| You ran away when you were 12 years old. Do you remember anything about growing up in Canada?
(Chuckles) I remember living on the streets in Toronto. How long did you do that? Until the police found me, found out where I lived, and shipped me back. Did you keep leaving home? Yeah, quite often. Were you just trying to strike out on your own? No, the Second World War was on, you know. My relative was four years older than me, and he went and joined the Merchant Marines. He was about 15 or 16 when he joined the Marines. Did you have any intention on following in his footsteps? During the Second World War, you never seen too many people... my sisters were older and they were working in the war plants. Now how did you end up in Toronto? That's pretty far away from Nova Scotia. It's about 1,500 miles away (from Nova Scotia). So what were you doing in Toronto? I went to Toronto first because my sister was living in Toronto. In 1954, you wanted to learn how to box but walked into a wrestling gym. What happened there? I was boxing before that in Spring Hill. In Toronto, I thought I would go to a gym and work out and I happened to go into a gym where a lot of big guys – big men like (Baron) Mikel Scicluna and Waldo Von Erich and Dave McKigney, the Bear Man. I told him "Excuse me, I want to leave, I thought this was a boxing gym and I look like a mouse." McKigney said to me, "You teach me a little boxing and I'll teach you a little wrestling." We've always heard stories about guys trying to break in who got beaten up and stretched a bit, did they do that to you as well? No, because I was teaching him to box a little bit. I wasn't good, but I was better than him! (laughs) How long did you train before you started to get some work in wrestling? I started to get some work a little before I was trained because they used me as fodder. They would just throw me in with somebody and just pound on me and that was it. And then it was several years later and I joined a circus called Gayland Shows in Alberta. And then I worked for a guy who used to go out and challenge people, "You last with me for three minutes, you can win this much money." When I faced him, he let me last the three minutes. Then he'd go outside and challenge me again to get the people back in again. First time he asked me, "Did you ever wrestle before?" And I said, "Yeah, I wrestled an old sow one time, an old pig, and I whipped her, so I can whip you too!" And the people liked that. Next time we'd go in, he'd beat me up. So we could use the people twice. What kind of money could you make for doing something like that? In 1957-58-59, a friend of mine bought a home in Calgary, Alberta, four bedrooms, four bathrooms, and he said I paid $18,500. I said you'll never pay for it! See, we have no idea of the concept of pay from today to back then. That wasn't that many years ago, that was 40 years ago! Sometimes you would get $10, $15, and on a good house $25. But it didn't cost much to live then. You would go from Calgary to Edmonton to Saskatoon to Regina and back to Calgary. In Saskatoon, the hotel room was only $3. People don't understand that. So if you were making $20, the hotel room was only $3, and you could go to a restaurant for an all-you-can-eat meal for a $1... people don't understand the difference between then and now. In 1971-72 in Pittsburgh at the Civic Arena, the tickets were only $2, $3, and $4 for ringside. That was in 1970! How much is a ringside seat at MSG today? If you can buy one! Vince McMahon, in all the wrong that some people may believe, he sure done much good for a lot of guys. He give them a little dignity, a little money, and stopped the business of kayfabing and hey, if you want to believe it's show business, accept it as show business, but if you want to go in and try it, tell me how you feel (afterwards). The rodeo was show business too, isn't it? So you ride one of those bulls and see how it is! You didn't dive headfirst into wrestling right away did you? Oh no, I wrestled a little while and then I went back into the oil field. Why the oil fields? Was that the only thing going on? Well, that was the best job available and somebody offered me the job at the hotel one time in Alberta and said, hey, do you want to work as a roughneck? I can get you a job. I went way up to Northern Alberta, to Swan Hill, and I worked up there as a roughneck for Parker Drilling and Can-Tex Drilling. Parker Drilling was the biggest. When I listened to the Vice President (Dick Cheney) talk about the company he used to work for, what's the name… Halliburton? …I worked for them too! The oil