Original subtitles

You

I don't know why I like it. I just always have.

This is where I first became addicted.

I'd spend countless hours, planted in front of the TV,

mesmerized by these images of these strong guys taking matters into their own hands.

Watching, fantasizing.

Over my mother's protest, my father took me to a match once.

I remember this huge glide walking down the aisle past me, blocking out the light.

As if we were the only two that existed in the world.

I forget who won, but I do remember this.

This guy has a family?

What kind of father does this for a living?

30 years later, I'm a screenwriter with a wife and two kids. I still watch wrestling.

I just don't tell a lot of people about it. Can you blame me?

Can you imagine the level of a mind that watches wrestling? I don't care.

I love the patch and treat.

The athleticism.

Even the incredibly cheesy acting.

I look at wrestling as theater at its most base.

And guess what? So do most of the fans.

We know what's going on.

Is it sport? Is it entertainment?

It's both. It's wrestling.

Now let's get something straight.

I know wrestling is a show.

But it's not as fake as you think.

Of course, the winners of the matches are predetermined, and the violence is choreographed.

However, the result of the violence is very real.

All these years watching wrestling, one thought still swirls in my mind.

What sort of you and being bashes another man's skull into a ring post for a living?

Who are these guys?

So I got out of my chair and decided to find out I figured why not start at the top

The World Wrestling Federation

How big?

They're worth close to a billion dollars.

That's more than the New York Knicks, Rangers, and Metz combined.

World Wrestling Federation.

This empire has been ruled by one family for four generations.

The McMahon family.

It's current hefe, Vince McMahon.

When Vince bought the WWF from his father,

overnight he changed wrestling from a regional business

to an international phenomenon.

Some of our success stories,

a certain amount of respect comes with that,

but hopefully that simply will only be used as an entree

to encourage someone's interest to then find out

what we're really about.

We're gonna make movies.

We're gonna shoot.

We're gonna shoot.

We're gonna shoot the straight down this way?

Right.

Yeah.

If you don't walk, they're gonna back right now.

Are you not dancing?

I know.

I'm strutting.

That was my strut.

See the cable behind him?

See the cable behind him?

No, I want a nice clean shot.

Like an old time studio, Vince has riders.

That's it, Tom Cooley Collective, and by the time you have that out, he and she comes.

And it's that simple.

Okay?

And that's where she does the number on you, and I guess it's going to be the back, right?

And just really, really, really sell the back.

Sell the back to the point that we don't think you're going to be able to compete.

Vince has in-house composers.

It's, you know, he walks like this, boom, boom.

So the theme's got to reflect that.

He even has wardrobe designers.

The way I see it, the critics have it all wrong.

The WWF isn't about fighting, it's about spectacle.

I could care less who wins, I could care less who loses.

As long as we got an ass every 18 inches, I'm a happy man.

Oh yeah, they have wrestlers too.

Because without them, it would be hard to move the merchandise.

Reports from retail, we are still one of the top two selling licenses.

It's us in South Park fighting it out almost head to head at every retailer right now.

Way to go. Way to go.

There's a direct similarity between WWF and the Muppets.

Family owned company, the whole business based in performance and characters

with real human beings playing characters.

In our case, they just don't have to be using puppets.

motion detector eyes. To keep the merchandise fresh, they're always creating new stars.

Sounds good, thank you. The day I was there, they were beginning a push for draws.

From an upper class background, Darren Drawsdorf was an unlikely candidate. A former Denver Bronco,

his career was undistinguished. However, he did have one particular talent.

In this, Vin Saw a potential superstar.

Sorry again for keeping you.

Oh, that's fine.

Have a seat.

Is that it, Darren?

What's up?

How's it going?

Quite frankly, what we've come up with is,

since you are able to regurgitate, you know, on command,

it just seems to me that it's pretty logical that you should be puke.

You know

Puke has a nice connotation to it, you know, I mean, it's like you got animal you got hawk you got puke

You know and it should be just plain puke. It should be puke, you know

So after you've regurgitated on one of your opponents or on the referee itself

Then of course the ring announcer would you know, then say your name

Okay, and then again, it's like since you've got the fundamentals and so forth and I think you're ready to go with it

I think that you know puke is puke is good. I think puke is nice

No, it's right everybody always gives me stuff about it. That's good. No, it's

It fits the wwf attitude

Sounds sounds good to me. You think you're ready for it ready to roll with it, right? Definitely. I've got one thing

I want you to do for me, okay, and that's gonna be right back over here

I've been waiting for this okay, I guess you want a little coffee or what?

Try not to get it on the rest of my table here, huh? Can you do that, huh?

You gonna get sick?

That's a possibility.

Oh my God, he's gonna, he's gonna, he's gonna, he's gonna puke!

He's gonna puke, he's gonna puke, he's gonna puke!

Oh man.

We're in the business of creating monsters.

I'm proud of the fact that the World Wrestling Federation creates monsters.

And I don't know that it's not a lot like the old Hollywood star system.

years ago, but then after you've created the monster, hopefully you have the

wherewithal to hang on to the monster. If not, the monster can turn around and bite

you. My biggest mistakes I'll regret probably for a long time was staying with

the WWF. At the time, I'd just gotten married June 4th.

1997 I believe it was and I was I asked Vince McMahon for my release from the

World Wrestling Federation and he said we can't do that for you we've invested

too much time and money into you so you know we'll send you in your newlywed

bride to a smaller circuit called the USWA in Memphis, Tennessee and he sent me

out there to work for $40 a night three nights a week. When I first got here I

spent it had a two-hour meeting with Vince McMahon

He basically laid out the goals that I had always wanted to achieve in the wrestling business.

And he promised me that I'd have those opportunities to achieve those goals.

In my opinion, he never followed through with them.

He really treats the organization as a mom and pop shop, where everybody's word.

important and he makes everyone feel that way and we all work really hard and

we play really hard but it's it's in Israel and he creates a very fun

atmosphere for everyone and that's a it's a great place to work.

He didn't give me that day off so I took off I just went home I went home and

go home once my boy was born and because of that a few days later actually I was out of job.

But I was really honest with Vince McMahon, you know, I won't even know, I thought I was doing something really great, you know, I thought, hey, I thought Vince McMahon was saying, well, Coco, I'm glad for you to, you know, any kind of business man will say, I'm kind of glad for you to do it.

You know, at least I know what you're doing with your money.

I try to be honest with the man.

I didn't see what happened with being honest.

Coco made a mistake of fighting with one of our executives.

I fired the executive, I thought maybe I should fire Coco.

We were over in England, I think it was, and they got into it,

and it was such unprofessional conduct by both the executive who was working for me,

as well as the performer that I had to do something,

and that was basically the reason why I fired Coco.

Vince McMahon is probably the greatest wrestling promoter that there's ever been,

I wouldn't trust him, and I think that anyone who trusts him is being very foolish, based on his track record.

Go for it.

Thank you.

Good luck.

Thank you very much.

Thank you, Derek.

Thank you.

