Foley on Justin Credible, "dignified" work

[joeskvorecky]

A passage I admired from Countdown to Lockdown, which I'm mowing through:

How about being a chef at a restaurant? Justin Credible (former ECW champion) does just that at an Olive Garden, and gets taunted by fans because of it. For doing something he enjoys, that he trained for, that he wanted to do. I don't want to single out wrestling fans as being particularly cruel, especially after having heard the worst that baseball and football fans have to offer. But some of our fans who read the Internet sites, who are familiar with some of the inside sheets, assume that their knowledge is some kind of license to be hurtful or insensitive or mean.

I should admit, in full disclosure, that I thought to post this because I've read people mock Shane Douglas on here and my best friend's older brother -- a man who not only doesn't have a "lousy" job, but doesn't have any job, and hasn't in years -- has done the same thing. I agree with Foley about people judging him and other wrestlers for what they do post-wrestling -- and I think it's something more wrestling fans should be aware of and sensitive to.

[Andrew is Good]

Dennis Knight/Mideon is a chef as well, and he loves it to. Shane Douglas, like, it's important to point out, that he didn't work at Target as a greeter, he was a manager. He was the guy there, and with his vast experience in other fields, it definitely is going to help him in the long run.

Ric Flair in his shoot kinda mocked it, saying if he worked at Wal-mart like Shane Douglas, he'd shoot himself. And, I guess Ric was pretty wrong and didn't have much information, but I'd bet that Shane is probably a lot more well off then Ric Flair is at this point in his life, and Shane was a nobody compared to Flair. Even he would probably admit that.

I guess it's that certain wrestlers may look odd at certain jobs, like, if Jimmy Snuka for example was a Wal-mart greeter or something. People think of wrestlers, and they don't see wrestlers as people who get real jobs, a lot of times to support the wrestling habit.

My favourite outside job that a wrestler has is MsChif's, who I think is like, some scientist, like, chemical engineer or something.

[El Hijo De Slapnuts]

My history teacher last year in high school had Dennis Knight's brother as his college roommate,said Dennis was the coolest guy!

[Fang]

I think it's smart. Justin Credible probably isn't going to make a ton on the indies and he probably isn't going to get a permanent spot in the WWE or TNA any time soon. I'm sure he makes a good enough living and if he wants to do an occasional show, he could do it for fun and not necessity. Dude's only 36 and probably don't want to waste away making dimes in front of fifty people, scraping by.

[BlackoutCreature]

I think the reason Credible gets mocked over this isn't so much that he's a chef, but that he's a chef at Olive Garden. I hate to be insulting about this because it is "dignified work", but it honestly sounds one step above being a burger flipper at McDonalds. I think if he was chef at a retaurant he owned, or some trendy little downtown bistro, or something like that, people might look at it a little better.

As for Douglas, I think his big mouth over the years is more responsible for any mocking against him then anything else. He spent years complaining to anybody who's listen about how he was the greatest wrestler ever and how only politics kept him down, spouting out his ego at every opportunity. Now he works at Target. Even if he is a manager, that just feels like karma catching up to him.

[Deleted]

Oct 3, 2010 1:42:37 GMT -5 BlackoutCreature said:

I think the reason Credible gets mocked over this isn't so much that he's a chef, but that he's a chef at Olive Garden. I hate to be insulting about this because it is "dignified work", but it honestly sounds one step above being a burger flipper at McDonalds. I think if he was chef at a retaurant he owned, or some trendy little downtown bistro, or something like that, people might look at it a little better.

As for Douglas, I think his big mouth over the years is more responsible for any mocking against him then anything else. He spent years complaining to anybody who's listen about how he was the greatest wrestler ever and how only politics kept him down, spouting out his ego at every opportunity. Now he works at Target. Even if he is a manager, that just feels like karma catching up to him.

Truthfully I dont think you know what your talking about...Yeah work isnt the best at Olive Garden but I know alot of people that bring home near 200 bucks a night just in tips...Wait and chef's included...My girlfriend who has a degree in communications but chooses to work there right now due to the gracious tippers is one of them...The prices are a bit inflated and everyone typically leaves 15% plus compliments the chef with monetary income if its good...Youd be surprised how fast that adds up

[capnsteve]

Well the word "chef" has an actual meaning, and I seriously doubt there are any chefs at Olive Garden. The reason people make fun of him is because he went from highly visible, using a very unique set of skills, to unskilled labor that anyone can do.

Also, if the cooks get tips at Olive Garden, that's extremely unusual.

[i.Sarita.com]

Olive Garden and "chef" don't belong in the same sentence. They use pre-packaged meals that they just heat up and serve.

[Totorob101]

Good for Justin,im sure hes doing alright for himself and Foley is right,no person has the right to knock what guys do after wrestling.Hes making an honest living for himself and i have a lot of respect for the dude for that.

[Lance Uppercut]

hey, if it's honest work, and he enjoys it, more power to him.

I much preferred working my crappier part time job at the supermarket than the hell hole office place I was for a little while. So I can sympathize if he finds that he'd rather be in an olive garden than some small time name recognition on the Indy scene.

At least he's not like the Character from The Wrestler (or to some extent Taylor wilde) who seems to be ashamed of the fact that they have a regular job when they were larger than life in the wrestling world.