field is common, everybody works for everyone. Were you just doing spot shows when Stu Hart would call? When I got out of the oil fields, Waldo Von Erich was in Calgary. And we were friends from when we started. Scicluna was in Calgary, too. I talked to Waldo and he said “C'mon on down and I'll talk to Stu to get you some work.” Here I am, wrestling in Calgary. One time we went to a town just north of Calgary and a lot of the guys from the oil field knew I was going to be wrestling there. And they went down to see the match. I was making very good money in the oil field and that night, the payoff was $15. And all the guys from the oil fields were sitting back saying, "Boy, I'll tell you, we're up here in the oil fields and here's this guy making all this money in the wrestling ring." If they only knew, right? We hear many horror stories about meeting Stu Hart and how intimidating, scary of a guy he was. What were your experiences with him? Stu Hart was only intimidating for people who didn't know him. If he knew you and knew what kind of a guy you were, he treated you very well. He never stretched you then? Oooh, yeah! (Laughs) Of course he stretched me! My thumb, my right hand, he pushed my arm under my back and tore all the ligaments on my thumb. He didn't do it on purpose, he did it because I was fighting back. The point is I learned, he knew it, and that's why he kept me on there for a long time. What was your first name or your first gimmick that you had? I'd have to go to an encyclopedia and look that up. I had more names – Skunk Man was a pretty good gimmick for a while. In Toronto, I had the skunk for several years and there was a kiddy show called "Uncle Bobby's" on television in Toronto and I gave the skunk to Uncle Bobby's TV show. The kids really enjoyed it. Even if you de-scent the skunk, it still stinks. The skunk was terrific, it was a great performer! I'd take him in the ring, set him down, he'd go from corner to corner and when he went to the corner were my opponent was, my opponent would back off and stomp his foot, and Sweet Pea, the skunk, would lift his tail up and walk backwards toward the guy. The guy would run away! About what year was that? 1959. One of the most famous things you are known for is the tag team of the Mongols. How did that come about? You met Nikolai Volkoff (Josep Peruzovic)... Nikolai Volkoff was 19 years old at the time and he used to stand in Calgary and watch the matches. He would stand by the door, where'd we come in and out. He was a big guy then, 320 pounds then, 6'4". That's a big guy. At that time. So he'd speak to me leaving, I thought he was a wrestler, I didn't know. Somebody introduced me to him. I was running small little shows at the time. I took him to the YMCA and we worked out there. I had a little portable ring and I used to help him get started, train him a little bit, didn't take too much. He didn't need to be taught a whole lot. He was an Olympic power lifter in Croatia and I took him and trained him. That's how he got started. You guys debuted the Mongol gimmick for... Larry Kasaboski in North Bay, Ontario. He didn't want to take us in there because he said you guys were too big, the biggest guys he had were the Garvins. Ronnie Garvin was only a teenager back then. We worked for Kasaboski for a while and then we were wanted to go to Montreal. When I went to Montreal, I sent some pictures to Vince McMahon, Sr., in the late 1960s. He said stay in Montreal as long as you can and then when I get ready for you, I will bring you in. So that's what he did. We stayed in Montreal for about a year. Whose idea was it for the Mongol gimmick and the names Bepo and Geto? I went to the library and looked up Genghis Khan and read a lot about Mongolia and decided that would be a good gimmick. We took the gimmick, I cut Bepo’s hair, but he couldn't grow a mustache and had a little bit of a beard. We had some pictures taken with some furs down in the basement and those are the ones I sent to McMahon, Sr. Then he brought us in for television shows and we were there for three months on TV in New York. We were never at any of the live shows, we would go and tape and then leave back to Montreal. Finally, when Vince McMahon, Sr., had an opening, he brought us in. Then we were well known before he brought us in. The Washington Post color section... we were on the front page of it. I still have some copies of it. With Tony Angelo, me, and Bepo on the front page. That was in 1970-1971. In the article, it was who are these guys that we see on television? What was it like when you first had a chance to meet Vince