Need your help, Crappers!

[Brain Of F'n J]

I have a writing project that I need a little help on. My brain's fried, so I'm hoping some of you can provide me with a little content for this project.

What I need are some of the seedier backstage stories of wrestling from the 80's. Things that really make the business and the people in it look bad. Things like the Iron Sheik being offered a bribe to break Hulk Hogan's leg, or the Wendi Richter screwjob, or Ricky Steamboat getting jobbed into infinity for taking time off to be with his pregnant wife. Any stories are good, but stories that happened outside the WWF would be even better. Thank you in advance, Crappers!

Jed Shaffer
~And no, I'm elaborating on what the project is. It's top secret. For now.

[Matt Rogers]

Snuka killing a woman, unless you're going for very nearly definite stuff.

[DiBiase is Good]

Just go here. It's the infamous Death Valley Driver Urban Legends list. A lot is absolute crap, but funny nonetheless.

(Beware of pop-ups).

[Chainsaw]

Really, Vince doing his damndest to drive every one of his competitors out of business could be the main focus of this article.

The difference between him and other corporations is that every once in a while, the government will step in to stop monopolization. Not so with wrestling.

[KAMALARAMBO: BOOMSHAKALAKA!!!]

Hey Jed,

I know your looking for stuff outside the WWE, but I found this old letter online that might be of use to you,

"TOM HANKINS (Open letter in the Wrestling Observer Newsletter)

VINCE McMAHON's denying of sexual charges against Pat Patterson and Terry Garvin is a laugh.
I first started in the business in 1973 working for Nick Gulas out of Nashville. I was warned by Jack Donovan, Sam Bass and others about Terry Garvin from Day One.
At first I thought they were ribbing me. But it only took Terry a few days to approach me in the same manner he did Orton, with my answer to him being the same as Barry's.
In early 1985, one night in Los Angeles after the WWF had run a show at the Sports Arena, I happened to be at the University Hilton Hotel , sitting at a bar drinking with Pat Patterson, Andre the Giant, Jerry Graham and Mike LaBelle.
I was sitting between Andre and Pat.
After about an hour, I asked Patterson about giving me a shot at doing TV jobs for them. He told me, in no uncertain terms, that there was only one way that I was ever going to work for them, and that was by having sexual relations with him that very night.
Pat was pretty drunk at this point and he was spouting off rather loudly about his fondness for oral sex with other males and asking me if that made him a bad guy.
I told him that I felt he was free to do as he pleased, but that I definitely wasn't interested in being a participant.
He responded by reiterating that I would never work for the WWF in that case. He kept his word.
He even went as far as to throw me out of the dressing room at subsequent shows although I had always been allowed free access up until that point, even though I hadn't been working for them.
Based upon my experience, I cannot help but feel that this was typical behavior for Patterson.
Yes, he was an outstanding worker in the ring, but his business and personal ethics suck. He more than deserved to take this fall. I'm just surprised that it didn't happen sooner.
If everyone who has experienced this same situation were to come forward and speak out, I think everyone would be shocked at just how many instances like this there were."

Also, I think whatever your working on should focus on some of the veterans of that time being harsh with rookies. Although it still happened in the '90's and today (Hardcore Holly anyone?) I think the 1980s was the last time it happened to the extent that it did in the 1980s.

Foley's Dynamite Kid story could help. Also you might want to research something Foley said in passing about some trainers having prospective wrestlers who they thought were untalented get down on all fours and then without warning stomp down on their legs, breaking bones and forcing them out of the business.

You should mention some of the Kamala stories. Don't know how realiable they all are as he seems pretty bitter towards a lot of the older stuff, but the Andre story has been confirmed by mutliple parties (the two having a beef and Kamala carrying around a gun afterwards as a result). Also, Kamala hearing (I think) Chief Jay Strongbow specifically say that he wasn't going to push "n" words.

You have to mention Brody getting stabbed in Puerto Rico and his killer getting away with it scott free.

Lastly, I remember reading in the book "Sex, Lies, and Headlocks" something about Ole Anderson working on a deal with (I thik) the Briscoe Brothers and one of the brothers refusing to a blood ritual to sign the deal. See Ole wanted to cut his hand open and one the Briscoe brothers to cut his hand open and then shake on it so they would be blood brothers. But one of the Briscoe's refused the deal saying something along the lines of, "I'm not going to be blood brothers with a filthy Polack".

[Brain Of F'n J]

dibiaseisgood said:

Just go here. It's the infamous Death Valley Driver Urban Legends list. A lot is absolute crap, but funny nonetheless.

I would, but I need stuff that's ... well, I don't need a smoking gun, but I need SOME validity. At least, something (like the Iron Sheik bribe incident) where one side attests to it.

chainsawiscaw said:

Really, Vince doing his damndest to drive every one of his competitors out of business could be the main focus of this article.

