Chappell: One of my
favorite Mid-Atlantic programs
were the 1975 battles between
the Andersons and Paul Jones and
Wahoo McDaniel. They would go to
draws in 90 minute and two hour
time limit matches. Wrestling
doesn’t see matches of anything
close to that length anymore.
Who do you remember as being the
top guys in long, long matches?
Scott: The Andersons
could do it well. Tim Woods
couldn’t. Steamboat could really
do it.
When you’re doing an hour, 90
minutes or two hours, you really
had to pace yourself. You also
had to have the psychology to
keep the fans into it.
Bourne: That might be the
most important thing.
Scott: I once saw Johnny
Valentine for thirty-five
minutes lay down with an arm
lock…and the people were going
crazy! THIRTY-FIVE minutes!
Chappell: I remember one
time in Richmond, Ken Patera
kept Johnny Valentine in a
headlock for about 30 minutes,
and the fans were on the edge of
their seats…wondering if
Valentine would pass out!
Valentine’s facial expressions
were priceless!
Bourne: It doesn’t have to
be hard, does it?
Scott: No…not at all.
Bourne: Just keep it
simple…
Scott: Harley Race, Jack
Brisco and Pat O’Connor all kept
it simple, and these guys had
great matches…great matches.
I watched Jack Brisco and Pat
O’Connor in St. Louis go
fifty-nine minutes. I mean it
was action all the way. You’ve
got to have it upstairs…if you
don’t have it upstairs, you
can’t keep the fans in it.
Bourne: Who in your mind
were some of the best NWA
Champs?
Scott: (pauses) Harley
Race. Jack Brisco. Dory Funk,
Jr. Those three guys were tough
when they came into the
territory.
Now, Dory Funk is another one of
those guys who could get a
standing wrist lock on for
twenty-five minutes!
Chappell/Bourne: (laughs)
September 10, 1970 • Norfolk VA
Scott: It was kind of
hard on the other guy. Dory knew
what he was doing, but the other
guy had to keep moving around,
keep trying to escape and get
out of it.
Of course, we had people set for
[the World Champ] when they came
into the territory. You could
bring a Champion in and put them
against so-and-so, and nothing
happens. But if you have a
Mulligan set to go against the
Champ, then you get a house.
Chappell: Whenever the
NWA World Champ came into a
town, it was usually a
spectacular card. But the first
true mega-card in the
Mid-Atlantic area was Starrcade
1983. What are your thoughts on
the first Starrcade?
Scott: The first one was
in Greensboro…and Starrcade was
Greensboro’s baby. We didn’t
expect we were going to have
what we had. We figured maybe a
half or three quarters…and it
was packed, every time we ran it
in Greensboro.
Same type of thing with the
Great American Bash.
Chappell: Who came up
with the concept for Starrcade?
Scott: I think that was
Dusty Rhodes’ deal. And so was
the Great American Bash…that was
Dusty’s deal too.
Bourne: You were events
coordinator for Crockett at that
time, weren’t you? I remember
your on air role then was to
come on and announce the big
towns, that David Allan Coe
would be there….
Chappell: Yeah, we knew
if Sandy came out there was
gonna be a big announcement!
Scott: (laughing) That
was another thing with those
Bashes, you know we had the
talent, but they wanted to give
the people a little something
extra.
So, Dusty comes into my office
and says, “See if you can get
Hank.” I said, ‘Hank Williams?’
Dusty said, “Yeah, yeah…Hank and
I are good buddies.”
Chappell/Bourne:
(laughing)
Scott: So, I call Buddy
Lee down in Nashville. I told
Buddy we needed to get a hold of
Hank Williams for the Great
American Bash. Buddy gave me
Hank’s number, even though he
wasn’t supposed to give out that
number.
So, I called him. He got on the
phone, and I said, ‘Hank, this
is Sandy Scott from Jim Crockett
Promotions. Dusty Rhodes wants
to know if you’d be interested
in appearing at the Great
American Bash.’
Immediately, the phone went
dead! CLICK!