McMahon, Sr.? Oh, he was a great guy, he treated us like kings. He was the best. When I was hurt, he paid me for shows I couldn't make. When we came in to make TV, Bepo hurt his ankle in Montreal. And it was swollen so bad it was turning color. But, we had to go to New York. So we got on the plane and the altitude really blew up his ankle bad. We got there at the TV show and I said, "Bepo, keep it hidden, wrap it up, wrap it up." So we went out there, I did most of the work, we made three TV shows and we went back to Montreal. After the third TV show in Washington, I had to take a knife and cut his boot off. It was so bad, it was purple, it was all colors. He was in a lot of pain. He never said anything. I said, “if you don't go, we're done, this is our opportunity.” He suffered much, but he was a tough guy, he kept walking on it. Back in Montreal, I wrestled alone while he let his ankle heal up. Tony Angelo, what was he like to work with and also Captain Lou Albano who... Oh, these guys they're troopers, Tony Angelo was a terrific guy and Captain Lou Albano was the best. You're the first team he managed, I believe. Yeah, yeah. They were terrific, both good managers, they helped us out a lot. At the time, Bepo couldn't speak English. If we had airline tickets, do all of his talking for him and everything. One time I left him in Montreal and I had to go somewhere, and I said – listen, I was gone for a couple of days and if he had go to the restaurant – well, I said, “if you are hungry just order apple pie and coffee. Then go the grocery store and get whatever you want.” So one time, he went into the restaurant to get apple pie and coffee and this guy next to him had a corn beef sandwich and he heard the guy say to the girl, corn beef sandwich. So the girl asked Bepo want he wanted and he said, "Corn beef sandwich." She asked him, "Do you want it on white, brown, or rye" and he said, "Apple pie and coffee." (laughs) What are your best memories working for Vince McMahon, Sr.? It had to be quite a change coming from Canada to work in front of American crowds, especially New York. They’re the same. Same people! Wrestling fans are wrestling fans, same everywhere. You came in and beat Victor Rivera and Tony Moreno for the International Tag Titles. Then you guys left for a little bit in 1971 and took the belts with you? That's when we went into Pittsburgh. That's when I bought the territory from Bruno Sammartino. He promoted the Civic Arena. So I bought it from him. Then, I stayed there and sold it to Pedro Martinez's financial backer. Bepo went on his way and I went on my own. Bepo started working as Nikolai Volkoff. When you took over the promotion in Pittsburgh, is it true that it was when you learned to read? That's true. Exactly, true. I could read, but I could only read at a Grade 3 level. If the sign went by quick, I couldn't make it out. But that's okay. As long you can count money, that's fine. That's right, that's right. (Laughs) That's what Jim Crockett said one time when they brought in Sweet Daddy Siki vs. Buddy Rogers, a black against a white, they were saying “Ooh, that's terrible, that's terrible.” And after the match he (Crockett) said, "You tell me the black money from the white money." Toots Mondt originally had the Pittsburgh territory and sold it to Bruno, and then Bruno sold it to you. How did Bruno approach you about selling it and how did you buy it? Bruno was too busy, he had Ace Freeman and Rudy Miller running things for him and they stayed on and worked for me. He approached several people to sell and I offered him so much and he said okay. You ran Pittsburgh as a separate territory from McMahon, but used a lot of McMahon guys. What were some of the problems and benefits of running your own promotion? You could make money. (Laughs) I worked as a wrestler and Ace Freeman and Rudy Miller put things together and ran things. You had “Battman” Tony Marino, Dominic DeNucci... I had the whole Italian tribe there! Tony Parisi... Tony Parisi got mad one time, I was saying – geez, he's wrestling against Batman – and I said to Ace, “we got too many Italians. All Italians here.” So on the payoff, I give Batman more than Tony Parisi and they talked together, and Tony Parisi quit on me then. That's what I wanted! So in other words I got the job done and saved a little money! You had a barn and refurbished it into a training center… That was after I quit. Yeah, 1972-73 and right after that, Pedro Martinez called and he had Eddie Einhorn of IWA (he owned the Chicago White Sox as well). Ivan Koloff was there, Bulldog Brower, Ox Baker, and all these