John Chattman - Time Heels: Cheating, Stealing, Spandex and the Most Villainous Moments in the History of Pro Wrestling

First published by Pitch Publishing, 2014

Pitch Publishing

A2 Yeoman Gate

Yeoman Way

Durrington

BN13 3QZ

www.pitchpublishing.co.uk

Jon Chattman and Rich Tarantino, 2014

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A CIP catalogue record is available for this book from the British Library

Print ISBN 978 1 90962 630 0

eBook ISBN: 978 1 90962 682 9

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Sporting a Cubs hat at the St. Louis arch? Sporting a badass stache in general? Authors Jon Chattman and Rich Tarantino arent afraid to unleash their inner heels.

Photographs by Peter Lederberg except Eddie Guerrero (Tim Harshman), Raven (Andrea Kellaway) and Snake (Andrea Kellaway).

T HE first time I saw professional wrestling I was hooked: 30 April 1979. On that date, the All-American WWE Champion Bob Backlund defeated Bulldog Brower who at the time I thought was the most dangerous man. He was a crazed killer wanting to destroy the goody two shoes Bob and take the coveted title. Bob took all this maniac had to offer and good prevailed over evil.

I was entranced with how these larger than life men could fight and bounce back: modern-day comic book heroes doing what they dofight evil. I loved all the good guys and booed the bad guys. Yes, I was the perfect fan.

Then something changed. I watched Larry Zbyszko turn on his mentor Bruno Sammartino and break a wooden chair over Brunos head, leaving his mentor face down in a pool of his own blood. I became enraged with the fact that a good guy would do this.

Why would he turn his back on his mentor? I remember actually crying. The difference between how I would watch wrestling before and just cheer someone because they were a good guy was why I became emotionally vested into my fan favourites. I wanted to tune in next week and see why Larry would do this. I couldnt wait to see Bruno return and get his revenge on Larry. I made my dad take me to Shea Stadium to see Brunos revenge inside a steel cage. Even though my favourite wrestler Bob Backlund was on the card, I needed to be there for Bruno.

That emotional attachment has made me a wrestling fan since I was eight years old. I have seen some amazing wrestling angles when good guys have turned bad whether it be for greed, a manager being in the ear of his new protege, someone not wanting to be in the shadows of their mentor or friendwhatever their skewed reason. I hated them.

Before there was the internet you would receive all your wrestling news through wrestling magazines. They had a ratings system as well as who was most popular and who was most hated. I couldnt believe when I saw Tommy Richs face with the caption the fans can go to hell. How could this good ol boy do this?

I needed as much information as I could get. I have seen Barry Windham turn on his partner Lex Luger and join the Four Horsemen, Andre the Giant rip a cross off of Hulk Hogans neck and turn on his friend. I have seen Shawn Michaels throw Marty Jannetty through a glass window and Randy Savage break up the Mega Powers with Hulk Hogan because he thought Hogan had lust in his eyes for Miss Elizabeth. These memories and so many more are etched in this wrestling mind of mine.

I had an amazing wrestling career, always playing the defender of the good of ECW. I was turned on by many of my so-called friends. One of my favourite parts of performing is when fans would literally help me up when I was down and they were ready to fight evil with me. I became that larger-than-life superhero to them.

I hope you enjoy this book and you see how amazing it is when someone becomes emotionally invested in someone elseeven when theyre the bad guys. Thanks for reading.

Tommy Dreamer

May 2013

F EW of us wanted the witch to get the best of Snow White. We highly doubt anyone wanted the Sea Hag to snatch away Sweetpea. You probably didnt root for Clubber Lang to beat that fool Rocky Balboa, nor do you have a poster of Manuel Noriega on your wall. Yes, for the most part, no one really likes to see the bad guy win.

Well that is unless its in the world of professional wrestling where the villains arguably out-rank, outnumber, and out-perform the good guys. From the days of The Great Kabuki to the nights of the New World Order (nWo), wrestling baddies or heels in industry lingo but you know that already have resonated with fans even more than the good guys. If you listen closely after reading that sentence, youll hear John Cena getting booed somewhere.

Time Heels celebrates the notion that bad guys in wrestling do it better, and always have. For decades, or at least as long as Zach Gowen has been alive, wrestling has been called a soap opera for men and its trueits damn true.

Like the best soaps, some fans are torn between loving to hate the baddie (Alexis Carrington was one glorious bitch) and loving the good guys (Blake Carrington was lame). This constant see-saw of emotion is what has made this soap opera a hit with all the toothless wonders that watched wrestling in back alleys and in the territories to World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) viewers of today. We would give the slight edge toward the villains, because they are the reason everyone keeps watching.

To make a crappy analogy, lets look at things this way: the pro wrestling platform is like a hot girl who doesnt know shes hot dating a jock who is the biggest douche in the world. As the story always goes, all of this girls friends tell her she is with the wrong guy, but she stays with him even though there is a guy who would do anything for her equipped with nothing but a good personality and good intentions.

Just as women are gravitated to the wrong guys, men are drawn to bad boys as well. Heels provide audiences with a sense of danger, and an element of surprise. Heels usually have the better mic skills, finishers, and managers in the business. There is a reason for that: they draw. Good guys? Well, they die young just ask Billy Joel.

If you look into wrestling history or ask anybody who was a fan before Vince McMahon Pac-Mand World Championship Wrestling (WCW), peoples disdain for heels drove a company or a territory. Manny Fernandez and Nikita Koloff put asses in seats because people wondered what they would say next to rile up the crowd. One of the reasons Ric Flair has had such a long career is because fans always wanted to not just hear what he would say, but they would be curious as to what cheap shot he would take out next on his opponent.

In the late 1990s, when the aforementioned and groundbreaking stable the nWo was reigning supreme, during each Hey Yo promo Scott Hall did, he would take a little survey to see if the audience favoured the good guys in this case WCW or his band of misfits. While the outcome wasnt as contested as fatties choosing between Samoas or Tagalongs, it always seemed that no matter what city the artist formerly known as Razor Ramon name-dropped, audiences went wild for the bad guys. Ironically, Hall would always say, survey says one more for the good guys. It was the bad guys, however, who were too good not to root for.