Chris Masters Interviews
Posted by David Damage on Tuesday, April 3, 2012
Under: Interviews
In May 2006, Chris Masters' booming career with WWE at the time would come to a screeching halt when he was sent to a drug rehabilitation center due to his addiction with painkillers. Speaking to Power Slam, the former WWE Superstar addresses the matter.
"It was a developing thing that kind of escalated in 2006 and became a problem. You know, I had to go away for a couple months to rehab after the company became aware of my problem. It took a while to get over that. I went into rehab, not even ready to deal with the mindset that I was an addict," he says.
"It was so much responsibility and I don't think I was mature enough to handle all that opportunity that was given to me. I didn't really appreciate it, I made a lot of mistakes and it kind of derailed my career. It took a while for me to get myself back on track, but I did, and now I'm completely fine, clean and sober. But I'm a walking miracle. At one point, I was taking 75 painkillers a day."
Masters lost a noticeable amount of muscle mass by the time he returned to WWE programming on the August 28, 2006 episode of Raw with color commentator Jerry Lawler acknowledging him as the "leaner and meaner Chris Masters. Masters appeared in a backstage segment on the October 2, 2006 Raw with Triple H, Shawn Michaels and Eric Bischoff in which he said he was "thinking about writing a book on nutrition." Triple H quipped in response, "Really? What are you going to call it: How To Lose Fifty Pounds In Four Weeks?" Interviewer Greg Lambert feels the remark was deliberately intended to ridicule his loss of muscle, which conflicted with what WWE was purportedly trying to achieve with its Wellness policy.
Masters responds, "First of all, let me say that Triple H is a big ball-buster. I don't think he's as devious as people make him out to be, but he's a ball-buster, albeit an equal opportunity ball-buster: he takes shots at Shawn Michaels all the time. They were always taking jabs at each other. So, it might have been the wrong message, yes, at the time. But I don't think it was meant as a malicious thing."
A few weeks later, John "Bradshaw" Layfield made a similar crack at Masters' expense in reference to MVP's No Mercy opponent Marty Garner. He said, "The guy looked like he had escaped from a concentration camp: the guy was as skinny as Chris Masters."
Masters responds, "I won't take anything JBL says too seriously, because the guy's an idiot [laughs]. Look at his body! Who is he to criticize anybody? But I didn't realize it was such as a big deal. People wanted to point the finger and say [the weight loss] was because I was on steroids ... But that wasn't my problem. I didn't go away because of that or come back leaner because of that: it was because I would wake up every morning in rehab and run two miles as my therapy. I wasn't able to do as much weight training. So, I did gradually lose a lot of weight. I didn't realize, coming back, it would be so dramatic and people would make such a big deal about it."
Masters packed the muscle back as months later his physique had noticeably enlarged. Lambert asks, "Was that because you been stung by [the comments]?"
"Part of it was. Eventually, it wore on me, but not at first," Masters says. "I was happy with myself: I didn't mind being smaller. But after a certain point, it probably go to me, so I cut back on the aerobics and running, and went back on the heavy weights."
Masters was suspended by WWE in August 2007 and November 2007 as a result of violations of their drug testing policy. This led to his first release from he company on November 8, 2007. He says of the events, "I hadn't overcome my prescription pain pill problem. I had taken something that hadn't been prescribed to me, and I got red-flagged for that."
Masters eventually conquered his drug addiction and was rehired by WWE in June 2009. He explains what led him to change his ways.
"I'd got fired from the job I always wanted. I'd blown through six figures worth of money, and I knew I had to change my ways. We've seen a lot unfortunate tragedies in the business. I've seen Test and Umaga, who I knew well, pass away and it always affects me. There's always a sense of relief that I was able to catch myself and not let it get to that point. It gets to a point where you either hit rock bottom or you're going to die," Masters says.
"I hit rock bottom, then a second rock bottom, and, by the third, it finally woke me up. The same thing has happened to Matt Hardy. But I hear now, it looks like he's doing great. Hopefully, he's reached enough rock bottoms that now, he's back on track."
Chris Masters appeared on This Very Ring with Stan Grubb and Mike Prunka (audio available at www.pw247radio.com).
Here are the highlights:
His involvement with Ring Ka King: Dave Lagana reached out to contact me. He told me they’re starting a new promotion in India. It would be affiliated with TNA and funded, I believe, by TNA. They would air on the #1 network in India and it was just a great opportunity. The main objective was to bring out some American wrestling stars to work with some of the Indian guys, many of whom are pretty green. A lot of them are only two or three months into their training. They kind of hand-picked everybody to come and work with these guys and have, at least, passable, if not good matches. It turned out pretty well; we have a great set, a great group of guys, and we’ve produced some great TV.
His second WWE run: I was in a bad place in my life after I was released from WWE the first time. I kind of knew in the back of my mind that I would reconcile with the WWE and return, which I did. It quickly became apparent that they didn’t have any intent of using me. So I just worked because, well I wanted that spot but, if nothing else, I wanted to prove the critics wrong. I didn’t want to be perceived as the body guy. I wanted to be known as a great wrestler. In 2010 and 2011 I had no distractions in my career and everything was coming together. The company was reaching out to me and Hunter had pulled me aside and told me he liked what I was doing, which is why my last release came as a surprise.
His "Masters to Impact" campaign: I wasn’t really given a fair shake in WWE. For those of you that watch Superstars, you know that I can contribute to the game. I’m 29 years old and at the peak of my career. Going to Impact won’t turn things around right away, the ratings won’t overtake Raw or anything. But I do think I have a lot to contribute. So I figured it’s time to campaign. It’s 2012! MTI! Get the word out. Grassroots effort. I know a lot of things need to happen and that campaigns aren’t won overnight. TNA has a lot going on and a lot of guys that already aren’t being used but I really think there’s a lot I can contribute. I just need a place to go out and do it."