Chappell/Bourne:
(laughing hard)
Bourne: (laughing)
Dusty’s good buddy hung up the
phone on you!
Scott: (laughing) So, I
wandered on into Dusty’s office.
Dusty said, “Hey, did you get
Hank; did you get Hank?”
I said, ‘No, Dusty, he hung up
on me when I mentioned your
name!’
Chappell/Bourne:
(laughing hard)
Chappell: What was
Dusty’s comeback to that?
Scott: He said, “Awww,
that guy…he plays games.”
I said, ‘Yeah…sure.’
Chappell/Bourne:
(laughing)
Scott: Then he said,
“Aww…see if you can get that
girl singer down in Miami.”
Bourne: Gloria Estefan?
Scott: Yeah…that’s her.
Miami Sound Machine.
So, I got a hold of her
promotional person. And he said,
“Yeah, that date is open…for
$100,000.”
Chappell: 100 grand?
Whew!
Scott: I said, ‘I don’t
think so. Goodbye.’
Chappell/Bourne:
(laughing)
Scott: Then Dusty said,
“Did you get her…did you get
her??”
I said, ‘For $100,000?’ He said,
“Oh…no, forget it, forget it.”
Chappell/Bourne:
(laughing)
Scott: Dusty said, “Okay,
let’s see who else we can get…” Finally Dusty
said, “You…you go figure it
out.”
So, I call Buddy Lee again!
Chappell: Good move!
Scott: I told Buddy we
had some Bashes coming up, and
were still looking for somebody.
He said we could help out David
Allan Coe, who was going through
a tough time. The tax people
were hitting him hard. So, Buddy gave me
his number…and I call David.
I said, ‘David, I’ve got five
Great American Bashes on these
dates. Are you free?’ He paused,
and said, “If I ain’t, I am
now!” He asked me what
it paid, and I said five grand.
He said, “You got it.”
So, I go back, and I tell Dusty.
Dusty said, “Oh geez…that guy is
a motorcycle guy; he’s
terrible!”
Chappell: (laughs) Dusty
knows all!
Scott: I said, ‘If he was
that bad, Buddy wouldn’t have
told me about him.’ So I went into
Jimmy Crockett before Dusty
could and said, ‘We got David
Allan Coe…he’s great!’ Jimmy
said, “Okay.”
I got down to the football field
in Charlotte at about 9:00 in
the morning to get everything
set up. About 2:30 in the
afternoon, here comes David’s
bus. It stops; he rolls the
window down, and asks me where
he wants me to park. I told him
to park right behind the stands,
so you know he can get right up
on the stage. So, he goes and he
parks. And he asks for half his
money up front, and the other
half after the show was over.
You know, usually those guys
want the money before they even
get there.
Then he asked me what I wanted…
Chappell: As far as his
performance?
Scott: Right. I said,
‘About a half an hour. We have
the wrestling, and a guy coming
down, jumping from a plane.’
Then he asked me
if I wanted a good show or a bad
show. In other words, do you
want bad language or good
language?
I told him it was a family show
and he said, “You got it.”
That guy went out there for
about forty minutes. We got a
plane flying around waiting for
this guy to get done, and get
off the stage. And the place was
packed…I think there were
upwards of 25,000 people. (laughing) So I’m
telling the guy…get off the
stage, get off the stage!
Finally, they get
off the stage. We’re about
twenty minutes late now. But the
guy jumps out of the plane, they
play the music, the first match
is on…bang, bang, bang, bang.
Then we go on to Greensboro for
that Bash. We use David Allan
Coe there also. He gets up on
the stage and checks the
sound…and there comes Dusty.
Chappell: Uh oh.
Scott: I’m over there,
and I hear Dusty say to David,
“How about doing a duet
together?”
Bourne: (laughing) I
remember seeing clips of that on
television.
Scott: (laughs) I said,
‘WHAT?’
Bourne: (laughing) Dusty
just had to get on stage!
Scott: (laughing) So the
night comes, and the house is
packed again. David goes out,
and he does a great job. The guy
really did a great job for us.
