All language subtitles for Dark Side of the Ring s07e07 Paul Orndorff.eng

[Announcer]
The one, the only,

Mr. Wonderful!

[Jim] If you're a certain age
and you're a wrestling fan,

Mr. Wonderful, Paul Orndorff,
was the pinnacle to you.

[Brian] Mr. Wonderful
was a key piece

in the foundation
of the WWE.

[Narrator] Remembered for his
epic feud with Hulk Hogan,

Paul Orndorff thrilled
audiences as the

arrogant heel,
Mr. Wonderful.

[Paul] Mr. Wonderful,
the man that defied

the whole wrestling world.

[Travis] Mr. Wonderful
was this expression

of his perfection.

[Paul] This is what the most

'wonderfulest' body
looks like.

[Brian] Paul was
a rockstar.

Mr. Wonderful in
complete control.

[Narrator] A gifted athlete,
Orndorff channeled the

difficult upbringing into
an imposing persona

in and out of the ring.

[Jim] When that switch
flipped there was a

price to pay for making
Paul Orndorff mad.

[Announcer]
Look at this!

[Gerry] People feared him.
The talent feared him.

The fans feared him.

[Brian] Paul was the toughest
guy that I had ever witnessed.

[Brian] He fought for
everything that he got.

[Narrator] The intensity
that defined him,

pushed his body to the brink
and hid his private pain.

[Herb] Hang in there,
hang in there.

[Jim] He was the closest
thing to Superman

without the cape.

But the cumulative effect
of age and injuries

had taken a toll on him.

[Announcer] Paul Orndorff
has suffered some sort of

neck injury in the ring.

[Travis] It was hard to watch
him physically deteriorate.

- [laughing]
- One more match!

[Brian] You could see
how much Paul had aged.

He shouldn't
look like that.

He had been abused and
neglected for a long time.

[Travis] He was in
the hospital, I said,

"I'm taking him home."
And they said,

"You can't and there's
nothing we can do."

This is
a joke, right?

People were dying alone in
the hospital during Covid.

That's not happening.

I'm gonna raise holy hell,

and I had no idea how,

but he was coming home
with me.

[Brian] When Travis
posted that video, I said,

"Why would you do this?"
Paul deserved his privacy.

[Gerry] Wow. You're putting
this out of your dad.

Do not embarrass him in
front of the whole world.

[Travis] I didn't know
what to do.

I was desperate.

I wasn't trying
to embarrass him,

I was trying to
save him.

?

[crowd chatter continues]

Why are you here,
what's the big deal here?

What's the big deal?
Excitement.

This is the sport
of the 80's.

This is the media
event of 1985.

This is WrestleMania.

This is the thing of today.

Hulk-a-mania is
running wild.

[Announcer]
Ladies and Gentlemen,

welcome to
WrestleMania!

[Announcer] Pandemonium
breaking loose here in

Madison Square Garden
in WrestleMania.

We're seeing
the greatest spectacle

in wrestling history
right now.

[Jim] WrestleMania One was
Vince McMahon's big gamble.

[Vince] Hello everyone,
this is Vince McMahon.

[Jim] There had never been
a nationally broadcast

mega close-circuit event

in every market
in the United States

to blend pro wrestling
and pop culture.

He had to have the
promotion right,

the card right.

He loaded the
thing up with

the biggest attraction
that he could.

[Announcer]
Ladies and Gentlemen,

our main event!

[Crowd] [cheering]

[Jim] Hulk Hogan
and Mr. T

against Roddy Piper
and Paul Orndorff.

They were in the spot of
the main event of the

biggest grossing
wrestling event of all time.

[Mr. T] Piper and Orndorff,
you're dead meat.

You're dead meat and
I pity you, fool.

[Jim] Everybody
went into this thing

with some pressure
on 'em because

this had not been
done before on this level.

[Announcer] The biggest match
in the history of wrestling.

[Jim] Why was
Paul Orndorff there?

Because he was an
elite level wrestler.

[Announcer] Suplex!
He got him!

[Jim] He could work with
a guy like Mr. T

that was greener than
a pepper tree

and didn't know what
he was doing.

He could put all of
Hulk Hogan's stuff over.

And then when it came time,
he was the guy to get beat.

[Announcer] Oh!
He got Orndorff!

Unbelievable,
he got him!

[Crowd] [cheering]
[Announcer] They got him!

[Jim] The event was such
a success that people

had forgotten the fact that
Orndorff was the key,

because who else is gonna do
the job of those four guys?

Only Paul.

That's how Vince McMahon
hoped to,

and eventually did, get a
leg up on the rest of

the wrestling world
and take it over.

By creating WrestleMania.

[Announcer] Unbelievable,
pandemonium...

[Paul] He wanted to take
over the world.

And he did.

I think it changed the
whole course of wrestling.

Matter of fact,
I know it did.

[Travis] Does my dad get
all the credit he deserves?

He gets the credit
he deserves from

the people that
watched it.

?

The people that go back
and watch wrestling

very much
appreciate his work.

My name is Travis Orndorff
and I'm the son of

Mr. Wonderful,
Paul Orndorff.

