It appears that some people have tried to analyze my offer to Jerry Lawler and Corey Maclin and make more of it than was the intention. I want to ease everyone’s mind who feels that I am out for publicity. Please let me assure you that Memphis Wrestling is the least watched wrestling program I have ever appeared on. Secondly, in all the times that I did appear on Memphis Wrestling and various clips of me have been shown, I have never one time been recognized around Memphis or gotten anything out of it. Third, if I was some ego driven person who just had to be on television, would I risk $10,000.00 to appear on such a low rated wrestling program that primarily airs in a market I don’t even live in. Fourth, remember I wasn’t fired from Memphis Wrestling, I quit on the spot. I could have remained a part of the company. I am sure all I would have had to do was apologize to Jerry for running my face into his fist. Now let me be crystal clear, my only goal was and is to prove to everyone that Jerry Lawler is not a man of his word; that he could not support his statements under a lie detector test; and that Corey Maclin, without a doubt, could not answer a series of questions truthfully. There were other wrestlers on the card that are aware that the attack on me was premeditated. It all boils down to this they both have a lot more to lose than I am offering if the truth about this incident and other things were made public.
I have also noticed that people voting in the poll that Brian put up suggest that Jerry and Corey pass on my offer. I was quite shocked to see that the majority of the people in Memphis believe that someone should turn down a guaranteed $10,000.00 for just telling the truth. Or is it possible that everyone is already aware that Jerry has presented the facts in a very creative way. Is it possible that everyone long ago caught on to the fact that Corey Maclin just makes things up as he goes along. I will now raise my offer to $20,000.00 eliminate the need for me to appear on Memphis Wrestling. Now ask yourself why they would not take this easy money? The answer is clear and obvious ... many people may not understand this, but my credibility is at stake. I was able to put on the worlds largest wrestling convention for one reason and one reason only ... people believed in me. Now how long will the people of Western Tennessee believe in the credibility of these two men?
In recent times we have seen so many careers go down the tubes for various reasons. I thought that I might take a look back and write a little bit about Tommy “Wildfire” Rich. Like most, who lived in NY I watched WWF when I became a wrestling fan. I also bought a lot of wrestling magazines to learn more about the stars. As soon as cable tv came out I started watching Georgia Championship Wrestling. On that show you would see a young man named Tommy Rich. He didn’t have the greatest body in the world. He did have a lot of charisma and he seemed to take a terrific beating all the time. Rich got involved in feuds with people like The Masked Superstar and Austin Idol. He eventually became the World Champion though he lost the title back quickly. It didn’t matter that he lost the title he would always be a World Champion. Tommy had a feud with Mad Dog Buzz Sawyer that went on for a year not only in Georgia but extended into Ohio and other areas. The arenas were all packed week after week as this feud was known to Wrestling fans world wide. Many years later we were going to run a show in Ohio through a contact of Capt Lou Albano. The show was to be headlined by Sgt Slaughter. We got word that Slaughter had to pull out and the sponsor was so upset. At the time Sgt Slaughter was a HUGE name. Trying to find someone to replace the Sarge I remembered how hot a name Tommy Rich had been in Ohio even thought that was WWE country. We called Lou but he was reluctant to even suggest Tommy Rich to the sponsor. We told him to please trust us. Within minutes we got a call back saying that Tommy Rich was a great suggestion and the sponsor was thrilled. It wasn’t until I really got smart that I realized that Tommy had so much success for one reason and one reason only. This was a man that knew how to SELL. He was one of the best. It was even later than that when I realized if it wasn’t for his addictions Tommy Rich could have had it all. I am happy to say that, although I didn’t see a lot of it first hand. I was told of the success that the territory enjoyed lead by Tommy Rich. It has been said long ago that Ric Flair once made the statement that Tommy Rich could have been in Hulk Hogan’s spot if he hadn’t screwed it all up. True or not true? I really can’t say. What I can say is that this is the first real waste of a career that I experienced. I worked with Tommy many times over the years and always enjoyed being around him. Whenever I think of Tommy Rich the guy that had me glued to the seat, I truly wonder what could have been?
I have had many wrestling matches over the years. I have always been very cautious in picking my opponents and tag team partners due to my very limited in ring skills. All of the training that I received was book type training for the business. I had my very first match against a man named Gorgeous Gary Royal. I felt safe getting in the ring due to Gary’s reputation as a guy who could carry anyone. He was a former NWA Junior Heavyweight Champion, former Cruel Connection member and one half of the famous Gladiators team that lost to the Mulkey Bros on TBS. I wrestled Gary on many occasion’s because he had the skills to make me or anyone else look great in the ring. There have always been those people who, as they say, could work with a broomstick. Let me assure everyone Gary Royal is one of those people. His motto always sits in my head "you make it look fake and I will make them believe it". I always laugh when I think of that, but it was advice I always followed. I spoke to Gary many times about his career and we often talked about his matches about Shawn Michaels and Marty Janetty. Those two guys were getting started , they all worked in Kansas City in the Central States territory. In those days Michaels and Janetty were young kids and doing jobs for Gorgeous Gary.
