1 00:00:06,506 --> 00:00:08,926 [narrator] On July 14th, 1984, 2 00:00:08,926 --> 00:00:11,011 millions of loyal viewers tuned into 3 00:00:11,011 --> 00:00:13,514 cable channel WTBS 4 00:00:13,514 --> 00:00:16,058 to watch its most popular program, 5 00:00:16,058 --> 00:00:18,101 World Championship Wrestling. 6 00:00:18,101 --> 00:00:19,978 Thank you so very, very much. 7 00:00:19,978 --> 00:00:21,939 But instead of a live broadcast featuring the 8 00:00:21,939 --> 00:00:23,690 south's most popular wrestlers... 9 00:00:23,690 --> 00:00:24,691 [Growling] 10 00:00:24,691 --> 00:00:26,652 Fans were shocked by the surprise appearance 11 00:00:26,652 --> 00:00:28,820 of New York promoter... 12 00:00:28,820 --> 00:00:31,281 Vincent McMahon Jr. 13 00:00:31,281 --> 00:00:32,491 Thank you. It is indeed a pleasure 14 00:00:32,491 --> 00:00:34,034 to be associated with WTBS. 15 00:00:34,034 --> 00:00:36,870 And everybody's mouth dropped open. 16 00:00:36,870 --> 00:00:38,997 Did seem like the world of wrestling 17 00:00:38,997 --> 00:00:40,624 stopped at that time. 18 00:00:40,624 --> 00:00:44,002 I was watching the TV. I had no idea it was coming. 19 00:00:44,002 --> 00:00:45,420 Nobody knew why. 20 00:00:45,420 --> 00:00:47,589 You know, the fans of that promotion were furious. 21 00:00:47,589 --> 00:00:49,007 [Phones ringing] 22 00:00:49,007 --> 00:00:50,884 It was a day that would live in infamy, 23 00:00:50,884 --> 00:00:52,844 forever known as 'Black Saturday.' 24 00:00:52,844 --> 00:00:54,054 [Phones ringing] 25 00:00:54,054 --> 00:00:56,014 Vince McMahon's first step toward 26 00:00:56,014 --> 00:00:58,058 his goal of total monopoly. 27 00:00:58,058 --> 00:01:00,852 He had a vision that wrestling should be 28 00:01:00,852 --> 00:01:02,980 national under one person. 29 00:01:02,980 --> 00:01:06,066 Far more than the tale of one man's ambition, 30 00:01:06,066 --> 00:01:09,111 'Black Saturday' is the story of an epic behind the scenes 31 00:01:09,111 --> 00:01:12,614 showdown between titans of the industry. 32 00:01:12,614 --> 00:01:15,200 They kind of hoodoo'd him and snuck it out from 33 00:01:15,200 --> 00:01:17,786 underneath him, more so than him giving it up. 34 00:01:17,786 --> 00:01:20,038 And Ole said, "Well let's do a blood oath." 35 00:01:20,038 --> 00:01:22,708 The first one to break that oath was not us. 36 00:01:22,708 --> 00:01:24,167 So my father, he gets a call, 37 00:01:24,167 --> 00:01:26,378 "They've stolen the company." 38 00:01:26,378 --> 00:01:29,256 A high stakes power play that sets Vince McMahon 39 00:01:29,256 --> 00:01:30,882 on the path toward building 40 00:01:30,882 --> 00:01:34,094 a billion dollar wrestling empire. 41 00:01:34,094 --> 00:01:36,597 It was all the beginning groundwork 42 00:01:36,597 --> 00:01:38,849 of future warfare. 43 00:01:38,849 --> 00:01:41,977 Vince McMahon is a cancer on the wrestling business. 44 00:01:41,977 --> 00:01:43,770 Vince won, he was the best at it, 45 00:01:43,770 --> 00:01:45,814 he was the most vicious shark in the sea. 46 00:01:45,814 --> 00:01:50,235 ♪ 47 00:01:50,235 --> 00:01:53,864 ♪ 48 00:01:56,241 --> 00:01:58,827 Welcome to WrestleMania! 49 00:01:58,827 --> 00:02:01,079 -[Cheering] -[Horn Blaring] 50 00:02:01,079 --> 00:02:03,540 For over 40 years the wrestling business has been 51 00:02:03,540 --> 00:02:05,834 dominated by World Wrestling Entertainment, 52 00:02:05,834 --> 00:02:08,712 under the singular control of its owner and mastermind, 53 00:02:08,712 --> 00:02:12,799 Vince McMahon Jr. 54 00:02:12,799 --> 00:02:14,384 But in the early 1980s, 55 00:02:14,384 --> 00:02:17,304 McMahon is just beginning to stake his claim on an 56 00:02:17,304 --> 00:02:19,056 industry divided into regional promotions 57 00:02:19,056 --> 00:02:21,099 known as territories. 58 00:02:21,099 --> 00:02:22,059 ♪ 59 00:02:22,059 --> 00:02:25,479 In 1983, most wrestling fans 60 00:02:25,479 --> 00:02:27,939 saw Vince McMahon Jr. 61 00:02:27,939 --> 00:02:29,775 as the announcer of the 62 00:02:29,775 --> 00:02:31,860 WWF television program. 63 00:02:31,860 --> 00:02:33,362 Now everybody in the wrestling business 64 00:02:33,362 --> 00:02:36,156 knew that Vince was Vince McMahon Senior's son 65 00:02:36,156 --> 00:02:40,285 and was the guy who had just bought the WWF, 66 00:02:40,285 --> 00:02:41,912 the World Wrestling Federation, 67 00:02:41,912 --> 00:02:44,873 from his father in 1982. 68 00:02:44,873 --> 00:02:46,958 Let's meet Jimmy Cornette and his dynasty of wrestlers. 69 00:02:46,958 --> 00:02:48,335 That's exactly right, let's meet me. 70 00:02:48,335 --> 00:02:49,711 Where did you get that tie, Freddie Miller? 71 00:02:49,711 --> 00:02:52,047 I'm Jim Cornette, and through my 40 year career 72 00:02:52,047 --> 00:02:54,716 in wrestling, I've been an historian, specifically. 73 00:02:54,716 --> 00:02:57,052 I've studied 'Black Saturday' and its effects 74 00:02:57,052 --> 00:02:59,179 on modern day pro wrestling. 75 00:02:59,179 --> 00:03:02,891 When Vince McMahon Junior bought the WWF, 76 00:03:02,891 --> 00:03:04,601 the business in that part of the country 77 00:03:04,601 --> 00:03:07,145 had almost never been stronger. 78 00:03:07,145 --> 00:03:09,022 Since the 1940s, 79 00:03:09,022 --> 00:03:11,191 regional promoters like McMahon Sr., 80 00:03:11,191 --> 00:03:13,276 did business through a governing body called 81 00:03:13,276 --> 00:03:15,695 the 'National Wrestling Alliance.' 82 00:03:15,695 --> 00:03:18,865 Well, the NWA, they made these bylaws, 83 00:03:18,865 --> 00:03:20,826 and they had territorial boundaries where you 84 00:03:20,826 --> 00:03:24,454 got this territory, and you got this territory. 85 00:03:24,454 --> 00:03:26,581 My name is Dave Meltzer and I'm the editor of the 86 00:03:26,581 --> 00:03:28,125 Wrestling Observer Newsletter and I've been covering 87 00:03:28,125 --> 00:03:30,544 pro wrestling since the early 1970s. 88 00:03:30,544 --> 00:03:32,295 In the NWA, there were always, 89 00:03:32,295 --> 00:03:34,464 always wars and fighting and things like that. 90 00:03:34,464 --> 00:03:36,883 Wrestling has always been kind of like the mafia 91 00:03:36,883 --> 00:03:38,635 without the cement overshoes. 92 00:03:38,635 --> 00:03:40,512 Nobody ends up at the bottom of the river, 93 00:03:40,512 --> 00:03:44,349 just a few black eyes every now and then. 94 00:03:44,349 --> 00:03:46,601 Every year the NWA had a meeting. 95 00:03:46,601 --> 00:03:48,311 All the promoters came. 96 00:03:48,311 --> 00:03:51,022 It was like the Gambino's and the Bonanno's, 97 00:03:51,022 --> 00:03:52,649 and there's the Gotti's. 98 00:03:52,649 --> 00:03:55,068 And it was all the families that came together once a 99 00:03:55,068 --> 00:03:58,864 year and decided the major decisions for wrestling in 100 00:03:58,864 --> 00:04:01,491 the United States for the following year. 101 00:04:01,491 --> 00:04:04,828 The other promoters looked at Vince Jr like an upstart kid. 102 00:04:04,828 --> 00:04:06,455 They didn't realize he wanted to be the 103 00:04:06,455 --> 00:04:08,331 Walt Disney of wrestling. 104 00:04:08,331 --> 00:04:10,584 They didn't understand not only the, 105 00:04:10,584 --> 00:04:13,253 the plans that he had, but the lengths that he was 106 00:04:13,253 --> 00:04:17,382 willing to go to, to have those plans come to fruition. 107 00:04:17,382 --> 00:04:20,385 While some territories showed signs of struggle, 108 00:04:20,385 --> 00:04:23,180 Georgia Championship Wrestling was thriving... 109 00:04:23,180 --> 00:04:27,350 thanks to the shrewd leadership of Jim Barnett. 110 00:04:27,350 --> 00:04:28,935 Barnett was one of the great minds in 111 00:04:28,935 --> 00:04:30,687 wrestling as a promoter. 112 00:04:30,687 --> 00:04:32,689 When he needed to charm people, 113 00:04:32,689 --> 00:04:34,191 he could charm people. 114 00:04:34,191 --> 00:04:36,526 And he had connections outside wrestling. 115 00:04:36,526 --> 00:04:40,197 If you needed to discuss something with a politician, 116 00:04:40,197 --> 00:04:43,700 if you needed to talk to a television executive or a 117 00:04:43,700 --> 00:04:46,369 station manager or a big sponsor, 118 00:04:46,369 --> 00:04:48,580 Barnett was the guy that they called to 119 00:04:48,580 --> 00:04:50,207 make the connection. 120 00:04:50,207 --> 00:04:53,668 Even in today's business, as off the wall as the 121 00:04:53,668 --> 00:04:56,296 characters are, Jim Barnett would still stand out 122 00:04:56,296 --> 00:04:59,049 as a very unique character. 123 00:04:59,049 --> 00:05:01,802 I'm Gerald Brisco, better known as 124 00:05:01,802 --> 00:05:03,970 "Jerry" Briscoe on the wrestling circuit. 125 00:05:03,970 --> 00:05:06,056 Let's go see the world tag team champions 126 00:05:06,056 --> 00:05:07,766 Jack and Jerry Brisco in action. 127 00:05:07,766 --> 00:05:10,811 My brother and I became the only two people ever to 128 00:05:10,811 --> 00:05:12,771 hold both of the eastern championship and 129 00:05:12,771 --> 00:05:14,314 the mid-Atlantic championship. 130 00:05:14,314 --> 00:05:15,440 Right, brother? 131 00:05:15,440 --> 00:05:16,983 Well, they say we're wild and we're mean, 132 00:05:16,983 --> 00:05:19,528 we're creating a scene. We gone crazy. 133 00:05:19,528 --> 00:05:21,154 I got along real well and 134 00:05:21,154 --> 00:05:23,782 learned so much from Jim Barnett. 135 00:05:23,782 --> 00:05:26,076 All the other promoters were ex-wrestlers, 136 00:05:26,076 --> 00:05:29,329 or they were loud and braggadocious. 