 Show: The Interactive
Interview
Guest: "The Queen of Extreme" Francine
Date: 2/05
Your Hosts: Erik Clancy & James Walsh
She worked in Extreme Championship Wrestling for the
better part of a decade. She managed names that became synonymous with the
ECW name such as "The Franchise" Shane Douglas and "The Innovator of Violence"
Tommy Dreamer. As such, she became synonymous with the ECW name herself.
She was the "Head Cheerleader." She is "The Queen of Extreme." She's Francine!
And, she's the latest guest on The Interactive Interview!
Also joining us on this packed broadcast is Adam Ryland, the mind behind
and creator of "Wrestling Spirit," an absolutely fantastic wrestling career
simulater video game that TII's own Erik Clancy has developed a borderline
unhealthy addiction to.
Both of these guests are joining us for the second time so if you are looking
for Francine to discuss her ECW career, check out our official site at
www.wrestlingepicenter.com and listen to our first interview with Francine
available in the archives. In this interview, the lovely partner of the also
lovely Missy Hyatt on www.MissyHyattandFrancineTV.com discusses the rise
and fall (but mostly fall) of MLW, the Rise and Fall of ECW video release,
if she will be a part of the WWE's ECW show, Shane Douglas' ECW reunion show,
WEW, and even if she'd consider posing nude on the site!
All of that is available, for free, by clicking the link and listening to
your friends at The Interactive Interview! This is the archived Internet
show but we do invite you to check us out LIVE on Tuesday nights on KASC
"The Blaze" 1260 AM at 9 p.m. Eastern Standard Time!
NOTE: Francine was a regular guest-host on our
weekly live broadcast from June 2005 through May 2006. These shows are archived
within the interviews page though her name might not be listed as the
interviewee.
"THE QUEEN OF EXTREME" FRANCINE
-- Francine's stay with MLW was good at the beginning but later on, Court
Bower {the owner of MLW} decided to go in the wrong direction. She says he
decided he didn't want to be like ECW and as such stopped using a lot of
the guys that were once with ECW, including her. "It didn't work out for
him."
-- Erik mentions that Mike Awesome, "Father" James Mitchell, and virtually
all other guests that were once on the program said MLW's TV shows looked
entirely too much like ECW. Francine agrees to a point. "I think they did.
My first night there - when I came out of the curtain - that's all they were
chanting was ECW. I understand he wanted to have them chant MLW but, you
know, nobody chants call letters except for ECW. You know, WWE people don't
chant "WWE" at events. *laughs*"
-- "He hired everybody that was from ECW to do his shows. We did, in Fort
Lorterdale, we did the venue we used to do our (ECW) TV tapings from and
we sold it out. So, something was going correctly. But then he got stingy
with pay and he didn't want to listen to ideas. And, you know, "I don't want
an ECW company" and he started letting go of all his biggest names and it
just didn't work for him."
-- James chimes in with the answer he gave to someone who interviewed him
when given the word association of MLW, "Back Asswords."
-- "My final shot for Court was when we had a show for Friday and he called
me Tuesday and said, "Oh, it's canceled." It was so nonchalant the way he
did it. I said, "Okay, your grandfather gives you money. You're from a wealthy
family. These boys make a living working wrestling shows... I can't speak
for everybody but this is all I do. I don't have a day job. So, if my bookings
get canceled, there goes my money. He wasn't even sympathetic to the fact
that, you know, it's Tuesday. How am I going to get another booking for Friday?
He was just, "Oh well, what are you gonna do?"
-- Over the above fight, Francine and Court had a bit of an argument and
after that, all he did was bad mouth her saying she wasn't a "team player."
Francine says, "Of course I'm a team player! I laid in the middle of the
ocean that I got water in my ear for a month - and sand from doing those
commercials for you. I mean, I did everything he asked me to do. I think
when it came to money, he butted heads with a couple of the boys. You can
only be walked on so many times before you stand up and say, "Listen, I'm
not going to take it."
