Former WCW Star Recalls "Beating The Hell" Out Of JBL During Their Match
Former WCW star Ice-Train sat down with The Shining Wizards Podcast to talk about his career. Best remembered as part of the tag team Fire & Ice with Scott Norton, Ice Train revealed that both men kind of took the team for granted.
"I was a little bit different back then," Ice-Train said. "I believe that I treated Scott Norton bad because, I didn't respect his knowledge that he had, and at that time I didn't want to be a tag team partner. I just thought I was ready to be on my own. But not understanding that concept of the business, me and Norton never even had an hour of conversation. We were totally different characters. Now, as I've gotten older, I've said to many people 'I apologize.'
"I could have really helped Fire & Ice. We could have stayed together longer. I don't think me and Norton understood how special we were, because I believe we had a lot of people giving different views in our ear. When I look at it now, I'm like 'man we were giving the Steiners big butt whoopings, and there's no way that team should have broke up so early.' But at that time, I don't think Norton wanted to tag with me, and I probably didn't want to tag with him. I don't think he knew me as a person and I don't think I knew him as a person. I believe tag teams got to have an equal yoke and it has to be a real tag team. When you grow together, it's different than when you're put together. "
These days Ice-Train looks back on the missed opportunity with regret. Pointing out how strong they both were, Train believes that Fire & Ice could have been an all time team in the right situation.
"There's no reason why me and Scott Norton shouldn't have went out there and beat the Steiners the first night on Nitro," Train said. "It shouldn't have even been any problem. Fire & Ice is, you can quote it, Fire & Ice is the strongest tag team ever in professional wrestling. Both of us. Two legit 600- pound bench pressers. Two legit 800-pound squatters. And we can go out there and throw clotheslines with the best of them. And Scott Norton and Ice Train could have been great. But at that time it just wasn't meant to be. It just wasn't."
In addition to WCW, Ice-Train also worked over in Germany during his career, winning the Bremen Cup in 1995. Train looks back fondly on the moment, particularly in regards to who he defeated.
"Otto (Wanz) was a big man, so he knew how to push me," Train said in regards to his push. "The night I won The Bremen Cup, it was me and JBL for the finals. And I beat the hell out of JBL. JBL was over there. And when I tell you he was screaming like a baby, you can call him tomorrow. Over in Europe, I could be myself. It was basically, other than Finlay & Rambo, I was it. So I could do what I wanted to do. If I wanted to get out there and work stiff and solid, I could do it.
"It was two Americans for the cup. And I was the only black babyface to ever win that Bremen Cup. And it was one of the most proud and John, bless his heart, he took that beating, because, man I beat the breaks off of JBL. I'll tell you, it was rough for him that night. So when I look at JBL on TV, when it was him and Ron Simmons in WWE, I was like 'what? JBL got the whole locker room terrified? Not in Germany.' I watched Finlay wrestle JBL over in Hanover and it looked like a baby against a grown person. It was that good."
Towards the end of his run with WCW, Ice-Train took on the persona of M.I. Smooth, the limo driver for Ernest "The Cat" Miller. According to Train, there was one idea for M.I. Smooth at the start, but by the end WCW took the character in a completely different direction.
"Eric Bischoff said 'you can talk, so we're going to let you talk,'" Train recalled. "I started doing vignettes with Ric Flair, Jeff Jarrett, Shane Douglas. I was doing all kinds of vignettes where I would be like 'hey you could do anything you want to do.' I was just a positive motivator. And then when, I guess, somebody got upset with Eric, the next thing you know, I was in the ring wrestling wrestling. I was supposed to not even wrestle for a whole year. I was just supposed to be a crap starter in the back of the locker room. Like, me in a match with Norman Smiley, which is hilarious.
"I'll tell you man, WCW had a lot on their plate. They had a lot of talent. They had guys in the Power Plant who were awesome, just sitting up there resting. And they just had a lot of guys on the payroll. They had an A division, a B division, a C Division, and D division. That's what made WCW where they were. M.I. Smooth was supposed to never be in the ring. Just a limo driver getting people in trouble and Vince Russo was like man I need him on TV. Vince Russo let me beat up Buff Bagwell one day in the locker room. Next week I was in there with the Jung Dragons. They could never stick with a plan too long."
If you use any of the quotes in this article, please credit The Shining Wizards Podcast and provide a h/t to Wrestling Inc. for the transcription