It was going to be fun.

Oh, yes it is.

The journey begins.

Yes it does.

Hi, Mama.

It's me.

Oh, it went well.

You'll be real proud of me, Mama.

But what if you weren't born with the skill of projectile vomiting? How do you become a wrestler the same way you become a doctor?

You go to school

So I went to all pro wrestling school and independent promotion in Haywood, California

Most wrestling schools are run by wrestlers.

This one is run by an accountant, Roland Alexander.

I don't guarantee them anything except in education and pro wrestling and make a better person out of them,

improve their character.

We try to run APW more like a family thing.

I don't want steroids. If our guys don't have bodies, they don't have bodies. That's it.

Roland has had some success.

Very good, very good.

Hi, welcome.

I'm looking for a role in Alexander.

That's me.

Your name?

I'm Ben Siegel.

Ben Siegel, good to meet you.

You know, I'm going to tell you something that you might not like.

There's no money in pro wrestling on the independent level.

I mean, hey, you're going to make anywhere from 25 bucks to maybe, you know, a hundred

and a quarter.

Sometimes if you're real good, you can make as much as 300 wrestling for an independent

promotion, but really where the big money is is with the major leagues.

Not that our product doesn't major league, you can't tell our fans that, you can't tell our wrestlers that, but really a minor league feeding system with WWF, WCW and ECW.

Are you aware of proper way of eating? Are you conscious of looking at labels and the back of labels and looking at fat content?

Stay away from the jack in the boxes.

I don't care if you got good credit, bad credit, no credit. Everybody applies.

We have a rule around here. You don't pay, you don't play.

So how soon are you ready to make a commitment? Are you ready to make a $500 deposit in the next couple of weeks?

By the way, anybody that needs to make payments tonight, make sure you get them out of the way.

I'm going to be out of town tomorrow.

One of Roland's most promising students was Tony Jones.

How you doing?

Pretty good. I'm tired. Just got to work.

Yeah, I know how to work here.

Tell me, get off today.

I work at Visa right now.

I've been working at Visa for about two and a half years,

and I'm pretty content there.

I mean, I make pretty good money.

I usually get about $25 to do a gym work show.

I take all the damage for $25,

and I use the experience to try to better myself

and get out of there.

Don't get me wrong.

There's times when we don't get paid at all.

$25 sometimes is a privilege.

He tells you that he doesn't pay you unless he feels that you had a good match and you're

worth it.

They get paid after every show and they're loving it, you know, and they're getting

paid well.

I really believe that I'm probably the best indie promoter as far as payoffs are concerned.

You know, there's no excuse for not paying someone.

You have to be a prick in this business.

If you don't, the wrestlers will run all over you.

and their character is such that they will just walk all over you.

So if you think you can be a nice guy and be a successful promoter in professional wrestling,

you better get out of this business right now.

See, James, you went in like you're going to give him a blow job.

Your face was right in the middle of his pelvis.

Mike Modest was Roland's golden boy.

Therefore, Mike was given a room above the gym.

How long have you been living here?

I've been living here for about...

for about a year, year and a half.

Not making a killing in wrestling, Mike supports himself by working for a local funeral home,

picking up bodies.

I don't fool myself. I'm very realistic about wrestling in the United States.

That Japan would be the place for me to go.

Because in Japan, they still appreciate the sport side of it.

Whereas, you know, in the U.S. it's become almost completely

entertainment in Hollywood.

All right, ladies and gentlemen, welcome to APWG Awards!

Tonight I was there.

The boys wrestled before a record-breaking crowd of 112 people.

Fans are close to the action, sometimes too close.

Like this guy in the green shirt who spat on a wrestler

This guy here his real job mechanic for United Airlines

Meanwhile, it seems like he's got pretty good timing.

I showed footage of Mike and Tony to Jim Ross back at the WWF.

He agreed to give them a tryout.

Mike Monis has been ready for a year.

And it's sad.

Mike Monis is 215 pounds and he's too big to be a flyer and he's too small to be a

heavyweight.

And for him not to have a contract is a travesty.

Mike and Rowan's big day at Compton.

They were about to get their tryout with a WWF.

you're probably going first or second early. Don't get nervous because the

people are not going to know who you are because you haven't been on TV. So the

most important thing is you're telling them the story. They're not telling you

the story. So even if they don't get with it, with it at first, don't get going

too fast. When you go too fast, you start making mistakes.

The brain's bigger, the ropes are looser.

It counts off the ropes like I usually do, I gotta work it more.

It's kind of an amazing sight.

You know, when I first walked in today, I said,

Jesus, God this is so big and so complex.

hope APW never gets to that point. I always just picture myself just being

content with a small regional promotion Northern California but who knows you know

who knows what will happen to APW but you know it's kind of an amazing sight.

Jones going out first, Mada second with music. Okay wait till I send you.

I think Roland was even more nervous than Tony and Mike.

That's because if the WWF signed his boys, Roland would receive 20% of their contract.

What do you guys think so far?

I think he's doing good.

Oh, first time I've seen Tony person. That's a nice bridge nice rustling move for a change

I've never seen Tony either. I've seen Mike's modest modest

I think maybe we need a little work there

I gotta run you give me a video tape

Tony's got a big frame, needs to work on his upper body a little bit.

The people are not crucifying him even though they don't know him, which is good.

Because I told them that I always throw these guys off.

They're giving us what they got.

That's all you can ask.

What are how old Tony is?

What is it?

Oh my god!

I've never seen that one before.

I have never seen it.

Oh, that's pretty spectacular.

Jesus Christ!

I'm stealing.

Huh? You're stealing?

Right. I'm stealing.

did a nice job. I was very impressed. Appreciate it. I'm sure we'll be looking at this tape and you never know what comes out of it. Hopefully good. Work on your arms and get something that's a bit more plattering for you. A little more mass on the upper arms. Then you get in the hunt.

Any right when I hit it, I knew that's it. Did you hear me say go home? I thought I said go home. Some of the boys were already saying oh yeah, I'm gonna steal that move, I'm gonna steal it.

I think the overall reaction was Tony's got a lot of potential, a lot of strength.

I think that was the overall reaction.

Good job.

Thank you very much.

You're kind of nerve-wracking out there, isn't it?

Yeah, a little bit.

I was saying it's probably the most nerve-wracking couple of minutes of your life.

Yeah, it was.

It was.

Yeah.

Roland and the boys left that night, excited.

Their expectations high that they would soon hear from the WWF.

Well, Tony and Mike were beginning their career.

A wrestling legend was nearing the end of his.

Terry Funk.

My favorite wrestler growing up was Terry Funk.

A lot of guys acted crazy, but Terry made you believe it might be true.

At age 53, Terry was still going strong.

So, I went to Texas to meet Terry Funk.

I went to his hometown of Amarillo,

where he was a bit of a local celebrity.

I was excited. I'd never met a legend before.

Yes. Time to get up there.

Buzz and show.

Terry Funk, with a message for women.

Your high country shipy dealers are so caring.

