PART TWO


THE GATEWAY INTERVIEW:

SANDY SCOTT

 

PART ONE

PART TWO

PART THREE

PART FOUR


 

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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.

 
 

CONTINUED IN PART 3

 

 


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