Show: Wrestling Epicenter
Guests: Lance Hoyt and Ricky Morton
Date: September 23, 2005
Your Hosts: Chuck D, James Walsh, and Francine
Recap By: James Walsh
Lance Hoyt is one of Total Nonstop Action Wrestling’s fastest rising superstars. With fans chanting “Hoyt, Hoyt, Hoyt” upon every TNA appearance, it’s clear the future for this star is nothing but bright. And, this rising star sat down with Chuck and James from the Wrestling Epicenter to discuss his young career up to now and the heights he hopes to reach.
Also on this show, Francine joins us to discuss everything from her crazy weekend at the Hardcore Homecoming event and chat with Chuck and James. Francine really has become a welcomed change to the Wrestling Epicenter and her input gets better and better each and every week. This week is, without question, her best performance to date with a lot of fun had between herself, Chuck, and James live on “The Blaze” 1260 AM. Be sure to check her hot new pictures out at http://www.MissyHyattandFrancineTV.com. There are also brand new hot pictures of WCW’s Daffney. Ever seen her without the gothic garb on? You have no idea what you’re missing.
You can download this entire show in glorious digital streaming media at www.WrestlingEpicenter.com.
LANCE HOYT
Upon ordering a recent TNA pay per view, I was amazed at the crowd response a young wrestler received. The appreciative crowd chanted his name with such passion, I would’ve thought he was a veteran of many ring wars and was a name known to all. Instead, it was the name “Hoyt.” And, I knew this young star will indeed be a household name one day soon.
“I know it, man. I’m busting my butt trying to make a name for myself in this wrestling business,” says Hoyt when discussing the crowd reactions he has received of late. “It’s something that happened kind of quickly. When teaming with Kid Kash, people started paying attention and since he left, for whatever reason, people really have started to get behind me, for whatever reason. It’s awesome, you know?”
Hoyt didn’t always have the unique name that has been chanted throughout the soon to be nationally televised promotion’s Impact Zone. Prior to being solo as Lance Hoyt, he was known simply as “Dallas” and was Kid Kash’s tag-team partner and bodyguard. Kash, who Hoyt describes as a “great mentor,” left TNA after cutting a wild-eyed promo on an online wrestling talk show just prior to TNA’s Lockdown pay-per-view spectacular.
“I didn’t know what was going to happen when Kash left. It caught everyone by surprise. I, like everyone else, found out he was leaving the company on our website. The last time Kash and the company had a falling out, I suffered a little bit from it so I didn’t know what was going to happen this time.”
Things have been looking up for the big man. But, there was a time when things were not looking all that good. Hoyt says, “There was a time, when Dusty took over booking, where I wasn’t being used a whole lot and was taken off the shows. I finally flew myself to Orlando to see what was going on.” He was reassured of a return but nobody told him when. At that point, Abyss was off the show due to contract difficulties which have since been cleared up. But, Hoyt received a call telling him, “Okay, we’re bringing you back but we don’t want to call you Dallas, we want to call you your real name, Lance Hoyt. I didn’t care. I just wanted to get back on TV and get back to getting paid. I never really liked the idea of being Lance Hoyt but it has taken on a life of its own so I can’t complain.”
Many assume the name change was brought on by having another Dallas in the company at the time in Diamond Dallas Page. “As far as everything I was told, that had absolutely nothing to do with it,” says Hoyt. Hoyt goes on to say what a great honor it was when Diamond Dallas Page approached him and actually knew his name.
One of the biggest differences between Hoyt the other TNA stars is his size. Hoyt stands at a towering 6’8 inches tall but is not the cookie-cutter big man wrestler that is typically seen on Monday night wrestling. This big man can fly. Hoyt explains how he got his feet wet in the more daring aspect of his in ring style, “One day a bunch of the kids were in the ring here in Dallas. We had a bunch of the little guys who were afraid to do this stuff. I told them this is what you’ve got to do to be in wrestling. They said, “Well, you do it then.” I just got up there… I had a lot of cheerleader friends in college and they told me your body will always follow your head. So, I got up there and threw my head as far back as possible and hit it clean the first time. From then on, I’ve tried to do things that the little guys could do. I found out I could spring up to the top rope pretending I was Rob Van Dam.”
One remembers such classic examples of big men trying to fly and failing such as the failed Shooting Star Press by Brock Lesnar at Wrestlemania X9 and it begs the question of why someone who is considered a big man even tries to do such potentially self damaging moves. “The one thing that I want to separate me from the rest is I’m 6’7, 6’8 and 270 pounds but I’m not jacked to the gills. I’m not Batista size so I don’t get to play that role. So, I have to do a little something extra to separate me. I am a big guy but I’m not a giant,” says Hoyt.
Hoyt has had some mainstream TV exposure prior to TNA as a dancer on the Jenny Jones show and as a date on the TV show Eliminate. “I’ve always been a good dancer,” says Hoyt laughing at the fact we remembered his appearance. As a college kid, Hoyt called the Jenny Jones show jokingly saying they should have male dancers instead of just the Nitro Girl-like Jenny Jones dancers. Well, one thing lead to another and he ended up making an appearance on the show. As for Eliminate, Hoyt was a big long-haired wrestler against a smaller guy and, of course being that this is entertainment, the little guy got the girl.
Hoyt has been with TNA through a lot of ups and downs. He was there prior to them getting on the Fox Sports Network which Hoyt describes as, “Yeah, it was a crappy time slot but at least we were on TV.” When the company parted ways with FSN, many on the Internet predicted the death of TNA. Hoyt says, “They canceled some TV tapings and we were all left thinking, “Oh crap.” But, they constantly told us we had bigger fish we were going to fry. Nobody knew until they signed it and we were on a conference call. They announced we got Spike. It’s a huge deal. It’s on Saturday night’s as part of their Slamming Saturday Night line-up. It’s 87 million people that can see us. It’s a chance for us to show the whole world that we’re a real deal, we’re something to be reckoned with. This company is here to say and we’re going to do new and cool things in professional wrestling.”
With the debut on Spike, many are looking at TNA to make a major Impact, pun intended, by bringing in some superstars that the mainstream wrestling audience would recognize and tune in for each and every week while being exposed to such great young stars as AJ Styles or Lance Hoyt. Hoyt says, “The only person I’ve heard they have interest in that I personally have interest in because he’s the reason I got into the business is Sting.” Hoyt also had a great opportunity to work with someone who actually inspired him to be a professional wrestler as he worked with former guest on the show and big time wrestling superstar, “The Man they Cal” Sting. Hoyt actually hit Sting with a chair in Sting’s fantastic movie now out on DVD, “Moment of Truth.” Be sure and pick that up at a Christian outlet near you.
Be sure and catch Lance Hoyt and all the superstars of TNA on their debut on Spike TV on October 1. If you call yourself a wrestling fan, you owe it to the sport you love to give TNA a chance regardless if you love, hate, or are indifferent to the WWE. A viable alternative is important for this business to have and TNA is just what the doctor ordered.
To hear this interview in its entirety including several other topics not discussed in the above article, check out www.WrestlingEpicenter.com and give it a listen. Hoyt discusses how he and Monty Brown are best friends, his best match in the business up to this point with WWE superstar Paul London, and so much more.
Be sure and check out the Wrestling Epicenter next week as we dedicate the entire broadcast to Total Nonstop Action as we promote the promotion that everybody said was dead and prove once and for all that rooting for the underdog truly can pay off in the end.
