Show: Wrestling Epicenter
Guest: Eddy Mansfield
Date: 09/04/2026
Your Host: "Arizona" James Walsh

A few years ago, I, "Arizona" James Walsh, got to know Eddy Mansfield fairly well. Eddy is a warm hearted man with a lot of knowledge about the world of professional wrestling and entertainment. He also has a lot of big opinions and isn't shy about sharing those opinions when we get to talking. Some of those opinions rub people the wrong way. But, if you know Eddy, you know he is a quality human being who only speaks the truth as he sees it.

Eddy Mansfield claimed, a few years ago, to have been Missy Hyatt's first interlude into professional wrestling. A quick Google search will result in pictures of a newspaper article of their wedding right around the time that the "Walking Riot" was starting her wrestling journey. So, timeframe wise, Eddy's side of the story checks out. If you are a fan of Missy's as I have been and as Jim Cornette's podcast co-host Brian Last is, you noticed that her brief relationship with Eddy Mansfield was overlooked during the Dark Side of the Ring special. I mentioned it on Facebook which drew a moderate response. Brian Last mentioned it on Jim Cornette's podcast to a massive response. Brian Last also found quotes from one of my many interviews with Eddy Mansfield over the years and read the transcript to Jim who cracked jokes in response to the quotes. Well, shit. I guess that means old "Arizona" James stepped right in the drama pile without even trying.

Eddy Mansfield and I decided to get his take on the matter in a new interview and you can check that out below.

Check out www.WrestlingEpcienter.com for all of our classic interviews including interviews with Eddy Mansfield, Jim Cornette, Missy Hyatt, and close to a thousand other wrestling names throughout the years as large as Hulk Hogan. We've been around a while, guys. We are not bragging. We're just saying that we have the utmost respect for everyone who made pro wrestling what it is today including Eddy, Missy, and Cornette. If we didn't respect this business the way we do, we'd have been chased out of it eons ago. Rightfully so.

YouTube linK; https://youtu.be/Vi4QgJwwoY8

EDDY MANSFIELD:

On being accused of "exposing the business" again by Jim Cornette and others:
"I'm going to start out by reading this email that was sent to Dave LaGreca of Busted Open Rado. It reads, "Hi Dave, the business is a complete work. Always has been, always will be. Every aspect of it. Every match. Every interview. Please join me, Cody, Cena, Brian and the rest of us for our creative discussions so you can expand your perspective. Until then, stop ranting, it's not healthy my friend. Enjoy the show. Ps, tell Bubba I have Grand Marnier and hush puppies for all of us." Do you know who wrote that email? The Rock. Dwayne "The Rock Johnson! So, why don't people like Jim Cornette go tell The Rock that they exposed the business? Why don't they tell The Undertaker? Shawn Michaels? Why do they continue to say I exposed the business when everyone knows it is a work. How did I ever expose the business?"

On the purpose of the 20/20 special:
"20/20 screwed me. It was supposed to be about medical benefits - Not about John Stossel. So, you know what, Cornette? f*** you, man."

On what really happened with the Missy Hyatt marriage article:
"That was staged. It was done to get a girl who was stalking me off of my ass. It had nothing to do with Missy's father, mama, grandmama, her Uncle. Nothing. It was to get a girl off my ass! I was banging Missy Hyatt at the time and she did me a favor with that article. And, to that little arena rat (Matt) Roblez, keep your little mouth shut you stinkin' mark! If you have to pay someone to wrestle so you can say that you're a wrestler, you're just a jabroni. You're nothing but a Missy Hyatt mark!"

On being left out of the Dark Side of the Ring on Missy Hyatt:
"I don't care. I was her first in wrestling. But, why did I need to be mentioned? I didn't. And, i wasn't. I've been out of the wrestling business for many years now. And, Jim Cornette. I don't even know the sun of a bitch! I worked a lot of places in pro wrestling and I have nothing to be ashamed of when it comes to my wrestling career. And, for this jabroni to bring me up (on his podcast) and say stuff about me and tell people he's a historian... What is he a historian of? Smelling somebody's ass?"

