>>Eric: He is a former AWA and World Championship
Wrestling World Tag Team Champion and one
of my all time favorite wrestlers, "Gorgeous"
Jimmy Garvin.
Jimmy, welcome to the show.
>>Jimmy: Well, thank you very much, Eric.
It's nice to talk to you today.
>>Eric: It's an honor to have you.
Jim, when I grew up watching wrestling, I
always loved the promos, and, in my opinion,
you were one of the greatest of all time,
and I don't want to jump to far ahead here
in your career, but let me just ask you, how
did you develop and come up with your style
of promos?
>>Jimmy: As I think back on it, when I first
started, which was November 1, 1969, I wasn't
too good.
Like anything else, when you start, you just
have to work on it.
I remember Bobby Shane was a big influence
on me, back in the days when I was traveling
with him around the Gulf coast area.
And just watching and paying attention to
the different guys' style and practicing on
the job type training.
At first they were pretty crappy, but as I
got more comfortable, and got more relaxed,
and I could get more creative, and the steps
went forward, I found I had a knack for it.
>>Eric: Is there any kind of interesting anecdote
behind "It's not my fault"?
>>Jimmy: Somebody asked me that the other
night, and to tell you the truth, I think
it just came out one day.
Most of my interviews, in fact 99% of them,
were off the cuff.
I never really thought about anything as far
as the content went.
It went no further than the fact of who I
was wrestling and when it was going to be
and where it was going to be and then everything
else kind of flowed.
So somewhere in that process, the "It's not
my fault" phrase came out.
>>Eric: Gotcha.
Again, we're talking to "Gorgeous" Jimmy Garvin.
His website is live, it's a tremendous website,
Jimmygarvin.com.
Jimmy, you have a DVD for sale on your website,
taking a behind scenes look at the Great American
Bash.
Maybe you can tell the listeners about it?
>>Jimmy: It's a fantastic DVD.
I held onto it for years and years.
It was when Jim Crockett promotions did the
last Great American Bash tour around the country,
and I just brought my camera with me, my video
camera, and just happened to think, &lsquo;I
want to tape the guys behind the scenes, before
the matches started, or what they were doing
during the matches.'
Because there was a lot of funny stuff went
on, as I explain on the website.
We traveled so much, night after night, that
we had to do something to relieve the tension
or something to entertain ourselves.
We found that sitting around for hours and
hours, night after night, we did some pretty
funny stuff to keep the mood going and to
keep everybody's frame of mind where it should
be.
I just took it [my camera] with me around
the country and I got some really great stuff
and some very funny moments.
People like, God bless him, Hawk, who was
a good friend of mine, and his partner, Animal,
and Sting, Lex Luger, the list goes on and
on.
Jimmy Cornette had a little piece in there,
Dr. Death Steve Williams- all the guys who
were on the tour at that time with Jim Crockett
promotions.
And mostly, to what comes to my mind, it was
the last of an era.
It was the last of the old days, so to speak,
where we just traveled our butt off, did what
we had to do, we wrestled hard, we played
hard, and some of that shows in there.
It's just a really, really good DVD.
It's the first of a few to come.
The next one is a Behind the Scenes Africa.
That'll be coming out around November.
That was a 21-day tour, I took over in Africa,
with Chris Adams, we lost him, but he was
a real good friend of mine.
We had great matches in Texas, and Kansas
City, and St. Louis.
Kevin Von Erich is on that one.
Jimmy Snuka, the Iron Sheik, and the list
goes on and on, and again, it's just what
we did to keep ourselves in the right frame
of mind to do that kind of traveling under
those kind of circumstances.
The Behind the Scenes Bash is a really unique
piece, that's never been seen anywhere in
the world, and I invite everyone to check
out Jimmygarvin.com, and they won't be disappointed
if they get it, because it's just really,
really good.
>>Eric: That's tremendous.
And what's on Jimmygarvin.com, and what I
think is very cool, and one of my favorite
questions that I ask my guests, is the road
stories, and you just started telling some
road stories on there, and the one about the
bear is just tremendous.
>>Jimmy: The bear was really funny one.
I was just a kid, 18 or 19 years old, and
I wrestling for Nick Gulas, and it was in
Bowling Green, and I invite people to go on
the website and check it out.
It was something, I'll tell you that.
I really had to pay my dues in that department.