"It was a developing thing that kind of escalated in 2006 and became a problem. You know, I had to go away for a couple months to rehab after the company became aware of my problem. It took a while to get over that. I went into rehab, not even ready to deal with the mindset that I was an addict," he says.
"It was so much responsibility and I don't think I was mature enough to handle all that opportunity that was given to me. I didn't really appreciate it, I made a lot of mistakes and it kind of derailed my career. It took a while for me to get myself back on track, but I did, and now I'm completely fine, clean and sober. But I'm a walking miracle. At one point, I was taking 75 painkillers a day."
Masters lost a noticeable amount of muscle mass by the time he returned to WWE programming on the August 28, 2006 episode of Raw with color commentator Jerry Lawler acknowledging him as the "leaner and meaner Chris Masters. Masters appeared in a backstage segment on the October 2, 2006 Raw with Triple H, Shawn Michaels and Eric Bischoff in which he said he was "thinking about writing a book on nutrition." Triple H quipped in response, "Really? What are you going to call it: How To Lose Fifty Pounds In Four Weeks?" Interviewer Greg Lambert feels the remark was deliberately intended to ridicule his loss of muscle, which conflicted with what WWE was purportedly trying to achieve with its Wellness policy.
Masters responds, "First of all, let me say that Triple H is a big ball-buster. I don't think he's as devious as people make him out to be, but he's a ball-buster, albeit an equal opportunity ball-buster: he takes shots at Shawn Michaels all the time. They were always taking jabs at each other. So, it might have been the wrong message, yes, at the time. But I don't think it was meant as a malicious thing."
A few weeks later, John "Bradshaw" Layfield made a similar crack at Masters' expense in reference to MVP's No Mercy opponent Marty Garner. He said, "The guy looked like he had escaped from a concentration camp: the guy was as skinny as Chris Masters."
Masters responds, "I won't take anything JBL says too seriously, because the guy's an idiot [laughs]. Look at his body! Who is he to criticize anybody? But I didn't realize it was such as a big deal. People wanted to point the finger and say [the weight loss] was because I was on steroids ... But that wasn't my problem. I didn't go away because of that or come back leaner because of that: it was because I would wake up every morning in rehab and run two miles as my therapy. I wasn't able to do as much weight training. So, I did gradually lose a lot of weight. I didn't realize, coming back, it would be so dramatic and people would make such a big deal about it."
Masters packed the muscle back as months later his physique had noticeably enlarged. Lambert asks, "Was that because you been stung by [the comments]?"
"Part of it was. Eventually, it wore on me, but not at first," Masters says. "I was happy with myself: I didn't mind being smaller. But after a certain point, it probably go to me, so I cut back on the aerobics and running, and went back on the heavy weights."
Masters was suspended by WWE in August 2007 and November 2007 as a result of violations of their drug testing policy. This led to his first release from he company on November 8, 2007. He says of the events, "I hadn't overcome my prescription pain pill problem. I had taken something that hadn't been prescribed to me, and I got red-flagged for that."
Masters eventually conquered his drug addiction and was rehired by WWE in June 2009. He explains what led him to change his ways.
"I'd got fired from the job I always wanted. I'd blown through six figures worth of money, and I knew I had to change my ways. We've seen a lot unfortunate tragedies in the business. I've seen Test and Umaga, who I knew well, pass away and it always affects me. There's always a sense of relief that I was able to catch myself and not let it get to that point. It gets to a point where you either hit rock bottom or you're going to die," Masters says.
"I hit rock bottom, then a second rock bottom, and, by the third, it finally woke me up. The same thing has happened to Matt Hardy. But I hear now, it looks like he's doing great. Hopefully, he's reached enough rock bottoms that now, he's back on track."
Chris Masters appeared on This Very Ring with Stan Grubb and Mike Prunka (audio available at www.pw247radio.com).
Here are the highlights:
His involvement with Ring Ka King: Dave Lagana reached out to contact me. He told me they’re starting a new promotion in India. It would be affiliated with TNA and funded, I believe, by TNA. They would air on the #1 network in India and it was just a great opportunity. The main objective was to bring out some American wrestling stars to work with some of the Indian guys, many of whom are pretty green. A lot of them are only two or three months into their training. They kind of hand-picked everybody to come and work with these guys and have, at least, passable, if not good matches. It turned out pretty well; we have a great set, a great group of guys, and we’ve produced some great TV.
His second WWE run: I was in a bad place in my life after I was released from WWE the first time. I kind of knew in the back of my mind that I would reconcile with the WWE and return, which I did. It quickly became apparent that they didn’t have any intent of using me. So I just worked because, well I wanted that spot but, if nothing else, I wanted to prove the critics wrong. I didn’t want to be perceived as the body guy. I wanted to be known as a great wrestler. In 2010 and 2011 I had no distractions in my career and everything was coming together. The company was reaching out to me and Hunter had pulled me aside and told me he liked what I was doing, which is why my last release came as a surprise.
His "Masters to Impact" campaign: I wasn’t really given a fair shake in WWE. For those of you that watch Superstars, you know that I can contribute to the game. I’m 29 years old and at the peak of my career. Going to Impact won’t turn things around right away, the ratings won’t overtake Raw or anything. But I do think I have a lot to contribute. So I figured it’s time to campaign. It’s 2012! MTI! Get the word out. Grassroots effort. I know a lot of things need to happen and that campaigns aren’t won overnight. TNA has a lot going on and a lot of guys that already aren’t being used but I really think there’s a lot I can contribute. I just need a place to go out and do it."
In : Interviews