When I put together the card for WrestleReunion 1 of course I was going to use Gary and I wanted to give him an opportunity to pick his opponent. He said "well if I have my choice it would be Shawn Michaels or Marty Janetty. I said well we can't get Shawn but let me see about Marty. I finally tracked down Marty, He accepted the booking, I knew he didn’t remember me from my AWA days and the matches that Shawn and he had against “Playboy” Buddy Rose and “Pretty Boy” Doug Sommers that I refereed. Well when Marty showed up at WrestleReunion 1 in Tampa he was very appreciative to have been booked on the card. At that time every indy guy wanted their name included on that wrestling card. He asked me who he was working with and I said Gary Royal. He looked at me quite stunned and said "you mean the real Gary Royal" ( he hadn’t seen or heard from Gary in years). I said "yes the 'real' Gary Royal." . He was very happy to hear that piece of news. Well the rest of the story is that Marty looked great that night and he and Gary had a great match. I am still sorry that we didn’t give them more time. I can tell you this, the feedback over that match and how great Marty looked came shortly before he was asked back to WWE. I felt a sense of accomplishment the match that I booked helped to revive a career.
In the middle of this year I ran into Shawn Michaels who thought that I looked vaguely familiar. I reminded him who I was. We were backstage at a WWE PPV in Charlotte NC in 2006. I brought up the name Gary Royal to him and he seemed very interested to hear how Gary was doing. I told him that Gary was a computer software trainer now and doing well. He is actually making almost triple what he made in his best year as wrestler. That in itself is a crime when you think of how much a guy like him worked and all the years that he was in the business. Well shortly after that Gary called me and I went over to Shawn who was in a meeting with Triple H and The Spirit Squad. Shawn looked over at me and asked "is that Gary?" I said yes it was, Shawn immediately left his meeting and took several minutes visiting on the phone with Gary. I know Gary felt good about a guy that had made it so far that used to put him over in Kansas City all these years later after becoming a huge star would take that kind of time for him.
The above picture was taken at the Yokozuna Memorial Show with my buddy Ron Simmons. It was a great night, on that night Ron and Bradshaw came to help out by wrestling The Undertaker and Kane. The show was promoted by Yoko’s uncle Afa The Wild Samoan. I just had to show up and referee again to honor my friend old friend Rodney “The Tank”. I had been in the ring with him for his first match in Cairo Egypt. I felt I really needed to be in Allentown that night, right back to where it had all started for me.
I have also noticed that people voting in the poll that Brian put up suggest that Jerry and Corey pass on my offer. I was quite shocked to see that the majority of the people in Memphis believe that someone should turn down a guaranteed $10,000.00 for just telling the truth. Or is it possible that everyone is already aware that Jerry has presented the facts in a very creative way. Is it possible that everyone long ago caught on to the fact that Corey Maclin just makes things up as he goes along. I will now raise my offer to $20,000.00 eliminate the need for me to appear on Memphis Wrestling. Now ask yourself why they would not take this easy money? The answer is clear and obvious ... many people may not understand this, but my credibility is at stake. I was able to put on the worlds largest wrestling convention for one reason and one reason only ... people believed in me. Now how long will the people of Western Tennessee believe in the credibility of these two men?