I certainly
inherited his intensity.

Everybody out there knows
what kind of a man I am.

[Travis] You know,
Dad moved.

He was either
go or stop.

His evolution to
Mr. Wonderful was this

progression of his history,
his intensity and

all of that
coming together.

As I think most good
hero stories are,

they come from very
humble beginnings

and a pretty
rough childhood.

[Brian] There's no doubt
that Paul's upbringing

made him the tough guy
that he was.

I mean... [scoffing]

I'm B. Brian Blair,
and Paul Orndorff

was one of my closest
friends for many years.

Paul's home was
in a trailer park.

He actually grew up in a
converted chicken coop.

[Travis] My grandfather's
a butcher.

The life of a butcher, it's not
like there was a lot of money.

Modest would
be an upgrade.

They were poor.

[Brian] I'll never forget
when his dad came to my house

and the tears started coming
from his eyes and he said,

"I did the best
that I could."

I thought I grew
up tough, um,

Paul really
grew up tough.

[Travis] There's one story,
Dad had worked some job and

when he came home
with cash, my grandmother,

she asked for the money,
and he told her no,

he wasn't giving her the
money, it was his money.

And so, she knocked him out
with a cast iron skillet...

and took the money.

[Travis] Yes.

[Brian] You know, he fought
for everything that he got.

He was in an area where

people fought on
a regular basis.

It was like part of their
lifestyle growing up.

[Travis] My grandfather
was a drinker.

My dad bare knuckle fought to
pay his bar tab on occasion.

You know, he had
a lot of anger.

[Brian] I've seen Paul
in lots of fights

and he never lost one.

One night,
his brother Terry

got into a
situation in a bar,

calls Paul, and says,
"I need some help."

Paul runs into this bar,
there's two sheriffs that

have Terry down and
Terry's screaming.

Paul, boom,
nails one of them.

?

Nails the other one.

One guy's on the ground,
he calls for back up.

In comes five more sheriffs.
They try to grab Paul.

Paul nails all of them!

[shouting]
Argh!

This is one guy.

One man.

And seven sheriffs.

[Travis] That was his outlet,
but sometimes

you can't put that genie
back in the bottle.

You combine the fact
that there's poverty,

there's alcohol,
there's anger...

my dad was
forged in hell.

[Narrator] Despite the
chaos at home,

Paul has a gift that
will change everything.

[Brian] Since he was very,
very young

Paul was one of the
greatest athletes

to ever come
out of Tampa Florida.

[Gerry] Paul was a true
believer in, "my athletic

ability will carry me
as far as I can go."

I'm Gerry Brisco,
WWE Hall of Famer

and I've spent a
lot of time with

Mr. Wonderful,
Paul Orndorff.

And Paul definitely thought
his way out was football.

[Travis] Dad graduated
at 18 years old,

and he went on to the
University of Tampa.

[Brian] Paul got a
full ride there,

he was number 40,
the fullback.

Got drafted by the
New Orleans Saints.

Played there
for 4 years.

[Paul] Really kinda lost my,
my heart for football.

I played it all my life
and just didn't

care for it anymore.

And I happened to be
watching TV

and catch this wrestling.

Thank you very much and
welcome again to

Championship Wrestling
from Florida.

[Paul] And I said,
"Oh, I can do that."

My father-in-law
knew Eddie Graham,

and he gave me a tryout.

[Gerry] So, he brought
him in and, of course,

put him right
with Hiro Matsuda.

[Announcer] From
Yokohama, Japan,

Hiro Matsuda!

[Brian] Hiro Matsuda wrestled
as a villain for Eddie,

before he became
the trainer.

So, Hiro's job was to train
the new prospective talent.

[Paul] It was the Harvard of
professional wrestling

and Hiro would just
put me through it.

But I had that drive,
you know,

I had the heart for it.

[Paul] It sounds
like I'm bragging,

I guess I am.
But it's the truth.

[Brian] Three summers
that I had with Matsuda,

over 100 people came
there and the only people

that made it through
the camp was Hogan,

myself and Mr. Wonderful,
Paul Orndorff.

That's all.

So, we just had
a natural bond.

[Narrator] After making
his mark in Florida,

Paul now sets his sights on
building a reputation

across the country.

[Jim] I had never heard the
name Paul Orndorff

before in my life.

When he came into Memphis
with that look and that style

and that athleticism.

This guy is
something special.

I'm Jim Cornette and I
took the picture for

Paul Orndorff's wrestling
magazine cover in 1977.

He didn't
have a gimmick.

He didn't have an
over-the-top personality.

You could kind of buy him as
being this hot shot athlete

that's come in and
is gonna take over.

[Arn] Paul was one of those
guys that looked like a

body builder but was smooth
like an amateur wrestler.

I'm Arn Anderson,
the Enforcer,

and Paul Orndorff
was my friend.

Paul carried himself
with just this air of

invincibility about him.
If nothing else,

he believed
his own press.

And sometimes,
that's all you need.

[Announcer] Very quick.
Really can move.

[Jim] Paul worked all the
major territories in the

first three or four years
of his career.