guys. Eddie Einhorn, he knew nothing about the wrestling. It kind of fooled him a little bit. He couldn't take the chaos. The guys would fight from the ring, up the aisle, to the dressing room, he'd run out, he figured these guys were insane. Pedro made a lot of money off of him. Eddie Einhorn tried to do what Vince McMahon, Jr., did, go national. He changed all of the promotions. He had the slow-mo replays. The first guy that did that. Plus he offered contracts and guaranteed minimum pay. You seemed to wrestle on a lot of "outlaw" shows and promotions. Because I didn't want to work steady. These guys, they were just young and I'm like 20 years older than the guys I was working with. Is that when you started to train guys like Bill Eadie and Larry Zybszko as well? Somebody asked him (Larry) one time and he didn't want to admit that anyone trained him. Did you see the kind of promise in Eadie and Zybszko that eventually was shown? With Eadie, oh yeah. A natural. We wrestled a little while and then I got a call from Japan. Eadie didn't have too much experience at the time. He had no beard or anything, we had six weeks to get ready to go to Japan. Bepo was already working elsewhere, so I told Bill Eadie that he could do well in Japan and make good money over there, so I cut his hair and gave him a little ponytail and a few weeks to grow a mustache, so we went to Japan. Bill told a story about how when you went over to Japan that the Japanese guys looked for weak links and whenever they found them, they pounded guys for it. That's right. That's where we got a bad reputation. (Laugh) They were very good. Bill was young and green, but he learned so much. He learned fast. He had a great memory. They work a lot stiffer of a style in Japan. He fit right in good! They think that's the way it's supposed to be. Did you like going to Japan? No, not at all. There seems to be guys who either love it or hate it. There's not a lot in between. The first few days I was there, I was ready to go home. I was there five or six times. Was it good money? Oh, yeah! And it was all cash! I remember landing in Los Angeles at the airport and I had all the $100 bills in my shoes to go through customs. Pedro Martinez called me and told me that shows were running in Nigeria and that he was working with Carlos Colon down in Puerto Rico, they're sending guys over there too. First of all, I don't have a partner, but the point is, how much can I make? I don't have a mustache or pony tail, but I have long hair. He said, “I could pay you $3,000 a week with all expenses paid.” So I figured, get out the clippers. We were there for three weeks. At the soccer stadium (Nigeria), like 90,000 people, it was hot. The best place I ever wrestled was in Singapore. Oh man, what a beautiful place. We wrestled on Saturday and Sunday and laid on the beach the rest of the week. When was that? 1973. In October 1973, you continued with working with "outlaws" with Ann Gunkel's All-South group. She offered health insurance, benefits to the guys. The point is, you can't do it. These people are socialists. (Laughs) They want to give you all these benefits and no money, they want to run and control things. You can't do that. Pro wrestling is an independent organization, give me the money. It's a capitalist system, give me the money and let me buy what I want. When you worked in All South, do you remember a guy named Jim Wilson? Yeah, he was a football player, right? Yes. He recently wrote a book called "Chokehold" that seems to be very bitter and angry at the way the business was run. He was bitter then, too. He was also high a lot. The point is, I didn't know Jim Wilson well, I worked with him several times, but a lot of guys like ex-boxers, ex-football players knock wrestling. My son, when he was little was always told wrestling was fake. He said, "I don't know, let me grab my Dad and he can show you." Let them get in the business and try a few, guys who knock the wrestling business, try to suplex them from the top rope, it shouldn't hurt if it's fake! I take pro wrestling like the rodeo - you can be in the rodeo every night if you aren't hurt. After All-South, you went to IWA. They had you hooked up with George Cannon. He was always a colorful character. What was it like working with him, another Canadian, in the IWA? You know, Jim Crockett, Sr., in the Carolinas had 45 guys in his territory and he used to run three shows a night in North Carolina, South Carolina, and Virginia. Some of the towns were 20-30 miles apart, but people didn't travel. Never even knew it was there. Advertised on