OVWP Interview 22 “Superior” Tony Evans: Bigger, Prettier, Superior
This is Amazing Maria, and you are listening to the OVW podcast.
Jackman Ochs:Welcome to the LBW Podcasting, an official podcast on Ohio Valley Wrestling. My name is Jacky Notes. I'm joined today, as always, by Brian Haim.
Brian Hines:Hey, Jack man.
Jackman Ochs:It's a Thursday in the feed. You know what that means. We're sitting down with a very special guest. Today, we are joined by superior, Tony Evans. Please don't start with the way I think you wanna start.
Jackman Ochs:I don't like being hushed.
Tony Evans:Alright, Foley.
Jackman Ochs:We wanna start there? What's it like working like? It's Mick fucking Foley at the end of the day.
Tony Evans:I mean, you said it. It's Mick Foley. Like I I kinda found out what was gonna go on, I guess, a month or month or 2 before it happened.
Jackman Ochs:Mhmm.
Tony Evans:And I was like, oh, shit. Like, I just came off the, segment with Paul White. Yeah. Yeah. Gosh.
Tony Evans:I mean, and Al in the ring, like, that's a big deal too. Like, I'm shooting every week, but that's Al fucking Snow, you know? Yeah. But then I got told that the the Foley stuff was gonna happen and I I was just starstruck before he even got there.
Jackman Ochs:Sure.
Tony Evans:And then, you know, working with Mick, he's I mean, we'll we'll peel back the curtain. He's a he's a total fucking sweetheart. Mhmm. Yeah. There we talked in the ring.
Tony Evans:Mhmm. There wasn't much, in the back that we really discussed or anything and it was just it was just out there. Like, what you all saw was our interactions.
Jackman Ochs:Right. Right. And I mean, it's Mick Foley. You have to trust him. Say, he knows a thing or two.
Tony Evans:Trusted me. Oh, sure. That's a big thing.
Jackman Ochs:This early on into your career, you get I wanna I wanna bring back that word trust. Trust is all over wrestling. It's probably one of the most important parts of wrestling. And then Mick Foley, who has no reason to trust you, trusts you. How does that make you feel?
Tony Evans:It's it's a feather in the cap. I I try not to, believe it or not, with my with who I am out there when the cameras start rolling. I try not to get a big head about everything. And I'm just I'm here for everyone to succeed. I'm here for everyone to do well, to do my part, to make everyone else look good, the show as a whole.
Tony Evans:You know, so I my spot just happened to be with Mick Foley and fucking hallelujah.
Brian Hines:But, like, you
Tony Evans:know, I'm I'm there to try and make everything run smooth.
Jackman Ochs:Uh-huh. Uh-huh. Does, is the sock clean?
Tony Evans:I don't know if that one was. You got that sweaty crotch sock.
Jackman Ochs:How, how long, have you been in wrestling?
Tony Evans:I think my first time in a ring ever was October of 2015. 15. Mhmm. So, just past 8 years, I think, if that math is mathing.
Jackman Ochs:Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Little past 8 years.
Tony Evans:Yeah. I don't know. I'm I'm barely into caffeine, so my brain's not woken up.
Jackman Ochs:Oh, don't worry. Don't worry. What
Tony Evans:Yeah. I've been, about little over 8. Only in OVW for about 3 now. Mhmm. Maybe coming coming up on 3 or coming up on 4.
Tony Evans:But I remember right after right after the COVID shutdown and stuff and things were starting to open back up is when I started coming back in. Mhmm. I remember it was a March show. That's that's all I've got.
Jackman Ochs:Okay.
Tony Evans:But I mean, all those years blend together.
Brian Hines:I'm sure. Yeah.
Jackman Ochs:Sure. It's hard to that's one thing that is so interesting to me when we sit here and talk to wrestlers every week or or as often as we get to, is that that idea that things just kinda keep running together. Because for us, like as fans, you know, someone who's never fallen on their back intentionally, we we're like, how do you not remember this amazing thing that you did or this amazing thing that happened? Do you does it does it ever get, like, draining for everything to be so monotonous as a wrestler?
