by Brandon Truitt

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Not much to say on the wrestling front, as usual.

As for the football front, a lot of the factors that could put LSU in the National Championship game happened this weekend, but not the most important one. USC needs to lose for LSU to get into the game. Ohio State needs to lose as well, but that's probably going to happen against Michigan, which is par for the course with them.

Next week's shoot hasn't been chosen yet, although I've pulled aside the "Dirty" Dutch Mantel and Jerry "The King" Lawler ones. With any luck, the new Cornette shoot will arrive soon because that is the one I want to see most.


As always, you can feel free to Drop me an e-mail, read the archives, buy me stuff, or buy yourself stuff at Highspots.com.

Jack Victory Shoot Interview (2-2-1999)

We start out with a montage of Jack Victory’s career, including matches in ECW and the UWF.

How did he get into the business? It was a dream of his ever since he’d watched the WWF as a kid. He got his start when he was an ad in the paper saying “Wrestlers wanted.” When he responded, it was a small independent promotion that started working in New Jersey and Victory was one of the people brought in along with ECW regulars DC Drake and the late Ted Petty (Rocco Rock of Public Enemy). He got photos and video footage of his work and brought them to the original Nature Boy, Buddy Rogers, and asked him how to break into the next level of the business. Rogers gave him contact information for several promoters, including Bill Watts in Mid-South.

Mid-South and Bill Watts- He sent all of his information and pictures out then got a call two weeks later from Bill Dundee, who was Watts’ booker for Mid-South at the time. They flew him out to Houston and had him work shows there as well as in Oklahoma City and Tulsa. He was flown home and didn’t hear anything for a few weeks, figuring he didn’t get the gig. About that time, Watts called him up and gave him a starting date.

Was it on the job training? Yes, which is completely different from wrestling these days as it is almost impossible to break into the business today if you don’t go to a wrestling school. He was, admittedly, “green as shit” at the time but he was lucky because guys like Junkyard Dog, Hacksaw Jim Duggan, Ric Flair, and others were in the territory and would give him pointers on how to improve in the ring after watching his matches.

How was he treated when he first came in? Great, as the business was all about putting together and drawing the most money as a territory instead of just looking out for yourself. He adapted to the tough road schedule in Mid-South by not having a permanent home and just staying at a hotel every night. (Given what I know about Mid-South’s schedule, it was a smart move. The only places you could really live in the territory at that time were central cities in the territory such as Pineville, LA, Shreveport, LA, and Alexandria, LA, because they were the midpoint of a territory that spanned from Oklahoma to Mississippi and you were only guaranteed to be there once a week whenever the TV tapings were held.)

Who were his early opponents- One was Shawn Michaels and they wrestled each other almost every night for a year because they were both starting out at the time.

Leaving for World Class- It was time for him to move on and Watts got him booked in World Class to get experience and planned to bring him back down the road.

Bill Watts- “He was a hard man.” He’s never heard the story about Watts threatening to fire anyone who lost a fight with a fan but certainly believes he’d do it. Watts was adamant that drugs were hurting the business and, to make a point, brought in a bag of white powder one night and, while the entire locker room watched, he poured it down the toilet. Some of the guys started freaking out until Watts told them it was only baby powder and that he was just making a point. (At least Buddy Landell didn’t run over to the toilet and start snorting up any of the powder that ended up on the floor.) Watts would also start choking people in order to show them how to sell a chokehold if he saw one improperly sold in a match.

How were the Von Erichs in World Class- He was a rookie when he first went there and, once he stepped into the locker room, immediately said “Holy SHIT! Thank God their dad owns the territory.” He knew they were going to die young because they were so wild.

Did Gino Hernandez’s death change anything in the territory? Gino was always a great guy and he lived his gimmick. Gino scared him to death once when they drove to the town once at 140 miles an hour in the rain. (He completely dodges the question, but my guess is no.)

The night Kerry Von Erich won the title, was he late to the match as has been told in stories? No, it was actually a title defense later that week where Kerry was missing. Someone finally found him passed out in the bathroom with a needle stuck in him. Kerry was so out of it that he laced his boot into the chair he was sitting in once they finally got him back to the locker room. They had a good match that night, all because of Flair. Kerry was so talented that, if he hadn’t hit the drugs so hard, he’d probably have been a World Champion for a long time.

How did the Von Erichs handle their success- Fritz Von Erich was prepared, as he knew his boys could draw and he loved money.

Was Fritz unfair with his booking or did he just book what worked? They were money, so it wasn’t a problem having them on top. They would also do people favors with the intention of getting it back down the road, so they all knew how to draw money. It was a very easy territory, as they only worked four shows a week as opposed to eight a week in Mid-South.

Bruiser Brody- “The first man to ever blow me up”, which was at a time when he was in great condition. Brody “didn’t even know what a hold was” back then, but was great in the ring. He was very quiet and kept to himself.

Abdullah the Butcher- “He’s a character.”

