Post by Kevin Hardaway on Sept 21, 2007 14:45:39 GMT -6
We open back up to the same nCw banner as before with Kevin Hardaway still sitting in the chair as Chad Lights isn't on screen yet again.
Chad Lights: We are back here with Kevin Hardaway. Now, when we last left off, Kevin you said you went through a rollercoaster that you didn't want to go on. Can you explain that if you can.
Kevin Hardaway: Sure. Well for the first couple months, I kept training and I kept my body in shape because I didn't wanna go through the things that ruined me the first time around. I just didn't wanna be in an enviroment like that for awhile, so I took some time off and I know this is going to go straight into emo territory, but during that time frame, I actually fell in love with a girl, by the name of Jamie Fiorentino. Like, I was in love before in my life...but not like her. That was probably the greatest year of my life. And to think, it wasn't wrestling related which made it even more ironic. But she made me, she made my life complete you know. I know I didn't have wrestling, but during that timeframe, the good outweighed the bad by tenfold because I had a good job, I had a good home, and I had Jamie which made it even more great. But then, I can remember the day greatfully. August 31, 2004. I mean, I have no idea what I did wrong. I thought I did nothing wrong myself which has happened before a couple of times but not like this. Like we had our future planned out and everything. We were gonna spend the rest of our lives together and this is how she repays me, by just ending everything just like that. It destroyed me, it took everything I had in my life and amounted it to nothing.
Chad Lights: I heard that it really caused you to emotionally snap, am I right?
K-Hard: Yeah. This is actually the first time I've told anybody this in my life....I suffer now from "clinical depression", or "unipolar" as some people like to call it. I mean, there were days where I couldn't get out of my bed, because I just didn't want to. I wanted to stay in bed and just sleep the day away. And this has been going on ever since, to this day. They put me on meds and i've been taking 2 pills a day, in the morning. There are times where everything unfolds and it gets too insane for me, even on drugs, but episodes like that usually strayed away from the ring, but...it's been like this ever since. I know it sounds cheesy and emo as all, but **** man...it's a condition. Not some vying form of attention. It's really the only thing that semi "breaks" this "straight edge" code I live. But it says nothing about mediciation. So, I don't know what that falls under. It's actually the reason why I am "straight edge". I just went through this downward spiral and I always saw my parents or my brother come home wasted, when I just wanted to be alone and away from all of the social lives and all of that ****. I hated it. I didn't wanna be like that. Waste my sorrows away from drinking alcohol or doing drugs. It just wasn't me, that's all.
Chad Lights: Ok, straying away from that, when was the time where things started to look up for you?
K-Hard: It was one random day, I don't know why...but I realized at that point that wrestling was forever in my blood, and if I wanted to at least help this depression out, I needed to get back into the ring which was what I did. In March of 2005, I got a call from the Xtreme Hardcore Federation which EVERYBODY and their dog knows about now. You've talked to Jack about it, you can talk to Mark [Evil] about it, you can talk to Jake [Ace] about it, you can talk to Jay [Williams] about it. Yeah. Cool thing was my main debut for the company was the opener for their biggest PPV of the year and sometimes bigger than Wrestlemania; Night of Champions IV. I had a squash dark match eariler, like a couple weeks before that with Rob Arnold, nice guy but I got killed that night. But I faced Apollyon in a "House of Horrors" match in the opener of the biggest show of the year, it was a ****ing honor to do a feat like that. I mean, go talk to the wrestlers and say "Hey, have you debuted in the opener of the biggest show of the year?". Pretty much, it was a first. Although the stupid gimmicks didn't stop for me. I was "The Future" Kevin Hardaway. And the way I was dressed and ****...yeah. See, I think "The Matrix" is probably my favorite movie out there in the world, so I went out there, like I was ****ing Neo and did a whole "Matrix" get up. It was pretty embarrassing.
Chad Lights: I've seen the tapes. Yeah.
K-Hard: It got better...actually it didn't. I'm starting to remember "Promogate" as the IWC likes to call it and everything, and it was just a really bad ****ing mess that almost killed my career as we know it.
Chad Lights: Think i've seen those tapes as well.
K-Hard: Yeah, I got busted.
Chad Lights: What happened then?
