I have my own theory on the three qualities it takes to be a great pro wrestler. The first one is look or physical presence. On a scale of one to ten, Hogan, being such an awesome specimen, might rate a ten, for example. Although it always helped, it wasn't as important to be tough as it was to look tough, especially if you were a heel. The second quality is the ability to talk, to sell yourself: Hogan might score another easy ten, whereas a guy like Dynamite would have to work to earn a two. The third is wrestling talent, the ability to work. Here is would be just the opposite: Hogan would rate the two and Dynamite would get the ten. A score in the high twenties adds up to a great wrestler... If I had to rate myself at that time, I'd say I had a good, muscular frame warranting about a seven. On mic skills I'd be lucky if I was a four. But on actual wrestling ability, I'd give myself a ten.
Losing can be a beautiful thing if it's done right. The Hitman character was generally seen as a wrestler who, try as he might, could never quite win. This made him more human than, say, Warrior or Hogan. His constant struggle to make it to the top was endearing to the fans because it was something they could identify with in their own lives.
I understood the art of losing and the power of sympathy.
To be a great wrestler, you have to be a real athlete and a great actor. To be a great champion, you need to be the best storyteller of them all, because your job is to work with the top hands, whoever they are. Whatever his opponent's age, size, skill or style, whether he is a heel, babyface, Olympic-style shooter, showman, big brute or clumsy oaf, the champion has to have the versatility to bring the best out of each contender. A champion needs to be a champion first to his fellow wrestlers, and to protect an honour the profession for their sake.
My formula was simply to outwork and outwrestle my competition. And I would never stab backs.
He told me to take the night off. I felt silly to have come to blows over something so stupid, but while everything in wrestling was supposed to be bullshit, that bullshit was everything to me.
... I didn't need to find God: I didn't feel as though I'd ever really lost Him.
