• “My goal right now is to live to be 125” – WWF’s Oldest Rookie
Old School WWF Attitude Era Veteran ‘The Beast’ Dan Severn was recently interviewed by Wrestling Inc, where he revealed that professional wrestling took much more of a toll on his body than the sport of Mixed Martial Arts did.
The 2005 UFC Hall of Famer has also been a pro-wrestler since 1992 and held the prestigious NWA World Heavyweight Championship (’10 pounds of Gold’) from February 24th 1995 until March 14th 1999 and again from March 9th 2002 till May 28th 2002.
Severn also talked about being WWE’s oldest rookie when he signed with them at the age of 48, and how he is STILL the NWA World Heavyweight Champion.
Here’s what Severn had to say:
“Well, at the very beginning, once I was signed on board, even at the time when, I don’t even think the ink was dried on the contract. I first had, I think it was WWF, okay, at the time reached out to me, WWF. Then I think WCW caught wind of this. Then Eric Bischoff calls me up, brings me on in. And again, I’m not telling either group how old I am. Cause again, I had already heard that Vince wanted, if he’s going to invest that type of money into somebody, he wants to know they’re going to be around for a while.
Well, again, I’m not that cat, cause I think I was either, I think 48 when I came on board. And then Vince wants someone in their early-to-mid 30s, maybe at the latest, knowing that they got a decade or more that they’re going to be working with them.
We’re in the office. The ink is still probably drying on the paper. We got Jim Ross that’s in there, him and a couple others. And some more questions are being asked and a couple other dates come out of it, too, and it’s like, all of sudden Vince like going, ‘Well, exactly how old are you?’. And I said ‘Well, 48’. He looks right over to Jim Ross, he goes, ‘Well, how old is our oldest rookie ever?’. And Jim just simply points over to me. He goes ‘Dan’. But again, I didn’t look my age nor did I act my age. I had a very unique contract in the fact that they agreed to my terms. My terms was, I did not want to be a full-time wrestler. I didn’t want to work 187 dates. I think that was the average contract at that time was working 187 dates.
I did not know Vince that well at that point. I mean, again, very little. I mean I was dealing with, I think, Jim Ross and I think Jim Ross, he enjoyed my blunt candor. I mean because the professional wrestling world, again, the term is called a work. The industry’s a work, but you’d be surprised, there’s a lot of workers that are trying to work other workers, and they’re trying to work other people. And it’s like going ‘No, I’m a straight shooter. You may or may not like me but even my enemies respect whatever comes out of my mouth’.
They go ‘Oh s***, I don’t like that old son of a b***h. But take his word for it because it’s the truth’. I always tell people ‘If I have to tell one lie, then I got to tell another half a dozen lies to cover up the first one’. I got too much going on. I’m not that sharp. I’m either going to hurt your feelings or we either move ahead, or sayonara. Cause realistically, do I need you in my life? No. Dan Severn has so many good things going on for him right now. I always tell people ‘My goal right now is to live to be 125’. I will probably start slowing down in my latter 90s. But again, just starting to slow down. Cause even again, as I said, I’ve relinquished myself that I am no longer a cage fighter.
I don’t do a whole lot of professional wrestling matches right now, not because I don’t want to. It’s an orchestrated, physical, theatrical contest. Again, I always tell people, don’t say the word ‘fake’, because professional wrestling, to pick somebody up and to body slam them. Most professionals wrestlers, they refer to ‘Oh, I’m taking bumps’. Most professional wrestlers, they don’t understand, they are doing the most basic fundamentals of martial arts break falling.
As you’re being picked up and being thrown over, you better land on as much body mass as possible to dissipate the impact. And I’ve been hurt far worse in my professional wrestling industry. I’ve been a cage fighter, I’ve been an amateur wrestler, I’ve been a professional wrestler. I’ve been hurt far worse in professional wrestling. Number two is amateur wrestling. The safest thing I’ve done is cage fight. Now think about that one.
Talk about something that doesn’t gel. It doesn’t gel but I go ‘But look at it’. I mean, again, what are the breaking points about just being a cage fighter? There’s only four men in the world that have over 100 cage fights. I’m one of the four. There’s only three men in the world that have over 100 victories. I’m one of the three. Now the ironic part is, I faced the other three, I defeated the other three, and the closest one to my age is 12 years my junior. Now knowing that, I’m lifetime chemical free. Now here’s the one that’s going to blow your mind there. I have done two training camps in a 20 year cage-fighting career. Two. These guys are going to UFC now, they’re going into a training camp for six to eight months before they do one match.
I have never physically lost the NWA title. I was stripped of the title, because at the time, I think it was Jeff Jarrett. Yeah, his daddy was basically running their promotion (TNA). They decided to start this promotion and they were doing Wednesday night pay-per-views.
They were just starting. They weren’t even talking to me really at that point in time. They had the rights to use the NWA. But again, I’m the title holder. Their pay-per-view numbers coming up for the very first pay-per-view — bad numbers, real bad numbers.
Now they’re like going ‘Let’s do a NWA title defense right out of the blocks’. At that time I used to keep my schedule right up on my website. They’re like ‘We need you here on such a date’. ‘I’m sorry, I can’t make it. I’m already booked on this Wednesday. I will be at so-and-so place and I will be doing, working with law enforcement, I’m already booked for that date, can’t do that’. ‘We need you there, otherwise we’re going to strip you of the title’.
Now, if I could have gone back in time to relive that moment one more time. I basically just said ‘You guys don’t want me. Well f*** you. I don’t want you, I don’t want to be associated with a company like that’. And I gave it back. In retrospect, I would’ve simply said ‘That’s fine. You send your best man to come take that belt from me’. You think someone’s going to take that belt from me? I don’t think so’.
Did I ever lose NWA Title? No. So rightfully, I am still the champion.”
New Video: Attitude Era Fan Exposes Herself Live On RAW (Uncensored Version):
• ON THIS DAY IN WWE HISTORY (December 29, 2003) – WWE Monday Night RAW
On this day in 2003, World Wrestling Entertainment aired another LIVE episode of their weekly TV show ‘WWE Monday Night RAW’.
This episode was broadcasted from the SBC Center in San Antonio, Texas and featured matches, interviews & storyline segments on the road to the ‘WWE Royal Rumble 2004’ PPV.
You can find the card below:
1. Rob Van Dam v Scott Steiner
2. Dudley Boyz v Eddy Craven & Russell Six
3. Intercontinental Title: Randy Orton v Booker T
4. Happy Holidays Match: Molly Holly, Ms. Jackie & Victoria v Trish Stratus, Lita & Stacy Keibler
5. World Heavyweight Title: Triple H v Shawn Michaels
