Quotebook – Thorn on WWE’s handling of Network royalties, Anderson on being fired, MDM DiBiase’s Ultimate Warrior regret

Wrestling Quotes

– Former WWECW star Kevin Thorn on trying to figure out WWE’s new royalty pay system as it relates to WWE Network: “I don’t watch the Network, I don’t have the Network, I just wish the Network would pay me some royalties. I go to the mail every quarter and I get a small check and I say well that’s all great but Vince (McMahon) is making billions of dollars off the Network and for some reason my royalty check doesn’t reflect that. I keep waiting for it to say this is what you are getting for the Network and the Network doesn’t show up there.

“I often wonder how you are charging for it but I am not getting a cent for it. It is what it is. Maybe one day and now they are just trying to figure out how to pay everyone, they are good about that and they may figure out a way I guess. They are not paying me, maybe they are paying other people. From what I’ve heard people haven’t seen a check for it because to be honest when we signed our contracts it was DVD sales and VHS sales and Pay-Per-View buys. Now with digital downloads I just don’t know, it is what it is.

“Money here and there is for sure definitely worth it. Especially if from what I understand since I don’t own the Network you can punch in my name and bring up anything I’ve ever done. Now granted, they paid me well when I was there, but that’s the point of royalties.” (Two Man Power Trip of Wrestling podcast)

– Former WWE/current TNA star Mr. Anderson on “hating” the wrestling business after he was fired from WWE at the end of 2009: “I was navigating a sort of treacherous minefield. I had just lost my dream job. I worked for WWE for four-and-a-half-years, spent six years trying to get there. Through some personal missteps, I mean I take 90 percent of the blame, 95 percent of the blame, there’s some other things that always play into that. That was just disheartening and I was just tired and exhausted. The WWE schedule is a tough one.” (Miami TV entertainment reporter Chris Van Vliet)

– “Million Dollar Man” Ted DiBiase on his one regret about Ultimate Warrior: “Do I have any regrets? I have one to be honest and its going back when the DVD was done about the Ultimate Warrior, the Self-Destruction of the Ultimate Warrior. All things that were said on that DVD were said for a reason. Nobody could understand the guy. I grew up in the business and it was like a family and you come into the family and become a part of the family. It seemed like he never wanted to be a part of the family. He was one of those guys with a lot of charisma, unbelievable body and obviously respected his work that ethic in terms of his shape. In the ring, unless he had someone leading him, he was helpless. He never really got any better at that and that’s okay. A lot of guys are like that, but they were appreciative of it. That’s what everybody felt like was that he doesn’t appreciate the help we were giving him.

“When the WWE offered the hand and said let’s bury the hatchet I thought that was great. I am a minister and I preach forgiveness all time. The night of his induction, when he said my wife is here, my children are here, my mother is, but my father is not here because he abandoned us when I was very young. That really told me something. There is the wound that made Jim Hellwig angry. I can’t remember exactly what he said, but something about the clotheslines I gave him or something. All those guys and wanted us to do is pack our bags and leave, but that really wasn’t the truth. He was referring back to our Mid-South days.

“I started to walk backstage to say, ‘Look, I want to shake your hand and congratulate you,’ but I didn’t. The only reason I didn’t was because this is his night and I’m probably the last person he wants to see and there will be another opportunity, but there was no other opportunity. That’s probably the one thing that that I really regret because I didn’t have the opportunity to shake his hand and say let’s just forget this thing.

“So I’m glad that I’m doing this interview with you guys so I can have the opportunity to let all the fans know that. There were lots of reasons why Jim wasn’t liked, we all have our problems, and you can’t hold a grudge. I applaud the company for reaching out to him and that my only regret is that I personally didn’t have the opportunity to make amends with him. I want to throw that in here so everybody would hear it straight from the horse’s mouth.” (Ring Rust Radio with Donald Wood)