Marty Jannetty

Jannetty began his wrestling career in 1984 wrestling in the National Wrestling Alliance (NWA) Central States division. He wrestled in singles and tag team competition with various partners, including Tommy Rogers as the Uptown Boys, until joining forces with fellow rookie Shawn Michaels in late 1985. The two teamed as The Midnight Rockers and quickly won the Central States Tag Team Championship. In 1986, the duo left the NWA for the American Wrestling Association (AWA).

In the AWA, Jannetty and Michaels quickly built a reputation as a talented tag team, performing many amazing acrobatic moves in tandem, and electrifying crowds with their amazing athleticism. The two held the the AWA World Tag Team Championship twice before jumping to the World Wrestling Federation in 1988.

During his WWE Career, Janetty found both singles and tag team success winning the WWF Tag Team Championship as well as beating his former tag team partner Shawn Michaels for the Intercontinental Championship.

Although The Rockers never OFFICIALLY won the WWF Tag Team Championship, they were one of the best tag teams in WWF/E history and certainly brought credibility to title that legendary Gorilla Monsoon had given them when he called them Tag Team Specialists. Marty was a big part of the WWF and an inspiration to many of the current WWE stars we see today. It is a great pleasure to have had the chance to interview Marty, and we do hope to have him around more.

Special thanks go to The Big Dog for conducting the great one-on-one.

BD: Thank you for taking time out of your busy schedule to answer so questions for us, first; How about an update with what's going on in your career?

MJ: Right now I got several project going including a book, which will answer to a lot of the inaccurate memories Shawn Michaels stated in his book. I am currently doing some Indy work just enough to stay sharp in the ring. I'm also working on a couple DVD's which I'll tell more about later, that will be coming out..wrestling related. Also working on something HUGE that will impact the entire industry in a positive way. I've always been considered..oh wait, Shawn and I have always been considered innovators in this industry...well, wait till you see what I got for us now. It's not gonna be easy, and the odds are really gonna be stacked against it working at first...but..so was the whole idea of what was called a rip off of the Rock n Roll Express from ever working..and..well, people do like to say we changed the face of the industry with our unique high flying, high energy, high pace, combination manuever type of wrestling style.(and if they only knew we did this while partying every bit as hard as we trained, NO ONE partied harder..well, Pat Tanaka tried, he was close, but, he wasnt training..lol) Anyway, point was....now I'm upping the value of our industry in the future..how??? you'll see!! and I believe..you'll grow to love it!!

BD: You and I spoke briefly about your work in The Central States region and the wars with Mr. Pogo over the Central States title, how was Mr. Pogo to work with?

MJ: Mr. Pogo was a veteran so, me being a rookie, I tried to follow his lead. But, he didn’t like anything he didn’t understand..in other words, any new things, which was my strong point in this industry, he frowned upon. Sometimes it lead to horrible matches because when he'd act like an azz during a match, I'd give him azz right back. 

BD: In The AWA, everybody and thier brother heard of The Midnight Rockers, who had the original idea for the name?

MJ: Shawn and I were looking for a name forever..or two weeks after Verge Gagne told us we would be a team... and he wanted us to be called.."The American Express"...we told him that was a credit card and they most likely wouldnt like that..lol...so we asked him to let us get a name....Curt Hennig once said that when on the road, we didnt start rocking the parties till after midnight..right as he was saying it, Judast Priest song "Living After Midnight" started playing..and the words were so appropriate...living after midnight rockin till the dawn..and Curt jokingly said.."thats it, thats yalls ring music..call yourselves..."The Midnight Rockers"" and...we did..and it worked like a charm...or course now, Shawn remembers it as his idea and that he came up with the name music and concept...thats ok though, we been through a lot...I can see where his memory can be off a bit...no biggie. 

BD: Would Verne Gagne have survived being raided like he was by the WWF if he changed the way he presented his shows and adapted?