137 00:05:29,329 --> 00:05:32,624 Jim always wore a beautiful suit with a tie, 138 00:05:32,624 --> 00:05:35,460 and he had the hair slicked back and he had jewelry on. 139 00:05:35,460 --> 00:05:38,296 Does wrestling encourage violence? 140 00:05:38,296 --> 00:05:41,675 I don't think so, no. I never thought so. 141 00:05:41,675 --> 00:05:43,635 He was very different from a wrestling guy. 142 00:05:43,635 --> 00:05:45,428 I mean, he was interested in wrestling, 143 00:05:45,428 --> 00:05:46,972 but he's more interested in fine arts, 144 00:05:46,972 --> 00:05:49,599 which is kinda unique for a, a wrestling promoter. 145 00:05:49,599 --> 00:05:52,602 For a while, they wouldn't let Jim in the NWA until, 146 00:05:52,602 --> 00:05:54,938 geez, like '70. 147 00:05:54,938 --> 00:05:57,274 Because they didn't want somebody gay in their, 148 00:05:57,274 --> 00:05:59,526 in their old boy's club. 149 00:05:59,526 --> 00:06:03,113 Behind the scenes, he was a cutthroat. 150 00:06:03,113 --> 00:06:06,950 He had the ability to cut your balls off and shove 'em 151 00:06:06,950 --> 00:06:10,912 down your throat and you'd thank him for it. 152 00:06:10,912 --> 00:06:13,582 Known as a powerful liaison to TV executives, 153 00:06:13,582 --> 00:06:17,377 Jim Barnett is close to media tycoon Ted Turner, 154 00:06:17,377 --> 00:06:19,462 who airs Georgia Championship Wrestling 155 00:06:19,462 --> 00:06:23,717 nationally on his cable network, WTBS. 156 00:06:23,717 --> 00:06:26,136 Wrestling was the first hit on cable television. 157 00:06:26,136 --> 00:06:28,179 It was Georgia Championship Wrestling. 158 00:06:28,179 --> 00:06:30,348 Turner just took his local Atlanta channel, 159 00:06:30,348 --> 00:06:32,684 17 TV Station, and put up on the satellite, 160 00:06:32,684 --> 00:06:34,060 and everybody thought he was nuts. 161 00:06:34,060 --> 00:06:36,521 Who's gonna wanna watch a local Atlanta television show 162 00:06:36,521 --> 00:06:38,440 in San Francisco, right? 163 00:06:38,440 --> 00:06:40,025 There wasn't so many options for TV, 164 00:06:40,025 --> 00:06:41,484 so it was one of the stations you got. 165 00:06:41,484 --> 00:06:42,944 So you can watch the Atlanta Braves, 166 00:06:42,944 --> 00:06:44,446 and Andy Griffith was big... 167 00:06:44,446 --> 00:06:46,239 but wrestling was the biggest show on the station. 168 00:06:46,239 --> 00:06:47,907 You know, that was like must see. 169 00:06:47,907 --> 00:06:50,035 Coming up next, Georgia Championship Wrestling. 170 00:06:50,035 --> 00:06:52,537 All the stars of the National Wrestling Alliance. 171 00:06:52,537 --> 00:06:53,830 Surprise! 172 00:06:53,830 --> 00:06:56,458 Flew into Atlanta every weekend to appear on 173 00:06:56,458 --> 00:06:58,251 the two hour television program. 174 00:06:58,251 --> 00:07:01,421 [Cheering] 175 00:07:01,421 --> 00:07:03,632 A severe amount of punishment to the heads. 176 00:07:03,632 --> 00:07:06,843 It was the number one TV show on cable TV, 177 00:07:06,843 --> 00:07:08,637 that's how hot it was, I mean... 178 00:07:08,637 --> 00:07:11,056 what made it so hot was a unique combination of 179 00:07:11,056 --> 00:07:13,892 Gordon Solie, the voice of Championship Wrestling. 180 00:07:13,892 --> 00:07:16,227 I'm Gordon Solie, your host. 181 00:07:16,227 --> 00:07:18,271 And the available talent. 182 00:07:18,271 --> 00:07:21,066 There were so many Hall of Famers on that original 183 00:07:21,066 --> 00:07:24,027 list of talent that it's mind boggling that that 184 00:07:24,027 --> 00:07:26,488 kind of group of talent could assemble in 185 00:07:26,488 --> 00:07:28,740 one small territory like Georgia. 186 00:07:28,740 --> 00:07:29,991 Ooh! 187 00:07:29,991 --> 00:07:32,827 I think what made it so special is it was TBS, 188 00:07:32,827 --> 00:07:35,538 first TV station to go all over the country, 189 00:07:35,538 --> 00:07:38,625 and I got to wrestle the best of the best, 190 00:07:38,625 --> 00:07:41,336 I mean the cream of the crop. 191 00:07:41,336 --> 00:07:43,546 My name's Tommy "Wildfire" Rich, 192 00:07:43,546 --> 00:07:46,174 former NWA world heavyweight champion. 193 00:07:46,174 --> 00:07:48,468 -Welcome aboard, Tommy. -Thank you very much, Gordon. 194 00:07:48,468 --> 00:07:49,886 It was crazy. 195 00:07:49,886 --> 00:07:53,098 A lot of times you'd sit back and watch people, 196 00:07:53,098 --> 00:07:55,475 and it would be as big a show watching them as it 197 00:07:55,475 --> 00:07:57,477 would be watching the wrestling, you know. 198 00:07:57,477 --> 00:07:59,688 Oh, Lord, yeah, the Georgia peaches 199 00:07:59,688 --> 00:08:01,856 and the grannies love me, too. 200 00:08:01,856 --> 00:08:04,609 I've seen grannies take their cane and beat Ole Anderson 201 00:08:04,609 --> 00:08:07,570 up with it, 'cause he's beating me up, you know. 202 00:08:07,570 --> 00:08:11,366 I put the TV ring up every Saturday at the TV station. 203 00:08:11,366 --> 00:08:14,494 It was cramped studio, it only held 100 people. 204 00:08:14,494 --> 00:08:15,954 And you packed 'em in like sardines 205 00:08:15,954 --> 00:08:17,414 to get a hundred in there. 206 00:08:17,414 --> 00:08:20,750 Boy Scout groups, Girl Scout troops, church groups... 207 00:08:20,750 --> 00:08:24,170 just fans that loved to come every week. 208 00:08:24,170 --> 00:08:26,840 My name is Bobby Simmons. Started working for ABC 209 00:08:26,840 --> 00:08:29,300 booking when I was 14 years old, running errands, 210 00:08:29,300 --> 00:08:30,468 and then went to work for 211 00:08:30,468 --> 00:08:32,554 Georgia Championship Wrestling. 212 00:08:32,554 --> 00:08:35,765 We had good crowds and we did sell out a lot of arenas. 213 00:08:35,765 --> 00:08:38,017 The day to day operations are handled by 214 00:08:38,017 --> 00:08:39,853 matchmaker Ole Anderson. .. 215 00:08:39,853 --> 00:08:42,021 Ole Anderson! 216 00:08:42,021 --> 00:08:43,773 A veteran wrestler who rules 217 00:08:43,773 --> 00:08:46,735 Georgia Championship Wrestling with an iron fist. 218 00:08:46,735 --> 00:08:48,695 Ole suckered him that time. 219 00:08:48,695 --> 00:08:50,405 Ole was very intelligent. 220 00:08:50,405 --> 00:08:52,073 One of the most intelligent guys, 221 00:08:52,073 --> 00:08:53,825 one of the most well-spoken guys. 222 00:08:53,825 --> 00:08:56,202 He was loud, he was opinionated. 223 00:08:56,202 --> 00:08:58,580 Why don't you be quiet for about two seconds and 224 00:08:58,580 --> 00:09:00,457 let me talk and say something! 225 00:09:00,457 --> 00:09:03,001 But Ole was a great wrestler. 226 00:09:03,001 --> 00:09:05,503 And he had also gotten quite a reputation 227 00:09:05,503 --> 00:09:07,422 as a matchmaker and a booker. 228 00:09:07,422 --> 00:09:08,882 Stop the cameras! 229 00:09:08,882 --> 00:09:11,426 Either you hate him or you love him, or, well... 230 00:09:11,426 --> 00:09:12,927 you don't love him, but either you hate him 231 00:09:12,927 --> 00:09:14,596 or you like him. Let's put it... 232 00:09:14,596 --> 00:09:16,306 [Chuckling] He's kinda hard to love. 233 00:09:16,306 --> 00:09:17,557 [Laughing] 234 00:09:17,557 --> 00:09:20,560 My name is Joe Hamilton Jr. I refereed and 235 00:09:20,560 --> 00:09:23,521 wrestled as "Nick Patrick" throughout my entire career. 236 00:09:23,521 --> 00:09:25,106 I stopped the match myself. 237 00:09:25,106 --> 00:09:28,234 Two! Nick Patrick very slow to make a count right here. 238 00:09:28,234 --> 00:09:29,694 I heard Ricky Morton one time say, 239 00:09:29,694 --> 00:09:31,613 "I don't think Ole Anderson even likes ice cream." 240 00:09:31,613 --> 00:09:33,323 You know, it's like- [Laughing] And I agree, 241 00:09:33,323 --> 00:09:34,783 he probably didn't, you know. 242 00:09:34,783 --> 00:09:37,786 He was just so old school and grouchy but... 243 00:09:37,786 --> 00:09:39,913 a lot of the old timers back then were like that, you know? 244 00:09:39,913 --> 00:09:42,082 They was, being hard ass on the young guys and 245 00:09:42,082 --> 00:09:44,292 making 'em, making 'em learn. 246 00:09:44,292 --> 00:09:45,877 He was what you saw. 247 00:09:45,877 --> 00:09:48,713 My father was very no nonsense. 248 00:09:48,713 --> 00:09:50,924 I think the guy that you saw on the screen was 249 00:09:50,924 --> 00:09:53,426 very much the same guy that ate breakfast with me 250 00:09:53,426 --> 00:09:54,761 the next morning. 251 00:09:54,761 --> 00:09:56,179 And I think that's really part of the reason 252 00:09:56,179 --> 00:09:57,555 he was successful, is because people 253 00:09:57,555 --> 00:10:01,184 could believe what they were seeing. 254 00:10:01,184 --> 00:10:02,644 My name is Bryant Rogowski, 255 00:10:02,644 --> 00:10:04,813 and I'm the oldest son of Ole Anderson. 256 00:10:04,813 --> 00:10:07,690 My father obviously spent years bumping in the ring 257 00:10:07,690 --> 00:10:09,651 and suffered a lot of physical injuries, 258 00:10:09,651 --> 00:10:12,862 and some years ago he was diagnosed with M.S., 259 00:10:12,862 --> 00:10:14,739 and right now he's just in a state where 260 00:10:14,739 --> 00:10:18,076 he can't really do a lot for himself. 261 00:10:18,076 --> 00:10:20,537 I think he was all about business. 262 00:10:20,537 --> 00:10:23,164 It wasn't long into his wrestling career that 263 00:10:23,164 --> 00:10:26,501 he began to think about being in charge. 264 00:10:26,501 --> 00:10:30,213 Eventually, he bought into the Georgia company. 265 00:10:30,213 --> 00:10:33,049 Ole isn't the only wrestler looking to increase 266 00:10:33,049 --> 00:10:35,093 his fortunes by getting involved in the 267 00:10:35,093 --> 00:10:37,053 financial side of the promotion. 