Never rib a midget and other fun tales
Val Venis had a great run in WWE, and made some great friends. He treasures the greatest rib that was ever played on him -- by notorious ribber Owen Hart.
"We had an early morning flight that landed us into St. Louis, Missouri. Everybody was really, really tired, because it was a very early morning flight. We had a deal with the Marriott Hotel right across from the airport. So when all the boys landed, we all go and get our bags from the baggage claim, and then get our rental cars and head over to the hotel. Everyone's plan is pretty much the same plan: we all want to get to the hotel, check in, get a few hours of sleep, go train, go eat, and then head over to the arena. I was driving with Test (Andrew Martin) and A-Train (Matt Bloom), and by the time we got to the hotel, there was a line-up of the boys checking in.
"Because we always stayed at that hotel, the fans knew we stayed there, and there were hundreds of fans in the lobby waiting for us. As we were standing in line, we're signing autographs for these kids -- you know, they're taking pictures, and going down the line with action figures and pictures to sign. I'm signing away, and this one guy comes up to me with a stack of about 250 Val Venis pictures and says, 'Hey, brother, can you sign these?'.I look at him and I say, 'No, I can't sign all those' -- like he expects I'm going to stand there and sign all 250 pictures for him. 'Beat it.' So he leaves, and I keep signing all the kids' stuff and doing my thing.
"So I finally get checked in and get up to my room. I'm dead tired. I get undressed and get into my bed and just start dozing off and the phone rings. I pick up the phone and this guy says, 'Hey, man. When you say that you're going to come back down here and sign all my pictures, then you need to get off your ass and sign my pictures.' And I went off, I just got angry. I start yelling at him, 'I told you to beat it! Don't ever call my room again, I'm trying to sleep!' and I slam the phone down all angry. About 30 seconds later, the phone starts ringing again. I picked up and the only thing he says is, 'I'm a big man, and you won't get by me.' Well, that just set me off. I leaped up out of bed, threw my clothes on. I didn't even wait for the elevator, I just ran down six flights of stairs. I ran out in the lobby, and when I get there, all the boys had already checked in, all the fans had left, and the only people in the lobby were Jeff Jarrett and Owen Hart. They're sitting on stools at the bar, which is closed because it's still early in the morning. I turn to Jeff and Owen and say, 'Hey, did you see a guy with long, dark, stringy hair and a stack of pictures?' And they say, 'Yeah, he just ran out the front door.' So I run out the front door into the parking lot, and I'm just searching for this guy, but finally give up. I come back in to the hotel, and go back to my room, and crash. But it was eating me alive that this guy had the gall to do that.
"Six months later, I was up in Toronto doing an episode of Off the Record with Edge. And for the past six months when I was on the road, people would bring it up -- 'Hey, remember that guy in St. Louis?' and I would go off -- 'Yeah, that a$$hole!' and I'd get all wound up about it again. So six months later, we're ready to do the OTR taping and Edge gets a message, and it's Owen Hart. And the message says, 'Hey, Edge, you can tell Val now.' So Edge turns to me and says, 'Remember six months ago in St. Louis, you wanted to beat that guy up who was calling your hotel room?' And I was like, 'Yeah!' and start getting wound up again. 'Owen wants me to tell you, it was him.' This was right before we went on the air. And, man, I was pissed. The b*stard had me going for six months straight.
"Owen Hart was one of the best ribbers in the locker room. His ribs were never mean, they were always good-quality, all in good fun. He was a good guy."
Val Venis had a great run in WWE, and made some great friends. He treasures the greatest rib that was ever played on him -- by notorious ribber Owen Hart.
"We had an early morning flight that landed us into St. Louis, Missouri. Everybody was really, really tired, because it was a very early morning flight. We had a deal with the Marriott Hotel right across from the airport. So when all the boys landed, we all go and get our bags from the baggage claim, and then get our rental cars and head over to the hotel. Everyone's plan is pretty much the same plan: we all want to get to the hotel, check in, get a few hours of sleep, go train, go eat, and then head over to the arena. I was driving with Test (Andrew Martin) and A-Train (Matt Bloom), and by the time we got to the hotel, there was a line-up of the boys checking in.
"Because we always stayed at that hotel, the fans knew we stayed there, and there were hundreds of fans in the lobby waiting for us. As we were standing in line, we're signing autographs for these kids -- you know, they're taking pictures, and going down the line with action figures and pictures to sign. I'm signing away, and this one guy comes up to me with a stack of about 250 Val Venis pictures and says, 'Hey, brother, can you sign these?'.I look at him and I say, 'No, I can't sign all those' -- like he expects I'm going to stand there and sign all 250 pictures for him. 'Beat it.' So he leaves, and I keep signing all the kids' stuff and doing my thing.
"So I finally get checked in and get up to my room. I'm dead tired. I get undressed and get into my bed and just start dozing off and the phone rings. I pick up the phone and this guy says, 'Hey, man. When you say that you're going to come back down here and sign all my pictures, then you need to get off your ass and sign my pictures.' And I went off, I just got angry. I start yelling at him, 'I told you to beat it! Don't ever call my room again, I'm trying to sleep!' and I slam the phone down all angry. About 30 seconds later, the phone starts ringing again. I picked up and the only thing he says is, 'I'm a big man, and you won't get by me.' Well, that just set me off. I leaped up out of bed, threw my clothes on. I didn't even wait for the elevator, I just ran down six flights of stairs. I ran out in the lobby, and when I get there, all the boys had already checked in, all the fans had left, and the only people in the lobby were Jeff Jarrett and Owen Hart. They're sitting on stools at the bar, which is closed because it's still early in the morning. I turn to Jeff and Owen and say, 'Hey, did you see a guy with long, dark, stringy hair and a stack of pictures?' And they say, 'Yeah, he just ran out the front door.' So I run out the front door into the parking lot, and I'm just searching for this guy, but finally give up. I come back in to the hotel, and go back to my room, and crash. But it was eating me alive that this guy had the gall to do that.
"Six months later, I was up in Toronto doing an episode of Off the Record with Edge. And for the past six months when I was on the road, people would bring it up -- 'Hey, remember that guy in St. Louis?' and I would go off -- 'Yeah, that a$$hole!' and I'd get all wound up about it again. So six months later, we're ready to do the OTR taping and Edge gets a message, and it's Owen Hart. And the message says, 'Hey, Edge, you can tell Val now.' So Edge turns to me and says, 'Remember six months ago in St. Louis, you wanted to beat that guy up who was calling your hotel room?' And I was like, 'Yeah!' and start getting wound up again. 'Owen wants me to tell you, it was him.' This was right before we went on the air. And, man, I was pissed. The b*stard had me going for six months straight.
"Owen Hart was one of the best ribbers in the locker room. His ribs were never mean, they were always good-quality, all in good fun. He was a good guy."