WWE Daily

Bam Neely Discusses WWE Release/Future In TNA &/Or ROH

Courtesy: www.MondayNightMayhem.com

Former WWE/ECW superstar, Justin “Bam Neely” LaRouche, was one of the special guests on this week’s live edition (03/23/09) of Monday Night Mayhem, hosted by The Big Mosh & Blade. You can feel The Mayhem live & in streaming audio every Monday night (at 8PM ET/7PM CT), exclusively on The Monday Night Mayhem Radio Network (www.MondayNightMayhem.com, www.ITunes.com, www.AudioWrestling.com, www.OnlineWorldOfWrestling.com, & www.MySpace.com/MondayNightMayhem).

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Bam’s interview is now available for free in Windows Streaming Media, or via The Mayhem’s official Podcast On ITunes:

March 23rd Monday Night Mayhem (Streaming Audio): www.mondaynightmayhemarchives.com/waxfiles/032309.wax

March 23rd Monday Night Mayhem (MNM Podcast On ITunes): www.mondaynightmayhemarchives.com/mar09/032309.mp3

Here are some of the highlights of Bam’s exclusive interview on the show, provided by The Mayhem’s co-host, John “The Big Mosh” Masiulionis:

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Justin was welcomed to the program by The Big Mosh & Blade, and thanked The Mayhem Crew for giving him the chance to give his first post-WWE comments. Prior to getting into the interview itself, Bam wished to make it very clear to the listening audience & fans across the globe that he was only doing one interview after parting ways with World Wrestling Entertainment…and that was with “Your Home Of Wrestling Radio.
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As many fans who watch WWE program know, Justin (as Bam Neely) was a part of the successful “La Familia” stable on SmackDown (w/the current World Heavyweight Champion, “The Rated-R Superstar” Edge, Vickie Guerrero, Zack Ryder/Zack Ryder), in addition to being Chavo Guerrero’s bodyguard as part of the faction & on ECW On Sci-Fi. The storyline involving all of them together was quite successful, and saw all of them receive plenty of television time on two of the WWE brands. Eventually, “The Edgeheads” & Bam were phased out of the group, with Justin receiving his WWE release. According to Bam, “Nothing really went wrong…They just moved on with the story.” Justin added that prior to being released, word had trickled down that he would be moving to RAW as a singles competitor (which was actually being discussed for several months), and that he would be splitting up from Chavo (who would be staying on SmackDown & ECW) & the rest of the group. Shortly thereafter, he received word of his release from the company.

When superstars received that “dreaded phone call” from the WWE office to inform them of their “future endeavors”/release, for some, it may come as a shock. Mosh asked Justin if he expected this to go down in the fashion it did & if he was surprised about the entire situation. About two weeks before being released, Justin said he was brought to Connecticut to discuss his future with Vince McMahon, and “Bam” was going to take a three-to-five month hiatus to be repackaged & brought back. “He wanted people to forget about the bodyguard thing….He wanted people to remember Bam Neely, the wrestler, who soon will be the wrestler.” Justin did point out that he wrestled a little as Chavo’s bodyguard, but he wrestled big names like The Undertaker, Finlay, & Matt Hardy, but also added that he “never got a match that was strictly for Bam Neely.
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As mentioned, Justin had the chance to compete against some of the best superstars biggest names in the WWE, and Bam was asked by Mosh & Blade if he felt any nervousness about wrestling against such established talent. He mentioned a story about when Shawn Michaels walking up to him & giving him some words of encouragement. “Shawn Michaels looked right at me (right in my face), and asked me ‘You want this,’ and I went ‘Yeah.’ So he looked at me & went, ‘Hmm, prove it…Go out there, and make an impact right frickin’ now.’” Justin went on to say that he was not scared of wrestling any of the big names, simply because he felt “he belonged there,” and he still believes/feels he should be there today.

“The Showcase Of The Immortals” will see the World Heavyweight Championship be defended by “The Rated-R Superstar” himself against The Big Show & the star of the recently-released film, “12 Rounds,” John Cena — with the winner also receiving the “heart” of Vickie Guerrero. Going into WrestleMania 25 & this Triple-Threat Match involving Edge, Mosh asked Justin if he could have seen “La Familia” being a part of this storyline in some fashion leading into the event, or if the angle itself ran its course, leading the creative outlet open for something new. “I don’t where it went wrong. I think the writers or Vince thought it was overkill.” Bam went on to speak about instances where fans would jump the guardrails & try to beat them up. “If you’re really getting people mad at you, you’re doing a good job…The Big Show is such a big force, and with all of us, we could use the strength of numbers again, but then again, it could have take away from Triple-Threat Match with all of us there.
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One of the many recent storylines within the WWE that was heavily rumored, teased on television, but never came to be was Bam splitting away from Chavo Guerrero. The Mayhem Crew posed that question to Justin of why we never saw that transpire. “That made no sense to us.” As travel partners, both of them discussed ways/ideas to have both of them stay on television & keep their angle going, and further their teasing of dividing up into the big “blow-off” of the two going their own ways. Justin said, however, that the WWE Creative Team did not want/wish to turn either one of them face, and that left the future storyline in much doubt…so the move was taken to take “Bam Neely” off of television entirely. He felt, that at in the end, both of them could be heels,” but that the WWE “had other plans.
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“Wildcat” Chris Harris was criticized by a lot of individuals within the wrestling industry, as well as plenty of fans online after his “Braden” Walker gimmick seen on ECW On Sci-Fi failed to catch any steam. Blade & Mosh asked Justin if he or anyone else in the locker room saw him destined for failure in the WWE, and if his past with TNA had any effect on his lacking of a strong push. “It is hard when you have this huge production, and you don’t have any backing from production & them actually wanting you to succeed…You’re gonna fail”. On Chris Harris personally: “Chris…great guy, I like him, but I don’t know if creative really had anything for him.
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In closing, Justin wished to tell The Mayhem Nation & his fans around the world that he will indeed be back: “It’s just another bump in the road. I’ve been wrestling for a long time, and this is just another bump in the road. I definitely will be back…You never know I probably be back in the WWE or if not, I’ll be back somewhere where they’re happy to have me, and I’m happy to be there.
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So much more is contained in this near 40-minute exclusive interview with the artist known as “Bam Neely,” including Justin’s candid thoughts/comments on how his pairing with Chavo Guerrero (as his bodyguard) came to be (and how the both of them found out at the same point in time about their new association), how his WWE in-ring name came to be (and when/where it was decided upon), which current WWE/TNA superstars were the most instrumental in getting him a WWE tryout (as well as his beginnings in the independent scene in The Hellraisers), whether he sees Ohio Valley Wrestling can be a viable developmental territory again, the comparisons he has received to former ECW superstar, Roadkill (and if he was seen by any of the WWE/ECW superstars as a “Roadkill rip-off”), his close relationship with Jerry Lynn (and the chances of him becoming ROH World Heavyweight Champion), his future in wrestling (and whether that could be in TNA or Ring Of Honor), the possibilities of TNA signing himself/Elijah Burke/Armando Estrada/Kevin Thorn as a former WWE faction set to invade the organization, & so much more. The Big Mosh strongly encourages all members of The Mayhem Nation to check out Justin’s official MySpace page, located at www.MySpace.com/BamNeely.