Dan Lovranski: Pete Smith is here to talk to us and fill us in on this program. Pete, how are you tonight?
Pete: Excellent thank you. Glad to be here.
Dan: Great! Thanks for joining us. Now when I first heard about this prospect…project, I was very happy because I thought it would be very interesting and having seen the shows I really liked the way it turned out. Was this kind of like a response to the more glossy Tough Enough, the WWE where they kind of gave us the glossy version of what its like where you have given us a more of a definitely more realistic version?
Pete: Well sort of. That wasn’t our motive by any stretch of the imagination. Our motive really was to just get wrestling on TV and the more we talked about it, the more we realized that what happens in our lives is more interesting to a larger group of people than the just wrestling and we’re hoping to broaden the demographic. Hopefully regular people will take some interest in what we do.
Dan: Right. Now the other thing about the show is that you totally drop the vale of kayfabe. You really show a lot of the stuff…the gritty stuff behind the scenes. Does it bother you that wrestling is so out in the open now or is it you know it’s 2007 and we don’t need to worry about that?
Pete: Well the curtain was pulled back about 10 years ago. It wasn’t us that pulled the curtain back. We’re really not showing…in my mind, we’re not breaking kayfabe per say. We’re not really showing how matches are put together. We’re not breaking kayfabe anymore then kayfabe is been broken. What we are doing is showing some of the stuff that a certain promoter in the New York area is trying to hide from everybody. The truth of what actually happens on the road instead of trying to hide behind some nonsense and calling it a Wellness Program. We’re telling the truth.
Dan: Right and that clip we heard off the top there was you talking about the use of steroids and what you use and how you use it and why you have to use it and that’s very controversial as you mentioned because a lot of people like Vince McMahon are definitely trying to keep that out of the public eye. It’s a big focus now after the Benoit case and possibly the Federal Government in the US coming in. Was there any thought of leaving that out because of the current atmosphere or no way, just put it in there?
Pete: Well actually it was shot in May. So it was before the Benoit thing. It was after the Barry Bonds thing and the Mark McGuire thing and the Rafael Palmero thing and the Greek 200 meter runners from the last Olympics. Steroids before the Benoit thing were a big topic world wide.
Dan: I guess what’s surprised me so much Pete was the way you were so “matter of fact about it” though. Like again, because everybody tries to hide from it so much. Nobody wants to talk about it and there you are needle in your arm, saying “Hey, this is what I do.”
Pete: Well to be honest in the bodybuilding communities, people are pretty open about it and within the wrestling industry, people are pretty open about it. My friends and family are well aware of a…to be honest I don’t take too a lot of steroids. I do take some steroids but some people take them constantly. I don’t think it’s anything to hide. I’m not owed beating up school children. I’m choosing to do performance enhancing drugs. To me it’s not that big of a deal.
Dan: How do you feel about the idea of stringent testing then because the way you approach it on the show, is that you make it seem that steroids can exist if used properly. So how do feel about stuff like testing?
Pete: Well I don’t think there is such a thing as stringent testing. I think testing is just a tool to get rid of the people you want to get rid of. It’s obvious…I don’t like naming names but there’s some guys at the top of the bill in WWE that are certainly not drug free and I don’t believe that they are being tested and I think it’s nonsense for us to try to believe that everybody is being tested on an equal playing ground. I think it’s just a way of punishing people. If there is a personal reason to get rid of them or maybe their salary, they’re not earning their money, give them a drug test, get rid of them. I think that’s all it is.
Dan: What about the other side of it with the pain killers and you really start to see the health problems and you can tell that somebody is messing up, they can’t perform. Shouldn’t there be some sort of test in place?
Pete: I’m totally anti-painkiller.
Dan: Ok.
Pete: I think that painkillers are destroying wrestling and anyone that knows me knows that I would discourage anybody from taking narcotic painkillers. I think its bad news. I’ve seen too many lives spin out of control. That’s a totally different issue. I really don’t believe that lives are spinning out of control because of steroids. I don’t believe that Benoit killed his family because of steroids. I think painkillers are very destructive.
Dan: And in terms of the Indy scene and the smaller scale like what you work with, do you…
Pete: I don’t work on a smaller scale. Don’t confuse me with a lot of other Canadian wrestlers. I work for legitimate…I work mostly for All-Star Wrestling in England which runs 500 shows a year. There’s nothing small about…I don’t work for lower organizations where the guys wear jeans and sneakers and 120 lbs guys do18 flips off the top rope. I don’t do any of those things.
Dan: Right. Just in your experience then, is there a lot of substance abuse when it comes to the painkillers?
Pete: In North America yes. In Europe almost none.
Dan: Really.
