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16 minutes ago, Wyld Samurai said:

Considering how evil Fuji's pranks were - how could anyone not have heat with that man? 

I don't have his book in front of me, but apparently Fuji kept asking him for weed when he (Hart) was backstage. Being really obnoxious about it and doing it basically to call attention to the fact that Hart did drugs. Gary didn't hide the fact that he smoked pot but wasn't something he wanted broadcast to the entire world when he's coming for what amounted to a job interview. That coupled with the plane ticket thing made him feel like there were backstage forces conspiring against him. He also apparently thought Fuji was a big scumbag. He said Fuji had a bunch of different wives and different families that he never took care of. Also, that he owned a restaurant with Prof Tanaka (I think it was him anyway) and when it wasn't profitable, it developed a bad case of spontaneous combustion. Hart said he wouldn't have been surprised if Fuji did it.

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I actually found the pdf I have of Hart's book. Here's his take on Fuji

Quote

“Vince McMahon sent in a couple of his guys who were getting stale in New York - Chief Jay Strongbow and Mr. Fuji – in the hopes that they would get over in Georgia. I had Professor Tanaka on my crew and knew him since Amarillo, really liked him, and felt he was a good guy and was very dependable, so I put him together with Mr. Fuji. I soon learned that Fuji was the exact opposite of Tanaka. Mr. Fuji has no moral center at all, and is the most unscrupulous guy I have ever met in wrestling. He has no redeeming qualities at all, is a trouble maker, and just wants to pull ribs on people. Meanwhile, he has five different wives, kids everywhere, and takes care of none of them. As soon as he got to Georgia, he and Professor Tanaka opened up a seafood restaurant in Clayton, and the business flopped. Then, one day, it just “happened” to burn down. I was sure that Fuji torched the place, and I was so tired of his games in the dressing room that I told him I couldn’t deal with him anymore and let him go.”

And here's his account of what happened when he tried out for the WWF (spoilered for length)

