Exclusive Interview With Otto Schwanz
Otto Schwanz: Thank you.
CH: What was it like to come back in front of a crowd like we had at Kings,
they're really enthusiastic.
OS: Ah, it was very cool. I'm sure it was even better for all the ol' Otto
fans, they got a special treat that night.
CH: So you're the Hardcore Champion, do you consider yourself a hardcore
wrestler?
OS: Well, I don't use weapons if you want to call me hardcore. Some people
think I'm pretty stiff. But no, I've never considered myself a big garbage
type-wrestler. I always kind of relied on my skills without using weapons.
CH: Speaking of skills, you were trained by Steve Corino.
OS: Partially him, partially Cueball [Carmichael], partially Matt Hardy and
Jason Arndt, Joey Abs. Also Tracy Smothers and a little bit there from Bobby
Eaton too, and anywhere else I could learn. There were a lot of people along the
way, I'm still learning.
CH: When you're not wrestling or training, what kinds of things do you like to
do to keep busy?
OS: I like to watch movies. Talk to my friends on the phone a lot. I don't
know, I read some. That's about it. Usually I'm pretty wore out from wrestling
and training.
CH: Growing up, what were your favorite guys to watch on TV? What are some
memories that stick out in your mind of when you got really hooked on wrestling?
OS: Ric Flair, without a doubt Ric Flair. No question. In my opinion the
greatest wrestler of all time. Definitely the match I saw between Ric Flair and
Magnum TA at Dorton Arena in Raleigh got me hooked. That was probably my
favorite... he's my all-time favorite wrestler. I'd love to ever get a chance to
work with him. But if I had to say there's one wrestler that motivated me to
wanna be a wrestler that was it.
CH: Tell me about how you came into SCW, about your experiences with the Shah of
Grog, or I guess he was just Count Grog back then.
OS: I came into SCW with Cueball Carmichael as I guess his body guard or
personal assistant along with Vinnie Gambini. Then I started wrestling with
Steve Corino and then I met Grog and we went up to work for Bo James. Then we
ran our first Berkley Cafe show, and he managed me. I was supposed to be the
heel but I sent out flyers to all these kids I went to high school with and all
these people I work with and 50% of the crowd was people I used to headbutt on
the playground. So being a heel there didn't really work out. He started
managing me in SCW and a lot of the other independent shows. He's been real good
to me, he's been real good to a lot of guys.
CH: Is it cool for you to come back with Greg [Mosorjak] and catch up with some
of the guys you broke into SCW with like Shane Helms and Shannon Moore?
OS: Yeah. I called Greg two days before [Misery] and told him I'd be in town.
He told me I was always welcome back and he'd figure out somethin' for me to do.
I've always had a good relationship with him... He invited me to his wedding. I
didn't get a chance to go because I was in Memphis, but Greg's a good friend of
mine. But you know he used to make some people JEALOUS of me! (Laughing) ...You
know when I was away, I'd always call him once a week or two weeks, always call
him before every SCW show to find out what was goin' on and give him my two
cents for what I thought should go on.
It was kind of cool to see Shane and Shannon, I used to hang around the same
clique with them and CW, I used to travel a lot with him in ECW. And a lot of
these guys that are on the show really weren't around when I started. Before I
left, Scab had come in, and Dewey. Most of those other guys weren't on the show
when I left. Toad was still around, I was sorry to see that he's still injured.
It was pretty cool to see my old buddies they were all real cool to me when I
came back.
CH: We've got this new crop of guys in SCW, how do you feel about some of these
new guys that are comin' through?
OS: I see a lot of desire in a lot of them. Right after I left, I saw some of
the tapes or been to see some of the shows and some of the guys they were usin'
were pretty bad. I was kind of embarassed about it because I had put so much
time into it to see it kind of go the way it had gone for a time. A lot of those
guys that started working then have really improved and I'm surprised to see how
good the show is now. I hadn't seen the show for like a year, but the guys are a
lot better, guys are in a lot better shape then they were a year ago. That was
where I started, and even when I was gone I still cared about it so I'm glad
that its doing well.
CH: At this point, you've wrestled all over the independents of North Carolina,
you've wrestled with ECW and the WWF. What would you say is the same about
wrestling wherever you go, and what would you say has been different about the
different places you've wrestled? In terms of the difference between working independents, the WWF and ECW...
the crowds are different, the matches are the same. I mean really, you know,
I've wrestled all over the place. One of the funnest matches I ever had was in
front of 25 people. Some of the worst, most unenjoyable matches I've had have
been in front of 15,000 people. Probably the most fun I've had is in ECW in
terms of interaction with the crowds. Had a lot of fun doing the Berkley Cafe
shows, a lot of independent shows I've enjoyed cause you can always do something
different in different towns if you wanna try something new, didn't matter.
Cause there wasn't television and stuff.
Memphis I had a lot of fun with the boys in the back. It was like my family.
And I miss that aspect of it. Its something you don't get on the independents.