Of course, I don't wrestle bears anymore,
never did after that.
And, the one after that, with Michael and
I in Tigerland.
Have you seen that one?
>>Eric: Yes!
Him on the bar.
>>Jimmy: (Laughs) You almost had to be there
to see that, but that was hilarious.
I try to update it about once a month.
I try to send a story out for the fans, give
them some kind of idea of what we went through,
and how we entertained ourselves.
>>Eric: That's tremendous.
Have you heard the story of Michael getting
the microphone at the Stephanie McMahon-Triple
H wedding and singing and going a little crazy
there?
>>Jimmy: No, but that sounds about right.
>>Eric: (Laughs)
>>Jimmy: Anytime Michael was around a microphone,
it didn't matter, and he just went into the
other character.
Which by the way, after Behind the Scenes
Africa, I'm going to have Behind the Scenes
Freebirds and the Badstreet Band, which takes
a look at what we did when we traveled around,
and we had the Badstreet Band, and Michael
and I hit the stages at the Atlanta Olmni.
We did a show there; we did one at Centerstage
in Atlanta.
And that's going to be kind of interesting,
too.
>>Eric: As the story goes, the McMahons were
having a fairly eloquent wedding, and then,
all of a sudden, Michael grabbed the microphone
and started singing.
Some of the crowd, they were running with
at the time weren't too happy with it.
>>Jimmy: Well, I could imagine.
Michael couldn't sing worth a darn, anyway.
>>Eric: (Laughs)
>>Jimmy: He was hell of an entertainer though,
I'll tell you that.
>>Eric: When you talk about all time greats,
when it comes to watching in the ring and
promos, you think about guys like yourself,
and absolutely, Michael Hayes.
>>Jimmy: We played well off of each other.
We worked well together.
Everything just kind of flowed.
Because we were living the gimmick, we were
pulling no punches.
We were saying what was on our minds.
>>Eric: Right.
I know the history with you and Michael goes
way back prior your run as the Freebirds World
Tag Team Champions in WCW, how did you guys
first wind up together as partners?
Was it in Texas?
>>Jimmy: Actually, as partners, after, I forgot
what year it was, maybe '89, I think it was
when Turner bought out Jimmy Crockett, I took
a year off and then Michael called me up and
said, &lsquo;What do you think about teaming
up?
We'll be the Fabulous Freebirds.'
I said, &lsquo;Hell yeah.
I'll do that.'
Because I was always the unofficial Bird back
in Texas.
Because in Texas, the three Birds were always
together, and than it was me, than Precious,
and maybe Sunshine and Chris doing battle.
We always ran together.
We were always in each other's back pocket,
so to speak.
So Michael asked me and said, yeah, that would
be fine.
>>Eric: Now, didn't you guys team up together
at the WrestleRock show as well?
>>Jimmy: Yeah, we did do that.
It was kind of a temporary thing.
It was just that one time.
>>Eric: Gotcha.
Again, we're talking to "Gorgeous" Jimmy Garvin.
Jimmy, you've talked about in earlier interviews,
and in your bio, the short time that you have
spent with Eddie Graham, as a youngster in
the business.
What are your memories of Eddie Graham?
>>Jimmy: Well, that goes way back.
I started when I was nine years old in Tampa.
My family had a little, small apartment complex,
and Joe Scarpa (Chief Jay Strongbow) and the
Great Malenko lived there.
To make a long story short, Joe Scarpa seen
me one day, and said, &lsquo;Why don't you
come down to 106 North Albany, the Sportatorium,
because Eddie Graham has an amateur club.'
I said, &lsquo;sure.'
So I went down there, I fell in love with
it.
I started my amateur wrestling career down
there, at the Sportatorium, 106 North Albany.
In fact, Gordon Solie did an interview with
me, when I was nine years old.
>>Eric: Wow.
>>Jimmy: The first time Gordon Solie interviewed
me, I was just a nine-year-old kid.
Eddie Graham used to take me to the tournaments,
along with Mike, we were both around the same
age, and I had a real good relationship with
Eddie Graham.
He was a great person, and great for wrestling.
>>Eric: Tremendous.
Now, all that you can do is read about the
legend of Danny Hodge, but you had the opportunity
to work with him for a brief time.
What was that like?
>>Jimmy: That was always pretty interesting
with Danny, because he was such an intense
individual to start with.
