THE STONE COLD TRUTH (18 page)

I remember J.R. from WCW. I used to talk to him back then, but we weren’t really friends the way we are now. I always thought he knew I was a hard worker and that he appreciated that. But he had different duties back then.

When I came up north, J.R. knew I could help WWE. And because of the Oklahoma-Texas connection, we just started talking more and more, and became real close. We were two southern boys up there in the North, so we hit it off. And he’s the guy I would always ask when I wanted advice, because the guy has been a million different places and in many different situations involving talent.

I could ask his advice as a brother, father or friend, whatever. He’s just like family to me. If I want an honest opinion concerning anything in life, man, that damn J.R. has always got a good answer, whether I like the answer or not.

When I was going through my second divorce, WWE flew me around on private jets so I could bring my kids with me to Pay-Per-Views. My friend Ricky Fisher’s wife, Sandra, would come with me on the jet so she could watch my girls, while I would work with Vince or whoever. It was J.R. who lined all that up with me, getting it okayed by Vince.

J.R.’s helped me a lot with my character too. He doesn’t put sugar on everything. He tells it like it is. If he agreed with everything I want to do, his opinion would not be worth so much to me.

In my opinion, he is the best damn announcer in the history of pro wrestling. I grew up watching Houston wrestling and they’d have stuff with J.R. from
Mid-South Wrestling
and
Power Pro Wrestling,
so I was always a fan of his work. And then I saw him announce on TV from Atlanta.

That’s another reason I gravitated toward him, because I respected the guy for what he had accomplished in this business. J.R.’s a guy every WWE wrestler should have a good relationship with. He has led the way in assembling a hell of a talent roster.

J.R. is also the biggest John Wayne fan in the world. He can explain the plot of any John Wayne movie in wrestling terms. And it’s funny to hear to him do it, because he’s so passionate about it.

It’s like when he was crawling up the ropes on the WWE show Raw
after Eric Bischoff busted him open with a cinder block. Before the show, he was telling Vince McMahon about the John Wayne movie
The Cowboys,
when Bruce Dern was beating up John Wayne. And boy, he had Vince’s attention hook, line and sinker.

“Well, what’d he do then?” Vince asked.

When you’ve got the Duke down and Bruce Dern’s the ultimate heel, that is heat that’s “real.” It’s plausible. That makes Wayne a hell of a hot babyface. Bruce Dern ended up shooting John Wayne. J.R. has never forgiven Bruce Dern for doing that to this very day. Seriously.

Anytime I’m in Stamford, I have an automatic invite over to J.R.’s house for a home-cooked meal. Jim and his wife, Jan, are both Grade A cooks. It’s better than going to a restaurant. Hell, they’ve written two successful cookbooks! Jan even lets me use her washer and dryer.

J.R. was to be very instrumental in my career after I got to WWE, and I sure do appreciate it. I just wish the hard-headed Okie would slow down a little and smell the BBQ sauce.

I joined him at the Oklahoma University Sooner team hotel after the 2003 Rose Bowl and he looked to be stress-free. J.R. needs more days like that, and let me tell you, Oklahoma football has no bigger fan than Jim Ross.

I appreciate my good friend J.R. It’s just too bad he’s Sooner-bred.

Here I am with the Million Dollar Championship and my manager Ted DiBiase.

16
The Ringmaster

“H
ello?”

“Steve, how ya doing? It’s Vince McMahon.”

“Hi, Vince. How’re you doing?”

“Good, pal. Listen, I got an idea for you. Tell me what you think. I want to bring you into WWE as somebody called ‘The Ringmaster’—you know, like the master of the ring. Ted DiBiase is going to be your manager. We’re going to make you The Million Dollar Champion.”

I was thinking that it sounded like a damned circus act! Ringmaster …? But remember, I had been fired from WCW by Eric Bischoff and I hadn’t worked in several months—other than making my five hundred dollars a night, one night a week. That five hundred dollars was much appreciated, but it didn’t go real far. I had saved my money from WCW, but I was more than ready to go back to work again. I needed a steady job.