And he progressed
quickly.

[Gerry] What really
made Paul click was

that desire to
better himself and to

bring his family up
out of poverty.

[Travis] My mom and dad
met in high school.

My mom, Ronda,
she got pregnant at the

age of seventeen and
they got married.

They were very young.

My brother's
Paul Orndorff III.

[Brian] It's Paul Jr.
and they call him 'Buzz'.

[Travis]
He's nine years older.

So, we had the
same parents,

but they were different
parents, right?

My mom, those years
were hard on her.

There was a lot of moving,
there was not a lot of money.

Dad carried baggage
from his childhood.

He had a short fuse
at times, you know,

he had not grown up.

They didn't have
therapy back then.

You worked, you drank
and you just lived life,

and nobody said
anything about anything,

and you moved on.

That's where you forge
bitterness and resentment.

[Brian] It's so hard to
raise a family...

when you're on the road.

You know, the wife�s
at home and,

the kids have no dad.

[Travis] My mom took her
frustration out on everybody.

She was constantly,
you know,

talking bad about my father.

It was,
it was rough.

My dad was never perfect,
but as a father,

he was unconditionally
loving.

And I never felt like
he was that far away.

[Narrator] In 1983,
Hulk Hogan

recommends Paul
to Vince McMahon,

opening the door to
the hottest promotion

in the country.

[Vince] The topic of this
week's update, a gentleman

known in professional
wrestling as

Mr. Wonderful,
Paul Orndorff.

[Jim] In late 1983,
Vince McMahon was

starting the national
television syndication that

would lead to the WWF's
national expansion.

Hogan's word carried a lot
of weight with Vince

because Vince was building
the entire company

around Hogan and he wanted
to bring in people

that Hogan liked
to wrestle.

That he thought he could
draw money with and

one of the guys that
he brought in

was Paul Orndorff.

[Announcer] Introducing the
challenger,

Mr. Wonderful...

Paul Orndorff!

[Gerry] Paul checked
every box that he could

possibly check except
the experience box.

So, it was kinda a
roll of the dice.

[Announcer]
Hulk Hogan...

[Paul] You gotta take
gambles in life, and I did.

And it paid off.

[Announcer] Oh!

[Jim] Paul was in the WWF
within five or six years

after he started and
he's already been

a main event guy in a
variety of big promotions.

That's a very
quick trajectory.

[Announcer]
Mr. Wonderful...

[Jim] Paul took the name
Mr. Wonderful

because in his
heel persona

it indicated that he
was a megalomaniac.

That he was the most self
- absorbed man on the planet.

[Women] Hello,
Mr. Wonderful.

[Paul] This is the kind of
treatment that

Mr. Wonderful gets.

[Travis] One of my
favorite lines is

"so with a body like this
and a face like this..."

[Paul] When you got
a body like this and

a face like this, you can do
any damn thing

you wanna do and
I get away with it.

[Travis] He saw his
body as a temple.

For him, that was
his pay cheque.

[Paul] A lot of people try
to have a body like this.

But they never will.

[Brian] [laughing]
He, Paul was a,

Paul was a stud.

I mean, he had to have his
hair blow dried perfectly.

[Travis] Paul Mitchell
hairspray.

If I ever get cancer,
it's gonna be from having

to have smelt that my
entire childhood.

[Paul] Ah, look at that.
It's terrible.

[Travis] There's a reason
my dad loved being a heel.

[Crowd] [cheering]

[Travis] Anger is the
easiest emotion to evoke.

[Announcer] Oh! Oh!

He's giving the sign
for the pile driver.

[Jim] The pile driver
was Paul's signature

finishing move.

He could get
a massive jump

and then boom,
drove him.

It was one of the most
deadly moves in wrestling.

[Paul] I knew my
style was different

and I would be the
best heel there,

which I was.

[Announcer] Dropping it like
yesterday's newspaper...

[Gerry] So that cockiness
and arrogance

just went along
with that body.

[Paul] And all you women
that are ready to leave

your husband for me,
now you know why.

That was me,
it wasn't fake.

I mean, that was me.
That's the way I was.

Ask my wife,
she'll tell you.

I was a jerk.

[Brian] I think Ronda
wasn't stupid

when it came to realizing

that her husband wasn't

the loyal husband.

[Travis] I was out on the
road sometimes and I can

remember being at different
hotels and the groupies,

and the women,
standing outside.

You gave them money
and you gave them fame

and all the things
that come with it.

I don't think my family
was immune to it

any more than
anybody else was.

[Brian] Girls were
throwing themselves

at you all the time.

I mean, it was like
being a rock star.

Following the success
of WrestleMania...

[Roddy] In WrestleMania it
was your shoulders that were

pinned to the ground
brother, not me.

[Narrator] Vince McMahon
recasts Paul Orndorff

as a hero, aligning him
with Hulk Hogan.

[Announcer] Mr. Wonderful
wants Hulkster

to shake hands.

[Jim] Imagine,
especially in the 80's,

you have seen Hulk Hogan

rise to become
the champion

and all the little Hulkamaniacs
are on his side

and suddenly,
he has a friend.