Pete: Yeah. It’s harder to get their…when American wrestlers go to Europe they struggle to find pharmacies and doctors that will give them their “SCRIPS” so usually they’ll load up before they go across and try to hide it in their luggage. But here, it’s not bad amongst the young guys to be honest. The over 30s that have been in it for a while that have had the injuries, and have had the surgeries. That’s how it starts. You get an injury. You start taking percocets or oxycontins or whatever. You start to enjoy it too much and you keep taking them for the rest of your life. And the young guys, they’ve only had a couple of bumps and bruises because they only work every other weekend.
Dan: Right. We’re talking with Pete Smith from the Wrestling Reality TV show. You are listening to Live Audio Wrestling here on Fight Network Radio. One of the things that really made me laugh in the series and I believe it’s in episode one is when you are in a bar and some guy and I can’t believe that this still happens in 2007, some hillbilly comes up to you and goes “those wrasslers aren’t so tough, I can beat all of them up.” I can’t believe that still happens in 2007.
Pete: Come spend a week on the road with us. You wouldn’t believe how often happens. It happens everyday.
Dan: Really.
Pete: Oh yeah. I mean in small towns usually but the crowds are full of them.
Dan: Again with your experience in the U.K, does that happen in the U.K?
Pete: Oh absolutely.
Dan: Really.
Pete: Absolutely. The saying is “what has an IQ of 100 and 6 teeth? The first 10 rows of a U.K wrestling audience.”
Dan: That’s an old joke. I’ve heard that one before. Pete doesn’t that surprise you though that even in this stage of the game that there’s people out there like that?
Pete: It doesn’t surprise me really because I see it so often but it’s a little strange that Lumberjack Bob, I think was the guys name, really believes in his heart of hearts that him and I would step outside and he would beat me in a fight. I guess his friends have built him up to believe that. Plus he was drinking. He thinks wrestling is fake so obviously none of us can handle ourselves.
Dan: Wow. And I have to wonder too why was he pulling down his pants?
Pete: I was wondering that myself as he was doing this.
Dan: Well I guess…That’s one of the great things about the Wrestling Reality show. You really do have…you got the serious stuff and you’re very honest about the steroid stuff. There’s just that crazy wackiness of these small town people trying to challenge wrestlers. It’s a great combination of events and stuff like that. Now yourself I’ll admit, I’m not super familiar with your career. Have you ever tried the WWE? Have you done tryouts for them?
Pete: I did one dark match for WWE in 2002. I was told to stay in touch and I decided not to.
Dan: And why was that?
Pete: Well I didn’t like the whole system of jumping through hoops trying to please somebody who probably you’re never going to please in the end. I was already in my 30s at the time and I had already found a nice spot for myself in Europe and I’m sitting in pretty nice house right now. I’ve done quite well for myself. I walk through the mall in my own neighborhood and nobody knows who I am which is fine. I’ve never really gone into wrestling for stardom. I really don’t believe at the time that I did my dark match for them that I know the money was starting to go down. There are guys signing contracts for New York and TNA right now that really don’t pay very much money. You know there are upside of course. If you get a good run, there’s a lot of money to be made but to me a bird in the hand is worth two in the bush. I’ve got a good spot in England. They pay me OK and I like working in England. I like the crowds better. I like the other wrestlers are a 1000 times better than anything you encounter over here. So that was just my choice really. I mean I can’t say it was my choice because they didn’t offer me a contract but it was my choice not to pursue it any further.
Dan: Right, Right. We got to let you go Pete but I want to thank you so much for joining us tonight and I look forward to meeting you in person.
(Transcribed by Tariq Amin)
{plug}
Send us a news tip: newstips@wrestlingobserver.com
Note to webmasters/reporters: When recapping news from this site or from our newsletters, please include a link to www.wrestlingobserver.com
For the most in-depth and detailed news and analysis on pro-wrestling and MMA, always turn to Wrestlingobserver.com/Figure Four Weekly Online, the #1 website of its kind on the Internet. Members receive online access to both the Wrestling Observer and Figure Four Weekly newsletters and growing archives, Wrestling Observer Radio with Bryan Alvarez and Dave Meltzer three times per week, the popular Bryan and Vinny Show twice per week, additional radio shows including Figure Four Daily with Alvarez, Mike Coughlin's Five Star Radio, the Dr. Keith Lipinski Show, The Adam and Mike Big Audio Nightmare, Tough Talk and the Karl Stern Wrestling History Show, the infamous BOARD, and more! Members also have full access to the thousands of hours of audio in our radio show archives which date back to 2005. For your convenience, we offer secure online payments using your VISA, Mastercard, American Express, Discover card or PayPal account. Don't miss out on the fun, sign up now! Don\'t miss out on the fun, sign up now!
Want full access? QUICK AND EASY $10.99 SIGNUP!