K-Hard: I was doing fine, I just won the XHF Phoenix Championship and was making quite a name for myself. Then, everything just went blank for me, I had no ideas, almost like a "Writer's Block" if you will call it. So I ended up looking through the tapes of...I think it was FWFA and ended up using another kid's promos. But like a noviced serial killer, **** comes back to you and that's what happened on my part. They found out, and they suspended me for a month, fined me $50,000 and stripped me of the Phoenix Championship. It was my fault, I paid my dues, I got in trouble, I served my time. Only problem was that gaining back the respect from everybody turned out to be harder than I could imagine and I did end up getting it back with most of them, but i'll explain the blunt of that later on as well. Ironically enough, my first match back I win the XHF Tag Team Championships, so hey...that's something right? Ended up tag teaming with some random guy named "Flash". I didn't know the man personally, I didn't know what he was like, but they've decided to put me with a random guy who's this "neat freak" as a gimmick. I changed my style of course, which ended up reflecting the old side of me, the one that was oddly depressed and messed in the head. But yeah. Then without notice, they make him turn heel on me, without any consent from me on what the hell went wrong. Guess it was more punishment, that they decided to completely screw me over like that. Once again, i'll get to the blunt of that later.
Chad Lights: Sooo, you worked there about two years, but had a lot of problems within the first few months. What was the turning point for you? Like, what was the moment that you knew that everything was going to be ok?
K-Hard: October of 2005. See, wrestler everybody knows very well here, Spike Kane. He returned to the XHF around that timeframe and they decided that "Hey, why not feed me to the wolves." So he was facing me in his return match. Oh no, I gotz the nuklear hezt. Haha, sorry. But yeah, I said to the XHF that he was cool and good to work with so I decided to wanna feud with him for the United States title. I got my wish and decided on doing this "Best of Five" series, since I was so intrigued by the concept of that, and we got it. Course, I still thought I was in trouble with the back because they decided to job me out in the first two matches of that series. I don't know what I did wrong. Not only that but they had Spike come out of nowhere as this "Superman" type heel, and made me get thrown off the stage. From that day, I decided to change my gimmick and just start over again. I thought "I'll just get out of this feud, probably lose in the third match and i'm out of here for good.", it was my fault. But I don't know what Spike did to help me but we ended up going to the 5th match, because he wanted to see this feud work out so well. He saw enough faith in me that he wanted me to stay and so did the fans I had. I went through another gimmick overhaul and I decided to become a crazy person, complete with an "imaginary friend" named Bob. And the fans, the wrestlers, and the staff...they all went nuts for it, seriously. Of course the 5th match which was an "Ambulance Match" at Bonafide Homicide was just a complete disaster. Not me and Spike's fault, it was the ****ing writing staff. But oh well, it turned out well. Spike went into the limelight again, my career was saved and Spike is a friend forever to me for it, one of my best friends.
Chad Lights: Yeah, I see you guys talking in the back all of the time.
K-Hard: Yeah, good kid.
Chad Lights: Yeah...alright, I see that you mentioned the facts that you were "screwed over" and "that you didn't get some respect back from some wrestlers". Was that why you quit the XHF in April of 2007?
K-Hard: Somewhat. It wasn't so much that I was screwed over, but it was just that they wouldn't give me a shot. I was working my ass off almost 365/24/7, I was helping out with behind-the-scenes stuff and helping them get the shows together, yet when it was time to push somebody over, they gave it to another guy. February of 2007, guy by the name of Doc came back around that time to the XHF and I knew who he was when I debuted but he left and took a sabbatical. Well he comes back when i'm in a good stride for myself. But he comes back and everybody ****in' orgasms about him coming back and basically gives everything on a sliver platter. The only thing that came right out of him returning was that I was picked to feud with him, and they wanted me to be a heel, something i've never really done in my life. So I got to learn something new and that's been really fun to do. But back on Doc...like they made him go over me at the XHF Rumble, yeah that I was fine with, but not only that but they ****ing make him runner-up in the Rumble match itself. If that ain't burying the competition. I saw his promos, some of them were good but some of them absolutely sucked balls. I'll admit it. But that was only the mix of the cake, the icing on the cake started to build up months after that. Sure, they gave me the X*Crown title, but it was too late for me. People were getting stressed, people were bitching out each other, one day I said something the wrong way out and I got a **** kicking for it by some of the vets which comes back to the reason why a couple people didn't fully respect me still, and I quit...holding the X*Crown title which people still hate on me for it, but hey...can't take **** personally. Funny thing was that Spike quit after me and so did Reckless Jack. So...yeah.
