Who were the guys Vince Sr. asked his son to look out for?

[Manute Bol]

I've often heard that after selling the company, Vince Sr. asked Vince Jr. to take care of certain people such as Arnold Skaaland and James Dudley. Does anyone know exactly who was on the list?

[slappy]

I believe Gorilla Monsoon, Freddie Blassie and JTG (it's got to be the only reason he's still employed).

[MolotovMocktail]

Also, I think you can add Andre and possibly Moolah to that list.

[Deleted]

Probably add Captain Lou Albano and Andre the Giant to the list. Pat Patterson too.

[Manute Bol]

Fabulous Moolah, really? I didn't think her and Vince Sr. had that strong of a relationship.

So far it would be: Andre the Giant, Arnold Skaaland, Captain Lou Albano, Classy Freddy Blassie, The Fabulous Moolah, Gorilla Monsoon, James Dudley, and Pat Patterson.

Do you think Jack Tunney, Chief Jay Strongbow, George Steele or Sgt. Slaughter may have been among them as well?

[slappy]

Jul 11, 2013 2:26:05 GMT -5 Manute Bol said:

Fabulous Moolah, really? I didn't think her and Vince Sr. had that strong of a relationship.

So far it would be: Andre the Giant, Arnold Skaaland, Captain Lou Albano, Classy Freddy Blassie, The Fabulous Moolah, Gorilla Monsoon, James Dudley, and Pat Patterson.

Do you think Jack Tunney, Chief Jay Strongbow, George Steele or Sgt. Slaughter may have been among them as well?

I'd say yes to Tunney, Strongbow and maybe Steele. Not too sure about Slaughter.

[Smiley Smile]

I'd say no to Sgt. Slaughter, who hadn't been around all that long in the WWF before the change in ownership, and left soon after.

[rnrk supports BLM]

Isn't Finkel one of them?

[Mozenrath]

Jul 11, 2013 3:09:10 GMT -5 rnrk supports BLM said:

Isn't Finkel one of them?

I thought Finkel was one of Vince Jr's first ever hires. I am really not sure, just that he has been around a long, long time and apparently is pranked in really over the top cruel ways by wrestlers.

[Cranjis McBasketball]

I'm no insider, but as far as I know, the guys hired for life were Blassie, Skaaland, Gorilla, and possibly Andre.

[Deleted]

I think Andre wasn't so much a case of "hired for life" but more like "if he ever needs anything, help him out"

Skaaland and Gorilla had jobs for life in their contracts when Vince Sr. sold the company.

Blassie and Albano, probably fell in between. Possibly Patterson and Tony Garea as well.

Strongbow, not sure.

[A Platypus Rave]

Jul 11, 2013 3:14:24 GMT -5 Mozenrath said:

Jul 11, 2013 3:09:10 GMT -5 rnrk supports BLM said:

Isn't Finkel one of them?

I thought Finkel was one of Vince Jr's first ever hires. I am really not sure, just that he has been around a long, long time and apparently is pranked in really over the top cruel ways by wrestlers.

The story has always been Fink was the first person Vince Jr. hired.

[RowdyRobbyPiper]

Jul 11, 2013 8:01:25 GMT -5 A Platypus Rave said:

Jul 11, 2013 3:14:24 GMT -5 Mozenrath said:

I thought Finkel was one of Vince Jr's first ever hires. I am really not sure, just that he has been around a long, long time and apparently is pranked in really over the top cruel ways by wrestlers.

The story has always been Fink was the first person Vince Jr. hired.

Nope. Vince Sr. hired him originally. His debut was in 1976.

[A Platypus Rave]

Hmm so you're telling me the wwe lied to me for years? What else are they hiding?!

[RowdyRobbyPiper]

Well, that would still put Fink as he longest tenured employee with WWE.

[ritt works hard fo da chickens]

I thought Bruno was supposed to get some special treatment too which Bruno used to get his son hired.

[Deleted]

I've always wondered about Bruno. I would imagine that he would be one that Vince Sr. would have wanted looked out for considering he pretty much made the WWF in the 60s and 70s. I never hear his name brought up in this discussion, wonder if he never was in it or he was just omitted over time since he and VKM didn't get along.

[Deleted]

Tunney? I don't think so. He was a regional promoter in Toronto who was primarily responsible for the WWF's expansion into Canada in the early '80s. He also ran the wrestling shows at the Maple Leaf Gardens too.

But he was only affiliated with the WWF (starting in '84, before then he was affiliated with the NWA), and that was after Vince had bought his dad out and not long before Vince Sr. died. The only real reward for his WWF promotion work was to become the figurehead president on TV; a role that held no actual power beyond what he was already doing.

Sad story time: they stopped using him for Canada promotions in 1995, forced him out of the company and stopped using the MLG as a venue that year, and, when he died in 2004, no one from the WWE went to the funeral and his passing was never mentioned on WWE.com.

Jul 11, 2013 3:14:24 GMT -5 Mozenrath said:

Jul 11, 2013 3:09:10 GMT -5 rnrk supports BLM said:

Isn't Finkel one of them?

I thought Finkel was one of Vince Jr's first ever hires. I am really not sure, just that he has been around a long, long time and apparently is pranked in really over the top cruel ways by wrestlers.

No, Fink's always said he was Vince Jr's first hire; hired away from the Hartford Civic Center where he'd been for a few years at that point.

[Deleted]

The rumor was that Vince Snr told Jr to respect the territories.

I don't know about anyone in particular.

[Mozenrath]

Jul 11, 2013 14:59:46 GMT -5 @torgaddon said:

The rumor was that Vince Snr to Jr to respect the territories.

I don't know about anyone in particular.

Though a major part of that had been Vince Sr worrying for Vince Jr's life. Some of the territories had rather unsavory connections or reputations, and there was a real danger it appeared of retaliation.