On still fielding hate for the 20/20 special decades later:
"What exactly did I expose? Blading? Maybe. People might have thought before that we used fake blood, blood capsules. But, we bleed. People in the real world, the world that I'm in, the world that The Rock is in which is why he wrote that email to Dave LaGreca, that is not how the real world works. People don't give a shit. I am a television producer and that is not how this works."

On Jim Cornette:
"Why did he need to reach out touch Eddy Mansfield? I don't get it. Why doesn't he talk about how he ripped off Rick Rubin?"

On if Mansfield's IWF ever considered working with Jim Cornette's Smoky Mountain Wrestling:
"No, I didn't need him. And, I've never met him. The closest we ever came to knowing each other is my good friend, who passed away, Dennis Condrey. Dennis Condrey and I were good friends. But, that was it. I do know that David Schultz chucked his (Cornette's) ass out of a locker room. He's scared of David. And, David Schultz is a guy who was taken advantage of in the business. I saw what he did with Stossel. And, he should have slapped him."
Arizona James: "I think he was told to."
Eddy: "They were trying to fire him. They set him up."

On what resulted in him doing the 20/20 special:
"20/20 only had to do with Ole Anderson who was trying to blackball me. Ole and Ralph Freed who was Fred Ward's son in law. He was a money counter. And, Ole convinced Stossel to go against Vince McMahon. I told them, "I don't have anything against Vince McMahon." i still don't have anything against Vince McMahon. I never did. But, if I knew then what I know now, I never would have done the mother f***er. Because, now, I've been around long enough to know what an ambush is. Back then, I was coming out of the wrestling business. Now, I would know how to avoid an ambush."

On Cornette claiming he did 20/20 because he was "boo-boo facing over never getting to the top":
"That's bullshit. That's his own stupid imagination. It was about Ole Anderson trying to take money from me. He wanted me to kick back money to him. He had a bunch of guys kicking back money to him. And, Wahoo McDaniel, he said, "f*** him, Eddy." There was a lot of shit that went on before that. But, I was in the showers, the TBS showers and Wahoo was there. I told Ole, "If you do what you say you're going to do to me, I'm going to do what I've got to do to your ass." They (20/20) should have exposed the corruption that Ole Anderson was up to in the Georgia territory and TBS. But, instead, they listened to Ole and they went after Vince. Because, Vince was handy. ABC was in New York, Vince was in New York. WrestleMania was about to happen in Madison Square Garden in New York. So, he went and set those guys up."

On if there was even a mention of the health benefits during the 20/20 special:
"Yeah. Barbara Walters went and mentioned the health benefits side of it at the end of the damn show. It wasn't the focus the way it was supposed to be."

On if Jim Cornette's podcast itself exposes the business:
"Here's a guy who is obsessed with "exposing the business." Again, why doesn't he call The Rock out? Why doesn't he say shit about The Undertaker? And, what is Cornette doing every week? On his podcast and on Dark Side of the Ring. I was on Dark Side of the Ring for the 20/20 episode and David Schultz. But, I don't watch it. You do. What do they do? They go to the lowest common denominator. They make guys look pitiful. They do. but, that is what wrestling does too. The lowest common denominator. It showcases the scum that the wrestling business has spit out."

On Cornette's podcast getting far too political:
"I don't like to talk politics. But, I will say this. I love my country. I love that I live in a country where I could succeed in professional wrestling and then also succeed as a successful television producer. Right now, I'm working on a country music show that will have a host that will blow people's minds. And, when we announce the network this will air on, everyone will know about it. It is going to be huge. But, I love this country. I love our President! We can all have different opinions. But, I love this country! You can disagree and you can have issues. But, everyone should be allowed to have their opinions and share them without being insulted for them."