Its something I got in ECW. In Memphis I was real tight with all the guys. Cause
we all lived in the same neighborhood and we all trained together in the gym, at
the school. We all traveled together and ate together and stuff. I really miss
that aspect of it. Its different in the independents. You see all these silly
egos, bloated perceptions of yourself, people really marking out for themselves.
One thing that changed for me is when I went to work in other areas, your
reputation from the independents doesn't mean shit. Its your ability to work and
your talent that matters when you go to the next place. So maybe that sums that
one up.
CH: You were telling me before some stories from when you were up at Titan [with
the WWF] about the guys who came in from WCW. What do you think about Benoit,
Malenko, Saturn, Guerrero, those guys?
OS: They were all really cool to me, all work extremely hard, nice guys,
really talented. Malenko was always real funny, always asked me who I killed
that day. But they were always really nice to me.
CH: Any funny stories for the SCW fans about a funny experience that happened in
the ring or maybe in the back during a show?
OS: Yeah, one time in Memphis I was wrestling this guy named Lance Cade who's
about 20 years old. And all day in the locker room we were teasin' him, cause
like any 20 year old he had this big, giant, humongous zit right on his chin. So
I wrestled him that night and in the middle of my heat I snapmared him over and
tried to pop it. That might've been the funniest one, quite possibly the
funniest thing I've ever tried to do in the ring. It didn't go though, he
squirmed like a little pig. There's tons more but that one stands out, we used
to rib Lance a lot.
CH: (Laughing) Your name, Otto Schwanz, you used the Dupp name in ECW...
OS: Yeah Bo Dupp, Bo Dupp the ass-picker. Paul E. Dangerously just called me
ass-scratcher, that was it.
CH: (Laughing) So how'd you come up with the name Otto Schwanz? Who gave you
that name?
OS: Cueball Carmichael gave it to me. Then I added 'The German Beef' stuff,
and then I could speak German fairly well from studying it in college and in
high school. I thought it was kind of cool that I was the only guy doing a
foreign gimmick that could actually speak the language. So I did almost all my
promos entirely in German except when I was wrestling in Raleigh. I never really
expected anyone to understand what I was saying but they always knew what I was
saying, that I was cussing them out and talking about how great I was. They knew
what I was saying even though they didn't understand a single word.
CH: There's something about German that works that way.
OS: (Laughing)
CH: You used to have a funny way of telling the ring announcer to announce where
you were from.
OS: I'd always come up with a fictitious town, 'Blasmireinen' which meant
'Give me a blow job', or 'GroBe-Muschie' which meant 'big pussy.' I'd always
tell him he just introduced 'Otto Cock, the German Beef from Big Pussy,
Germany.' So I had some fun with that. A couple times I entered cruiserweight
matches, so I'd have my weight announced in kilos. That's the one SCW title I
never won, the light heavyweight title, I don't know if they still have it or
not...
OS: Yeah well, when they get it active I'm gonna challenge for it.
OS: I hope the Major comes back. Everybody likes the Major, I learned a lot
from [Major DeBeers]. Roger Kerr, he's in the hall of fame too although he FAKED
RETIREMENT.
OS: I guess so (laughing).
OS: Honestly, I'm looking more towards getting back to Memphis and hopefully
trying to get my personal problems straight and see if I can get another chance
with the WWF. I finally got goin' on a good track 'til I sorta took myself down.
As far as Southern Championship Wrestling, I never really lost the Championship
there. I gave it up to go to ECW, so that kinda still makes me the Champ. So
maybe they'll give me a title shot sooner or later. Other than that, I'd like to
get to work with some of the younger guys like Lazarus or Q-Sic, hopefully
sooner than later. And maybe punch BC right in his big beak, and show him who
really is the whole fuckin' show around here.
OS: Go to the gym, work out. Diet. If you can, get old tapes and watch 'em.
Talk to the guys who you see as the better workers to see what they do to be
successful. And listen, don't ever act like you know it all 'cause you really
don't. Its always a continuous learning process. Always have a positive
attitude. Be aggressive about getting your name out there, because nobody's
gonna come lookin' for you. That's about it. Just be true to yourself, be honest
with yourself. Do what you can do.
OS: Currently, I'm out of them. But if the fans read this interview... maybe
I'll get some more printed, I'm sure I've still got the screens. Although I've
thought about comin' up with a few new Schwanz shirts, cause I might just change
my name just to Schwanz. Just wait and see, if there's a real high demand for
Otto Schwanz shirts like there used to be, maybe I'll get some more done.
OS: Later.
(ed.'s note: the order of questions and answers in this interview has been
shifted around to create as much continuity of subject matter as possible.)
Chris Hunter: Alright this is Chris Hunter with
SCWnews, I'm here with Otto Schwanz. We just came back from [an independent]
show in Roxboro, NC. Otto returned [to SCW] last Thursday night at Kings where
he took onJesse Drive and Idol X in a match for the Brass Knuckles Championship
and he is now the Brass Knuckles Champ, giving him the Grand Slam of singles and
tag-title Championships in SCW. He's the only guy in SCW history, actually, to
have accomplished that. So welcome back Otto, we're so happy to have you back in
SCW.
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