Scott Norton On Autobiography Announcement, Wrestling In Korea, Arm Wrestling Training
With the announcement of his autobiography "Strong Style" publishing this Spring, The Two Man Power Trip of Wrestling welcomed one of the most all around tough-guys in wrestling history to this week's show, Scott "Flash" Norton. Detailing his career in both arm wrestling and professional wrestling, Norton has stories from his career that detail the hard work it took to be such a respected star in two different sports. In this excerpt from the 90-minute interview, Norton details the tense atmosphere of wrestling in North Korea as well as the decision to write his upcoming autobiography. The full episode can be downloaded at this link.
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Announcing his autobiography "Strong Style":
"It's been something we've been working on for quite awhile. I've had a lot of great experiences in my life and I've had a lot of ups and downs but I'll tell you what it's been an unbelievable two careers, my arm wrestling career and than my wrestling career. I just want to get my story out there and it is a great book, it is very entertaining and I'm super pumped. It is going to be great."
His years as an arm wrestler before transitioning to pro wrestling and winning the "Over The Top" tournament:
"That's the big one there. That is the biggest and most legendary term in our sport. I stepped away from arm wrestling for two years just to train for that tournament and when I mean train I went to work. That was my focus, it didn't matter and I was going to take that tournament. Cleve Dean was a nemesis and was a monster he was 6'8”-6'9” and 640lbs and nobody beat him yet and I was getting tired of getting beaten by him and he beat me five times that day. But I went to work and we did it. That was the biggest tournament and unfortunately I look back right now (and I love arm wrestling) but when someone knocked on my door and said it was time to get a career going, I left. When I left there was nobody close. I just dominated the sport and I don't regret it but I wish that over the years I didn't sustain the injuries that I did because I would have loved to go back now because I still in my head want to be that guy but we just get torn apart in the ring over the years and it just hard to get back to where you were."
The dangers of wrestling at Collision In Korea:
"I think the crowds were 195,000 and the biggest outdoor shows ever. It was not safe there. It was horrible. We didn't think we were getting out of there. (Ric) Flair was losing it. The things they wanted him to do as our spokesman to say North Korea is the greatest country in the world and their nuclear power and America is afraid of those was unbelievable. It was insane that everywhere you went the military was following you and the rooms that we stayed in when you opened the door nobody had stayed in that room for years, it was terrible. It was like a ghost town. I don't even know how to explain that when we landed in North Korea they flew a plane to Narita, Japan to pick us up but this plane was in such bad shape it was unbelievable. Muhammad Ali and his publicist was sitting in front of me and Hawk and this plane was rattling that I thought it was going to crash. The service on the plane, there was none. There was a pilot, there was no crew and it wasn't like going out of an airport and when they landed the plane they landed it sideways on the runway when it stopped.
"The military I remember were just on you. If they wanted to talk to you or ask something of you they would walk over and just grab you. It was like they'd rough you up and try to take you someplace. I remember pulling away from the guy and asking what's your problem and they are all armed up and it was nuts. It was no safe haven.
"This is my personal belief. If Muhammad Ali wasn't there, I don't think we would have come back. They didn't know what to expect from us and we definitely didn't know what to expect from them. I was newly married and I was trying to call home to my wife for like three days. The elevators didn't work in this hotel and to make a phone call you have to go to the basement to the operator make the call and run back to your room and you can hear the phone ringing when you come down the hall and by the time you'd get to the phone they cut you off. I'm just trying to get in touch with my wife. I know she's flipping out because I'm in this crazy ass country that I'm in.
"Finally I get my wife on the phone and she accused me of going out and partying and kind of abusing the relationship and I said you don't understand what kind of s–t-hole we are in here. The phone cuts off. I thought she hung up on me and I'm just sitting there thinking that she hung up on me? About 15 seconds later I hear a blast on my door and when I open the door up and here are four or five guys with weapons and this military guy and they took me out of my room. They had rifles and it was crazy. They take me downstairs and I walk right past the operator and we go down this hallway (now it is a tunnel) and we walked further than the hotel and all of a sudden they put me in this room. This guy comes in the room and starts talking to me and he says that you can't say that about North Korea and he is madder than hell at me. I just said I was in an argument with my wife who thinks I am out partying because you guys won't let me get a hold of her and I'm mad now.
"The whole time Flair wouldn't get more than ten feet away from me or Scott Steiner. He rode with me to the matches the first night and I don't blame him because the pressure they were putting on him was unbelievable. It was absolutely the craziest thing I've ever done or ever been apart of."
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