Today’s guest may widely be considered as the one of most under-utilized talents of the WWE’s “New Generation” and today Puerto Rico wrestling legend Savio Vega joins The Two Man Power Trip of Wrestling. From his early days breaking into the business through his rise as TNT, Savio details the long road to the top and who helped guide him towards super-stardom as one of the most recognizable stars to ever wrestle on the island of Puerto Rico. John and Chad also find out how Savio got into the WWF and who was responsible for his most memorable pairings and why Savio feels he was rushed to fast through the WWE’s mid-card while not being appreciated enough by management and maintaining one of the most consistent resumes of great matches and moments while on the WWE’s roster.
Full Episode Download Link: http://tmptow.podomatic.com/entry/2015-08-17T20_02_46-07_00
Savio Vega on Taking The First Stunner & Steve Austin: https://youtu.be/MppLznHyFMk
Advice from Bruiser Brody on wrestling outside Puerto Rico:
When (Bruiser) Brody was in Puerto Rico he told me. You have big time experience so go to the States and go to someone and don’t stay here where no one can help you. So it’s bad luck for him in what happened to him and that held my career to a halt for awhile. But thank you GOD for my career that everything moved better.
Getting in the door of the WWE and getting a tryout:
Who took me up to Vince was Scott Hall. I worked with him in Puerto Rico so many times before he was there doing Razor Ramon. When Yokozuna went to WWF and Bam Bam Bigelow went to WWF we were all together like two years before in Japan. One day I said to somebody tell all the boys I said hello and Razor right there talked to Vince and said there’s a kid in Puerto Rico and Vince said bring him to TV and let’s try him out. I tried out two times as TNT and they loved my work and they sent me home for almost three months.
Signing with WWE and being pitched Kwang:
I sat down with JJ Dillon and Vince in Stamford and they gave me a contract. I flew in on a Sunday morning and they flew me back in the afternoon with the contract in my hand. I was so happy and the only people that knew were my parents and my ex-wife. They didn’t want to use the paint (I don’t know why) and the gave me a mask and said you are going to be called Kwang. So I did what I did as Kwang. That character was so strong at one point that we had a match against Bret Hart for the World Title and we broke the ratings at that time. That was when Raw was live one week and taped the next.
Transitioning from Kwang to Savio Vega:
When Vince said they were going to change my character he said he had something better. So they put in Savio Vega and that’s when I came on and jumped the barricades and saved my old pal Razor Ramon and now you’ve got two guys from the streets, one from Miami and one from the Bronx. Two fighters, together.
Why did Vince turn Savio Vega heel and joining The Nation of Domination:
I don’t know. They put me in the Nation of Domination and they go through some crazy stuff over there sometimes and it’s like things that don’t make sense for one person, make sense for the other. They turned me to the Nation and I feel that I could do so many more things. I never won a belt in WWE and I never needed it. I was over with fans because of my work and I love that. Now everybody is the champ. You can come in one day and they say hey, pick a belt. What was good working in the WWF at that time was the date Jim Ross told me they had nothing for me, I just went to Vince’s office and thanked him because of what I learned over there. I loved working for that company.
Savio Vega goes into much more detail about his entire WWE run and talks about his feud with Goldust that never got the proper pay per view platform, why he worked so well with Stone Cold Steve Austin, his run in Puerto Rico as TNT and learning the ropes from the legends of the Island, training wrestlers today and how the process is different today vs, 20 years ago.
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Nick was born and raised in Detroit, Michigan, and lived there until the age of 18, when he decided to pack his flack jacket and move to New York City.
