Credit: WrestlingWeekly & Betsy Byrd
Wrestling Weekly hosts Doc Young and Les Thatcher talked with two very different wrestling stars, past and present, on Sunday’s July 17 show. The night started off with an in-depth interview with legendary wrestling manager, Sir Oliver Humperdink and ended with a peek at the inside of the WWE by Charlie Haas, the WWE Superstar who enjoyed success as a WWE tag team champion before he was recently pink-slipped by the fed.
The “legends interview” opened with talk about Sir Oliver Humperdink’s infamous “House of Humperdink.” He said he tried to recall all the wrestlers that came through his stable and “stopped at 54.” He managed everyone from Greg “The Hammer” Valentine to Bruiser Brody to Paul Jones, just to name a few. Sir Oliver said about the ‘House,’ “It was a big place, many chambers.”
Sir Oliver began his wrestling career while still in high school ushering in the Minneapolis area. He eventually worked his way up to security by guarding the dressing room doors of the wrestlers, accompanying them to the ring, and taking care of their props and costumes. He then began traveling and setting up the wrestling ring before main events. Although he never wrestled himself, he did referee. The first time came during a stormy night in Fargo, North Dakota when their usual referee, Mike Boyette, had to wrestle to make up for the lack of wrestlers due to poor weather. Hump took over referee duties that night.
Les and Hump compared notes about the years confronted by impassioned fans that often led to violence. Hump described “ugly, ugly situations” where only adrenaline got him through. He said, “When I look back on it now my blood runs cold.” He describes a particular story where they were beating up Freddie Blassie in San Diego. The crowd became so irate that they tore the fence down around the ring and the lights went out. Hump said, “I knew I was going to get hurt, just didn’t know how bad.”
Some of the toughest crowds he experienced came from French-Canadian fans. One time in Ottawa, Hump “screwed the Vachon Brothers” and chairs starting flying and filling up the ring instantly. After the match, some of the fans started banging on the dressing room door where all the heels resided. The dressing room for the babyfaces was located across the hall and babyface Maurice “Mad Dog” Vachon came out and took on about six men in sequence, sufficiently thwarting any more conflict. Hump said about that night, “Very scary night. I thought they would get us for sure.”
He even began calling himself “Sir Oliver Humperdink” just to get heat from the Frenchmen in Canada with his Anglo-Saxon derived name. He came up with the moniker when he was slated to head to Montreal with the Hollywood Blondes, Buddy Roberts and Jerry Brown, in 1973. He purposely chose the name because at that time, the French hated the English. The audience went crazy even after his name was announced. He said he eventually smartened up to the point where he could “read” the audience. Before a riot would occur, he could essentially feel them get to the point of rioting and learn to let them down on instinct. He said once the brawling started, however, “Most of the time it’s like a fire, they burn out.”
Sir Oliver worked for all the major feds throughout his career including NWA, WCW, and WWF. When he was at the WWF, he worked there in the days where traveling was erratic, often traveling from Buffalo to San Diego to Pennsylvania in one stretch. He also said between such characters as the British Bulldogs, Ultimate Warrior, Outback Jack, and Jake the Snake, the dressing room in those days was like a Ringing Bros. Circus show. He described it as a “great time but very odd.”
When asked about the lack of managers working today in pro wrestling, he said because of the age demographic of the audience and since the business has been exposed as a “work,” the manager psychology isn’t quite as effective as it used to be. He agreed with Les though when he suggested that a good manager could make up for a weak mic guy or to help pump up the heat when the crowd is particularly quiet.
Conversation switched to whether he keeps up on the current product. He said he watches the WWE and even knew who Doc and Les’ next guest was—Charlie Haas. He said about Haas, “I heard Creative didn’t have anything for him. How about wrestling?” He went on to say, “I think they (WWE) toss away a lot of talent.“ Hump would like to see the competition come back into wrestling and said about TNA, “I wish them the best.” He believes that such competition would only make Vince McMahon stronger, that he always thrived on competition.
