Chappell: At this time
you went from tag team wrestler,
to singles wrestler, to the
office and even television
commentator. Tell us about your
transition in the mid 70s.
Scott: They mentioned
working in the office a couple
of times. And I said, ‘I’d think
about it.’ But at the time I
went on ahead and did singles
matches instead.
And then in Columbia one night,
I was wrestling Valentine I
think, and I said, ‘I think this
is it for me.’ I went in the
next day and told Jimmy
(Crockett), ‘Yeah…I’ll take the
job in the office!’
Chappell: You sure put in
your time in the squared circle!
Scott: I had been on the
road for thirty something years,
with George day in and day out…
Chappell/Bourne: (laughs)
Scott: So you know, I
went on into the office.
Chappell: What were your
responsibilities there?
Scott: My job in the
office was TV, radio and
newspaper. And booking
Coliseums, checking out the
buildings. I also looked at
talent. I had a ton of stuff to
do.
Sandy Scott, far left, co-hosted
Mid-Atlantic Wrestling with Bob
Caudle in 1982.
Bourne: The Crockett
territory was so expansive. When
I went to shows in east
Tennessee in the late 70s, you
were always at those shows and
looked like you were running
things. Did Crockett have back
then what
would be called agents
today…guys that would look after
parts of the territory?
Scott: Well, you had Joe
Murnick that had the eastern
part…Raleigh, Norfolk, Hampton,
Richmond. All the others pretty
much came under my deal.
I was pretty much the
coordinator. I’d go to the
Coliseums to make sure
everything was right. Most of
the Coliseums were very good,
and you’d have no problems. But
there were a couple you’d have
to watch.
Chappell: What do you
mean by having to watch certain
buildings?
Scott: Different things.
This was later in time, but I
remember going to Nashville.
That was an interesting deal.
Chappell: In what way?
Scott: Jimmy Crockett was
wanting to spread out. So he
said he wanted me to go to
Nashville. The WWF was running
there too. Jimmy said we’re
having a meeting, because the
WWF is trying to block us from
coming in.
I happened to have a good friend
down there, Buddy Lee. Buddy
controlled about fifty-two of
the top country music
stars…booked ‘em.
So, I go on to the Coliseum down
there, and go into this room…and
Buddy is sitting there. I sit
beside Buddy, and asked him what
was going on.
Chappell: What did Buddy
say?
Scott: He said they were
trying to keep us out of there.
I told him that I guess we would
just have to see what happens.
So about that time, here come
the City guys and the Coliseum
guys and they sit down and start
talking. They said the WWF came
in there about every six weeks.
Buddy asked them what would stop
[Crockett] from going in there
in the middle of that time
period…every three weeks?
We didn’t want to go in there
every three weeks. We maybe
wanted to run once every two
months, or something…
Chappell: You all just
wanted to get a foot in the
door.
Scott: Right, we just
wanted to get in there.
And Buddy said it was all right
with him. Well, they had a guy
from WWF there and he said it
wasn’t all right with him. And
he asked who was I, and Buddy
said I was the one that booked
the towns.
Then they all huddled and came
back and said, “Yeah, we’ll let
them come in every third week if
they want, if WWF is coming in
every six weeks.” That was it…so
we went in there, and we ran!
Chappell: Well done,
Sandy!
Scott: Moving this story
up, because Turner took over
eventually. I did the same thing
with Turner.
Chappell: In Nashville?
Scott: Yes, we were
running a show in Nashville.
Turner said, “Yeah, you better
go down there and check things.
There’s going to be a big show.
We’ve got the Stadler’s on
there, they’re gonna open up the
show.”
So, I went on down there and
went in…big crowd. Then, these
two girls come in…they’re with
Turner’s audit department. They
said, “We’re going to check up
on the box office receipts.” I
said, ‘Sure, that’s fine with
me.’
I go on out and tend to the
things I needed to tend to.
After the intermission I go back
in, and I asked the building
manager if the auditors had
finished their check, and he
said he hadn’t seen the
auditors!
Chappell: What?
Scott: Yeah, I said,
‘That’s really strange.’ I said,
‘Let’s start checking up…maybe
they’ll come in.’ So, we checked
up the whole house, and the
auditors never did come in.
So, finally the matches are
over, and here they come saying,
“Man, that Flair is something
else”
Chappell/Bourne:
(laughing)
Scott: (laughs) The
auditors were out there watching
the matches the whole time!
