David Arquette Addresses Jake The Snake’s Recent Comments, Seriousness Of Recent Injuries

Former WCW World Champion David Arquette was Booker T’s guest on the Heated Conversations podcast. Arquette opened up about why he agreed to his controversial WCW World Championship run in the first place, his recent hardcore match against Nick Gage, injuries he has suffered since returning to professional wrestling, as well as Jake “The Snake” Roberts recent, ‘Get a day job’ comments.

On The Ready To Rumble Movie:

It was just a blast. I grew up in Hollywood and my sisters were famous and all that and growing up and meeting different people, it never really got starstruck, but when you’re a wrestling fan and you grow up and then you see your wrestling heroes, that’s a whole different ball game. It’s like, ‘Oh wow! I’m talking to Macho Man right now and he talks the same way he always does!’ It is just the coolest thing ever, so I was just a kid in a candy store. I had so much fun and I thought the script was really fun and had a great director and great actors to work with, so that’s one of the highlights.

On Why He Agreed To His WCW World Championship Run:

A lot of people get down on me for agreeing to get the belt or whatever, but in retrospect, after I’ve been talking about it a lot, the real reason I did it is because I had an opportunity to travel with you guys. I had an opportunity to see behind the curtain and fans don’t necessarily get that opportunity a lot, so for all the negativity, it’s also been a great blessing just to be included in the wrestling world.

On His Recent Hardcore Match Against Nick Gage & Jake “The Snake” Roberts’ ‘Get A Day Job’ Comments:

I was supposed to do a Game Changer event during SummerSlam, I think, in New York, and it didn’t work out with my schedule or whatever, so I had to back out last minute and I was supposed to wrestle Ethan Page, who is an incredible wrestler, and so is Nick Gage. I’m not knocking that guy, but it wasn’t gonna be a hardcore match. It was gonna be a regular match, but then Joey Ryan got injured recently, so they had a slot open up and it was in L.A., my hometown. Nick Gage, I wasn’t really aware of him. I knew of him, but I wasn’t really aware of the extent of the whole thing. After I started researching him [laughter], I’m like, ‘What am I getting myself into?’ So, I agreed to do it and I’m crazier than some people know. Hollywood definitely knows. That’s why I don’t work quite as much as maybe I’d like to, but I’m real. I always loved Mick Foley. I always loved Terry Funk. I always loved Jake “The Snake” until he said I should get a day job. I got a day job, Jake The Snake. I got a day job, thank you.

On How Serious His Hardcore Match Injuries Were:

He hit me in my box and missed my jugular by a millimeter. What happened was – I’m learning a lot, I’m still in the process…..I don’t want to break any confidentiality and I try to be sensitive about stuff that I talk about. It was something that I wasn’t ready for and I reacted in a bad way when I pulled his legs and when I pulled his legs, the piece of light tube hit my neck. I got three stitches in my neck muscle. 10% of my neck muscle got cut and it missed my jugular, so I covered it up and I walked out of the ring and I said to my friends…’Is it pumping?’ They said, ‘No,’ so I went back into the ring and tried to finish the match for the fans, but then I wilted. It got a little messy there, but luckily I didn’t die [laughter]. Everything’s all right. Much respect to everybody at Game Changer and Nick Gage, no hard feelings, and life goes on.

On The Litany Of Injuries He’s Suffered Since Returning To Wrestling & His In-Ring Future:

I’m 47, so it’s been hard on my body. I already had an elbow surgery, broke three ribs, had a knee to the face, stabbed in the neck. That’s all due to inexperience and although I’ve been heavily training for wrestling for six months, that’s not enough. What you need is enough time, so that everything becomes second nature and that you know the ins and outs and that you know that when you’re with somebody – you have a relationship with the person in the ring and you have to trust them, they have to trust you – so, certain things go down and you can’t trust certain things down the line in the match, what are you gonna do? Little things that I have to learn throughout this process that I’m still putting together. I just love being a part of wrestling. If I’m gonna be in the ring more, I’m definitely gonna have a couple matches. People are calling about bookings and I feel bad about it because I have to pay my bills with acting. If I get a movie or something and I’m already booked on a show, I don’t want to let the fans down, so if I have plans to do anything in the future, it will probably be more of a surprise element where it’s not promoted first, but that takes away the way they want to pay you to help promote a show and get people in the seats. If there’s a balance, I could figure out and still sorta get to where I want to get an all that. I love this sport. My love for wrestling’s just blown up even more than ever.

(Transcription Credit: Michael McClead, WrestleZone)

Readers may listen to Heated Conversations W/ Booker T Below:

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