Chad Lights: Why do you think the XHF is still around?
K-Hard: Denial. Mongo is in denial and doesn't want to close his baby down. It's the pinnacle of wrestling today and to close it down would be hard. So he's gone the way of people like Vince Russo and books the goofiest ****, has the World Heavyweight Championship "suspended" and gets jerked off once a day by Steve Awesome which by the way, yeah...you see any of the XHF's shows right now, thats pretty much all you see on screen is him. He's a glorified hog and a teacher's pet and he tried to do it against me before but failed. Too bad I failed as well, so we didn't get what we all wanted. **** that **** though.
Chad Lights: What are you up to now with exception of the nCw of course?
K-Hard: Going well. Married to a wonderful wife named Angelina of course you all know that. Also wrestling for GWC as well, so...that's worked out better than expected.
Chad Lights: How's that for you?
K-Hard: Awesome, like I said...better than expected. Here and there is completely different for me. I mean, here i'm the classic babyface that wants to win no matter what. Over at GWC, i'm a bastard heel wanting to take over. To me though, I like the heel role better. It's so damn awesome playing an asshole and a ****ing sick bastard, you know. But that's all I have to say on that because I don't know what's to come of that there.
Chad Lights: Ok, like with Jack, we're gonna do some word association. I'll say the name of a wrestler or something else, you give me a sentence about it...okay?
K-Hard: You got it.
Chad Lights: Mongo?
K-Hard: Good owner for all of the bad reasons.
Chad Lights: Mark Evil?
K-Hard: The cult icon of professional wrestling.
Chad Lights: Reckless Jack?
K-Hard: Best wrestler in the world.
Chad Lights: Doc?
K-Hard: Good man to work with. Bad man to get drunk with.
Chad Lights: Jay Williams?
K-Hard: The brother I never had.
Chad Lights: Spike Kane?
K-Hard: Can be a hassle at times, but he's been a life saver for me.
Chad Lights: Angelina Hardaway?
K-Hard: My life, my love.
Chad Lights: And finally....XHF?
K-Hard: Ummm...**** you. Haha.
Chad Lights: Noted, haha. Kevin, it's been a honor. Thank you for taking the time with us.
K-Hard: It's been my pleasure.
The scene fades out from here.
Chad Lights: We are back here with Kevin Hardaway. Now, when we last left off, Kevin you said you went through a rollercoaster that you didn't want to go on. Can you explain that if you can.
Kevin Hardaway: Sure. Well for the first couple months, I kept training and I kept my body in shape because I didn't wanna go through the things that ruined me the first time around. I just didn't wanna be in an enviroment like that for awhile, so I took some time off and I know this is going to go straight into emo territory, but during that time frame, I actually fell in love with a girl, by the name of Jamie Fiorentino. Like, I was in love before in my life...but not like her. That was probably the greatest year of my life. And to think, it wasn't wrestling related which made it even more ironic. But she made me, she made my life complete you know. I know I didn't have wrestling, but during that timeframe, the good outweighed the bad by tenfold because I had a good job, I had a good home, and I had Jamie which made it even more great. But then, I can remember the day greatfully. August 31, 2004. I mean, I have no idea what I did wrong. I thought I did nothing wrong myself which has happened before a couple of times but not like this. Like we had our future planned out and everything. We were gonna spend the rest of our lives together and this is how she repays me, by just ending everything just like that. It destroyed me, it took everything I had in my life and amounted it to nothing.
Chad Lights: I heard that it really caused you to emotionally snap, am I right?
K-Hard: Yeah. This is actually the first time I've told anybody this in my life....I suffer now from "clinical depression", or "unipolar" as some people like to call it. I mean, there were days where I couldn't get out of my bed, because I just didn't want to. I wanted to stay in bed and just sleep the day away. And this has been going on ever since, to this day. They put me on meds and i've been taking 2 pills a day, in the morning. There are times where everything unfolds and it gets too insane for me, even on drugs, but episodes like that usually strayed away from the ring, but...it's been like this ever since. I know it sounds cheesy and emo as all, but **** man...it's a condition. Not some vying form of attention. It's really the only thing that semi "breaks" this "straight edge" code I live. But it says nothing about mediciation. So, I don't know what that falls under. It's actually the reason why I am "straight edge". I just went through this downward spiral and I always saw my parents or my brother come home wasted, when I just wanted to be alone and away from all of the social lives and all of that ****. I hated it. I didn't wanna be like that. Waste my sorrows away from drinking alcohol or doing drugs. It just wasn't me, that's all.