Tony Evans:Oh, yeah. All the time. You know, like, we're we're coming in, we're doing this multiple times a week sometimes. Some guys are once a week. Some guys are 3 and 4 times a week.
Tony Evans:And I try to stay in a happy medium there when I can. But, you know, you've got you've got real life. You've got Bruce Wayne life Yeah. And you've got Batman life.
Brian Hines:Yeah. You
Tony Evans:know? So, you gotta be able to balance the 2. And as long as your bills are paid, wrestle all you want.
Jackman Ochs:Yeah. Absolutely. That's some some really good advice. Some really good advice. What's the what's the, like, furthest you've ever traveled for a show?
Tony Evans:I don't know which one's farther, but, I mean, I've been to Florida and I've been to Pennsylvania. Okay. So, I mean, I've I've been all around.
Jackman Ochs:The whenever you you start hitting the circuit, for wrestling and it's just like miles and falling on your back and, like, bad food, was there ever a point where you said, stop? I don't wanna do this anymore?
Tony Evans:Oh, all the time. Mhmm. Yeah. I mean, you you fall back on your love for what you do, but when you're when you're going and going and going 3, 4 shows a week. Mhmm.
Tony Evans:Still going to your shoot job, still dealing with your real life, like, the shit's taxing.
Jackman Ochs:Yeah. You know? Yeah.
Tony Evans:But, and that doesn't really get highlighted enough, like, the mental toll that it takes on
Jackman Ochs:you. Mhmm.
Tony Evans:Of course, the physical toll. And, of course, you're sitting there just, like, burning the candle at both ends and the middle, like
Jackman Ochs:Yeah.
Tony Evans:You know? You're gonna get drained. You're gonna hate this. You're gonna resent yourself. You're gonna fucking wish you chose something else.
Tony Evans:Mhmm. But at the end of the day, you chose this because you love it, and you fall back on that.
Jackman Ochs:Anytime where you've where you've kind of said to yourself, I don't know if this is worth it anymore. Is it just that love that keeps you going?
Tony Evans:I mean, I've never fully said, hey. I don't wanna do this anymore. There's times when I'm like, man, I wish I wasn't going to a show right now. Or I wish I was sleeping for more than 3 hours tonight. You know?
Tony Evans:Yeah. But, there once you get out there and then the adrenaline starts going, that's the ticket.
Jackman Ochs:It's all about the crowd.
Brian Hines:Yep. Oh, yeah.
Jackman Ochs:At the Davis Arena has, like, one of the best crowds in wrestling one of the best fan bases in wrestling, and they really don't like you very much.
Tony Evans:No. That's their opinion.
Jackman Ochs:We the we had touched on it before. We're gonna have to touch on it, the hush thing. Mhmm. I if I have this correctly, that was that was just that that did not happen. You did not walk out there and plan on making Hush happen.
Jackman Ochs:Is that
Tony Evans:No. I just I went out there and I was told 5 to 7, give me something to work with. Mhmm. And I did it. I called out all the champions.
Tony Evans:I put everyone on notice. Even the women's champion. I'm just I'm going for everybody. I don't give a damn. We're handing out licks.
Tony Evans:But, you know, I went out there and then I they were they were kinda loud for a minute and, you know, just the subtle little hush. And they kept coming up for it and I was like, alright. Maybe we got something here. And then the next week, do it again. Add the hand, all of it, and then eventually the the knuckles.
Brian Hines:Yeah. I noticed that too. That's a nice touch.
Jackman Ochs:And at first, it's something that everybody it's genuinely kind of annoying. It's genuinely annoying, and that's a good thing. Right?
Tony Evans:It's annoying when they don't listen.
Jackman Ochs:It's I exactly. It's annoying when they don't listen.
Tony Evans:Trying to talk. I'm trying to work. They're not letting me.
Jackman Ochs:Yeah. But now we're getting to the point where hush has taken on a whole different meaning. There's people out there that are saying hush, not at you, but with you.
