Ribs are a tradition in the pro wrestling business.
You haze the news guys, or random guys and gals for various reasons.
It’s always been part of the scene.
During a recent appearance on The Velvet Ropes with SoCal Val, former WWE Superstar Jimmy Wang Yang reflected on a brutal rib played on former WWE ring announcer and current AEW ring announcer “The Dapper Yapper” Justin Roberts.
Additionally, the pro wrestling veteran recalled Undertaker being the WWE locker room leader and the infamous ‘wrestlers court’ stories, as well as his valet not knowing who Stephanie McMahon was, Vince McMahon pitching him the asian redneck character and more.
Featured below are some of the highlights from the interview where he touches on these topics with his thoughts. Also embedded below is a complete video archive of the discussion.
On Vince McMahon pitching the Jimmy Wang Yang character: “I was just trying to get laid one night and there was a pay-per-view close by… I was just trying to get tickets… It was just me and Vince McMahon in a room, just me and him… He’s like… ‘This time, I’m gonna turn a positive out of a negative, I’m gonna make you the Asian redneck.’… I sitting there like, ‘Man, this is weird’… It’s like Wang Yang. That rhymes. Your name will be Jimmy Wang Yang, the Korean redneck. I was like, ‘Cool, as long as that check comes every Monday, I’ll do whatever you want.'”
On the rumor that Tajiri speaks fluent English: “I seen all those guys drop the act. Nobody’s looking… I just say they’re not… they don’t have perfect English. But, like… they know what’s going on… Tajiri, Kaz, Asuka, Ultimo Dragon… they all speak like, five different languages. Like, it’s surprising because they all know Spanish, they know Japanese, English… I hate to break kayfabe to people like, oh, like, a lot of them do.”
On “Undertaker’s Court” and how to get out of trouble: “He was definitely the leader of the locker room. He was the head judge of wrestlers court. But those things are just so ridiculous, just like backstage drama… mostly times they would get out of everything just, they would just bring Undertaker a bottle of Jack Daniels and, okay, well, court’s dismissed.”
On a “brutal” rib played on Justin Roberts in London: “I remember being in Europe, and… they took Justin Roberts his passport before the flight… We’re in London actually… at the airport, and they.. take his passport… he was stuck there for like, two or three days. Like, they… took his passport back to the States.”
On his valet Amy Zidian not knowing Stephanie McMahon: “Stephanie’s walking down… So I’m like, ‘Oh, hey, Stephanie, how you doing?’… Amy reaches over and like, ‘Hey, who are you?’… And then Stephanie, kind of no sold it and said, ‘Oh, well, I’m Stephanie. I’m gonna be your producer, and produce this segment.’… I understand her not knowing who Stephanie was before wrestling, but when you’re getting in this company and knowing who the McMahons are… it’s kind of like you should know this.”
On lying to WCW to get signed: “When Chris Canyon camet to scout that WCW tryout man, like, they asked me how old I was. I was only 17, but I lied… I received that first contract in June of 1999. I turned 18 in May in 1999 so I became the youngest wrestler ever to sign a WCW.”
On his daughter, Jazzy Yang: “She’s way better than me at… she’s 22 now… She’s, like, so much smarter than me. She’s a lot more business mindset than I was… she’s athletic, and she knows the psychology… I think it’s just matter of time… even last year, you know, she’s started doing all the extra work with WWE… she’s killing it.”
Watch the complete Jimmy Wang Yang interview from ‘The Velvet Ropes with SoCal Val’ podcast via the YouTube player embedded below.
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