TV. Posters, newspapers, people didn't travel. Out of 45 guys, 30 of them were Canadian. Brute Benard, Skull Murphy, all Canadian guys. They used to have a gym that Dewey Robertson (Missing Link) took over later on, a lot of Canadian guys came out of that gym and were trained. That's why there were so many Canadians. IWA's main territory was the Carolinas with Mil Mascaras and Ivan Koloff. What were your opinions on Mil Mascaras? We heard things that, yeah, he was a legend, but he was just awful to work with. Yeah, terrible! (Laughs) Just terrible! One time we were at the airport in Raleigh, North Carolina, and Mil Mascaras said to me, "Mongol, Mongol, they lost my bag!" I said, "You have a bag there with you," and he said "No mask." I said, "What do you have in the bag?" and he said, "My publicity." He left his mask on the airplane in the bag, but he still had his publicity in his carry-on bag. He was a big head. I was at a swimming pool one time and he came up to me and he was complaining about somebody. Bulldog Brower was there and I told Mascaras that he was bugging us, to get away from us. And he gave me that karate pose, so I stood up and I knocked him into the swimming pool with all of his clothes on. He swam over to the other side to get to his room and Bulldog Brower said, "Hey, Geto! Why don't you jump in after him?", and I said, "I would, but I can't swim!" (laughs) So I let him go. He was just a big bag of wind. He went away after that. You'll find out that most of the heels were nice guys, most of the babyfaces were skunks. Did you find it hard to work in a place where guys might get blackballed from other promotions? Like Ox Baker went into All-South and then left as soon as he got threats from the NWA. Oh, you mean like Blackjack Mulligan? They blackballed him for a while, but in Pittsburgh I brought him in there and I got a lot of heat for it, but he was a good worker and a good guy. Did you find it funny that everybody was in the business to make money, but if you worked for the wrong person that there was something wrong with that? Yeah, yeah, sure, but what could you do about it? You can't do that today. I guess you can if Vince McMahon told you not to go somewhere today, but if you went, you're out! He can buy anyone or force anyone out. That's where George Scott first saw you guys and wanted to bring you into the Crocketts in 1976. They introduced you and Bill as the International Tag Champs. What was it like going there? We still had the belts because of all of a sudden, Eddie Einhorn and Pedro Martinez left and went out. Actually, Mil Mascaras probably still walks around thinking he's the IWA champion. Oh, I'm sure he does! How were you treated when you went into the Crocketts? There were a lot of stars like the Andersons (Ole and Gene) and (Ric) Flair already there. A little jealousy, but Ric Flair is the same all the time. He's only interested in one thing, making money and looking good. He's an amazing guy. One day he was working in Puerto Rico in a 60-minute match, the next week a 90-minute match, and then he had to get on a plane to fly to Minneapolis to wrestle the next day. And he still hasn't let up since. Ric Flair is the most amazing wrestler I ever knew in my life. Nobody could even compare with him. Blackjack Mulligan, Ric Flair, and me had a contest once at the YMCA gym as to who can bench press the most. Six weeks, we each put up $100. Well, I'm doing pretty good, and Mulligan and Flair were working out at his (Flair's) place, and we're getting ready and I'm at the YMCA working out and I did 415 on the bench, so who walks in but Mulligan’s kid (Barry Windham) and he seen it. I called him once and I told him about the contest we're having. I said, “don't you say nothing to your father,” and he swore and said he wouldn't say a word. He couldn't wait to get back to tell him! As soon as he told him, the next night Mulligan comes to me and says he wanted to get his $100 back and I don't think we're going to have the contest. They knew I was going to beat them. They put you right into a feud with the Andersons. What was it like working with those guys? Ole was a good worker. Many years before when he was just starting, we were in Alberta and I had a show that night. I was running a show for Stu Hart that night. I had Ole Anderson and Waldo Von Erich that night in the main event. A guy came to me and said, "I have a home for retarded children, and we would like you to give us tickets for the children to come," and I said,” alright, they can come.” Anyways, when Ole Anderson and Waldo Von Erich were working in the ring, the lights