They love nothing more than the shine of happy faces during summer closeouts.

you think he'll quit? I think he really is being serious about it lightly. He's

really good-bye to us and brandy don't you think? Yeah I think for once in this

lifetime I think he may be as serious. I mean he really has started just talking

about it a lot and before he never talked about it.

I think he knows we're serious now too, that we're really worried about him as far as his health and physically and all that.

You know, he should not be wrestling at all for probably about, I'd say the last five to ten years, Whitney Stacey.

Thank you for life itself and the joys of life and may Stacey and Kelly have those joys and

cherish them and always be joyful in Christ's name we pray amen. Amen. Amen. Okay Mary, here's

How can a man be so tender outside the ring and so brutal in it?

The appeal is uh, it's fun. I think that's a lot of it. It's fun.

I guess you know what it is, you know, it's a vessel for 32 years, you know, and I said boy, that's a long career, you know

Maybe I wasn't smart enough to do anything else and make a living at it. I don't know, you know

On your good knee, your left knee, you have moderate to severe degenerative arthritis.

You don't have a good joint space in here.

You have some narrowing of the space, arthritic spicules in there, and it's not going to function

very well.

It ought to be able to get by the rest of your life just hurting all the time, alright?

On your bad knee, on the right knee, you have no joint space.

You have severe degenerative arthritis.

You have worn that knee out.

It's been hurt too many times.

and you are going to need a new knee. You need a new knee now.

Let me ask you one thing. If I don't have an operation or if I don't have a new knee put in there,

can I go ahead and live comfortably? Can I get around comfortably?

You shouldn't be able to get around comfortably now.

This ought to give you pain chronically. It ought to be disabling to you.

And that is a problem. There's not a whole lot we can do when we get to that point.

And chronic pain for the next 30 or 40 years is a real fun thing to think about.

Terry wasn't happy with his doctor's prognosis. He told me he wasn't about to retire.

In fact, he had agreed to fight in Philadelphia for ECW, Extreme Championship Wrestling.

A Renegade company that Terry had pledged to get off the ground.

We got a few ships over there.

Neither his doctor nor his family were thrilled about Terry's bouton Philadelphia.

But Terry kept his promise.

Pack those up.

Yeah, I'm gonna pack them.

Show starts at...

I honestly think that my husband's fearless.

And that's true.

He would.

I just don't think he's a bride of anything.

Okay, don't forget the bride and the iron is in the trunk, right?

Yeah, I love you.

I've wanted him to stop wrestling since probably 1990.

I've decided that it's his profession and it's up to him when he's going to quit.

Go get him, Terry.

Okay.

How you guys doing?

He was gonna just sneak last night, Chief.

Oh, I did.

All right.

Had a good time.

How you doing?

Good.

Don't walk up this way.

Hey, Terry.

All the way, boy.

ECW!

ECW!

ECW!

No wrestling group was more violent than ECW, and no fans scared me more.

Fuck WWF!

Fuck ECW!

Fuck them all!

You're looking at me!

Fuck them all!

And we're too damn ugly to be in any cartoon!

ECWs!

And this incredibly violent product?

It's produced out of this peaceful house in the New York suburb.

ECW Extreme Championship Wrestling!

Wrestle Balooza 98!

Tickets on sale!

And ticket...

Fuck!

It's time that we play a game...

of truth.

ECW has run like a commune. It's spiritual leader and owner Paul Heyman.

Everybody pitches in.

Promo's are done downstairs while mom irons.

Here's a simple philosophy.

Everybody wants the other guy to get better so that they have someone else to work with.

ECW is the Ellis Island of wrestling, where old wrestlers go to be reborn and young wrestlers go to be discovered.

The best part of my job is watching people who never knew that they could, who never dreamt that they could, but wanted it but didn't really believe it.

And when they start to believe it, it's better than anything in the world that you can have

because it's like watching your children make it, you know?

It's just, it's there.

This wasn't an ordinary show for Paul and Terry.

It was ECW's first pay-per-view.

If it didn't succeed, neither would ECW.

home that have availability for this show tonight will pay $20. Hopefully for the privilege

to see you guys do what you have done for three and a half years. Thank Terry Funk for

all he's done for this company, for help putting us on the map, for being unselfish in selfish

times, for taking the young guys and showing them a better way.

Tonight, we have a chance to say, yeah, you're right, we're too extreme, we're too wild,

we're too out of control, we're too full of our own shit, or we have a chance to say,

hey, fuck you, you're wrong, fuck you, we're right, because you have all made it to the

dance, because believe me, this is the dance.

You earned this!

You earned this!

He has knee injuries, back injuries, and I have confidence that he knows what he's

doing, but it's still hard after all these years.

Just him getting hurt mainly.

He's in control, but it's pretty scary.

Just look at this.

Is that it?

Any stethoscope at all, Terry?

Do you feel like you have anything in your lungs

popping up anything on you?

Yeah, I think it just went down.

It's okay.

Okay.

Is there water or anything?

Let me get this.

I need a stethoscope on in the snow as long as...

How'd it go for me?

I'm just glad it's over.

If they liked it, I liked it.

If the crew liked it, I liked it.

How'd it go?

I'm just happy it's over. I don't know.

I'm proud of my guys.

We did it.

Never traded for anything.

There's a man out there Terry Funk who's done more in this sport than I'll ever do

Who's more of a role model than I'll ever be and I've got a match April 15th, and I've got serious doubts

He burned me mommy

He burned me back

And then he piled off your little boy on a flaming branding iron

I could never get over the fact that guys could beat the crap out of each other in the ring

Be friendly outside of it

Some of Terry's most famous matches were against a man 20 years his junior, Mick Foley.

Over the years, Mick and Terry traveled the world, sending each other on fire,

tossing each other into barbed wire.

Yet outside the ring, they were truly at peace with one another.

You know, what's so stupid about it is the worse you hurt each other,

the more money you make, and the more money you make, the better friends you are.

Wrestling under the name Man Tine, Mick is one of the biggest stars in the WWF, earning

in the high six figures.

He even has his own ravioli commercial.

It's the perfect ravioli for all mankind.

Known for battering and brutalizing his body to unprecedented heights, Mick's behavior

could be explained if he were crazy, but if any wrestler I ever met, Mick was the most

normal.

and in a strange way, the one I had the most in common with.

Mick grew up in a small, long island town about 20 miles from where I did.

Like me, he loved wrestling and making movies.

Dad?

When I caught up with Mick, he was with his kids, visiting his father.

Oh, can I wrestle with the kids downstairs?

What?

Can I wrestle with the kids downstairs?

Well, what?

It's for the camera.

Roll down in there, Mick?

Yeah.

Got it.

Then I tape it now, I think.

Oh, yeah.

Doesn't matter if our basement's messed up, isn't it?

There's no way. No way. You can't get in through the garage, you can't get in through my office. No way.

I won't do it if you don't want to.

This is not a camera, I hope.

Mick is a very honest, sincere person.

