Ole Goes to Jail 

I have been asked in various e-mails about my working relationship with Ole Anderson.  Ole is a rare piece of work.   He is hard to get along with. He is arrogant, bitchy, and a downright pain in the butt to deal with.  However he is also  one of the most talented people I have ever been associated with. He was a pain because he was a perfectionist.  He thought  the business should come first, regardless of personal problems or anything else. If you can ever get past the rough exterior he  is a funny, friendly guy. Yes I am talking about Ole. Most people never see this side of him, but I worked with him for over  8 years on a daily basis.

I went to Athens, Ga. one Thursday night under a mask as one of the Assassins. Joe Hamilton was double booked and I went  in his place wearing one of his outfits. When I got there that night I found out Randy Colley and myself were wrestling Ole and  Lars Anderson. I locked up with Ole and pushed him back into a corner. I told him I have been waiting five years for this and proceeded to lay a couple of snug forearms to his chest. I figured he would kill me, but to my surprise he grabbed me and started laughing.   He treated me with kid gloves that night and was a real pleasure to work with. Just a side note, Lars was easy on me also, which really surprised me.

But to my story...

We were in Marietta, Ga. at the Cobb Civic Center on a Sunday night. I was refereeing a match between Ole and Tommy Rich.   I was at a point in my career where I was only refereeing when someone was ill or could not make it for some reason. I was the  office manager for GCW and most of my time was spent on the promotion end of the business. This particular night we did some sort of screw job on Tommy and the heat was pretty intense. As Ole rolled out of the ring I went right behind him. Let me explain about following the heel.  I was taught very early on that you followed the heels out of the ring. Number one it was to watch their back, second if the finish was hot there was always more protection with the heels, thereby you were protecting them as well as being protected yourself. If the heel knew what he was doing the heat would be on them and not the referee. But you learn a lot of guys never figure out the referee is not going to draw a dime, they need the heat. Such was not the case with Ole he always had the heat on him.

As we started up the aisle I spotted a guy standing on the end of a row with a motorcycle helmet in his hand. He was mouthing at  Ole and me, but he never moved from his position. As Ole passed him he windmilled that helmet and hit Ole on top of the head.  Picture a fast-pitch softball pitcher only in reverse, that's how he wheeled that helmet. Ole took a couple of steps and acted as if a  mosquito had bit him. He spun around and the guy was on the floor being punched and kicked. I am not naming anyone but Ole never laid a hand on the guy. When he turned around the young man had been pounded severely. The police pulled someone off the guy and hauled him outside. We went on to the dressing room and Ole began howling like a deranged wolf.   He had a knot on his head the size of a baseball, but he never put that mark with the helmet over by selling it in front of the fans.

Between laughing and checking on him a policeman walked into the dressing room and told Ole the fan had pressed a complaint  that Ole had assaulted him. Ole explained that he never laid a hand on him. The officer agreed but said the fan was not going to say that the referee had assaulted him ( I did not say that ) .   The officer told Ole he had better file a cross complaint and that he could probably get it all dismissed. He said the fan will not pursue it because there were too many witnesses. He also informed Ole that he could come to the station on Monday and he would walk him through the booking process and release him on his own signature.

I was sitting in the office on Monday afternoon and was paged that I had a phone call. I picked up the phone and it was Ole.  I asked him where he was and he said I am in the Cobb County Jail. Now I have known Ole many years and one gets very few chances to get over on him. He is so dry witted he just won't put you over with anything you say, but this time I got him. I said Ole if this is your one phone call..  you have made a serious mistake...  Total silence on his end and then this roaring laugh that I have only heard once or twice.  He proceeds to call me an a--hole and things were back to normal...

The officer that helped us that night and Ole that Monday was Donald Garrison of the Cobb County Police Department.  Office Garrison was killed in the line of duty several years ago and those of us that knew him, miss him...  Thanks Don for all your help... R I P Officer Donald Garrison.....