I believe, if I'm not mistaken, he was the
only one on the cover of Time Magazine as
a Golden Glove boxer and a champion amateur
wrestler at the same time, holding both titles.
>>Eric: Correct.
>>Jimmy: And he had that double tendons in
his hands, he was born that way, so his strength
was enormous, if he ever got a hold of you.
He was a very aggressive wrestler, anyway,
and I was just a kid, when I got in the ring
with him, so I was hoping he was in a pretty
good mood and wouldn't hurt me too bad.
Speaking about wrestling Danny Hodge, I was
talking to somebody the other night, I wrestled
Buddy Rodgers, as well.
>>Eric: Wow!
>>Jimmy: I wrestled Lou Thesz, as well.
I'm trying to think, I always ask the guys,
&lsquo;if you ever find anyone who's wrestled
those three guys and isn't a hundred years
old, let me know.'
I'm 51 now, and before I was thirty, I had
wrestled, Hodge and Buddy Rodgers.
I remember in West Palm Beach, Buddy Rodgers
used to manage me for a while.
>>Eric: Really?

Jimmy: Yeah.
That was pretty interesting stuff.
I'm real proud that I got a chance to get
in the ring with guys like that, because they
are my heroes.
>>Eric: Absolutely.
I think you actually have my next beat, I
got Bruno Sammartino coming up next, and I
think he's only got in the ring with Thesz
and Buddy Rodgers.
I don't think he ever was in the ring with
Danny Hodge.
>>Jimmy: You'll have to ask him.
No doubt he's a living legend, himself, and
I got a lot respect for him.
To be honest with you, I never met him, after
all the years he's been in the business, and
myself.
Of course, I always NWA in the South, and
he was mostly, WWF in the North, so our paths
didn't get a chance to cross.
But give him my regards.
I respect him a lot.
>>Eric: When you first broke in, and maybe
for the first five/six years in the wrestling
business and doing the territories, who can
you point to that took you under their wing,
any old-schoolers or old-timers that particularly
did?
>>Jimmy: Frankie Caine always took an interest
in me, who later went on to wrestle as the
Great Mephisto.
Frankie Caine got so much history in professional
wrestling, for going way back.
He always kind of took care of me.
Terry Garvin also helped me out a lot.
Pat Patterson helped me out a lot.
Those stick out in my mind.
Jack Brisco, as I was coming up, not so much
when I was managing, but when I started wrestling,
he helped me out a lot.
He's a really good friend, both Jack and Jerry.
>>Eric: Excellent.
I should also point out, on Wrestlingclassics.com,
they have a message-board, where both you
and Jack converse with fans, which I think
is very cool.
>>Jimmy: I really enjoy doing that.
I just started doing that a couple of months
ago, and I get some interesting questions.
It just amazes me how they remember so well;
sometimes they ask me questions, and to be
honest with you, I just can't remember the
facts, but they sure remember the facts.
It's always a pleasure talking to them.
>>Eric: Absolutely.
I know you wrestled both with and against
and also wrestled for Bill Watts, what was
it like working for Bill Watts?
I heard a mixed bag of reactions from different
guys.
>>Jimmy: (Snickers) When I first worked for
Bill Watts, it was in 1971.
Holy smokes, '71 and '72, he worked us to
death.
We did an awful a lot of traveling, and I
mean hard driving from Oklahoma City to New
Orleans, and early TVs.
It was like drive, drive, drive, drive.
He didn't have a lot of patience.
I always got along with him okay.
I don't really have anything bad to say about
him.
I try not to say anything bad about anyone
if I can help it, unless I just like feel
like saying it, that's why I was always like
a rebel; I didn't always play by the rules
they wanted me to play, but I just call a
spade a spade.
Bill Watts was okay.
He was a hard driving promoter that worked
his boys pretty darn hard.
>>Eric: You were WCW when he came back, right?
>>Jimmy: Yes.
>>Eric: What was that like?
Bill Watts 1971 is a way different story than
Bill Watts running the business like '71 in
'92.
>>Jimmy: I think he was fighting, and this
is my opinion, I think he's an old-school
type guy, too, and when he got in there with
likes of the Turner group, and guys that were
slithering around in the upper offices there,
I'm not sure he could play their game.
So he had a little bit of a hard time.
