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Berlyn
Interview In
his first online interview, Berlyn takes the time to educate the "ignorant
American" wrestling fan about his history and his future. At his
insistence, the interview was conducted with the help of his translator,
Frau Ludendorf, due to Berlyn's refusal to speak English. To save
time, only the English translation will be used. RichInKC: Welcome to the Diamond Mine. Thank you for joining us. Berlyn: It is your honor. RichInKC: Let's begin by addressing an ongoing subject debate over the Internet. It has been hinted that you have wrestled in WCW previously. You have competed in WCW before, is that correct? Berlyn: None of your business, but yes. As Alex Wright. RichInKC: It has been nearly a year since Alex Wright has been in WCW. What have you been doing during that time? Berlyn: I went back to my roots. I went back to my fatherland Germany. I got ready to become Berlyn. I chose to change, because Alex Wright no longer suited me. I was very young when I started in WCW. His antics, his dancing was amusing for the time being, but I'm older now, Berlyn is more serious and much more competitive wrestler. RichInKC: Where did the idea for the Berlyn character come from? Berlyn: Three or four months ago, the name Berlyn was created. Before that, the idea came from well. Dallas is a friend of mine, a very good friend. even so he is an American. He helped me out a lot of times in the past. He has always had an open ear for me. When I started in WCW, he was one of the guys who took me under his wing. He thought the same thing I did, that it was time for me to change and to find a more serious character.
RichInKC: Originally, Berlyn was scheduled to debut earlier in the year, but it was delayed after the Columbine tragedy. Have you felt pushed by this delay? Berlyn: Not at all. It is logical that they wouldn't want me on TV after that. I wouldn't want to be on TV after a tragedy like that. It was the right thing, and the respectful thing to do, to delay my entry. RichInKC: There were some stumbling blocks when you did debut, weren't there? Berlyn: WCW has a lot of communication problems. Everybody knows that. I can't lie about that. Dallas and I were working really hard on this character and I was supposed to start at the end of January '99. It just never happened due to that poor communication. At times it was very frustrating for us. Then in April or May or so, Dusty Rhodes joined us and put some input in how the character should debut and how the angle should play out.
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Since everyone knows I am from
Germany, it was natural for us to work with that. We came up with
a mix of Billy Idol, a gothic/vampire, a lord or baron, a soldier of the
future, with some punk thrown in. Dallas was the guy who shared
his vision and told me where he wants me to go. My wife, Birgit
and I came up with my own style of clothes, the designs, the haircut.
Page told me if he liked it or not, how he thought it could work
better. He gave me a lot of good ideas and helped me a lot.