Between The Ropes
Tuesday, October 21, 2008
ESPN Florida AM 1080 and AM 1060
Simulcast online at BetweenTheRopes.com

On Tuesday night, October 21, former WWE wrestler and member of the Full Blooded Italians Guido Maritato joined hosts Brian Fritz, Dickerman, and Vito DeNucci, live on Between The Ropes on ESPN Florida AM 1080 and AM 1060 to discuss his seven year run in the WWE, what his life was like in the original ECW, and much more.

The interview began with some discussion about how Guido had a good seven year run with WWE, which is much longer than most people realize. Guido said he enjoyed his time with WWE as well as the four years he spent in ECW. "Everybody has their own concept or opinion of how they feel they want to be used or whatever, but you've got to go into it with an open mind knowing how it is. You never know when it's going to end, you just enjoy yourself and it's just business. When your stuff runs its course it's just business and there's nothing left to do…I knew one day I was going to go and now my life's different."

Guido then talked about being able to go back and wrestle in Japan now that he's no longer with WWE. He highlighted some of his previous experiences in Japan and talked about adapting to the Japanese strong style from the U.S. style. "I started wrestling professionally for three years taking bumps and once I went to the UWF it was totally the opposite. You can't take bumps, there are no back bumps or anything. If you go back and watch the tapes it was like a regular fight. There was no standing on your feet, headlock, then running the ropes or anything like that. It was very cool I got very lucky to be trained and learn like that. I can do shoot style, American style, Japanese, Mexican. I was lucky to be able to adapt like that and learned a lot without even realizing it at the time."

Turning back to the WWE Guido was asked what his favorite moment while working for WWE was. While he said there were many great moments Guido elaborated on how good it felt to be able to work on the show at WrestleMania 20 in Madison Square Garden. "That's the place my father used to bring me and my brother to. I was in Madison Square Garden for WrestleMania 1 and have been a lifelong fan. Now, my mother and father actually came to WrestleMania 20 and not only was I going to be there but I was going to be performing in the wrestling ring. Who ever knew that twenty years later I was going to be wrestling in Madison Square Garden and my parents were going to be there after my dad took me to WresleMania 1 when I was eight or nine years old."

Guido also discussed what his time was like in the original ECW. "My life was different there. Not only did I wrestle on the weekend show, but I also worked during the week for the company. I used to work in the merchandise office and deal with t-shirts and fan mail and all that stuff. So my job was full time there, five or six days a week, whereas other guys were just wrestling a couple days on the weekends and then going home…My feeling for the company were very strong. I was around it 24/7…the camaraderie was good, at a time, but then when things started not going right that's when people started to worry, obviously." Guido also noted that ECW was a great place for young guys on their way up to get a shot and at the same time learn from veteran guys who had just finished runs with WWE.

To listen to the entire Little Guido interview including Guido discussing the origins and history of the Full Blooded Italians and what it was like working the first WWE branded One Night Stand show in 2005, as well as the entire October 21st edition of Between The Ropes in streaming audio, visit the show online at http://www.BetweenTheRopes.com. In addition to listening to this week's show you can become a site member and access hundreds of previous Between The Ropes shows and interviews. Join us for Between The Ropes for two hours every Tuesday night at 6:00pm ET on ESPN Florida AM 1080 and AM 1060 and worldwide on BetweenTheRopes.com.

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