Again, I could be totally wrong, but just
know that Bill's from the old school and it's
hard to teach an old dog new trick, so to
speak.
He tried, but I don't think he was happy there.
He was fighting a lot of inside stuff.
>>Eric: Without naming names, tell me you
didn't get a little bit of a chuckle on some
of the guys and when you heard Bill was coming
and you said, &lsquo;If you think it's bad
now, wait'll they get a hold of Bill.'
>>Jimmy: (Laughs) Well, I think a lot of guys
learned that when he arrived.
I can't think of any particular individual
that learned any worse than any of the other
guys.
It's just that, I don't think they were used
to the way he commanded the ship.
>>Eric: And going from Jim Herd and Kip Frey
to Bill Watts is quite a drastic comparison
there.
>>Jimmy: Yeah, well, but at least Herd, he
knew nothing, at least Bill knew kind of what
was going on.
Kip Frey was a good guy; I got along with
him.
He was like another guy who got thrown into
the middle of something that he really didn't
have any idea [about].
He tried and he was a really good guy, don't
miss understand me, but he was out of his
field.
>>Eric: Absolutely.
When we come back from the break, I've had
the opportunity to talk to different guys
over the years I've been doing this, that
were there when Ric Flair had left with the
WCW title.
Were you there when Ric Flair left with the
title?
>>Jimmy: I don't think I was.
I think that was after.
I quit in '92.
>>Eric: Okay, because he left right at the
end of '91.
>>Jimmy: He did?
Well, you see, I don't remember, because I
mentally left, probably shortly before that.
>>Eric: (Laughs)
>>Jimmy: I said when I was 26, I'd retire
when I was 40, and that's what I did.
I was pretty much done, so I don't have a
lot of memory on him leaving, but I'll give
you what I can.
>>Eric: I'll tell you what some of the other
guys said and maybe you can throw in some
of your comments on that.
>>Jimmy: Sure.
>>Eric: Excellent.
Again, we're talking to "Gorgeous" Jimmy Garvin.
His website is Jimmygarvin.com.
He has a DVD for sale on his website, that
takes a behind the scenes look at the Great
American Bash, the last touring Great American
Bash, as well as future DVDs that'll be available
on the site, as well as road stories.
Check it out, Jimmygarvin.com.
>>Eric: Jim, we started to talk a little bit
about Ric Flair, before the break.
It never even dawn on me until I started bringing
a couple of the guys from that era on the
radio show here, a couple of the guys were
still very bitter and very upset with Ric
leaving with the title at the time and going
over there and they're saying, that it's great
Ric is making a buck over there, but he's
trying to put us out of business and hurt
our families.
What's your take on it?
>>Jimmy: It's a little foggy.
I remember him going to the WWF out of here.
To be honest with you, I was so mentally separated
from the business at the time, to a degree,
I didn't care too much.
I could care less, so to speak.
I don't know if that makes sense to you.
I didn't normally care what Flair did anyway.
>>Eric: You have an interesting story that
you've told at the Wrestlingclassic's message-board
about Ric Flair.
>>Jimmy: (Laughs) When he tried to fire me
three times?
>>Eric: (Laughs) Yeah.
Why don't you talk about that for a second?
>>Jimmy: Yeah, it was amazing.
He was more or less the booker at the time,
if not the booker, he was right up there.
Hurricane Hugo, when that came, it hit my
house; it put a 90-foot oak tree through two
stories of it and microburst came out of it,
it turned it twenty degrees off its foundation.
Thank goodness, I was off at the time, and
being so close in aviation, and watching everything
on the radar, I kind of had an idea, along
with everyone else, that it was going to get
really bad.
It destroyed my house.
I had a day off and then I was supposed to
go back to work, but I couldn't make the shot.
I called them and said, &lsquo;Look, my house
is gone.
My stuff is strolled everywhere.
I got to get my family a place to stay.
I'm not going to be making the shot.'
He sent word back through Michael that if
I missed another shot I was going to be fired.
>>Eric: Wow.
>>Jimmy: So I sent message back through Michael
and called the people I needed to call and
I said, &lsquo;Look, I need to have a couple
of days to get my family secured.'
In the meantime, he sent two other messages
that threatened to fire me if I didn't make
the shots.
So I never really thought much of that.
I really don't think that was a nice thing
to do.
I think it would have been more in line to
say, &lsquo;Take care of your family and get
back to us when you got them taken care of.'
