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BOOK DETAILS Paperback: 360 pages Dimensions: 6x9 Publisher: Crowbar Press Cover: Full color 208 B&W photographs ISBN: 0-9745545-2-9 Item #: cbp02-jj Price: $24.95
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EXCERPTS J.J. tells his life story in an honest and refreshing way, and presents an inside look at the wrestling business as it has never been told before.
JIM’S FIRST MATCH — VINELAND, NEW JERSEY Juan "Hawk" Rodriguez and I worked out together in the gym, then wrestled at the Vineland Speedway on July 11, 1962. This was four years after Johnny Valentine’s first appearance in New York, but he was still a big drawing card in the territory. I thought so much of Johnny that I used the name Jim Valence for that first match. That was the first time I wrestled in front of people—and I had no training whatsoever. I’m sure that it showed in my performance. In fact, I know that it did, because I still have an old 8mm film of the match. But it was a milestone in life for me. The main event on the card that night featured Miguel Perez, who used to be Argentina Rocca’s tag team partner, against Hans Schmidt.
BEING ASKED TO REFEREE IN PHILADELPHIA, PENNSYLVANIA Sometime in the winter of 1963, Philadelphia was hit with a horrendous snowstorm. Bruce and I were able to get from Reading to the studio in downtown Philadelphia to set up the ring. Enough of the wrestlers made it to go ahead with the show, but no referee showed up. It was strange that Bruce and I were able to drive in from Reading, but the referees, who all lived in Philadelphia, weren’t able to make it. I don’t remember who was in charge, but somebody looked around and said, "Well, we need somebody to referee." It was spontaneous, but if you had seen it in a movie, it couldn’t have looked more staged. Everyone turned at the same moment and looked directly at me. "Hey, kid. Can you referee?" "Oh, yeah. Sure I can." The wrestlers seemed to like me, so they were all for having me as the referee, even though I was a green kid who had never done anything in the business other than sell programs and set up the ring. After somebody found a shirt for me to wear, I walked up the aisle, climbed up the ring steps, and stepped through the ropes into the ring for the first match. "Ladies and Gentlemen. Your referee for the evening ... Jim Morrison!" I was so excited that it was happening, I don’t remember asking a lot of questions before that first match. I don’t even remember what they told me. The only instructions I can recall were, "Just walk around three sides of the ring and keep your ass out of the camera." I refereed for the entire hour. Obviously, my instincts kicked in and I did exactly what they wanted. I had watched so much wrestling that I was smart without being smart, and I instinctively knew what to do. I was in heaven, but before I knew it, my hour of glory was over. That was the shortest sixty minutes of my life.
WORKING HARDCORE BEFORE HARDCORE WAS POPULAR In order to keep the Beast strong when I beat him for the title, I used a chain to knock him out. The Beast wanted me to cut his head open with the chain, which is what we called a hardway [not using a blade, but actually drawing blood by hitting your opponent with your knuckles or an object], so that he could go to the hospital and get stitches. When the time was right, I pulled out the chain and hit him twice. The chain left two pink marks on his forehead, but no blood. I whispered, "Ohhh, man! I can’t do this. It’s just not me." He growled back at me, "Just clobber me, man!" I hit him a third time and busted his eyebrow wide open. It was what the Cormiers wanted, but it was sickening. He went to the hospital that night and got stitched up. When I saw him at the TV taping the next morning, I immediately started apologizing. "Ahh, it’s good for the business," he said, brushing my apology aside.
THE TRANSITION FROM WRESTLER TO MANAGER That was one of the few times in my career when I let my ego get the best of me. I went to the ring that night to show the other boys, and the fans, that I was a quality worker. I felt like a lot of the guys had forgotten that I was a pretty fair worker in my day. It wasn’t something that I dwelled on, but deep down, it really bothered me. I wanted to show everyone that I was a good worker, and it was the wrong thing to do — for the match, for the town, and for my career as a manager. What I lost track of was the fact that the wrestling fans in Houston didn’t see me as a wrestler. They saw me as a loudmouth, not-so-hot, chickensh— manager. The things that I did in the ring with Gino — high spots, bumps, and timing — were not consistent with the character that I had developed, or what I was portrayed to be. If I had been the great worker that I thought I was at the time, I would have gone out and worked like a manager. I would have used the skills that I was blessed with in that type of a match. Instead, I went out and let my ego get the best of me. I tried to have a great match and steal the show. It was stupid on my part. As I look back on it now, I can see that it made no sense. Paul Boesch was 100% correct.
WORKING FOR VINCE MCMAHON AND THE WWF Vince wanted it both ways. He had people with a wrestling background who worked within his corporate structure. He would always say, "You’re not a wrestler anymore. You’re an employee working for a company." He would say that he wanted us to be professional, and not have a wrestler’s mentality—whatever that meant—and yet, when he cut salaries, instead of cutting 5% across the board of all management, he cherry picked only those people in management who were veteran wrestling people — Jim Ross, Howard Finkel, Jerry Brisco, Pat Patterson, Alfred Hayes, and myself. Other corporate people were not affected, and that was what I took extreme issue with. If Vince had said, "Okay, until we get over this hurdle, everybody in management has to take a 5% pay cut until we can rebound and recover," I would not have had a problem with that. But instead, the disdain that Vince held towards wrestlers finally showed itself. He isolated a small group of people—the former wrestlers—and our salaries were cut from about 25% to 40%.
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