The Headhunters Shoot Interview

They were one of the most hardcore tag teams of the 90’s and left a bloody trail from Japan in FMW, IWA, Puerto Rico, ECW and in Mexico. Two Twin brothers that were over 275 pounds and were able to come off the top rope doing moonsaults were not a common site back in the 90’s but either was breaking light tubes over your brothers head or killing guys with barbed wire bats, thumbtacks or bed of nails!!!! RF VIDEO sat down with the Headhunters the legendary tag team that got their break in the business from Johnny Rodz. You will hear how they hooked up with Victor Quinones and how he acted as their real life manager and got them booked all over the world. They have stories on being in the ring with Stan Hansen and how Stan stiffed them when they worked for All Japan and how the brothers reacted. Do you want to know all about the death match styles and how they worked those hardcore matches with all of the gimmicks, well they tell all on their first and only shoot interview only with RF VIDEO. The Headhunters have worked with the most hardcore wrestlers in the world like Pogo, Onita, Funk, Cactus Jack, Eddie Gilbert, Mike Awesome, Sabu, Abby and Leatherface and have been in some of wrestlings most brutal battles. Now it’s time to hear the stories behind the scars!!!! We covered all of their legendary feuds and talked about their time in every company they have wrestled in our should I say, destroyed their opponents in. From their time in Japan, Mexico, Puerto Rico and the states, RF VIDEO asked them everything you have always wanted to know about this wrecking crew. Find out why the Headhunters did not last in the WWE and who they personally blamed for that. This is a great interview if you’re a fan of death match wrestling and you will get so many stories on one of wrestlings most hardcore team of all time!!! Plus enjoy four classic matches featuring the Headhunters against some of their toughest competitors! It’s well known you trained to get in the business at Johnny Rodz school – are you originally from NYC? If not, give us some details on where you grew up and what your background was? When did you first discover pro wrestling? Were you fans growing up? Which of you was the bigger fan growing up? Who were the talents that made you fall in love with the business? What made you decide to get in the business? How did you learn about Johnny’s school? Discuss what your first meeting with him was like? What was training like? Who were some of the other names that were training there at the time? Was there anyone there you expected to make it as a wrestler but didn’t? Memories of the following, if they trained at Rodz at the same time you did: Bill DeMott, Tommy Dreamer, Taz, The Rhino Powers? How did you first end up getting booked for W*ing in Japan? If it was Victor Quinones, how did you and he first connect? The promotion was an offshoot of FMW in Japan – how familiar were you with the death match style before you went to Japan? any specific memories of Kazuyoshi Osako and Kiyoshi “Mickey” Ibaragi, who formed the promotion? Since they had defected from FMW, were you aware of any heat from Onita’s end towards the promotion and it’s wrestlers or was it all just business? First impressions of the promotion and touring Japan? Break down how the booking and creative for the promotion was handled? How did you end up being awarded the WING Tag Team titles? Memories of wrestling and touring with the following in W*ING? Mr. Pogo Crash the Terminator aka Bill DeMott Jason the Terrible Eddie Gilbert aka Boogeyman Mike Kirchner aka Leatherface Freddy Krueger aka Doug Gilbert Wing Kanemura Miguel Perez Jr. Masayoshi Motegi Shoji Nakamaki Ryo Miyake Jado Gedo Hiroshi Ono Akitoshi Saita Koichiro Kimura Hideki Hosaka Kim Duk Kendo Nagasaki Etsuko Mita What were your favorite matches from the promotion? Were you surprised when it started to get popular here in the States thanks to the tape trading of the day? Were you surprised the promotion went out of business? Could you tell there were issues beforehand or was it a complete surprise? What’s the best and worst thing about touring Japan? Any crazy stories about meeting sponsors over there? Every wrestler seems to have a story about a sponsor that meets them and takes them out, etc. What led to you getting booked in ECW? Was it Tod Gordon or Eddie Gilbert that brought you in? Were they trying to build a talent exchange with WING? Memories of wrestling The Koloffs in the ECW Tag Team Tournament? You wrestled in the ECW Arena during it’s earliest days- memories of the venue then and are you surprised it’s become this world famous arena? Memories of headlining the ECW Ultraclash show in a Baseball bat match against Perez and Crash? Is it true someone forgot to get barbed wire for the bat? Why did you disappear from ECW after that? Was it because Gilbert was no longer booking? How did you first start getting booked in Mexico for CMLL? During that point CMLL and AAA were in a very big feud for the audience there – what was the heat like amongst the promotions and the wrestlers at that point? Compare the crowds in Mexico to Japan? Memories of working with: El Texano Silver King Atlantis Rayo de Jalisco, Jr. Favorite venues in Mexico to wrestle? How different is it performing there since they do things from the opposite side, etc.? Getting back to Japan, Victor Quinones finds a backer and creates IWA Japan – what leads you to follow him when he calls to book you? How different was IWA compared to WING? Memories of the promotion’s backer, Tatsukuni “Kinroku” Asano? Let’s talk about some of the