And you like
the friend too.

[Announcer] Mr. Wonderful,
Paul Orndorff.

[Jim] They were on his side
because he was

a straight ahead,
all American athlete.

[Narrator] Just as
Mr. Wonderful reaches

the peak of
his popularity,

an injury in the ring
stops him cold.

[Travis] He was in a match,

somebody caught
him on the chin.

It ended up causing
nerve damage

that ran through
his radial nerves.

[Arn] It affects your deltoids,
your triceps, bicep.

Comes all the way down on
into your forearm.

Once you have serious
nerve damage,

it's irreversible.

[Jim] He could not bring
himself to give up that spot

and that kind of money
to have surgery

and so he soldiered
through it.

[Travis] He has built
his body and life

around this moment

where he was
gonna capture

generational wealth.

[Narrator] Despite the
nagging injury,

Paul prepares for his most
important story line yet.

[Vince] You and
Hulk Hogan.

[Paul] I've been trying to
call him 5 or 6 minutes.

I've been on the phone.

He won't come
to the phone.

[Jim] One of the biggest
drawing angles you can do

is give the hero a sidekick,

a best friend,
a partner.

[clicking tongue]

And he stabs him
in the back.

[Announcer] Oh no!
What in the world?

[Travis] During the
heel turn,

he does what
my dad does.

He does a pile driver
on him.

[Announcer]
You've gotta be... no!

No! No!

[Travis] You know,
he walks over to

the ropes,
and it's real slow.

[Crowd] [booing]

[Travis] How do you
like that?

[Announcer]
Look at that.

I don't believe this.

What in the world is
wrong with Orndorff?

[Brian] When Orndorff
turned on Hulkster,

that was a monumental spot
for the wrestling industry.

[Announcer]
Hulk Hogan!

[Paul] I loved
working with Terry.

He made me the hottest
heel in the country,

and I made him the hottest
babyface in the country.

[Brian] Everything
about it clicked.

Everything started exploding
and they were just hot.

[Announcer] For 6 months
this feud has gone on.

[Hulk] You sold out
a country, man!

You sold out all those people
that believed in you, man.

[Jim] Now all the little
Hulkamaniacs and

the big Hulkamaniacs,
they all wanted to

see Hulk Hogan get even

with the guy that
betrayed him.

[Paul] I mean, I had
death threats

and everything else, man.

Bottles and darts
thrown at me and...

[Travis] Wrestling fans
are a whole 'nother level.

It is crazy how driven,
motivated and

in love they are with
these characters.

I had a friend that
quit talking to me,

when I was like 8 years old
and a few years later

"I am so sorry
I hated you.

Your dad turned
on Hulk Hogan."

[Paul] I am the most
unpopular person in

the world, well, that is an
achievement right there.

[Crowd] [cheering]

[Jim] When they decided to
do the big event at the

Canadian National
Exhibition in Toronto,

over 60,000 people

went to Exhibition
Stadium to see

Hulk Hogan versus
Paul Orndorff.

[Announcer] Big right hand
by the champion!

[Arn] You know
why it worked?

Everybody in that building
believed Orndorff

could beat Hogan.
They believed.

[Announcer] Oh, he's back
with the shoulder of Orndorff.

Oh, come on,
Paul!

[Jim] That was the biggest
crowd in the history of

wrestling in North America,
to that point.

Here's a guy that grew up
in a fucking trailer

that they used to use
as a chicken coop.

Now he's facing the top star
in the business

and he's making
$25,000 a week,

which is the
equivalent of almost

$100,000
a week today.

[Paul] I didn't
go in here blind.

I mean,
I had a plan.

I truly had a plan for once
in my life, and it worked.

I was told I was
gonna make money.

And when Mr. McMahon said
you're gonna make money,

you will make money.

?

[Brian] He was absolutely
on top of the world.

[Announcer]
There he is, right there.

[Travis] That was a job.

And it was a job that
took him away from me

and I wanted
my dad home.

I don't remember
at that period

ever going
without anything.

I can tell you I went to
one of the

top private schools
at the time.

Everything
was paid off.

Do you remember
the old red Tupperware?

We had those in the freezer
and there was like money

stacked in there and, like,
one of them fell out

and broke my toe.

My mom, she liked
the money of wrestling and,

you know, she didn't
have to work.

She had been diagnosed
with Rheumatoid Arthritis,

and it was
genuinely severe,

this happened in
the late 80's.

And then, you know,
the pills started.

[Brian] Unfortunately, when
he was sending his money home

his wife was spending it
all on the wrong things.

On drugs and
other things.

[Travis] It was often just
me and my mom.

She wouldn't wake up on time
to take me to school.

There was this evolution
of pain medication,

and you know, it just
continued and

it continued the
rest of her life.

[Narrator] The relentless
schedule leaves Paul

little time at home with
Ronda and their sons

or to deal with his
worsening injury.

[Jim] There were a few weeks

where the WWF was
selling in excess of

150,000 tickets,
in a week,

to see Hogan and
Orndorff wrestle.

And it was a
double-edged sword.

