pantherwagner Posted January 10, 2016 Report Share Posted January 10, 2016 It has been well documented that Bill Watts told his wrestlers that they would get fired if they ever got their ass kicked in a bar fight or any other type of street fight, and that "I was drunk" was not a valid excuse. That being said, did he ever have to fire anyone because of that? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
victory Posted January 11, 2016 Report Share Posted January 11, 2016 I thought I remembered reading Bob Orton Jr. was fired for that. I actually can't remember Orton ever wrestling there, so maybe I'm confusing him with another story. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Matt D Posted January 11, 2016 Report Share Posted January 11, 2016 If a gun was put to my head, I'd say Orndorff and not Orton, but it's all speculation, I think. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Blazer Posted January 11, 2016 Report Share Posted January 11, 2016 If a gun was put to my head, I'd say Orndorff and not Orton, but it's all speculation, I think. Orndorff kicked Vader's ass and was tougher than Orton. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jingus Posted January 11, 2016 Report Share Posted January 11, 2016 Cagematch says Bob Orton Jr. had a very brief tenure there, barely two months, so that sounds about right. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
supremebve Posted January 11, 2016 Report Share Posted January 11, 2016 If a gun was put to my head, I'd say Orndorff and not Orton, but it's all speculation, I think. Orndorff kicked Vader's ass and was tougher than Orton. If I had to guess one wrestler at a time who got their ass kicked in a bar fight, I'd probably name 250 guys before I even considered that Paul Orndorff could have got his ass kicked by some random dude at a bar. If you've ever heard any of the witness accounts to the Vader fight, you you wouldn't dream about fucking with Paul Orndorff. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Matt D Posted January 11, 2016 Report Share Posted January 11, 2016 I think the reasoning is that Watts especially badmouthed him and his toughness after leaving the territory on air but that could have been a hundred things. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
UKWildcat Posted January 11, 2016 Report Share Posted January 11, 2016 If a gun was put to my head, I'd say Orndorff and not Orton, but it's all speculation, I think. Orndorff kicked Vader's ass and was tougher than Orton. If I had to guess one wrestler at a time who got their ass kicked in a bar fight, I'd probably name 250 guys before I even considered that Paul Orndorff could have got his ass kicked by some random dude at a bar. If you've ever heard any of the witness accounts to the Vader fight, you you wouldn't dream about fucking with Paul Orndorff. Just google Paul Orndorff and Tony Atlas. And remember that Orndorff basically whipped Vader's ass with one arm Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mad Dog Posted January 11, 2016 Report Share Posted January 11, 2016 I thought I remembered reading Bob Orton Jr. was fired for that. I actually can't remember Orton ever wrestling there, so maybe I'm confusing him with another story. He was the Mississippi Champion and there in 81. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mad Dog Posted January 11, 2016 Report Share Posted January 11, 2016 I do know on Orton, he appears on that one random episode ESPN has from 1981 and he appears on some of the early episodes that Micah Watts was selling. So I'm guessing he was just in and out. It looks like he held the Mississippi belt from August 81 until January 82. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pantherwagner Posted January 12, 2016 Author Report Share Posted January 12, 2016 I had only heard the Orton Jr. story, actually two versions, one that he was too drunk and he was jumped by several guys in a bar, and another one that he and Buddy Landell backed out of a fight in a bar and were fired. There's also speculation because Orndorff disappeared out of nowhere one day and Watts bashed him on TV. However, unlike Orton, Orndorff wasn't known to be an embarrassing drunk. Some googling led me to Kayfabe Memories where somebody asked Micah and Ene Watts and they said nobody had ever been fired for losing a fight. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MikeCampbell Posted January 12, 2016 Report Share Posted January 12, 2016 And remember that Orndorff basically whipped Vader's ass with one arm And he did while wearing flip flops! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bix Posted January 12, 2016 Report Share Posted January 12, 2016 Watts outright said he fired Orton for it in either a shoot interview or a speech at an event (Gilbert memorial?), can't remember which. I think he also said that if you got jumped by multiple people, you at least needed to have bruises on your knuckles to show that you fought back. He said Orton didn't. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
supremebve Posted January 12, 2016 Report Share Posted January 12, 2016 Watts outright said he fired Orton for it in either a shoot interview or a speech at an event (Gilbert memorial?), can't remember which. I think he also said that if you got jumped by multiple people, you at least needed to have bruises on your knuckles to show that you fought back. He said Orton didn't. That sounds like Bill Watts logic. You go to work after getting your ass kicked by multiple people and your boss looks at you and says, "Let me see your knuckles." He looks at his hands, then he shakes his head with a tsk tsk and says, "well, this won't do at all." Then he walks out without saying another word, and you know that you don't have a job any more. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dexstar Posted January 12, 2016 Report Share Posted January 12, 2016 I mean, a really tough guy can still lose a fight. It's not entirely unthinkable a drunk Orndorff could get beat up once in his life. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PeteF3 Posted January 12, 2016 Report Share Posted January 12, 2016 Not that toughness or legit skills don't matter, but in real fights, what tends to matter the most is who gets the first shot in. "Everyone has a plan until they get punched in the face." Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
