An Ode to the Manager
#PWHS #Article #AnOdeToTheManager
Russell with Sgt. Slaughter
In what could easily have been my obituary a week ago when I fell off the steps in my house during a heavy rainstorm and broke my hip…to being able to write a column for the Pro Wrestling Historical Society. To me that is quite an honor although I would strongly suggest other ways of becoming a columnist than breaking a major part of your body. I still find it ironic that all those crazy years in the ring didn’t do me in but the steps to my front door would.
For those of you who aren’t familiar with who I happen to be, My name is Russell Jackman—wait…Buddy Sotello Esquire. It really is. The part of me that knows and loves wrestling as far back as I can think is REALLY Buddy Sotello. They ask you what your “porn star” name is: first pet plus the first street you lived on. Buddy the bird equals my first pet, Sotello Street in San Francisco= equals my first street and the rest is history. Well sort of.
I grew up in not what you would consider the “hotbed” of wrestling…not the South, or Minnesota or within subway rides of Madison Square Garden. I have always lived in California, mostly in Marin County which is just north of SF (we DO own the other half of the Golden Gate Bridge, nobody seems to recognize that!). Wrestling was something my brother Owen and I used to sneak between parental scolding to “turn that garbage off”… My father admitted that he “was” an Antonino Rocco fan when he was growing up in the early days of TV but found it too hokey and wanted it off the TV, plus my mom said it made me and my brother too violent (Probably)- but we watched plenty of three Stooges, Warners Brothers and Tex Avery Cartoons to know that physical comedy CAN be HILARIOUS if done correctly. It wasn’t until years later that I found out that my GREAT Grandmother Gelnay was one of the more famous West Coast versions of the “tote bagging-tennis shoe wearing old lady” that would sit in the aisle seats and whack the wrestlers with their purses (not as extreme as Hatpin Mary, thank god!). I never knew this about her for years after she passed on but it shows that wrestling fandom is genetic even if it finds a way to skip a couple of generations!
Managing. Why be a MANAGER? Ernie Roth, AKA the Grand Wizard, was someone I looked at when I was a young kid and found his role FASCINATING. Managers before Ernie Roth were either retired wrestlers or some other huge guy that was approximately the same size as everyone else. Roth wasn’t—he was a complete pipsqueak that often made his men like Sgt. Slaughter or Superstar Billy Graham look like absolute MONSTERS in comparison. Yet his ability to hold the mic and talk for guys who both were fantastic (like Graham) and others that swallowed the mic like it was a sour pickle…He had tremendous chemistry and years ago when I had the chance to meet Bob Remus (Sgt. Slaughter) at Cauliflower Alley in 2000, I asked him about his involvement with Roth. He said that having a great manager was a perfect way to make that heel turn on an instant and to change directions when you have that feeling that you need a change. I thought that was great stuff.
Of course I also had the pleasure of meeting Bobby Heenan at that same Alley show he had prophetic words for being involved in the indy-side of the business; that is that as long as you enjoy it and you can take a decent dump in the morning that should be good enough for me to stick with it!
In the 80’s the era of the smaller man/non-combat manager really took off. There were so many of the greats then, including Bobby of course- who while was an ex-wrestler was not doing many bumps at that stage, Jimmy Hart, Jim Cornette, Slick, Paul E Dangerously, and of course my favorite of all, Andy Kaufman. Why Andy over all of these other longer-termed legends? Andy to me was the ultimate in doing what he did. He picked a selected audience of people he personally couldn’t stand and then intentionally provoked them until they couldn’t take it anymore. His heat didn’t last a long time but it burned super hot when he was at the top of his annoying fame…I loved Andy’s schtick and the “I’m From Hollywood” movie is one of those rainy-day go-to pick me ups when I want to really enjoy my days of the old mat action.
So what the hell happened to me? I joined Hayward’s All Pro Wrestling in 2000 as a student of managing, exchanging my legal services for being beaten up by guys I wouldn’t let change my oil. But I was studying Jiu Jitsu and in the best shape of my life, so I thought I could take it. And after some real rough training in the ring by Vinnie Massaro and alongside valet-trainee Sara Del Rey, I was pounded into something that resembled the veal cutlet that is Buddy Sotello Esquire, who definitely in his day was the most hated attorney character in CA… I worked in many feds that read like an alphabet soup of indy feds that no longer exist but I have worked amazing matches with/against Christopher Daniels, Samoa Joe, The Great Khali, Nigel McGuinnnis, BJ Witmer, and Simon Gotch… let’s just say a bunch of guys including amazing indy talent that never went anywhere and nobody outside of Northern CA would have ever heard of…I have so many stories about that but that’s going to wait for another column (unless you all tell Jimmy, “That’s enough of THAT GUY, PLEASE!!!”)
But I want to end this up by giving my own personal tribute to a man I met at that same jam-packed Cauliflower Alley 2000 event. A man by the name of Perceval A. Friend. What-a-Nice-Guy. We met up with each other and as fellow managers, we really hit it off. We went to all the events together and he shared so many stories about what he did as an OLD school manger that NEVER got involved…when I told him all the abuse I went through he was pretty surprised and said that his man Black Angus NEVER let him get his and even would go so far to make sure fans didn’t come NEAR him when he went to the ring…different time of course…different fans. Of course that’s good material for another column. Percy was a REAL friend and he gave me a lot of advice through email about how to be a good manager, I really appreciate all he did for me and sorry that we lost him last year.
Unique content strictly for the Professional Wrestling Historical Society.
Ode To The Manager.
Author: Russell Jackman.
Published: March 12, 2016.
Article: #138.
Editor: Jimmy Wheeler.
Ode To The Manager.
Author: Russell Jackman.
Published: March 12, 2016.
Article: #138.
Editor: Jimmy Wheeler.