[Paul] I'd get two or
three days off

and Vince would
track me down

and wanted me to
come back to work.

When you're main event
you can't, you gotta go.

And I was going hurt,

burnt out and tired
flying all day and

getting to the gym and
I was working

18 hours a day, man.

I did that for three years.

You know, I got
a family to feed.

[Travis] So, Dad was
still on the road,

he was injured and,
I got... deathly ill.

I went from 83 pounds

to 52 pounds

in about 3 weeks.

Dad didn't see me
every day,

but they would bring in
a cot and when

he'd come into town he'd
sleep in my room with me.

I lost the ability to walk,
my hands quit working,

my body kinda
shut down.

The best answer I've gotten
is a complex regional

pain syndrome,
but at the time,

they really didn't think
I was going to live.

So, the doctor,
at his own wits end, said,

"We think your son has
a brain tumour."

My dad grabbed him
by the collar,

pinned him up against
the wall, and said,

"He doesn't have a
F-ing brain tumour".

In that moment, he was
angry and he was scared.

And he didn't want
to lose his baby boy.

[Brian] I think that
always hurt Paul,

that he couldn't be
around his kids more.

But he couldn't do both.

And he chose what

was gonna at least
feed 'em, clothe 'em

and hopefully
he would make amends

when he retired.

[Jim] By 1988, you couldn't
ignore it anymore.

His arm was atrophying,
it was getting smaller,

it was affecting his work.

[Arn] You looked
at his two arms,

and it was like two
different people.

[Brian] He was very
depressed about his arm,

about the business,
about Ronda, about money,

about so many different
things and he's using,

whether it was
drugs or women,

whatever crutch
he could find to

escape the moment.

[Travis] Vince had made
my dad a promise

when he got hurt.
He said,

"Don't screw me and
you'll have a job here

the rest of your life."

And my dad screwed him.

nerve injury to his arm, a se

Paul Orndorff walks
away from wrestling,

burning a bridge
with the promoter

who made him famous.

[Travis] The way
my dad left WWF,

when he did,
he upset Vince.

[Jim] He no-showed Vince
McMahon and the WWF

after asking for days off
that he didn't get.

Paul was a guy that if he
felt he wasn't being treated

fairly that he would take
matters in his own hands.

Did you and Vince
leave on good terms?

No. [laughing]

No... Oh, I got buried.

I think that
people got in his ear,

that tell him I didn't
get hurt. I was hurt.

I mean, I was hurt, it was
obvious I was hurt.

It was time to go.

[Jim] At that point,
he's almost 40 years old.

He had made a lot of money
over the previous few years.

That's when he
decided to retire,

for the first time,
from wrestling.

?

He wanted to get away from
the business for a while,

he wanted to heal.

[Arn] He bought a bowling alley

and worked it
like a business.

[Travis] My dad knew
nothing about bowling

but when my dad left WWF

he had started to invest
with a financial advisor

named Shelton Thorne
down in Florida,

somebody he knew from a
dentist where my mom worked.

And so,
he trusted my mom

and he trusted Shelton.

They got some
investors together and

they opened a
bowling center.

[Arn] I thought that
was very unique,

that a guy of his
magnitude would,

would buy a bowling alley.

[Off-screen]
That's Travis Orndorff,

Paul's little son there.

[Travis] My dad said, "My
identity is not in wrestling.

My identity is not
in Mr. Wonderful.

My identity is
your daddy.

And my identity
is what I do."

[Jim] Paul had been so
visible in the WWF

that when he retired,
somebody actually started

a rumor that
he was dead,

and it was picked up
internationally.

[Paul] Used to get calls
at my bowling center,

I think somebody said
I died on steroids.

[Scoffing]

That's stupid.
I was home.

I hadn't been home
in 20 years, man.

?

[Narrator] At home,
things are far from quiet.

Paul's eldest son falls into
a life of crime and addiction.

[Brian] Buzz is Paul's
first son, his older son.

And Buzz has been in

a lot of trouble.

[Travis] You know, alcohol
was involved.

DUIs,
substance use.

[News] Paul Orndorff III has
been arrested again,

here in Peachtree City after
another high-speed chase.

[Travis] I'm not
better than my brother.

We had different
circumstances.

[Brian] Paul did everything
he could to love Buzz.

To give him a chance,
to forgive him and all that,

Buzz would always
turn the wrong way.

[Travis] The funny thing is,
is he could be the nicest

and sweetest person
in these moments.

You would get
your hopes up,

but they just
were short lived.

My parents ended up adopting
my brothers� children.

I think I was 13
at that point.

You know, by the time
his kids were born

my parents were
raising them, you know,

we were going to visit
the prisons he was in

every Saturday,
or every other Saturday.

[Narrator] But the trouble
at home puts Paul's family

and their financial
security at risk.

[Jim] All the money that
Paul had made in the WWF

that he had ignored
his injury for,

his business manager
they found out

was a crook and had
been running

some kind of Ponzi Scheme

and his money was gone.

[Travis] Shelton was getting
money from this place to

pay this investor,
as they were going,

and it eventually folded.

