JANICE: I love your promos, do you write your own?

SM: Paul came up with the first couple in their entirety and I've been sneaking my own stuff in ever since. I was just trying to get a feel for Paul's sense of timing and humor for the character. I think we are on the same page now.

JANICE: Is there a difference in working with ECW and WCW?

SM: Night and day! Morale is great here in ECW and in WCW it sucked. Everybody is on the same team here. We do what's right for the company as opposed to being selfish, treacherous bastards. Paul Heyman is the greatest motivator in the world and he's probably the only guy in the world that could wrangle this gang of misfits into a cohesive unit.

JANICE: He came across as a doting father in Beyond the Mat. Is that how he is in the locker room?

SM: Absolutely! That pep talk scene in Beyond the Mat, and the one where he talks about seeing his kids do well when they move on brought tears to my eyes. That's how he is all the time!

JANICE: Sounds like ECW is definitely the place to work. What did you think of Beyond the Mat?

SM: I enjoyed it. I thought that it did a pretty good job of showing the difference between the three levels of wrestling existence.

JANICE: Do you still keep in touch with friends in WCW?

SM: Of course. It's plainly obvious that Kanyon is a dear friend of mine and I have others. I've adopted a policy of not discussing business, at least in a "them and us" manner, when talking to my WCW friends. It's too easy for me to start unleashing venom at WCW and for them to take the defensive and spew back. All a pissing contest accomplishes is covering everyone involved in piss.

JANICE: Good plan, I had to adopt it with some of my friends for awhile. The big topic, other than the one you're not supposed to talk about, is the Bischoff/Russo era, do you think it will be a good thing for WCW or simply the final nail in their coffin?

SM: Well, it will probably help. Bischoff is a very bright guy, and although I despise WCW, Eric was always fair and honest with me, which is more than I can say for his flunkies. I've never met Russo. The biggest problem I saw on the rebooted Nitro show was that Russo and Bischoff are getting over on the boys physically, which I think is a no-no. Ultimately, no one gives a shit about suits being on TV. Plus some of the stuff is booked way too inside. The majority of fans don't get the jokes and references, which makes for wasted airtime, I think. As far as the one I'm not supposed to talk about let's just say that someone's recent actions prove that there is an exception to every rule, even the one I mentioned about no one in ECW being selfish, treacherous bastards.

JANICE: How's the weather in Hell? Must be cold since Hogan did the job to Kidman Monday night.

SM: Oh, it's a little chilly these days! Hogan's no dummy. He's doing what is needed in the short term, but I guarantee you that Nitro won't turn into the "Watch Hogan Put Over Guys Half His Size Show". Hogan is also savvy enough to know that if he wants to be the leader and avoid a mutiny that he needs to make a few concessions. It's still all Machivellian political bullshit, though.

JANICE: Is there a purpose for Mikey being under your spell? Any plans for him?

SM: I'm not sure right now. I think Mikey is acting like a loon in this gimmick because he is a raving lunatic in real life! Much like Paul made me a devil! That's why Mikey and I get along so well. Mikey has..uh.."issues". He sets bonfires in rental cars, among other places.

JANICE: I remember reading something about him starting a fire in a car with Judge Jeff Jones, I think it was.

SM: I see him as devolving into Beavis. Personally and professionally!

JANICE: Anything but Beavis, who would be Butthead?

SM: Butthead? Hmmm.... the haircut and lack of brains reminds me of a certain champion who has fallen from grace.

JANICE: LOL enough said. You can't possibly be the Sinister Minister 24/7, what do you do when you're not?

SM: Let's see...I tend to my two chihuahuas, I have three daughters and a wife. Then when I have a few precious moments which are not consumed by family or wrestling I indulge in my passion for shooting handguns, reading, and going to church. OK..I lied about one of them. The devil made me do it.

JANICE: Who's your favorite person to travel with?

SM: You know, people tend to only travel with me a few times. They always seem to get in alot of trouble in my presence! I had alot of fun with Gertner, who is a funny bastard. I'm still feeling my way around in ECW, so I can give you a better answer to that down the road. I generally have fun around anybody I'm with, and people I ride with seem to have a pile of amusing anecdotes to share after riding with me.

JANICE: Getting in trouble with the Sinister Minister?! Why does that not suprise me? What kind of trouble have you gotten those innocent young men into? *trying not to laugh*

SM: No comment! I guess I just bring out the "beast" in people.

JANICE: Ok, I'll let you slide with that one for now. I love road stories though.

SM: Some of mine would curl your hair and make your lawn die!

JANICE: Those are the best kind. Any idea on what the Sinister Minister will be up to in the future?

SM: Well, I would imagine that I will evolve into a full fledged manager down the road and probably do a Brother Love/Piper's Pit type of deal as well. What some of my detractors fail to realize is that my current role is not as a real time character..I'm like the guy in a wheelchair on HBO's "Oz". There are those who are under the impression that I am trying to insult peoples intelligence by claiming to be the devil and those people are missing the joke. Are Paul Heyman and I the only people that see the subversive irony of a devil being on TNN's top rated show? Plus I havent done anything hocus pocus, either, so to say I'm doing the Ministry of Darkness deal is not a valid argument, either.

