From the Archives: A Conversation with Mance Warner

by Spencer Love November 29, 2020

written by Spencer Love November 29, 2020

(Originally released May 08, 2020)

The King of Big Dog Style, Lariats and Light Beers, the Southern Psycho Ol’ Mancer Mance Warner joins Spencer Love to discuss:

His Loser Leaves MLW match with MJF
How it feels to perform in front of an empty arena
The first time he got punched in the face
The importance of authenticity
Why he feels he stands out in MLW
If he feels he’s underrated due to his wrestling style
The need for trust in deathmatches
Beginning his training at 25
Learning from Billy Roc
What’s allowed him to succeed thus far
Comparisons to Stone Cold Steve Austin and Dusty Rhodes
Which of his nicknames means the most
His favourite people to drink with
The most unique weapon he’s ever had used against him

AUDIO

Highlights:

The first time he got punched in the face:

“Are we talking in wrestling? Or just in general? Because I’ve been getting in fist fights since I was a little tiny kid. God, it had to be like – I’ve been getting in fights since elementary school, so it had to be around then.”

“In pro wrestling, it would be kind of when you first break in, (when) you start training out there. When you get into wrestling, there’s a lot of people that get into it and they want to learn how to do 450 splashes or go over the tippy-top rope, or do a suicide dive or whatever it may be. I just like fist fighting people.”

“Once you step into the ring, the first time that you get hit by somebody, sometimes that breaks people. There’s some people that get into wrestling and they think it’s going to be one thing, and then they get hit (and) you see the lights kind of go. Now for me, the first time I got hit, my eyes lit up man, because now I’m like ‘this is what I’m all about.’ I want to get hit. I want to hit somebody back. We get paid money to go out and beat each other up, and we ain’t going to get arrested for it, man. That’s a win-win.”

His favourite people to have a beer with:

“I’m gonna pick two, though. I’m gonna pick Dusty Rhodes and Terry Funk would be the two I would wanna sit down and drink with. Currently, I’m gonna say Stone Cold, because he, maybe we get him one more match at some point, but I would like to sit down with him.”

“Another guy that I’ve drank with – I’m trying to think of the most oddball one I could think of. I drink with a lot of people, man! It’s hard to think of just one. Like I said, usually after shows, I go out in the parking lot and drink beers with fans, they bring beers (and) it’s a good time. I’ll just say all the fans, man. I like sitting out there, bulls**ting, drinking a beer and talking about life.”

The most creative weapon he’s ever had used against him:

“Let’s see, there’s been a couple. At one point, you know the little lawn chairs that you have at your front yard during summertime? There was a fan out at Cleveland, Ohio, that took barb wire and he took out all the part you would sit in and all the plastic there, and he just put barbed wire all around that stuff. I got picked up and slammed on that, and Jesus Christ, that stuff just cut you all up. It was not fun at all.”