My Dad was sued by the
investors, as well, you know,

they didn't win 'cause
we didn't have anything.

[Gerry] It hurts your pride
because you think you have

all your bases covered and
then you get swindled by

a person that you
gave your trust to.

[Brian] Shelton Thorne
basically bankrupts him

and there's no pay cheque
coming every month.

There's no insurance.

He's in a very difficult
situation and he's gotta

make a choice to go back
on the road again.

[Announcer] Back around...
Holy! Whoa!

[Brian] And make a living

the only other way
he knows how.

I'm sure it was very
emotionally difficult on Paul.

[Jim] You could tell that it
had taken something

out of him, and then...

from there,
things just got worse.

[Paul] You have not
seen the last of me.

I have gotten letters,

I have gotten phone calls
from all over the world.

People wanting
to know, is it true

that Mr. Wonderful
has died.

Well, I want everybody
out there to know

that I am
alive and well.

[Narrator] Two years after
walking away from the WWF

with permanent injuries,
Orndorff is scammed

out of his life savings,

forcing him back
into the ring.

[Brian] He knew that the
independents were hot.

There were places
from Paul to go.

[Jim] When he popped
back up in 1990,

he went about the UWF
and some different

independent promotions over
the next couple of years.

He still looked
like Paul Orndorff.

[Paul] I'm coming
after you, Herb!

[Arn] You would never
know he was hurt.

Didn't affect
his work at all.

[Announcer] Here it is!
The pile driver.

[Jim] You could tell,
if you looked close,

that there was a little
something going on

with the arm,
but otherwise than that,

he looked just as good as
he always did.

By 1992,

I was running Smoky
Mountain Wrestling

based out of
Knoxville, Tennessee.

[Young Jim] First of all,
I wanna ask a favor

of all these genetic
mutants out here.

You gotta keep
the noise down.

[Crowd] [cheering]
[Jim] We got to-

[Jim] I called him. I said,
"Would you like to come in

and work some
weekends for me?"

and he said, "Yes,"
for a very agreeable rate.

[Travis] At some point
it's your job,

it's not in stadiums.

It's not to sell out crowds,
and nothing like

the WWF was
at that time.

The UWF merchandise is
the talk of the town.

[Travis] These guys paid for
his name and Dad

could still work and he
tried to keep his left arm

in front of the camera
instead of his right arm.

And he did what
he had to do

to take care
of his family.

[Announcer] Now there is a
man on a mission, right there.

[Narrator] In 1993,
Paul changes course,

signing with wrestling's
most ambitious promotion.

[Jim] WCW in the
mid 90's was,

they were trying to imitate

Vince McMahon's WWF.

With the entertainment aspect
and the celebrities aspect

and the glitz and
glamour aspect.

However, they didn't
have the brain power.

[Announcer] But here
comes Robocop, Bob!

[Jim] WCW's celebrity angles

involved D-list people that

were on reality shows or
on late night commercials.

One of them
was a psychic.

Gary Spivey, of the psychic
companions� network?

What are you doing here?
- I got a vision.

[Jim] He was on TV everywhere
at 4 o'clock in the morning,

predicting the future.

I know you're not okay.

- How did you know that?
- I got a vision.

[Jim] I don't know why he
couldn't have seen

that this angle was
gonna be the shits.

- You're Mr. Wonderful.
- I am Mr. Wonderful.

[Travis] He had lost who
Mr. Wonderful was

and he needed
to fall back in love with

Mr. Wonderful and
kissing the handheld mirror.

I hated that gimmick
so bad.

[Jim] So, Paul was, again,
performing at a high level,

doing everything
expected of him,

but 1990's WCW

was just so low budget

and so silly
and so directionless.

It was just low rent.

Thank you, Gary.

[Arn] If you wanna figure
out why that happened,

Paul was getting paid.
That's it.

[Narrator] Still in constant
pain from nerve damage,

by 1999, Orndorff moves
behind the scenes

as a trainer
for WCW.

[Jim] While Paul
was at WCW,

they instituted a wrestling
school in house

called The Power Plant,

where they would
try to train the

next generation of
their athletes.

And, Paul was a perfect
fit for that.

[Paul] I may have
15 or 20 kids down

every 2 to 3 weeks.

What I try to do is to
get the best athlete

as I possibly can.

[Brian] Paul took that very
seriously and he would

teach them just the way
that he was taught.

[Travis] He wanted to
hand off his legacy to

these next
generation wrestlers.

[Jim] Paul had been training
guys for some time

when the idea came up for
an elimination match

where Paul would get
back in the ring.

- Who is it? Oh my God!
- It's Paul Orndorff!

[Jim] And the premise of it
was that he was wrestling

against some of
the young guys that

he had been training at
The Power Plant.

[Brian] Paul told me that he
didn't want to go out there.

Yet, they insisted
that he go out.

[Announcer] I don't
mind telling you,

Paul Orndorff has been hit
a lot of times in his career.

He doesn't mind
taking a few more.

[Jim] For a normal
50-year-old man,

he looks in great shape.

But see the arms
are so much smaller.

[Announcer]
Into the ropes...