Brian Hines:I I can attest that I have done that a time or 2. And I gotta say the one of the first things I remember about, watching OVW at home for the the first couple of times I was with, senior producer, Victor Anderson, and we would watch on Thursday nights, was you in particular because, you're the best person on the mic in OVW in my opinion.
Tony Evans:Thank you. And,
Brian Hines:that was one thing that we really just got, that really just hit with us because we understood what you were doing and why you were doing it, and the reaction you were getting was the most entertaining spot on the whole entire, on the whole entire show week after week. So Victor really took that and ran with it. So I can attest that in real life, I'd have been hushed more times than I can count after being exposed to superior Tony Evans. I just wanna say thank you for the help.
Tony Evans:Well, I appreciate that. I mean, it has one meaning. Hush, plain and simple means shut the fuck up. Yeah.
Brian Hines:I mean, there's no two ways
Tony Evans:to do that. Really. It's one way to do it. Just sit down, shut your mouth. I'm here to work.
Tony Evans:I'm talking, you know. But, no. With with the mic stuff, you know, putting me over saying I'm one of the best on the mic there. That Oh,
Brian Hines:the best.
Tony Evans:Well, opinions. But that that didn't come overnight. That came after I actually got hurt couldn't do anything in the ring for a while.
Brian Hines:Interesting. Oh, really?
Tony Evans:Yeah. Around last summer. I got hurt early on in the summer, abdominal injury. Everything's fine now. But
Jackman Ochs:Oh, good. Good.
Tony Evans:I had to go out there with a mic in my hand and it's either sink or swim.
Jackman Ochs:Right.
Brian Hines:Yeah.
Tony Evans:And I just built a fucking boat.
Jackman Ochs:Couple of things on that. You get injured. You can't physically compete, but you're still being, included in the card every week. A very, very important part of the card. They want you to be relevant.
Jackman Ochs:That's gotta be like, a lot of wrestlers don't get that opportunity. Once once an injury happens, you might not ever be back on TV ever again. They say to you, Tony Evans, we want you here more weeks than we don't want you. That's gotta feel really good. Right?
Tony Evans:It felt good, and it especially from a place where I wasn't really confident in what I was doing yet. And then definitely the toll of getting hurt, not being able to do what I do, what I like to do, that that really sucked. But, like, still being pulled onto TV every week, being able to do stuff, work with what limited functionality my body had at the time. I mean, I'm forever thankful for the opportunity.
Jackman Ochs:Absolutely. Having said all of that, though, was there ever a time where you were afraid of being healthy again, being able to compete again, but the character of Tony Evans has been changed to the point where, like, you you kind of don't have control over it anymore.
Tony Evans:Oh, no. I'm in full control of who I am
Jackman Ochs:Okay. Perfect.
Tony Evans:At all times.
Jackman Ochs:Perfect.
Tony Evans:Nobody tells me anything to say.
Jackman Ochs:Mhmm.
Tony Evans:I don't think about it until I'm out there. So I
Brian Hines:guess I just I have That's even more impressive.
Jackman Ochs:From looking at it just as a fan, like, you get you get shown we get shown that you're this, like, great great microphone person. But you're also, like, a really great in ring wrestler. Like, were you ever afraid of never being able of only being a microphone person?
Tony Evans:No. I knew I would get back into the ring. I just didn't know when it would be. I didn't know how fast that was gonna happen. Sorry.
Tony Evans:And, you know, you get your you get your anxiety, your jitters about getting back in there. You know, what if what if damn caffeine. That's all just creeps in your head. You know? So, there's no way around it.
Tony Evans:You just gotta go through it.
Brian Hines:Yeah. Yeah. Do you
Jackman Ochs:mind to name some of your accomplishments in OVW, please?
Tony Evans:2 time I think 2.
Jackman Ochs:2 time.
Tony Evans:Is it 2? Is it 3?
Jackman Ochs:Oh, no. You've had it so many times.
