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Wrestling-News.com Interviews
"Mr Wonderful" Paul Orndorff
The
Blackhearts & Wrestling-News.com had the pleasure to speak with "Mr.
Wonderful" Paul Orndorff. From his Mid-Atlantic days, to Wrestlemania, WCW
Power Plant, and today, he speaks on the memories of his career, good and bad.
Paul shoots on the War in Iraq, Hogan, Politics in wrestling, WCW Power Plant,
Roddy Piper, Jimmy Snuka, movie roles Vince axed, being pelted with batteries
and darts by fans, the current state of wrestling, his feelings on Bischoff and
so much more.
If you were a fan of Mr. Wonderful, you will enjoy this interview. Below is a
transcript of the interview. However, I assure you that you will be much
more entertained if you listen to the audio, and Mr Wonderful himself
(especially about the War In Iraq). There are two links/formats below.
CLICK HERE FOR REAL MEDIA FORMAT:
CLICK HERE FOR WINDOWS MEDIA FORMAT:
Interview with: Paul Orndorff
Interviewers: "The Blackhearts" / Wrestling-News.com
Hosts: Matt Zombie, Brian Damage
Conducted on: April 19, 2003
Transcribed by Michael “The Fox” KopStick on behalf of Wrestling-News.com
OPENING UP TALKING ON FEUDING WITH HOGAN IN THE 80’s
The interview starts off talking about Hogan, Orndorff’s infamous “heel turn”,
and Wrestlemania One. Matt first brings up Paul’s memorable series of main
event matches in the 1980’s that he had with Hulk Hogan, the infamous Saturday
Night’s Main Event cage match the two had together, when both wrestlers’ feet touched
the floor. If you remember the angle. Both referees Danny Davis and Joey
Morella got into a shoving match on who the winner was (for anyone interested,
the WWF at the time did release the match on one of their compilation tapes).
Paul says that Hogan did a lot for wrestling, “but I brought him to that next
level.”.
BEING THE "RING GENERAL” OF THE WWF LOCKER ROOM
Orndorff prides himself on being the guy that WWF was able to look towards to
carry matches with weaker opponents. Growing up in a trailer park, he recounts
how he had to fight for everything he ever had ever gotten. He doesn’t see
himself as a politician type so he therefore had to truly earn what was given
to him. He says Vince McMahon even came over to him once and told him, “Paul,
you’re too honest,” as he is the type of guy that only says what is on his
mind.
ORNDORFF's A REPULICAN (And Probably Doesn’t Like The Dixie Chicks!)
Speaking of politics, Paul tells us “I’m a Republican, I’m for this country.
What we’re doing [in Iraq] is the right thing to do. You’ve got all these
democrats that are so mad because of all these special interest groups and all
this money that is being taken to the war so they aren’t going to be able to
take [that money] to the fruit stand.” Matt strongly agrees. Orndorff continues
how, although we do not want war, it is all linked back to September 11th.
“These guys are a threat to us,” he assures. “And they proved that. These
people that are talking to Jesse Jackson and that senator or congressman from
New Yrok, whoever he is, let me tell you something, I want to spit in his face.
I mean, that takes gall, to cut down this Daschall and what he has to say about
the president. Let me tell you something, you think [we have problems with
terrorists now?] Just think, just think, if we would have Clinton or Gore for
president.”
He finds that a major democratic downfall was when they took God and religion
out of schools.
WWF POLITICS
WWF in the 80’s was like a “shark tank and you had all these politicians up
there,” he recalls.
HIS HEEL TURN ON HOGAN
Matt asks him whose idea it was for him to turn on Hogan after they were
teaming for quite a while. It happened during a match when he and Hogan were up
against Bobby Heenan’s connection of Bundy and John Studd. During that match,
Paul switched alliances and assisted Heenan’s stable and the rest is history.
Orndorff responds by saying how he and Hogan used to “have words” once in a
while and they weren’t the best of buddies. “Was he my best buddy? Nope. Would
I help him if he had a flat tire at the side of the road? Nope. But, that’s the
way it is… I will say this, though, he was very powerful and had all the
political stuff going for him.”
Orndorff feels that because of Hogan’s politics, he didn’t get to be WWF champion,
even though he believes that he deserved a run with the title.
