Former WCW star Ray 'Glacier' Lloyd stopped by Inside The Ropes for their latest interview in their 'Where Are They Now?' series. Here are some highlights:
Almost being called 'Stone Cold' when he got to WCW: "If people go back they can check the times with this. This was early 96, I signed my contract in January 1996. At this point we started working with a special effects company in Atlanta that I recommended to Eric. They hired him to come up with what was the whole Glacier gimmick, with the heavy armour and all that. Of course, we didn't know what the name was gonna be, we obviously had to make it different enough from the Mortal Kombat names. Similar enough but not so much that we'd be violating anything.
"So we started off with like 150 names and we kept whittling them down and whittling them down and so we got down to the last ten or so names. I'll never forget it, Andre, the special effects guy came up to me with a piece of paper with ten names on it. One of those was Glacier but one of the other names, and again if you go back and check this, it was January 96, one of the other names was Stone Cold *laughs* Now that name wasn't a good fit for me, it didn't resonate with me. Now Austin at that time ended up taking that name. And looking back I think we can all agree that the right guy got that name."
Time as a talent agent for TNA: "Dusty had come in as the booker. I'd actually moved to Orlando. I was working for the Indiana Jones stunt show at Universal studios. I was really enjoying it and trying to get into acting. So of course, they filmed there and Dusty called me up one days and asked if I'd be interested in coming in as a talent agent. So I came on board. The role of a talent agent is a really tricky role because you're working with a lot of big egos. I don't mean that against anyone in particular. But it was great to get a chance to work with Dusty again and work alongside Jerry Jarrett who at that time was working the gorilla position and Jerry would time the show. I got a chance to watch one of the greatest regional bookers and greatest minds ever, got a chance to work alongside him and learn from him and Dusty. It was a great experience, I can put if on my resume and move forward."
Negativity from fans on TNA at the moment: "My hats off to TNA. I really want them to survive. I say that for the boys, the people that work there. I want there to be a place that's competitive that people can go and make a name for themselves and make a living. I've always been pulling for TNA to survive, I'm pulling for Ring of Honor, hell I'm pulling for the NWA to survive, even if they don't have anywhere near the power they used to have.
"I think TNA definitely from things they've done recently, have positioned themselves where people have lost respect for them. There's ways to fix that. If they're prepared to make some changes and make some hard decisions, they can fix some things there. I know a lot of people that wrestle there and they go in there every day and work their butts off and try to make the product as good as they possibly can. My only thing is there's obviously some things they need to change and the ratings reflect that. What they're putting out there is not working. I think they should continue to explore some options."
Why he feels WCW is still so popular through DVD releases, documentaries: "I think one of the reasons is because whether people are fans of Eric Bischoff or not, he did something that was monumental at that time in wrestling he assembled one of, if not the best active rosters of wrestlers from around the world all at one time in one place.
"I give credit to Vince McMahon. There used to be saying where it said 'Vince McMahon creates stars and Eric Bischoff buys stars' but Eric came up with something that became so popular that we became the number one company as far as ratings, for 83 weeks in a row. It was a great period. Every segment of the show, with the depth of the roster, was gonna be good, there wasn't gonna be much down time. The assembling of that roster. I was so proud to be a part of it from 1996 to 2001. Up until probably late 1995 when Nitro started, there were not a lot of people outside the south watching WCW. Then Nitro came along and it was like a whole new company. And for that 5 year period the whole country watched it, a lot of great stuff happened and I loved being a part of it."
Almost being called 'Stone Cold' when he got to WCW: "If people go back they can check the times with this. This was early 96, I signed my contract in January 1996. At this point we started working with a special effects company in Atlanta that I recommended to Eric. They hired him to come up with what was the whole Glacier gimmick, with the heavy armour and all that. Of course, we didn't know what the name was gonna be, we obviously had to make it different enough from the Mortal Kombat names. Similar enough but not so much that we'd be violating anything.
"So we started off with like 150 names and we kept whittling them down and whittling them down and so we got down to the last ten or so names. I'll never forget it, Andre, the special effects guy came up to me with a piece of paper with ten names on it. One of those was Glacier but one of the other names, and again if you go back and check this, it was January 96, one of the other names was Stone Cold *laughs* Now that name wasn't a good fit for me, it didn't resonate with me. Now Austin at that time ended up taking that name. And looking back I think we can all agree that the right guy got that name."
Time as a talent agent for TNA: "Dusty had come in as the booker. I'd actually moved to Orlando. I was working for the Indiana Jones stunt show at Universal studios. I was really enjoying it and trying to get into acting. So of course, they filmed there and Dusty called me up one days and asked if I'd be interested in coming in as a talent agent. So I came on board. The role of a talent agent is a really tricky role because you're working with a lot of big egos. I don't mean that against anyone in particular. But it was great to get a chance to work with Dusty again and work alongside Jerry Jarrett who at that time was working the gorilla position and Jerry would time the show. I got a chance to watch one of the greatest regional bookers and greatest minds ever, got a chance to work alongside him and learn from him and Dusty. It was a great experience, I can put if on my resume and move forward."
Negativity from fans on TNA at the moment: "My hats off to TNA. I really want them to survive. I say that for the boys, the people that work there. I want there to be a place that's competitive that people can go and make a name for themselves and make a living. I've always been pulling for TNA to survive, I'm pulling for Ring of Honor, hell I'm pulling for the NWA to survive, even if they don't have anywhere near the power they used to have.
"I think TNA definitely from things they've done recently, have positioned themselves where people have lost respect for them. There's ways to fix that. If they're prepared to make some changes and make some hard decisions, they can fix some things there. I know a lot of people that wrestle there and they go in there every day and work their butts off and try to make the product as good as they possibly can. My only thing is there's obviously some things they need to change and the ratings reflect that. What they're putting out there is not working. I think they should continue to explore some options."
Why he feels WCW is still so popular through DVD releases, documentaries: "I think one of the reasons is because whether people are fans of Eric Bischoff or not, he did something that was monumental at that time in wrestling he assembled one of, if not the best active rosters of wrestlers from around the world all at one time in one place.
"I give credit to Vince McMahon. There used to be saying where it said 'Vince McMahon creates stars and Eric Bischoff buys stars' but Eric came up with something that became so popular that we became the number one company as far as ratings, for 83 weeks in a row. It was a great period. Every segment of the show, with the depth of the roster, was gonna be good, there wasn't gonna be much down time. The assembling of that roster. I was so proud to be a part of it from 1996 to 2001. Up until probably late 1995 when Nitro started, there were not a lot of people outside the south watching WCW. Then Nitro came along and it was like a whole new company. And for that 5 year period the whole country watched it, a lot of great stuff happened and I loved being a part of it."
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