\nFormer ECW original Justin Credible recently appeared as a guest on WWE Hall Of Famer Booker T’s Heated Conversations podcast for an in-depth interview. Featured below are some of the highlights.<\/p>\n
On the first pill he took in the wrestling business and it leading to addiction issues: “I started to do it simply to get along. I remember the first pill I ever took. I wrestled The Brooklyn Brawler at a high school show and I was traveling with Scott Hall. And I hurt my shoulder real bad and we had a long tour ahead of us and he popped a pill in my beer and told me, ‘drink it.’ And I drank it and I felt good and I liked that feeling. It made me feel good.”<\/p>\n
On rumors of rampant drug use in the locker room during the original ECW days: “Oh, it’s true. It’s true, man. I can recall when I got a little up there in the game, I haven’t said this to too many people, but I’ll just keep myself named in this, I remember in the War Memorial [Auditorium] in Fort Lauderdale [Florida], I was hip enough and cool enough at the time to have my own locker room and I’d have a good amount of cocaine put out there because I’d know nobody would come into my locker room. And literally, my music would be playing and I’d take a couple of good rips and I’d go out there.”<\/p>\n
On feeling emasculated when returning to WWE in 2001 with stars like The Rock and Steve Austin at the top of the card: “When I came back to team with Sean Waltman as X-Factor in 2001 with the invasion angle, I was part of that with [Booker] and all that, I was still that young guy in that big world of the big dogs. I was still kind of like in ECW I was a big fish in a little pond. In ECW, I was that guy. But when I went to Vince’s world again, I felt emasculated. Not that anyone made me feel that way, but I guess my own confidence, still that mark in me was like, ‘man, maybe I don’t belong here with Booker T, Undertaker, The Rock, Steve Austin,’ even though I consider all of you guys great colleagues and friends and you’ve all been so kind to me. Nobody treated me, but myself that way.”<\/p>\n
On drug issues and other factors affecting his ability to perform at the level he wanted to during his runs with WWE: “I was so disappointed with where I thought I was headed or could have been going because when I got there, I couldn’t do the superkick and that was one of my big things because of Shawn [Michaels], couldn’t do my tombstone because of Taker, and, of course, these are guys that I love and respect, I’m not pooh-poohing anybody. But I knew Vince McMahon wasn’t going to push me. Paul Heyman had this genius about making chicken salad out of chicken you-know-what. He really knew how to get the best out of you. He was a great director whereas for Vince, I mean, he’ll let you do it too, but I think it was a combination of the drugs, of course, a huge impact, I’m not going to deny that, but also I was still when I went back, Book, I was still Aldo. I was Justin Credible and all that stuff I accomplished, but in my heart and the way I behaved in the locker room. I think that kindness was mistaken for weakness and I was taken advantage of a lot, but, hey, if I was mentally fit and not on the drugs I was taking to deal with my mental health issues, then I would have gone further. I still believe that because I did essentially get fired for not showing up and that’s a whole story in itself.”<\/p>\n
Check out the complete Justin Credible interview from the Heated Conversations podcast at Stitcher.com.<\/I><\/p>\n