When he was asked if he could manage any team today, who would it be? He cited the team of Charlie Haas and Shelton Benjamin immediately. “They would be a great team.” He is also impressed with the Heart Throbs. He said they remind him of the Hollywood Blondes. He was not as kind to Chris Masters saying, “You can train a chimpanzee to do that.”
Sir Oliver Humperdink will be appearing in Charlotte, NC on August 19-21 at the NWA Wrestling Legends Fanfest at the University Hilton.
Former WWE Superstar Charlie Haas began immediately talking about his recent release from WWE. He described answering the phone soon after his wedding to Jackie Gayda (“Miss Jackie”) expecting more congratulations but instead being told they both were being let go. The reason given was the writers didn’t have anything for them. Charlie said the “Hollywood writers” at WWE would often ask for suggestions but when he made them, they never used his ideas. The writers, as he sees it, spend more time paying attention to the top stories and ignore the younger talent. He also thinks the writing on RAW is much more creative than it is on SmackDown!.
Charlie describes the inclination of the writing staff is to drop storylines at a moment’s notice and not realize factions to their full potential such as his collaborations with Shelton Benjamin and Rico as part of the problem. Often accused of being the “junior varsity” portion of the fed, SmackDown!, Haas believes, doesn’t have “junior varsity” players but rather, a “junior varsity” writing staff. Regardless, Charlie believes that “they’ve gotten away from the formula for success.”
When he refers to the WWE writers as “Hollywood writers,” he means that the days are gone where retired wrestlers were the bookers. He says this is the downfall because “great wrestlers” have no say so in what goes on in the storylines. He says guys aren’t given a chance and talented wrestlers such as Bob Holly and Val Venis are underused. Now they are all interested in gimmick wrestling, looking for characters like they did in the early 90s, and pleasing the stockholders by proving that they are making money. Charlie thinks the cycle will return eventually but not before WWE “cleared about a million and a half” with the recent salary cuts. He thinks this could be paving the way for the return of Brock Lesnar, but he has no animosity about this decision “They need to put asses in the seats.” He thinks it’s a good move “as long as they don’t put a stupid gimmick on him.”
When Charlie and Jackie lost their jobs, they immediately went about securing their finances. Although Charlie could always fall back on his economics degree, he still wants to wrestle. He feels that there is more in him and since his body still feels good, he’s ready to take other bookings. He said, “I want to prove them wrong.” He made a recent appearance in front of 700 fans in Rahway, NJ at Jersey All Pro on July 16 after Charlie was released from his “no compete clause” stipulation in his contract. At this point, since Charlie and Jackie need to continue making money, they are glad to at least be allowed to take any outside bookings they want with the exception of TNA—the Jarretts have to wait until the 90 days are up.
Charlie plans are to eventually go to Japan to gain more experience and his friend, Rikishi, set he and Jackie up for a 21-day stint in Italy. They are expected to perform seven matches there, doing promo work, and also getting the chance to enjoy the country. After that, he is looking to get booked by “whoever wants to book me,” mentioning Ring of Honor and Chaotic Wrestling by name.
Charlie admitted that he is angry and frustrated by the recent events. He had no idea that he was going to lose his job but is determined to prevail. He says he wouldn’t go back to WWE now even if he were asked and if he ever does go back, he wants it to be under his own terms. If he went back now “it would be under their terms.” He is looking forward to a good year in Japan. His only regret is that he didn’t get a chance to wrestle Ric Flair while he was still at the WWE.
Tune in Sunday, July 24 when Doc and Les are joined by Williams Alvin Moody, better known by some as Paul Bearer and by others by his other alter ego, Percy Pringle III! This wrestling managing legend’s career spans 30+ years and countless wrestling matches as he went from ringside photographer to wrestler to wrestling manager extraordinaire. Known as “The Manager of Champions” find out from Percy how he went from real-life mortician to Percy Pringle to Paul Bearer to legendary status in the form of the multi-year contract with WWE.
