Big Vito interview recap on WWE calling him a turkey‏

From Neal Jones:

Big Vito interview recap from www.iyhwrestling.com
by Dan Fitzpatrick

Jack and Incher were joined this week by former WCW & WWE superstar Big Vito.
Jack asked how he heard about wwe.com’s article on Biggest Turkeys of the Ring, of which he was on the list.
Vito explained someone sent him an e-mail on Thanksgiving morning letting him know of the list. Vito thought the WWE were insulting him and making a mockery of his career and they should be talking about good points and not bad.

His family was very upset and they had been receiving calls and texts all day from friends and family.
Vito went on to say he did the dress gimmick because Vince asked him too so how can the WWE do articles bullying people when they are part of the Be a Star program.

He then challenged John Laurinaitis to have ‘the toughest man in a dress’ step up to him on Monday Night Raw.
Jack then asked if John Laurinaitis was head of talent relations when he was in the WWE of which Vito said he was the guy who hired and fired him.
He said the reason they gave for his release was the usual ‘creative have nothing for you. Which was weird because he was in developmental working on a mutai gimmick and was ready to return to TV.

A caller asked Vito regarding the wwe.com article if the fact they called him a turkey is what’s upset him or is there anything further they have said.
Vito responded that it’s the fact they called him a turkey on Thanksgiving day and they put him on a list of people such as Michael Cole who get paid to be insulted. That the fact is he is still an active wrestler and that’s still his job and if the WWE labels him as a turkey then fans and promoters will believe he’s a turkey and won’t hire him.

Vito was then asked if the WWE miss having gimmicks of which he thought they did and no one stands out anymore which hurts the product.
Vito went on the talk about the dress gimmick and how the WWE approached him about it.

They explained that he looked like Adrian Adonis when he wrestled, by which they meant he looked angry and was a killer but he was handsome.
They came up with the dress gimmick and Vito lived the gimmick outside of the ring as well as in it he was that dedicated to the gimmick.
Vito said he got a lot of respect backstage for embracing the gimmick in an old school dedicated way.
Jack asked if Vito preferred the Italian tough guy gimmick or the tough guy in a dress gimmick.

He said defiantly the dress gimmick as it aloud him to be more creative and he still enjoys doing the gimmick to this day.
Jack playing devils advocate said if someone said being called a turkey isn’t really an insult how would you respond to that? Vito said it is an insult because they are making fun of him for no reason. He was ranked in the top 50 gimmicks of all time and they should be picking on people that are still with the company and not make fun of people no longer with the company who are trying to make a living.
He also said they are being hypercritical making fun of people on there website while also being part of an anti bullying campaign.
He explained that he helps numerous charities and the community and the WWE don’t mention the positive things and just put people down.
Vito was asked if he knew Joey Styles ran wwe.com and what his relationship with him is like.
He said he’s tried to call him but has had no response. People have said Joey has changed recently so he’s not sure where he stands with him and has no further comment.

Vito went on to talk about his time being part of The Baldies in ECW and how he loved his time there and working with guys like Balls Mahoney and New Jack and working the hardcore style.
He told Paul Heyman that he didn’t want to leave for WCW as he liked being part of The Baldies so much. Paul told him he had to go as it was the opportunity he had been waiting for and he can’t compete with the money being offered.
He was happy he went to WCW to be part of The Mamalukes because they became one of the most successful tag teams in the history of WCW. To this day he and Johnny the Bull are good friends and Johnny is grateful to Vito for all the help he gave him at the start of his career.
Vito was asked what lacks in wrestling today. He went on to say that there should be more gimmicks and characters on TV today. All the young guys coming through have great bodies and are in great shape but they lack charisma and identity that guys from the past had and that The Undertaker is probably the only real gimmick left in the WWE today.
He mentioned if a guy appeared on TV wearing a dress now then it would be over because it would stand out. If The Mamalukes turned up and had Santino as there manager the promos alone would be great.

Vito went on to talk about how he and Vince Russo both did a radio show together before Russo went on to write for WWE magazine.
The show was called Vicious Vincent’s and they would interview various wrestlers at the time. Vito explained he was the one who talked Russo into applying for a job at WWE magazine and would often give him advice.
Vito was asked if he would ever work behind the scenes of which he said would as he has 21 years experience in the business and he knows he would be good at it.
When asked if he would go back to TNA he said he is still a professional wrestler and would be open to get call back. Hopefully to be apart of there anti bullying campaign and do some good.

Vito talked about his experience on Shipmates. He said to the girl they hooked him up with that he just want’s to have some fun on the show and I’m not here to try and get in your pants. He said they ended up having a great time and is still friends with her today.
Vito was asked by a caller that seeing as he was there in the later days of WCW and the early days of TNA, were there any similarities in the locker room.
He said there were because both companies at the time had more than one boss. He said the locker rooms in ECW and WWE were more settled as each company had one boss.

Vito said he wants people to tweet John Laurinaitis and the WWE Universe to have Vito in a dress back in the WWE. He also said that Big Vito vs. John Laurinatis the bully would be a great Wrestlemania match.
Vito asked everyone to help him by tweeting to WWE that they want to see Vito vs John at Wrestlemania.

Follow Vito on twitter @teamnv
For the full audio of this interview please visit www.iyhwrestling.com