The article isn't about the seedy side of things. I just need a few stories to provide a backdrop of sorts. It's hard to explain. And I have more then a few of those stories, believe me.

Jed Shaffer
~The Snuka one ... maybe. I've never heard the full (alleged) story. Wanna relay it to me?

[Big BosskMan]

I wasn't our favorite humbler who was bribed to break Hogan's leg. It was Hiro Matsuda. And he did it.

There's also the Ox Baker alleged Heart Punch murder (as described in Mooneyham's "Sex, Lies, and Headlocks"). That isn't as seedy but it is kind of sleazy - how they used real deaths as a cover to build up a guy's finisher.

[Brain Of F'n J]

pushkilla15 said:

I wasn't our favorite humbler who was bribed to break Hogan's leg. It was Hiro Matsuda. And he did it.

There was a rumor I heard that Sheik was bribed as such by Verne Gagne in '84, as Hogan was getting set to debut in the WWF, only Sheik turned it down. I could swear Sheik even commented on it somewhere.

There's also the Ox Baker alleged Heart Punch murder (as described in Mooneyham's "Sex, Lies, and Headlocks"). That isn't as seedy but it is kind of sleazy - how they used real deaths as a cover to build up a guy's finisher.

I will have to look that up. Sleazy fits.

Jed Shaffer
~Ooh, the Brody murder. GOOD ONE, kamala.

[Doctor Tull-eus S. Venture]

Jed, you could use some info about Chris Adam's wrestling school (where Stone Cold cut his teeth in the business in). He was allegedly notorius for overvcharging students, not paying his more experienced wrestlers money after shows that he'd run, and how he ended up getting killed over (I think) a drug deal gone wrong.

I don't recall all the details, but a lot of that was in Stone Cold's book.

[lildude8218]

pushkilla15 said:

I wasn't our favorite humbler who was bribed to break Hogan's leg. It was Hiro Matsuda. And he did it.

You're half right. Matsuda broke Hogan's leg when he was training to become a wrestler. But The Iron Sheik claims that Verne Gagne offered him money to break Hogan's leg and not drop the title to him in January. Basically saying "do this and then come work for me after you're fired."

[kswolf]

pushkilla15 said:

I wasn't our favorite humbler who was bribed to break Hogan's leg. It was Hiro Matsuda. And he did it.

You're confusing two different incidents there. Matsuda wasn't hired to break Hogan's leg - he simply broke it while he was training Hogan. This was actually a pretty frequent occurrence at one time. Trainers would intentionally injure their students in order to "teach them a lesson" about how tough the business was. It also served as a way to drive away guys that they thought weren't very serious about the business, or that didn't have much talent.

Years later, after Hogan jumped ship from the AWA to the WWF. Verne Gagne attempted to bribe the Iron Shiek to break Hogan's leg during their big world title match. This was partially to take revenge on Hogan for leaving him, and partially to sabotage all of Vince's plans for the Hulkster. Obviously, the Shiek turned him down.

[Big BosskMan]

Thanks, I didn't know about the Hogan leg break conspiracy with Sheik.

As for Ox, you can go to his wiki or his own Web site for the story. There are some inconsistencies about Gunkel. Mooneyham's book notes that Gunkel died after the bout.

From en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ox_Baker
The Heart Punch Kills
On June 13, 1971, Ox and his partner the Claw were wrestling in a AWA Midwest Tag Team Championship tag team match against Alberto Torres and his partner Cowboy Bob Ellis in Verdidge, Nebraska. Torres was injured during the match and died three days later. Though evidence indicated that Torres died of a ruptured appendix, Baker's Heart Punch was blamed and, though by his own account Baker was privately distraught over the death, he did "work" it as though he had killed Torres.

But the Torres death would not be the last. On August 1, 1972 in Savannah, Georgia Baker faced Ray Gunkel, who was a popular wrestler in (and part owner of) the Georgia promotion. Though it was claimed that Gunkel dropped dead in the ring from the Heart Punch, other accounts, most notably in the biography of Vince McMahon "Sex, Lies and Headlocks", state that Gunkel had suffered a heart attack apparently from over-indulging at a restaurant before the match. The truth is that Gunkel won the match and died in the dressing room after the match. In both cases, Baker was "blamed" for the death.

From thelegendaryoxbaker.com/bio.html

Ox Baker's Heart Punch made Head-Lines in 1970, when he wrestled a man by the name of Alberto Torres. Baker hit Torres with the Heart Punch and Torres dropped and did not get back to his feet again. He was rushed to the hospital where he later died. It turned out that he had a ruptured pancreas, but didn't disclose it to the wrestling promoters before the match. Baker's Heart Punch was not the 100% cause of death. Then in 1975, Baker's Special Move made Head-Lines again. This time Ox was battling Ray Gunkel in a Texas Death Match. Baker hit Gunkel with the Heart Punch and Gunkel was dead before he hit the floor. Incidents like these made Ox Baker a feared man in the ring.