Where Wrestling's Regional History Lives!
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Where Wrestling's Regional History Lives! |
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- Brandon Truitt
If this interview is a bit spotty, it's due to the poor condition of my tape. The tape opens with a Kevin Sullivan promo from Florida, surrounded by his "family" which includes King Curtis Iaukea, a huge guy with as many blade-scars on his forehead as Abdullah the Butcher who was a part of WCW's Dungeon of Doom. Sullivan's subject for the promo is Superstar Billy Graham, and he talks about cutting his head off and so forth. This is Sportz Entertainment WELL before Vince "invented" it. Sullivan cuts another long rambling promo from Florida that sounds like a fundamentalist preacher's sermon, although I'll be damned if I can figure out what he's talking about. He then cuts another one from Florida in an empty arena, talking about why, when he got "blinded", he reached out to his arch-enemies... the Windham family (Blackjack Mulligan, Barry Windham, Kendall Windham, and Blackjack's son-in-law Mike Rotundo). He talks about how Blackjack's gone down and now, he's not sure who took him out but intends to find out. I'm hoping this didn't end with with a security camera showing Kevin attacking Blackjack... The interview actually starts now, with Sullivan looking like a cross between Superstar Billy Graham and Scott Steiner, with a crewcut that makes him look bald and a blonde beard. Sullivan got started in the business because he was training as an amateur and someone convinced him to go pro. He worked in Montreal, with Pat Gerard. Other guys who had worked the territory were the Garvins (Terry, Ron, and Jimmy) and Pat Patterson. Ken Lucas and Eddie Graham were among the guys who took him under their wing. Another early territory he worked was Georgia, then he went to Mobile, Alabama, to Hattiesburg, Mississippi, to Tennessee (which was a full area and not split into Memphis and Nashville). Opinions of Memphis- Great wrestling area. Just about the only thing on TV around that time was wrestling. Jerry Jarrett- Business man. VERY very smart about the business. Doesn't get along with him very well, but business is business between them. He was made booker, but his payoffs weren't good and he ended up quitting the territory. While in Memphis, he feuded with Jerry Lawler. The territory was on its ass, so he suggested that the formula for the matches be changed so that Lawler and Bill Dundee didn't send everyone home happy every night. The next week, Wayne Ferris (Honkytonk Man) beat Lawler and Sullivan beat Dundee and the house was up to $37,000 from $11,000 the week before. Other highlights include working with Jimmy Hart, who he describes as an energetic guy, and working with Lawler, who knew how to get over everywhere. Georgia- He talks about how people don't like Ole Anderson, but that he didn't really like or dislike him. Ole was a good businessman because he didn't let anyone get too far out of line and he was financially successful in his time. He talks about how they had a huge amount of young talent like Tommy Rich, Rick Martel, Tony Atlas, etc. He learned from Ole not to run everyone in every night, because Ole did it so often that the fans would watch the locker room instead of the match. Highlights include working with Steve Kiern. He also worked with Tony Atlas, which was a good storyline because Sullivan had kept turning on people while Tony, his tag partner, kept justifying it. Eventually, he turned on Tony and they started feuding. Tony got him into bodybuilding. Bodybuilding- He did a few shows, but they aren't anything like today's shows where the guys look like they have pumpkins surgically inserted into their biceps. Terry Taylor- He was good, as he worked hard as a young face to learn his trade. The Freebirds- He worked with them quite a bit and they were well ahead of their time. He claims that they'd fit in today, and talks about how revolutionary it was for them to alternate which two of them would defend the belts as well as them having entrance music, which few people had back then. Buzz Sawyer- Hated to work with him because he'd want to go 45 minutes if the office would tell them 20 minutes. He could have made money if he hadn't messed around with drugs. He talks up the series of matches between Sawyer and Terry Gordy. More... |
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