Finally, here comes Dusty out.
David says, “Do ya’ll know this
guy? He’s gonna sing a little
song with us!” So they sang
Johnny Be Good, or something
like that!
I’m standing down there, and I
said, ‘Goddamn, he can’t let
this guy have the spotlight
without sticking his nose into
it!’
We go from
Greensboro, to Bristol to
Charleston, West Virginia…same
thing!
Chappell/Bourne:
(laughing)
Scott: Same thing!
Bourne: Did Buddy Lee
help you get some other acts,
because you had some different
people in some of the other
towns.
Scott: Yes…we used Waylon
Jennings in Charleston. We had
George Jones in Cincinnati. The
guy in Texas…
Bourne: Joe Ely. He was
an up and comer at the time.
He’s still doing stuff on the
outlaw country circuit.
Scott: Is he? That guy
was a heck of a song writer.
We go to Charleston, West
Virginia. We used Waylon
Jennings, and their contract
called for food and stuff. But I
told them no alcohol…we weren’t
allowed to supply them with
alcohol at all. Food, but no
alcohol.
I get up there, and there’s a
packed house again. Here comes
Waylon’s manager, “Waylon’s not
going on.”
Bourne: Uh oh.
Scott: Waylon said all
the chairs were turned the wrong
way…he wanted all the chairs
turned back at ringside so the
people could sit and watch.
I said, ‘WHAT?!’
Chappell: Geez!
Scott: I said all they
had to do was straddle their
chairs. But that wasn’t good
enough for Waylon.
So, I get with John Robinson the
building manager, and got him
down there. I told him that’s
what they wanted to do. He said
he wasn’t sending guys out there
to change all those chairs!
Chappell: A lot of
chairs!
Scott: Yeah, there were
probably a thousand chairs on
the floor.
Waylon’s manager came up to me
again, and I said, ‘No, we’re
not doing it.’ We’re already
about fifteen minutes late.
Guess who comes up to me…out of
nowhere?
Chappell: Who?
Scott: David Allan Coe!
Chappell/Bourne:
(laughing)
Scott: (laughing) I said,
‘Hey David, how are you?’ He
said he was just in Louisville,
and was passing through on his
way heading to Washington.
He asked me how things were
going.
Chappell: (laughing) Not
too great at the moment, right?!
Scott: I told David that
I had a problem with Waylon. I
told David what was going on,
and he said, “Let me handle
Waylon.”
Chappell: What happened?
Scott: He goes in and
gets Waylon, and they go out on
the stage…and they do thirty
minutes! And then be brings
Jesse (Coulter) out, and Jesse
does the same.
I go back in and thank David for
his help with Waylon, and a
newspaper guy is standing near
us listening to all this stuff.
The next morning I get up and
get the newspaper, and there was
a piece titled something like,
“The People Are Saying That
Waylon Jennings Knows The
Wrestling Fans Win.”
Bourne: (laughing) That
newspaper writer had good ears!
Scott: We also had an
interesting situation with
George Jones in Cincinnati. I
get a call about 4:00 in the
afternoon. It was George
Jones…he said, “I can’t make it;
I can’t make it.” I asked him
why, and he said, “I missed the
plane!”
Chappell/Bourne:
(laughing)
Scott: I said, ‘George,
this is a very important thing
for us. Get a private plane, and
have them fly you up.’ He said,
“Oh God, uh, uh, uh…”
Chappell/Bourne:
(laughing)
Scott: I said, ‘George,
we need you up here.’
For the Bashes we started at
7:30 with the entertainment, and
George didn’t show at 7:30. We
started the matches at 8:00, and
then at 8:30 here comes George
in.
Now, he was getting 20 grand for
this…
Chappell: Wow!
Scott: He had his wife
with him…she did his business. I
told her, ‘He was supposed to be
here an hour ago.’ And she said
they had plane trouble and all
this stuff, this and that.
I said, ‘Okay, after this match
have him go on…for about 25
minutes.’ He goes out, and sings
two songs, and away he goes.
Bourne: 20 grand!
Scott: Yep…20 grand.
