Recap by: Christopher Jay, rajah.com
Please send all feedback to: jspodcast2020@gmail.com or @wrestlingfancs
THE ARN SHOW 4/7/20: EXTREME RULE 2010
Arn on Joey Mercury: "Joey was a tremendous worker. He was great with Morrison and Melina. They had a great gimmick. Then Joey, as far as mechanics in a match, put him with Jamie Noble and they can sit down and figure out how to cure cancer. That's how smart those two guys are. Joey, technically, no matter what you put on his plate, he could pull it off. He was fantastic. Once Joey got in that producer spot, and he was part of J & J, now we are skipping ahead years, I'm just talking the evolution of Joey when he came back, and he started wearing too many hats. More than once, and Joey will tell you, that I looked at him and he had that shell shocked look. He was being overwhelmed. He was put in that position of pleasing the boss, dealing with top talent, having to be talent and being involved with maybe as many as five segments on a show. That is a plateful. I used to look at him when we would be making a trip and I would tell him, Joey, don't get overwhelmed. You look like to me like a deer in the headlights. You are starting to get overwhelmed and as it shook out, he was. Some guys can handle doing both being talent and being a producer. Some guys can handle it and some guys it is too much for them. It became too much for Joey and it was not a happy ending, and I'm sorry to say that."
Arn on Jack Swagger: "I think he was a victim of when they put him with Dutch (Mantell) and they did the We the People, which got over. Let me tell you, backing up, right after Swagger became the champion, I remember, I don't remember what town, but he tried to do a promo and the audience was so riled, shutting him down, he never got to say a word I don't think, but it was real heat and there was extreme heat and they put him with Dutch and I think that was portrayed as being too southern. It was almost to the point of being racist. Now this is just perception, it wasn't a reality, but it was perception, plus the fact they were so good together. Dutch was in bad health. He was having to get to the ring on television with one of those motorized wheelchairs, it must have been his hips, or back or something. The guy was really in bad shape. Then when he wasn't at the live events, it wasn't the same package. What you saw on TV was not what you got in the arena. It doesn't take very long for something like that to fizzle out if you're not getting the right push. Now, could it have been taken care of better, always. It was so hot when it first started, you have to stay on it. You have to fuel the fire. You have to keep putting logs on that fire. You can't just build a bon fire and expect it to burn on its on for too much. I don't think that was done. It certainly wasn't done properly, and they missed a chance because Swagger was red hot at one time."
Arn on Beth Phoenix: "Beth is one of my favorite people of all time. She was one of the first girls that was really ready talent wise to take the girls to the next level. She was one of the pioneers and I hope she gets credit for that because I saw the whole evolution of the ladies. Beth was one of the first world class female performers."
