Two down, one more coming up.
Oops! I don’t mean knocking down those “un-knockdownable” big guys who are coming to Manila on July 10 for the WWE SmackDown and ECW Live Tour at the Araneta Coliseum. I mean, Funfare has pinned down two of the dozen or so wrestlers participating in the showdown, namely Mark Henry and CM Punk, for a “body talk” on the phone. Now, it’s Tommy Dreamer’s turn, the last of three put on the spot because the others (including Jeff Hardy, Edge, Rey Mysterio, Chris Jericho, Kane, Christian, Shelton Benjamin, The Great Khali, Michelle McCool, Melina and Gail Kim) are now too busy on the road to sit down for a phone chit-chat.
Here’s a brief backgrounder on Tommy Dreamer from Wikipedia:
An American professional wrestler, Tommy Dreamer is a Valentine Baby, born on Feb. 14, 1971. His real name is Thomas James Laughlin. He’s under contract to World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) and wrestling on the ECW brand where he’s the reigning champion. While with the WWE, Dreamer has also been a 14-time Hardcore Champion. He has likewise won the ECW championship twice.
He is best known for the time he spent in the Philadelphia-based Extreme Championship Wrestling (ECW) promotion of which he has been called the “heart and soul.” Though he only held the ECW World Heavyweight Championship once in his time with the company — for a grand total of about 30 minutes — he was regularly embroiled in the company’s most visible angles on screen and involved in the booking, some of the business decisions, and, like a number of ECW wrestlers, was part of the day-to-day operations of the company off screen.
Dreamer made a cameo in the adult film Whack Attack 5 and, along with fellow ECW wrestler New Jack, appeared in the Mel Schwartz, Bounty Hunter episode of the TV series Early Edition as a biker. He participated in the wrestling documentary Bloodstained Memoirs.
On Oct. 12, 2002, Dreamer married Trisa Hayes (better known by her ring name Beulah McGillicutty) with whom he has twin daughters, Kimberly and Briana, who appeared in the sixth season episode The Ride of the HBO drama The Sopranos playing Tony Soprano’s baby nieces.
Excerpts of Funfare’s 15-minute phone interview with Dreamer (who called from New York):
Your fans are eagerly waiting for you and the other wrestlers on your show on July 10.
“It’s my first time to visit the Philippines and also the first time for ECW to stage a showdown there. I’m just as excited as our fans are.”
A big show by big men. What can your fans expect during the show?
“Like what the title of the show says, it’s going to be a real showdown, a smackdown.”
I’m curious. Have your heard anything about the Philippines?
“Well, funny but I was just watching a documentary on HBO called Thrilla in Manila which was about the famous Ali-Frazier bout (in the ’70s) and it talked about the culture and how at the time everyone came out to see the fight. I’m also very good friends with Batista (also featured in the Smackdown), who is half-Filipino, and he told me that the last time they were there, the Filipinos made the event so great. Nevertheless, the people will really, really help the wrestlers with their cheering. Right now, I’m still the ECW champion and defending my title in Manila is an honor.”
What do you do to keep the title so long?
“What do I do? I don’t know. Maybe I’ve been lucky to be able to keep my title for so long. I eat healthy and take good care of my body.”
What kind of diet do you follow?
“I take a lot of protein shakes and lots of chicken.”
And what workout do you do?
“I do an hour of cardio on an empty stomach every morning. I go to the gym and work out for about an hour every day. You should try to do that every day. Sometimes, if I travel I miss working out but I try to make up for it as soon as I have the time to.”
“After working out on my exercise machine to burn fat, I take protein shake with peanut butter and banana.”
Do you manage to take three square meals a day?
“Not just three but six small meals. I eat every three hours.”
You must consume a lot of water considering how active you are.
“Probably three to four big bottles throughout the day. I have to drink a lot to keep my body hydrated.”
What kind of food do you avoid?
“I like sweets but I try to avoid them. I try to avoid fried food, but it’s hard when you are on the road because there are so many fast-food joints along the way.”
How much sleep do you get per night?
“I try to get as much as eight hours per night, but oftentimes I don’t get that much. I’ve been looking at our whole schedule and our whole tour and I could see that, going to Manila, we are flying halfway around the world. Our whole body clock will be reversed. Like now, it’s 7 in the evening here in New York and it’s 7 in the morning in Manila. I guess I will get as much sleep as I can get on the plane. That would be good.”
Are you doing any special training for the Manila showdown?
“Hmmmm. No, not really. I’m just looking forward to it... looking forward to the culture. I haven’t been there and a lot of people I know have been there and have been telling me what a wonderful time they had. I want to find out what the Filipinos eat and taste some Filipino food.”
Are you planning to stay for a few days and see more of the Philippines?
“Unfortunately, even if I want to I cannot stay longer because we have to go to Japan.”
A lot of Filipinos love wrestling but some people find it a violent sport. Is everything for real and maybe some of it is choreographed and/scripted so nobody would get hurt real hard?
“Hmmmm...Yes. The action you see on the ring is real. I have broken my back and my neck. I have broken my nose three times. Actually right now, I have a broken finger.”
What happened?
“I wrestled very, very hard, so I broke my finger. But I love the sport so much that I just shrug it off. I broke my back and my neck a few years ago but it didn’t stop me from wrestling. That’s how much I love the sport.”
Didn’t you want to be anything else aside from a wrestler?
“No. This has been my dream since I was a little, little boy...since I was nine years old, I wanted to be a professional wrestler. I watched the sport on TV all the time and I was hooked from Day One.”
“Beside the excitement of the fans when I go out there...you know, all the action...just everything about it. It’s better than a movie or a rock ‘n roll show.”
What do you do in your free time?
“I spend it usually with my family just at home. I want to spend more time with my family but unfortunately I’m on the road most of the time.”
Would you advise any of your children to follow in your footsteps?
“We are trained professionals so I wouldn’t want my children or any child for that matter to mimic what we do. They just have to enjoy watching them. Wrestling is a spectator sport and those watching have more fun than those who are performing. We do what we do because we’ve been trained to do it. I feel that I’m a living proof of following your dream and living it. This is all I ever wanted to do. I’ve trained very hard and worked very hard to get to where I am now. You know, you should never let anything discourage you from following your dream because you can be anything you want to be in life.”
Is that why you call yourself a dreamer?
“Dreamer is my wrestling name. Why do I call myself a dreamer? Because I continue to dream.”
Anything more that you “dream” to achieve?
“Like everybody else, I also set goals for myself. I’m the ECW champion right now and I wouldn’t mind taking on any other champions so people will see who the real champion is.”
(Note: WWE SmackDown and ECW Live Tour is slated at the Araneta Coliseum on July 10. For ticket inquiries, check out SM TicketNet outlets or call 911-5555 or 374-9999.)
(E-mail reactions at rickylo@philstar.net.ph or at entphilstar@yahoo.com)