The Freebirds- “Out of control.” They lived their gimmick 24/7 and tortured Buddy “Jack” Roberts all the time. They were always late and, one time in the locker room in Baton Rouge, LA, Buddy brought in a suitcase, which was rare for him as he only ever wore his ring gear or his one set of street clothes and carried the other in a bag. When people asked why they were late, they said they had to stop to pick something up, at which point Buddy opens his suitcase and produces a piece of roadkill that had been dead for quite a while. Everyone started puking at the sight of it.

Was he surprised that Michael PS Hayes is a WWF road agent instead of an in-ring talent these days? Not really, as Hayes is a smart guy and he knows that a body can only take so much damage.

Was he ever worried about wrestling the Von Erichs due to their partying? No, because the heels always got big heat when wrestling the Von Erichs and the Von Erichs always got huge cheers. It made things much easier on them.

Teaming up with “Hollywood” John Tatum- He thinks they got teamed up at first in the UWF, then they jumped over to World Class together.


Jack Victory and John Tatum with Missy Hyatt vs. The Fantastics (Bobby Fulton and Tommy Rogers)- This was when Missy was hot which, as a rule, is any time before she sued WCW for sexual harassment in 1994. By the time she came to ECW later that year, she’d stared down the road of skankiness. This is for The Fantastics’ UWF tag team titles. The Fantastics win by DQ when the referee notices Missy clawing at the eyes of Tommy Rogers. Missy, Tatum, and Victory abuse Rogers after the match until Dark Journey and the Missing Link make the save and layeth the smaketh down.


Why did he leave World Class for the UWF? Watts called up and decided to bring him back. Since Fritz Von Erich and Watts worked together often, this wasn’t a problem.

How different was the UWF from Mid-South? There were different bookers for one, as Ken Mantell was hired from World Class to book the UWF. Mantell was a friend of his from World Class so Mantell made the decision to bring him into the territory.

Was it different working under Watts since he wasn’t a rookie anymore? Yes, as “Watts treats you different when you draw money.” Watts believed in giving feedback, as he’d tell you when you did a good job or blister you verbally if you did a bad one.

How did he get paired up with the Sheepherders? It was an idea the three of them had tossed around. They had a lot of fun and got great heat. The feud between the Sheepherders and the Fantastics was a lot of fun.

How was the locker room different? It was pretty much the same because Watts wouldn’t let things get too far out of control, as he had no problems with getting rid of a disruptive influence. He also had no problems with rehiring someone he’d fired weeks before if he saw he could make money with them.

Junkyard Dog- He’s heard stories about him but never really spent time with him while they were in the territory together. Seemed like a good enough guy when he talked to him, although he was a partier.


The Von Erichs- He’s got a lot more stories about them that he claims will make the tape worth buying. The only Von Erich he doesn’t really have stories about is David Von Erich, as Victory came into World Class shortly after David’s death in Japan.

Various Von Erich stories-

Kevin Von Erich didn’t just wrestle barefoot… he never wore shoes PERIOD, which is a running joke in some of these stories.

Once, they were in the Fort Worth Coliseum, which is a horse arena, they were changing in the back and noticed Kevin acting stupid, as usual. Kevin Von Erich was playing with the blade to a circular saw because he was so blasted. He eventually saw a cat walking around and decided to throw the blade at it and hit it in the side, killing it. He couldn’t, or wouldn’t, explain to anyone why he’d done it.

Another time, he and Tatum had worked a tag match against Kevin and another Von Erich in Dallas and, when they were waiting for their plane to Houston the next day, Kevin came up and started talking to them. Kevin was so out of it that he asked them if they were going to the show and they said yes, although they didn’t say they were wrestling Kevin and his partner again that night. Kevin then asked Tatum what his name was because Kevin recognized him but couldn’t think of his name. They thought Kevin was ribbing them at first then realized he really DIDN’T know Tatum’s name.

Fritz Von Erich forced Chris Von Erich and Mike Von Erich to get into the business. Neither of them ever wanted to wrestle but they were told to do it or they’d be disowned. Victory talks about how this is just one reason why he feels Fritz Von Erich was “a piece of shit.”

He was in the territory when Mike Von Erich died and believes that the reason Mike overdosed himself on downers was due to the pressure that the family had put on him.

When Chris Von Erich was about twelve, Kerry and Kevin got some of their ringrats to give Chris a blowjob. Kevin and Kerry got him hooked up then came into the locker room and told everyone about it. When they all came out, they saw Chris sitting in the car trying to push the ringrat’s head away and pull his pants up.

Chris Von Erich wanted to be in the business but, due to health problems, “he was almost as tall as Littlebrook.” (He’s referring to Lord Littlebrook, the midget wrestler who appeared on such shows as Wrestlemania 3.)


Was he surprised that Kevin Von Erich isn’t in the business? He’s surprised he’s alive because Kevin was the biggest space case of all of them, even more than Kerry. “I honestly can’t believe that he’s the only one living.”