Chappell: Sandy, we saw
you on air with the Great
American Bashes, but probably
the on air role you’re
remembered for most by
Mid-Atlantic fans was the angle
with Ricky Steamboat and Jay
Youngblood again Sergeant
Slaughter and Don Kernodle …the
contract signing for that epic
match in Greensboro in March of
1983.
Did you enjoy those on air, NWA
troubleshooter roles?
Scott: I did, David, I
really did. And I always wanted
to see the outcome of those
things, because that’s how you
judged how you did. And the
outcome of the
Steamboat/Youngblood, Sarge and
Kernodle thing was superb. That
was a very excellent deal there.
Chappell: Was there any
idea that angle would be as big
as it was?
Scott: No…we never
thought it would be THAT big!
Chappell: The traffic
jams in and around Greensboro,
turning all those people away.
Scott: But that’s what
you look at, when you have those
things. You know, how it came
off. And that one came off
excellent.
Bourne: There again, we
knew it was a big deal when
Sandy came out to do the
contract signing for that!
You also had the one with Nikita
Koloff and Magnum T.A., where
Magnum jumps over the table and
they start fighting...
Chappell: Magnum’s mom
was there?
Scott: Right, right!
Bourne: Even as late as
the Turner days, you had those
types of on air roles.
Chappell: And earlier, in
1982, you were the promotion’s
spokesman for the NWA World Tag
Team Title Tournament, where
there were eastern and western
division winners, and I believe
in each city along the way there
were $25,000 purses.
Scott: That was a long
drawn out thing!
Chappell: It definitely
was…
Scott: It was pretty
close to midnight at one of the
arenas, where we did one of
those deals.
Chappell: It went on
forever…
Scott: Oh yeah! Gosh
yeah. But we had great talent in
those tournaments. And if you
sit back and watch good talent,
it’s very pleasing, you know?
Chappell: Speaking of
good talent, as we start to wind
down, I was hoping I could hit
you with the names of some
Mid-Atlantic stars, and get your
thoughts on them?
Scott: Sounds good…fire
away.
Chappell: How about one
of the Gateway’s good friends,
“Number One” Paul Jones?
Scott: Paul Jones was an
excellent manager, and a good
wrestler. You never had to worry
about him…he was always there,
on time. You know, Paul was a
good guy.
Chappell: Your thoughts
on the favorite of many, “Chief”
Wahoo McDaniel.
Scott: Wahoo was a little
different!
Chappell: (laughing)
Explain please…and remember this
is a family show!
Scott: Wahoo meant well,
but he got lost sometimes. You’d
tell him to be somewhere at
6:00, and he’s show up at a
quarter to 7:00.
He was sorta an independent type
of guy…
Chappell: He marched to
the beat of his own drum!
Scott: He did, but when
he got in that ring, he gave it
everything he had. So, you can’t
fault him on that.
Chappell: Tell us about
the “Dean of Wrestling,” Johnny
Weaver.
Sandy Scott and Johnny Weaver,
circa 1972
Scott: Johnny Weaver was
an excellent ambassador. Johnny
was very good with the fans. He
did great in whatever he did,
and he loved the fans. He was a
great ambassador.
Chappell: What about the
“King,” Rufus R. “Freight Train”
Jones?
Scott: (laughing) Rufus
R. Jones! Good guy, good guy. I
used to rib him all the time!
He told me he was going back to
Kansas City and open up a
barbeque restaurant. And I said,
‘I hope you really do, Rufus.’
Rufus was a good guy.
He’d get in there in the ring,
and give all that he had too. He
passed away several years ago, I
believe. I used to tease
him. We would work out in the
mornings…Rufus wouldn’t, but we
would.
Chappell/Bourne:
(laughing)
Scott: Rufus would come
into the office, and say, “What
have you been doing?” I said, ‘I
worked out this morning.’ Rufus
said, “So did I.” I told him,
‘Yeah, I know you did. I went
down I-85 this morning and saw
you running with a TV on your
back.’