supremebve Posted January 12, 2016 Report Share Posted January 12, 2016 I mean, a really tough guy can still lose a fight. It's not entirely unthinkable a drunk Orndorff could get beat up once in his life. I'm not disputing that Orndorff could lose, he seems like the type who would go to the end of the earth not to lose. Paul Orndorff seems like the guy you would call if someone stole something from you that you can't afford not to get back. He's not the friend you call when you want some back up, he's the guy who is in the glass case that you don't break unless there is an emergency. I don't know what kind of neighborhood you guys grew up in, but I grew up in a neighborhood where fighting was fairly prevalent. There were guys who fought all the time, but then there were guys who only had to fight once. Orndorff seems like the type of dude who only had to fight once. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ragemaster Posted January 12, 2016 Report Share Posted January 12, 2016 The problem i always have with wrestlers in bar fight story's, is who it is they beating up. I could walk into a bar or club, walk up to a guy and knock him out or take out his eye and say I'm a bad ass. But if that guy is 12 beers to the wind or 130 pounds wet, 5.4 inch's tall, what does that say about me. No, I'm not saying I could take on a Haku or even the Miz, as I'm not a fighter or in even in shape. But most wrestlers are over 6 ft tall and 200 pound's, in shape with some sort of self defence training. whether it's amateur wrestling or basic shoot training when they started wrestling. (maybe not so much now) Marty Jannetty tells a story about Scott Hall punching him in the face when he was sleeping at a I think AWA show back stage. Because the night before someone ran up a bar tap to his room and he thought it was him. Think it was Curt Hennig who was behind this. Does that make Hall a tough street fighter or a coward? Or a smart fighter? Do I think in a fight Marty could beat Hall, not for one second. But Hall wasn't looking for a fair fight, he just wanted to hurt the guy. But it makes hall more dangerous, as he's the type of guy who would tap you on the shoulder in a bar and then put a glass in your face when you turned around. When Bill watts tells a story about how he maimed someone, I just think he's a bully and was picking on someone he could beat up. Even in his book when Danny Hodge asked him to get in the ring for a friendly wrestle to test him, he refused because he knew he couldn't take him. From what I know about the Haku nose biting story, he was drunk, saw a guy he didn't like the look of, walked up to him and just bit his nose off. I think the guy was sitting down at the time. Not saying Haku not tough, or an animal in a fight, but the guy he took on I'm guessing wasn't a street fighter or a big tough looking dude, just a guy in the wrong place at the wrong time. But this story helped to give Haku a rep as someone not to mess with. I just be more impressed if he had tried it on with an Orndoff type of guy, Not saying he wouldn't if he and Orndoff had got into a fight. Just saying you should take bar fight story's with a pinch of salt. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Matt D Posted January 12, 2016 Report Share Posted January 12, 2016 No, I'm not saying I could take on a Haku or even the Miz, as I'm not a fighter or in even in shape. Your name is "ragemaster." You could take the Miz. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ragemaster Posted January 12, 2016 Report Share Posted January 12, 2016 Yeah probably, with my skills lol Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
joeg Posted January 13, 2016 Report Share Posted January 13, 2016 Here is something I've always thought... If a wrestler is a chickenshit heel, wouldn't you want him to try to talk his way out of any bar fight, so that he looks like chickenshit even at the bar? And if they wrestler is a white meat babyface, don't you want that guy carry himself in public with some class and be above getting into bar fights? Just some thought. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Laz Posted January 13, 2016 Report Share Posted January 13, 2016 Protecting the business was more important. "Look at this fake rassler, I could kick his ass" was pretty common back in the day (still happens today, too), so the best way to keep kayfabe about it was to have the wrestler do whatever it took to win the fight. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
supremebve Posted January 13, 2016 Report Share Posted January 13, 2016 Protecting the business was more important. "Look at this fake rassler, I could kick his ass" was pretty common back in the day (still happens today, too), so the best way to keep kayfabe about it was to have the wrestler do whatever it took to win the fight. I don't remember exactly who it was, but one of the Divas was on the local sports radio show the morning before Raw was at the Verizon Center a couple years back. She told a story about how they were all at a bar and some guy was being a dick to a couple of the women wrestlers. Chavo Guerrero came to stop it, and the guy acted like he wanted to fight him until...Mark Henry walked up and no one thinks they can win that fight. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
joeg Posted January 13, 2016 Report Share Posted January 13, 2016 As somebody who was in a fight or two or a dozen in his teenage years... did Bill Watts cover the wrestler's bail, court cost, and medical bills resulting from said fights he encouraged? As a grown man, I find fighting moronic. There is no winning from fighting. Also, like I said, wouldn't a guy like Dibiase, who was a heel and cheated to win every match with a loaded glove, wouldn't him whipping ass in a bar fight (which as a former college football player he was more than capable of) or the Midnight Express and Cornette whipping somebody's ass expose the business? I get why a promoter would in theory want their badass guys like Steve Williams or Dick Murdoch in street fights for street cred, but why the guys who cheat to win? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
supremebve Posted January 13, 2016 Report Share Posted January 13, 2016 As somebody who was in a fight or two or a dozen in his teenage years... did Bill Watts cover the wrestler's bail, court cost, and medical bills resulting from said fights he encouraged? As a grown man, I find fighting moronic. There is no winning from fighting. Also, like I said, wouldn't a guy like Dibiase, who was a heel and cheated to win every match with a loaded glove, wouldn't him whipping ass in a bar fight (which as a former college football player he was more than capable of) or the Midnight Express and Cornette whipping somebody's ass expose the business? I get why a promoter would in theory want their badass guys like Steve Williams or Dick Murdoch in street fights for street cred, but why the guys who cheat to win? I'm also someone who fought a lot as a teenager. I've found that if you get into multiple fights as an adult you are either a huge asshole or you have a crazy significant other. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.