What sent them down that road? They had everything in that territory. They had doctors who would write them whatever prescriptions they wanted. Their fans would send them all kinds of jewelry and money in the mail. In fact, all the other wrestlers would go down to the Dallas Sportatorium on mail day and open all the Von Erich packages because the Von Erichs would never know about it. (That’s a double-meaning right there… They’d never see that stuff but, even if they did, they’d forget about it in 10 mnutes.) The actual downfall started when Kerry Von Erich got busted carrying drugs at the airport. This actually happened several times but Fritz Von Erich was able to spread enough money around to keep several of those times quiet. They also killed the towns off by no-showing because they were so messed up on drugs. People started smartening up to the fact that the Von Erichs were drug addicts, so it slowly slowed down until the territory finally died.

Memories of working the barbed-wire match with the Sheepherders against Terry Taylor and the Fantastics? He was scared to death when Watts came up with the idea. Tommy Rogers split his back open the first night they did the match. However, once they got into the ring he was fine because of the adrenaline.


The Sheepherders and Jack Victory vs. The Fantastics and Terry Taylor- This match is included on the Sheepherders shoot interview and probably the Terry Taylor one as well. Terry Taylor gets the win by hitting a top-rope sunset flip on Victory.


Kerry’s motorcycle accident- The true story never made the papers but the version in the dressing room was that the cops were chasing Kerry for some reason and they set up a roadblock to stop him. Kerry ended up running his motorcycle into a cop car and lost part of his foot.

Fritz using sympathy for the family to make money- Whenever any of the boys died, Fritz would make money off of it. “He was a cold-hearted bastard” as he would hold shows like the David Von Erich Memorial Show, etc. to capitalize on that sympathy.

Mike Von Erich after his return from Toxic Shock Syndrome- Mike was in horrible shape and didn’t want to be out there wrestling but was cooperative with his opponents in order to get it over and go home.

Lance Von Erich- The pressure to keep the Von Erich name resulted in “cousin” Lance being brought in. The first time Victory saw him, he asked him “Do you know what you’re getting into?” He was a good guy and a straight-arrow but doesn’t know what happened to him.

Being in the first Crockett Cup- He was with the Sheepherders, who he thinks wrestled the Rock and Roll Express to a double countout. The highlight of that match was him accidently breaking Bushwhacker Butch’s nose with the flagpole. Butch then chased him around, yelling at him, and forced him to re-break his nose and set it back into place, at which point Butch went back into the ring to continue the match.

The UWF moving downhill- Watts was always against cable TV and said it would kill the business. In a way, he was right because it destroyed the regional system. On top of that, it meant people could sit at home and watch matches from a bunch of different territory instead of going to the house shows.

Initial thoughts on Missy Hyatt- John Tatum hated her but she drew because she was the first of her kind, which he describes as a blonde, bitchy, big-titted, good-looking woman. He does say that he has no idea if she’s good-looking anymore though. (Quick answer, Jack… she’s not. She’s living proof of what plastic surgery can do to people if they have too much when they’re young.) Tatum was always pissed at her for stealing the show from them.

The triangle between John Tatum, Missy, and Eddie Gilbert- It was a complete shoot, as Missy really was trying to move from Tatum to Gilbert at the time. Tatum was trying to use Missy to get over and never really cared about her. Tatum went along with the angle because Gilbert was a booker and that his wrestling career was too important to him “to lose it over a bitch like her.”

Winning the UWF tag titles with Tatum- They won them from the Fantastics. The week after that, they were supposed to be in Houston but Tatum and Buddy Landell hung out the night before and got completely smashed, never making it to the town as a result. Because of that, they had to drop the tag titles to Wild Bill Irwin and “Bad” Leroy Brown the next week. Watts did make a big point of telling him that it wasn’t his fault, though. It was VERY rare to have a two-week title reign of any kind at that time.

The UWF on syndication- They were the #2 show in syndication across the country, behind only Wheel Of Fortune. He puts over the commentary team of Jim Ross and Michael PS Hayes as a part of that success as they gelled together very well.


The Fantastics vs. Jack Victory and Hollywood John Tatum- Tatum beats up Tommy Rogers while Rogers has Victory pinned, thus giving Victory the pin and the titles.

Wild Bill Irwin and “Bad” Leroy Brown with Gen. Skandor Akbar vs. Jack Victory and Hollywood John Tatum- This is a complete and total squash by Irwin and Brown as a part of an infamous UWF episode in which three titles change hands, this being one of them. The other two title changes, by the way, were One Man Gang over Terry Gordy by forfeit for the UWF title, after Gordy’s arm is “broken” during a busted six-man tag match earlier in the card, and Savannah Jack over Buddy “Jack” Roberts for the TV title. Tatum takes the bulk of the of the punishment before getting pinned by Brown with an elbow drop.


Eddie Gilbert and John Tatum- They didn’t get along well, but Gilbert and Victory got along well. Missy never really talked much to Victory after everything went down, but they never talked much to begin with. Victory says that it’s part of his philosophy where he feels that women are bad for the business but, these days, they’re so entrenched in the business that you can’t get rid of them. He DOES respect ones who learn their craft far more than ones like Missy, as he says that he could go to any strip club and get 100 Missy Hyatts. The only reason she became a star was the TV coverage she got in World Class and the UWF.