[Jim] Now here's the
first pile driver.

[Announcer] This is it!
His signature move!

[Jim] He hasn't got him
all the way straight.

He didn't get the jump
that he used to,

but he stuck him
and it was safe.

[Jim] Here comes Jindrak,

6'5", 250 pounds.

Couldn't wrestle

out of a wet paper bag.

[Announcer]
Orndorff's got him!

[Jim] He goes to
pile drive him.

Jindrak tries to
go up too quick.

Now he got sideways and
they went down backwards.

[Jim] The weight
and the velocity

made it kind of like

a rear end car accident
from a different angle.

[Jim] Paul, laying there,

had to tell the referee,

"I'm hurt,
I can't get up."

[Announcer] Ladies and
Gentlemen, due to

a serious injury to Mr.
Wonderful, Paul Orndorff,

the referee,
Charles Robinson,

has stopped this match.
It is a no contest.

[Jim] A stinger is like a
knockout punch to your nerve.

Sting goes through
your entire body.

Zzzt! Like an
electric shock

and then you got nothing.

When you recover,

you get all the feeling
back in your extremities.

If it doesn't work out
that way,

then you're... paralyzed.

[Announcerrff

has suffered some
sort of neck injury.

[Travis] He had
broken his neck.

They stopped the match
and called an ambulance.

It's very rare that you
stop a match on television,

it never happened
in those days.

[Announcer] A standing
ovation for Paul Orndorff

from the fans.

[Brian] It's difficult when
you're hanging on

wrestling at 51 years old

and gets hurt...

Doing his own move.

[Jim] That was the sign that
the neck had gotten too bad

and there was no way
he could

do this anymore at all.

It was God telling him,
"You're done."

[Travis] From then on,
things he could do

were very limited, physically.

The pain was unrelenting for
most of his life after that.

[Paul] I had another
operation on my neck,

which was the third one,
they gotta fuse it

to get two discs
and put a rod in it.

My body ain't, you know,
very good right now.

It's hurting,
as we speak.

[Arn] And we didn't
see him for...

God, long time.

[Narrator] In 2005, Paul
returns to the public eye,

enjoying the fans'
appreciation of

his legendary career.

[Brian] To see him go back
and be in the WWE

Hall of Fame was the
icing on the cake.

If anybody deserved it,
Paul deserved it.

[Paul] I would truly like
to say I thank you fans,

very much, it means...
- [cheering & applauding]

...it really, it means a lot.

[Travis] In 2005,
he looked great.

He was still himself,
but I'd noticed

a decline in
his memory.

When it hit about 2010,
it accelerated

from like 0 to 100
when he got cancer,

throat cancer.

[Brian] He knew he had
a battle between

life and death, and

he got through that
cancer but... um...

[Host] Is that you,
Paul Orndorff?

No, it's Rudolph.

It's just my memory is
not what it used to be.

You know, this cancer and
this chemo and radiation,

just messed my...
you know.

[Travis] He would call me
over and over and over again

and not remember
we had just talked.

Then I was like,
oh, my god.

Like I wouldn't even know
he was going on

these conventions,
and I think he got

lost at the airport,
one time.

And as I'm telling
people this, they're,

"No, he's fine, he's fine."

And I'm like,
"No, he's not."

[Narrator] As Paul's
dementia symptoms increase,

so does the instability
of his life at home.

[Brian] Whenever
I was in Atlanta,

I always tried to stop
and go see Paul.

As soon as I saw him,

I knew that he was
being abused.

The man I know was

skin and bones and

scars and bruises.

His wife was not
giving him his medicine.

Not taking care of him.

She was getting
strung out on drugs

and she was doing meth

and she was in
pitiful shape.

It was sad.
Very, very sad.

A few years before Paul
had full onset dementia,

he was, you know,
not in the best shape.

Unfortunately, Buzz got
out of prison and

Buzz hit him and
broke his nose.

You know, how he could
hit his own father,

I don't know, but...

[Travis] I didn't
know what to do.

I picked him up from
that house and

I took him home
to my house.

I made every attempt to
get him to move in with me.

But he wanted to go home,
and he would ask for Ronda.

He wouldn't leave her.

Like, I tried.
Multiple times.

He needed care,
and at that point,

she wasn't willing
to do that.

And that was the
first time I called

Adult Protection Services.

But you have zero
control over it. Zero.

[Jim] He was
in bad shape.

He didn't know
what was going on.

And then, unfortunately,

you know,
the pandemic came in,

that was about
the end of it.

[Narrator] In 2021,

Paul is hospitalized
with pneumonia.

When he's ready
to be discharged,

Ronda refuses to
take him back.

[Travis] I got my mom to
tell me where my dad was

and I went in
the room

and I...

I walk in...

and his hair's all,
all out, long.

His leg is shaking.

He's non-verbal.

It absolutely
overwhelmed me.

I said,
"I'm taking him home."

They said, "You can't."
And I said, "Why not?"

They said, "You're not
listed as next of kin."

And she said, "Listen,
we've been trying to

call your mom
for the last, you know,

several months,

saying that it's time,
he needed to go home.

