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THE ORIGIN OF THE SNAKE PIMP, PART 3
– Dick Steinborn
May 25, 2008
As the snake story continued throughout the dressing rooms in Georgia, it took on a whole new meaning. It was starting to reveal hidden
phobias that some of the boys possessed in their lifetimes.
With a new wrestler showing up in Georgia, the whole snake episode seemed to shift into second gear.
A young good looking man from Puerto Rico, Roberto Soto came into Georgia. He was different in the fact that he was quite content to be
quiet in his association with the other boys, but it only took about ten days for Soto to blend in and open up. He already had the
admiration for his ability in the ring, and his personality started to reveal itself.
One night while sitting in the dressing at the Columbus Municipal Auditorium, Soto blurted out, “Hey Klondike, I hear you’re the
Georgia Snake Pimp.�
Even I, as well as Klondike, was surprised to hear such a statement.
Soto said that he used to play with snakes when he was a kid in Puerto Rico. As a young prankster, he would place snakes inside
neighbors cars as a youthful rib, and then call the driver a Snake Pimp.
The story goes that transporting a snake to the grocery store or to a sporting event constituted that he was spreading the new genes of
the local snakes to other areas. It sounded ridiculous at the time, but then it made sense to what Klondike was doing.
�Klondike�, I said, “you must be the California Snake Pimp". I started ribbing Klondike with these words. “You hauled that
snake to Sacramento a few times, and I’m sure the snake got out of your Oldsmobile and mated with a few females in the nearby
grass. Then that snake returned to your car. It must have happened every time you took that 98 Olds to different towns for six weeks.�
Klondike responded by saying that the snake would not have gotten back into the car. My answer to Bill was, “Hell, those beer
droppings and cracker bits were always waiting for the reptile to return to his home base. Then, there was the conversation and the
stories, like about the bad and good payoffs. The snake was thoroughly entertained.�
Just about the time I made that last statement, I saw Soto, who was bent over lacing up his boot, reach into his bag with his left hand and
grasp this 16-inch plastic life-like diamond back rattlesnake and quickly, with his left hand, slide the snake on its belly towards Klondike
who was sitting on a bench about twenty feet away. The slithering movement of the plastic snake looked so real that even I picked my feet
up off the ground.
Klondike fell backward off the bench, smashing his upper body into the metal cabinets and sliding down to the floor. Surprisingly, Bob
Armstrong ran into the small bathroom and locked the door.
It all happened so quickly. A lot of noise, a lot of movement, and then there was laughter. Roberto Soto had arrived and he was now part
of the continuing rib that got even more dangerous as the weeks went by.
None of these ribs ever hit the northern Georgia towns, but it seemed to hang around the Americus, Georgia, area.
When Armstrong went into that bathroom, Soto retrieved his snake and coiled it up like a defensive reptile ready to strike, placed only six
inches from that bathroom door. When things quieted down, Bob twisted the doorknob and slowly opened the partition about four inches
and quickly pulled the door shut. This was so strange. We all knew that Klondike had a phobia, but now it was revealed that Armstrongs
phobia ran very deep.
Now the heels wanted to get in on the rib. Buddy Colt ran over a snake on his way to Americus. He stopped the car and put the snake in
his trunk. He wanted to be part of the rib, but had not been told about the serious phobias that were now being revealed.
The dressing rooms in Americus were flimsy partitions held together with 4x8 plywood and accessible through a small curtain. There
was no top to the dressing rooms.
Colt came through the arena with the snake draped over his bag surely keeping the fans away from his entrance, for fear the snake could
be real. As Buddy walked by the opposite dressing room, he swung the snake up and over the dressing room area, and of all things it
landed on Bob Armstrong’s head and bounced off, landing in his bag.
As Ted Oates revealed to me on the phone, Bob did one of those high-stepping, knee-to-the-chest moves as he took off running through
the curtain, straight to the exit door at the rear of the building, and ran a good 300 yards towards the nearby Americus National Guard
building. Ted said it was unbelievable how fast Bob was moving.
That Wednesday night in Americus, it was Ted Oates’ first appearance in a wrestling ring. He did not start as a wrestler but as a
referee. Ted said he will never forget his first night. Can you just imagine, Ted, who was quite green to the business, standing there and
watching this rattlesnake come through the air and hit Armstrong? And then the jet speed scratch off that Bob displayed as he took off
running?
Ted did tell me this story years ago. I should have told him then that, “No, Ted, the boys were ribbing you.�
There are a lot of local Hawaiian wrestlers who were eager to hit the mainland territories. One of those wrestlers was Koa Tiki. Koa
decided his first territory would be Georgia.
Promoter Fred Ward decided to team Armstrong and Tiki together and they started a winning combination, becoming a delight to the
wrestling fans. Tiki entered the ring wearing a colorful Hawaiian sarong and a crown of flowers on top of his head. The beads hung from
his neck and now the young fans were able to see another colorful character from the world of wrestling.
The snake appeared again. I laid the snake on top of the door lengthwise and left the door ajar about four inches.
Bob and Koa had just completed their live interview at the Macon TV station and were headed back to the dressing room. All the boys got
up and moved to the rear of the room. We knew there was going to be an explosion and it was going to come through that door.
As the door was pushed open, the snake came down and draped itself over Bob’s right elbow. He threw his arm up in the air, and
the plastic snake came down, this time hitting Koa in the chest. Koa’s knees fainted and dropped down as if in a Muslim ritual.
I then witnessed that high-stepping move. Like a stallion horse with his legs up in the air, Bob words were, “I’m going to beat the
dog shit out of somebody!�
I began to think that it was getting out of hand, and once again it had, this time by Jerry Oates.