-- We finish up about MLW with Francine saying, "I couldn't go in and work
for somebody who didn't, number 1, respect me as a person. But, number 2,
he didn't care about anybody but himself."
-- James mentions that he has seen all the WEW pay per views to which Francine
interrupts with, "Oh God! They're entertaining though!" James agrees but
says what took him by surprise, especially the first time, was when they
broke from the wrestling action to air some sort of softcore pornography
video. Francine chimes in with, "You know what it is, we're trying to acquire
PWO prospects! *laughs* That's what it is!"
-- Francine says she told the owner right away that she was not going to
do anything that she didn't want to do and she hasn't. She knows that the
company was once a lot more raunchy than it is now but says, "If people say
you work for a disgusting company, well, I'm not the one that's disgusting!
You know, my clothes are kept on and I'm just making a living like everyone
else and I'm on pay-per-view."
-- "I can't justify it," says Francine who is interrupted by James who says
he isn't asking her to. Francine continues, "The demographic is 18 to 35-year-old
males and we're doing something right because, last I heard, we're getting
bigger buy rates than the TNA pay per views."
-- "I honestly think if you're not a WWE employee or not married to a WWE
employee, you're not going to be recognized," said Francine when Erik asks
about the Rise and Fall of ECW home video.
-- James mentions that he thinks the release is very well done but there
are at least a few times that he has no alternative but to roll his eyes
and mumble, "Well, that's not really the way it happened." Francine says,
"Right. Well, I tell people I have my tapes and, you know, I know what I
contributed and my fans know what I contributed. I was there for 7 years.
I gave them everything that I had. Unfortunately, the newer fans who watch
this will never know the whole story. I mean, there were a lot of people
who were left off."
-- James mentions how much they put over Beulah and she was only there maybe
half the time Francine was, Francine chmes in. "Well, then again, Tommy is
her husband. And, Tommy works in the office. So, you know." I guess that
answers all questions, doesn't it?
-- Erik asks if Francine thinks the WWE ECW One Night Stand pay-per-view
will be authentic and if she has been contacted to be a part of it. Francine
replies, "Oh boy. Number 1, I don't think it will be authentic unless everybody
from the roster is a part of it which is not going to happen because I don't
think they're going to use TNA guys... A lot of guys from ECW work for TNA,
so I don't think it will feel authentic." Francine then says they do have
a lot of the ECW guys in the WWE now but they now have WWE personas to which
James replies "Yeah, like Nova." Francine agrees and says, "He's not going
to come out as his fitness character on an "ECW" pay per view."
-- As for if she's been contacted by the WWE to work the event, "I have talked
to somebody. All I can say is never say never but nothing has been signed.
I am working Shane Douglas' show."
-- "I'm not against the idea," says Francine. She hopes the show works because
there are a lot of people she likes that will be a part of the WWE ECW show.
But, she just doesn't know how it will turn out.
-- James mentions sitting up at 2 in the morning to watch ECW on local New
Jersey TV and how it was worth it because it sincerely was a renegade promotion
different from everything else that was out there. James doesn't think lightning
can strike twice with it. Francine says, "I think people are hoping. I mean,
I still hear ECW chants at events. I think there is a want for the company
to come back. But, you know, they were saying forever that Vince was going
to have an ECW brand extension and it will be like Ohio Valley. And, I'm
thinking they can call it ECW, but will it really be ECW?"
-- Erik mentions the nameless Divas (Joy, Maria) that are not living up to
the standards set by the original Divas (Missy, Elizabeth, Sunny, Terri,
Francine) and goes on to mention all the emails we received when we announced
we were having Francine herself on the show with people asking, "Will she
go to the WWE and show the new Divas how it's done." Francine has a pretty
short reply, "No. I don't want to work there. I have no aspirations to work
there. If I could've worked the ECW pay-per-view, it would've been a one
shot deal, I wouldn't have tried to get a contract because I do not want
to work for the WWE."