Spoiler

“Tarzan Tyler was living in Dallas at the time, and we were friends because he had worked for me in Texas when I had the book. I told him I was looking to make a move to the WWF, and he said, “I know this kid from Montreal. He wrestles under the name of Cujo, is 6’7”, weighs well over 350 pounds, and is very agile. If you meet with Vince McMahon, would you see if you could get him into the WWF, as well?” I had known Tarzan for many years, and he had always done right by me. If he wanted me to use whatever influence I had to get a friend of his booked with the WWF, I was happy to oblige. I asked him to send me some pictures of Cujo, and was impressed with his look. Picture John Tenta – and that’s what Cujo looked like. I was really curious to see him perform in the ring, because if I liked what I saw, I knew I could develop him into a monster to challenge Hulk Hogan. I even came up with a gimmick for him – thinking it would be interesting to bill him as being from Guyana as “the man who got away” - a subtle reference to the mass suicide that took place in Jonestown six years earlier. I flew to St. Louis to meet with Vince at the Kiel Auditorium, and as soon as I walked into the building, Mr. Fuji approached me and loudly asked if I had any marijuana with me. I just looked at him and calmly said, “Fuji - you know I don’t bring that stuff to the arena.” I then stood in the hallway and waited to speak with Vince McMahon. Eventually, he came out of a room where he and George “the Animal” Steele were having a heated discussion. Vince and I started speaking, and, just as I had promised Tarzan, I showed him Cujo’s pictures. Needless to say, Vince was impressed, because he likes monsters. The next thing I knew, George Steele interrupted - because he and Vince were in some kind of flux at the time - grabbed Vince, and pulled him back into the room to continue their discussion. The last thing Vince said to me was, “I’ll see you and Cujo at our house show in Landover – someone from my office will send you a plane ticket.” I only got three minutes with Vince that night, and I didn’t see him again. Sure enough, a few days later, I received a plane ticket in the mail, and I flew into Washington DC the evening of the show. As soon as I arrived at the airport, someone was paging my name through the loudspeaker, announcing that I had a phone call. When I picked up the phone, I heard, “Gary, you don’t know me, but my name is Howard Finkel, and I work for Vince McMahon. There’s been a mix-up, and Cujo’s plane will be late. Will you stay at the airport, meet him, and bring him with you to Landover for the show tonight?” Howard told me the gate Cujo was getting in at, and all the other pertinent information. I waited for an hour, but by 7:30 p.m., I was concerned because it was awfully close to show time and he still hadn’t shown up. I found someone who worked at the airport and asked about the flight, and was informed that it had landed over two hours ago. I had a forty-five minute drive from D.C. to Landover, so I immediately jumped in a cab and got to the arena by 8:30 p.m. As I walked in the building, the first person I saw was Hulk Hogan. He looked stunned when I walked through the door, and was clearly shocked to see me. “Mr. Hart!” He exclaimed, “What are you doing here?” It was the first and only time I ever met Hulk Hogan, and I sort of ignored and snubbed him - and I’m sure I came off as rude – because he was so nice to me and I was angry at someone else. I wish that I could have met him under a different set of circumstances, because I had always been really impressed with Hulk and was looking forward to meeting him. I found Cujo sitting with a bunch of other guys, and asked him how long he had been there. He pretended like he couldn’t speak English, and it was clear to me that he didn’t want to speak to me at all. I then saw Rene Goulet, who I knew for years because he had worked for me in Georgia and Texas, and I asked him how long Cujo had been there. As soon as he told me that Cujo had been there since show time, I knew I had been set up. I found Howard Finkel, and asked him why he paged me at the airport and asked me to wait for Cujo at the airport when he was already at the building. Howard told me that was what he was instructed to do by Jay Strongbow. The next thing I knew, Jay Strongbow walked over to me screaming, “Why are you getting here so late?” I was trying to be on my best behavior, so I didn’t respond to him, but I looked right at Howard and asked, “Does he have any stroke around here?” “Yes,” Howard replied. “He’s one of Vince’s top guys.” “Well, you tell Vince that if Jay Strongbow has any kind of power – I’m out of here, because I don’t want anything to do with him.” I found Bob Orton, Greg Valentine, and Roddy Piper - who I was supposed to ride with to Poughkeepsie, New York, for a TV taping the next day - and told them I was leaving. I then picked up my bag and left the building. Two days later, back in Dallas, I got a call from George Scott – who was Vince McMahon’s booker – saying that he was calling from Vince’s office. The first thing George said was, “Vince is really upset with you!” “Oh, really!” I replied. “Is he upset that he’s got some asshole on his staff who, all because I fired him nine years ago in Georgia, tried to fuck me out of a job and left me sitting in an airport in Washington, DC?” At that point, Vince got on the phone and said, “Gary, you came in and upset my dressing room!” “I didn’t upset anything,” I told him. “I flew to Washington, DC on time and was left sitting at the airport by that fucking asshole Jay Strongbow – and if he has anything to do with the WWF, then I’m not interested in working there.” “Well, I flew you in!” Vince argued. “If that’s what’s bothering you – I’ll send you the price of my ticket.” I offered. “No, that won’t be necessary,” he said. “Here – talk to George.” George got back on the line and explained that they ended up not hiring Cujo after all, because he didn’t have his working papers. I told George that I was under the impression that Cujo and Tarzan Tyler had that taken care of that, so it was really out of my hands. After we got that out of the way, George eased up a bit and told me the offer to come into the WWF was still on the table, asking if I would be interested in managing Brutus Beefcake. “No, thank you,” I said. “And thank Vince for the offer, as well, but I’m just not interested.” That was the last contact I ever had with anyone from the WWF, and that was the way I left it. My experience with the WWF during that particular time – which was really just a brief moment – left a very bad taste in my mouth. After Vince asked me to come in and help out with talent, I was treated like some prelim jobber – and I had been in the business too long to be treated like that by anybody. I was never angry with Howard Finkel, because in his defense he didn’t know who Cujo was and wouldn’t have been able to pick him out of a lineup. However, I didn’t want to put myself in a situation where my future depended on someone like Chief Jay Strongbow – who was clearly out for revenge for what had happened between us in Georgia nine years ago. I also didn’t like the first question that Mr. Fuji asked me in St. Louis, and I couldn’t help but think he was also trying to set me up, still bitter over what had happened in Georgia, as well. It was like stooge-city, and while I respected guys like Arnold Skaaland and Gorilla Monsoon, considering them to be top-of-the line guys, the WWF dressing room during that time was a hellhole of politicians and locker room lawyers, and I could never have put myself in that kind of jeopardy. At that stage in my career, I didn’t need to deal with game playing or shark infested waters, and God only knows what kinds of things Strongbow and Fuji were telling Vince McMahon about me. It wasn’t worth the aggravation, and therefore, I came to the conclusion that the WWF just wasn’t for me.”