268 00:10:37,053 --> 00:10:38,429 Smart enough! 269 00:10:38,429 --> 00:10:40,890 I started buying my stock in small increments 270 00:10:40,890 --> 00:10:43,810 where it built up to over 10%. 271 00:10:43,810 --> 00:10:45,937 And the same with my brother. 272 00:10:45,937 --> 00:10:50,108 In 1983, the stockholders in Georgia Championship 273 00:10:50,108 --> 00:10:52,735 Wrestling were the original promoter Paul Jones, 274 00:10:52,735 --> 00:10:54,487 a Columbus promoter, Fred Ward, 275 00:10:54,487 --> 00:10:57,073 his son-in-law, Ralph Freed, Jim Barnett's business 276 00:10:57,073 --> 00:11:00,910 partner, Jim Oates, Jack and Jerry Briscoe, 277 00:11:00,910 --> 00:11:02,871 and Ole Anderson. 278 00:11:02,871 --> 00:11:04,831 Although Georgia Championship Wrestling 279 00:11:04,831 --> 00:11:06,416 is turning a profit, 280 00:11:06,416 --> 00:11:08,918 Ole Anderson begins to question whether all the 281 00:11:08,918 --> 00:11:12,255 live show earnings are being accurately reported. 282 00:11:12,255 --> 00:11:15,383 Wrestling had always been a very cash heavy business, 283 00:11:15,383 --> 00:11:17,302 and money had always probably been 284 00:11:17,302 --> 00:11:19,387 siphoned off the top to some degree. 285 00:11:19,387 --> 00:11:21,431 And, you know, "We had to pay off the politician." 286 00:11:21,431 --> 00:11:23,516 Or, "We had to give some money to the commissioner." 287 00:11:23,516 --> 00:11:25,018 Or whatever it was. And I think 288 00:11:25,018 --> 00:11:27,437 surely there was some truth to some of that. 289 00:11:27,437 --> 00:11:29,981 But when my dad started to really pay attention in 290 00:11:29,981 --> 00:11:32,275 Georgia, and realized that it wasn't only him 291 00:11:32,275 --> 00:11:34,819 bringing Barnett a few bucks after this show, 292 00:11:34,819 --> 00:11:36,988 but it was 7 or 8 other guys all doing 293 00:11:36,988 --> 00:11:38,489 the same thing... 294 00:11:38,489 --> 00:11:40,700 he realized that that amount of money, 295 00:11:40,700 --> 00:11:43,912 surely couldn't all be used for those purposes. 296 00:11:43,912 --> 00:11:45,872 I had tremendous concern, you know, 297 00:11:45,872 --> 00:11:48,207 because I wasn't getting a dividend and I'd invested 298 00:11:48,207 --> 00:11:50,501 tens of thousands of dollars. 299 00:11:50,501 --> 00:11:53,171 We finally got Jim to expand into Michigan, 300 00:11:53,171 --> 00:11:55,757 Ohio and West Virginia, part of Pennsylvania, 301 00:11:55,757 --> 00:11:58,927 and we started selling out right and left. 302 00:11:58,927 --> 00:12:01,679 And I was actually doing the settlement 303 00:12:01,679 --> 00:12:04,557 at the shows at the time, so I personally know 304 00:12:04,557 --> 00:12:07,101 the amount of cash that I was taking back to, 305 00:12:07,101 --> 00:12:09,437 to Georgia, and that wasn't getting in 306 00:12:09,437 --> 00:12:13,024 anybody else's pocket but Mr. Barnett's. 307 00:12:13,024 --> 00:12:15,234 ♪ 308 00:12:15,234 --> 00:12:18,154 Ole was the first one, maybe the only one 309 00:12:18,154 --> 00:12:22,075 at the time, to question Jim Barnett. 310 00:12:22,075 --> 00:12:26,496 The story went around that while Barnett was in 311 00:12:26,496 --> 00:12:28,539 Hong Kong making his annual trip, 312 00:12:28,539 --> 00:12:30,124 because he liked to go to Hong Kong, 313 00:12:30,124 --> 00:12:32,085 get all his new suits made, 314 00:12:32,085 --> 00:12:35,838 Ole either kicks the door in or bust the door in, 315 00:12:35,838 --> 00:12:38,007 whether the accountant was in the office or not, 316 00:12:38,007 --> 00:12:39,926 but Ole got into the books. 317 00:12:39,926 --> 00:12:43,137 It was like Fort Knox trying to get to a, 318 00:12:43,137 --> 00:12:45,765 a box office statement, because he had 'em under 319 00:12:45,765 --> 00:12:47,934 lock and key and the people working in office were 320 00:12:47,934 --> 00:12:50,144 instructed, "Don't let anybody in my office." 321 00:12:50,144 --> 00:12:52,563 It was actually padlocked shut. 322 00:12:52,563 --> 00:12:54,440 Ole, you know, start examining the 323 00:12:54,440 --> 00:12:55,900 books and everything, and he saw, like, 324 00:12:55,900 --> 00:12:57,443 Jim Barnett spending all kinds of 325 00:12:57,443 --> 00:12:59,529 crazy money on phone bills, 326 00:12:59,529 --> 00:13:03,616 $3,000 a month phone bills, and he had a personal chef, 327 00:13:03,616 --> 00:13:05,952 and he had a personal driver. 328 00:13:05,952 --> 00:13:07,870 So, Ole just thought that, you know, 329 00:13:07,870 --> 00:13:10,999 Jim was embezzling money from the company. 330 00:13:10,999 --> 00:13:13,418 They had a meeting of the, the Georgia Championship 331 00:13:13,418 --> 00:13:15,503 owners at a hotel south of Atlanta, 332 00:13:15,503 --> 00:13:17,755 in a conference room. 333 00:13:17,755 --> 00:13:21,259 And Jim handed out the cheques from 334 00:13:21,259 --> 00:13:24,679 the proceeds of the calendar we sold. 335 00:13:24,679 --> 00:13:27,598 Supposedly when Jim left, that's when Ole 336 00:13:27,598 --> 00:13:31,102 came in and addressed the, the owners. 337 00:13:32,729 --> 00:13:37,984 Ole had rallied the troops and gotten the majority of 338 00:13:37,984 --> 00:13:41,612 the other stockholders on his side. 339 00:13:41,612 --> 00:13:44,365 ♪ 340 00:13:44,365 --> 00:13:48,828 When I get to the office, Jim's door is opened. 341 00:13:48,828 --> 00:13:51,289 The light's on, I thought, "What is this"? 342 00:13:51,289 --> 00:13:54,208 And I heard Ole go, "Bobby, come here." 343 00:13:54,208 --> 00:13:56,294 And Ole handed me all the cheques that I had written 344 00:13:56,294 --> 00:13:58,129 for the proceeds of the calendar, he said, 345 00:13:58,129 --> 00:14:00,673 "Put this back in the bank." 346 00:14:00,673 --> 00:14:01,841 And he told me that day, he said, 347 00:14:01,841 --> 00:14:03,134 "You don't work for Jim Barnett anymore, 348 00:14:03,134 --> 00:14:05,928 you work for me." Ole told me, he says, 349 00:14:05,928 --> 00:14:07,638 "I'm not out to hurt Jim. 350 00:14:07,638 --> 00:14:09,682 I'm not out to put him in jail." 351 00:14:09,682 --> 00:14:12,268 Whatever that meant. He said, "I think I can 352 00:14:12,268 --> 00:14:15,480 run this company and we're gonna do it my way." 353 00:14:15,480 --> 00:14:17,065 He thought everything was black and white, 354 00:14:17,065 --> 00:14:19,525 there were no grey areas, that it was 355 00:14:19,525 --> 00:14:22,820 just business, you acted like businesspeople. 356 00:14:22,820 --> 00:14:25,573 Well... 357 00:14:25,573 --> 00:14:30,787 He found out very quickly that it didn't work that way. 358 00:14:30,787 --> 00:14:34,874 Hell hath no fury like Barnett scorned. 359 00:14:42,465 --> 00:14:43,883 After reviewing the accounts for 360 00:14:43,883 --> 00:14:45,718 Georgia Championship Wrestling, 361 00:14:45,718 --> 00:14:48,346 part owner Ole Anderson tries to convince 362 00:14:48,346 --> 00:14:51,432 his fellow shareholders that manager Jim Barnett 363 00:14:51,432 --> 00:14:54,602 is embezzling funds from the company. 364 00:14:54,602 --> 00:14:55,686 Well Ole would call me and say, 365 00:14:55,686 --> 00:14:57,230 "Well, Jim's stealing all this money." 366 00:14:57,230 --> 00:14:58,356 "Ole, is he stealing"? 367 00:14:58,356 --> 00:15:00,149 "Well yeah, he's using it for his limousine, 368 00:15:00,149 --> 00:15:01,776 he's using it for this, and nobody approved 369 00:15:01,776 --> 00:15:04,112 those expenditures." And, which was true. 370 00:15:04,112 --> 00:15:05,571 Jim would just explain it off, 371 00:15:05,571 --> 00:15:07,198 it's cost of doing business. 372 00:15:07,198 --> 00:15:08,991 We had both sides of the story. 373 00:15:08,991 --> 00:15:12,120 Ole and Jim were not the best of friends. 374 00:15:12,120 --> 00:15:14,622 They were not even good partners most of the time. 375 00:15:14,622 --> 00:15:18,084 They were always at one another's throats.. 376 00:15:18,084 --> 00:15:19,627 I'm Louise Cochrane, 377 00:15:19,627 --> 00:15:21,170 formerly known as Louise Bennett, 378 00:15:21,170 --> 00:15:23,297 in Georgia Championship Wrestling. 379 00:15:23,297 --> 00:15:25,049 We were in a lot of debt, 380 00:15:25,049 --> 00:15:27,552 because Jim had promised the buildings 381 00:15:27,552 --> 00:15:31,305 and the TVs so much per week, or per month... 382 00:15:31,305 --> 00:15:33,933 and it didn't matter if we didn't make money. 383 00:15:33,933 --> 00:15:36,519 That was a power play for Ole to move in. 384 00:15:36,519 --> 00:15:39,147 I think it was more than just of a money power thing, 385 00:15:39,147 --> 00:15:42,608 than a Jim is tanking us with his spending thing. 386 00:15:42,608 --> 00:15:43,860 My dad and Ralph, 387 00:15:43,860 --> 00:15:45,903 another stockholder in Georgia Championship, 388 00:15:45,903 --> 00:15:50,074 went downtown to Barnett's penthouse apartment, 389 00:15:50,074 --> 00:15:51,492 and they had a talk with him. 390 00:15:51,492 --> 00:15:53,578 I think my dad probably did most of the talking, 391 00:15:53,578 --> 00:15:56,372 and explained to Barnett, my dad was gonna be 392 00:15:56,372 --> 00:15:58,875 elected president of Georgia Championship. 393 00:15:58,875 --> 00:16:01,794 That's the way it's gonna be, and if you don't like it, 394 00:16:01,794 --> 00:16:03,838 I'm gonna toss you over your railing. 