How did you get started in wrestling?

I was always fascinated watching WWF on television when I was growing up in Westbrook. I played baseball in junior high and football my freshman year in high school, but I gave it up to concentrate on being a wrestler.

I started working out with a couple of wrestlers in Wells. The owner of the place had bought a boxing ring of Rocky Marciano’s and converted it to a wrestling ring. My first match was in the South Portland Armory in November 1989. Another local wrestler, Robbie Ellis (Rob Elowitch) of Portland got me booked in a show in New Bedford, Massachusetts, and that’s how it all started.

It’s sort of like playing in a band when you start out. You start small. You’re definitely not doing it for the money. You hope you play a song that someone notices. In wrestling, you hope someone with connections likes your style. My father would drive me down to places like New Bedford, Fall River, Massachusetts, or Rochester, New York.

I would wrestle on Monday and Tuesday, and be back in school on Wednesday. When I was 18, I was discovered by Phil Apollo, a veteran wrestler who got me into the WWF. I was in the same locker room as Hulk Hogan and the Undertaker.

How did you get the nickname, “Scotty 2 Hotty”?

I had changed my name to Scott Taylor for wrestling. I was going to use “TNT” for my middle name, but someone was already using that. In 1998, I became a tag team partner with “Too Sexy” Brian Christopher. I soon became known as Scott “Too Hot” Taylor. We became known as “Too Much” as a tag team. We were both renamed a year later. Christopher became known as “Grandmaster Sexay” and I became “Scotty 2 Hotty,” and it stuck.

For the first six years I was in WWF, I was just another wrestler and got beat most of the time. I worked my way up and got an identity. Once you find a character that works, you stick with it. I would say I’ve been a good guy more than I’ve been a villain. I won three titles with WWF – two tag team titles and one light heavyweight title.

Do you have a signature move?

I did some break-dancing moves and I was kind of messing around and it developed into the Worm. When I start it the crowd starts spelling out W-O-R-M. I lay the guy out and I end it with a karate chop.

What kind of shape are you in now?

I feel I’m close to the best shape of my career. My weight is 190 pounds. The heaviest I’ve been in my career was around 205. I take better care of myself now, I eat better and I’m home more often. I’ve had neck and back surgeries in the past. You kind of learn to work smarter, not harder.

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