Shoot First Ask Questions Later , livre ebook

SHOOT FIRST ASK QUESTIONS LATER
SHOOT FIRST ASK QUESTIONS LATER
WORLD WRESTLING INSANITY PRESENTS
JAMES GUTTMAN
Copyright © James Guttman, 2008
Published by ECW Press 2120 Queen Street East, Suite 200, Toronto, Ontario, Canada M 4 E 1 E 2 info@ecwpress.com 416.694.3348
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form by any process — electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise — without the prior written permission of the copyright owners and ECW Press.
LIBRARY AND ARCHIVES CANADA CATALOGUING IN PUBLICATION
Guttman, James, 1977– Shoot first … ask questions later / James Guttman.
Title appears on item as: World Wrestling Insanity presents Shoot first … ask questions later.
ISBN 978-1-55022-836-6
1. Wrestlers—United States. 2. Wrestling—United States. 3. World Wrestling Entertainment, Inc. I . Title.
GV 1196. A 1 G 88 2008     796.812092'273     C2008-902428-1
Editor: Michael Holmes Typesetting: Mary Bowness Printing: Printcrafters
This book is set in Minion and AlternateGothic.
Photos on pages 5, 31, 40, 46, 56, 61, 63, 73, 76, 81, 83, 89, 95, 98, 102, 110, 116, 162, and 165 are courtesy wrealano@aol.com; the photo on page 17 is courtesy Bob Leonard; the photo on page 34 is courtesy Bull Buchanan; the photo on page 35 is courtesy Tom Prichard; and the photos on pages 30 and 152 are courtesy Matt Balk. All other photos are from the collection of ECW Press.
PRINTED AND BOUND IN CANADA
For Jaimee and Olivia
Table of Contents
Acknowledgments
Foreword
One Shoot First …
Two Bad News, Legends, and Midgets on MySpace
Three The Good Ol’ Boys
Four The Office
Five Bloopers, Bleeps, and Ole Anderson
Six … But You Can’t Take Pro Wrestling Out of the Wrestler
Seven Exceeding Expectations
Eight Telemarketer to the Stars
Nine Benoit and the Fallout
Ten Say it Like it Is, Man
Eleven What I’m Trying to Say Now
Twelve … Questions Later
Thirteen Who Would You …?
Acknowledgments
Special thanks to ECW Press, Dr. Tom Prichard, Bull Buchanan, D-Lo Brown, Orlando Jordan, Lisa Moretti, Kevin Kelly, Aaron Wood (who helped with some transcriptions as well), ZAH, Mallory Mahling, Mike Rickard, Canadian Bulldog, Fritz Stephey, Matt Dawgs, all the writers at World Wrestling Insanity, Les Thatcher, Henry Hubbard, Mike Johnson, Dave Scherer, Georgianne Markopoulos, Phil Lowe, Tod Gordon, Jen Hobbs, the subscribers of ClubWWI.com , the readers of WorldWrestlingInsanity.com , the members of the Insanity forums, and everyone else who has had a hand in helping me keep the Insanity going strong for years.
Foreword Dr. Tom Prichard
The only thing I know for sure is nothing is for sure!
I can count my true friends on one hand. I don’t trust anybody — I don’t really like people in general. In fact, I’m pretty much an a$$hole.
So, why would anybody ask me to write a foreword to their book? You got me …
I will tell you this, though. I did not grow up with the Internet; I grew up watching and loving professional wrestling. Wrestling’s all I ever wanted to do since I was four years old.
Along the way I lived, loved, and made a lot of mistakes. I’ve judged, been judged, and formed opinions about people and things I knew little about. When I got to know more about the subject or circumstances, sometimes I changed my opinion, sometimes I didn’t.
Well, this book reminds me of that process.
I am the luckiest person in the world. I love what I do. It’s only natural to get a little upset or pissed off when people get on a forum or website and completely misrepresent facts or friends of yours. It sucks even worse when it’s you who’s misrepresented or flat out lied about and there’s no recourse. It’s just out there for the world to read — to believe or disregard.
Too often, people see something on the internet or newspaper and take it as the truth. When James Guttman first called and asked me to do an interview and give some thoughts on his first book, I thought “why not?” I wasn’t sure what to expect.
Neither was James.
Now, I think after years of interviewing people in the business James realized that second- and third-hand information had formed his opinion and made him cynical.
You see, a lot of journalists (wrestling and otherwise) will write their story and ask questions later. I gave James my views and he translated them in a pretty accurate way. I can be a jerk — but I can also converse, if you want to converse.
You want respect, you give respect.