Jack Victory with Eddie Gilbert and Sting vs. Brett Wayne Sawyer- This match doesn’t take place because Jack Victory pays Sting to take his place in the match.

Missing Link vs. ???- Victory, Tatum, and Missy Hyatt beat up Missing Link and his valet, Dark Journey. We also get a promo by Victory talking about how he brought Tatum and Hyatt in to destroy Journey and Link.

Jack Victory vs. Koko B. Ware- This is poor-looking footage from one of Watts’ Superdome shows. This becomes a no-contest when Dark Journey and Maxine, Victory’s valet, get involved in the match.

Iceman Parsons and Chavo Guerrero Sr. vs. Jack Victory and Hollywood John Tatum- This is clipped to the traditional UWF main event schmoz ending where Hot Stuff International (“Hot Stuff” Eddie Gilbert, Sting, and Rick Steiner) come out and completely destroy Victory and Tatum. Parsons and Guerrero just get on the apron and watch the carnage.

Missing Link vs. Hollywood John Tatum- Due to Dark Journey pushing Eddie Gilbert off the ropes and onto Tatum, Link wins the match. Due to pre-match stipulations, Journey gets Missy Hyatt as her valet beceause of Link’s win. The alliance between Missy Hyatt and Hot Stuff International nearly disintegrates because of the loss, but Missy is able to call a cease-fire after several minutes of the groups kicking the crap out of each other.


Was there tension because of Hyatt’s relationship with Gilbert? Gen. Skandor Akbar was the worst about ribbing her, as he’d loudly say “Here comes Missy, the girl with the big pussy!” whenever she walked by. Outside of that, it was all business.

How did Tatum find out about Gilbert and Hyatt? He’s not sure, as he had to ask Tatum right after it happened if it was all a shoot, which Tatum confirmed.

How did he end up with purple hair? It was a rib when Ken Mantell was the booker. They tried it out and it got reactions, to where people were paying attention to him. These days, stuff like that is normal.


Buddy Landell vs. Chavo Guerrero Sr.- Chavo has it won with a moonsault until Jack Victory hits Chavo in the head.


Going back to World Class- They left, along with the Fantastics, because it was time for them to move on. He brings up how lucky he was o have both the UWF and World Class, as he shuttled between the two for years whenever he got stale in one promotion. If he’d been stuck in one promotion that whole time, he says he’d have been looking for work outside of wrestling a long time ago. He feels he was blessed up until his time in the NWA

How did Watts react to talent raids by Crockett and the WWF at that time? Watts knew things were coming to an end. Victory feels that mindset had been in Watts’ mind ever since Junkyard Dog left for the WWF with no notice as Watts had turned JYD into a nobody into a superstar and then JYD left overnight.

Jim Crockett buying the UWF- It was very clear from the start that the main thing that Crockett wanted were the UWF’s network of syndication timeslots across the country and some select talents. The UWF was an organization died a horrible death soon after the sale because they were just going to be absorbed into Crockett’s existing NWA empire based in Charlotte. He doesn’t understand to this day why Crockett didn’t do an invasion angle considering how hot the UWF was at that time. But Crockett, “asinine piece of shit that he is”, didn’t do it.

Thoughts on young talent he worked with that became stars- He never saw it in Ultimate Warrior, who was Blade in the UWF and the Dingo Warrior in World Class. He was a horrible wrestler but he had a great body. He knew that Sting and Rick Steiner would be great. Terry Taylor was a personal favorite of his, although Taylor knocked out many of his teeth at a show at the UNO Lakefront Arena in New Orleans. What happened was that Taylor was going to run him into a guardrail but, just as he started making the move, a mark kicked the guardrail and the new point of impact was his upper jaw, knocking out a bunch of teeth in the process. It was the most pain he’d ever been in and it was made worse by the fact that the only doctor they knew who could work on him was in Baton Rouge, about an hour away from the arena. The doctor numbed him up and put in a new set of teeth but, within weeks, Tommy Rogers gave Victory a dropkick that knocked that set out.

How did World Class change since he was gone? It was the beginning of the end for the territory. They were only running two shows a week in the territory and, once he got tired of not making any money, he took time off from the business to spend time with his life.

What were the production meetings like with Fritz? “They were classics.” Top guys in the territory would go to the meetings, which were for the filmed shows in Dallas and Ft. Worth each week. Whenever the Von Erich kids were asked what they wanted to do for a finish, they’d say “The claw, daddy, the claw!” because Fritz’s trademark hold had been the Iron Claw and all the kids were reputed to be “masters” or it as a result. After the finishes for the Von Erich kids were done, Fritz would leave and turn the remaining responsibilities over to Ken Mantell.

The Tower of Doom match- It was wild. There were 40,000 people at the show. He thinks the rules of the match were that everyone would start out in the bottom of the cage, have to jump up to the second leve, then climb to the third level. “I think one of the Von Erichs won that one… [/Sarcasm]” He got a busted eardrum in that match from a Terry Gordy clothesline and was limited for some time as a result, as he couldn’t fly and had tinnitus (ringing) in that ear for weeks.


