| VIEW FROM INSIDE THE RING |
CHOKEHOLD: THE TRUTH ABOUT THE BOOK AND JIM WILSON
– Jody Hamilton
January 1, 2004
The book has some truths in it – enough to make the average person accept the bullshit in it as the truth. I was an active pro wrestler
from 1956-1989, and I was exposed, through my older brother, to the inside workings of wrestling as far back as 1951. Some of the
conditions described in Chokehold by Jim Wilson really did exist, and had existed long before Wilson ever attempted to become a pro
wrestler.
Everyone starting in the business knew up front there was no insurance or pension plan. Only a very select few had a money guarantee,
and some of the equipment we had to work on sometimes was very poorly maintained. There were promoters that fell far short of an
accurate accounting of the gate receipts. “If you didn’t like it, don’t get in it,� was more or less the accepted attitude.
Now I would be the last person in the world to condemn anyone for attempting to improve themselves or their working conditions. As a
singles wrestler, and as a tag team wrestler, I had more than my share of run-ins with promoters about payoffs, finishes, poorly
maintained equipment, and generally poor working conditions.
Yet I was never ‘blackballed’ or ‘blacklisted.’ Why didn’t this happen? Because I had a reputation for drawing big
money wherever I went. Promoters all over the country hated Buddy Rogers, but when they would find out he was available they all
jumped at the chance to book him – because he always drew money.
The real reason promoters quit booking Wilson is because he was egotistical and glory happy. He didn’t want to do business, never
wanted to lose, and was a pain in the butt whose performance in the ring left a lot to be desired. However, if Wilson had ever proven
himself as a bona fide attraction capable of drawing money, promoters would have used him regardless of what he did.
He was given the chance to prove himself as an attraction several times, but failed to draw any money anywhere. So he blames
everybody but himself for his failed attempt at stardom – up to and including his story about his refusal to comply with the homosexual
promoters so-called amorous advances.
No one knows the real truth except Wilson and Jim Barnett. Even if it really did happen, which I doubt, I know the promoter well enough to
know that if Wilson could draw money he would have used him anyway.
What I find to be fictional reading in the book is Wilson’s attempt to make readers think that all he ever wanted to do was help the
other wrestlers overcome what at times were substandard working conditions, and that his refusal to cooperate with a homosexual
promoter got him banished into wrestling exile. That, my friends, is the biggest crock of bullshit I have ever heard.
I know Wilson. I was in Georgia when he broke in there and he doesn’t give a damn about all the other wrestlers or what happens to
them. He doesn’t do anything unless he thinks there will be a profit in it for Jim Wilson.
So don’t be misled by his bullshit account of his experience in pro wresting. He’s still trying to get something for nothing.
– Jody Hamilton
January 1, 2004
The book has some truths in it – enough to make the average person accept the bullshit in it as the truth. I was an active pro wrestler
from 1956-1989, and I was exposed, through my older brother, to the inside workings of wrestling as far back as 1951. Some of the
conditions described in Chokehold by Jim Wilson really did exist, and had existed long before Wilson ever attempted to become a pro
wrestler.
Everyone starting in the business knew up front there was no insurance or pension plan. Only a very select few had a money guarantee,
and some of the equipment we had to work on sometimes was very poorly maintained. There were promoters that fell far short of an
accurate accounting of the gate receipts. “If you didn’t like it, don’t get in it,� was more or less the accepted attitude.
Now I would be the last person in the world to condemn anyone for attempting to improve themselves or their working conditions. As a
singles wrestler, and as a tag team wrestler, I had more than my share of run-ins with promoters about payoffs, finishes, poorly
maintained equipment, and generally poor working conditions.
Yet I was never ‘blackballed’ or ‘blacklisted.’ Why didn’t this happen? Because I had a reputation for drawing big
money wherever I went. Promoters all over the country hated Buddy Rogers, but when they would find out he was available they all
jumped at the chance to book him – because he always drew money.
The real reason promoters quit booking Wilson is because he was egotistical and glory happy. He didn’t want to do business, never
wanted to lose, and was a pain in the butt whose performance in the ring left a lot to be desired. However, if Wilson had ever proven
himself as a bona fide attraction capable of drawing money, promoters would have used him regardless of what he did.
He was given the chance to prove himself as an attraction several times, but failed to draw any money anywhere. So he blames
everybody but himself for his failed attempt at stardom – up to and including his story about his refusal to comply with the homosexual
promoters so-called amorous advances.
No one knows the real truth except Wilson and Jim Barnett. Even if it really did happen, which I doubt, I know the promoter well enough to
know that if Wilson could draw money he would have used him anyway.
What I find to be fictional reading in the book is Wilson’s attempt to make readers think that all he ever wanted to do was help the
other wrestlers overcome what at times were substandard working conditions, and that his refusal to cooperate with a homosexual
promoter got him banished into wrestling exile. That, my friends, is the biggest crock of bullshit I have ever heard.
I know Wilson. I was in Georgia when he broke in there and he doesn’t give a damn about all the other wrestlers or what happens to
them. He doesn’t do anything unless he thinks there will be a profit in it for Jim Wilson.
So don’t be misled by his bullshit account of his experience in pro wresting. He’s still trying to get something for nothing.
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