>>Eric: Absolutely.
How did the political struggle between Dusty
and Flair affect the boys?
>>Jimmy: To me, it was one of those things
that whoever won out the interview with Jimmy
Crockett, because both of them were going
in different directions, and neither one of
them were having dinner at each other's houses
too often, if you know what I mean.
So there was always a conflict.
Flair had his guys and Dusty had his.
To a degree, it separated the group.
Flair did his angles and Dusty would do his.
It was just an unnecessary discomfort in the
air.
>>Eric: What was it like when Crockett purchased
the UWF?
What was that initial blending of the talent
like?
For you, who had been around the business
for a while, you probably knew about 90% of
the locker-room anyway.
How did that whole dynamic work out?
>>Jimmy: Again, I hate to say it, I probably
didn't care at the time.
I didn't pay much attention, because, honestly,
there was stuff going on in the business that
I could just care less.
I had a job to do, and I knew what my job
was, and I kind of knew where everybody was
going, but I never really got into the personal
[aspect].
I never got involved in that way.
>>Eric: Sure, one of my favorite promos from
"Gorgeous" Jimmy Garvin was when you first
came into the NWA Crockett territory at the
time, you came out with the want ads, and
you were talking about Wahoo looking for a
job.
(Laughs)
>>Jimmy: (Laughs)
>>Eric: What are your memories of your feud
with Wahoo?
>>Jimmy: Just great memories.
Wahoo was a legend and always will be, well
respected throughout the industry, and will
always be remembered as a strong individual.
He was just a great guy.
When I first came to Crockett in '77, really
just started to apply what I watched as a
manager all those years in the ring, Wahoo
helped me out a lot then.
Of course, coming in and working the angle
with him right off the bat in '86, it was
great.
He was just a great guy.
He had a big heart.
He was a tough individual.
You knew you were in a match when you were
in the ring with Wahoo.
His stuff was solid.
He had a good attitude, too.
He did what he wanted to do.
He said what he wanted to say.
He wasn't an office type guy.
Interviews were so easy to do with him.
It could have gone so much further, but there
were certain restraints put on.
>>Eric: It seemed the feud ended pretty abruptly.
>>Jimmy: Yeah, I think it was getting over.
(Laughs)
>>Eric: (Laughs) Like I said, as a kid, out
of everything I've seen in the wrestling business,
that's one of the things that sticks out in
my mind, that I remember was the interview.
I remember the interview clear as day, with
the interview and I remember the feud, so
that should tell you something right there.
>>Jimmy: With all the thousands and thousands
of interviews that I've done, I, like yourself,
remember the ones with Wahoo, when I had the
Chief fund.
I had the pickle jar&hellip;
>>Eric: (Laughs) Yes!
>>Jimmy: Should I raise money for the chief?
I wanted to go up to the hills here in Charlotte,
and look for his mama.
Do a little film clip, about going up and
finding his mama up there on the reservation
and looking in her tent for Wahoo, but that
never happened.
>>Eric: (Laughs)
>>Jimmy: Which would have been totally hilarious.
>>Eric: Absolutely.
This radio show is based out of the Philadelphia
market, and Philadelphia, I would think, was
a very good town to you.
I know most people remember your match with
the Dynamic Dudes; I've even seen some interviews
where they ask you about it.
But I don't think a lot of people remember,
because it wasn't on pay per view and it was
just a regular house show, I remember being
at a house show where you had just turned
babyface, and you did the angle with the Midnight
Express, and you came out as a surprise mystery
partner, and I just remember the Civic Center
going absolutely bonkers.
>>Jimmy: Well, Philadelphia, and I'm not kidding
when I say this, was one, if not my favorite
city.
Philadelphia had the same attitude as I had
and the same attitude as Michael had, and
that was- we didn't care.
We did what we wanted to do and said what
we wanted to say and we acted the way we wanted
to when we wanted and nobody was going to
tell us different.
And if they tried to tell us different and
we didn't want to do it, we wouldn't go for
it.
That was a good example with the fans.
The promotion tried to do a babyface thing
out of the dudes, and Philadelphia people
told them that's not what we wanted to do.
Philadelphia, that auditorium there was electrifying.
The fans were the greatest.
They absolutely let you know what was on their
mind.
