis for something that could appeal to today's wrestling fan but a serious lack of resources to take it to the next level. There's no denying the heart of many of the wrestlers in TWF. There's some young talent who will only get better but at the same time there's a good bit of drama associated with immaturity in some spots as well. Also unfortunate is that there is good bit of athletic prowess and far too little "personality". There's more to a "personality" than just a "look".
11. If you could book one show, with any wrestling superstars past and present, who would you book?
JR – WOW! That's a tough one! Well the Rokket World Championship Match would be Flair vs Steamboat vs Hogan vs Race vs Rick Rude vs Triple H. Hardcore Title Match would be Mick Foley vs Terry funk vs Abdullah the Butcher vs Raven vs Taz. Tag Champs Match would be The Freebirds vs The Midnight Express vs The Minnesota Wrecking Crew vs The Hart Foundation vs The Road Warriors vs Ivan & Nikita Koloff. Other participants would include Tommy Rich, Pez Whatley, Kevin Sullivan…are you getting all of this down?
12. Any new match ideas?
JR - I though the Darkness/James Hunter rivalry was pretty wild. Would love to see that rekindled. Also Kid Kutter vs JC the Georgia Boy in a loser AND winner leaves wrestling match…oh wait…
13. Tell me about your love of music and what it does for you on a personal basis.
JR – My relationship with my parents is the only relationship I have that has existed longer than my relationship with music. I wake up to it, I fall asleep to it. I write, record, perform, promote, and report music. It keeps me sane. Writing, at least for me, is the best form of therapy. When you think there's no one you can trust, there's always the pen, paper and guitar. It can only lie to you if not honest with yourself.
14. What is next for you in the wrestling world?
JR – Where do I start! We'll of course first and foremost there's commentating for FCW and OSCW. Outside of that Joey and I have a blog page that gets updated daily ( www. csrawrestling. blogspot. com ), an online radio call-in show ( www. blogtalkradio. com/Mat-Chat-on-WNRadio) on Sunday afternoons at 3pm that in the next few months looks to be headed towards regular radio once we get it just right. I also write and report for www. georgiawrestlinghistory. com and starting in August I am the research producer for an upcoming documentary on the history of Georgia Wrestling that should air on public television sometime in 2009. There are also talks of some possible video series things going on with FCW as well.
15. On a serious note, thoughts on the presidential election.
JR – I personally wish the election would hurry up and get here. I'm sick of people complaining that Ron Paul is out of the running. Yeah it sucks but that's life. Move on. We got two guys…one's gonna win…one's not. No matter who wins, this is still the greatest country in the world and we will survive and persevere.
16. Why did Hilary Clinton fail in her bid for presidency? Did Barack Obama bring her down that bad?
JR – Honestly? As sad as this may sound, I don't think this country is ready for a women in the role of President. Even sadder is that McCain just might win based on the fact that he's the only middle age white guy in the race. It probably didn't help that Clinton's a former first lady of a president that spent a good bit of his presidency muddled in scandal.
17. If you and Watts were actually elected, what job would be given to The Voice of Wrestling, Matt Gaines. Speaker of the House, maybe?
JR – White House Correspondent? No wait! Chauffeur!
18. Any final thoughts?
JR – I get asked quite a bit "what makes for a good wrestler?" Truth is, the complete package is the best package. You can have all the athletic capability in the world but if you can't make people believe in what you are trying to sell them, then it doesn't matter. I read recently where this old school guy is giving a series of clinics across Georgia for indie wrestlers. This guy usually has to turn people away from these clinics. Funny thing is…no in-ring wrestling is involved. The entire clinic is how to sell yourself. How to pull the crowd in. How to put them on the edge of their seat. How to suck your audience into what you're doing so much that they can't wipe it off for hours, days, weeks, and in some cases even years. THAT'S what's missing in indie wrestling today. Some of the greatest wrestlers in history weren't great technical wrestlers but they had the ability to make the audience believe that they had the ability to be a threat to anyone who entered the ring against them. Think about it.
I would like to thank you for your time, "Old School" Johnny Rokket. Have fun and be safe in your future endeavors. I hope to definitely see you around.
JR – Thanks, um…do I get my money now?
After much jostling it now appears that the TWF ring, which was borrowed for use at the ill-fated Augusta Wrestling Alliance show a few weeks back at a South Augusta country bar, is now back home in the TWF Boneyard.
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