names that came through the promotion: Cactus Jack Terry Funk Tracy Smothers Dan Severn Mr. Gannosouke Terry Gordy Tiger Jeet Singh Dick Slater Nobutaka Araya Tarzan Goto Memories of the IWA King of Death Match tournament? Memories of wrestling Los Cowboys that night? That’s considered the marquee death match show in Japan – do you think the promotion peaked that night? Memories of the storyline where you broke up and feuded with each other leading to the Barbed Wired Board / Glass Window Crash Death Match? Is it weird doing a death match with your own brother? Talk about the physical toll doing the death match spots with the glass, etc. takes on you? Was there ever anything suggested that you turned down for being too dangerous? Memories of the Weekly Pro Wrestling show at the Tokyo Dome featuring Terry Funk/Shoji Nakamaki/Leatherface vs. Cactus Jack/The Headhunters ? Any insight into what led to Victor Quinones quitting the promotion at the end of 1995? A lot has been said about Victor – give us some insight into him the person as well as working with him as a booker and promoter? Thoughts on his passing and how pro wrestling might be different if he was still around? Do you think he gets his deserved recognition within the business? How important do you think he was to your career and where do you think you would have been if he hadn’t met you? Favorite or least favorite Victor stories? There are a lot of crazy claims about him. What led to you appearing in the Royal Rumble in 1996 as the Squat Team? Where the hell did that name come from? Was there a bigger plan to use you or was it just a tryout? What was the point of using you if they were going to have you tossed out in under a minute? You had a dark match at the Raw taping the day after the Rumble against Avatar & Aldo Montoya – any memories? Any dealings with Vince McMahon that you remember? Were you disapointed they didn’t bring you in? You return to ECW in early 1996 – what led to that return? How was working there different under Paul Heyman vs. under Eddie Gilbert? You are put with Damian Kane – memories of working with him? Memories of working with the following in ECW: The Pitbulls The Bruise Brothers The Dudleys The Gangstas Sandman & 2 Cold Scorpio You were gone within 4 months – why was the run so short? How do you end up booked in FMW? Is there any heat with Victor or anyone from IWA over this? How was Onita as a boss? Memories of working with the following in FMW? Hayabusa Hido Gladiator aka Mike Awesome Jinsei Shinzaki Tetsuhiro Kuroda You also start working for Promo Azteca in Mexico in 1997 as well – what leads to you getting booked there? Memories of working with Jerry Estrada, Pirata Morgan, Lizmark Jr., Mascara Sagrada, Super Astro, Black Magic, Fuerza Guerrera, Ricky Santana, Super Porky, Tinieblas Jr. You get a WWE dark match again in 1997 against Los Boricuas – is this Victor trying to get you in or does the company call for you? You return to CMLL – memories of working with Negro Casas, Apollo Dantes, Blue Panther, Scorpio Jr.,Cien Caras, Fishman, What leads to you getting booked for All Japan? Memories of working the real world tag league in 1998? How different was the All Japan style from FMW and IWA? Memories of working with the following teams: Mitsuharu Misawa & Yoshinari Ogawa Stan Hansen & Vader Jun Izumida & Takao Omori Jun Akiyama & Kenta Kobashi [ Akira Taue & Toshiaki Kawada Bart Gunn & Johnny Ace Johnny Smith Gary Albright Takeshi Morishima In the middle of all this was the Monday Night War – why was WCW never an option? Why did you never return to ECW? In 1999, you jump from CMLL to AAA – what led to that? As we record this its just a few weeks after the passing of Perro Aguayo Jr who you worked with in AAA and in Perros del Mal – memories of working with him in the ring and behind the scenes and thoughts on his passing Compare the AAA and CMLL locker rooms, crowd atmosphere and booking? Thoughts on working with Heavy Metal, Latin Lover, Psicosis, Hector Garza, Octagon, Abismo Negro, El Canek, Rayo de Jalisco What was Antonio Pena like to deal with? You worked for WWC in the early 2000s- what was the promotion like at that point? Memories of working the Nasty Boys there. You also worked IWRG in Mexico a bit – talk about what that promotion was like? Compare the indy scene in Mexico to the United States? Memories of working for ICP’s Juggalo Championship Wrestling? Headhunter B seemed to disappear from the scene in 2009 or so – what happened? Headhunter A – how hard was it to now work as a singles talent after so many years of being a tag worker? A – How did you end up in Konnan’s Legion in AAA? Thoughts on Konnan as a creative force in the business? A 0 Memories of teaming with Rikishi, Ron Killings & Sabu in AAA? A – Memories of winning the IWRG Intercontinental Heavyweight Title A – You are still very active on the indy scene in Mexico, talk about what life is like for you working that scene. The Headhunters did reunite for HUSTLE – memories of that promotion and event in Japan? You also popped up in Lucha Libre USA – thoughts on that promotion and why it didn’t last? Thoughts on wrestling this weekend for Jersey Championship Wrestling? Are you looking to do more in the business Stateside? Looking back, would you do all the crazy death match stuff again? Whats your best advice for someone who wants to do that style in order to have longevity in the business and health after it? Favorite road stories or ribs? Give us an idea of what you are up to today outside of the business? Anything you’d like to say to your fans that are out there to close things out?