1-on-1 with DP – 93.7 The Ticket KNTK - Former WWE Wrestler Mark Canterbury (Henry O Godwinn) - September 28th, 10:00pm

Episode Date: September 29, 2022

Former WWE Wrestler Mark Canterbury (Henry O Godwinn) -WWF stories in the 80's-Mark's transition from football to wrestling.Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brandsPrivacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

It's time to go one-on-one with D.P. Coming at you live from the couple Chevrolet GMC Studios. Here is your host, Derek Pearson. Brought you by Mary Ellen's Food for the Soul. On 93-7 The Ticket and the Ticket FM.com. Yes, sir. Let's get it. Let's get it on a Wednesday night, 101, 401, 402, 464-5. Sartner, Hamid, text line.

Honda, a leagin hotline. And if you want to add to the conversations, you've got questions. You want to talk a little wrestling. Late nights on the ticket. We're going to have some fun here. Again, the Sartarhamen live video stream. You can see us in studio, Facebook, YouTube, Twitch, and Twitter live. So no matter how you consume, we got you covered.

We got you covered. Every opportunity, folks have asked constantly. Okay, there needs to be a wrestling show. They need to be a wrestling show. And then it's, well, we need several. but to go to the resource and again I come from a hometown in Arlington Virginia where quite frankly

in that space there are quite a few wrestlers that come through and one of them pretty decent dang athlete man he was impressive he was impressive three sport guy threw a little too hard for most folks on the mouth 6-4 300

he was look I think he was born 6-4 but that's what we'll talk about that when we bring him on but give this man his music please kind sir I can't help but smile when I hear it. Let's bring him in. Mark Canterbury. How you doing, big man?

What up, D.P. Man, that's music to my ears. I love that song. Come on, Mark. That is, look, man, I was trying to explain to folks earlier. I'm like, you don't understand. Within sports in general, not. everybody's worthy of it but you're just one of my favorite people because the way you handle your

business and the way you handle your friendship so i have to i have to say that man love you i appreciate you making time um for our folks to talk a little wrestling it's greatly appreciate it well i appreciate you getting a hold of man i love you too man it's uh it's been a while been a little busy and uh we'll get we'll get things rolling here well we got time and we will make time for it. You just went to one of these conventions where you got to see a lot of your old buddies. Let the fucks on. Who was kind of, who was there?

Who did you run into this past weekend? Yeah, oh, man, we were down in Greenville, Tennessee. It was Hazard Fest. So. Oh, okay. Man. Yeah. I mean, Daisy, Daisy, Duke, you know, Luke, Duke.

let's see who all was there Mark Boone from Sons of Anarchy played Bobby Monson Right Man just a great time

Cletus T. Judd that I did the video with back in me and Hillbilly and Finnis did a video with Cletus T. Judd back in the day

we did a spoof off John Michael Montgomery song Right But it got reunited with Cletus again here pretty soon. All the moonshiners,

Mark Digger, Josh, just super guys, man. It was awesome. Look, when you posted the picture of you and Catherine Rock Daisy Duke, I meet, like all of us became 12 years old again. Like, it's like, okay, seriously. Like, that's top of the line.

Thank you. Exactly. What a sweetheart she was. Oh, thank you, brother. So through all of this, I was telling Harrison, the producer, just you in your early life and the athlete that you were, we think of how simple it should be. But you had to make choices.

Like, football was a real thing. Like, this was an option. If you had chosen to keep throwing the fastball, there would have been frightened hitters all over that area. How did you make the decision to transition from? football to wrestling. Oh, man, I don't, I started watching wrestling with my grandfather when I was four or five years old. When we'd come down here to West Virginia from Arlington to visit, it was always on the

weekend. So at 11 o'clock, he got his recliner. I remember seeing him get so excited to eat at backridge's running down his chin. I don't know. I had a lot of athletes in my family and just, you know, football was very physical and wrestling was sort of in my blood, I guess, and it was just easy. Now, I had a hard time being in front of all them people.

I was just talking to somebody about this the other day. I was scared after death when I was. there, even with just like 100 people when I first started doing a little independent shows. And now, now, you know, I'm in San Antonio at the San Antonio done in front of 166,000 people. So it was crazy. So that part was a little hard to transition, but the physical part was pretty easy, you know what I'm saying? Well, you're a unique athlete, bro. It's not like, you know, six foot four, 260-pound dudes who can fly, right?

You can actually move, bro. Like, you were an athlete. This would have been a thing. I was asked, we were talking about earlier. What was it about Arlington, Wakefield, that produced two, I mean, you and Dave Battista are from the same spot. Like, you guys are the same neighborhood, same school, same football program. Like, come on.

What was happening in Arlington and at Wakefield that was produced? that was producing, there's a ton of athletes that came from there. It must have been something in the water, man. I don't know. But you have a piece that he was a pretty good athlete I hear. He was, you know, a few years behind us. I think he was 87. Yeah.

I think. Yeah. Yeah, just, I don't know, just having an opportunity, you know, a big school. Just a lot of opportunity. You know, when I moved down here, it was, we were a single A school. And it was a lot different coming from Wakefield to Peterson. Yeah, right. Coming from like 2,500 students to 900.

Wow. And that's 7th through 12. Wow. So it was a little shock, but I enjoyed it, man. I slipped right in and fit in with everybody. So it was easy. It was fun. So through your time, right, that as you get in the business, who led you into the business?

