Italian Stallion [Highspots Shoot Interview]

The Good
A classic underneath talent, whose legitimacy, influence and background made for some surprising and fascinating listening. Stallion's background as a decorated amateur wrestler with Olympic potential was nothing short of shocking. Furthermore, he took that skill set and became a bookie is just as shocking. The story of this tough guy who set a World record in spaghetti-eating transitioning to pro-wrestling is so bizarre it seems unlikely. Stallion did work with a lot of big stars and was able to have a distinct career, so he has the types of stories and perspectives that make for a worthwhile shoot interview. He was a good storyteller for the most part, so I think Michael Bochicchio's assumption that old-school fans of Jim Crockett Promotions are the ones who'll buy this shoot is an accurate one. The one story in here that stood out above all the others, in my opinion, was the one where Ronnie Garvin recruited him to get back money from Angelo Poffo from back in the ICW days. Garvin and Lanny Poffo are the only two talking and neither says much about the ICW, so any tidbit (such as this, true or not) is welcome.

The Bad
An amateur wrestling career that reached almost Olympic proportions? A personal recommendation letter from Vince McMahon Sr. to get into the business? A free ride from the Crocketts while breaking in? I do not have information to contradict this, but it seems almost ludicrous enough that I want to doubt it at face value. Many pro-wrestlers though, especially pre-wrestling school pro-wrestlers, have these kinds of unusual tales of getting into the business. Then comes Stallion's interaction with the Hardy Boyz. While I'm sure both of them did exactly tell the whole truth, his version is a rebuttal to their's so it seems more plausible. The Hardy Boyz were untrained, undersized, underaged backyard wrestler when the Italian Stallion came across them. He claims that their ability to do incredible spots was the catalyst to him bringing the WWF as jobbers. Although it becomes muddled after that. He took them, got them breaks and took all (or almost all their earnings) because, in his view, he took a huge risk by bringing them in. Now, the Hardy Boyz got a break, became huge stars and the WWF repaid Stallion by never using him or his charges? Somehow, I simply cannot believe everything that he says about this story, however it did make me question the Hardy Boyz's version as well.

The Rating: ***1/2