395 00:16:03,838 --> 00:16:05,381 ♪ 396 00:16:05,381 --> 00:16:08,134 Here you are, 285 pound monster, and you're, 397 00:16:08,134 --> 00:16:11,137 you're bullying this old man. 398 00:16:11,137 --> 00:16:14,765 You did not want to get on the bad side of Jim Barnett 399 00:16:14,765 --> 00:16:17,268 because he could actively 400 00:16:17,268 --> 00:16:19,353 ---- with you and your wrestling career. 401 00:16:19,353 --> 00:16:22,023 Now Ole is taking it to a whole new level. 402 00:16:22,023 --> 00:16:24,650 He didn't just no-show Barnett, or stand him up, 403 00:16:24,650 --> 00:16:25,985 or hold him up for more money for 404 00:16:25,985 --> 00:16:27,862 a main event or whatever... 405 00:16:27,862 --> 00:16:30,948 he's run him out of the company. 406 00:16:30,948 --> 00:16:33,075 Barnett knew that he might not be able to 407 00:16:33,075 --> 00:16:35,995 do anything about it then. 408 00:16:35,995 --> 00:16:38,414 You just know that he definitely knew he was 409 00:16:38,414 --> 00:16:42,627 gonna do something about it eventually. 410 00:16:42,627 --> 00:16:45,087 While Ole reorganizes the company under 411 00:16:45,087 --> 00:16:47,924 his own management in early 1983, 412 00:16:47,924 --> 00:16:50,676 Vince McMahon has been quietly strategizing 413 00:16:50,676 --> 00:16:53,012 to expand his own promotion 414 00:16:53,012 --> 00:16:56,057 into other NWA territories. 415 00:16:56,057 --> 00:16:58,059 When Vince bought the company from his father, 416 00:16:58,059 --> 00:17:01,270 at first everything maintained the status quo. 417 00:17:01,270 --> 00:17:03,064 He had plans, but he didn't start 418 00:17:03,064 --> 00:17:05,483 putting them out front of everybody, 419 00:17:05,483 --> 00:17:07,276 where they could tell what he was doing. 420 00:17:07,276 --> 00:17:09,654 But, behind the scenes, 421 00:17:09,654 --> 00:17:12,323 Vince Jr. has these plots in mind before 422 00:17:12,323 --> 00:17:13,908 even the other promoters know that 423 00:17:13,908 --> 00:17:15,243 he's gonna do it. 424 00:17:15,243 --> 00:17:18,287 And the first thing that he's thinking about is television. 425 00:17:18,287 --> 00:17:20,915 ♪ 426 00:17:20,915 --> 00:17:23,292 Vince McMahon's scheme to steal the airwaves 427 00:17:23,292 --> 00:17:27,046 from other promoters begins by hiring an unlikely ally 428 00:17:27,046 --> 00:17:31,759 as his director of operations, Jim Barnett. 429 00:17:31,759 --> 00:17:34,595 In 1983 they have the annual meeting, 430 00:17:34,595 --> 00:17:36,764 all the promoters are there. 431 00:17:36,764 --> 00:17:38,474 Barnett comes in, 432 00:17:38,474 --> 00:17:42,103 so does Vince McMahon Jr., 433 00:17:42,103 --> 00:17:47,024 and they both give their resignations. 434 00:17:47,024 --> 00:17:48,943 That couldn't be good. 435 00:17:48,943 --> 00:17:50,987 What the ----'s gonna happen? 436 00:17:50,987 --> 00:17:53,489 Their, they, they, they were all blindsided, for sure. 437 00:17:53,489 --> 00:17:55,574 When they resigned from the NWA, 438 00:17:55,574 --> 00:17:57,285 that would mean they're either gonna get out of 439 00:17:57,285 --> 00:17:59,745 wrestling, or they're going to run opposition. 440 00:17:59,745 --> 00:18:01,747 That's the only two things it can mean. 441 00:18:01,747 --> 00:18:03,916 And that seems to indicate that they're gonna go into 442 00:18:03,916 --> 00:18:06,627 business for themselves, with themselves, 443 00:18:06,627 --> 00:18:09,880 in some other fashion. Ole smelled it. 444 00:18:09,880 --> 00:18:12,633 He said, "Okay, then the gloves are gonna be off." 445 00:18:12,633 --> 00:18:16,470 Well, the problem was you couldn't handle the 446 00:18:16,470 --> 00:18:19,348 wrestling business in 1983 and '84 like 447 00:18:19,348 --> 00:18:22,310 you handled it in 1953 and '54. 448 00:18:22,310 --> 00:18:26,105 And secondly, Vince wasn't gonna play that game. 449 00:18:26,105 --> 00:18:29,358 And he had one of the most powerful wrestling 450 00:18:29,358 --> 00:18:32,611 personalities of the last 30 years in his corner 451 00:18:32,611 --> 00:18:35,865 who knew absolutely everybody. 452 00:18:35,865 --> 00:18:37,575 Barnett hated Ole. 453 00:18:37,575 --> 00:18:39,910 Barnett also was looking at survival. 454 00:18:39,910 --> 00:18:41,203 He was getting up there in age, 455 00:18:41,203 --> 00:18:42,747 but he needed to keep working. 456 00:18:42,747 --> 00:18:44,957 He needed to keep that income coming in, 457 00:18:44,957 --> 00:18:48,753 to maintain the facade that he was a millionaire. 458 00:18:48,753 --> 00:18:52,173 I'm Bob Roop, 13 year amateur wrestler, 459 00:18:52,173 --> 00:18:54,383 15 year professional wrestler, 460 00:18:54,383 --> 00:18:56,469 five-time Hall of Fame member. 461 00:18:56,469 --> 00:18:59,722 Bob Roop ladies and gentlemen, Bob Roop! 462 00:18:59,722 --> 00:19:02,475 Vince Senior, asked Ole to come up and 463 00:19:02,475 --> 00:19:03,976 meet with Junior, and see if they could 464 00:19:03,976 --> 00:19:05,895 make some kind of arrangement. 465 00:19:05,895 --> 00:19:09,148 And Ole said, "No." He said, "Absolutely not." 466 00:19:09,148 --> 00:19:10,941 You know, "He's trying to steal my territories," 467 00:19:10,941 --> 00:19:12,568 and stuff. 468 00:19:12,568 --> 00:19:14,403 There was this unspoken agreement that people 469 00:19:14,403 --> 00:19:16,614 honoured each other's territory. 470 00:19:16,614 --> 00:19:20,034 I'm sure Barnett was talking to McMahon right away and 471 00:19:20,034 --> 00:19:24,955 starting to sabotage Georgia Championship. 472 00:19:24,955 --> 00:19:27,333 Things started to happen around that time that 473 00:19:27,333 --> 00:19:29,377 had never happened before. 474 00:19:29,377 --> 00:19:32,380 McMahon would go to a station that we were on, 475 00:19:32,380 --> 00:19:34,048 we had a show running, 476 00:19:34,048 --> 00:19:37,176 and offer them 2000 bucks a week 477 00:19:37,176 --> 00:19:38,969 to take his show, 478 00:19:38,969 --> 00:19:41,263 but they had to get rid of Ole's show. 479 00:19:41,263 --> 00:19:43,682 Nothing on paper, there was no contract, 480 00:19:43,682 --> 00:19:45,267 nothing said that they had to honour 481 00:19:45,267 --> 00:19:47,561 Championship Wrestling from Georgia. 482 00:19:47,561 --> 00:19:50,481 So the station would say, "Okay." 483 00:19:50,481 --> 00:19:52,817 Next you'd start losing buildings. 484 00:19:52,817 --> 00:19:54,360 You'd call to check on the building and, 485 00:19:54,360 --> 00:19:56,070 and see how ticket sales are going, they say, 486 00:19:56,070 --> 00:19:58,489 "Well, we stopped selling 'em." 487 00:19:58,489 --> 00:20:01,283 Bunch of police cars roll up outside the TV station, 488 00:20:01,283 --> 00:20:03,077 take somebody away. 489 00:20:03,077 --> 00:20:06,997 They got an anonymous tip that he's dealing drugs. 490 00:20:06,997 --> 00:20:09,333 Or they're searching the guys at the airport. 491 00:20:09,333 --> 00:20:11,252 Things that just had never happened before that were 492 00:20:11,252 --> 00:20:14,755 just a constant thorn in his side and making things 493 00:20:14,755 --> 00:20:17,883 difficult to operate, more so than usual. 494 00:20:21,220 --> 00:20:22,972 I don't think he ever had any proof, 495 00:20:22,972 --> 00:20:24,515 and I don't know how he would. 496 00:20:24,515 --> 00:20:26,350 But like I say, it was stuff that 497 00:20:26,350 --> 00:20:28,227 never happened until then. 498 00:20:28,227 --> 00:20:31,564 Vince was infiltrating everybody's territory. 499 00:20:31,564 --> 00:20:35,901 Vince got the USA Network time slot from 500 00:20:35,901 --> 00:20:38,028 Southwest Championship Wrestling, 501 00:20:38,028 --> 00:20:40,614 another regional promotion out of San Antonio. 502 00:20:40,614 --> 00:20:41,699 Ladies and gentlemen, 503 00:20:41,699 --> 00:20:43,576 the Southwest tag team champions. 504 00:20:43,576 --> 00:20:45,286 They couldn't afford the slot anymore, 505 00:20:45,286 --> 00:20:47,246 Vince jumped in and took it. 506 00:20:47,246 --> 00:20:51,292 And All American Wrestling debuted on the USA Network. 507 00:20:51,292 --> 00:20:53,586 He would call different promoters and say, 508 00:20:53,586 --> 00:20:55,337 "Hey, I've got this cable show now. 509 00:20:55,337 --> 00:20:58,591 If you'll send me tapes, then I'll put your wrestlers on it 510 00:20:58,591 --> 00:21:01,635 and I'll get them over to a whole new audience." 511 00:21:01,635 --> 00:21:04,388 But the people that he was getting the tapes of and 512 00:21:04,388 --> 00:21:07,266 showing, are people that he wanted to sign 513 00:21:07,266 --> 00:21:09,310 for the WWF. 514 00:21:09,310 --> 00:21:13,063 He gets the Junkyard Dog from Mid-South Wrestling, 515 00:21:13,063 --> 00:21:15,691 he gets Steamboat from the Carolinas. 516 00:21:15,691 --> 00:21:18,736 He got Kerry von Erich in Dallas. 517 00:21:18,736 --> 00:21:23,032 He was buying out talent from other areas. 518 00:21:23,032 --> 00:21:24,492 You know, Hulk Hogan was, 519 00:21:24,492 --> 00:21:26,827 was on top in the AWA for Verne, 520 00:21:26,827 --> 00:21:29,622 and all of a sudden he went to New York. 521 00:21:29,622 --> 00:21:31,582 Hulk Hogan shows up 522 00:21:31,582 --> 00:21:34,919 to win the WWF championship 523 00:21:34,919 --> 00:21:38,964 from the Iron Sheik in Madison Square Garden. 524 00:21:38,964 --> 00:21:42,134 Now Vince has the superhero 525 00:21:42,134 --> 00:21:44,136 on the top of his cards that 526 00:21:44,136 --> 00:21:47,223 he wants to put in every arena in the country and 527 00:21:47,223 --> 00:21:51,227 all over television, to lead his national expansion. 528 00:21:51,227 --> 00:21:54,104 He knew that if you controlled television, 529 00:21:54,104 --> 00:21:58,567 you would control the source of distribution for all the 530 00:21:58,567 --> 00:22:01,695 wrestling programs and all the top wrestlers. 