Source: Cambridge Times
Steve Corino is in a good place right now. Though he hasn’t been on TV since Extreme Championship Wrestling’s (ECW) demise in 2001, the King of Old School has used his success with the hardcore company to actually make a living as an independent wrestler. With a guaranteed payday, the Winnipeg native has been able to call the shots on when and where he wants to wrestle.
He’s also learned when to branch out and when to say no. With a new seminar that he uses to help the “next generation” of wrestling – which he presented Saturday to a handful of wrestlers at the former Hart Brothers School of Wrestling facility in Preston – the 33-year-old has been able to bolster the independent circuit outside the ring, while taking a blood-soaked turn inside the squared circle in the process.
Mix in a few trips to Japan, and Corino has been able to thumb his nose at the two big federations – Total Non-Stop Action (TNA) and World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE). And he wouldn’t have it any other way.
“Most pro wrestlers, their dream is to go to WWE and now TNA, but I grew up a wrestling fan of the old Georgia Championship Wrestling and Mid-South, but I also grew up a huge All-Japan Pro Wrestling fan,” Corino said after his seminar.
“I would get the tapes third hand and it was always my dream to become a name over there and make an impact like Stan Hansen, Bruiser Brody, The Destroyer and Abdullah the Butcher. I wanted to be that foreigner that makes the impact.
“To be a big star on TV and in the United States is a lot of pressure, and you know, I’m just a normal guy. I’m Colby’s dad. So I don’t have that persona to portray on the street all the time, like, ‘hey, check me out, I’m the wrestler’. I can go to Japan and be the pseudo-celebrity there and then I can just be Steve Corino the father and husband when I’m home.”
The fact that Corino hasn’t embraced his star power and remained incredibly humble made him approachable in the locker room. Wrestlers asked him to rate their matches and tell them what went right and what went wrong. After offering his sage advice, wrestlers would ask him if he ever thought of doing a seminar.
“I guess other guys are doing them where they work out in the ring and everything like that, but I wanted to do something different, to where I teach them about the little things they should know,” he said.
“I wanted to do something that, if everyone is on the same learning curve, then everyone can work together and we can elevate business a little bit. That’s the goal, making sure knowing that everyone is aware of what’s going on and make sure guys don’t get into bad habits. Sometimes we’re doing certain stuff and we don’t know why. These seminars will hopefully fill in the blanks.”
In two-and-a-half hours, Corino was able to cover various subjects, including the psychology of pro wrestling, telling the story, selling, facial expressions, being a true heel, being a believable babyface, marketing and exposure, and etiquette.
And while Corino would never label himself an expert in any of those subjects, he certainly has enough experience to qualify his opinions. He’s held more than 40 titles in his 12 years of pro wrestling, and is the only wrestler to win the ECW, National Wrestling Alliance (NWA) and American Wrestling Alliance (AWA) world titles.
Corino was also part of one of the most memorable ECW feuds with Dusty Rhodes just prior to federation’s demise. Spilling buckets of blood in various matches against Rhodes, he might be best remembered for beating the veteran in a bullrope match, barely able to stand amongst his own crimson puddles. Or even as the ECW champion, a title he held for two months before losing to The Sandman.
But he sees otherwise.
“I would be happy as a guy who loved the sport. You know, under my gravestone it could say, ‘Glorified fan that made his mark’,” he said.
“I’m sure there will be other guys who’ll win the ECW, NWA and AWA titles, but I’ll be the first (to win all three). I can always say that. I can say I’ve main-evented pay per views in the States and Japan. I’ve wrestled all my heroes. But I just want to be the guy remembered as someone who loved the business so much and can maybe give back a little bit.”
And speaking of ECW, he’s one of the former fed stars who does remember his time there with fondness.
“In ECW, I always remember the good times. The bad times were when business was going bankrupt, but the good times was the amount I learned from Jack Victory, Jerry Lynn and Shane Douglas, guys like that, who were willing to help.
“The ECW locker room was like a family, so even through the bad times we were still together like one. The crowd was like part of the family too, so even through the bad times we were still drawing good numbers, but we were so deep in debt that it didn’t matter because we were still paying it off. It was tough when you’re not getting paid, but when you get to the building and the lights came on and the fans came in, everybody forgot about it and just had fun.”
The ECW Corino recalls isn’t the bastardized version that’s on TV now. Vince McMahon’s version is a pale comparison to the old ECW, where there were no disqualifications, and tables, ladders and chairs wasn’t a specialty match, it was every match.
“I’m not as skeptical as other people are of it. I think of it as something new. TNA is the NWA, but it’s not the Jim Crockett Promotions NWA. The new AWA is smaller, but it’s not the Verne Gagne AWA. I look at ECW as the same, but it’s not the ECW that I was in, or Shane Douglas, or Raven was in. It’s a new style, a new brand. That’s what it is, a brand for WWE,” he said.
And unless McMahon wants to make him a commentator, booker or manager, he shouldn’t ask Corino to be part of his new brand.
“I don’t think I want to be in the WWE circle where I’m on the road 300 days a year and have my body beaten.”
But he will get beat up on the independent circuit. Go figure.
“If I went in and had a four-minute match and won’t take a bump, I wouldn’t get asked back or on other shows,” he said.
“It’s going in busting your rear end every night, trying to go 20 or 30 minutes, trying to do everything you can and work with the guy your working with, because the 10-year-old kids now were four when I was on ECW. You can’t expect them to remember you.
“So, they may have seen the name somewhere and that may have got them to the show, but I still have to perform at a high level.”