We get a promo for the Triple Dome of Doom (Tower of Doom, Triple Cage Match) match.

Jack Victory and John Tatum vs. Shawn Simpson and Steve Simpson- One of the Simpsons hits a flying bodypress on Victory for the three, winning the Wild West Tag Titles in the process.

Jack Victory and John Tatum vs. Shawn Simpson and Steve Simpson- Victory wins after Tatum snaps one of the Simpsons’ heads down, catching their throat on the ring ropes.

Going to the NWA- Angel of Death was there as the Russian Assassin. They needed a third Russian, so Angel of Death suggested him for the role. He hated working under a hood as a part of that angle, but it was a job. This was coming off of a four-month break from the business.

(Fun fact- Angel of Death was the first choice to be the Black Scorpion in WCW, but someone in WCW management realized that, once unmasked, no one would know who Angel was and that the unmasking wouldn’t mean anything to the fans.)

Memories of working scaffold matches against the Road Warriors- It was scary. Angel of Death blew his knee out taking a bump from the scaffold one night, so Victory had to take the bump off of the scaffold for the rest of the matches in that series, which was about fourteen shows for the Great American Bash tour in 1988. It was scarier to have chain matches against the Koloffs.

Chain matches with the Koloffs- One night, Angel got his finger ripped so badly by the chain that blood was spurting out of it and there was no blue left on the mat by the time the match was done.

The Road Warriors- He marked out for them.

How hard was it on his body to take all those scaffold bumps? “It’s probably why I have a broken leg right now.” It was just the continual wear and tear on his body until something broke and there was no extra compensation for taking the bumps as it was just part of the job.

Working for Paul Heyman as the Secret Service- The Russian Assassins gimmick was coming to an end as Angel of Death was leaving the business for a while to deal with personal issues. The company liked him, so they found something else for him to do. Paul E suggested the Secret Service gimmick and he had a lot of fun with it.


The Russian Assassins with Paul Jones vs. Ivan Koloff and Nikita Koloff- This is a part of the 1988 US Tag Title tournament that resulted from the US Tag Titles being vacated by the Midnight Express, which was due to them winning the World Tag Titles from the departing Arn Anderson and Tully Blanchard. The match ends in a no contest due to the referee losing control of the participants, removing both teams from the tournament.

(Fun fact- The entire point of the tournament was to build to another Fantastics vs. Sheepherders feud. Things didn’t quite work out, as the Sheepherders jumped to the WWF and became the Bushwhackers in the time between the pre-taped semifinal match against Eddie Gilbert and Ron Simmons (Faarooq) and the live Clash of the Champions match against the Fantastics. Gilbert and Simmons got that spot instead due to a “reverse decision by the referee” to explain the disappearance of the Sheepherders.)


How was Paul E in those days? Crazy. He can’t tell any bad stories about him, even though he wants to. One time, while Paul E was managing the Samoan Swat Team (Samu (Tonga Kid) and Fatu (Rikishi)), Paul E. rented a Lincoln and then drove the SST and Victory’s new team, the New Zealand Militia, around.
On the way back from a show, the Steiner Brothers, Lex Luger, and Sting start egging the car while they’re driving along. In order to get back, the SST and the Militia bought a ton of eggs and started chasing down the babyfaces’ car. By the time they got back to Charlotte, the car could only drive in reverse. What didn’t help was that the teams had taken the car to the car wash and had hosed out the interior, shorting out all the electronics in the car such as the stereo and the power windows. They had it towed to the rental company, whose manager freaked out because the car only had 400 miles on it when it was rented to Paul E. Paul had opted for full insurance on the car when he rented it, so he didn’t get charged for it although he wasn’t allowed to rent from that company ever again. The Steiners also liked to pull alongside the other wrestlers when they were driving fast and open the doors on the other wrestlers’ car.


Jack Victory vs. Ricky Santana- Santana wins with a rollup when Victory makes a charge into the corner.

Jack Victory and The Enforcer vs. Eddie Gilbert and Scott Steiner with Missy Hyatt- The Enforcer is some guy under a red mask but I have no clue who it is. Steiner gets the win with a belly-to-belly suplex, which should surprise no one who’s seen him wrestle in the past two years.

Jack Victory vs. Sting for the TV title- This is a match that got “bumped” from Clash of the Champions 6 by Ric Flair vs. Ricky “The Dragon” Steamboat’s 2 of 3 Falls match. (Title defenses by Sting and Lex Luger were announced to take place after the match “if time remained”, in order to keep fans from thinking the match would go 55 minutes.) Gary Hart is on commentary with Jim Ross because Hart’s client, the Great Muta, has issued a challenge to Sting for the TV title. Sting wins with a Stinger Splash (high cross body).

Scott Hall and Tommy Rich vs. the New Zealand Militia- This was when Scott Hall was in his “70’s porn star” phase, looking like Magnum TA complete with the same and moustache. Jim Ross shills the upcoming Great American Bash 1989 on the commentary, which is one of the great PPV events of all time. Rich pins Victory with a Lou Thesz Press after a blind tag for the win. (Funny… I heard that the reason Rich won the NWA title in 1982 had to do with Rich, promoter Jim Barnett, and a Thesz press, although stories conflict on what side of the move Rich was on.)