I'm not talking to his father now, I'm just talking to him as I see him as a person.

And really what you see is what you get.

He's always been very, very polite.

He's been like that since grade school.

I want to be referred to as the world's most polite wrestler.

Give me a big drop kick.

Cover him!

Cover him!

You know how most kids have no idea what they want to do when you're, you know, eighth

grader is 14 years old.

What do you know?

One, two.

Did Mick know he wanted to be a wrestler from the time he was 14 when I met him?

Yes.

He feels terribly, terribly bad if he doesn't put his body on the line in some serious fashion

at least half a dozen times in a mass.

If he does anything, he thinks he's probably cheated the fan out of the price of admission.

They come to see Mick Foley or Cactus Jack or Dude Love or Mankind put his body at risk.

I don't think that Mick Foley has a death wish at all.

I think that he has a very clear idea of what he wants to be and how he wants to be remembered.

Several times a year that I look at something I say this is going to be dangerous and it could turn out real bad

But it's got to be done for the sake of history. I don't know if Mick enjoys the pain

But I don't think he hates it

Once I'm done with wrestling,

I'm certainly not going to miss the pain.

I'll miss the reaction to the pain.

I don't have a whole lot of room in my life for pain.

It just so happens that I can absorb more than most people

and that has made me marketable.

I can tell them, you know,

till the cows come home that Daddy's just playing

but sometimes they don't buy it.

But then I tell the kids, you know, Daddy rehearsed that four or five times, you know.

Daddy was fine.

I just want to set their little hearts at ease, you know.

I don't think there's nothing wrong.

They'll grow up quick enough, you know.

Let them believe that Dad's alright.

You wish he'd stop wrestling?

No.

And it's going to be?

Great nipples.

Every child needs a favorite word, right?

Nipple.

Yeah, what's a funny jokie desk?

I don't think it's the fans that that demand too much. I think it would probably be I demand a lot more of myself

I don't want to be remembered as a

As the guy who pulled the sock out of his tights

His mother called him Wild.

I'm very sensitive of seeing deterioration with my speaking skills.

I want to die an old man, you know, with all my mental, my mental faculties.

You know, people feel like I have a death wish or that I'm a masochist.

Really, I feel like I'm taking my risks now.

I'll have the ability to retire at 35 or 36 and spend more time with my kids.

It's not like I'm going to sit at home and miss being hit in the head with chairs.

It's just something I feel like I do very well.

Every time I turned the TV on, Mick was taking more and more risks.

He assured me he knew what he was doing.

Then I got this call.

For the first time, Mick was incoherent and rambling.

I was worried.

There was two big, big falls during the match.

Wrestling fans, I guess, unanimously praised the first one.

It was thrown off the cage, probably more spectacular of the two.

But it's the wrestlers who appreciate the second one,

because they've been body slammed and backdroped on our WWF map,

which doesn't have a whole lot of give to it.

when the cage started to break.

I mean, you could, you could see it breaking.

And when the undertaker choke slammed Mick,

I knew for sure the cage was gonna break.

And there was no way, there was no way out

without getting hurt.

I thought he was dead.

Usually after a physical match, I'll call home and tell the kids that he's all right.

You know, no need to worry.

And in this case, I was paged.

One of the agents had to tell me, call home, your wife's really upset.

And she was crying, you know, in tears.

And screaming at me, saying, you can't do this to us anymore.

And I guess it was very traumatic for the kids.

Since that point, my daughter does feel like I'm being hurt every time I go out there and my daughter, if she loves her dad,

I worry about a lot, I have a lot of guilt about it.

That's one of the reasons we thought maybe the best of dad did something else.

What would be that something else?

That's the problem.

It was a scary moment.

It was one of the worst moments of my life, certainly.

It's a really horrible feeling, and I know there's more to come, which is the scary part.

While visiting Macon, I got the call I was waiting for.

I was finally able to locate the whereabouts of the one wrestler I always wanted to meet, Jake the Snake Roberts.

I'm going to make you beg. You are going to get down on your hands and knees.

You will be the one that grovels for the money, and how appropriate.

That the money you grovel for is your very own, wallowing in the muck.

Longfellow couldn't have said it better

At one time one of the biggest wrestling stars in the world Jake had dropped out of sight in the early 90s

But his legend lived on

Jake Roberts is one of the most phenomenal performers this industry has ever seen.

Now there is a guy with it. There is a guy that has that intangible.

There is a guy that truly comes through the camera and captivates your attention.

Jake Roberts had great gifts and great skills in our business because he had a tremendous,

side of this business. He never had a good body. He never was a great athlete, but

yet his gift was his brain. He's probably one of also when it comes to the

actual psychology of how to control the audience, one of the most

ingenious performers the industry has ever seen.

I don't know that you can separate Jake Roberts the performer from Jake Roberts the person because quite frankly

I never knew which one I was talking to and I don't know that they're not the same

Unfortunately, he has had a lot of encounters with demons over his lifetime that have been very destructive

He called us about two days before the show and of course, you know

He wanted his retainer we sent him his retainer and then he called us up and

Jake told us straight up if we didn't get him some crack then he wasn't gonna come to our show if Jake Roberts

To control the demons.

Jake Roberts could be one of the most influential creative forces in our industry.

That's how talented he is.

But for some reason it just doesn't seem like it's meant to be at this time.

Sometimes I realize the person that I hate most in this life is the person I'm looking at in the mirror.

It's a scary thought.

I'm the daughter of a madman, huh?

I was told that on February 3rd, Jake would be wrestling in North Platte, Nebraska.

Home of Buffalo Bob's Trading Post.

Cody, my name is Cody.

Welcome to North Platte, Nebraska.

What do you like, Jake?

I like his snakes, style.

The way he does his thing.

I like him, I like what he does.

One day I went and met him.

You went and met him? What would you do if you met him?

I would faint most likely.

Really? How about you?

I just want to hold the snakes.

Okay, you'll find it.

The only guy that hasn't heard about

Jake the Snake Roberts is probably

Santa Claus.

I've been watching it for years.

I wonder what connected them with you,

or what they really want to see,

or what it would be a part of.

Lucky man.

Back stage, there were wrestlers I'd never heard of,

and wrestlers I hadn't seen in years.

For a guy who once wrestled before 80,000 people

This was about sparred down as you could go in wrestling without starting over

It was depressing seeing Jake in such bad shape, but when it came time to perform

He could still turn it on.

My match starts when I come to that curtain.

The character is there.

The coldness is there.

The walk is there. Everything that I do helps create that character.

My breathing, the way I get into the ring, the way I get out of the ring, the way I look at people, the way I use my hair,

the way I use my hands.

Everything.

The ring psychology is something that's so beautiful, man.

Such a joy to be a part of

But by having rings like college you gotta be able to look at people and I convince them that you believe what you're doing

You look at one person and just literally melt them into that seat

Make them cry

Make them smile and it's like a ripple effect it goes right through the whole crowd

put me on the card let me let me bring some assets to the seats pay me i don't care if i'm a champ

i don't care if i'm the water boy just let me be a part of this show and i'll do my share

She was just such a kind little thing, you know, and right there probably, you know,

she's gonna live the rest of her life, probably, and have seven kids and seven

husbands and whatever, and wind up being a lady truck driver, the cross

addresses or something, but she'll always remember tonight, you know.

