by Troy Rogers
Jerry Springer has had one of the most interesting
and entertaining career paths of anyone in the
business. Although the name Jerry Springer is
synonymous with daytime talk show battles of the
trailer variety, Springer has carved out his own
unique career as a former politician, a journalist,
a radio host, an actor, a country singer, an emcee,
and general jack-of-all-trades in the realm of
TV personalities. Although Jerry still holds his
job on The Jerry Springer Show, Springer found
time host America's Got Talent and also dance
his way into the limelight as a contestant on
Dancing with the Stars.
After doing it all on television, Jerry Springer steps into the ring on Monday, February 15 at 8pm on USA as guest host of WWE: Monday Night RAW.
Ahead of WWE: Monday Night Raw with Jerry Springer stepping into the ring as guest host, we caught up with both Jerry Springer and former Real World personality turned WWE wrestler, The Miz, to get the goods on the latest WWE activity on USA, how Jerry feels about stepping into the world of WWE, where The Miz sees himself as a wrestler over the next couple of years, and how wrestling has changed in the past couple of decades even with Ric Flair and Hulk Hogan still in the game.
THE DEADBOLT: How does hosting Monday Night Raw compare to America's Got Talent?
JERRY
SPRINGER: [laughs] Oh, they're just the
same. The difference is that - I assume, having
not done it yet - Monday Night Raw, these are
all professionally trained people. You have
that as a difference. But other than that, entertainment
is entertainment whether you're an athlete or
a singer.
This summer I was doing the musical Chicago, and was around all of those dancers doing the live theater, and I've got to tell you: they're phenomenal athletes. But it's all the same. You have your moment when you're on stage or in a ring, or on a ballfield. It's that moment where you suddenly have to become really, really focused. You have to perform.
It's interesting when you talk to some of the football players, for example, who were on Dancing With the Stars. They get just as nervous, just as tense, just as "in the moment" before they go on. It's just as rigorous. It's the same thing. It's the idea that an individual is putting himself or herself out before a crowd for a judgment. If you're a comedian, will you laugh at the guy's jokes? If you're a singer, will you enjoy it? If you're a wrestler, will you be good? It's always been tested in front of the crowd. To that extent, there are great similarities.
THE DEADBOLT: Miz, how hard was it splitting from John Morrison back in 2009?
THE MIZ It was one of the easiest things I've ever done because I basically laid him out in the middle of the ring, because I felt that I was the talent of the tag team and he was holding me back. And as I proved right now, he basically was holding me back because we couldn't get the Unified Tag Team title together.
However, Big Show and myself - Show-Miz as we like to call ourselves - have just won the Unified Tag Team titles. I'm the first person to ever have the United States title and the Unified Tag Team titles at the same time. I basically have more gold than Mr. T.
SPRINGER: The only people on my show who have gold are in their teeth.
THE DEADBOLT: If Jerry was a wrestler, what name would you give him?
THE
MIZ The Springonator!
SPRINGER: Oh, good for you, Miz. That's great.
THE MIZ Off the top of my head, that's it.
Other Conference Call Highlights:
Could you elaborate more on the wrestling stars that really struck you, the older guys, as well as newer guys and maybe some experiences from your show that got out of hand?
SPRINGER: Well, it's all a circus and it's all entertainment. If you're prepared to take it in the spirit in which it's given, then you can really enjoy it and have a great time. If you're going to sit back and just be in judgment of all this, then you're not going to have a good time and you're going to say, "Well, why are they doing that?"
The fact is, young people enjoy it, love it, you know? They don't grow up to be dysfunctional because they see it. A whole nation has watched wrestling for the last fifty years on television. It really was one of the first sporting events on televisions because it was very easy to televise. Millions and millions of Americans have grown up enjoying the entertainment. I don't think it should be taken anymore seriously than that. One thing that is very clear when you watch the professional wrestlers is what phenomenal athletes they are.
There's so much emphasis given to the drama and all of that. But yet if you really look at these guys, they're in phenomenal shape. And I'm going out on a limb here, but I think there's probably one or two of them that could even take me down. Please, no one try. That was a bad joke. Don't even try. I'm old and I need to have my warm milk.
THE
MIZ Jerry, listen I have an extra pair of
tights. I can get you a pair we can put you
in the ring.
SPRINGER: [laughs] Hey, Miz, I've got the tights. But that's just what I wear to the studio. But no, I don't think I'm going to get in the ring and fight.
Miz, what do you think about someone like Ric Flair who has so much personality, and he's still such a legend, and he's still out there slugging it away with Hulk Hogan? What do you think of the older guys in your business?
THE MIZ I obviously respect them. I've watched them growing up as a kid. But now I'm looking at them as I want their spot. I want to be remembered as a legend in the WWE. I want to be the person. I don't just want to be world champion or WWE Champion, I want to be the poster child of WWE and wrestling just like Ric Flair, Hulk Hogan, The Rock, Stone Cold Steve Austin. I want to be in those names. So to see those names still in highlights, in marquees, is incredible to me. But I want their spot.
Did you expect your entire image to change after you did Dancing With The Stars and America's Got Talent?
SPRINGER:
In hindsight, I can see why people suddenly
saw me in a different light after those shows.
At the time, I didn't realize it but it dawned
on me that when I went on Dancing With The Stars
and then America's Got Talent, these shows,
it was really the first time even though I've
been on television for thirty years. It was
really the first time I was on television as
myself. I'm always playing a role - a crazy
talk show host, a news anchor, a mayor - I had
a role to play. When you're on those shows,
there's no role to play. You're just talking
to people or performing, dancing, or whatever.
That, I think, they suddenly realized, "Well,
maybe he's not a crazy person. He's a normal
dad like everybody else." I think that's why
it had such an impact, because of that.
Do you think wrestling has changed over the years?
THE MIZ Right now we have guest hosts; Jerry Springer as guest host on Monday Night Raw. That I would have never told you would be happening ten years ago. But right now we're having guest hosts. It's fun. The ratings are up 12% since guest hosts have come on. Since the 1980s, 90s, WWE has been an evolution, I guess you could say. It keeps growing and growing and growing. It's incredible. So it's ever-changing. The superstars are changing. By next year I plan on being the main event, the talk of the town, and having more titles than just the United States title and the Unified Tag Team titles. So is WWE different from than what it was ten years ago, five years ago, one year ago? Absolutely.