WWF’s UNDESERVING CHAMPIONS
The downfall of the WWF belt, Orndorff says, was when they put it on Randy
Savage because “a world champion needs to be somebody that knows how to
wrestle.” In his opinion, Savage couldn’t carry the ball.
If Paul himself would have won the belt, though, he goes on to say, it would
have taken Hogan’s stardom to a new level. “I was ahead of Hogan in my thinking
of this. They weren’t thinking that way. I was ahead of them.”
Brian Damage brings up how Hogan also didn’t want to job the belt away to Bret
Hart due to Hogan feeling that Hart was too small to hold the championship.
Orndorff actually agrees with Hogan’s opinion regarding the Hart matter. He
also felt that Yokozuna didn’t deserve to be champion. “Those guys aren’t
champions,” he states.
IT WAS A SHOOT?
Matt reverts back to his original question of whose idea it was to have
Orndorff turn on Hogan and join Bobby Heenan’s stable. Paul answers by telling
us, “Well, you see, this whole thing, when it happened, it wasn’t planned. See,
I had a plan when I went in there, and the plan was to be the best and baddest
heel that there was in this business. And I did it. And I didn’t do it with a
lot of political help or anything. I didn’t have a green light. All I had was a
caution light. And I took advantage of the situation and there it went. BAM! it
took off. Because I had a plan. This wasn’t really supposed to happen.”
MAIN EVENTING WRESTLEMANIA ONE
How did Paul feel about Mr. T coming in to participate in the main event of the
first ever Wrestlemania even though he wasn’t a wrestler? “Well, I can tell you
this, he was not going to come in there and make me look bad, it was that
simple. Case closed.”
The Wrestlemania era was one of the greatest times in his life, he recalls. He
gives a lot of credit to Vince McMahon who was the mastermind behind
everything. “Vince wanted to take over the world. And he took over the world.
And I was a part of that. I was the fullback on that team. That’s a pretty
ballsy act what he did and I respect him for that.”
The downfall of Vince McMahon going national was that it took away from the
territorial promotions because now, young guys can’t really learn how to
wrestle and make much of a living from the independent scene.
There’s more to wrestling than just taking bumps, Paul feels; you also have to
tell a story. He finds that most wrestlers are just out there flying around,
bumping all over the place, and not telling stories. This is why he went to the
WCW Power Plant to train wrestlers, because he wanted to ensure that the young
boys do that.
TITO SANTANA AND BARBECUED BEANS?
You'll have to hear it for yourself to enjoy this story.
GETTING PELTED WITH BATTERIES & DARTS BY FANS:
Paul feels that being a heel is an art. It's not just fans booing you, but
hating you. There is a difference of a fan hating you and wanting to see your
ass kicked, and a fan hating you and wanting you off TV . (Reminds me of HHH).
He says that his heel heet he had in his feuds got so severe, he was being
pelted with Batteries, Food, Bottles, Even Darts. He would literally ride with
the ambulance to the arena so noone would see him, have his match, then ride
back to the hotel the same way.
WRESTLING 2003: WHO’s GOT IT?
He says Brock Lesnar “has go it” because he’s a “freak.” He feels that the WWF
needs to bring in more “freaks” , as well as psychology.
What about John Cena, Matt asks Paul. “Who’s that?” he replies.
He takes pride that when Vince “drafted” WCW wrestlers after buying out the
promotion, five of the wrestlers he chose were guys that Paul trained at the
Power Plant. He says that when he worked with them he could spot that they had
talent and so he focused on developing them. “I think I have a pretty good eye
on who can and who can’t. Kurt Angle has caught on pretty well, and let me tell
you, anyone who can win a gold medal, he’s bad.” He also sees Rock having a lot
of talent. He finds that Johnny the Bull, whom he also trained at the Power
Plant, has the most potential in WWE.
When he saw Sean O’haire for the first time, “I signed him right there” for
WCW.
The tough guys of his locker room in his days were Vader, “but I knocked him
out with one punch,” and there were a number of other guys. He estimates that
90% of the wrestlers of his days were pansies. He likes Samoans, too, calling
them his buddies.
ROCKY II (The Movie) CO-STARRING MR WONDERFUL?
Paul claims that he was offered Sylvester Stallone’s part in Rambo but Vince at
the time would not allow him to do it. He says that he was also given a part in
Rocky 2. “They flew me out, LA, San Diago, I did the whole deal. At that time I
was main-eventing [as a] hot deal but [Vince] wouldn’t let me do it.” However,
he understands why Vince wouldn’t want to take him off of the road, as he was
selling out every arena he would perform in, no matter whom he would be working
against. “It didn’t have to be Hogan, it had been Slaughter, any of those guys.