She's been unwilling
to assist.

And there's nothing
we can do."

And I said, "Get me
a social worker."

They said, "It won't
matter." And I said,

"I'm gonna raise holy hell

until you do something."

And I said, "I'm gonna
take a video."

[background chatter]

[Travis]
Do you remember...

do you remember wrestling?

Daddy, you're just
eating the pepper.

[Jim] To see a guy that
had been that

vibrant and that strong
and that powerful...

[Arn] It broke my heart then

and it breaks my heart now.

You just can't stand
the sight of it.

[Gerry] The worst video I've
ever seen in my entire life.

I was furious
with his son.

[Brian] I was very upset,
and I called Travis.

"Why would you want to put
your dad in that light?"

He's a very proud person.

This is nobody else's
business, Travis.

[Travis] And he's like,
"Take that down."

And I said, "No.
I'm not doing it."

?

And he's like, "Dave Meltzer
just posted it."

And I'm like,
"Who is Dave Meltzer?"

Why would I care what
this guy said?

That was a plea.

I was desperate.

I was scared to death.

You know, they were saying
like people were dying

alone in the hospital
during Covid.

I'm like,
"That's not happening."

It's not happening.

[Jim] But it was sad

to see a guy that
had been that

vibrant and that strong
and that powerful.

He didn't know
where he was.

You could tell
it was Paul,

but Paul wasn�t
there anymore.

a video of his father's

deteriorating condition
in the hospital,

Travis faces backlash
from the wrestling world.

[Travis] Wrestlers
were upset,

the community,
the brotherhood.

As if I had betrayed him,
showing him in this state.

And I will tell you what I
think my father would say,

if he saw it,
he'd be mad.

And the next day he'd say,
"He did the right thing."

Because he taught me how
to make the right decision,

even if it wasn't the
decision he would make.

But he always
supported me.

I got a phone call
from the social worker

a couple days later and
got a couple apologies.

Sat down with the doctor,
and the doctor said,

"Listen, he doesn't have
much time left."

I said, "Okay, well then,
he's coming home with me."

And I took him home.

Best decision of my life.

Now that I know
that Travis

used the video to try to

get his dad out
during Covid

makes a lot more sense
because that was deplorable.

It was absolutely
deplorable.

And the bottom line is he
got his dad out of there

and that's a good thing.

[Travis] I think he was
waiting for me.

His brother and sister
and my cousin came up.

My niece, my nephew,
my kids,

myself got to spend time
with him every day.

I allowed my mom
to come visit.

She would spend
an hour with him

and then she would
go home.

[Brian] I had talked to Paul
less than a week

before he passed.

And he could barely talk.

Travis said that
he got real excited

when he said it was
me on the phone and

kinda took that as a great

feeling of true friendship,

that he would
remember me.

I used to sell Cokes
in the Tampa stadium

and watch Paul
play football.

He was your hero when you
were a little kid, right?

He sure was.

[Brian] And I remember
hanging up and tears

were coming
from my eyes.

It just reminded me that
we're only passing through.

[Travis] I was with him
'til every last second.

He died with me.

[Brian] I believe
he died in peace.

That he wasn't hurting.

He just beat me
to heaven.

[Travis] My children have
seen me make mistakes

and I'm fortunate,
I have great relationships

with both of them.

The conversation I had
with my mother

later in life,
I was angry.

The way I was acting towards
her was no different than

the way she was acting
towards my dad.

So, I was
guilty of that.

I knew some of my dad�s
decisions and how

it hurt my mom and
I was guilty of that.

?

As time passed,
I not only forgave her,

but I came to love her.

?

[Travis] The last gift
he left me

was his legacy.

That I would get to share.

That first year,
people that were online,

they didn't all comment
about my dad.

They said, "How are you?"
I'm like, "How am I?"

And they're like, "Man,
we're here for you."

And I'm now interacting
with these people

that I thought I hated.

All this anger and
resentment I had about

the times he was away
now has purpose.

My dad very much
respected the fans that came

to see him and the person
he was in the ring with.

So often what I'll hear is,

"I was at that event
with my father."

and they are like,
"Your dad is amazing."

And I get to reply,

"Sounds like your dad
was pretty amazing too!"

[Crowd]
[indistinct chatter]

[Arn] WrestleMania One.
That was his peak.

Remember him
that night.

And keep it in your heart.

That's the one
that you remember.

[Gerry] He did it better
than anybody else that

ever stepped outta
the squared circle.

[Jim] I don't remember
anybody having really

anything bad to say about
Paul Orndorff as a person.

In the wrestling business

that may be
almost unheard of.

[Brian] Handsome,
sexy, rugged,

all the things that he was.

Paul was truly
Mr. Wonderful.

[Announcer] The pile driver!

[Travis] People say, "Your
dad was an amazing wrestler."

and I'm like,
"And a better father."

[Announcer] Mr. Wonderful,
Paul Orndorff!

[Travis] Wrestling got
his body,

fans got his mind,
and I got his heart.

Repair and Synchronization by
Easy Subtitles Synchronizer 1.0.0.0