Who were the people that taught you the business that kind of held your hand and kind of got you under firm footing in this space? Some people have said, you know, you go back to the George South folks. But for you, who were the folks that taught you this business? Well, of course, I got to mention Italian Stallion and George South because if it wasn't for them, I probably wouldn't be in this situation. But as far as after that, you know, teaching me the basics and then me learned on my own and with some help of some old-timers was,

God, Dusty Rhodes, you know, he was a big part of our, me and Phineas was just talking about this on one of our signing, virtual signings, that, you know, Dusty was a big influence for us. and people like Barry Windham, Dick Murdoch, Dick Slater, Jody Hamilton, you know, just that's who really

sticks out with me. But I guess Dusty was like our mentor. Great interviews, you know, Dusty, you know, clumber's son from all of Texas. That's sir. Yes, sir. Yeah, I think that's, I mean, that's a big part of this thing.

One, the in-ring work is one thing. But the evolution of microphone skill. And I want to say, is that the early 90s where people are talking more and being more personality-driven rather than the in-ring work? Yeah. I mean, just like Claire, you know, him on the mic was as good as him in the ring. you know what I'm saying? Yeah.

It just, you know, it clicked with him. And the interviews back then were awesome. Right. I mean, they got personal. Terry Funk, Dory Funk, and Dusty and Harley Race. I mean, it was in Flair. Just what a great era, man. I was so blessed and lucky to come in when I did.

And I don't know if I told you before. but, you know, when I got my break in WCW, they put me in the car with Harley Race. I'm young. I'm still green, but I'm doing TVs for WCW. And they throw me in the car, Harley Race, Hercules Hernandez in the passenger seat, and me and Barbarian are in the backseat,

and I'm scared. Just sitting back. I was telling Harrison that, like, in truth, they talk about Haku and Andre, but Harley Race might have been like one of the five toughest guys, legitimate tough guys in all arrests. Oh, yeah. I've seen him.

I've seen him. This is no lie. Bend a ring on Scott Norton's hand when they were doing a death grip with each other. Harley had a hell of a grip. and we were in Louisiana. I still remember. And we were at the bar and just having a good time.

But they were just playing around. But anyway, you bend the ring on somebody's hand, it's pretty impressive. Well, he was a tough dude. And that was also part of why, like some promoters said, look,

if you give the strap to Harley, Harley may not give it back. Like, this was a real situation. Nobody really wanted to go after Hartl. No. No, no. wanted anything to do with Harley. And he was a big help with us, too.

You know, when I, when I transitioned from WCW to WWF, Harley Race and Kevin Nash spoke up for me. And within a month, I was in Vince's office going over my gimmick and what we were going to do up there. So those two were, I just talked to Kevin and told him this a few months ago about if he remembered, you know, speaking for me. And, yeah, it really meant a lot to me, you know, to have friends like that. Mark, it's like you were in a very special place.

I do want to talk about the building of a gimmick, right? That you've gone, you went through several different things and being called, I've heard the stories of being called in the event's office where there's a pitch and then a repitch, like, hey, here's the idea, but here's this thing. how much input did you have when Vince calls you in to say, hey, look, we're going to go hog farmer, we're going to go in this direction rather than, you know, say Shanghai Pierce? Well, you know, it was 92 men, Dennis Knight, which is AKA Tech's, AKA Finian. Yeah.

We started in WCWC. And when we got let go, let go see, 94, I went up to WWF and Tex. He had some couple issues. He had to work out on his own. So he'd come up a year later. And, but yeah, it was just a good time. And as you know, he, he's a funny guy

to be all to get him on here one night yes please yes please to bring that through we're talking to Mark Canterbury Henry O Godwin as most would know some Shanghai Pierce depending on the area of the country and how you deal with it

but through all of this right you were a part of a click and it wasn't the click but you were part of a special group guys who traveled together, who lived life together. Tell us about that special group that included the Undertaker. Well, we haven't talked since I did the WrestleMania, have we? No, sir.

Yeah, well, this past WrestleMania, you know, the office, they got in contact with us with the BSK. That was our little group, Bone Street crew, Undertaker Joe Kusuna come up with that. But, yeah, so the office called and said, you know, we did Survivor Series and we all got together. That was a year before this. But they called and said, well, you know, we want you to be here for Undertaker's Hall of Fame speech. And, man, what a speech it was.

But, yeah, it was just a group of guys. We started hanging out. And we went out one night and we walked into this bar. and I think it was me and Yoko, Taker, Godfather. I don't, I think Racti she was there, but Phineas was, he hadn't come up yet. And we walked in and Yoko screams out, bone street crew in the house, bitches. But, uh, and poor Yoko, what a sweetheart. Rest in peace.

But that's, that was our little group. we just, I don't know, we just hit it off. And we, it was a brotherly, it was a brotherhood right off the bat. And it was myself, of course, Phineas, when he come up, and it was Undertaker, Paul Baer, Rakeshi, Godfather, Savia Vega. Just a, a cluster of culture there. But we loved each other. And we, you know, I just, I called, uh, Savio yesterday and checked on him in Puerto Rico.

And I called Phineas last night. And he said he was staying in Tampa. Everybody's doing good. But yeah, what great time at WrestleMania, you know, it was almost tearful what was going on, you know, with Taker and his speech. And it was just a good time. Mark, I'm going to ask you to hold on.

We're going to go to break. We'll come back. I want to talk about Undertaker, and I want to talk about the names that people know. I need Mark Canterbury's Mount Rushmore of wrestlers. We'll talk about all that stuff and more here on one-on-one.