Chris Hamrick Interview - By P. Staniforth 2002

I have here with me today, former ECW star and independent wrestling standout Chris Hamrick. Chris is one of the hottest 'free agents' out there, and I'm proud to have him here for interview.

PETER) : - Hi Chris, thanks for making the time to do this interview. How did you first find wrestling?

CHRIS) : - I first started going to wrestling with my family when I was seven years old. It was my family time together. My dad bought me a ring for my ninth birthday. I began wrestling at the age of sixteen, with my first match being in Mooresboro, NC against Alvin Melton.

PETER) : - So what happened? A success or failure?

CHRIS ) : - I remember telling everyone that because I was heel that night, I was going to go out there and run my mouth, and make everyone hate me. Come the night of the show, they had to push me out of the curtain! I went to the ring, did my match and walked back to the dressing room without having said a word to anyone.

PETER) : - Nerves get the better of all of us at some point. Where did your career lead you from there, Chris?

CHRIS) : - After that, I went on a week long tour to Oklahoma, and then pretty much wrestled every weekend after that.Around 1992 and 1993, the Italian Stallion took me to do television squash matches for the then WWF. I then wrestled for Jim Cornette's now defunct Smoky Mountain Wrestling, and followed that with wrestling for Bert Prentice in Music City Wrestling; and then went back to the indies.

PETER) : - And from there - The now legendary Extreme Championship Wrestling, much loved and much missed; from Philadelphia. Tell us about your time working for Paul Heyman.

CHRIS) : - On May 25th 2000, Kid Kash got myself and EZ Money a tryout for ECW in Columbia, SC. We wrestled that night, and were with ECW until the company folded. I loved working for ECW, it was the first real big company I had worked for and it had the best talent and the best wrestling … ANYWHERE.

PETER) : - Since ECW has folded, a lot of former stars have been saying negative things about Paul Heyman from a business sense. How do you feel about Paul personally?

CHRIS) : - I have nothing at all to say bad about Paul Heyman, he gave me a break in the business when no-one else would. He put me on television and pay per view events. I remember pulling up to the Bingo Hall the very first time and wondering if I had gone to the wrong place by mistake. But, once the show started and the fans were into it; there was no other place like it in the world.

PETER) : - Who have you enjoyed working with in your career, and who do you consider your friends? Name drop a little for us!

CHRIS) : - I think some of my best matches have been with New Jack, Kid Kash, Nova, and Kaos. Also myself and Julio Dinero have had some really good matches with the SAT's (Spanish Announce Team) and Josh Prohibition and M Dog 20. I guess my five best friends in the business, although I have made a LOT, would be Steve Corino, Ron 'The Truth' Killings, Kid Kash, New Jack and Julio Dinero. The wrestler I respect the most and who helped me out more than anyone is Ricky Morton.

PETER) : - You're currently working for XPW. XPW has had a lot of bad press, and a lot of websites wont cover it. How do you feel about this, and what are your experiences of XPW; the locker room atmosphere etc?

CHRIS) : - Ever since I started with XPW, they have all treated me with nothing but respect. As far as the other websites, XPW isn't doing anything any worse than any other. If they don't want to report on XPW, then they are missing out on a very good promotion. They have guys who bust their asses to entertain the fans, as much as anyone else. And XPW have the right to run anywhere they want to run, it is a free country.

PETER) : - Point well made, and taken. Wrestling is wrestling, and XPW wrestlers sure do give a lot to entertain. To lighten up a little, tell us a funny story from your career so far.

CHRIS) : - When I was doing the job matches for the WWF, I would do this bump through the ropes where I would fly through the top and second rope, feet first to the floor and land on my back. I did it with Tatanka, and the next night I did it with the 123 Kid (currently Syxx-Pac, Sean Waltman). Well, George Steele was one of the guys in charge in the back, and he came and told me he had heat with me; and I asked him ' What for?' He told me that he had been coming to the matches for fifty years and he always tried not to sell whilst watching, but I'd already brought him out of his seat twice with that bump. He told me not to do it anymore as his heart couldn't take it! The night I wrestled Owen Hart, the first thing Owen asked me was 'Do you want to do that bump tonight?' and I asked him if he thought I should. He said 'Yes', and I was proud to do it for him.

PETER) : - Nothing ever surprises me with Owen, god bless him. What are your thoughts on NWA-TNA?

CHRIS) : - I think it is doing good. I don't get to watch it currently, but I read about it. I have a lot of friends that work there. I mean, one of my best friends has been heavyweight champion there. (Peter's Note : Chris is referring to Ron 'The Truth' Killings). I sent Jeremy Borash an email to ask him if I could get a dark match, and he never even replied.

PETER) : - An amusing side note here, is in the months since this interview was conducted; Chris has actually wrestled as Crimson Dragon on NWA-TNA ppv's and has looked very good. So obviously Mr Borash does get back to his emails eventually!

CHRIS) : - I like the indy's , they're cool. Sure, the money is better with the bigger company but with the Indy's it is a more relaxed environment and you can associate with the fans more. As far as the future, I am currently the Universal champion for the PWF, I plan to go to Japan for Zero One in October of this year (2002); and I plan to stay with XPW and wrestle as long as my body holds up and I can still entertain the fans.

PETER) : - Which you always do. Thanks for your time Chris, we really appreciate it.

-------
Peter is a columnist for www.prowrestlingdaily.com
A columnist for www.justinrules.com
And a video reviewer for www.simania.co.uk

When using any of this information give proper credit to Cactusb and the Wrestling Clothesline at http://www.wrestlingclothesline.com

Questions? Comments? Results? Wrestling Related items? Send them to us here. If we use them on the page you will be given full credit for supplying us with it!