Final Larry Hennig Interview: Curtis Axel Having The "Michael McGillicutty" Name, Following Axel

As noted, wrestling legend Larry "The Axe" Hennig passed away at the age of 82 on Thursday. The Two Man Power Trip interviewed Hennig last November for what was his last interview. They sent us these highlights:

Following his Grandson Curtis Axel on WWE programming:

"I know when he's going to be on. He calls when to put it on and when I'm not here I tape it. I've got all of his stuff here and I watch him."

"I want him to be creative and of course trained and to do the things you have to do. You know one week he did 40 hours including Europe and China and Australia and then back to New York for Monday Night RAW and you know that is 40 hours in the air and wrestling is certainly the big part of it and people think you just come out of the backstage there and out of the locker room and you jump in the ring and that's all they do that week. But they probably came from 15-20,000 miles away some place to come and it is crazy so you've got to be tough and be able to stand that pressure and be able to travel and be able to have a good relationship with your family. It is no different working for Minnesota mining that if you miss a couple here and a couple there that soon you are not there. He (Vince McMahon) can't when running a billion dollar business afford to have people who are not throwing their mark."

The years of hard work and obstacles overcome by Axel:

"When he came there he had McGillicutty and I don't know with Vince I think he was fishing around for something waiting for a wave to come in and someday they would hook up and I think they kind of settled on that after awhile with that Curtis Axel. It is better on my end because he's using Axel and it is a feather in his Dad's hat for using Curtis. I am happy with that and I guess that is the way it is going to be. Things like that and those decisions are made by Vince and he has the way of a lot of good ones and he's had some bad ones but your choices are very slim to make changes and they have to go through him. It is just business."

Being Third Generation:

"I think there were no surprises. Training with Joe and I trained Curt too but I made him aware of things. The way it was I took him with me. I was wrestling in tents and outside and traveling around everywhere. He (Curt) went to Oregon and I followed him there and we won the title"

"You've got to make him a winner and if you are a high-wire guy and you start out young and you learn how to work the wire so there were no big surprises and he ended up to be a good family man and all of his kids are doing very well and are registered nurses and marriages and we have 28 grandkids and two-thirds of those are boys and so I'm happy that my wife and I have been married 63 years and we have a lot of stuff, we have a nice home and we just enjoy our family. "