-- James mentions that Shane Douglas bashed her pretty hard a year ago when
he joined us. His exact phrasing was, "I hate her." The question is, have
they patched things up? Francine says, "I'm not going to say we've patched
things up. He's using his mind in a business aspect. He knows I was important
to the company and I should be a part of it."
-- All 3 agree they are starting to feel the ECW show run by Shane is shaping
up to be perhaps as good if not better than the WWE show because they are
using Francine and guys like Raven and Shane himself who were marquee members
of ECW that will most likely not be a part of the WWE's ECW show.
-- We then get into a chat about Missy Hyatt and Francine's new venture,
www.MissyHyattandFrancineTV.com. Francine says she and Missy got close at
a wrestling convention in Texas. They knew each other from ECW but they hadn't
seen each other in many years. She was offered to do the Vixxxens site but
turned it down because that isn't the type of thing she wants to be a part
of. But, Missy had an idea for a Reality Show style web site and that interested
her.
-- Francine mentions she is knocked for pairing herself with Missy Hyatt
but feels that is unfair. Francine says Missy is one of her best friends
and is 100% open and honest about her past and who she is. James chimes in
saying Missy is very misunderstood by many which all 3 agree with. James
then shares a story about how his former broadcast partner actually felt
Missy was trying to push him out of the show. Francine laughs and says, "That's
Missy! She'll do that!"
-- The web site is up and running now with DJ, Francine's official site web
master at www.ForeverFrancine.com, running it. James mentions the many webmasters
they've had before and Francine says, quite simply. "Lets put it this way.
The last guy we had took 3 months to put the site up. DJ took 3 days and
it looks so much better than the last site did."
-- Francine mentions how Missy keeps begging her to "show a nip." We then
ask if she would ever consider posing nude and Francine simply says, "I've
never done that, I never will." James mentions appreciating that about her
as, while he holds nothing against those that do, if your personal integrity
would be compromised by doing so, you shouldn't. Francine thanks him.
-- Erik and James mention that the site is not just for the horny male audience
though it certainly does have that aspect to it. Francine talks about how
they take the video camera and watch the tapes back and find it hysterical
to see some of what they do. She says it's a chance for fans to see what
they are like when they're not dolled up for the camera and are just goofing
off.
-- We then go into Francine's absolute favorite part of the show... Well,
maybe not. Word Associations or, as she called it, "The Name Game." Surprising
answers to just 3 names as we made it short since she hates it so! Included
in it is Tommy Dreamer. If you want to hear that reply, you'll just have
to tune in!
-- James and Erik return to discuss WWE RAW and TNA briefly as well as to
remind everybody to check out the live broadcasts of the show on Tuesday
nights at 9 p.m. Eastern Standard Time, 7 p.m. Mountain Standard Time. We
started our live broadcasts on KASC "The Blaze" 1260 AM just last week and
it was a blast. Portions of the Francine interview will be played this coming
Tuesday if all goes as planned as well as your opportunity to win some fantastic
prizes on the air. You can listen from the Mesa/Phoenix/Tempe, Arizona area
or live on "The Blaze" web site through streaming media at
www.TheBlaze1260.com/listen/ Keep in mind we are not fans of the music that
is played so only tune in on Tuesday evening at 9 p.m. Eastern Standard Time!
-- "Y2J" Chris Jericho reminds you that you are listening to The Interactive
Interview and that we are HUGE rock stars as a rocker in his own right, Adam
Ryland joins the show to round out the program.
-- Pick up the new video game, Wrestling Spirit, by Adam Ryland at
www.GreyDogSoftware.com! And, stay tuned to TII Live this Tuesday night to
find out how to win YOUR free copy of the game as well as copies of RD Reynolds'
"The Death of WCW," Sting's movie "Moment of Truth," "The Mouth of the South"
Jimmy Hart's autobiography, and so much more! Hey, we can try and bribe you,
can't we?
-- You can listen right now, for free! Check it out!
To download this show in streaming media, visit
www.wrestlingepicenter.com/shows/Francine/francine2.ram
To download this show directly to your desktop, visit
www.wrestlingepicenter.com/shows/Francine/francine2.rm
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