That's why I enjoy the small town. They really dig it. They really appreciate it.

You can have a place like this. My God, I could be mayor here next week, but what

would it be? You know, they execute the one I've got, and just put me in power. I'd

be like a dictator mayor, you know, and they love it.

That's what really scares you.

In the arena, nothing hurts. Everybody's glad to see you.

You come back to all the glamour of Ramada Limited.

This is the real world.

Just take a shower and get dressed and go on the next few years.

The next day, I spent eight hours in a van with Jake.

It was ducks.

Rack.

Rack, rack, rack, rack, rack, rack.

Things have just come out of my head, man,

that I don't know where they came from.

The more we traveled, the more he confided in me.

I still don't think.

My mother was 13 years old when I was born.

Why? Because my dad break through a girl

that was in a room of sleep.

My dad was going out with my mother's mother.

There you go. There's there's some bones for Jake the snake

Jake's father was also a wrestler grizzly Smith though. He was well known. He never reached the heights his son did

My dad would never there for me. I'll never live with my father for a very short time

In the hour they spent together the two could barely look at each other

would do anything to gain my father's love and I reached a point I came out of

high school I was going to college and I said dad I'm gonna go to college he's a

good luck but she'd had things you know and right there is something aside me

said you know if you ever go get into love you you're gonna be better than he

is at what he does so I went out to the ring and I jumped in there and got the

crap be out of me and when I walked back in that locker room he looked at me as

He'll never amount to anything and walk away.

And that's when I gave up my dreams and said,

OK, by God, if it's the last thing I do,

I'm going to shove this business up his rear.

And guess what?

I did it.

And guess what?

It didn't matter.

Well, he's got a lot of good qualities.

And it's, he was born out of love, and I still love him.

My stepmother was very jealous of the time that my dad spent with me and my sister.

And he drove my sister to the point that she wound up marrying a 50-year-old man.

And then a year later, being kidnapped and murdered by his ex-wife.

And we've never got her body.

We know that she was dead because there wasn't enough blood in the car to know that she was dead.

The woman went to prison for kidnapping ten years.

He got out and said, please tell us where the body is.

Fuck you guys, we're gonna tell you shit.

And it's always seemed like all my life,

it's like there's one gruesome, horrible thing

that happened after that.

It's like my stepdad, who I felt very close to,

he winds up getting electrocuted in the attic of our house.

My mother goes up and finds him.

really screwed up my sex life at home.

You go on the road and you get some type of fame or whatever

and all of a sudden you can have it every day.

But then all of a sudden you want to get selected

and then all of a sudden you're one of the days

on a nap and you do two a day and three a day.

Then two at a time.

Then two at a time with toys and then two at a time

with I'll just watch.

He just gets more bizarre and more bizarre

And it finally gets to a point that when you go home and try to make love to your wife

Ain't no way

Ain't no way

Because the mental stimulation is not there

That's bad

That's bad

So look at the joke I see in the book one time

A guy and a man and a woman land next to each other

and says, what's wrong?

You can't blame anybody else either.

And when I started lifting weights, it's the really thing that she thought I was a lesbian.

I remember saying to my dad, listening to a conversation, and saying,

Joey, I think she's a lesbian or something. Girls don't lift weights like that.

Not that anything's wrong with that. Let me interject it.

For all you lesbians out there.

To me, I'm just as feminine as any other woman, maybe even more so in my attitude because I have

a certain confidence about myself that most other women don't have.

I just happen to be a very feminine woman with an incredibly fit muscular body.

One year later, China got her jaw restructured in order to enhance her femininity.

Matt Heisen had an intriguing early career change.

Four years ago you were teaching third grade.

Now you're mutilating yourself every night.

How do you explain that?

But I love to do

What do you love about it?

I love the drama, I love the physical

I love taking bumps

I love popping a crowd

I love making a crowd go

What did you study in college? English, English literature. Shakespeare. Shakespeare? Yes. What was your favorite work of Shakespeare? Henry the fourth, part two.

Can you quote anything from that? I'm sorry. Wipe it? I'm sorry. I can't think of that. I don't have to explain the whole situation.

I'm just gonna have to be just a normal person. I'm gonna have to take my wig off

Take the fellas off of Frankie take him and let him go on his own. It's Frankie

God bless you. Some wrestlers have trouble leaving the spotlight always trying to recapture their glory days

Like Coco beware who was once a headliner

Other guys, well, they do a little better job of adjusting and the American dream lives on in Minnesota

I really didn't know what to do with myself, but I knew that I would do something with myself

It you know my career didn't come to as an abrupt demand because I quit while I was on top

I just knew it was over

And it was time to move on

Politics is way more cutthroat, I think, than wrestling is.

Deep down, I'm a softy inside.

I put on an outer appearance of being very hard and calloused,

but deep down inside, I think that I have a big heart

and that I'm a sucker for a good sob story.

That's excellent.

You know, that I can be vulnerable that way.

You know, let me categorize that with certain people.

Other people could tell me any story they wanted and they wouldn't be vulnerable to them.

That's a hoot. That's not really who I am, although I guess maybe that I'm a part of that character.

What other head of a billion-dollar company does this for a living?

I think everything has its own little life. You know, I don't know what this one is.

whatever it is and then there was new Jack what did you do before this

I thought it was good that was a poor justifiable homicide for

You know, I wasn't proud of it, but it happened, it was either me or them.

So I'm still here, Jerome Young created New Jack, you know what I'm saying?

So I get paid to do what I'm doing, it's like any entertainer, you know what I'm saying?

You come up with a chemical character that's marked up, you know what I mean?

So I created New Jack, and that's what I get paid to do.

I'm not like you other guys, you see that you might be kind of iffy or questionable.

I'm a very violent person, and I'll hurt you, and there's no secret.

I talk shit and back it up.

I ain't like a rapper.

You know what I mean?

I don't go in the studio and talk all that violent shit

and they ain't never lived. I don't live.

I get a kick on getting pain, man.

See my numbers?

You don't.

Because it ain't nothing.

See these two?

That's me hitting the bitch in the eye.

I'm violent by nature, man.

And I don't care.

I ain't a 40, I ain't a 40-hour motherfucker man. Never have no will be. Like my shit, quick.

Of all the wrestlers I met, the last one I expected to bond with was New Jack.

New Jack was coming to L.A. to visit. Truth be told, I was happy to see him.

None of my friends had any justifiable homicides, let alone four.

I hope not.

Where?

We were quickly becoming chunks.

He wanted to see if he could make it as an actor.

I've been chanting my three white people.

So I got New Jack an appointment with a casting agent.

Rolling.

Looks like your man did pretty good.

Here you go.

Your share, $219.

