7/14/2003 3:15:00 PM

B.G. James interviw:

This past week NWA TNA Superstar BG James joined the No Holds Barred radio show to talk about a bunch of different wrestling related issues. NHB aims to bring you the biggest names in the wrestling business week in week out and if you'd like to hear the show in your area, we ask you to log on to www.noholdsbarredwrestling.com and fill out the petition on the main page and then e-mail it to nhbfeedback@yahoo.com. Now on to the highlights from our interview with BG James.
BG opened up by joking about the sitcom like segments with Konnan and Ron Killings backstage. He talked about having fun at Don West's expense and said he will never wear Don's shirt again. He said as much fun as it was having fun impersonating Don, he said that he really enjoys his broadcasting and feels his passion and enthusiasm is a breath of fresh air for the wrestling business.

He said the reason for the name change from the Road Dogg to BG James was based on a WWE copyright issue. He said while that may have been the case, he did feel it was time to change things up and the WWE couldn't copyright his talent and he is glad to have a chance to showcase his abilities on NWA TNA programming.

He was surprised the company has had the success it's had after just 1 year especially considering the troubles the company ran into during year #1. He feels the company is on the right track and they have what it takes to provide the WWE with some competition. He thinks Vince McMahon screwed himself when he cornered the wrestling market by purchasing WCW. He says the current WWE product sucks and he tries to watch it because he is a lifelong wrestling fan with the business in his blood but he feels the entertainment portion of the product is gone and while he doesn't know who's fault it is for the TV programming being so bad, he feels somebody needs to be fired for it.

He says he hasn't seen many differences in Jeff Jarrett since he started running NWA TNA. He says Jeff has always been a businessman and has been very good at seperating business and personal relationships. He is very proud of what Jeff has been able to accomplish with running the company and feels things will only get better in the future.

BG said the reason for him leaving NWA TNA a few months ago was due to money issues with NWA TNA not personal problems as had been documented. He said he and his family were making the trip each week to the shows and when it came time to talk about increasing their pay NWA TNA weren't willing to increase their payroll. He said at the time he felt like the company were doing him wrong so he left and it wasn't until he and Jeff had a conversation where they both talked as friends and they agreed it was in each other's best interests to work together again. He said he and Jeff have always been able to maintain a healthy relationship both personally and professionally and he felt things would work themselves out eventually.

When talking about his favorite memories in the WWE, he said he really was ecstatic the night when he and Billy defeated the Road Warriors but the most memorable was the dumpster match against Cactus Jack and Terry Funk. He said it was a privilege to work with both Mick Foley and Terry Funk but it also didn't hurt to receive the largest paycheck he's ever gotten during his time in the business for taking part in that match.

He thinks the key to having success on the microphone for wrestlers is to be comfortable. He said you have to know what the audience wants and how to present it to them but not everybody has the ability to entertain with their mic skills. He mentioned that guys like Jimmy Hart were created to make those individuals who couldn't talk stand out but in his case he's fortunate to be able to have a gift to run his mouth.

BG talked about his personal demons and the obstacles he's overcome during his career. He said the hard times made him a much better person and he really appreciates things the second time around. He thought back then that he was doing the right thing by being a family man working 300 nights a year to provide for his wife and kids but by doing so it led to him missing out on a lot of things. He said everyone dreams of being famous and having a lot of money and while he was able to live that lifestyle and have fun being a part of it for a while, he is much happier in his current state. He says that he and his wife were able to patch things up and get back together and they have since had a baby girl and with TNA's current structure he's able to balance both his family time and his wrestling schedule a lot better.

He ended the interview by promising his fans that he won't wear Don West's shirt again and he'll keep the sitcoms coming as he feels they allow him to show who he really is. He added that he thinks they do a better job of showcasing his talents then a quick 5 minute match does and he closed out by saying it was time to go kiss his babygirl goodnight and he really appreciated us having him on the show.

To hear the interview with BG James log on to www.noholdsbarredwrestling.com. The audio should be available shortly. The No Holds Barred radio show is hosted by Jason Barrett and George "The Animal" Farmer and airs every Sunday night on 101.5 WPDH in parts of NY, NJ, CT and PA. Also, NHB rewarded 1 lucky listener (Anthony Esposito of New Windsor, NY) with a personal meet and greet and 4 tickets and to the upcoming Ring of Honor show this Saturday July 19th in Elizabeth, NJ. NHB will be on hand for the event and we look forward to seeing many of you at the show. On next week's show we'll have details on how you can win tickets, a meet and greet and many other cool prizes for the upcoming Fan Festival taking place on August 23rd in Totowa, NJ. More details will be available shortly on our website.