The NWA locker room of that time- It was okay, but there was some clique activity at the time. Competition for spots started to increase, although he was fine because he was always in the lower half of the card yet the promoters always kept giving him new gimmicks. He believes that being given new gimmicks all the time was a god thing because it meant the promoters thought enough of you that they wanted to keep you around.

Jobbing- Wrestles sometimes forget that there has to be a winner and a loser and that, most of the time, it doesn’t hurt to job because the people won’t remember it within a few days. He has no problems doing a favor for someone as long as they have no objections to doing the same thing for them down the road.

Bookers in the NWA- “It was a clusterfuck” because the average NWA booker at that time had the same level of job security as a Central American dictator. It WAS good for the wrestlers, though, because it was a side effect of the Turner sale along with all wrestlers in the company getting guaranteed contracts. He and his tag partner, Rip Morgan, loved it because they would go weeks at a time without being booked on a single show yet they’d get paid anyway.

He and Rip Morgan- He and Rip had been close so, when the company was looking for suggestions, they brought up the idea of them tagging as the New Zealand Militia. Rip designed everything for it.


The New Zealand Militia with Paul E. Dangerously vs. the Dynamic Dudes (Shane Douglas and Johnny Ace) with Jim Cornette- Unfortunately, this is NOT the match I was at ringside for, in which Victory and Rip Morgan broke Ace’s cheekbone with a canteen shot. I’m not kidding either… it was supposed to be an angle but they REALLY broke it. Jim Ross mentions that match in his commentary, in order to sell the backstory to this otherwise meaningless match. Shane Douglas pins Jack Victory when Victory leans over to grab his canteen and use it on Shane.


Flair as a booker- As a rule, if a booker is also a worker, that worker’s clique goes over everyone while they’re booking and this was no exception.

The program against the Dynamic Dudes- He remembers that the Dudes HATED the gimmick. They were great talents but they couldn’t make it work because they didn’t believe in the gimmick and sell it hard enough. That gimmick was one of WCW head Jim Herd’s dumbass ideas, along with the Ding Dongs. Victory referrs to Herd as “a complete fuckin’ idiot.” (Amen to that)

What was Jim Herd like? “A fuckin’ idiot.” He had no idea about wrestling and would use surveys to say that people wanted certain things that everyone else thought were stupid. He talks about how Eddie Gilbert was on the booking committee with Herd at that time and got stuck with the duty of telling his friend Shane Douglas about the Dynamic Dudes gimmick. (For those who don’t know, Shane Douglas, Eddie Gilbert, Missy Hyatt, and “Cactus Jack” Mick Foley all go back to a set of tryouts Bill Watts held to find new UWF talent. Eddie and Missy were a part of Watts’ crew at the time and befriended the pair immediately, although only Shane got a job there because Foley screwed up in his last tryout match against Sam Houston.)

More Dynamic Dudes memories- The biggest memory has to be when they worked the angle with the Dudes where one of them hit Johnny Ace in the cheek with their canteen. They really DID break his face when they did that. They heard from Shane Douglas later on that Ace was in the back crying afterwards and, when he went to blow his nose, his entire cheek inflated because of the damage they’d done to the cheekbone.

Locker-room reaction to Flair leaving for the WWF- It was a mixed reaction, as most of the top guys were glad to see him go so they could move up the card.

Watts running WCW in 1992- He wasn’t in the company at the time but he lived in Atlanta and was still friends with many of the wrestlers, so he heard a lot of what went on. Everyone was scared to death because people who had never met Watts had heard a lot of stories that they couldn’t believe. They learned that the stories were all true very quickly, as Watts was threatening to cut everyone’s contracts within a few weeks of getting the job. Soon afterwards, a lot of wrestlers were fired and some of them went to the Turner execs and told them that what Watts was doing was completely destroying the company, which supposedly helped expedite Watts’ firing/quitting/retirement between Starrcade 1992 and very early 1993.

Missy Hyatt- He ran into her recently in New York, where he claims she was selling shooters at a strip club. He and Balls Mahoney had gone to see a Rob Zombie concert then went to the club after the show and ran into her. Missy claimed that she was going to be posing for Penthouse soon. He’s pretty sure that she’s blown the entire settlement she got from her sexual harassment case against WCW because, if not, why would she be working at a strip club (and not as a dancer, either)?

A Bill Watts story- During the UWF days, watts would hold his TV tapings at the arena in Tulsa then bring all the wrestlers to his house in Bixby, OK, to film their interviews. It would take several hours to do interviews so people would get liquored up waiting for their turn. Dick Murdoch finally got tired of waiting so he walked over to Watts’ swimming pool and started pissing in it. Watts came out screaming but Murdoch told him “I helped pay for this pool, goddammit, so I can pee in it.” Watts fired him over it, but brought him back a few weeks later.