Chad Lights: Ok, straying away from that, when was the time where things started to look up for you?
K-Hard: It was one random day, I don't know why...but I realized at that point that wrestling was forever in my blood, and if I wanted to at least help this depression out, I needed to get back into the ring which was what I did. In March of 2005, I got a call from the Xtreme Hardcore Federation which EVERYBODY and their dog knows about now. You've talked to Jack about it, you can talk to Mark [Evil] about it, you can talk to Jake [Ace] about it, you can talk to Jay [Williams] about it. Yeah. Cool thing was my main debut for the company was the opener for their biggest PPV of the year and sometimes bigger than Wrestlemania; Night of Champions IV. I had a squash dark match eariler, like a couple weeks before that with Rob Arnold, nice guy but I got killed that night. But I faced Apollyon in a "House of Horrors" match in the opener of the biggest show of the year, it was a ****ing honor to do a feat like that. I mean, go talk to the wrestlers and say "Hey, have you debuted in the opener of the biggest show of the year?". Pretty much, it was a first. Although the stupid gimmicks didn't stop for me. I was "The Future" Kevin Hardaway. And the way I was dressed and ****...yeah. See, I think "The Matrix" is probably my favorite movie out there in the world, so I went out there, like I was ****ing Neo and did a whole "Matrix" get up. It was pretty embarrassing.
Chad Lights: I've seen the tapes. Yeah.
K-Hard: It got better...actually it didn't. I'm starting to remember "Promogate" as the IWC likes to call it and everything, and it was just a really bad ****ing mess that almost killed my career as we know it.
Chad Lights: Think i've seen those tapes as well.
K-Hard: Yeah, I got busted.
Chad Lights: What happened then?
K-Hard: I was doing fine, I just won the XHF Phoenix Championship and was making quite a name for myself. Then, everything just went blank for me, I had no ideas, almost like a "Writer's Block" if you will call it. So I ended up looking through the tapes of...I think it was FWFA and ended up using another kid's promos. But like a noviced serial killer, **** comes back to you and that's what happened on my part. They found out, and they suspended me for a month, fined me $50,000 and stripped me of the Phoenix Championship. It was my fault, I paid my dues, I got in trouble, I served my time. Only problem was that gaining back the respect from everybody turned out to be harder than I could imagine and I did end up getting it back with most of them, but i'll explain the blunt of that later on as well. Ironically enough, my first match back I win the XHF Tag Team Championships, so hey...that's something right? Ended up tag teaming with some random guy named "Flash". I didn't know the man personally, I didn't know what he was like, but they've decided to put me with a random guy who's this "neat freak" as a gimmick. I changed my style of course, which ended up reflecting the old side of me, the one that was oddly depressed and messed in the head. But yeah. Then without notice, they make him turn heel on me, without any consent from me on what the hell went wrong. Guess it was more punishment, that they decided to completely screw me over like that. Once again, i'll get to the blunt of that later.
Chad Lights: Sooo, you worked there about two years, but had a lot of problems within the first few months. What was the turning point for you? Like, what was the moment that you knew that everything was going to be ok?
K-Hard: October of 2005. See, wrestler everybody knows very well here, Spike Kane. He returned to the XHF around that timeframe and they decided that "Hey, why not feed me to the wolves." So he was facing me in his return match. Oh no, I gotz the nuklear hezt. Haha, sorry. But yeah, I said to the XHF that he was cool and good to work with so I decided to wanna feud with him for the United States title. I got my wish and decided on doing this "Best of Five" series, since I was so intrigued by the concept of that, and we got it. Course, I still thought I was in trouble with the back because they decided to job me out in the first two matches of that series. I don't know what I did wrong. Not only that but they had Spike come out of nowhere as this "Superman" type heel, and made me get thrown off the stage. From that day, I decided to change my gimmick and just start over again. I thought "I'll just get out of this feud, probably lose in the third match and i'm out of here for good.", it was my fault. But I don't know what Spike did to help me but we ended up going to the 5th match, because he wanted to see this feud work out so well. He saw enough faith in me that he wanted me to stay and so did the fans I had. I went through another gimmick overhaul and I decided to become a crazy person, complete with an "imaginary friend" named Bob. And the fans, the wrestlers, and the staff...they all went nuts for it, seriously. Of course the 5th match which was an "Ambulance Match" at Bonafide Homicide was just a complete disaster. Not me and Spike's fault, it was the ****ing writing staff. But oh well, it turned out well. Spike went into the limelight again, my career was saved and Spike is a friend forever to me for it, one of my best friends.
