The First Shoot Interview?

[chazraps]

Random thought I had, does anybody know what the first commercially released shoot interview was? Not in the sense where a wrestler is talking personally in a promo, but as in an outside company releasing an out-of-character sit-down shoot interview as we've come to know them?

Given how "protect the business" the old guard was, and the slow "dissolving" of "kayfabe" in the 90s, I'm curious as to what made someone finally decide "You know, I bet fans would love to hear the behind the scenes stories" and who was the first to transcend that barrier into the shoot interview we know today.

Any ideas? What's the earliest shoot interview you know of?

[Deleted]

Bruiser Brody in the '80s might be it:

[rawthentic]

It seems it started happening a lot when wrestlers went on Michael Landsberg's show in the late 90's. Those are some of the oldest shoot style interviews i've seen. I know there have been some dating way back but it didnt seem to become the norm until the late 90's. Not to me atleast.

[Kash Flagg]

The oldest commercial shoot tape that I know of is Looking For Mr. Gilbert, the shoot interview Bob Barnett did with Eddie Gilbert in the early 90's.

[lovingway]

I haven't watched it in years but didn't My Dinner with Blassie feature a quasi shoot discussion?

[Deleted]

First interview of the type, specifically filmed to be sold as a shoot interview, was Bob Barnett's one with Eddie Gilbert.

The Brody interview was taped for a news segment. There was also a similar interview with Buddy Rogers which was done for a television show, which is on YouTube in several parts.