531 00:22:01,695 --> 00:22:03,614 Oh! [Laughing] 532 00:22:03,614 --> 00:22:05,824 And that's what he wanted to corner. 533 00:22:05,824 --> 00:22:07,409 Everything had been done a certain way, 534 00:22:07,409 --> 00:22:08,827 and now everything was different. 535 00:22:08,827 --> 00:22:11,413 And Vince was public enemy number one. 536 00:22:11,413 --> 00:22:12,748 Some of the promoters in there talking, 537 00:22:12,748 --> 00:22:14,625 "What if we put a hit on the guy"? You know? 538 00:22:14,625 --> 00:22:18,462 And, you know, it's a wild story. Um... 539 00:22:18,462 --> 00:22:21,298 I don't doubt that it's true at all because, you know, 540 00:22:21,298 --> 00:22:24,009 like, these are, these are bad dudes, just like, 541 00:22:24,009 --> 00:22:26,345 you know, Vince was breaking the rules. 542 00:22:26,345 --> 00:22:28,847 Through Barnett's calculated maneuvering, 543 00:22:28,847 --> 00:22:31,267 Vince has seized TV time from promotions 544 00:22:31,267 --> 00:22:32,893 across the country, 545 00:22:32,893 --> 00:22:34,937 but one remains for the taking... 546 00:22:34,937 --> 00:22:36,730 Georgia Championship Wrestling, 547 00:22:36,730 --> 00:22:40,776 and its nationwide slot on WTBS. 548 00:22:40,776 --> 00:22:43,779 And when Barnett comes to him with a grudge against 549 00:22:43,779 --> 00:22:48,576 Ole Anderson, who has the widest distribution 550 00:22:48,576 --> 00:22:51,662 of any television program in wrestling, 551 00:22:51,662 --> 00:22:53,914 and Barnett says to Vince, 552 00:22:53,914 --> 00:22:55,958 "I think I can get it for you." 553 00:22:55,958 --> 00:22:57,751 And that's all he needed to hear. 554 00:22:57,751 --> 00:23:01,213 If he could take over and control television 555 00:23:01,213 --> 00:23:04,174 across the country, then he could take over 556 00:23:04,174 --> 00:23:06,093 every territory in the country. 557 00:23:12,933 --> 00:23:14,768 While Vince McMahon scoops up talent and 558 00:23:14,768 --> 00:23:17,896 TV spots from territories across the country, 559 00:23:17,896 --> 00:23:20,566 Ole Anderson tries to hold Georgia Championship 560 00:23:20,566 --> 00:23:24,111 Wrestling together by any means necessary. 561 00:23:24,111 --> 00:23:26,572 Maybe Ole thought he could do everything at that point in 562 00:23:26,572 --> 00:23:30,618 time, but Georgia Wrestling, it still had the reputation, 563 00:23:30,618 --> 00:23:33,454 but the product was starting to suffer. 564 00:23:33,454 --> 00:23:36,165 Yeah, I think he was trying to run a business with, 565 00:23:36,165 --> 00:23:38,542 you know, second tier guys, 566 00:23:38,542 --> 00:23:40,002 people that weren't gonna draw. 567 00:23:40,002 --> 00:23:42,046 I mean, he'd employed just about everybody 568 00:23:42,046 --> 00:23:43,964 in the business at one point or another, 569 00:23:43,964 --> 00:23:47,301 and it was those guys who were now working for Vince 570 00:23:47,301 --> 00:23:50,262 in WWF and becoming his superstars, 571 00:23:50,262 --> 00:23:51,805 leaving my father just 572 00:23:51,805 --> 00:23:53,390 scratching around for leftovers. 573 00:23:53,390 --> 00:23:56,018 And that just wasn't gonna sell tickets. 574 00:23:56,018 --> 00:23:58,687 Ole had changed the concept where 575 00:23:58,687 --> 00:24:01,649 we weren't bringing in a lot of outside talent. 576 00:24:01,649 --> 00:24:04,860 Our live events were not drawing the money because 577 00:24:04,860 --> 00:24:06,862 we weren't spending the money on the talent that 578 00:24:06,862 --> 00:24:08,697 we were spending on before. 579 00:24:08,697 --> 00:24:12,701 And the top guys quit wanting to come to our territory. 580 00:24:12,701 --> 00:24:14,995 And we, we were actually getting phone calls from 581 00:24:14,995 --> 00:24:17,039 some of the top talent around the country, 582 00:24:17,039 --> 00:24:19,875 "Hey, what's going on? You better watch Ole." 583 00:24:19,875 --> 00:24:21,877 And not only took their word for it, 584 00:24:21,877 --> 00:24:24,046 but were out there on several big shows and 585 00:24:24,046 --> 00:24:27,591 experienced that payoffs weren't the same. 586 00:24:27,591 --> 00:24:30,260 Frustrated that their investment is no longer 587 00:24:30,260 --> 00:24:32,596 paying dividends, the Briscos decide 588 00:24:32,596 --> 00:24:35,683 Ole isn't cut out to manage the company. 589 00:24:35,683 --> 00:24:38,227 But in order to push out Ole, they will have to get 590 00:24:38,227 --> 00:24:40,354 their fellow shareholders to agree 591 00:24:40,354 --> 00:24:42,439 with a majority vote. 592 00:24:42,439 --> 00:24:44,650 We called a stockholder's meeting, 593 00:24:44,650 --> 00:24:48,195 because we were gonna take over Ole's dictatorship and, 594 00:24:48,195 --> 00:24:49,863 and, and do it ourselves. 595 00:24:49,863 --> 00:24:52,741 And we flew into town early, met with the lawyers, 596 00:24:52,741 --> 00:24:54,284 and the lawyers said, "Guys, you can't do this 597 00:24:54,284 --> 00:24:55,994 stockholders' meeting, it's illegal." 598 00:24:55,994 --> 00:24:57,663 Because we didn't state a purpose. 599 00:24:57,663 --> 00:24:59,498 The meeting got put off, of course, 600 00:24:59,498 --> 00:25:02,251 so we went back to the hotel and wanted to drown 601 00:25:02,251 --> 00:25:04,586 our sorrows, so we were sitting in the hotel bar, 602 00:25:04,586 --> 00:25:07,589 and who all of a sudden showed up in this bar? 603 00:25:07,589 --> 00:25:09,508 Is Ole Anderson. 604 00:25:09,508 --> 00:25:11,885 His purpose, track us down to find out what the hell 605 00:25:11,885 --> 00:25:14,138 we were planning on doing. 606 00:25:14,138 --> 00:25:15,973 And we weren't shy, we laid out, 607 00:25:15,973 --> 00:25:17,850 "We're here to take you out of office." 608 00:25:17,850 --> 00:25:20,227 ♪ 609 00:25:20,227 --> 00:25:23,522 They want to know how much money there is in the bank. 610 00:25:23,522 --> 00:25:27,526 He tells them, "Well, why can't you pay it out"? 611 00:25:27,526 --> 00:25:30,195 And so I'm sure for the hundredth time he tries to 612 00:25:30,195 --> 00:25:33,115 explain to them how you have got to have some 613 00:25:33,115 --> 00:25:35,409 operating capital to run this business. 614 00:25:35,409 --> 00:25:37,828 You know, "I've got to pay deposits on buildings, 615 00:25:37,828 --> 00:25:39,329 I've got to pay for advertising, 616 00:25:39,329 --> 00:25:41,331 I got to buy plane tickets. 617 00:25:41,331 --> 00:25:43,542 Once we get another 100,000 in the bank, 618 00:25:43,542 --> 00:25:45,586 then I'll write the dividend cheques. 619 00:25:45,586 --> 00:25:49,506 Of course, I want to, I'll get one too." 620 00:25:49,506 --> 00:25:52,217 And we were done drinking as much as we could drink, 621 00:25:52,217 --> 00:25:55,888 and argued as much as we could argue, and, Ole, 622 00:25:55,888 --> 00:25:58,015 "I'll come up to the room with ya I got a deal for yas." 623 00:25:58,015 --> 00:26:00,976 "Okay, we'll listen to one last pitch." 624 00:26:00,976 --> 00:26:03,395 Ole said: "Well, you ever watched The Godfather?" 625 00:26:03,395 --> 00:26:05,689 Yeah. Well, I got this deal with you, if you guys agree. 626 00:26:05,689 --> 00:26:06,940 Let's do a blood oath 627 00:26:06,940 --> 00:26:09,943 so we're all on the same page." 628 00:26:09,943 --> 00:26:13,739 The deal was if anybody was gonna sell stock 629 00:26:13,739 --> 00:26:17,034 they had to offer it to the other shareholders in 630 00:26:17,034 --> 00:26:19,328 Georgia Championship Wrestling first, 631 00:26:19,328 --> 00:26:21,413 before they could sell it to anybody else. 632 00:26:21,413 --> 00:26:23,749 ♪ 633 00:26:23,749 --> 00:26:25,876 And my dad has a little pocketknife, 634 00:26:25,876 --> 00:26:28,879 sticks it in his head, gigs it down, gets some colour. 635 00:26:28,879 --> 00:26:31,924 ♪ 636 00:26:31,924 --> 00:26:34,301 And they look at him like, "Oh my God! 637 00:26:34,301 --> 00:26:36,595 What's wrong with you"? 638 00:26:36,595 --> 00:26:39,348 Ole, my word means more than blood. 639 00:26:39,348 --> 00:26:40,766 I mean, you know, to me. 640 00:26:40,766 --> 00:26:42,935 I mean, if I give you my word, I'm gonna live up to it. 641 00:26:42,935 --> 00:26:46,939 I don't need these little gimmicks to, to, 642 00:26:46,939 --> 00:26:50,234 to certify my, my honesty. 643 00:26:50,234 --> 00:26:52,486 Probably took him about 10 minutes to convince 644 00:26:52,486 --> 00:26:54,238 Jack and I to do the same thing. 645 00:26:54,238 --> 00:26:57,241 [Laughing] 646 00:26:57,241 --> 00:26:59,284 So that was the Ole solution to our problem. 647 00:26:59,284 --> 00:27:00,494 You know, let's cut ourselves and 648 00:27:00,494 --> 00:27:02,579 bleed on each other. 649 00:27:02,579 --> 00:27:05,207 My dad was such a man of his word that 650 00:27:05,207 --> 00:27:06,917 if he shook your hand and said he was gonna 651 00:27:06,917 --> 00:27:09,545 do anything, he would do it. 652 00:27:09,545 --> 00:27:11,630 He just, he believed people because, 653 00:27:11,630 --> 00:27:15,175 you know, he, he would never tell a lie. 654 00:27:15,175 --> 00:27:17,302 As part of the blood oath agreement, 655 00:27:17,302 --> 00:27:20,305 the Briscos will focus on increasing ticket sales 656 00:27:20,305 --> 00:27:22,683 in exchange for regular payouts. 