JANICE: Please, the Ministry of Darkness had to be the single dumbest angle in recent history. I may be an Undertaker fan but that was a little over the edge if you ask me.

SM: I have done promos in an empty pool, an empty arena, atop a wrecked car, and atop a ledge. None used special effects or defied the laws of science.

JANICE: and, my personal favorite, the one in the elevator.

SM: I think the MOD blew it because they tried to cross the bounds of reality. My character might be in elevators or in empty pools but he's not performing supernatural bullshit, which, again, my detractors forget. My character might play with a voodoo doll but he wouldn't make somebody say ouch when he stuck a pin in the doll.The whole deal with me is that I am playing a universal archetype. Either you get the joke or you don't. I'm like the Crypt Keeper on Tales From The Crypt at this point.

JANICE: One of my favorite characters. It looked like you were going to fued with Francine for awhile, what happened to that? Not that I'm really complaining because her voice grates on my nerves.

SM: I may still feud with Franny. It's just that my character, as done in the vignettes, does not cross over well into reality. The subtleties are impossible to achieve in a live crowd situation. Paul wants me to shy away from being at ringside or too available at the moment. I trust his judgement. I'm sure that from time to time I will stir the pot in real time and then go back to my surreal twilight zone.

JANICE: In a way, that's good because the backstage promos are the only thing that isn't known before the show airs. There needs to be something that nobody knows about.

SM: True. My promos are a love or hate thing. I've found no middle ground. I saw someone saying that nobody buys the devil as a heel to be scared of. Who the hell said I'm trying to be a heel? The main reaction I get from people is that they find the character to be cool. I mean how seriously can you take it? It's like Dr. Evil in Austin Powers. JANICE: I love them, they always make me laugh. And from the people I talk to, they all love them too.

SM: Well, thank you. And "reality based" wrestling is an oxymoron. Either it's real or it's not. If you throw out some laws of science to enjoy the spectacle of wrestling why would you retain others? Real men don't parade around in shiny tights and robes and scream at each other as a matter of normal discourse. Unless they are on the Springer show.

JANICE: I think that's the way you have to watch wrestling today, as if it were the Springer show.

SM: Sure..ever since it's become open knowledge that the whole thing is worked from top to bottom, I don't see why you can't just have fun with it.

JANICE: someone even compared you to Paul E during the Dangerous Alliance period.

SM: Hmm...I used to hear that alot during the indy days...I don't see the similarity to my current character, but I take it as a compliment nontheless.

JANICE: I do miss the old NWA days though, back when the matches meant something. Today we do good to get 4 matches in a 2 hour program.

SM: Oh, I'm a big nostalgia fan, too. Unfortuantely, the genie's been let out of the bottle and you can't shove it back in. People have been trained to have no attention span.

JANICE: Nostalgia. In your opinion, what is the best match in history?

SM: I couldn't even venture a guess. My nostalgia goes back to when I was a kid and I've seen some tapes of things that I thought were great back then but they were the shits by today's standards. Flair/Steamboat and Flair/Race matchups were pretty good in the 70s to early 80s even by todays standards.

JANICE: I found an old tape around here awhile back that had the best of 7 series between Magnum TA and Nikita Koloff for the US title. I think that would get my vote. I loved the whole Flair/Steamboat fued. They don't make them like that anymore.

SM: Alot of times it was the drama which sold a match, not he spots. I love a Dusty Rhodes/Barry Windham match where the whole damn thing is Dusty trying to fight out of the claw. It's the drama of him getting fre then getting snared again and bringing the crowd up and down that makes it good. If you even applied a claw these days people would tune out. Except for the manadable claw with a sock.

JANICE: True, but I can't make myself say anything bad about Foley.

SM: Oh, I wasn't putting down Foley! He's amazing. It ironic though that the guy who mortgaged his body to be a hardcore hero got over best with an old school move.

JANICE: I never was a big Dusty Rhodes fan but I marked out when he showed up in ECW.

SM: Dusty is such a fountain of information. People give him shit, but he is brilliant and I am in awe just listening to the guy tell old school stories.

JANICE: I heard your Dusty impersonation on THE LAW Saturday night and have to admit, it was pretty good.

SM: Paul does the best Dusty! They go way back, so Paul has a pile of stories.

JANICE: I don't think I've ever heard his.

SM: It's not to be missed.

JANICE: Are they going to put out a Sinister Minister t-shirt? It seems that everybody else in ECW has one.

SM: Probably. I'm i the new videogame which comes out in September, and I've been told that there will be a doll, so put a chastity belt on your Barbie! JANICE: At that point, the conversation came to an end but there will be more to this interview I'm sure.