You telling me there was only one person in each car?

That's right.

And cut that's good

Okay, the auditions over

It's goodbye

Good to meet you. Good work. Don't take the stairs. You got extra long

Thank you. Thanks. I could see real possibilities with them. I think he could be a leading man. Absolutely

Absolutely, I think he's got a great face. I think he's got sexuality charm

I think there's a lot of potential there.

I really do, but I mean, as far as the leading man thing, it's just that this is...

He's a little character here, he's right with the stars, yeah.

I think he'll be Denzel's pal, I don't think he'll be Denzel.

I think they were pretty impressed.

While New Jack was auditioning, I got a call from Terry Funk.

Anybody need a nice Denzel?

Alright.

But I do, I love my family very much and that's what's going to bring me to this

next announcement. The next announcement is that 1997 is my last year. I will not

be wrestling anymore after the end of this year. It's over. I've been 32 years. That's it.

No, I'm serious. And I've loved every minute of it. But it's time to go home. It's time to say goodbye.

on KGNC form and let us go now to Terry Funk as he prepares now for the final matches of his career

including one Thursday night here in Amarillo. We've got about 30 or 40 seconds here. Tell the

audience again the win and where of the big event Thursday night. Well it's going to be at the

Tri-State Fairgrounds and it's going to be at the Tri-State Fairgrounds, Maxwell, Coliseum.

It's going to be a great card you're going to have from the WWF, Bret Hart, the world's

heavyweight champion.

I'll be going up against him, it'll be a non-title match, mankind will also be here.

Where do you guys come from?

Come over from England, in Britain, about a 5,000 mile trip just to see this show.

Terry wasn't the only wrestler who lived in Amarillo.

The other one was unfortunately not as successful. Dennis Stamp had over 800 matches, none of them main events.

Now an exterminator, he was the self-proclaimed King of the Cockroaches.

Are you coming to the show Thursday night?

Uh, no. No, I won't be.

Why not?

I'm not booked, for one thing.

And what really bothers me is, Dory Funk Jr., you know, I have nothing against...

this the man he's wrestling but I could swear to you I could guarantee to you

that nobody, no one could have a better match with Dory than I would have so

that part hurts so but I really wanted to be on as a referee but the people who

make the decision whoever that would be didn't didn't offer me any position so

I'm not booked I won't be here. My biggest fear is that he's gonna be

If he doesn't make any money, that's not the big deal.

If he's disappointed.

I don't think it will be. I hope not. I mean, it's up to me.

It's not a downhill side of my career.

I've tried to pick out a time where I can go out and still be somebody. That's important.

Look at it. I mean, you have WWF people here, DCW people from other places.

I mean, there has been people who do it, promoters couldn't.

I don't do any tricks, but I just jump.

I stay fit, I watch what I eat, because I never know when my next match is going to be.

You know, I had my last match, I think it was 1991, so it gets to be a lot longer between matches.

But I never know when I'm going to have my next match, so I've got to stay in shape for that.

I've got to be ready.

You know, I'm only 50 now and the phone could ring at any time, you know.

How's everything going?

I'm not gonna be here, but why aren't you because I'm not booked

You're not gonna be here. Why aren't you gonna be here? Please be here. I'm not gonna be here cherry because I'm not booked

That's a that's that's an old rule. That's an old rule. I've had for a long time because I'm not involved

I want you to come, please.

Well, I'm asking you to please come, all right?

I've already have other arrangements.

And don't take it personally, because I used to be in the dressing room,

and I used to see the old guys.

And that's where I am now.

I used to see the old guys that came in the dressing room that come around,

and they looked like old dogs, just hoping somebody would recognize them.

Here's a spot.

I want you to come and see us.

I really have to be involved, and I'm not.

I want you to be there.

You know, and I did ask you in April if I could referee some matches on the card, which would have been...

You're refereeing tonight, Tim.

Which would have been...

You're refereeing tonight.

But I'm not on the card, I'm not booked.

You want to referee me and Brett?

Referee me and Brett.

I already have other arrangements made.

Terry I want you to refer me in breath. I guess okay, so so what happened? I guess you didn't

I guess it was just so far down. I guess you just didn't didn't hear me or something when I asked you before

I don't or didn't think about it. I didn't know about it, but I want you to I want you to I appreciate that

Okay, I want you to please do it. Appreciate that. That's my last match

It's my last match. Tell me if you can because I would love it. Okay

I appreciate that Terry. I appreciate that

I will be seeing you in all the old familiar places

that this heart of mine embraces all day.

I've got to head over to Coors right now.

I've got to head over to Coors right now. I'll be right back.

Are you serious?

No, I'm serious.

It's costing me $134 to change my ticket.

Well, I...

Well, I make that much?

Well, I was going to pay you 50.

Close.

I was going to pay you 50.

I'll get half of it back, right?

I was going to pay you 50, man.

Thank you.

You mean you're going to double pay me?

My wife says, do you really want to do it?

I almost broke down and said, it's the main event.

It's just a main event.

You think I'm not going to be in a main event?

Thank you, man.

I'd rather be in a main event than breathe.

This is it.

This is it.

This is the final one.

This is the final one, so Vicki she'll be there whenever it's all over with

She always has been and I think she always will be

There's supposed to be 10 chairs up there

I don't know but I want him set up her because he's the head of the Chevy dealers, okay

But I just want him

He's supposed to have those seats in between

In the morning sun and

Brett beat up Terry for a while, then Terry beat up Brett for a while.

Terry told me he was going to lose.

He didn't think the fans would believe an old man could beat the champ.

When I caught up again with Jake the Snake, he was appearing in Kearney, Nebraska.

So where are you going next?

My daughter's doing her master's in psychology, so she's a real freak.

So the next day we traveled 300 miles to see Jake's oldest daughter, Brandy.

My first marriage was over when she was like 7-8 years old and I was on the road.

I'd see her a couple of times a year, not much of a relationship there.

I don't love my children, I do love my children very much.

I don't know how to be close to them.

I don't know how to have that melting of together.

I really feel jipped, you know, by the whole situation.

So I made this book.

And this is kind of the screen that my father hides behind.

Letters that he wrote me that I tore up and I pasted in here and this one actually says love dad

I mean they were very few and far between but I saved all of them, you know and

This is a card

This was when he had gone straight and it says a daughter is a treasure

This is me and my mom at my prom and it says all of my life

I want a daddy's love, but now hold on to what is really important

Unconditional love and support for my mom

And the back of it is by a really wonderful poet named Sylvia Plath and it says in the words of Sylvia Plath

Fuck you daddy, and that's how I felt and that's still how I feel a lot of the times

We're at the Lovely Ramada in Lovely Emporia.

At the Ramada?

Yeah.

Okay, well, is it okay if I bring two of my friends with me?

Absolutely.

Okay, because I would really like to bring them with me.

Okay.

I feel very comfortable with you, and you and I have a pretty good understanding together.

It's not that. I feel really like inspected or something. You know what I'm saying?

