Few professional wrestlers in recent memory have encapsulated fans quite like Mance Warner. Ol’ Mancer has earned a reputation as not only one of pro wrestling’s most badass brawlers, but also one of it’s most charismatic stars. His ability to captivate people both in the ring and on the microphone has earned him comparisons to some of the biggest names in professional wrestling.
Warner recently joined me to discuss a wide variety of topics, including the importance of authenticity in pro wrestling, why he feels he’s been successful thus far, and dealing with comparisons to the likes of Dusty Rhodes and Stone Cold Steve Austin.
The importance of authenticity in pro wrestling:
“Now, I can’t speak for nobody else. My thing has always been I ain’t going to bulls**t nobody. I ain’t going to lie to nobody. If I get hurt, I’m going to tell people ‘hey, I’m hurt.’ I ain’t going to bulls**t nobody. But, for me, once you lie to the fans, to the people that are spending their money to come see this, you’ve already lost them.
At the end of the day, you wouldn’t want to get lied to, I wouldn’t want to get lied to, so why would you want to lie to the fans out there that are spending their money that they’ve gotta work for every day to put a little bread in our pocket? I ain’t going to want to break bread with somebody if they’re lying to me, so I try to always be honest, I try to always call it right down the middle and let people know what’s going on.”
Comparisons to major names in professional wrestling:
“The way Ol’ Mancer looks at is is, we all get into pro wrestling, even maybe you’re just a fan. Maybe you want to become a writer (in) pro wrestling. Maybe you want to be a camera guy. Maybe you want to be a talent. Whatever it may be, we all get into it for a certain reason, right?
We can all remember at some point when we were kids the things we loved about pro wrestling. For me, it was Arn Anderson, Ric Flair, Macho Man, Dusty Rhodes, Terry Funk, Jake the Snake, all these guys that you could sit there and listen to them, and you forget you’re even watching wrestling. You’re just listening to someone tell a story about how he is gonna beat someone’s ass or whatever it may be.
“You can’t ever forget that once you’re into pro wrestling, because that’s the stuff – I didn’t get into pro wrestling to do cool moves. I got into pro wrestling because I like fighting people anywhere I go, and I like telling stories. So, if I can sit down and talk to you and pay attention without even doing anything, right there, here we go baby. It’s that thing of it’s not relying on, because I think the way you worded it was relying on something the past, you’ve got to remember how it all got to this point. So, while other guys are trying to do the craziest thing over here, I’m gonna be over here dancing in the circle doing everything. It’s just kind of take your own spin on it, and then beat the hell out of people and tell some stories in between.”
What he feels has allowed him to succeed thus far:
“I think anyone that gets into something new, right, they always have doubts. They always question things. I never did that, though. Once I got into pro wrestling, I knew ‘this is the thing that I’m going to do, and if I don’t make it at this, I’m f**ked, I’m s**t out of luck.’ For me, it’s going ‘okay, this is the thing you’ve always wanted to do, here we go, this is how you get into it, this is where you need to go.
’ And then, just keep going. Keep going to companies, keep getting your name out there, keep busting your ass. Do what other people don’t want to do. People don’t want to do promos, I’m doing promos every week. I’m always doing promos. People don’t want to tweet stuff out all the time, I’m always tweeting out s**t.”
Please credit Spencer Love/Love Wrestling with any transcriptions used.
