Tommy Dreamer não quer regressar em part-time à WWE e pondera a aposentadoria
On slowing down and thinking of retirement: "Yeah, some days. I recently hurt my neck really, really bad again and I had already broken my neck. It was just on an indie show and I came to the back and I was like ‘man, I'm hurt'. And I don't want to be hurt in my life. I live pretty much – miraculously – pain-free and I don't want to have a lesser quality of life. Wrestling takes a toll and I've destroyed my body already. I've broken so many bones. I've broke my neck, I broke my bad and I've yet to have a surgery and I'm still going. I want to be able to pick up my kids. I want to enjoy life and not always be in pain."
On the "Tommy Dreamer" chants that popped up at the U.S. Open: "It was very funny. One, because The Sandman was there and he kept on texting me and was like ‘dude, make sure you watch Tiger's putt it's going to happen in 20 minutes'. But I was at an appearance in Long Island in the day and I was like just don't get arrested. Tiger would be putting and he would just be screaming out my name and then there's other people. It's also in the Philadelphia area and my other friends are there. One guy is yelling and he's filming it and the other guy starting yelling ‘Tommy Dreamer' and says ‘doesn't he have a show coming up soon? Yeah, House of Hardcore'. Then three guys start chanting House of Hardcore. Ridiculous but very, very funny."
On people being excited with WWE recently: "It's amazing. Most people have been very down on wrestling for quite some time and they'll have those brief moments. This from Sunday and once they announced Rob Van Dam and with a good crowd in Chicago, such a perfect place. And the perfect time to bring back CM Punk. Then that Raw was fabulous. It reminded me a lot of the Attitude Era in the sense of I have to watch this program. I don't know what's going to happen or who's going to show up. That's what WWE 100% needs because you think about it, a lot of people were down on WWE for bringing in The Rock, we're bringing in Undertaker or Triple H, Brock Lesnar, all these part-timers but if you think about it, you need those part-timers to help fill a huge stadium of WrestleMania. Again, no team wins without veterans, without guys in their prime and without rookies. And if anything was a great buzz of what, to me, what wrestling should be. More people have been talking about these last two episodes than I want to say these last two and a half, three months."
On facing Rob Van Dam for possibly the last time for FWE this Friday: "Yep, I totally said that to myself the other day thinking this will probably be the last time I get to wrestle Rob. I love Rob. We're great friends. I'm happy that Rob's coming back (to WWE). I know I'm going to kicked really, really hard and I know I'll be hitting him back really hard and in the end we're going to really hug each other and just really, really take it back. I know for me it will be something really special."
On whether he feels pressure to make each House of Hardcore show bigger than the previous one: "Yes. I never had gray hair in my beard until I worked in the WWE office and I call them my WWE's. Then I started losing more hair when I, I don't want to say I went out on my own, I started losing more hair when I did my first show and now I have more gray hair on the side of my head. If nothing else, I will definitely get a Just for Men bears and hair sponsorship out of this because I don't like the salt and pepper look. I have very high expectations. I'm so wanting to up main events, up who I'm going to bring in."
On a Possible Part-Time Return to WWE: "I would say ‘No, I want a full time run,' because I love being on the road, I love working, I love doing live events, I love doing house shows. For someone who is semi-retired, between filming movies and doing independent shows and doing other things, I work all the time. So I don't mind it. I've been doing this since I was 18 years old and I love being on the road. I still like competing and wrestling. If they wanted me to go full-time, I'd gladly go full time because there are a lot of guys I'd like to work with. So, part-time, no. Full-time, sure."
On the Differences Between WWE, TNA and ECW: "Paul Heyman taught me the most and showed me; working for Paul was a blessing and a curse because he showed me a lot of the right ways to do business. Vince McMahon, I have like three houses because of Vince McMahon so he's the most successful boss I've had because in ECW, I didn't really make any money, really none of us did. Dixie Carter was very, very cool. Gave me a lot of responsibility at first. I wish that company would be a lot better than it is, but personally, Dixie Carter, I really, really like her. I had a great relationship with Vince, I still have a great relationship with Vince and I have a great relationship with Paul, so it's all good. It's not like I sit around, I'm not bitter or hate those people. A lot of people don't understand that wrestling used to be solely based upon on your talent when there was other federations. If you were a good wrestler, you were rewarded. Yes, there were politics involved, but now it's just really however is in charge likes you, that's how a lot of guys have jobs. Your talent is most important to the fans and not the people behind the scenes, which is sad, but hopefully one day it will change."
On House of Hardcore 2 in Philadelphia: "I would hope that it's just as good as the first one. I couldn't have asked for anything more from the talent. It was a great team effort. Most of the guys are handpicked, and I want the Philly fans; I always said that if I did the first one and it was successful, I would do another and I always wanted to go to Philly. I just want the Philly fans to be exactly who they are; some of the best wrestling fans in the world. If they don't like something or someone, they'll let them know it, and if they do like it, I want them to appreciate it. The saying is if you can make it in New York, you can make it anywhere, but if you make it in Philadelphia, you can make it anywhere. You're kind of like a made man. I was born into this world as Tom Laughlin, but I'm mostly known as Tommy Dreamer, and Tommy Dreamer was born in Philadelphia. I love the city and I have such a connection with the place and they're the greatest wrestling fans."
