I recently did an interview with Jeff D. Gorman. He is a man who has dedicated his life to the world of professional wrestling. Whether it was calling action for ROH, Firestorm, Chikara, MMA, or even the Indians minor-league team, Jeff always gives 100 percent, and makes you the listener feel like you’re part of the action.
He has been calling matches for almost 16 years, and has even put out his own book called “This Side of the Mic.” When he is not calling the action in the ring, he can be found spending time with his real passion, his family. I can honestly say that it has been a pleasure getting to know a little more about Jeff D. Gorman:
I would like to first like to thank you for taking a few minutes to spend with us today. At what age did the wrestling world first grab your attention and who was it growing up that you admired the most?
“I didn’t really watch wrestling until I was 15. I was too busy watching cartoons and baseball, and I just rarely found wrestling on the dial. Once I saw Saturday Night’s Main Event (taking the place of Saturday Night Live), I was hooked big time.”
“My first show was at the Richfield Coliseum in 1985, headlined by Hulk Hogan vs. Randy Savage. I think that’s when Savage became one of my favorite wrestlers ever. Curt Hennig, Billy Jack Haynes, and Demolition were other early favorites.”
When you decided that you wanted to get involved in the wrestling business, did you want to always be an announcer, or was that a second choice for you?
“I always wanted to be an announcer for baseball and football. I never knew there was an independent wrestling scene until I stumbled across a show in Mansfield, Ohio. I gave one of my tapes to the promoter, Kid Collins, and he gave me a shot on his next show. I’ve been doing this now for 16 years.”
When you called your first match, what was running through your mind?
“I just had a huge smile on my face, because I had found what I really loved to do.”
In the WWE and in TNA they like to feed the announcer what to say a lot of the times. Was that something you ever had to do throughout your career? If so, did you find it insulting as an announcer to be told what to say?
“When I announced MMA, they gave us a few cues or told us to stop talking and throw it to an interview. But in MMA or wrestling, I’ve never really been told what to say. I wouldn’t find it insulting, because the boss is the boss. An announcer should know the storylines and be in tune with the boss on what points to emphasize. That way, you don’t have to be instructed too much while you’re actually calling the match.”
You have been an announcer for many years now. What has been some of your favorite matches that you have called over the years?
“Low Ki vs. Samoa Joe at the first ROH Glory by Honor was just an amazing slugfest. I also really loved calling:
Mike Quackenbush vs. El Hijo Del Santo for Future Wrestling Alliance;
AJ Styles vs. Homicide in a respect match for IWC in Pittsburgh (with New Jack surprising us by joining the commentary team);
Reckless Youth vs. Christian York vs. Lou Marconi in a classic Steel City Wrestling three-way dance;
Larry Sweeney winning Chikara’s Young Lions Cup II tournament with a stable of heels that kept growing with every match; and
War Games 2009 for Firestorm Pro Wrestling. It told a tremendous, emotional story and featured more than 45 minutes of solid action.”
You have called many different sports throughout your career. Whether it was baseball, MMA, or wrestling, you have certainly had a wonderful and fruitful career. With that said if you had to choose one to call, what would it be and why?
“As much as I will always love baseball, and as much as MMA is just a crazy, challenging sport to call, I want to call pro wrestling for the rest of my life. I have made it as far as Ring of Honor, but ROH wasn’t on national TV at the time.”
“I know I can announce pro wrestling at the national level. My challenge is getting the major companies to learn that they can’t live without me.”
Do you feel that MMA will ever be able to make it as a mainstream sport in this country?
“Definitely, I think a lot of pro wrestling fans in my generation grew up and got into MMA. I think the young MMA fans will grow up and still be into MMA. With The Ultimate Fighter series cranking out new talent and Strikeforce looking like a strong No. 2, I think future of MMA is very bright.”
When calling a wrestling match, do you find it enjoyable knowing that you are a key part in pushing a storyline across the audience, and do what do you prefer to call a match as a heel or face?
“Yes I do. I like helping to tell the story, explain the moves, and just let the audience have as much fun as I have. I like being myself (a babyface, I’d like to think) and calling a pro wrestling match totally straight like a baseball game. That way, the outrageous stuff (and remarks from my color commentators) can really pop out.”
“I did get to be a heel for a little while when Steel City Wrestling was heel faction invading another Pittsburgh fed, and I have to say that was a LOT of fun.”
You have called matches for ROH, Chikara, Firestorm, and many others over the years. In your opinion, what would you say is the best-run organization that you have worked for?
“I would say all of those groups (as well as the other Pennsylvania feds where I have worked) have been run very well. Only on the smallest Ohio indy shows have I run into cases where you don’t get paid, the ring doesn’t show up, or nobody knows who is wrestling whom.”
I imagine that your job requires a lot of travel on your part. How do you manage to hold a family together being away from them as much as you probably have been?
“Well, that was getting to be a problem, so I temporarily stopped traveling at one point at the end of 2004. We had a situation come up in our family where I couldn’t really be away for more than a few hours. Fortunately, that situation has cleared up, and I’ve been able to travel again for the last couple of years.”
You put out a book called “This Side of The Mic.” Could you tell us a little about the book, and what was it that inspired you to put out a book?
“When I was just a few years into my wrestling adventure, I knew I had a lot of funny stories I wanted to pass down to my future generations. So when I came off the road, I wrote them down. The book (and my life) started about being a sportscaster, and it turned out to be the discovery of a bigger dream: having my own family. I’ve been blessed to be married to a great woman for 7 years, and we have a 6-year-old daughter who is just as amazing.”
When all is said and done, how is it you want to be remembered by the fans and your peers?
“I want people to say I’m their favorite pro wrestling announcer, and I want to be remembered as the greatest of all time. Most importantly, I want people to think of me as someone who loves’s his family and serves Christ.”
Thanks for your time, and I hope you, and your family had a happy and safe holidays.
“Thank you, Matt. I wanted to invite everyone to check out my website at www.jeffdgorman.com or shoot me an e-mail at gormanwriter@yahoo.com.”
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