Was he ever pursued by the WWF? No, never even stepped into one of their locker rooms. He was always employed, so he never really pursued it too hard.

Jim Herd- “He was the major problem” when Jim Crockett Promotions was bought out by Turner. Ric Flair was principally the booker at that time but Herd would kill a lot of what Flair tried to do before it could produce the intended results. He feels that 99% of the problems with WCW dealt with Jim Herd.

Was there ever any fear that WCW would shut down? No, because Ted Turner owned the company as well as TBS, who showed WCW’s regular TV shows as well as the Clash of the Champions specials. As he understands it, World Championship Wrestling (the Georgia territory wrestling show) saved TBS when the channel first started, so Turner was very loyal to the company.

Did he ever try to bring John Tatum into WCW? No, because Tatum had gotten into a bad car accident years ago which broke both his legs. They actually had to cut him out of the trunk of his car. He did wrestle afterwards but he wasn’t really able to do much anymore. He lives in Florida now.

The Royal Family- Ric Flair told them that he hated the New Zealand Militia gimmick so the office came up with the Royal Family, which involved them pretending to be bluebloods and having Lord Littlebrook as their manager. "It was great shit.” It was getting over really good until the office fired Littlebrook. Shortly afterwards, he and Rip left the business because they were tired of the bullshit and backstabbing.

Did he ever go to Japan? No, he never found the time during the prime of his career. He hopes that he gets the chance now that he’s involved with ECW.

What did he do between WCW and ECW? He’s in the strip club business. He felt that he’d been to enough clubs over the years and had enough connections to them in Atlanta, the Mecca of strip clubs at the time, to get himself hired as a doorman for one of the clubs. He was involved in several clubs in the Atlanta area and still owns 10% of one of them to this day. When you manage one of those clubs, it’s like being married to each of the 45 naked women in the club and, by the end of the night, you’re pounding down shots and having to tell them “shut the fuck up” when they come bitching to you about their problems.

Guys he’s kept up with- He keeps up with Terry Taylor and a few other guys and has been to several shows over the years.

When did he first pay attention to ECW? It was when they did their PPV in Atlanta, which was on a Sunday and he was available because the bar was closed that day. He went there to visit the guys unannounced and Paul E. ran up and hugged him as soon as he saw him. He just hung out and watched the matches and was completely impressed. Paul E offered to bring him back in, so he told Paul to hold off for a few months so he could get everything tied up in Atlanta and free him to move back to the Northeast, where ECW is based.

What’s different between Paul E. in the day and Paul E. today? He’s more serious today because he’s the boss but he’s otherwise the same.

The ECW locker room- He got a good response from them. A lot of the guys actually remembered him, which surprised him a bit. JYD was actually there that night too, as well as Bill Eadie (Demolition Ax) and others.

What does he think of Hulk Hogan in WCW? WCW’s still doing great business but things are cooling down with Hogan on top. The WWF’s been doing better than them recently. Considering that there aren’t territories anymore, you can only take so much of one guy on top before you get sick of him.

What advice would he give someone trying to get into the business? Things are completely different these days. Even if you make it through one of the wrestling schools, there’s no guarantee you’ll ever make money in the business.

Thoughts on younger guys in ECW such as Tommy Dreamer, etc? Dreamer, the Dudley Boyz, Tazz, New Jack, etc. are all great talents.

Does he miss the days when he could put on a headlock and tell a story? He can still do that some nights, as some towns haven’t been ruined yet by the guys who decide “they’re going to buy a ticket, sit around jacking off, and yell ‘Boring!’ all night.”


Tommy Dreamer and Sandman vs. Bubba Ray Dudley and Jack Victory- Bubba and Victory beat the living shit out of Sandman before Dreamer, Sandman’s mystery partner, comes out and starts laying the smack down. This is seriously clipped as D-Von Dudley, Big Dick Dudley, and Sign Guy Dudley join in to help Bubba while Spike Dudley comes out to help out Dreamer. New Jack then comes in to attack the Dudleyz and attacks everyone with his shopping cart o’ crap. Victory gets the pin on New Jack after New Jack gets hit with a chair and a guitar.


Would he ever want to be a booker? He’d love to be in the office down the line but he would rather be an assistant booker than a head booker.

Does he see the wrestling boom coming to an end? “It always does.” He figures it will take probably five years before we really see it, though. (He’s a little off on his timeline but made a very good guess. The decline started in 2001, two years after the interview, and has gone into freefall in 2003.) Tickets aren’t cheap these days, as ringside seats used to be $14 for one of Bill Watts’ shows, whereas you have trouble paying the parking charges for most shows with $14 these days. The cheap tickets used to be $5 but MAYBE it will get you a beer at the show now. The big reason for a decline seems to be rehashing the same old stuff like WCW is doing right now. He calls Vince McMahon a mastermind because he’s producing new stars like crazy and getting them over very quickly. (My, how times change.) He feels that Paul E. is right behind Vince in terms of genius.