In recent times we have seen so many careers go down the tubes for various reasons. I thought that I might take a look back and write a little bit about Tommy “Wildfire” Rich. Like most, who lived in NY I watched WWF when I became a wrestling fan. I also bought a lot of wrestling magazines to learn more about the stars. As soon as cable tv came out I started watching Georgia Championship Wrestling. On that show you would see a young man named Tommy Rich. He didn’t have the greatest body in the world. He did have a lot of charisma and he seemed to take a terrific beating all the time. Rich got involved in feuds with people like The Masked Superstar and Austin Idol. He eventually became the World Champion though he lost the title back quickly. It didn’t matter that he lost the title he would always be a World Champion. Tommy had a feud with Mad Dog Buzz Sawyer that went on for a year not only in Georgia but extended into Ohio and other areas. The arenas were all packed week after week as this feud was known to Wrestling fans world wide. Many years later we were going to run a show in Ohio through a contact of Capt Lou Albano. The show was to be headlined by Sgt Slaughter. We got word that Slaughter had to pull out and the sponsor was so upset. At the time Sgt Slaughter was a HUGE name. Trying to find someone to replace the Sarge I remembered how hot a name Tommy Rich had been in Ohio even thought that was WWE country. We called Lou but he was reluctant to even suggest Tommy Rich to the sponsor. We told him to please trust us. Within minutes we got a call back saying that Tommy Rich was a great suggestion and the sponsor was thrilled. It wasn’t until I really got smart that I realized that Tommy had so much success for one reason and one reason only. This was a man that knew how to SELL. He was one of the best. It was even later than that when I realized if it wasn’t for his addictions Tommy Rich could have had it all. I am happy to say that, although I didn’t see a lot of it first hand. I was told of the success that the territory enjoyed lead by Tommy Rich. It has been said long ago that Ric Flair once made the statement that Tommy Rich could have been in Hulk Hogan’s spot if he hadn’t screwed it all up. True or not true? I really can’t say. What I can say is that this is the first real waste of a career that I experienced. I worked with Tommy many times over the years and always enjoyed being around him. Whenever I think of Tommy Rich the guy that had me glued to the seat, I truly wonder what could have been?
I have had many wrestling matches over the years. I have always been very cautious in picking my opponents and tag team partners due to my very limited in ring skills. All of the training that I received was book type training for the business. I had my very first match against a man named Gorgeous Gary Royal. I felt safe getting in the ring due to Gary’s reputation as a guy who could carry anyone. He was a former NWA Junior Heavyweight Champion, former Cruel Connection member and one half of the famous Gladiators team that lost to the Mulkey Bros on TBS. I wrestled Gary on many occasion’s because he had the skills to make me or anyone else look great in the ring. There have always been those people who, as they say, could work with a broomstick. Let me assure everyone Gary Royal is one of those people. His motto always sits in my head "you make it look fake and I will make them believe it". I always laugh when I think of that, but it was advice I always followed. I spoke to Gary many times about his career and we often talked about his matches about Shawn Michaels and Marty Janetty. Those two guys were getting started , they all worked in Kansas City in the Central States territory. In those days Michaels and Janetty were young kids and doing jobs for Gorgeous Gary.
When I put together the card for WrestleReunion 1 of course I was going to use Gary and I wanted to give him an opportunity to pick his opponent. He said "well if I have my choice it would be Shawn Michaels or Marty Janetty. I said well we can't get Shawn but let me see about Marty. I finally tracked down Marty, He accepted the booking, I knew he didn’t remember me from my AWA days and the matches that Shawn and he had against “Playboy” Buddy Rose and “Pretty Boy” Doug Sommers that I refereed. Well when Marty showed up at WrestleReunion 1 in Tampa he was very appreciative to have been booked on the card. At that time every indy guy wanted their name included on that wrestling card. He asked me who he was working with and I said Gary Royal. He looked at me quite stunned and said "you mean the real Gary Royal" ( he hadn’t seen or heard from Gary in years). I said "yes the 'real' Gary Royal." . He was very happy to hear that piece of news. Well the rest of the story is that Marty looked great that night and he and Gary had a great match. I am still sorry that we didn’t give them more time. I can tell you this, the feedback over that match and how great Marty looked came shortly before he was asked back to WWE. I felt a sense of accomplishment the match that I booked helped to revive a career.
In the middle of this year I ran into Shawn Michaels who thought that I looked vaguely familiar. I reminded him who I was. We were backstage at a WWE PPV in Charlotte NC in 2006. I brought up the name Gary Royal to him and he seemed very interested to hear how Gary was doing. I told him that Gary was a computer software trainer now and doing well. He is actually making almost triple what he made in his best year as wrestler. That in itself is a crime when you think of how much a guy like him worked and all the years that he was in the business. Well shortly after that Gary called me and I went over to Shawn who was in a meeting with Triple H and The Spirit Squad. Shawn looked over at me and asked "is that Gary?" I said yes it was, Shawn immediately left his meeting and took several minutes visiting on the phone with Gary. I know Gary felt good about a guy that had made it so far that used to put him over in Kansas City all these years later after becoming a huge star would take that kind of time for him.
The above picture was taken at the Yokozuna Memorial Show with my buddy Ron Simmons. It was a great night, on that night Ron and Bradshaw came to help out by wrestling The Undertaker and Kane. The show was promoted by Yoko’s uncle Afa The Wild Samoan. I just had to show up and referee again to honor my friend old friend Rodney “The Tank”. I had been in the ring with him for his first match in Cairo Egypt. I felt I really needed to be in Allentown that night, right back to where it had all started for me.
