PWHS Team
Chapter Nine: Hayden Fallek - "We didn't expect Harley Race to open the door himself"
#PWHS #Interview
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Question 1
Hey, hey Mr. Fallek. It's your turn today to tell the readers of #PWHS a little bit about yourself.
So, without any further ado, let's start with the obvious first questions; when and how did you get into pro-wrestling?
Answer
I was staying over at a friend’s house, we woke up on Saturday morning, and turned the TV on. Channel 41 in Kansas City used to show Central States early on Saturday mornings. The match was Harley Race beating up some poor enhancement guy. After that, I was pretty much hooked. That was probably 1981. I got up early every morning to watch.
During the 80s, Channel 62 in KC used to show wrestling from all of the different territories seven nights a week. I got to see Central States, Jim Crockett Promotions, the UWF, the AWA, World Class, and, of course, the WWF. They also used to show Pro Wrestling This Week for the territories we didn’t get.
Question 2
You would have caught Central States as it was on the downward swing. The territory was ran by Bob Geigel and in 1982 he took over St. Louis Wrestling Club from the retiring Sam Muchnick, so a lot was going on as you got interested. How was Kansas City, during the time you were a fan, different from the other territories you saw on Channel 62?
Answer
The biggest thing I remember was that the Central States wrestlers were OLD. Or at least, that’s how they felt to me. If I watched Ric Flair on the other channel, Flair was cool. Hulk Hogan was cool. Rick Martel was cool. On Central States, Bulldog Bob Brown was on top, and he was many things, but not cool.
The production always felt very low-rent too. Part of this was perception. I never went to the Sportatorium or the studios where Crockett filmed, but I had been to Memorial Hall (where Central States had their TV Tapings) and it was a crummy little place in the worst part of town. When I got older, I found out that it was actually bigger than the other places I mentioned, but it didn’t feel that way.
Also, the sets were dingy and sparse and even Memphis looked like a game show set or something.
I’ll say this though, even with all of that working against it, people in Kansas City still loved Harley Race and Rufus R Jones. I’d go so far to say that when I was a kid, the local sports heroes were George Brett, Tom Watson, and Harley Race.
Question 3
Rufus R. Jones, tell us more about Rufus. Why did he stand out to you?
Answer
People make fun of Rufus, but he had a tremendous amount of charisma. He’d do interviews where he’d talk about beating the champion and using the purse to put on a giant barbecue. That’s the most “Kansas City” thing I’ve ever heard in a wrestling interview, and it connected with the audience. He also stuck around Kansas City long after Central States was gone and opened a restaurant. My great uncle used to have a big suit store and Rufus would come in and buy suits from him every so often. He really became part of the community.
Also, and this is a controversial point, Kansas City was racially very polarized in that era. Rufus was the only black man who was pushed as a top star in Central States. I am not black, but I think he represented a significant part of the audience.
Question 4
You ended up around quite a few professional wrestlers. Could you explain how that came to be?
Answer
I don’t know how it happened. Harley Race lived right down the street from me. I went to school with his son Justin (although I didn’t know him well), and my friends and I used to go trick or treating at his house. When there were a bunch of cars outside of his house, it meant that there was a barbecue and we all tried to see who was there. I remember seeing Ric Flair there.
Later on, when Bob Geigel had the WWA, my step-grandfather used to take me to the TV tapings every week. As it turned out, they knew each other from WAY back, so I met a bunch of wrestlers that way. I’d chase them around Memorial Hall trying to get autographs. They all thought I was a funny kid with a big mouth so they’d oblige me. He had a working agreement with World Class, Memphis, and the AWA, so I met a ton of guys that way.
Question 5
And how did you get from there to dealing with folk like the Ultimate Warrior?
Answer
That’s an interesting story. I was part of a company in Arizona and one of the other guys there started working with Don Frye, who lived in Phoenix at the time. Warrior was trying to start some sort of business and heard that we were big wrestling fans, so he contacted us. (I don’t think they knew each other, but I always thought there might have been a connection there.)
During that same time period, I had a friend who was 6’8” and 350 lbs, so whenever the WWF or WCW was in town, we’d convince security that he was one of the wrestlers and get backstage. We even convinced one of them that he was Kane one time! Anyway,
sometimes there were guys that remembered me from chasing them around Memorial Hall, so we got to stay. Or, one of my other buddies owned a bar, so he’d get the wrestlers to come to his bar and gave them free drinks.
Most of the time we got kicked out from backstage. But when we didn’t, it was pretty fun!