Chappell: That’s so
funny!
But those two Nashville stories
really underscore all the things
you were responsible for
overseeing in those buildings.
Scott: Those auditors,
you know, it just goes to show
you…Turner paid their way down,
flew them down, put them up in a
big hotel, and brought them
back…
Bourne: (laughs) And they
never once audited the box
office!
Scott: (laughs) Never
once!
Chappell: The wrestling
was just too good!
Scott: Yeah…it really
was.
Bourne: Since we’re
talking about Turner, how long
did you stay with them?
Scott: I stayed five
years.
Bourne: Is that right?
Scott: Yeah…I fought them
tooth and nail. They gave me the
same job to do, but it wasn’t
going to be in the Carolinas.
And I moved up here to Virginia.
So, they’re going to give me
Virginia and West Virginia,
Tennessee and part of Georgia.
Okay, so we’d have a meeting
every Monday morning. This is
when Eastern Airlines was
running, and I’d catch a flight
from Roanoke at 7:00 to get
there by 9:00.
Jim Herd was the vice president…
Chappell: The pizza guy,
right?
Scott: (laughs) Yeah! And
Jim Barnett was on the Board,
and he would sit next to me at
these Monday meetings. I worked
for Barnett in Australia, and
out in California and
Indianapolis…all those places.
Anyway, so I said, ‘Mr. Herd,
when are we going to the
Carolinas?’ He said, “No,
no…we’re going to give it a
rest, going to give it a rest.”
I said, ‘I don’t think you need
to give it a rest.’ He said,
“No, we need to give it a rest.”
Chappell: Good grief.
Scott: I told Herd, ‘Just
give me one town…let me run one
town.’
He said, “Okay, take
Greenville.” So, I have to go
from Roanoke to Greenville to
run that town.
I get everybody in [Greenville]
and about a month goes by, and I
go back in, and Herd says,
“You’re giving my talent away!”
Chappell: Say what?!
Scott: At this time,
we’re drawing about a half a
house. And Herd wants to raise
the ticket prices!
Chappell: What were the
ticket prices at that time?
Scott: I think ringside
was $12.00, I think general
admission was $10.00 and kids
were $3.00 or $5.00. Herd wanted
to go to $18.00, $15.00 and
$10.00 for kids.
I said, ‘Jim, [Greenville] is a
mill town, and people can’t
afford to come and bring their
kids for those prices.’
Chappell: You certainly
knew the dynamics of Greenville
a lot better than Herd. What was
his response?
Scott: He kept saying,
“You’re giving my talent away;
you’re giving my talent away!”
I said, ‘I’m just telling you
the way it is…that’s what I see
down there.’ I couldn’t get
through to the guy!
Chappell: Apparently
nobody got through to Herd!
Scott: You know, finally
I really got ticked off about
it, and I told Barnett, ‘This is
absolutely ridiculous. I go down
there and they draw half a
house, and Herd wants me to
raise prices, and that’s going
to lower the house even more.
What’s he gaining?’
Chappell: Great question!
Scott: Well, Barnett must
have said something to Herd. The
following week after the meeting
Herd said he wanted to see me in
his office.
Chappell: About what?
Scott: He said they were
having trouble with Atlanta.
According to Herd, his right
hand man, Don Glass, was not
doing the job down there. And he
wanted me to take Atlanta over!
Chappell: Finally
something sensible out of Herd!
Scott: I told Herd that
I’d do it, but that I didn’t
want any interference. Then,
they were only doing like
$12,000, and they were using
everybody in that town. And the
Omni, it cost a fortune just to
open that building!
Chappell/Bourne:
(laughing)
Scott: At that time, I
think maybe Ole Anderson was
doing the booking there. Whoever
was there, I went in and talked
to them and said things are
really down, and we needed to do
something about it.
So, they gave us good cards and
we went from $12,000 to $18,000
to $24,000 to $31,000…starting
to climb.
Bourne: Right.
Scott: We couldn’t get
any newspaper coverage. Atlanta
wouldn’t give any newspaper
coverage. On TV, we had two
stations…TBS and another
station…
Bourne: (Joe) Pedicino?
Channel 36?
Scott: Yes…we had that
station. We had those two
stations, and like I said, the
house was moving up. So, I
inquired about who had the top
radio program in the area. And I
was told about this girl…she had
the top morning show and she was
number one. So I went over to
see her.
Chappell: What happened?