Okay, just come on out. I'll be in that restaurant.

I guess he's just acting real funky.

What the hell is this shit?

That chocolate or something, huh?

What's your biggest fear once you walk in here?

Rejection.

Always rejection.

I'm not sure if he's ready to be a father now.

Okay.

Hi.

Oh, good.

Thanks.

Ready or not, I can't say that because I've only been around him a little bit.

Jake hadn't seen his daughter in four years.

I was amazed. Five minutes after meeting her, he went to his room for the night.

He needs to step away from the cameras and get the glitz out of it.

wrestling you have a camera on you you know all the things he's done in his

life he's had a camera on him I wish he would step away from that and he would

say you know hey I want to be with my family I want to be real and I want to

be there without cameras and try to work some of this stuff out hello hello maybe

he really honestly believes this is gonna help heal things wonderful if I

could know him on a level that other kids know their fathers

Me too. I wonder how she got that number. Well at me, yes. Not for me.

Really? No, I did not give her the number at all.

He makes me nervous and I make him nervous because we don't really know how to act around each other

because he knows that I'm gonna be very straightforward with him and he doesn't always like that.

A lot of people understand, well, gosh, if you're making that good of a money,

why don't you just take three months off and go stay with your kids?

Well, because if I took three months off, I'd have been fired.

I was working for Vince McMahon. I was obligated to wrestle every day. I

Know that and it wasn't fair and it wasn't right

But I didn't know I love my children

And whatever twisted

What's the way there is and you need to learn a different way I quit learning that

Doesn't stop though. You can start learning again

maybe

if there's time why wouldn't there be time I don't know I just don't want to hurt

no more that would hurt me that would be the ultimate hurt dad that would be the

ultimate pain that you could bestow on anyone I don't think that's fair I think

that's selfish I think that's a cop-out I think that's bullshit

You cannot do that. That is not fair to anybody. That is just your way out

No, but sometimes you understand see it's like

When I was growing up I swore up and down I would never treat my kids way my father treated me

In 24 years later, I look back and say my God you've done the exact stinking same thing

But it's not the way I wanted to go how did you want it to go?

I guess I wanted that Walt Disney ending, you know, not the old yellow one either

Dad we've never had a Walt Disney ending. I know I certainly haven't

I don't know where to go

I'm just kidding really

I don't know how she could be real more often. It would really help him and I think it would help us.

He stayed here and hurt before he would have just walked out and left.

It's part of an act and part of it's real. I mean his hurt is very real, I think

After seeing his daughter Jake was quiet for the first time

After checking into a hotel he disappeared when I caught up with him a few hours later. He was doing crack

I never use an evil

He's telling myself, I'll never, ever do drugs.

Never. No way.

I'll lose it.

And we were wrestling 26, 27 days a month,

twice on Saturday, twice on Sunday.

Catching eight, nine airplanes a week.

It was basically a necessity just to continue.

And you took pills to go to sleep.

You took pills because of your pain.

You took cocaine to wake up so you could perform.

You drank, you go to sleep.

It's a trap, you know, it's a trap, okay, it speeds me up so fast I can't think about my past.

It speeds me up so fast that I

don't have to be responsible.

It's just really tough for me to sit here and tell all you guys this.

You have no idea how tough it was the day with my daughter.

I'm not self-pity, no. Absolutely not.

I do not feel sorry for myself, okay?

That's wrong. Totally wrong.

That's what you get when that camera is wrong.

I do not feel sorry for myself. I ask for every damn thing I got, okay?

It had been six months since I last saw Mick, when he called me up and told me they were

giving him the championship belt, but he was going to lose it at one of the WWF's biggest

pay-per-view events of the year, the Royal Rumble.

This year the Rumble was taking place in Anaheim.

Mick told me he was going to bring his family.

Okay there buddy, let me see.

Mixing this alive is what looks a lot worse

than it really is, all right?

All right, there you go.

Oh, there you go, all right.

20 lashes.

Are you scared?

No, are you sure?

I'm hoping when they get on that plane

in about four hours after the show,

that I'll be fine.

There's a chance.

that I won't be, and that's, uh...

I think we won't be on that plane.

Yeah.

Come on, baby, let the good times go.

Row on that lawn.

Yeah!

The WWE WF Championships on the line.

And I quit match.

Mankind versus the Rock.

I accept.

You and I have the Royal Rumble in an I quit match.

You stop me, drop me with something and you start climbing like you're getting right down out of the uh, out of the arena, okay?

Uh-huh.

I will not say them here nor there. I will not say them anywhere. I will not say those words you quit. I will not, will not say I quit.

I'm pulling the ladder.

Sure, why not?

Okay, yeah.

That's fun.

But if that's the case, we can get out of that one.

Okay

Thank you much. We'll hit the heavy stuff quick

You know mr. Sacco

It leaves you down, but but not able to say it because you're out

Which one would you like white white

It's all about making it.

Throw them off the top of the cage, onto the table.

That man knows.

What the rock gonna do? Rock bottom, man.

That man knows.

When you go out there and you improvise, you have an idea of what we're gonna do a couple of things,

but the rest is just...

Go out there and do our thing. You know a lot of it's on feel. I'm banking on there'll be a ton of heat on me tonight

Man a piece of shit that the rock is so

It should be fine

Daddy's friend, right? He's not gonna do anything to really hurt daddy, right?

You know that?

You do right?

You're not gonna be scared, right?

You want back to the future you can do anything

Have a hug for good luck, please

Did you guys have a good time at Disneyland?

Did you?

Yeah

What did you ride?

Everything

Everything you went on everything?

I had a great time

I feel like I have energy left for my ass

Alright, nice to see you

How do you feel like?

How are you feeling Steve?

Ready to go?

How are you feeling?

I'm not feeling very good at all.

My little girl's out there.

Oh is she really? Yeah.

Maybe I'll see her on the show.

That'd be great.

Thanks for seeing me.

Bye bye.

I'm not mentally just following pleasure.

I had never seen Mick this nervous before.

He clearly was preoccupied with what was going to happen that night.

You plant my ear out there when it feels right to do it.

In other words, if they got a real-time close-up,

and it's obvious that his lips are moving and saying,

and you can just say,

I don't see him saying that.

How the hell did he do that?

You're going to be fluttered because you've never seen anything like this.

You might have an explanation.

A lot of dignitaries here to see the action, including, in fact, I was talking about...

That was a rock. Hey, Bruce, what are you gonna say to the rock?

Before Sunday night, he agreed with my analogy that the side quit match will be the best physical W...

It's a little befuddled about this, all of a sudden,

the Rocks have just got some movie put to him,

the ass standing on the corner,

and Mick Paul is just gonna have his way with them.

No, no, this on that.

The Rock is the great one.

The Rock is the most electrifying man in sports entertainment.

The Rock is the great one.

And tonight, after The Rock makes that son of a bitch dream,

I quit.

He's gonna be the best NWF champion of the loss.

Once again.

I guess smell what the lock is cooking.

Mr. Frey, we might miss the shot.