657 00:27:22,683 --> 00:27:25,519 But the deal doesn't last for long. 658 00:27:25,519 --> 00:27:27,396 So, first one to break the oath was Ole 'cause 659 00:27:27,396 --> 00:27:30,232 he quit paying us what he agreed to pay us, so... 660 00:27:30,232 --> 00:27:32,693 we felt that we, we had an open waters there 661 00:27:32,693 --> 00:27:34,444 to do what we wanted to do. 662 00:27:34,444 --> 00:27:37,281 That lit a fire under us that if we stick in this situation 663 00:27:37,281 --> 00:27:40,826 too much longer, we're not gonna have anything. 664 00:27:40,826 --> 00:27:42,494 Desperate to cash out, 665 00:27:42,494 --> 00:27:44,413 the Briscos begin shopping their shares 666 00:27:44,413 --> 00:27:46,290 outside of the company, 667 00:27:46,290 --> 00:27:49,835 starting with Jim Barnett, who turns them down. 668 00:27:49,835 --> 00:27:52,004 Knowing the Briscos are looking to sell, 669 00:27:52,004 --> 00:27:55,132 Barnett knows someone who wants to buy... 670 00:27:55,132 --> 00:27:57,509 Vince McMahon. 671 00:27:57,509 --> 00:27:59,219 So Vince flew us up to LaGuardia, 672 00:27:59,219 --> 00:28:01,013 and still to this day I'll rib Vince about 673 00:28:01,013 --> 00:28:04,850 flying us up coach. [Laughing] 674 00:28:04,850 --> 00:28:08,562 We met at LaGuardia Airport. He said, 675 00:28:08,562 --> 00:28:12,190 "Can you guys deliver me 51% of the territory"? 676 00:28:12,190 --> 00:28:16,653 And I looked at him and I said, "Yes, sir, I can." 677 00:28:16,653 --> 00:28:19,239 I had to make a call to Jim Barnett. 678 00:28:19,239 --> 00:28:21,783 Jim Barnett knew everybody that 679 00:28:21,783 --> 00:28:23,952 owned a piece of Georgia. 680 00:28:23,952 --> 00:28:26,163 Jim Barnett knew who they liked, who they didn't like, 681 00:28:26,163 --> 00:28:28,624 what they were mad about, what their weak spots were, 682 00:28:28,624 --> 00:28:31,043 whatever the case. All Jim Barnett had to do 683 00:28:31,043 --> 00:28:33,879 was point Vince McMahon in the right direction, 684 00:28:33,879 --> 00:28:36,340 not only at the Briscos but anybody else. 685 00:28:36,340 --> 00:28:38,133 Or, talked to them himself. 686 00:28:38,133 --> 00:28:40,552 He could make you do something you didn't 687 00:28:40,552 --> 00:28:43,305 want to do, and by the time he was finished, 688 00:28:43,305 --> 00:28:45,432 you'd think it was your idea. 689 00:28:45,432 --> 00:28:47,893 In the end of the negotiations and 690 00:28:47,893 --> 00:28:50,270 all the transactions, Vince ended up owning 691 00:28:50,270 --> 00:28:51,772 67 and a half percent of 692 00:28:51,772 --> 00:28:53,315 Georgia Championship Wrestling. 693 00:28:53,315 --> 00:28:54,566 [Thundering] 694 00:28:54,566 --> 00:28:56,568 Which of course also held the contract for 695 00:28:56,568 --> 00:28:59,655 the television program on TBS. 696 00:28:59,655 --> 00:29:02,407 There was an agreement in the articles of incorporation 697 00:29:02,407 --> 00:29:04,534 that before anybody was to sell, they had to 698 00:29:04,534 --> 00:29:07,412 first offer it to one of the other stockholders. 699 00:29:07,412 --> 00:29:10,582 And he was told repeatedly by the attorneys that 700 00:29:10,582 --> 00:29:12,793 that was going to protect him. 701 00:29:12,793 --> 00:29:14,795 Well, it turned out not to be true. 702 00:29:22,803 --> 00:29:24,763 Behind the back of Ole Anderson, 703 00:29:24,763 --> 00:29:26,598 the Briscos align with Jim Barnett 704 00:29:26,598 --> 00:29:28,809 to give Vince McMahon control of 705 00:29:28,809 --> 00:29:30,852 Georgia Championship Wrestling, 706 00:29:30,852 --> 00:29:34,856 a move that will forever reshape the industry. 707 00:29:34,856 --> 00:29:37,401 In March of 1984, 708 00:29:37,401 --> 00:29:40,404 my grandmother passed away very suddenly. 709 00:29:40,404 --> 00:29:43,365 My father and I go up to Minnesota, Wisconsin 710 00:29:43,365 --> 00:29:44,616 and take care of the arrangements 711 00:29:44,616 --> 00:29:46,118 and family business. 712 00:29:46,118 --> 00:29:47,953 He gets a call from the office, 713 00:29:47,953 --> 00:29:50,497 I think it was Louise who called him. 714 00:29:50,497 --> 00:29:52,416 I was in my office and the door opens and 715 00:29:52,416 --> 00:29:55,669 Vince walks in. "Good morning." 716 00:29:55,669 --> 00:30:00,549 Ah... "I now own the company." 717 00:30:00,549 --> 00:30:02,592 So I called Ole, 718 00:30:02,592 --> 00:30:07,055 and told him that Vince had stole the company. 719 00:30:07,055 --> 00:30:09,224 I thought it was real sneaky. 720 00:30:09,224 --> 00:30:13,603 It's not that they did it, it's just how they did it. 721 00:30:13,603 --> 00:30:16,273 He and I got on a plane right away. 722 00:30:16,273 --> 00:30:18,525 He parked me at a hotel in Atlanta. 723 00:30:18,525 --> 00:30:20,235 He immediately met with the lawyers, 724 00:30:20,235 --> 00:30:22,779 they filed for injunctions, and they fought for three 725 00:30:22,779 --> 00:30:25,282 or four months before it was finally all over, 726 00:30:25,282 --> 00:30:26,700 that he wanted to stop Vince from 727 00:30:26,700 --> 00:30:29,453 taking over Georgia Championship. 728 00:30:29,453 --> 00:30:32,748 With Ole's legal efforts to block the takeover thwarted, 729 00:30:32,748 --> 00:30:36,460 all that's left for him to do is concede. 730 00:30:36,460 --> 00:30:39,963 There was a deal in the bylaws for our corporation 731 00:30:39,963 --> 00:30:43,258 that said, "If a majority of the stockholders decide to 732 00:30:43,258 --> 00:30:45,635 change all the damn rules that are written up here, 733 00:30:45,635 --> 00:30:47,012 they can do that." 734 00:30:47,012 --> 00:30:48,180 And they just changed all the rules that 735 00:30:48,180 --> 00:30:50,390 we'd been going by for years. 736 00:30:50,390 --> 00:30:52,059 So we lost it because Barnett was smart enough 737 00:30:52,059 --> 00:30:53,143 to realize that he could have done it. 738 00:30:53,143 --> 00:30:54,811 And I didn't, didn't know. 739 00:30:54,811 --> 00:30:57,773 I can remember the Saturday morning TV at TBS studios, 740 00:30:57,773 --> 00:31:00,358 Vince McMahon is in the building. 741 00:31:00,358 --> 00:31:01,651 It's the only time that I've ever been in the 742 00:31:01,651 --> 00:31:03,862 same room as Vince McMahon to this day. 743 00:31:03,862 --> 00:31:06,490 But from there, the fight was on. 744 00:31:06,490 --> 00:31:09,659 Vince was still at that point trying to talk to Ole, 745 00:31:09,659 --> 00:31:12,037 because Vince is a guy that's used to getting his own way 746 00:31:12,037 --> 00:31:13,914 and used to being able to talk people into 747 00:31:13,914 --> 00:31:15,791 anything he wants them to do. 748 00:31:15,791 --> 00:31:17,292 I think, you know, Vince would say, 749 00:31:17,292 --> 00:31:18,960 "Ole, Ole, I'll give you a job." 750 00:31:18,960 --> 00:31:20,629 You know, tried to tell him over and over, 751 00:31:20,629 --> 00:31:23,507 "It's just business. It's just business." 752 00:31:23,507 --> 00:31:27,385 Vince says, "Ole, I'd like you to meet my wife, Linda." 753 00:31:27,385 --> 00:31:30,263 Well my dad, in typical fashion, responds, 754 00:31:30,263 --> 00:31:31,890 "You know what"? 755 00:31:31,890 --> 00:31:33,892 "---- you and ---- Linda"! 756 00:31:33,892 --> 00:31:36,353 ♪ 757 00:31:36,353 --> 00:31:39,314 Despite Ole's fury, few outside the company 758 00:31:39,314 --> 00:31:41,942 are even aware of the change in ownership. 759 00:31:41,942 --> 00:31:45,570 Until Vince McMahon takes to the airwaves. 760 00:31:45,570 --> 00:31:47,656 So I go in there on this particular Saturday, 761 00:31:47,656 --> 00:31:48,990 and there's this guy standing there with 762 00:31:48,990 --> 00:31:51,118 his arms folded, making this face. 763 00:31:51,118 --> 00:31:53,578 ♪ 764 00:31:53,578 --> 00:31:58,500 As it turns out, the man was Vincent K. McMahon. 765 00:31:58,500 --> 00:32:00,877 None of the, none of the talent knew anything. 766 00:32:00,877 --> 00:32:02,170 That was all interoffice stuff. 767 00:32:02,170 --> 00:32:03,839 Nobody knew who sold the what or who was 768 00:32:03,839 --> 00:32:05,507 on what side or nothing. 769 00:32:05,507 --> 00:32:08,051 The camera guys and all them, they didn't have a clue. 770 00:32:08,051 --> 00:32:11,179 I got a call, was told not to come to TV, 771 00:32:11,179 --> 00:32:13,765 that we weren't going to be taping that day. 772 00:32:13,765 --> 00:32:15,767 I didn't go to TV on Saturday, that Saturday, 773 00:32:15,767 --> 00:32:18,937 because I had just gotten fired. 774 00:32:18,937 --> 00:32:22,023 Vince had a meeting with all the talent that was here, 775 00:32:22,023 --> 00:32:24,734 and he said, "None of you have jobs anymore." 776 00:32:24,734 --> 00:32:27,154 He said, "If we want to use you, we'll contact you." 777 00:32:27,154 --> 00:32:29,156 And that was it. It was over. 778 00:32:29,156 --> 00:32:30,949 ♪ 779 00:32:30,949 --> 00:32:32,659 The wrestling program on TBS 780 00:32:32,659 --> 00:32:34,786 had been an institution for years. 781 00:32:34,786 --> 00:32:36,746 Every wrestling fan that was able to get cable 782 00:32:36,746 --> 00:32:38,915 at that point in time, is gonna watch 783 00:32:38,915 --> 00:32:41,209 Georgia Wrestling every Saturday. 784 00:32:41,209 --> 00:32:43,670 July 14th, 1984, 785 00:32:43,670 --> 00:32:46,631 they turn on World Championship Wrestling, 786 00:32:46,631 --> 00:32:48,633 and they didn't see Gordon Solie, 787 00:32:48,633 --> 00:32:50,385 they see Freddy Miller. 788 00:32:50,385 --> 00:32:51,678 Hello, everybody, and welcome to 789 00:32:51,678 --> 00:32:53,388 World Championship Wrestling. 790 00:32:53,388 --> 00:32:56,141 Freddy Miller introduced Vince McMahon. 791 00:32:56,141 --> 00:32:58,268 Here's Vince McMahon. Vince. 