went out. All of the retarded boys moved down to the front to surround the ring, Waldo Von Erich gets out of the ring and is grabbing, is pounding these guys. He didn't know who they were. The lights went on, and here's Waldo out of the ring beating on all these retarded boys! Some of them were strong, too. Some of the boys had bloody noses. "I didn't understand why they were trying to get me," Waldo said, and I said, "Waldo! They're all retarded boys!" And he said, "Boy, they're strong!" Was Crockett the last big run of your career? This was when Bill became Masked Superstar? Exactly. I had a trip to Japan and a couple of trips to Puerto Rico and the islands, then to Singapore, a few other places after that just for spot shows, it was fun. Where did you make your best money? Pittsburgh. Remember Franco Harris? In 1969-70-71, he made $35,000 a year. Hard to believe? Back then, that was big money. That's what they get a game now! The point is, the money wasn't there. Vince McMahon brought in the big money, and all the other sports it (money) wasn't there either. Black Saturday in Georgia where Vince knocked Georgia Championship Wrestling off TV for a while when the Brisco’s sold it out. What did you think about what Vince McMahon was trying to do? It's a capitalist system. That's it. He negotiated with them and they didn't want to do anything with him, so he did it himself. Vince had the power and when you got the power, you got to use it. A lot of guys are still very bitter and angry with McMahon. Why do you think it is that guys can't come to terms with times changing? Bitter and anger don't hurt Vince McMahon, it only hurts the guy who's bitter and angry. Vince don't care if you're bitter and angry. It only hurts them. That's why people got high blood pressure and die young. It's in the head. Remember when they caught Saddam Hussein in the rat hole? The first thing he said coming out of the hole was, "I want to negotiate!" That's the mindset. They think things never end. But they do end, that's it. Vince might not be perfect, but he sure has made a lot of money for a lot of people. When you're not drawing, when you're not in the program, that's it, too bad, take it. The sun don't shine every day. If you have a chance to make money, you better make it, grab it, and hang onto it. Where would these guys be without Vince McMahon? Up in Minneapolis or Oregon somewhere? It's like a promoter offering me $100 and someone else is paying $25 and I think I should be making $200. So $100 – I'll take it. Ernie Ladd, one time in Japan, we get to Japan and the houses were packed. He said, "Hey man, we're crazy, we should hold them up for more money." I said, "Listen, how can you hold them up for more money? You already made them an agreement for certain money. If the houses were empty, you'd want your money. Now, if you want to complain, go back home and sign another contract." If you make an agreement, you have to stick to it. I remember Dewey Robertson working for Vince as the Missing Link and he was complaining that he should have gotten more money, so he quit. What did he do when he quit? He made nothing. He should have stayed. The promoter is in control. What do you think about wrestling as far as what it has become inside the ring? It's great. I watch it, not often, but sometimes. I mean the kid from Montreal, (Chris) Benoit and (Eddie) Guerrero, how much greater can you be? I'm amazed at how great they are. There are a lot of other smaller guys like Rey Mysterio, who are unbelievable. Even the big guys are fantastic, some of them are big, huge guys who take bumps out of the ring. All it takes is a little bump on the floor and you could be out of the business. Have you seen many of the old guys? Do you worry about some of these guys being crippled early? Yeah, I do, but they better make money right now when they can. There are guys who even volunteer to get into wrestling, that young football guy from Chicago (Brian Urlacher who did an angle with NWA-TNA). Bruno was never thrilled with Vince, and Larry got into a fight with Vince over money. That's exactly right, but he's the boss. He's the promoter. He can do what he wants. If you don't like it, you can leave. The point is, you can't be mad at people all the time. Vince McMahon brought wrestling out of the doldrums and brought it to where there are many, many millionaires. Hulk Hogan made more money with Vince McMahon in one year than he made with everyone else for his career in his life. All Hogan did was use his hand to his ear. Do you hold a grudge against a guy like Hulk Hogan who is not "a wrestler