Caprice Coleman talks ROH’s Growth, the future of the Elite, more
Show: Interactive Wrestling Radio
Site: www.WrestlingEpicenter.com
Guest: Caprice Coleman
Date: 11/09/18
Your Host: James Walsh
This week, we interview “The Most Versatile Man in the Sport Today” Caprice Coleman from Ring of Honor. Caprice is a 20 year ring veteran with roots in the famed OMEGA promotion. In his first interview with the Epicenter, Coleman discusses his newest role as one of ROH’s color commentators, his “Coleman’s Pulpit” talk show segments on ROH TV, and the growth of the ROH brand of which he has been signed to in his current run since 2011 but has been in and out of since 2006. All this and some funny stories not on the transcript that you can hear by checking out the site!
ROH continues its Global Wars Tour through Sunday via Honor Club.! Please visit http://wrestlingepicenter.com/ to listen to/view or download this interview!
CAPRICE COLEMAN:
On his new role as an ROH color commentator:
“Honestly, I do not know. It is kind of one of those things that I didn’t know I loved doing until I was already doing it. I’m still active, I guess, in the ring. I still stay in shape for the ring. Some things had happened where they wanted me to do commentary for a certain spot for some people I was feuding with. And then, they started putting me in a little more, putting me in a little more. Then, the talk show came and they started putting me on commentary more. Every job I’m given from Ring of Honor, I love. I remember sitting there doing commentary, I think it was a pay per view, and I remember thinking it was a dream come true and I didn’t even know it was a dream that I had.”
On working with Ian Riccaboni:
“Ian is easy, man. He’s so phenomenal and so young, he’s going to be doing this for the rest of his life. He’s got the golden voice but there is so many genres that he knows about, not just wrestling. I could just pick his brain about stuff and you can literally hear me go, “RICCABONI!” (laughs) Just stuff that I’m surprised about. I don’t have that “Hey, lets do this, lets do that,” I’m allowed to just be myself. I call him the Cosell to my Ali.”
On a take-away from being trained by Matt and Jeff Hardy in OMEGA:
“I think the main thing I took away from them was never forget who you are and never forget the people that you helped. That is one thing they’ve never done. I can call them… As a matter of fact, Matt called me a couple of weeks ago because my son and him celebrate the same birthday. He called me just like that and that’s the type of person he is. Same thing with Jeff. They never forget where they’ve come from. They never forget the people they’ve helped out and they continue to be that way. So, no matter how high I think I get, I never forget to show love for the people who are trying to get there and the people who helped me out along the way. I think that, being easy to work with, will help you out because there’s a humbling part that knows that it can be taken away just like that.”
On the legacy of OMEGA:
“I believe we were ahead of our time and I didn’t realize it until later. We broke doors open that we didn’t realize we were breaking down at the time. Matt had an eye for talent. He knew who were great. Steve Corino, Champagne, Joey Matthews… He’d see guys in other places and say “He’s good enough to be part of this brand.” When you look back on it, you realize you were a part of something great. When you look back on it now, we were so far ahead of the times. When OMEGA kind of split when Matt and Jeff got signed, I felt like I was in the land of the dinosaurs because the other places were doing way old school wrestling whereas I was a high flyer and an innovator even then because everybody in OMEGA was a high flyer and an innovator. They’d be like, “Oh man, that stuff is crazy. You don’t need to do that stuff. You need to learn how to work!” For so many years, I heard that. I didn’t find anybody who worked remotely the same way that I did until I went to NWA Wildside and that is where I met AJ Styles and all of them.”
On how big ROH is becoming:
“I’m almost rendered speechless. I’ve known of Ring of Honor for years. I think my first time with Ring of Honor was in 2006! They’ve always been that company you want to work for. I remember I was working for Wildside and I got the phone call from Ring of Honor, I felt like it was just as big of a phone call as WWE. I would do WWE spots, TNA spots, and Ring of Honor spots. To me, they were equally exciting. I could tell Ring of Honor was smaller than those other two companies. But, I always saw the potential in it because the guy I was performing with was on another level. Even then, I saw the differences. WWE is like 75% entertainment and 25% wrestling, TNA, at that time, was maybe 50% wrestling, 50% entertainment. But, Ring of Honor was 75% wrestling and 25% entertainment. That’s what turned me on to that. It (ROH) has always been a big deal to me and to see it grow from crowds of 200, 300 people to crowds of 6,000 people like we had when we were down in Louisiana. It makes no sense – It makes sense but it almost makes no sense to see it grow and to know we have bigger things ahead in April at Madison Square Garden, it is a blessing to be along for the ride.”
On the possibility of Cody, Young Bucks, & the Rest of the Elite Leaving ROH:
“If we had this conversation a year ago, the conversation would have been about Adam Cole, Bobby Fish, Kyle O’Reilly… Kevin Steen at one time. All these guys and yet we still continue to roll. We always look at a brand and say “The core of the brand is this” or “The core of the brand is that” and the core of the brand always seems to be picked up or goes sooner or later, and it still isn’t clear that they’ll (The Elite) go but just to answer your question, there are so many other guys here and also talent all around the world eager to come and be impactful. Ring of Honor is not the Bullet Club and the Bullet Club is not Ring of Honor. Ring of Honor is a brand that finds the best talent and makes the best out of it.”
On the origins of his Coleman’s Pulpit segments:
“I want to say that I approached them about it a couple year ago because I like to be an innovator in the ring. But, then, if you look at Ring of Honor, Ring of Honor is packed full of athletic innovators. I was to a point where I was like, “What makes me so different?” What makes me so different is like the tricks you have when you have the lion and the elephant, the elephant and the fish, and all these great things are trying to climb the tree. You know what I’m saying? The monkey looks the greatest. There is a whole lot of talent here but I feel if people knew a little bit more about the character of these athletes, they would be able to fall in love with them. I wanted to have a platform to where I could show different aspects of the athlete to where I could show more than just wrestling. Just bringing a different side of these athletes. Maybe there is a different side of their personalities that the fans can adapt to or exposing something about them that the fans never knew. Just being able to bring out a different side of these athletes that we’re not able to show in the hour that we’re given. So, they approached me with it a year later, “We’ve got this great idea. We’re going to give you a talk show!” (laughs) I said, “Sounds awesome! Lets do it! Lets call it Coleman’s Pulpit!” (laughs) I went along with it. And, I look at it as a blessing and, like I said, it is one of those things that is a dream come true and I didn’t even realize it until I was doing it.” He continues, “Even after some episodes, the athletes come to me and say “Man, this is great because now the fans know who I am.””
On the possibility of ROH getting a basic cable TV show instead of syndication:
“I believe anything and everything is possible. I look at Sinclair and when I signed with Ring of Honor 6 years ago, they told me, “Hey, we’ve got some new owners here. It is going to be a slow ride but it is going to be a great ride.” They’ve done nothing but that. Sometimes you get a company, they throw them out there to the wolves and it is too much, too soon. I believe we are rady for a TV timeslot for 2 hours. We’re just waiting for that opportunity. Who is to say it is not in the works?”