There were other odd things. Guys would be on forums in the early days of the internet. Most of the wrestlers thought I was a pretty funny guy, and I remembered all of their careers, so they’d talk to me. John Tenta was a guy I met like this. He was recovering from cancer treatments and said that mangosteen juice helped in his recovery. At the time, my mom was recovering from cancer, so he sent me a bottle.
I also used to do little things like drive guys to the airport for little indies. I met Jimmy Snuka that way.
Question 6
So, you got backstage. There must be a story or two you can share with us from those experiences?
Answer
There are a few.
Bob Geigel used to let me into the babyface locker room to get autographs. He’d say stuff like “Make sure to tell Mike George to watch out for the piledriver” and that would actually be the finish of the match. I was effectively being used as a go-between the two locker rooms. (As a sidenote, I first saw the Wrestling Observer newsletter in one of those locker rooms and stole it. I begged and begged my parents to get me a subscription. I still have that issue somewhere.)
Do you want to hear more from the WWA/Central States or when we used to sneak backstage?
Question 7
Let’s have one more Central States story, then when you used to sneak backstage.
Answer
In the WWA days, the Gilberts came through a few times. He was a heel, but I convinced Tommy that I had been “smartened up”. He was actually really nice to me so I asked him if I could meet Eddie (who was one of my favorites). Eddie asked me what I wanted to do when I grew up, and I told him that I wanted to be a wrestler. He said “Would you like me to show you how to wrestle?” Of course, I was extremely excited! So he told me that I had to trust my opponent and that I should close my eyes, fall backwards and he’d catch me. I closed my eyes, fell backward, and landed straight on my back and head. I opened my eyes and he looked at me and said “You just took your first flatback bump, kid!”
Everyone was laughing at me.
Question 8
Haha. That’s fantastic, although I’m sure you didn’t think so at the time. What about the times you sneaked backstage then in the ‘90s?
Answer
We used to always get thrown out pretty quickly at WWF/E shows. We were backstage there once and Undertaker told us to leave, so we left immediately. There were a few times where we convinced them that we worked for the arena though, so we were actually in the arena when they taped the famous Mankind/Rock empty arena match in Tucson.
WCW was a different story. They were so unorganized that we almost never got caught. We went backstage at a house show in Tucson and my 6’8” buddy was with us. One of the very large and scary looking wrestlers came up to us and told us to leave. This particular guy had a reputation for not being especially smart, which I knew about. I told him that Mike was a new guy debuting that night. He looked at us and said “Why in the hell did they not tell me about this?” He started swearing up a storm about how disorganized everything was and marched off. We could have stayed there all night, honestly. That was a great night. We met Eddie Guerrero, Rey Mysterio, Sid, Curt Hennig, and others.
Question 9
Oh, come on, you can not leave us hanging who was it? At least give us a good hint, so we can try and work it out.
Answer
Hmmm...well...he was WWF and WCW champion and he was a big guy who got kicked in the face...
Oh, I guess I mentioned his name already...
Question 10
Haha! I'm sure that will get some people's brains working... Are there any other interactions you can share with us, whether backstage or anywhere else?
Answer
Well, my favorite story was trick or treating at Harley Race’s house. My friend Eric and I went there one year and we were dressed as Hulk Hogan and Roddy Piper. We didn’t expect Harley Race to open the door himself! This He looked at our costumes with just absolute disgust. (I’ve never figured out whether he was joking or actually disgusted.)
So the next year, we figured that we should be a bit more “NWA friendly”, so I dressed as Ric Flair and my friend dressed up as Dusty Rhodes. This time, when we knocked on the door, he looked at us and laughed. He turned to my friend and said “You aren’t fat enough.” He looked at me and said he didn’t know whether to offer me candy or a beer. He also looked at my homemade title belt and showed me a real one. My eyes bugged out of their sockets.
Question 11
Now THAT is one COOL story. Just wow. I'm not even sure how we follow that. So, I think it's best I just thank you for your time, and ask you if you have anything else you want to say to fine folk of #PWHS?
Answer
We’re here to chew bubblegum and preserve history and we’re all out of bubblegum, LOL.
I’m happy to be part of the team!
Jimmy Wheeler
And we're happy to have you with us, Hayden. I appreciate you taking the time to complete this interview and share some truly unique stories.
Unique content strictly for the Professional Wrestling Historical Society.
Interview with Hayden Fallek.
Interviewer: Jimmy Wheeler.
Published: August 17, 2019.
PWHS Team Interview: #9.
Editor: Jimmy Wheeler.
Unique content strictly for the Professional Wrestling Historical Society.
Interview with Hayden Fallek.
Interviewer: Jimmy Wheeler.
Published: August 17, 2019.
PWHS Team Interview: #9.
Editor: Jimmy Wheeler.
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