Scott: I asked her if she
would be interested to coming
down and introducing the main
event at our next show. She said
she would do it, and I told her
that I’d pay her $150.
We must have gotten a $1000
worth of publicity out it. So, then the night
of the card comes. We have about
a $52,000 house. And Joe
Pedicino asks who the lady is up
there. I tell him that she’s
gonna introduce the main event.
Well, Pedicino runs to Herd and
tells him that the girl is there
to announce the main event.
Frances Crockett was listening
to that conversation, and she
came and told me what Joe told
Herd.
Chappell: Did Herd
confront you about it?
Scott: He sure did. He
said, “No woman is ever going to
announce in this building!” He
said it multiple times…
Bourne: Geez! What was
his problem?
Scott: I told him the
deal was that you’d keep your
hands off the thing. He said
again that no woman was going to
do any ring announcing.
So, I went to the box office and
got 150 bucks and went over and
gave it to her and I said,
‘Things have changed and they
want Joe to do it.’ And that was
it…and she left.
Chappell: Unbelievable.
Scott: They were giving
me a hell of a lot of good
matches…good, good matches. The
next house jumped up to 81
grand. The next Monday
morning after that card, I went
in and told them I didn’t want
Atlanta anymore…give it to
someone else.
Chappell: Why?
Scott: Don Glass was down
in Biloxi, Mississippi on that
Friday night, and he hired this
guy in a plane with a flyer
behind it, flying around the
city advertising wrestling the
next night!
So the secretary called me and
said, “Sandy, you’re not going
to believe what’s going on
here!’ And I said, ‘What now?’
Chappell/Bourne: (laughs)
Scott: (laughing) She
said, “We’ve got a guy up in an
airplane flying around at
5:00…traffic jam time! People
don’t want to be looking up…they
just want to get home!”
I said, ‘WHAT? Who okayed that?’
She said as far as she knew it
was Don Glass. And I told her if
Don Glass did it then Herd had
to okay it.
So I got back on Saturday, and
we had the matches that night,
and had the $81,000 house. I
went in and got the sheets, and
saw that they paid this guy
$3,500 to fly this thing around
for a few minutes!
Chappell: Wow!
Scott: I said, ‘What the
hell?!’ They said it was a
receipt for the plane…they
thought it was a great deal!
Bourne: (laughing) And
you got that great drive-time
radio publicity for only 150
bucks!
Scott: (laughing) I know!
I went in Monday morning and
said, ‘That’s it, I don’t want
it anymore.’
Chappell: What year did
you leave Turner, Sandy?
Scott: 1995 or 1996. I
took it for five years. That was
enough.
Jim Herd…he would listen, but
that was it. He wouldn’t do
anything else.
Chappell: Herd had no
background in the wrestling
business, did he?
Scott: No. One day I was
down in the production room
watching some tapes in
production, and I saw Ole
Anderson watching a main event
they had done up in Chicago.
Here comes Herd coming in,
busting the door open. And he
goes right to Ole, and starts in
on Ole…
Chappell: Not too smart!
Scott: Yeah…wrong guy!
Chappell/Bourne:
(laughing)
Scott: Herd said, “What
did I tell you about Chicago;
what did I tell you about
Chicago?!” Ole said, “What the
hell are you talking about? What
about Chicago?” Herd said, “I
wanted everything nice and neat,
and what happened up there?” Ole
said, “I’ve got the match right
here; sit down and watch it.”
Herd looked at it, saw nothing
was wrong, and walked out!
Chappell: That’s crazy!
Scott: That’s the way he
was. Somebody said something to
him…that Ole had done something
in Chicago.
Chappell: That had to be
hard to deal with day after day.
Scott: That’s the way it
was. And then their lawyers were
problems too.
Klondike Bill was our ring guy
in Charlotte, and I brought him
over to Turner. And Klondike
came to me one time and said
that we had about 275,000 miles
on a truck, and we really needed
a new truck. So, I told him I’d
see what I could do about it.
So, I went into Herd and I said,
‘Jim, we’re going to need a new
truck before we pay anymore
money on this old truck.’ Herd
said, “Alright, go around and
get some figures, and take the
best figure.” I said, ‘Okay.’
What a mistake…I should have
gotten it in writing!
Went to Atlanta,
went to Charlotte…finally down
in Florida we got a truck for 35
grand. So I got an order form,
and had Bill go down to
Florida…he got the truck and
brought it back up.