 

 

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1. Why did Piper wear a Hulkamania shirt to his match with Hogan at War to Settle the Score, Feb 1985? 

 

2. Why did Orndorff take interviews  with his back to the camera in early 1984? I would imagine he's showing off his fancy robe as well as perhaps his disdain for the crowd. But maybe there's something else to it?

 

3. Why did they bring Piper in as a manager in 1984? His talking was great, of course, though you can understand only about half of it. And when he's with Orndorff, Paul does  90% of the talking. It's kind of weird.

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12 hours ago, Kronos said:

1. Why did Piper wear a Hulkamania shirt to his match with Hogan at War to Settle the Score, Feb 1985? 

 

2. Why did Orndorff take interviews  with his back to the camera in early 1984? I would imagine he's showing off his fancy robe as well as perhaps his disdain for the crowd. But maybe there's something else to it?

 

3. Why did they bring Piper in as a manager in 1984? His talking was great, of course, though you can understand only about half of it. And when he's with Orndorff, Paul does  90% of the talking. It's kind of weird.

1--Probably taunting him. Sorta like how Mr. Wonderful started using Real American as his theme music after he turned on Hulk.

2--Don't remember this.

3--IIRC, I think he was hurt when he first signed with the WWF so he started as a manager to heal up. He got pretty beat up during his feud with Valentine right before he jumped so he needed some time to recuperate. 

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4 minutes ago, cwoy2j said:

1--Probably taunting him. Sorta like how Mr. Wonderful started using Real American as his theme music after he turned on Hulk.

2--Don't remember this.

3--IIRC, I think he was hurt when he first signed with the WWF so he started as a manager to heal up. He got pretty beat up during his feud with Valentine right before he jumped so he needed some time to recuperate. 

 

1--That makes sense. He tore the shirt up before the match, just as he smashed a guitar and said a bunch of things against "Rock n Roll". (Guess not enough bagpipes for him.)

2--Here's a couple of examples of Orndorff interviews. Roddy's a lot more energetic than Orndorff, but he talks less. 

https://youtu.be/snagtzASrs8?t=28s

https://youtu.be/Q3g8fss7MtE?t=38s

3--That makes perfect sense. I forgot about the Dog Collar match, which would have been quite recent for the Jan/Feb '84 clips I was watching last night. 

 

 

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2. Pretty sure that was just another bit to have Orndorff showing contempt for the fans. You'll notice at the end of the interviews he turns around and mugs for the camera. Orndorff was such a great heel...

As to Roddy being "more energetic", all I can say is "Cocaine's a helluva drug!"

 

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5 minutes ago, OSJ said:

2. Pretty sure that was just another bit to have Orndorff showing contempt for the fans. You'll notice at the end of the interviews he turns around and mugs for the camera. Orndorff was such a great heel...

As to Roddy being "more energetic", all I can say is "Cocaine's a helluva drug!"

 

He really is over the top in 1984, isn't he? :lol:

 

Good points about Orndorff. I figured it was character work. It's annoying. But then, that's the point, isn't it? #GoodJobPaul

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Dude, I was 27 in 1984 and thought "breakfast" meant a gram of coke and a few shots of Jack Daniels. ;-)

All things must pass, I quit that shit in 1988 and never looked back.

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Does anyone know how Ric Flair's NWA title loss and subsequent regaining from Kerry Von Erich was treated or acknowledged on JCP tv? 

 

I was a kid (like kindergarten age) at the time and I have no clue how losses in other territories were treated on Crockett's TV.  

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3 minutes ago, Kronos said:

Not as Old School as some, but it's almost 20 yrs ago...

 

Who was running WWF in 2000-01 while Vince was focused on XFL development? 

Vince Then. Vince Now. Someone related to him Forever.