Okay, okay.

Make sure you make some announcements.

I'm gonna ask you.

Alright, I'll count you down.

30, 20, 15.

Alright?

Yeah.

The time the table is set and the big question is simply this, will you be able to do what no one has ever done and make mankind utter the words?

I'll tell you what mankind there's something about this whole situation that really befuddles the rock because you see the rock isn't just some

Candy on the corner of no, you're all boulevard and jabroni drive that you're just gonna have your way with the rock

Because tonight in front of the thousands of rock fans here tonight all chanting his name and the millions

And millions

to prove to you that The Rock is the most electrifying man in sports entertainment today.

And after you utter the words, I quit.

The Rock will go down as being the best damn WWF champ there ever was if you smiled.

What The Rock is cooking.

Here we go, guys. It is showtime.

It's okay, it's okay, it's okay, it's okay, it's okay, it's okay, it's okay, it's okay, it's okay, it's okay, it's okay, it's okay, it's okay, it's okay, it's okay, it's okay, it's okay, it's okay, it's okay, it's okay, it's okay, it's okay, it's okay, it's okay, it's okay, it's okay, it's okay, it's okay, it's okay, it's okay, it's okay, it's okay, it's okay, it's okay, it's okay, it's okay, it's okay, it's okay, it's okay, it's okay, it's okay, it's okay, it's okay, it's okay, it's okay, it's okay, it's okay, it's okay, it's okay, it's okay, it's okay, it's okay, it's okay, it's okay, it's okay, it's okay

They said they got a plastic surgeon here in this thing.

Yeah, I know that's right.

Give me your dad.

Are you guys okay?

Daddy's alright, okay?

Are you worried about dad-des?

Yeah.

Okay, don't worry anymore, okay?

We can't hurt dad-des.

I know, I love boo-boo.

It's a big boo-boo.

It's okay.

I hope everyone feels like they got their money's worth out there.

But you know it's okay, it's fake, so...

Isn't it?

I'm just gonna give it to you guys.

Here, take some water.

Oh, you have some.

Here's some fresh water.

Okay.

What are you doing?

You're just getting too stuck up.

They're spitting Daddy's head.

This is gonna be booboo.

You know when you fall down?

Just a booboo like this.

I didn't know how you fell down.

It was Disney a couple of years ago,

right on your nose.

You know, it kind of like that.

I fell on my knees a couple of times.

You need to bled a little bit, right?

I'm happy to say why the hell am I doing this and the other half saying this is exactly

why.

You can't have these matches very often, you'd be dead.

You know, when you have someone as good as Rocky,

and you trust his judgment, if I saw him now,

I'd probably strangle him,

because he hit me so damn many times,

but it was probably in retrospect,

you look at that tape and say,

that's what made it,

it was those last couple extra ones.

Make, I don't know if I can take much more of this,

and let you know that.

Maybe we reached a lot of people.

We can't reach everybody.

We can't reach a majority.

But I mean, there's a whole...

You have to stop trying.

Can you hold it? Yeah, we are entertainers, but I don't move. I'll hold it, okay?

Well, I think you'll hold the hair up in the back.

I think we touched a lot of people, if you don't mind me saying.

I might touch you later, if you don't mind me saying.

I don't have mercy.

That looks cute.

Thank you. I am cute.

In a rugged type of way.

Yeah, you sure?

Wow.

I feel pretty better now.

Thank you, God.

You're welcome.

All right?

Thank you very much.

Appreciate it.

How do you feel?

A couple of lumps.

Did you notice we've turned in my back like oh my god this guy is your last one and then you rocked around me and gave me another one

Oh

You want me to be further up gonna do yeah was going to the really open area where everybody

Can see I didn't know you were right there, but when you turn the second time I knew I shot I should have staggered out

Wow cool is that for me

You want to get the rock five with a good match up, right? You know what his name is?

Did you get that Disney tomorrow? Did you get this today?

Couple days ago. You know what his real name is?

Oh, my real name.

That's right, that's right.

You can't be all that bad.

They were crying a little bit.

Were you?

They were all my wife and Dewey and...

I smelled what the rock was cooking and that was damn good, Rob.

I went ahead and I tasted it a couple of times.

But you hit me a beer in the wrong place.

I thought a lot was hitting you there.

You hurt your knuckle.

I could see your knuckles are swollen.

I know.

Thanks, Rob.

That's one of the best things.

We've done some damage.

This is going to be a classic.

It'll be historical, just like everybody thought.

I think you're right.

Thank you.

Wasn't too good to the sleep buddy was it my thing tonight? It was fabulous

I'll let you know I get the feedback

Thanks, man. Thank you very very well. You know you feel okay. I think I think you have to follow me

Okay, I'm hoping I mean if someone was offended by that. I think it was out of the contest

I think you know for every one person who was offended and thought it was too violent. There's probably

10 or 20 who thought that it was a

dramatic that character just won't die

You know that you know and then when they get the story about how you were screwed, you know, I mean I just think that you know

That's show business.

Did you have fun?

Oh yes, we had so much fun.

I was glad to see Mick was okay

and was happy that he could walk out of the arena with his family that night.

But the sight of Noel and Dooley watching their father being beaten up haunted me for weeks.

I decided to go to Florida to show Mick the footage.

That's right. There's where that picture was taken. I don't see before things. Yeah

Oh, I don't feel like such a good dad anymore

I felt very guilty all of a sudden, like a real,

really like my priorities were out of order.

I can't, I feel like a bad dad

and I've never felt like that ever before.

Right then I just felt like I was a bad person

and I don't ever want to see my children like that again.

Maybe I will be the guy who pulls the sock

out of his tights for the next couple of years.

That's a...

For the

Yeah, nothing nothing's worth that nothing I don't and I will never do that again. I don't I don't want my children

Involved in something like that

You know I want our family to have the last laugh

That's very good to

Very proud of you

Tony Jones and Michael Modest never heard from the WWF. Tony still works at VISA.

Michael left his job at the funeral home and now delivers furniture for a living.

They both still hope to make it as wrestlers.

As far as Roland, his wrestling school is still open.

However, his monthly gym wars shows will close down because of building code violations.

Terry Funk's retirement lasted all of three months.

He continued wrestling on a regular basis until finally retiring on June 7th, 1999.

That is, until the next offer comes along.

Since I last saw Jake, he has spent considerable time in jail for non-payment of child support.

He has not spoken to or seen his daughter since I filmed their reunion.

The draws never made it as puke.

He did go on to become a regular in the WWF.

Paul Heyman and ECW they're still hanging in there recently signing a deal with a Nashville network to produce a weekly wrestling show

Vince and the WWF

They're stronger than ever. They just issued an IPO on the stock market

The family business has finally gone public

As far as me after three years on the road

I still feel the same way about wrestling that I did when I was eight years old

What kind of person does this for a living?

They're showmen

They're carnies

their fathers

their sons

their artists

their toys

Their people with families for the same concerns and fears we all share. They're just like you and me

Except they're really different