"Not Bad, Kid. Maybe We Can Do Some Business Later"
#PWHS #Article #NotBadKid #RoddyPiper #ChavoGuerrero
December 3, 1985 - NY Daily News
One of the more fraternal aspects of the professional wrestling business during the era of the territories was word of mouth. Wrestlers during this time period would work in a territory anywhere from 3 months to one year and then move on to a new territory before things got stale. Because there was no national television coverage at this time, a wrestler who had just come off of a run in the WWWF, for example, would show up in San Francisco for promoter Roy Shire and be perceived as "new" by the fans of that territory. It was a good system that ensured that a skilled worker could find employment in up to 30 different places in the United States in Canada-more if he was willing to working Mexico, Japan, Germany, Great Britain or the Caribbean Islands.
One of the positive side effects of being able to work in so many places was that a wrestler was able to meet and work with hundreds of his peers. By being up close and personal with these people on a nightly and sometimes daily basis, the wrestler could quickly discover which guys were trustworthy; which guys had talent; which didn't; and which guys were being underused. The wrestling grapevine was the territorial era's version of the Internet. News and gossip traveled from one wrestler to another and from territory to territory. If you had anything to offer in the business, people would know about it quickly. Word of mouth was the World Wide Web of its day.
Take Roddy Piper. Roddy Piper today is considered an icon in the business-a legend by many. But Piper, like almost every wrestler in history, had to get a break and a start someplace. Going back to the mid-seventies, Piper had landed and started working in the Southern California territory owned by the LeBell family. The booker at the time Piper arrived, Leo Garibaldi, liked Piper, but saw that getting over a skinny, Canadian kid who played bagpipes to the predominately Latino audience would be a task. So Garibaldi came up with a plan.
Johnny Rodz (better known as the trial horse for newcomers to the WWWF) was raising havoc in the area doing an Arab madman gimmick under the name of Java Ruuk. Garibaldi told Piper to go out and be squashed by Ruuk. Piper was suspicious, but did as requested. The next week, Garibaldi gave Piper the details on the rest of the plan. Piper (who had debuted as a babyface) went out and stated that he didn't want to be beat up by Java Ruuk anymore, so…he would offer his services to Ruuk as a manager. The plan worked. Fans quickly came to despise the motor mouthed young punk and the run with Ruuk gave Piper the momentum to have major programs with the entire Guerrero family, Pat Patterson and others.
So what does all of this have to do with word of mouth? Very simple: When Johnny Rodz ended his run in California, he went back to his home base of the WWWF. While there, Rodz spoke to WWWF owner, Vincent J. McMahon, about this kid he worked with in Los Angeles. McMahon was intrigued and brought Piper in for a few television shots (one as a heel and one as a babyface), and a spot on a card at the Mecca of Professional Wrestling-Madison Square Garden. Piper went over in the opening match against…Johnny Rodz!
To be honest, Piper didn't get over in the WWWF. He still had a lot of learning and maturing to accomplish before he returned to the then WWF in 1983, and made an instant impact. BUT, that recommendation from Rodz got Piper a spot on a MSG show, where his old partner Rodz made sure that he looked as good as he could. That one match in MSG caught the attention of promoters around the world. Soon Piper would be plying his trade in San Francisco and Portland territories. This led (again via word of mouth) to a spot in Georgia and Mid Atlantic territories. Finally, all of his exploits, his career success and word of mouth, landed him in the WWF at the beginning of their National Expansion. From there, he made his legend.
It all started with one wrestler telling a promoter about who he saw in another territory.
Piper and Java Ruuk address Chavo Guerrero, Sr.:
One of the positive side effects of being able to work in so many places was that a wrestler was able to meet and work with hundreds of his peers. By being up close and personal with these people on a nightly and sometimes daily basis, the wrestler could quickly discover which guys were trustworthy; which guys had talent; which didn't; and which guys were being underused. The wrestling grapevine was the territorial era's version of the Internet. News and gossip traveled from one wrestler to another and from territory to territory. If you had anything to offer in the business, people would know about it quickly. Word of mouth was the World Wide Web of its day.
Take Roddy Piper. Roddy Piper today is considered an icon in the business-a legend by many. But Piper, like almost every wrestler in history, had to get a break and a start someplace. Going back to the mid-seventies, Piper had landed and started working in the Southern California territory owned by the LeBell family. The booker at the time Piper arrived, Leo Garibaldi, liked Piper, but saw that getting over a skinny, Canadian kid who played bagpipes to the predominately Latino audience would be a task. So Garibaldi came up with a plan.
Johnny Rodz (better known as the trial horse for newcomers to the WWWF) was raising havoc in the area doing an Arab madman gimmick under the name of Java Ruuk. Garibaldi told Piper to go out and be squashed by Ruuk. Piper was suspicious, but did as requested. The next week, Garibaldi gave Piper the details on the rest of the plan. Piper (who had debuted as a babyface) went out and stated that he didn't want to be beat up by Java Ruuk anymore, so…he would offer his services to Ruuk as a manager. The plan worked. Fans quickly came to despise the motor mouthed young punk and the run with Ruuk gave Piper the momentum to have major programs with the entire Guerrero family, Pat Patterson and others.
So what does all of this have to do with word of mouth? Very simple: When Johnny Rodz ended his run in California, he went back to his home base of the WWWF. While there, Rodz spoke to WWWF owner, Vincent J. McMahon, about this kid he worked with in Los Angeles. McMahon was intrigued and brought Piper in for a few television shots (one as a heel and one as a babyface), and a spot on a card at the Mecca of Professional Wrestling-Madison Square Garden. Piper went over in the opening match against…Johnny Rodz!
To be honest, Piper didn't get over in the WWWF. He still had a lot of learning and maturing to accomplish before he returned to the then WWF in 1983, and made an instant impact. BUT, that recommendation from Rodz got Piper a spot on a MSG show, where his old partner Rodz made sure that he looked as good as he could. That one match in MSG caught the attention of promoters around the world. Soon Piper would be plying his trade in San Francisco and Portland territories. This led (again via word of mouth) to a spot in Georgia and Mid Atlantic territories. Finally, all of his exploits, his career success and word of mouth, landed him in the WWF at the beginning of their National Expansion. From there, he made his legend.
It all started with one wrestler telling a promoter about who he saw in another territory.
Piper and Java Ruuk address Chavo Guerrero, Sr.:
Unique content strictly for the Professional Wrestling Historical Society.
"Not Bad, Kid. Maybe We Can Do Some Business Later."
Author: Harry Grover.
Published: Pre-October 2014.
Article: #51.
Editor: Jimmy Wheeler.
"Not Bad, Kid. Maybe We Can Do Some Business Later."
Author: Harry Grover.
Published: Pre-October 2014.
Article: #51.
Editor: Jimmy Wheeler.
Other articles by Harry can be Read Here.