Chad Lights: Yeah, I see you guys talking in the back all of the time.
K-Hard: Yeah, good kid.
Chad Lights: Yeah...alright, I see that you mentioned the facts that you were "screwed over" and "that you didn't get some respect back from some wrestlers". Was that why you quit the XHF in April of 2007?
K-Hard: Somewhat. It wasn't so much that I was screwed over, but it was just that they wouldn't give me a shot. I was working my ass off almost 365/24/7, I was helping out with behind-the-scenes stuff and helping them get the shows together, yet when it was time to push somebody over, they gave it to another guy. February of 2007, guy by the name of Doc came back around that time to the XHF and I knew who he was when I debuted but he left and took a sabbatical. Well he comes back when i'm in a good stride for myself. But he comes back and everybody ****in' orgasms about him coming back and basically gives everything on a sliver platter. The only thing that came right out of him returning was that I was picked to feud with him, and they wanted me to be a heel, something i've never really done in my life. So I got to learn something new and that's been really fun to do. But back on Doc...like they made him go over me at the XHF Rumble, yeah that I was fine with, but not only that but they ****ing make him runner-up in the Rumble match itself. If that ain't burying the competition. I saw his promos, some of them were good but some of them absolutely sucked balls. I'll admit it. But that was only the mix of the cake, the icing on the cake started to build up months after that. Sure, they gave me the X*Crown title, but it was too late for me. People were getting stressed, people were bitching out each other, one day I said something the wrong way out and I got a **** kicking for it by some of the vets which comes back to the reason why a couple people didn't fully respect me still, and I quit...holding the X*Crown title which people still hate on me for it, but hey...can't take **** personally. Funny thing was that Spike quit after me and so did Reckless Jack. So...yeah.
Chad Lights: Why do you think the XHF is still around?
K-Hard: Denial. Mongo is in denial and doesn't want to close his baby down. It's the pinnacle of wrestling today and to close it down would be hard. So he's gone the way of people like Vince Russo and books the goofiest ****, has the World Heavyweight Championship "suspended" and gets jerked off once a day by Steve Awesome which by the way, yeah...you see any of the XHF's shows right now, thats pretty much all you see on screen is him. He's a glorified hog and a teacher's pet and he tried to do it against me before but failed. Too bad I failed as well, so we didn't get what we all wanted. **** that **** though.
Chad Lights: What are you up to now with exception of the nCw of course?
K-Hard: Going well. Married to a wonderful wife named Angelina of course you all know that. Also wrestling for GWC as well, so...that's worked out better than expected.
Chad Lights: How's that for you?
K-Hard: Awesome, like I said...better than expected. Here and there is completely different for me. I mean, here i'm the classic babyface that wants to win no matter what. Over at GWC, i'm a bastard heel wanting to take over. To me though, I like the heel role better. It's so damn awesome playing an asshole and a ****ing sick bastard, you know. But that's all I have to say on that because I don't know what's to come of that there.
Chad Lights: Ok, like with Jack, we're gonna do some word association. I'll say the name of a wrestler or something else, you give me a sentence about it...okay?
K-Hard: You got it.
Chad Lights: Mongo?
K-Hard: Good owner for all of the bad reasons.
Chad Lights: Mark Evil?
K-Hard: The cult icon of professional wrestling.
Chad Lights: Reckless Jack?
K-Hard: Best wrestler in the world.
Chad Lights: Doc?
K-Hard: Good man to work with. Bad man to get drunk with.
Chad Lights: Jay Williams?
K-Hard: The brother I never had.
Chad Lights: Spike Kane?
K-Hard: Can be a hassle at times, but he's been a life saver for me.
Chad Lights: Angelina Hardaway?
K-Hard: My life, my love.
Chad Lights: And finally....XHF?
K-Hard: Ummm...**** you. Haha.
Chad Lights: Noted, haha. Kevin, it's been a honor. Thank you for taking the time with us.
K-Hard: It's been my pleasure.
The scene fades out from here.