Chappell/Bourne:
(laughing)
Chappell: Another big
Mid-Atlantic name that now lives
here in the Roanoke area, is
Jimmy “Boogie Woogie Man”
Valiant.
Scott: He came into the
territory from Memphis. I
remember him calling Jimmy
Crockett in to show him a tape
that he brought up from Memphis.
Valiant was riding a motorcycle
in the tape.
So, they’re in there, and I hear
my name being called. Jimmy
Crockett asked me to come in and
look at this tape, and tell him
what I thought of Valiant. So, I
sat down and looked at it, and I
liked what I saw.
Pretty soon, he was in the
territory working. 275 pounds, I
mean, he looked fantastic.
Chappell: The “Boogie
Woogie Man” gimmick caught fire.
Scott: Later, the thing
with Big Mama took off also.
I got to know the guy real well,
and I liked him a lot. People
loved him!
Chappell: Another great
friend of the Gateway is
Blackjack Mulligan. What are
your memories of Blackjack?
Scott: Blackjack Mulligan
was sort of a loner. But he was
always there on time, and when
he got into the ring he
produced. He was always an
action sort of a guy.
Chappell: One of
Blackjack’s partners, and later
opponents, was Greg “The Hammer”
Valentine.
Scott: Oh, Greg Valentine
was another loner. But he was
also always there on time, and
when he got into that ring, he
did his job. He worked very
hard.
Chappell: A great
Mid-Atlantic performer from the
mid 70s to the early 80s was the
Masked Superstar, Bill Eadie.
Scott: I think Bill Eadie
is still going today!
Bourne: He is…sure is!
Scott: Yeah, Bill Eadie
reminds me of a schoolteacher…
Bourne: You know that’s
what he does for a living
now....
Scott: Oh, he does?
Bourne: He works in a
school in Georgia that takes
kids that have been in trouble.
He’s one of their
counselors/teachers/enforcers.
Scott: Oh, really?! No, I
didn’t know that!
Bourne: Matter of fact,
all the money he earns when he
wrestles now, he gives to the
school. The school is
non-profit, and their funding
gets cut a lot.
Scott: That’s fantastic.
He’s a good guy. I liked him. He
was very knowledgeable.
He gave it his all when he was
in the ring.
Chappell: Tell us about
the “Pride of the USA,” Don
Kernodle.
Scott: Don Kernodle was a
home grown guy. He needed
somebody with him, to push him.
He teamed up with Jim Nelson,
and they became a darn good
team.
But on his own, he was a slow
starter.
Chappell: Don didn’t
really move up the cards until
he teamed up with our friend Jim
Nelson, and then with Slaughter,
and things really took off for
him then.
Scott: (laughing) He
teamed up with Jim Nelson?
Another slow starter!!
Chappell/Bourne:
(laughing, along with Jim
Nelson!)
Bourne: (laughing) The
next guy on the list…tell us
about Private Jim Nelson!
Scott: I didn’t know much
about Jim when he came in. I
knew of his name. He and
Kernodle certainly became a very
good team.
Chappell: Mid-Atlantic
Tag Team Champions!
Scott: That’s right…the
Privates!
Chappell: Speaking again
of Kernodle, he got his
introduction, some may say
initiation, into the Crockett
territory, by Bob Roop. The
$2,000 challenge thing. Tell us
about Roop.
Scott: Roop was a real
tough guy. And he’s also a
school teacher now. I see him
down at the Mobile reunion…and
he told me he’s teaching up in
Michigan.
Chappell: Another big
star in the time period of
Kernodle’s later career, well
after Roop broke Don in so to
speak, was Jay Youngblood.
Scott: Oh, Jay Youngblood
was a real wild guy. When he got
in the ring he was 100%.
Jay was excellent, but he went
down the wrong road, I guess.
Chappell: Did you see any
evidence of the alleged drug use
by Jay, when you were around
him?
Scott: I have never seen
anybody take a drug, steroid, or
anything like that…in all the
time I was in the business.
Never.
And I was shocked to hear about
that with Jay. Terrible.
CONTINUED IN PART 4
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