[lovingway]

The same people who mock him for working at Olive Garden would be upset if he were one of the numbers who died at an early age.

I am happy to see these guys have regular careers and lead normal lives as opposed to 60 year old who still think they can wrestle and are relevant in the current wrestling landscape

[CaptainFall]

I think what I guess you can call the disappointment of hearing ex-wrestlers now having regular jobs is that you hoped they made enough in the career to not have to work any more.
Like in most other big sports even the lowliest squad member who never gets picked is often comfortably a millionaire by the team their career is over.

So it's easy to forget that wrestling isn't neccessarily like those other sports and that most of those guys once they retire still have to work somewhere. I definitely echo the sentiments of posters above, I'd much rather hear Douglas is working at Target and Credible at Olive Garden then schlepping across high school gyms trying to eke out a living.

[pundabaya]

If someone gets a job they truly enjoy, thats a huge thing, and should be celebrated. No matter what they could be potentially be doing, and no matter what money they're pulling in.

Its entirely possible that Credible has got a fair amount of money put away, or invested for the future. He might just choose to work to a)keep him busy, b)add money to the pot, c)gain employee benefits like a health plan. As far as I know, people close to him have never said he's unhappy with his lot, so fair play to the guy. And if a big opportunity arises in wrestling, he's young enough to go back.

[Deleted]

The thing about Justin is how he (and Shane as well) actually started out when he was like 16-17 years old. He was in the Hart Brothers camp the year after Chris Jericho and Lance Storm; Lance was his trainer. (Kinda funny how ECW would bill Jericho as "The Last Survivor of the Hart Family Dungeon", when Justin was in the following year's class of recruits.)
Mick recalls in his first book how Shane's mom would drive him and his siblings to the DeNucci wrestling school so Shane could train.

So both are still fairly young men (in age, they had a good 15 year career under their respective belts), but like the previous poster said, they're doing "honest work" (such a dirty term these days for some odd reason) and getting benefits they could use in the long run. They're young enough to wrestle if something good comes along, but they're not sitting around the house waiting for the phone to ring to drive 500 miles to make $75. (If you got a family to support, you don't have that option either.)
Tim Allen said it best: "If you're a woman, you have all these choices: stay-at-home mom; work part-time, home part-time; career mom; weekend mom, career weekly, etc. If you're a man, you can either work, or...penitentiary pretty much."

I don't begrudge anybody for what they do. I worked retail, I was glad when I unloaded trucks and didn't have to deal with the public. (People can be such idiots. No offense to anybody.) It's just not my bag, baby. When I can afford to retire, I probably won't. I'd be a cart-jockey or a greeter and just work some part-time. I don't see myself sitting on my porch watching my grass grow or picking up every single leaf in my yard if one blows my way.

[Fiddleford H. McGucket]

In Defense of Shane Douglas......sorta......

Becoming ANY sort of management in Target, is a lot like the Wrestling business. At least it was in the store I worked at. While your actual aptitude likely played a large part, I have seen people that, due to thier connections/ability to kiss up to the right people, get a better shake come promotion time.

While I do understand there's an aspect of ass-kissery in EVERY industry, Douglas's experience in the highly political world of wrestling could have made him a better candidate because of His ability to micro-manage the opinions of those higher up than him and prove to those same people that he is better qualified to take the position.



........That or he could simply put the other Candidates in a Belly-to-Belly.

[Deleted]

Oct 3, 2010 8:42:16 GMT -5 Fiddleford H. McGucket said:

In Defense of Shane Douglas......sorta......

Becoming ANY sort of management in Target, is a lot like the Wrestling business. At least it was in the store I worked at. While your actual aptitude likely played a large part, I have seen people that, due to thier connections/ability to kiss up to the right people, get a better shake come promotion time.

While I do understand there's an aspect of ass-kissery in EVERY industry, Douglas's experience in the highly political world of wrestling could have made him a better candidate because of His ability to micro-manage the opinions of those higher up than him and prove to those same people that he is better qualified to take the position.



........That or he could simply put the other Candidates in a Belly-to-Belly.

Or break their neck.

[nerdinitupagain]

If he's actually a chef at Olive Garden, he's going to make decent money. They made just as much or more as the GMs if I recall when I worked there many moons ago.

So about 60-70k... plus health and retirement benefits and a constant employment with no travel? AND all the breadsticks you can eat. Most of us should be that lucky.

[Deleted]

I miss something? When did doing honest work to make a living become a bad thing that needed scrutinized? In fact, that's what MOST OF US DO.

Let Justin Credible make him some pasta. If it's good enough for him, it should be good enough for you.

[Slingshot Suplay]

For the record, Shane used to be a manager at target... he's teaching now.

[Can you afford to pay me, Gah]

I never got why people did make fun of it. I mean to those that did. Let me ask. What you guys do for a living and how isn't any better then them? At less they will be living a long time after and not be dead to soon.

If there happy then that all that matters. To say there are so chefs at the Olive Gardan is crazy. I seen them back there before doing a lot more then just "Heating up" the meals. One location had a layout where you it's easy to look in the kitchen. Funny I didn't see a wall of microwaves in there.