792 00:32:58,268 --> 00:32:59,644 Thank you very much, Freddy. 793 00:32:59,644 --> 00:33:02,063 When Freddy Miller introduced Vince, 794 00:33:02,063 --> 00:33:04,941 and then, just the silence of 795 00:33:04,941 --> 00:33:06,735 the dead airtime, you know. 796 00:33:06,735 --> 00:33:09,654 No, no, no crowd, not a fan, no nothing. 797 00:33:09,654 --> 00:33:11,531 Let's take you now to Minneapolis and 798 00:33:11,531 --> 00:33:13,533 Jesse 'The Body' Ventura. 799 00:33:13,533 --> 00:33:16,578 They started showing videotapes of matches from 800 00:33:16,578 --> 00:33:19,122 other WWF television programs and 801 00:33:19,122 --> 00:33:22,083 other WWF arenas and TV shoots. 802 00:33:22,083 --> 00:33:23,585 One of the many stars here in the 803 00:33:23,585 --> 00:33:25,170 World Wrestling Federation. 804 00:33:25,170 --> 00:33:27,505 The fans of Georgia Wrestling, 805 00:33:27,505 --> 00:33:29,257 they practically rioted. 806 00:33:29,257 --> 00:33:32,219 [Phones ringing] 807 00:33:32,219 --> 00:33:35,597 They were just bombarding the TBS switchboards. 808 00:33:35,597 --> 00:33:37,432 "We want our wrastlin'." 809 00:33:37,432 --> 00:33:39,601 Tommy Wildfire has just exploded on the...! 810 00:33:39,601 --> 00:33:41,269 Georgia Wrestling was a lot different than 811 00:33:41,269 --> 00:33:43,146 Vince's wrestling. 812 00:33:43,146 --> 00:33:46,024 Vince brought his style down here and I don't think, 813 00:33:46,024 --> 00:33:48,193 I don't think they bought it or didn't, you know, 814 00:33:48,193 --> 00:33:51,279 just didn't like it, 'cause it wasn't homeboys, you know. 815 00:33:51,279 --> 00:33:53,490 So I think, I think, ah... 816 00:33:53,490 --> 00:33:56,117 they just wasn't buying what he was selling. 817 00:33:56,117 --> 00:33:58,453 He didn't want the Georgia Wrestling territory. 818 00:33:58,453 --> 00:34:00,830 All he wanted was that TV. 819 00:34:00,830 --> 00:34:02,624 I'm getting excited because I'm seeing 820 00:34:02,624 --> 00:34:04,709 a new future starting to be made. 821 00:34:04,709 --> 00:34:07,087 I called it 'Green Saturday' because it 822 00:34:07,087 --> 00:34:09,547 changed my, my, my fortune. 823 00:34:09,547 --> 00:34:13,718 But obviously a lot of fans that were fan, true fans, 824 00:34:13,718 --> 00:34:15,553 of Georgia Championship Wrestling didn't see it 825 00:34:15,553 --> 00:34:18,473 the same way I saw it. 826 00:34:18,473 --> 00:34:21,393 Ousted from the promotion he helped build, 827 00:34:21,393 --> 00:34:24,688 Ole makes no secret of his resentment. 828 00:34:24,688 --> 00:34:27,107 If Jack and Jerry had agreed with him 829 00:34:27,107 --> 00:34:28,858 to wait things out a few more months, 830 00:34:28,858 --> 00:34:31,319 and then taken advantage of the time when 831 00:34:31,319 --> 00:34:34,489 he's dealing with his mother's funeral 832 00:34:34,489 --> 00:34:38,034 to sell out behind his back, I think that that would have 833 00:34:38,034 --> 00:34:41,037 really impacted his opinion, strongly, 834 00:34:41,037 --> 00:34:43,331 for quite a while, to the negative. 835 00:34:43,331 --> 00:34:47,210 And I was pissed at The Briscos, and um... 836 00:34:47,210 --> 00:34:48,837 they got whatever money they got. 837 00:34:48,837 --> 00:34:51,298 Ole had supposedly hired an armed guard to 838 00:34:51,298 --> 00:34:54,134 stand there and actually do bodily harm to us 839 00:34:54,134 --> 00:34:55,677 if we tried to get in the office. 840 00:34:55,677 --> 00:34:58,096 Not the promoter, but Paul Jones, 841 00:34:58,096 --> 00:34:59,806 the old wrestler, called and said, 842 00:34:59,806 --> 00:35:01,266 "There's supposedly a hitman 843 00:35:01,266 --> 00:35:03,560 out on you guys for two days. 844 00:35:03,560 --> 00:35:06,479 Be very careful where you go and who you associate with, 845 00:35:06,479 --> 00:35:08,815 because I think it's real." 846 00:35:15,655 --> 00:35:18,325 Ole Anderson is on the hunt for revenge as 847 00:35:18,325 --> 00:35:20,994 rumours circulate about a potential plot to 848 00:35:20,994 --> 00:35:23,496 have the Briscos killed. 849 00:35:23,496 --> 00:35:25,498 We waited the two days, nothing happened to us, 850 00:35:25,498 --> 00:35:26,791 and we threw one of the biggest parties 851 00:35:26,791 --> 00:35:28,084 we ever thrown. 852 00:35:29,836 --> 00:35:33,006 No. First of all, he would have never got rid of the money. 853 00:35:33,006 --> 00:35:35,050 And secondly, he'd 'a done it himself. 854 00:35:35,050 --> 00:35:36,301 [Laughing] 855 00:35:36,301 --> 00:35:37,635 He would have never asked anybody else to 856 00:35:37,635 --> 00:35:40,430 do it, he would have been glad to do it hisself. 857 00:35:40,430 --> 00:35:43,058 The only negative way that I think it affected us 858 00:35:43,058 --> 00:35:45,727 is the loss of friendship and the negative things 859 00:35:45,727 --> 00:35:47,354 that were said about me. 860 00:35:47,354 --> 00:35:49,147 The threats that brother and I got during 861 00:35:49,147 --> 00:35:51,483 this time frame too was phenomenal. 862 00:35:51,483 --> 00:35:54,235 I mean, our families were receiving phone calls, 863 00:35:54,235 --> 00:35:56,780 you know, that we were no good backstabbers. 864 00:35:56,780 --> 00:35:59,741 It was a very rough deal. 865 00:35:59,741 --> 00:36:02,243 Determined to keep the spirit of Georgia Championship 866 00:36:02,243 --> 00:36:05,330 Wrestling alive, Ole sells his shares and 867 00:36:05,330 --> 00:36:07,791 starts his own promotion. 868 00:36:07,791 --> 00:36:09,084 Ole was able to work out a deal. 869 00:36:09,084 --> 00:36:10,460 He called up Vince and said, 870 00:36:10,460 --> 00:36:12,420 "Vince, I'm gonna sell you my piece too." 871 00:36:12,420 --> 00:36:14,923 Which, you know, I guess, thank you, Vince. 872 00:36:14,923 --> 00:36:17,759 Because Vince could very easily have just said, 873 00:36:17,759 --> 00:36:19,469 "Okay, I'm closing up, 874 00:36:19,469 --> 00:36:21,471 your shares aren't worth anything." 875 00:36:21,471 --> 00:36:23,932 Ole went to Ted Turner directly and he said, 876 00:36:23,932 --> 00:36:26,726 "Hey! The people want to see the Georgia Wrestling 877 00:36:26,726 --> 00:36:28,728 and the Georgia wrestlers, and I've got them. 878 00:36:28,728 --> 00:36:31,022 Give me another time slot." 879 00:36:31,022 --> 00:36:34,192 And when I went to Ted Turner later on I said, 880 00:36:34,192 --> 00:36:36,069 "Who do you think's been running this damn thing 881 00:36:36,069 --> 00:36:38,822 for the last eight, nine years? Me!" 882 00:36:38,822 --> 00:36:41,741 So he gave Ole Saturday morning at 7:30. 883 00:36:41,741 --> 00:36:44,911 And a very spirited crowd here today at the 884 00:36:44,911 --> 00:36:47,622 WTBS sports arena, where we're very proud 885 00:36:47,622 --> 00:36:48,832 to bring you once again 886 00:36:48,832 --> 00:36:51,126 Championship Wrestling from Georgia. 887 00:36:51,126 --> 00:36:53,294 While Ole attempts to mount a comeback, 888 00:36:53,294 --> 00:36:56,673 Vince is struggling to connect with Georgia viewers. 889 00:36:56,673 --> 00:36:58,591 They were used to seeing a certain style and 890 00:36:58,591 --> 00:37:00,343 it wasn't something that they'd seen before. 891 00:37:00,343 --> 00:37:01,928 They didn't know who these guys were. 892 00:37:01,928 --> 00:37:03,096 They didn't care. 893 00:37:03,096 --> 00:37:05,223 They were looking for the people they knew. 894 00:37:05,223 --> 00:37:07,267 Vince is getting crowded out of 895 00:37:07,267 --> 00:37:09,269 the Saturday nighttime slot. 896 00:37:09,269 --> 00:37:10,603 Turner's on his ass. 897 00:37:10,603 --> 00:37:12,313 It's not doing him the good that 898 00:37:12,313 --> 00:37:13,773 he thought it was gonna do him. 899 00:37:13,773 --> 00:37:15,275 This is one of the first and only 900 00:37:15,275 --> 00:37:18,278 Vince McMahon complete failures. 901 00:37:18,278 --> 00:37:21,823 Looking to offload his valuable WTBS time slot, 902 00:37:21,823 --> 00:37:24,367 McMahon once again turns to Jim Barnett 903 00:37:24,367 --> 00:37:25,994 to land a deal. 904 00:37:25,994 --> 00:37:28,371 Barnett finds a buyer in one of McMahon's 905 00:37:28,371 --> 00:37:30,290 other major competitors, 906 00:37:30,290 --> 00:37:32,375 Jim Crockett Promotions. 907 00:37:34,627 --> 00:37:37,755 One year. Turner was gonna kick Vince off as soon as 908 00:37:37,755 --> 00:37:39,799 he legally could, and so Barnett 909 00:37:39,799 --> 00:37:41,259 opened the door to Crockett. 910 00:37:41,259 --> 00:37:43,052 You know that TBS time slot, it's... 911 00:37:43,052 --> 00:37:45,138 at the time it probably sounded like a great deal. 912 00:37:45,138 --> 00:37:47,891 Vince will sell the time slot 913 00:37:47,891 --> 00:37:50,977 on Saturday night on TBS to 914 00:37:50,977 --> 00:37:53,855 Jim Crockett Promotions, and Vince McMahon 915 00:37:53,855 --> 00:37:56,191 would get a million dollars, 916 00:37:56,191 --> 00:37:59,027 and everybody becomes happy with that. 917 00:37:59,027 --> 00:38:02,489 So, with Barnett putting all the pieces together, 918 00:38:02,489 --> 00:38:06,367 Vince McMahon temporarily monopolizes cable TV 919 00:38:06,367 --> 00:38:08,161 wrestling in the United States, 920 00:38:08,161 --> 00:38:12,749 but is a failure at that, so he uses that flop to 921 00:38:12,749 --> 00:38:15,585 make money to finance WrestleMania. 922 00:38:15,585 --> 00:38:17,378 ♪ 923 00:38:17,378 --> 00:38:19,589 Where he then started on the road to put 924 00:38:19,589 --> 00:38:22,550 every other promoter out of business. 