Ring Of Honor (ROH) Chief Operating Officer (COO) Joe Koff recently joined ECW Original Tommy Dreamer and Dave LaGreca on a recent episode of the Busted Open Radio show. Featured below are some of the highlights from the interview.
On why Wahoo McDaniel should be in the WWE Hall Of Fame: “I wouldn’t be where I am in the business today without him. I was a young guy in Florida who was working at the TV station where Championship Wrestling from Florida was produced. I made enough of an impact that they brought me into the office to meet those guys. Wahoo was the booker, and it’s with Wahoo that we created Battle Of The Belts. Despite what you hear about Pro Wrestlers, most of them are genuinely good guys. They are really selfless and Wahoo was really that guy. He was a tremendous talent in an era that is just forgotten. I think the Hall of Fame now, and while I’m happy Bully Ray is being inducted, it’s really more modern era. They really don’t go back that far and don’t go into those regions. Now, Wahoo was well known because he was a New York Jet, so he had that national spotlight. I watched him go with Flair 2 out of 3, and he wasn’t that young of a man then, so I think he deserves it.”
On why Jim Cornette should be in the WWE Hall Of Fame: “Ring of Honor wouldn’t be where it is today without Jim Cornette. He was one of the founding pieces of this promotion when we bought it and I will forever be grateful for him, and he knows it. Jim is a genius, and he should be recognized for his genius. If you’re going to put people in that kind of acclaim, he should definitely be in there.”
On ROH being a key factor in how stars are made in the wrestling business today: “We are the best place we’ve been in since I can remember. A lot of that I think is because of the amount of competition, the level of guys wrestling, the guys wrestling in Tommy’s group, the people wrestling certainly for us. I don’t want to think for a second that I’m the reason for any success, but you know, we are. When you look at the guys who have come out of our organization and have gone on to other organizations, you cannot ignore that. I’m really proud of what we have put out there and what we’ve done with our business and how we’ve attracted talent.”
On The Young Bucks: “These guys are amazing. They are amazing to watch and they are amazing to work with and they are wonderful human beings. I like the fact that that is who we’re talking about today, instead of the past. These guys are professionals. When we can start using the word ‘professional’ as an athlete inside of our narrative, I think we’re winning all of the way. You can go up and down our roster and see really dedicated athletes, who want to be called athletes, and deserve to be called athletes. They’re not sports entertainers. They’re entertaining sportsmen. I get a little emotional when I start talking about this stuff.”
Check out the complete episode of Busted Open Radio featuring the Joe Koff interview above or at YouTube.com.
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