from the old school?" Heck, no! Maybe guys like Lou Thesz hold it against him. But then again, Lou Thesz would have been nothing, too, except for the guys who made him look good. Lou Thesz always talked about how he stretched this person, how he stretched that person. When he got around guys like Karl Gotch, he shut his mouth! Any dummy you can stretch, you can put a work hold on somebody and hurt them, that don't make you tough! This is show business, man. It's like rodeo, man. Let's say a guy trained to become a bronco rider and went through the ranks, and then there's another guy with barely any experience who wins everything. Hulk Hogan had a lot of natural ability. Ric Flair was never a wrestler, but he had everything else. It sure proved a point. The people who criticize Ric Flair, you can ask them, "How long did you last?" Who do you think is the best wrestler? The best worker? The best wrestler is Karl Gotch, but he wasn't a good worker. The wrestlers don't make you five cents. Buddy Rogers didn't know a wristlock from a wristwatch, but he sure knew how to get the job done. Ric Flair, the same way. He copied off of Buddy Rogers. You’ve got to admire him. The best worker – I can't see how anybody could pick anybody but Ric Flair, he has lasted so long. Even today, they can program him in a main event. He looks good, he works good, exactly right. Who is it that could be better? Of all the wrestlers, everything combined better, you cannot come up with anyone other than Ric Flair. Is the future of professional wrestling good? Will it stay solid and keep going? Build up interest? Do you think the movie business will keep going? Same thing. Some guys come, some guys go, but it all stays the same. Take the biggest stars around today, take them off TV for a year and who knows them? Nobody in the wrestling business was better known than Bruno Sammartino, and you mention Sammartino now and people look at you like who are you talking about. See? Everything has to be current. If it's not current, nobody cares. Is that why some guys are so bitter? Is it because they feel as if all they have done has been forgotten and it hurts their feelings? Exactly right. Hurts their feelings, but get over it, man! (Laughs) I'm going to read off a list of ten names here and just give a one or a two-word answer as to what you think about these people. First one, Bill Eadie. Bill Eadie's an OK guy. He earned what he has. Bruno Sammartino. Bitter. He shouldn't be bitter. Bitter only hurts you. Maybe he feels he has a reason to be bitter. It's like you having two or three children and when you die, you leave all of your money to one. Why do you do that? Because he was your favorite one. That's what Vince did. That's what Vince, Sr., did. Vince, Jr., brought him along and he (Bruno) didn't want to go along with the program. If you're a wrestling promoter, and you got somebody who doesn't want to go along with the program, you have to get rid of them right away. One rotten apple will spoil the whole barrel. If you have 1,000 apples in the barrel, 999 apples will not heal that one rotten apple. Bepo. Honest. Fair. Pedro Martinez. Slick. Slick businessman. Slick. Vince McMahon, Sr. Treated me better than anyone else. Vince McMahon, Jr. I don't know him, but I'm sure I could get along with him because I see what he is doing and see what he wants. His father treated me so well, how could I ever say anything bad about him? Eddie Einhorn. Eddie Einhorn was out of his league. Stu Hart. Rough, tough, and never on time. Johnny Rougeau. Self-made. Self-made guy, and I really liked his mother. His mother and me were good friends. We walked the beach together, she was an old lady at the time. Jim Crockett, Sr. He took care of the people he liked. Any final words or final things you'd like to get out to people? Keep looking up -- unless you are going to a cow field. |
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| FEATURES: CONVERSATIONS - NEWTON 'GETO MONGOL' TATTRIE |
| Copyright © Georgia Wrestling History, Inc.
All rights reserved. |
| This interview was conducted by Mike Sempervive in June 2004.
Newton Tattrie is a wrestler few people immediately recognize, but the gimmicks he used are clearly some of the more memorable of his time. Over the course of his career, he was known as Mr. Robust, Skunkman, Tony Newbury, Black Jack Daniels, and perhaps mostly as Geto Mongol of the world famous Mongols team, along with Bepo and Bolo. As a matter of fact, he was taken aback when I approached him about doing this interview almost seeming certain that no one would even remember him. |