We sold out everywhere. We had riots once with Slaughter.”
Although there was nothing fancy to Tito Santana, “he had fire,” although he
jokes that Santana would never understand why his beans would always fall
through the barbecue grill. “And one time I saw him in a ’67 Chevy and he had
16 of his Mexicans in there with him…”
He says that fan riots against him, due to the tremendous heat he generated
from crowds, were so wild that he had to enter Madison Square Gardens in an
ambulance to hide from the rabid fanatics.
Paul used to own a bowling alley after his WWF stint, but missed wrestling so
much he went to WCW.
He left WWF in 1988 after getting upset about a Rick Rude situation. He then
left to do some independent shows until Jim Cornette called him. He did some
work with Ronnie Garvin for a while, and that set him up to go to WCW. He had a
nice run, doing a program with Ricky Steamboat, but nothing could be compared
to working in the WWF.
“I’ve got nothing bad to say about Vince McMahon, nothing bad.”
ON BILL WATTS
When he started WCW, it was Bill Watts running the joint. “I happen to like
Bill Watts. [even though] a lot of people don’t… Bill Watts, for me, was a
learning experience where you would go 3,000 miles a week, when you made
$275-300 a week, where three or four people would stay in a hotel together. It
was good times, it was bad times, and you’ve got to have the bad times with the
good because that way it gives you the respect and you learn to love it and you
learn when to bitch and when not to bitch.”
He says that Bill told him once, “Paul, you’re the best there was. It just
depends on what side of the bed you wake up on.” Paul agrees with Bill’s
statement.
CAREER CHOICES - GOOD AND BAD
The best thing he ever did for his career was jumping to the WWF in 1983.
His worst was going to Kansas City to Bob Brown’s promotion, which he did for
about a month. It was rough, although he did get to work with Jimmy Snukka, and
that was an integral experience.
WORD ASSOCIATION TIME:
Hulk Hogan: “[He was] the person back then, what with his name
and the way Vince used him. The people bought it.”
Paul Roma: “We really had a good little team in WCW, it got to be pretty
good. I enjoyed it. I enjoyed working with Paul and it was… Paul just needed
somebody to help him along and I think that’s why they put me with him… good
kid, I like Paul Roma.”
Ric Flair: “Boring. The same match I’ve seen for 25 years.” At least
other champions from yeateryear such as Harley Race changed their matches
arround in different territories. As far as comparing Flair's reign to Hogan,
Orndorff feels that it is much different because with Hogan, Paul was the
general, not Hogan.
Arn Anderson: “I like Arn, Arn’s a good guy. Arn was a good
psychologist.”
Pat Patterson: “Didn’t get much better than Pat Patterson… I wish I
could have wrestled with him more.”
Mr T: “I had nothing against him, it’s just that when you start to bring
people in that don’t know a thing about wrestling, it gets so watered down. It
gets so watered down that anyone can now come off the street and do this. And
that’s the problem I have… And what do you think is going to happen fifteen
years from now, nobody’s going to know how to work.”
Vader: “Bully.”
Eric Bischoff: “In the beginning, he was okay. At the end, he was a
prick.”
Curt Hennig: “I miss Curt, and Rick Rude, who was one of my best
friends. Me and Rick talked everyday. Everyday. I got him into hunting and
fishing, we talked, once, twice, sometimes, every other day. I miss Rick.”
Chuck Palumbo: “Chuck has got a lot of potential.” It sucked that they
put him in a homosexual angle, Orndorff feels.
Dick Slater was a great wrestler but didn’t go to the gym so WWF never
called him up, he believes.
Bill Goldberg, he says, has got a lot of potential; it just depends on
how he is used. “It’ll take him a while to get back in the hang of things; he’s
just got a lot of learning to do.”
HIS INJURY FROM NITRO
They rap up speaking on the scary moment on Nitro when he was almost paralyzied
during his match with The NBT. Even though he has permanent problems from the
injury, he can still contribute to the business as a trainer, teacher, etc.
And we couldnt agree more.
Thanks for reading.
Anthony DeBlasi
Wrestling-News.com Webmaster / The Blackhearts
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