And I believe that’s the reason for this, James’ second book on the insanity known as professional wrestling.
Nobody’s perfect. But not everyone in wrestling is “holding so and so back,” and not every wrestler refuses to “give up their spot” — which is what some wrestling “journalists,” who often have no real source whatsoever, want you to believe.
Pro wrestling is a business. A very competitive business. You must have ambition and perseverance and be willing to sacrifice to succeed. If wrestling was easy, everybody would do it. Anybody who has a high-paying, high-profile job can understand the hard work and dedication it takes to stay on top of your game. And when so called “experts” pick you apart without knowing the “story” behind the story? Oh yeah, that’s fair …
But who said life was fair? Not me! Even though you just read it, I never actually “said” it. Okay, maybe I did — but maybe I didn’t!
Anyway, I got to know James over time and even wrote a column for his WWI website. Now he’s asked me to write the foreword to his second book. Let me make one thing perfectly clear: I have nothing against the Internet or people on the Internet. Everyone is entitled to their opinion — including the people being opinionated about!
I used to think I was pretty easy going. Then I read a blog about what a prick I am. I thought about it: if I cared, then it would matter. But the thing is, I am a prick. And with good reason. I’d like to think I’m fair, but then I’m sure you would find those who don’t think that I am …
So why even bother writing this foreword? Well, because James asked me to. I’ve done a few columns and interviews for the guy through the years. I did them while making a town, getting food, running stop signs, and doing other general, stupid things that I wouldn’t want anyone to know about. Of course, I would always ask James to “stop the tape” when I’d order at the drive-thru or be interrupted during the interview. And I would hear “No problem.”
And sure enough, during my last WWI interview, James “surprised” me with all my bloopers. You know, the times he “stopped the tape.” Funny shit. Real funny shit … Not!
James has come to the conclusion that the assumptions he once made were not always the way things really were. Good for him. (I’m sure we’ll all change our minds many more times as the years go by.) Nothing is etched in stone. Well, some things are, but most things aren’t, so there …
I hope you enjoy the musings on the following pages. I would like to leave you with one of my favorite quotes of all time: “Your birth is a mistake you’ll spend your whole life trying to correct.”
I think that pretty much sums it up. James, if writing this book helps you feel you have somehow “righted” some wrongs, then more power to you, my friend!
Dr. Tom Prichard
CHAPTER ONE SHOOT FIRST …
Everyone thinks they have the wrestling business figured out. We all do. If you watch Raw or Smackdown or Impact as part of you weekly grind, chances are you have ideas on how to fix wrestling — change it, tweak it, and improve it. It’s no different than any other pop pastime. Essentially, every hardcore fan of any genre of entertainment can tell you how they’d fix it.
I felt that way about wrestling too. I had it all figured out. I knew all the answers. I had a plan to bring us to the next level. If only Vince McMahon would listen to me, he’d be rolling in gold plated money.
Then I started WorldWrestlingInsanity.com (and later ClubWWI.com ) and realized that, well, I didn’t know as much as I thought.
That’s the irony. You see, when I sat down to write a second book, I wanted it to be very different than my first. After all, once you’ve done 900 pages on why Triple H killed the Lindbergh baby, there’s not too much more to say. And while I still stand by the fact that police found a sledgehammer and bottled water at the crime scene, that’s a story for another day.
World Wrestling Insanity (the book, not the website) was a snapshot of one of WWE’s creative lows. I stand by what I wrote at the time and meant everything I said. However, once I created the websites dedicated to the book, I never imagined what I would learn.
When WorldWrestlingInsanity.com first went online, the mission was simple. I wanted to bring fans the same humor and commentary I always strived to create, but I also wanted to bring them closer to their favorite stars. Rather than third, fourth, or eighth-hand information, they’d hear their favorite wrestler’s thoughts and feelings from their own mouth. No more he said/she said. It was all going to be there, out in the open.
A little over a month after the site went live, Dr. Tom Prichard joined. Dr. Tom was a big part of my first book, and offered a wealth of information. He had been a trainer with WWE, not to mention a World Tag Team Champion. He co-hosted “Byte This.” Hell, he did it all. I was truly thrilled to have him on board as a columnist. After all, he had been there and done that, so to speak.
The thing that got me about featuring Tom on the site was everything he noticed. His columns, and his thoughts in general, picked up subtle nuances that I’d never really noticed. It was amazing to see what he was able to see, the missteps he exposed. After all, wrestling was his life.
His columns covered some amazing ground. When Eddie Guerrero died, Tom wrote about the time they spent together in rehab. He spoke from the heart about the passi