MJ: Who knows? We can only speculate..but, the bottom line was, he was gonna have to spend money to advance with the times..and he wasnt gonna do that. 

BD: What was Stan Hansen like in the locker room?

MJ: Stan was always cool...funny guy loved to joke around, but was a serious business man...we had some fun times in Japan together...I can still hear him calling me ..Jerretty...and that name stuck for Curt Hennig who called me that jokingly of Stan's version of my name..forever...."hey Jerretty lets go stirr something up"..lol..I can still hear it in my head.

BD: In his autobiography, Shawn Michaels stated that as a rib, you tossed the AWA world belt into a snow bank as a rib on "The Bad Man From Borger" how much heat did you get from Verne?

MJ: No it was a rib on Nick Bockwinkle..and really it wasnt a rib..Nick had pissed off Scott Hall, Curt and Shawn really bad, about what I cant remember..but, I told them I'd take care of it..and...Shawn stood guard as I threw his belt on top of the building we where in doing promo's...the building roof was covered with snow(it was Minneapolis during the winter)..and it wasnt till late spring that the maintanence man was up on the roof , found the belt...of course Shawn was as big a part of that as I..as he stood guard to let me know the coast was clear of anyone coming..again, those things slipped his memory over the years...but, my book will state the true facts which can be proven at any time questioned. 

BD: Who was your absolute favorite tag team to work with in the AWA, and why?

MJ: I dont remember working with anyone other than Buddy Rose and Doug Summers...for a year straight..lol...naw, Bad Company came in at the end..they were a hell of a team too..(Pat Tanaka and Paul Diamond) 

BD: You and Shawn had a brief run down south working against Rick Morton & Robert Gibson as monster heels, what would you say was the best match from the teritory, and who had the book at the time?

MJ: That time was a blurr for me...Jerry Lawler was booking I think...but...that was some months of non ending partying..night after night after night..week after week month after month...I'm surprised we lived through it...the territory was so horrible, we chose to stay F'ed up to not have top face it... 

BD: During your career, you amassed quite a few singles and tag team honors, what was your favorite championship to hold, and why?

MJ: Well, the Intercontinental was nice..especially with the surrounding circumstances...that you will have to wait and read the book for...you'll be shocked at Shawns reactions to losing though..The tag team Championship in AWA was cool as it was our first major title...Shawn and I getting voted Match of the Year in "93" by PWI Magazine was a true thrill too. 

BD: What's next in store for "The Rocker" Marty Janetty?

MJ: Only time will tell!! I'll just be kickin it live in the streets of Georgia for a while...doing a little touring here and there to see my Misfitz, doing my thing in the ring, and letting my training partners RCA aka Ricka, Mustafa and Mockalockson see the world!! Hope to soon be travelling around to help promote my book..but that may be some months off yet...you can keep up with me on my official Marty Jannetty website or at Myspace under "The Rocker" Marty Jannetty...thanx a million and Keep Rockin da House!!!

Word association time. I will list several preformers, and give us your honest opinion:

A) Mike Enos & Wayne Bloom

loved them..fun guys, we knew them from AWA days

B) Rick Martel

excellent worker, great guy too

C) Crusher Blackwell

good man, learned a lot from him

D) The Great Muta

dont know too much about him

E) "Hot Stuff" Eddie Gilbert

great guy, did the best Jerry Lawler impressions

F) The Von Erich Brothers

loved them all, was very close to Kerry..all great guys

G) Lex Luger

Lex was cool, great guy, we travelled the roads with the Steiner Brothers and Raven(as Scotty Polo) in a van for a long while..

H) The Midnight Express

both very great guys, very great workers

I) The Freebirds

one hell of a team, love them all, may have been wilder on the road than Shanw and I, if that was possible..

J) "The Exotic" Adrian Street

dont know too much about him, have only heard good things..


Thank you very much for your time, and at The Ringside Voice, we like to update our members as often as possible as to what thier favorite stars are doing. Please stop in anytime and let us know.