– Dick Steinborn
May 25, 2008
As the snake story continued throughout the dressing rooms in Georgia, it took on a whole new meaning. It was starting to reveal hidden
phobias that some of the boys possessed in their lifetimes.
With a new wrestler showing up in Georgia, the whole snake episode seemed to shift into second gear.
A young good looking man from Puerto Rico, Roberto Soto came into Georgia. He was different in the fact that he was quite content to be
quiet in his association with the other boys, but it only took about ten days for Soto to blend in and open up. He already had the
admiration for his ability in the ring, and his personality started to reveal itself.
One night while sitting in the dressing at the Columbus Municipal Auditorium, Soto blurted out, “Hey Klondike, I hear you’re the
Georgia Snake Pimp.�
Even I, as well as Klondike, was surprised to hear such a statement.
Soto said that he used to play with snakes when he was a kid in Puerto Rico. As a young prankster, he would place snakes inside
neighbors cars as a youthful rib, and then call the driver a Snake Pimp.
The story goes that transporting a snake to the grocery store or to a sporting event constituted that he was spreading the new genes of
the local snakes to other areas. It sounded ridiculous at the time, but then it made sense to what Klondike was doing.
�Klondike�, I said, “you must be the California Snake Pimp". I started ribbing Klondike with these words. “You hauled that
snake to Sacramento a few times, and I’m sure the snake got out of your Oldsmobile and mated with a few females in the nearby
grass. Then that snake returned to your car. It must have happened every time you took that 98 Olds to different towns for six weeks.�
Klondike responded by saying that the snake would not have gotten back into the car. My answer to Bill was, “Hell, those beer
droppings and cracker bits were always waiting for the reptile to return to his home base. Then, there was the conversation and the
stories, like about the bad and good payoffs. The snake was thoroughly entertained.�
Just about the time I made that last statement, I saw Soto, who was bent over lacing up his boot, reach into his bag with his left hand and
grasp this 16-inch plastic life-like diamond back rattlesnake and quickly, with his left hand, slide the snake on its belly towards Klondike
who was sitting on a bench about twenty feet away. The slithering movement of the plastic snake looked so real that even I picked my feet
up off the ground.
Klondike fell backward off the bench, smashing his upper body into the metal cabinets and sliding down to the floor. Surprisingly, Bob
Armstrong ran into the small bathroom and locked the door.
It all happened so quickly. A lot of noise, a lot of movement, and then there was laughter. Roberto Soto had arrived and he was now part
of the continuing rib that got even more dangerous as the weeks went by.
None of these ribs ever hit the northern Georgia towns, but it seemed to hang around the Americus, Georgia, area.
When Armstrong went into that bathroom, Soto retrieved his snake and coiled it up like a defensive reptile ready to strike, placed only six
inches from that bathroom door. When things quieted down, Bob twisted the doorknob and slowly opened the partition about four inches
and quickly pulled the door shut. This was so strange. We all knew that Klondike had a phobia, but now it was revealed that Armstrongs
phobia ran very deep.
Now the heels wanted to get in on the rib. Buddy Colt ran over a snake on his way to Americus. He stopped the car and put the snake in
his trunk. He wanted to be part of the rib, but had not been told about the serious phobias that were now being revealed.
The dressing rooms in Americus were flimsy partitions held together with 4x8 plywood and accessible through a small curtain. There
was no top to the dressing rooms.
Colt came through the arena with the snake draped over his bag surely keeping the fans away from his entrance, for fear the snake could
be real. As Buddy walked by the opposite dressing room, he swung the snake up and over the dressing room area, and of all things it
landed on Bob Armstrong’s head and bounced off, landing in his bag.
As Ted Oates revealed to me on the phone, Bob did one of those high-stepping, knee-to-the-chest moves as he took off running through
the curtain, straight to the exit door at the rear of the building, and ran a good 300 yards towards the nearby Americus National Guard
building. Ted said it was unbelievable how fast Bob was moving.
That Wednesday night in Americus, it was Ted Oates’ first appearance in a wrestling ring. He did not start as a wrestler but as a
referee. Ted said he will never forget his first night. Can you just imagine, Ted, who was quite green to the business, standing there and
watching this rattlesnake come through the air and hit Armstrong? And then the jet speed scratch off that Bob displayed as he took off
running?
Ted did tell me this story years ago. I should have told him then that, “No, Ted, the boys were ribbing you.�
There are a lot of local Hawaiian wrestlers who were eager to hit the mainland territories. One of those wrestlers was Koa Tiki. Koa
decided his first territory would be Georgia.
Promoter Fred Ward decided to team Armstrong and Tiki together and they started a winning combination, becoming a delight to the
wrestling fans. Tiki entered the ring wearing a colorful Hawaiian sarong and a crown of flowers on top of his head. The beads hung from
his neck and now the young fans were able to see another colorful character from the world of wrestling.
The snake appeared again. I laid the snake on top of the door lengthwise and left the door ajar about four inches.
Bob and Koa had just completed their live interview at the Macon TV station and were headed back to the dressing room. All the boys got
up and moved to the rear of the room. We knew there was going to be an explosion and it was going to come through that door.
As the door was pushed open, the snake came down and draped itself over Bob’s right elbow. He threw his arm up in the air, and
the plastic snake came down, this time hitting Koa in the chest. Koa’s knees fainted and dropped down as if in a Muslim ritual.
I then witnessed that high-stepping move. Like a stallion horse with his legs up in the air, Bob words were, “I’m going to beat the
dog shit out of somebody!�
I began to think that it was getting out of hand, and once again it had, this time by Jerry Oates.