So I said, “Well, okay,” trying not to sound reluctant or apprehensive.

A couple weeks later, I told Paul E. that I was finishing up and going to WWE. I wrapped up my business with him and ECW, and a few days later I went to a WWE TV taping and signed all the papers.

Then Vince flew me to see the WWE seamstresses, Terry and Julie. They said, “Okay, the office wants you to wear emerald green.”

I said, “What do you mean, emerald green? I wear black.”

They said, “You can’t wear black because Diesel (Kevin Nash) wears black. They want you to wear an emerald green singlet.”

I said, “A singlet? This is the WWE system? They’re telling me what to wear? This is their concept for what I’m going to be?” That’s what they did back then.

But I said, “I’ll tell you right now, I’m not going to wear no singlet. I just don’t do that. I wear black trunks.”

They said, “You can’t wear black trunks because that’s Diesel’s color.”

So I said, “Okay,” and they made me a pair of emerald green trunks, but absolutely no singlet!

Later on, I was talking to Vince and I said, “Well, what about a vest?”

He said, “Ah, you don’t need a vest.”

I said, “Well, what about boots?”

He answered, “Ah, just wear your old boots.”

I’m thinking, What the hell kind of plans do these guys have for me, man? I’m wearing old white boots with a black star on them and I got green trunks, because that’s the color of money. What the hell?

Right away I knew they didn’t have any serious plans for me. They just needed another body out there, a mechanic, another guy on the roster who could work a match. Anyway, things went on, and I became The Ringmaster. Hey, I had to start somewhere, didn’t I?

One of the guys who helped me when I started wrestling for WWE was Jack Lanza, a road agent for the company. A road agent is a guy who helps run a show and helps the talent come up with interesting ways to entertain the crowd. They’re also there to help newer talent learn the business. Road agents in the WWE report to either J.R. or Vince. Some agents specialize in different things, so being a road agent can mean many things, but they all help do something backstage with the talent. Since they are all ex-wrestlers, they have knowledge and experience to pass on. They’ve been in almost every situation. These are all guys Vince can trust with his business.

Anyway, I remembered Jack Lanza from television as “Black Jack” Lanza, one of the greatest tag heel workers in the business. He was in a tag team, with Black Jack Mulligan, called the Blackjacks.

When I was wrestling as The Ringmaster, I was a very physical worker. Scotty 2 Hotty was doing the honors for me in my first WWE match, and I just pounded the guy. I was working my punches, but I was very physical.

Jack saw that and he told me to keep doing what I was doing. Pat Patterson and Jerry Brisco, who I knew from watching Houston wrestling when I was a kid, said the same thing—to just keep doing what I was doing.

They said, “It’s going to take you longer to get over, because of these other guys with gimmicks that they’re really pushing. But when you get over, you’re going to stay over, mark our words.”

So Jack Lanza was with me from the word “go.”

At the time, I was wrestling a lot against Savio Vega. I loved working with him. We were having some real bad-ass matches. But I was blown up because I was out of ring-style shape.

I told the company and the agents, “Bear with me, I’ll make it. I’ll be okay. I’m sorry to drag you down.”

Jack Lanza, who loved the business and recognized when somebody
was busting his ass, told me I was doing good. He said not to worry about it.

We got to be pretty good friends. We’d see each other at the hotel bars, lounges, whatever, kicking back a few drinks and so on. We are a lot alike, and we both love the business so damn much we’d just talk. He kind of took me under his wing.

When I got hot later in my career with WWE, Jack would be one of the guys I’d turn to for advice. Nine times out of ten he’d be the agent for my matches. And he’s another guy who I’d go to if I had a problem. He was a father figure to me. Jack had done it all and he had great advice when it came to ring psychology and stuff like that.

Pat Patterson gave me advice too. He was (and still is) one of the greatest finish guys ever in the business. He’s always thought of the ways a match should end that was interesting, made sense and left the fans wanting to see more. He had a lot more experience in finishes than I did, and Pat laid out a couple of good finishes for me that were helpful in getting me up the company ladder.