925 00:38:22,550 --> 00:38:26,721 The wrestling extravaganza of all time, WrestleMania. 926 00:38:26,721 --> 00:38:28,097 All in that 80s period, 927 00:38:28,097 --> 00:38:29,432 that's where he got the big jump. 928 00:38:29,432 --> 00:38:32,185 WWE became the name brand of pro wrestling, 929 00:38:32,185 --> 00:38:33,686 and he's got Cyndi Lauper, he's building up 930 00:38:33,686 --> 00:38:35,355 WrestleMania, Hulk Hogan's getting big, 931 00:38:35,355 --> 00:38:39,567 and, and he's just shooting way past everybody else. 932 00:38:39,567 --> 00:38:40,652 And they don't, they don't have the outlet 933 00:38:40,652 --> 00:38:44,072 to compete with him. 934 00:38:44,072 --> 00:38:46,449 Black Saturday forever altered the trajectory 935 00:38:46,449 --> 00:38:49,035 of the wrestling business, something no one 936 00:38:49,035 --> 00:38:52,205 understood better than Ole Anderson. 937 00:38:52,205 --> 00:38:55,250 It was almost like he had just cleared his desk off and 938 00:38:55,250 --> 00:38:57,794 scraped everything into it. 939 00:38:57,794 --> 00:38:59,504 Honestly, the state my father is in today, 940 00:38:59,504 --> 00:39:01,923 I don't know that he can hate anybody, sadly enough. 941 00:39:01,923 --> 00:39:06,135 But I think he held a grudge against Vince for a long time. 942 00:39:06,135 --> 00:39:09,138 I'm just trying to see what I got here. 943 00:39:09,138 --> 00:39:11,891 Bill Watts, himself a pioneering promoter in 944 00:39:11,891 --> 00:39:14,519 Mid-South Wrestling, writes a letter to Ole 945 00:39:14,519 --> 00:39:18,022 in 1987, reflecting upon the significance 946 00:39:18,022 --> 00:39:19,899 of Black Saturday. 947 00:39:19,899 --> 00:39:21,901 "Dear Ole. I know actions and words once 948 00:39:21,901 --> 00:39:24,362 said or done cannot be recalled. 949 00:39:24,362 --> 00:39:27,073 You were seeing the beginning of the metamorphosis of 950 00:39:27,073 --> 00:39:29,784 change of the very fibre of our business, 951 00:39:29,784 --> 00:39:32,745 all precipitated by McMahon, in my opinion. 952 00:39:32,745 --> 00:39:35,915 I certainly agree, his legacy will be the destruction 953 00:39:35,915 --> 00:39:40,461 of an industry as we know it, or knew it." 954 00:39:40,461 --> 00:39:42,880 After the Black Saturday incident, 955 00:39:42,880 --> 00:39:45,717 Barnett was Vince's right hand man, 956 00:39:45,717 --> 00:39:49,554 but Barnett was still more old-time wrestling and 957 00:39:49,554 --> 00:39:51,347 Vince wanted to be modern, 958 00:39:51,347 --> 00:39:54,142 and somewhere in '87 they had a 959 00:39:54,142 --> 00:39:57,395 difference of opinion and Vince let Barnett go. 960 00:40:04,736 --> 00:40:07,864 Jim Barnett only worked for WWF for a fraction of 961 00:40:07,864 --> 00:40:10,408 his long career, but his actions during the 962 00:40:10,408 --> 00:40:12,910 company's expansion helped solidify a 963 00:40:12,910 --> 00:40:15,622 new way of doing business in wrestling... 964 00:40:15,622 --> 00:40:17,415 The Vince McMahon way. 965 00:40:17,415 --> 00:40:20,084 Vince McMahon, for 40 years, 966 00:40:20,084 --> 00:40:22,670 he made his business based on 967 00:40:22,670 --> 00:40:26,966 taking TV time slots, or companies, 968 00:40:26,966 --> 00:40:28,801 out from under people. 969 00:40:28,801 --> 00:40:30,511 Doing takeovers, 970 00:40:30,511 --> 00:40:33,139 buying stock, issuing stock, 971 00:40:33,139 --> 00:40:36,934 public offering of the WWE that made him a billionaire, 972 00:40:36,934 --> 00:40:39,938 but his downfall eventually came 973 00:40:39,938 --> 00:40:41,814 through the same way. 974 00:40:41,814 --> 00:40:43,107 You know, there's an old saying, 975 00:40:43,107 --> 00:40:46,402 'what goes around comes around' and/or '---- around 976 00:40:46,402 --> 00:40:48,696 and ---- around pretty soon you won't be around.' 977 00:40:48,696 --> 00:40:51,115 Well... Vince had... 978 00:40:51,115 --> 00:40:52,909 it came out in the Wall Street Journal that he had 979 00:40:52,909 --> 00:40:55,244 allegations of paying certain women off, 980 00:40:55,244 --> 00:40:57,872 you know, non-disclosure agreements for infidelities, 981 00:40:57,872 --> 00:41:00,041 and, you know, even worse. 982 00:41:00,041 --> 00:41:02,585 McMahon paid a former employee 983 00:41:02,585 --> 00:41:06,089 $3 million to keep her quiet. 984 00:41:06,089 --> 00:41:07,882 You take a picture of Vincent McMahon, 985 00:41:07,882 --> 00:41:10,593 and that there is the reason why there is 986 00:41:10,593 --> 00:41:13,971 a human resources now in companies. 987 00:41:13,971 --> 00:41:16,641 [Chuckling] That is the reason why. 988 00:41:16,641 --> 00:41:20,395 As far as revolutionizing our business, yes, he did. 989 00:41:20,395 --> 00:41:22,230 Is there a dark side and a bad side? 990 00:41:22,230 --> 00:41:24,565 Yes, there damn sure is. 991 00:41:24,565 --> 00:41:26,234 It was enough of an embarrassment to 992 00:41:26,234 --> 00:41:28,528 the company that Vince stepped down. 993 00:41:28,528 --> 00:41:31,781 They forced him out of the company because 994 00:41:31,781 --> 00:41:33,616 his son-in-law and his daughter and 995 00:41:33,616 --> 00:41:35,243 all these people that he's worked with and 996 00:41:35,243 --> 00:41:37,120 trusted were saying, "Vince, you got to go. 997 00:41:37,120 --> 00:41:39,455 This is not gonna do the stock price any good, 998 00:41:39,455 --> 00:41:40,957 it's not gonna do our business any good. 999 00:41:40,957 --> 00:41:42,542 You got to step aside." 1000 00:41:42,542 --> 00:41:45,336 And the thing he learned from the Georgia takeover, 1001 00:41:45,336 --> 00:41:49,465 he still owns 80% of the company. 1002 00:41:49,465 --> 00:41:52,969 So, after six months, 1003 00:41:52,969 --> 00:41:56,305 then he comes back, in a whirlwind of action. 1004 00:41:56,305 --> 00:41:58,474 Let me just say it. I've made mistakes, obviously. 1005 00:41:58,474 --> 00:41:59,934 [Chuckling] You know, both personally and 1006 00:41:59,934 --> 00:42:02,019 professionally through my 50 year career. 1007 00:42:02,019 --> 00:42:03,479 I've owned up to every single one of them 1008 00:42:03,479 --> 00:42:05,273 and then moved on. 1009 00:42:05,273 --> 00:42:07,108 And then announces, "I'm coming back 1010 00:42:07,108 --> 00:42:09,485 because we're gonna sell this son of a bitch." 1011 00:42:09,485 --> 00:42:12,405 And the time is right. 1012 00:42:12,405 --> 00:42:16,200 Endeavor announcing WWE and UFC will combine to form 1013 00:42:16,200 --> 00:42:18,703 a $21 billion global live sports and 1014 00:42:18,703 --> 00:42:20,121 entertainment company. 1015 00:42:20,121 --> 00:42:22,123 And that's what worries all the wrestling fans. 1016 00:42:22,123 --> 00:42:23,541 Say what you want about Vince, 1017 00:42:23,541 --> 00:42:25,293 at least it was the family business, 1018 00:42:25,293 --> 00:42:27,503 he's done it for 50 years. 1019 00:42:27,503 --> 00:42:29,922 Now, Endeavor. 1020 00:42:29,922 --> 00:42:33,301 What mental romantic attachment 1021 00:42:33,301 --> 00:42:35,386 do they have to the wrestling business? 1022 00:42:35,386 --> 00:42:37,722 To its history, to keeping it alive? 1023 00:42:37,722 --> 00:42:39,932 We're gonna lose a lot of history and 1024 00:42:39,932 --> 00:42:42,518 we're gonna lose the, 1025 00:42:42,518 --> 00:42:45,188 you know, the last vestige of what old time 1026 00:42:45,188 --> 00:42:47,648 professional wrestling was for 100 years. 1027 00:42:47,648 --> 00:42:50,026 I think Black Saturday was kind of a tipping point 1028 00:42:50,026 --> 00:42:51,402 in the wrestling business. 1029 00:42:51,402 --> 00:42:55,531 That was the moment it started to evolve away from 1030 00:42:55,531 --> 00:42:58,659 the wrestling business and into show business. 1031 00:42:58,659 --> 00:43:02,038 Black Saturday in and of itself wasn't 1032 00:43:02,038 --> 00:43:04,081 a ground-breaking moment. 1033 00:43:04,081 --> 00:43:06,542 It was the canary in the coal mine. 1034 00:43:06,542 --> 00:43:09,420 Vince McMahon put anywhere from hundreds, 1035 00:43:09,420 --> 00:43:12,256 maybe thousands of wrestlers out of work. 1036 00:43:17,386 --> 00:43:20,681 Maybe 3% of them. 1037 00:43:20,681 --> 00:43:24,435 The other 97% didn't get to work anymore. 1038 00:43:24,435 --> 00:43:27,271 That's when all the change is going on and 1039 00:43:27,271 --> 00:43:29,690 you can't go back. I mean, that's life. 1040 00:43:29,690 --> 00:43:31,859 Just times change, you know. 1041 00:43:31,859 --> 00:43:33,861 And I'm just holding on to them 80s. 1042 00:43:33,861 --> 00:43:35,154 [Laughing] 1043 00:43:41,953 --> 00:43:43,830 I don't think they blame the Briscos, 1044 00:43:43,830 --> 00:43:46,123 but they definitely blame Vince. 1045 00:43:46,123 --> 00:43:49,961 But it was the move, it was the move to make. 1046 00:43:49,961 --> 00:43:52,338 What killed the territories was cable television. 1047 00:43:52,338 --> 00:43:53,673 And that would have been with Vince McMahon 1048 00:43:53,673 --> 00:43:54,841 or without Vince McMahon. 1049 00:43:54,841 --> 00:43:56,217 If it wasn't Vince McMahon going national, 1050 00:43:56,217 --> 00:43:58,135 it would have been Verne Gagne or Jim Crockett, 1051 00:43:58,135 --> 00:44:00,721 and they wouldn't have done as well as Vince did. 1052 00:44:00,721 --> 00:44:02,306 Somebody was gonna be successful. 1053 00:44:02,306 --> 00:44:03,891 Wrestling wasn't gonna go away, 1054 00:44:03,891 --> 00:44:05,101 but would they have been as successful 1055 00:44:05,101 --> 00:44:07,520 as Vince McMahon was? I'm gonna say no.