Does he see Shawn Michaels’ back injury as the first in a long line of careers ended due to the new style of wrestling? He thinks that it will take a toll on people’s bodies. He thought he’d blown out a ligament when he took a backdrop to the floor at an ECW show but, as it turns out, he broke his knee joint in five different places instead. He attributes that more to the wear and tear on his body before coming to ECW than the actual bump. He can see a lot of people he’s worked with leaving the business due to accumulated injuries from the new style. (Keep in mind, Michaels was out of the business from Wrestlemania 14 until a few months after Wrestlemania 18)


New workers today- The sharp decline in the average career length of a wrestler is making him wonder where all of the new wrestlers are coming from, as there are a lot of schools that completely rip off their students as well as schools that are run by the three major federations (WCW’s Power Plant, ECW’s House of Hardcore, and the WWF’s Funkin’ Dojo). (Of those three schools, the best talents by far came from the Funkin’ Dojo, which trained such wrestlers as Edge, Christian, Gangrel, Teddy Hart, Steve Corino, Christopher Daniels, and Kurt Angle.) Victory says that the schools tend to put people through grueling torture as a weed-out and, as a result, many natural athletes who could be very successful in the business tend to get run off without getting a chance to show they can do it. He doesn’t see that the next generation will produce wrestlers on the level of Hulk Hogan, Steve Austin, or Ric Flair since the territory system is not in place anymore. (Jim Cornette thought the same thing, which is why Ohio Valley Wrestling is a developmental territory for the WWF and there used to be about three or four others before the WWF started cutting costs in 2001.)

What his favorite matches of his career? He’s enjoyed all of them, so he doesn’t have time to name all of his matches that he loved.

Were there any particular opponents he loved to wrestle? There were people he knew he could have good matches with, such as Brad Armstrong or Terry Taylor.

What’s his favorite feud he was involved in? The Sheepherders vs. Fantastics feud in the UWF because the barbed-wire cage matches sold out in every town they went to because it was a new thing in that territory.

If he started a promotion today, who would he want wrestling for him? If he opened one tomorrow, he’d want Steve Austin and a bunch of other guys in the WWF, including The Rock. He talks about how Rock is a young guy who’s a great talker. “He’s talked so much that he has laryingitis now!” He thinks that the WWF talent in general would be a good choice because they’re closer to the ECW style than WCW and it’s a much crisper show than WCW. In short, he’d steal Vince McMahon’s top talent.

Is there anyone in the business he hasn’t worked with that he’d like to? The Rock is a top choice. He would say Steve Austin but he wrestled Austin in a tag match years ago.

Guys being produced by wrestling schools- He talks about how it amazes him that guys like The Rock came out of a wrestling school. On the other hand, he’s seen WCW Saturday Night, which showcases some of their homegrown talent, and it was so bad that they’d have to pay him to watch another episode of it.

Him and the Texas title- He was the Texas Heavyweight Champion until he got pissed off at Fritz Von Erich. One night, he was drunk while spending time with John Tatum and a young mark who was a friend of his when he decided to give the belt to the kid and claim that he’d lost it. Fritz was pissed when he’d heard that Victory had lost the belt.


Phone-in questions

How is his injury healing? It’s doing fine and he thinks he’ll be back by the end of March.

Does he still talk to John Tatum? Occasionally he does.

Will he still be feuding with New Jack when he comes back? New Jack is at the top of his list when he comes back.

Is it true that Missy Hyatt can suck a golf ball through a trash can? “You’d have to ask Johnny that.”

What was it like to wrestle for Global? It was okay, although he never got along with owner Joe Pedicino. He says that he used to split time between WCW and Global because they would work on different weeks. He feels Global could have lasted if they hadn’t spent the money on “stupid shit.” Pedicino should have started small and built up.

Who did he prefer to work for, UWF or ECW? UWF was great but ECW has a lot of its own good qualities. The UWF gets the nod because he was younger back then.

What was the biggest screwjob in wrestling before Montreal that he saw or was a part of? He’d have to think about it. He didn’t really witness any firsthand though. He watched Wrestling With Shadows and hadn’t known much about the Montreal screwjob before and found it very informative, as well as a nice example of how cutthroat the business has gotten. After the caller has hung up, Victory muses “I should have mentioned the time Johnny didn’t show up for the show… *I* got screwed on that one.”

What was it like to work with Eddie Gilbert? Good guy, very talented. He feels the only things going against him were his height and weight. Excellent wrestler.

What was his favorite promotion? It was the UWF, when he was tagging with John Tatum and working with the Sheepherders.

What happened to Rip Morgan? He went back to New Zealand.

The interview ends here, but there is footage of Victory and two of his strippers. For the frustrated and horny out there, we get footage of the two strippers making out with each other. Frankly, it’s nothing impressive but it was a free addition to the tape and not an advertised selling point like the WWF’s horrible Hot Lesbian Action period in 2002.


Thoughts: Victory’s very entertaining and has a lot to say, but it’s hard to rate this interview too high considering the majority of it deals with territories in the mid-80s and very little since. Recommended for the average viewer but Highly Recommended for those interested in World Class and the UWF in their heyday.

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