So later, the accountant comes
up to me and says, “What the
hell is this $35,000 in here
for?” I told them it was for a
new truck, and the accountant
asked me who the hell gave
permission to do that. I told
them Herd did…
Chappell: Oh no…
Scott: So the accountant
calls into Herd, and Herd says,
“I didn’t know he was going to
get a new truck.”
Chappell: Figures!
Scott: I came in and told
Herd, ‘Jim, you were sitting
right in that chair and told me
to do what I had to do.’ He
paused and said, “Oh, well,
maybe I did; maybe I did.”
Then he said, “How much did it
cost…$35,000? Yeah, okay, that’s
fine.”
Chappell/Bourne:
(laughing)
Scott: I went back and
said, ‘This is enough for me…I
can’t operate like this.’
Bourne: Was Herd scared
of the accountants and the
lawyers?
Scott: Yeah. They gave
the accountant a certain amount
of money to handle for a year in
the area. And then the
accountant, who was a nice guy,
said, “The next time you spend
some of my money like that, get
it in writing, because this
guy’s done that before.” I said,
‘There ain’t gonna be a next
time!’
Chappell/Bourne:
(laughing)
Scott: I said, ‘I’m
finished…that’s it!’
Chappell: That must have
been incredibly difficult to
deal with!
Going back a number years,
another thing that had to be
very difficult to deal with was
the aftermath of the Wilmington
plane crash in October of 1975.
Tell us about how the
Mid-Atlantic territory dealt
with that catastrophic event.
Scott: I think I was in
Greenville, South Carolina when
that happened. I was living in
Greenville, South Carolina at
the time. My brother called me.
And on the card coming up in
Greenville we had Flair,
Valentine and Bruggers scheduled
to be there. George called, and
said we were going to have to
cancel the show. I said, ‘What’s
the problem?’ He said there was
a plane crash, and told me who
was involved. David Crockett had
a head injury, Flair broke his
back, Valentine had back and
neck injuries.
So, we cancelled the [show] in
Greenville. The plane crash hurt
the territory real bad. Flair
and Valentine were top guys. It
hurt us bad for a while.
Chappell: You all
certainly had to scramble then
to keep the ship afloat.
Scott: Yeah, Blackjack
Mulligan came back in. Superstar
Graham came in for a little
while, and we brought Angelo
Mosca in. We tried to get it
built back up again…which
eventually it did. But it took a
lot of work…a heck of a lot of
work.
Chappell: It had to be
tough, because Flair was being
groomed as a top guy, was really
starting to hit his stride, and
then he suffered the back injury
in the plane crash.
Sandy, do you remember about ten
years later, when they were
grooming a new “Nature Boy,”
Buddy Landel?!
Scott: (laughs) Buddy
Landel was like a little Flair!
Chappell/Bourne:
(laughing)
Scott: I mean, the thing
with Landel could have been as
big as anything we ever had. But
Landel went nuts…drugs and crap.
Chappell: Who knows how
far that could have gone…the mid
1980s could have been so
different if the Landel thing
had gone to the heights.
What other Mid-Atlantic programs
do you remember as being
important to the promotion?
Scott: (pauses) Flair and
Mulligan, where Flair’s $10,000
robe gets torn up!
Chappell: The Hat and
Robe! That did some incredible
business.
Scott: Oh, gosh, yeah!!
And Superstar and Mulligan…
Chappell: Right, that
program really followed on the
heels of the Hat and Robe in
1978.
Scott: But the thing with
Flair and Mulligan really stands
out. Flair conversed with the
fans about that beautiful robe,
if you ever noticed. Once
somebody did what Mulligan did,
regardless of Flair being a bad
guy, I think the people wanted
to see Flair try to get his
vengeance. Eventually, have a
match with Mulligan. That was
big!
Chappell: Flair and Ricky
Steamboat also had a great
rivalry!
Scott: Great wrestling,
great wrestling. Steamboat had
great matches with a few of
them!
Chappell: I’ve always
heard that it was almost
impossible to have a bad match
with Ricky Steamboat.
Scott: Ricky was great.
Do you all remember another
Steamboat, Sam Steamboat?
Chappell: Yes, I think
Ricky referred to Sam as his
brother a time or two on TV.
Scott: Sam came in from
Hawaii…
Chappell: Sam and Tim
Woods were a good team if I
recall.
Scott: Yeah, that would
have probably been in the late
60s or early 70s.
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