I know you have all been 19
at sometime or at least anticipate getting there. Can you imagine the excitement
of a 19 year old being able to achieve his dreams? I have been there and this
is just the tip of the achievements that I have accomplished since then.
I was very fortunate to
start wrestling in July of 1982, when the territories were still alive. Like so
many of the new ones, there were no schools like you see today and I had to
learn the hard way. On gym floors, in an old building in San Antonio, I learned
wrestling holds and how to take bumps with my good friend Ken Johnson. My big
break came with Southwest Championship Wrestling. I was introduced to Tully
Blanchard and he told me to bring my gear.
I worked hard and proved my
worth and got the opportunity to go to Central States Championship Wrestling in
January of 1984, where I had an excellent run as one of the Uptown Boys. In
May, I returned to San Antonio and Southwest Championship Wrestling.
That is when I met Ken Timbs.
He was finishing up his run with Southwest and was looking for a new and
exciting partner. He chose me because of my looks, experience and the ability
to travel around the world. Together, we went to Memphis to work in Jarrett's
territory as the Hollywood Blondes. As usual, the Memphis run only lasted six
weeks before we were to move on to Florida.
Together , the Blondes
traveled to Florida Championship Wrestling, where we worked angles with the
greats like the Guerreros. At the end of the year in 1984, we split. I went to
Central States in January of 1985. In May of 1985, I returned to San Antonio, as
Central States was not a summer territory.
My next stop was in
Savoldi's ICW, where Ken and I once again became the Hollywood Blondes. I was
able to work with such wrestlers as Ox Baker. This lasted from October of 1985
through April of 1986.
During the rest of the
spring, I worked between Central States and ICW until I returned to Texas to
work with Texas All Star Wrestling. I still was living the American dream, (no
pun intended). The independent scene was just beginning and I was able to work
with many small groups.
Puerto Rico, a real treat,
was the territory I worked the last part of 1986 on into the early part of
1987. I look forward to being able to tell all my stories of this time frame.
The early part of 1987,
brought me to World Class, and I stayed with them until the middle of July. I
was then able to achieve a part time spot with WWF and I also was privileged
that same year to work in Hawaii for Lia Maivia, the wife of the late High Chief
Peter Maivia and the grandmother of the Rock.
By early 1989, I had become
a full time employee for WWF and stayed with them until January of 1991 when I
became a victim of "cutbacks".
I was able to work part time
in Puerto Rico in the summer of 1991 and stayed part time until June of 1993. In
the meantime, I filling in extra dates on the indy circuits in the US.
I worked part time for WCW
from 1995 until late 1998. I worked the independent circuit during my off time.
During the 90's, I was able
to make overseas tours, 10 tours of South Africa, 3 tours of England, 5 to
Singapore/Malaysia, 3 to Japan, 1 to Korea, 1 to Greece and 3 to India.
I also was privileged to
work the with greats of Mexico for both AAA and EMLL and also in the Monterrey,
Mexico area.
During all this time, I had
3 children, 2 wonderful sons and a beautiful daughter. You can see pictures of
them in the picture album.
I owe a lot to Ken Timbs,
Dick Murdoch, Roger Kirby, Rufus R. Jones, Jake Roberts, Ken Johnson, Kevin
Northcutt, Don Carson, and many others for teaching me.