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I for sure remember that Bill Mercer talked about it on WCCW tv, w/o footage, and cast it like KvE wuz cheated by a dirty robber and because it happened in Japan the whole loss was shady and wouldn't followed up on, Amurika dammit. I also "remember" Flair regaining the belt being acknowledged on TBS (again, no footage). This was the era of co-operation with Apter so I recall them being a bit more above board. Is this era on the Network? Oy, my medulla oblongata...

- RAF

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I was torn over posting this in the podcast thread or here, but I figured it was more an "old school" issue, so here goes.

On either the Tony Schiavone or Bruce Prichard podcast, it was mentioned that Flair is still hot at Crockett all these years later over the contract negotiations that happened during or just before the Turner sale.

Unbeknownst to Flair, Turner apparently only wanted to buy Crockett's territory if Flair was part of the deal.  I'm not sure how true that was.  Maybe Flair was a big factor but I somehow doubt Turner was like, "Flair or nothing," but anyway...when negotiating Flair's renewal, Crockett approached it like any renewal and got the best deal he could.  When Flair found out the the sale was going through and he was a key factor in the deal, he was pissed at Crockett (and still is to this day) because he felt that Crockett should have given him a LOT more money since 1) Turner wanted Flair and 2) it wasn't Crockett's money anyway.

This is pretty fucked up to me for a few reasons.  First, it's tremendously immoral.  Flair essentially wished Crockett would have ripped Turner off because, "who cares? It's not your money!  Go ahead and spend someone else's money, they'll never know!"

Second, as a seller, I feel like Crockett had a good faith responsibility to operate in a fair manner and not do anything to damage Turner.  Loading them up with a massive, unnecessary and out of whack contract from the get go would have been some dirty business.

Third, what if the sale had fallen apart?  Crockett would have been stuck with a contract he couldn't pay.

The fact that Flair thought this type of thing would be normal and acceptable and is hot at Crockett STILL for essentially not ripping Turner off speaks volumes as to the man's lack of character.

 

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On 3/30/2017 at 1:07 AM, thee Reverend Axl Future said:

I for sure remember that Bill Mercer talked about it on WCCW tv, w/o footage, and cast it like KvE wuz cheated by a dirty robber and because it happened in Japan the whole loss was shady and wouldn't followed up on, Amurika dammit. I also "remember" Flair regaining the belt being acknowledged on TBS (again, no footage). This was the era of co-operation with Apter so I recall them being a bit more above board. Is this era on the Network? Oy, my medulla oblongata...

- RAF

The excuse was that it was a Dirty "WW2 era ethnic slur" Sumo ref who never officiated a pro wrestling match. 

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I've heard Flair confirm that story, but I think it starts and ends with the sale being dependent on Flair coming over as to why he's hot at Crockett - that's alot of pressure and responsibility to put on one guy, especially when he's said many times he'd have loved to have gone over to WWF in 89. Puts you in a very awkward position as, say he does go to WWF A LOT of people are out of a job

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On 3/31/2017 at 10:33 AM, CreativeControl said:

I've heard Flair confirm that story, but I think it starts and ends with the sale being dependent on Flair coming over as to why he's hot at Crockett - that's alot of pressure and responsibility to put on one guy, especially when he's said many times he'd have loved to have gone over to WWF in 89. Puts you in a very awkward position as, say he does go to WWF A LOT of people are out of a job

I get all that but the angle I was looking at specifically was, as was mentioned on the podcast, Flair's anger at Crockett over not artificially jacking up his pay and passing on the cost to an unsuspecting Turner organization.  I'm pretty sure it was Schiavone's show and the heat wasn't over Flair being stressed over being THE guy or wanting to go to WWE; it was over Crockett not committing fraud for Flair.

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18 minutes ago, Kuetsar said:

I bet he has made tapes for people to follow after he passes. . . 

They keep Betamax machines in Titan Towers just for that reason.

 

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On 3/31/2017 at 9:23 AM, Technico Support said:

I get all that but the angle I was looking at specifically was, as was mentioned on the podcast, Flair's anger at Crockett over not artificially jacking up his pay and passing on the cost to an unsuspecting Turner organization.  I'm pretty sure it was Schiavone's show and the heat wasn't over Flair being stressds over being THE guy or wanting to go to WWE; it was over Crockett not committing fraud for Flair.