Tony Evans:2 and or 3 time. OVW Country Boy Brewing Kentucky heavyweight champion.
Brian Hines:Yes. I wanna say it's 3.
Tony Evans:I think it's 3. That's I'm I'm
Brian Hines:I'm pretty sure it is.
Tony Evans:I think it's 3. I lost count. I had the damn thing for so long. Longest reigning Kentucky heavyweight champion. Heavyweight champion.
Tony Evans:Yep. Rightful Country Boy Brewing media champion. I I got screwed out of it. Yes.
Brian Hines:Well, no argument here.
Tony Evans:Rightful.
Jackman Ochs:Well It's
Tony Evans:amazing you'll have these opinions when I'm sitting here.
Jackman Ochs:Love Cal Hero love Cal Hero. But what did he do for that media championship?
Tony Evans:He took advantage of Mick Foley trying to get me with that sock.
Brian Hines:Right.
Tony Evans:And that's all he did.
Jackman Ochs:Cal Hero is not a baby face.
Tony Evans:Oh, no. Cal Cal is a snake. And I I heard Luke Curtis say it, and I will double up on that. Cal is a snake. He's a fraud.
Tony Evans:He's got all of you in his little head there tricked. Cal is the bad guy.
Jackman Ochs:What do you you look around at this guy, this Cal hero, did nothing for your championship, screwed you over. Mick Foley, obviously, in love with the kid. Get get Mick Foley gives you a hard time for week in, week out. Like, how does it make you feel to be Toni Evans and have Cal Hero just given everything?
Tony Evans:Oh, I'm backed against the law. I'm being bullied. And then Mick comes in here with little baby boy he watched since he was a kid. Mhmm. And he's like, oh, give it all to him.
Tony Evans:You know? Yeah. Like, he just comes in and ruins everything I've got going on. My life is going perfect. Mick Foley comes in, king of cheap pops and cheeseburgers, and he just waves that little crotch sock out and then I no longer have a championship.
Jackman Ochs:Is Cal Hero in your sights still? Oh, yeah. Who else is in your sights?
Tony Evans:Name him. Anybody. Honestly, I don't have a direct answer. It's it's anybody that wants it.
Jackman Ochs:Tell one word for the rest of the for Cal Hero. One word for Cal Hero. Done. One word for Star Rider. Forgotten.
Jackman Ochs:One word for Luke Curtis.
Tony Evans:Certified. Yeah. Certified.
Jackman Ochs:I like it.
Brian Hines:I like it. Good word association game, man. I like that.
Jackman Ochs:Yeah. Well, I I've thought about that one a little bit. Al Snow. Dad. Mick Foley?
Tony Evans:I can't say a lot of words.
Jackman Ochs:Jay Jay De Niro. Good job. What's next for Tony Evans?
Tony Evans:Uh-oh. Oh.
Jackman Ochs:Sorry.
Tony Evans:Was that me?
Jackman Ochs:That was me. Oh, okay. We can edit that out. Right, Malachi? Actually, edit that one out this time.
Jackman Ochs:What's next for Tony Evans?
Tony Evans:I'm I'm coming for everything that was taken from me. Mhmm. I'm coming for everything I deserve and I'm coming for more. So once I get my media championship back
Jackman Ochs:Mhmm.
Tony Evans:Where it belongs, Only up from there.
Jackman Ochs:Only up from there.
Tony Evans:Bigger and better, taking it all.
Jackman Ochs:Where can we find you on social media, Tony Evans?
Tony Evans:Facebook is Tony Evans Frank. Instagram and Twitter or x, whatever you wanna call it now. T_superior94.
Jackman Ochs:And this has been such a great interview. And I really would feel really bad if you don't just hush me one time. Can you please hush me?
Brian Hines:Let me take off my headphones first because this could get loud.
Tony Evans:I mean, it's not it doesn't have the same effect when you ask for it. So, like, if I What are you doing now? I can't if it doesn't just come natural, like I've got a Hush.
Jackman Ochs:Thanks, guys.
