World Wrestling Insanity's video: Spike Dudley Full Shoot Interview 2005

"It's pro wrestling, how could it not be a fun place to work? My last few months there, I was a miserable pr--k." James Guttman welcomes Matt "Formerly Spike Dudley in WWE" Hyson. Matt says that he got his shopping done and now has a beef barley stew on the oven, so life is good. He says that he's a much happier person since leaving WWE and offers this quote: "The grind of that place really eats your soul away." Hyson says he's rediscovering his love of wrestling on the Indy scene now. Matt feels WWE never understood what made his gimmick work. He thinks there aren't enough wrestling people there to grasp how to promote him. All they know is "Hulk Hogan, big guy, big guy." Then they look at him and say "What the F?" Matt asks if he can curse on the show and James tells him to go "f--kin' crazy." MH never felt like he was in a storyline that made it's way all the way through. They would give him a few weeks and then put him on the Heat/Velocity list. He never played politics, kissed ass, or begged. Points to the Molly Holly angle as something that they axed before it took off. Kept his mouth shut and did what he was asked. Talk turns to his angle with Molly and Steve Austin prior to the 2001 King of the Ring. When asked how long it took before he realized he would be misused in WWE, he said it was "the first night I showed up." He tells a story about being told something that gave the impression that the writers wouldn't know how to use him. Matt never really cared about the dress code. He could live with a collar or shoes. His big issue was being an independent contractor, but still being instructed to do things outside the ring. Unlike the NFL and NBA, few people are making that kind of money. They're expected to sit in coach class airline seats but pretend to be multi-millionaires. He feels the dress code changes were done to appease some guys in the front office. When asked about the McMahon family as characters, Spike says that Vince "is awesome on TV." He has a great head for it and great facial expressions. He says Shane got over with his crazy extreme wrestling, but aside from Vince, none of the McMahons are all that special. He says: "They all seem like grade B actors to me. Stephanie, Linda, and Shane never did much for me as a wrestling fan." They then talk about Shane being able to take huge bumps but then take time off for three months and how Matt feels about it. Hyson talks about traveling with Shane-o during his stint against Kane. Hyson says that being told he couldn't use his name was a final slap in the face after years of slaps. He says that after all "Bubba and D-Von" did for the company, they deserved better. When asked about the ECW One Night Stand, Hyson says he "f--kin' hated it." He talks about the mood backstage that night and what most people expected going in. Other topics discussed: Matt's time on the Indy scene now, thoughts on TNA, the rationale of WWE to take away wrestlers' names once they leave, morale in WWE's locker room, what works and doesn't work in wrestling, "the Hunter Factor," being a former teacher that wrestles, hearing from former students, thoughts on the Matt Striker situation.