Okay, while I'm not a Flair apologist, since I've been in a similar situation let me show an example of this type of contract/buyout and see what y'all think. A few years back a friend was pitching an anthology to a major New York publisher, the publisher liked the idea but gave him a list of five writers (I was one) and admonished him that for the deal to work he needed at least three of the five to be in the book. He called me up and explained the situation and mentioned that one of the five (Stephen King) had already said "no" (yeah, big surprise there), would I sign on? My natural question in such times is "How much are you paying?" His response of "five cents a word" (the HWA professional minimum) did not impress as I had a bunch of other shit to do and as slow as I write, at five cents a word I'm actually losing money when I contrast to other things I could be doing. So, not to be a prick, but full of self-interest I responded, "If I'm one of your huckleberries, I need eight cents a word, I don't care what anyone else gets paid." He came back with a bunch of whining about the budget yadda-yadda and I told him to man up and go back to the publisher and demand a larger advance (they were offering something ridiculous like $5000).  I said, "Look they want to dictate the menu, they need to pay a premium. Go into any restaurant and order off-menu and see what happens, you'll pay $20.00 for a peanut-butter sandwich."

He went back, presented that argument and they immediately upped the deal by $2500 (still not much, but better). Everyone got eight cents a word. 

Maybe my moral compass is off, but I think Flair's wish for a better deal based on being an integral part of the deal seems perfectly reasonable to me.  If I'm involved in a deal and I'm foolish enough to put all my cards on the table, I have to expect that it's going to cost me. Conversely, if ITEM A is so important to the structure of the whole deal, then I don't see any problem with more money being pushed in the direction of ITEM A (being a person, a bit of technology, a sales territory, whatever; if it's important enough to call out specifically, it's important enough to pay for.)

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Well, the idea that anything being discussed is "fraud" is silly. While Crockett can negotiate his deals however he wanted, if he'd wanted to give Flair a pay bump to make him happy and keep the deal with Turner secure, there'd have been nothing remotely fraudulent about it, so long as he wasn't violating any agreement he made with Turner in the process.

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I'd say it's fraud in the same way misstating the value of an asset during a sale would be.  Flair thinks Crockett should have way overpaid him because the Turner organization would have been none the wiser.  It's classless and sleazy, like ordering the most expensive thing on the menu at a company lunch ;)

Reading @OSJ's post, there are actually two issues.  If Flair really was the lynchpin of the deal, Crockett should have stepped aside, told Flair that Turner REALLY wanted Flair, and let Flair negotiate it with Turner's people.  But Flair expecting that Crockett should have artificially bumped up the contract just because it would come from somebody's else's purse is scummy to me.  

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TS: Again, I think you're ire is misplaced on this one... Here's why:

1. Turner wants to buy JCP. JCP's most important asset in their eyes is Ric Flair.

2. Ric Flair's contract needs renewal and a third party (WWF) may be also be interested.

Asking Turner to buy JCP and THEN to go chasing after Ric Flair jeopardizes the whole deal, surely you see that? 

Also, if you're the buyer and you point out something unpriced that you want, be prepared to pay a premium. Here are two real-life examples: A buddy of mine bought a large book collection and let me look at it while he was still pricing things for his store, in the lot was a signed Charles Birkin collection, Birkin's signature is very rare as he wasn't a particularly gregarious fellow and his career was long before bookstore signings and conventions were commonplace. I told my friend "don't sell this, I want it." When he finally priced it, he wanted $500 (which is probably twice what it's worth). I paid him that amount and was happy to do so. Finding another copy might have taken years and cost the same in time and phone calls, or worse, I might never have found a copy. This last is particularly important in the Flair discussion, if as you suggest, JCP lets him leave and forces Turner to try and sign him, they may not be successful, he may be gone and then the most attractive part of their purchase is gone. 

Second example. A friend was visiting and noticed my mint copy of Out of Space and Time and offered to buy it. It's a rare book, but they did print 2000 of them so it's not like there weren't other copies around, just that mine was the nicest one ;-). Highest price anyone was asking at the time was $1200. I told him it wasn't for sale, but if someone offered me $2000 I'd think about it. He counted out twenty $100s and waited for my response, which was "Fuck it, take the book..." He'd come loaded to buy and was willing to pay well over market value for something. Is that fraud?

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