I know a couple shows there, I wasn't feeling
so good, I was just run down and I wasn't
at my 100%.
Man, they let me know that I wasn't doing
too good.
(Laughs)
>>Eric: (Laughs)
>>Jimmy: I remember that.
I understand, I wasn't doing too good.
They seen it and they said it.
Good for them.
I don't think they realized how we worked
and what we had to do to keep going sometimes.
>>
Eric: Sure.
When you did have that big babyface turn in
Crockett's company, was that something you
got excited about?
Was it something you got nervous about?
Or was that something, again, you didn't really
care, it was part of the job?
>>Jimmy: I was always nervous in the Crockett
organization.
I also told the story on the boards, in '86,
when I came here.
They told me to come there out of Texas, but
instead I went to Verne [Gagne].
They never forgot that.
I was going up the stairs one time, in Fayetteville
and Tully and Flair were standing at the top
and they said, &lsquo;Oh here's the guy that
wouldn't come when we needed him to come,
now he's here.'
So that kind of always stuck in my mind that
they didn't forget.
I really felt a little uncomfortable.
I knew, coming out of Florida, doing business
with David Von Erich, coming out of Texas
and doing business there, and coming out of
the AWA and doing business there, I knew the
character of "Gorgeous" Jimmy Garvin and Precious
could do business if given a chance.
The Wahoo thing was going, then they turned
me babyface.
I said.
&lsquo;I could still make this work.
I can control my gimmick to the point I'm
creative enough that I could make this work.
I just need a little help.'
It takes two to tango.
I always knew in the back of my mind, that
the rope was going to run out pretty soon.
[First] turning me babyface then teaming me
up with Bill Dundee.
What in the world was that about?
Teaming me up with Ronnie.
That didn't make any sense either.
I was a single, basically, under the "Gorgeous"
Jimmy Garvin and Precious characters.
>>Eric: Talking a little bit about Verne,
what were some of your memories of that run?
I remember, and I thought it was tremendous,
that [feud] you had with Rick Martel over
the AWA title.
>>Jimmy: Fantastic gentleman.
Rick Martel was a great piece of talent, a
great individual and person, and just a really
nice guy and businessman.
His work and my work were kind of like Chris
Adams and I when we worked.
We just knew each other's style.
We could adapt to the changes, if we needed
to on an instant.
We both had the same psychology as far as
how the match should start and how the match
should continue through the middle and how
the match should end.
We were really mentally connected.
That's what important in having those old-school,
classic matches, is the guys have to be able
to read each other really good.
Rick Martel and I did a heck of a job.
Verne had a great territory there.
Verne is an old-school guy and he sold wrestling.
>>Eric: I think it says a lot about you, because
Verne got you, and at the time you were a
top guy and you were in the top program with
Martel.
And that was the time that Verne was looking
to expand in the Northeast, and he was running
the Meadowlands.
So I think that says a lot about you and how
he saw you.
>>Jimmy: I appreciate that and I'm glad he
recognized it.
I had worked almost a quarter of a century
on my skills and I wasn't going to my first
dance.
I use that phrase often.
I could have gone to Verne's territory and
with a little help from the company, let me
have a little creative flow going, and we'll
not only give the people their money's worth,
but we'll also have a good time and everybody
will make money.
>>Eric: What about when you wound up getting
that tag team title run with Steven Regal,
what was the story with the phantom title
change between you and the Road Warriors?
>>Jimmy: I'm not sure if Verne was trying
to give the Road Warriors a secret message
or not.
I wasn't in on that and didn't really know,
but the Road Warriors were the Road Warriors
and I respect them tremendously.
Why would they drop it to Steve and I?
We didn't know it wasn't going to happen,
too much, until that night it happened.
The only thing I could figure out was, there
must have been something going on, some power
struggle going on, this is just my thoughts,
I'm sure Animal would know because he was
privy to the information, but it was pretty
bizarre to have Steve and I, of all people.
But thank goodness, like I say, too, sometimes,
on the boards, the Road Warriors liked us
a lot.
We got along well with them, so they didn't
care.
>>Eric: You seemed to have very good chemistry.
You worked with them, I'd imagine, hundreds
of time.
>>Jimmy: I was very good friends with both
of them.
>>Eric: We were talking briefly before, you
were talking about having really good chemistry
with Martel and knowing where you were.
Do you remember any guy or guys that you have
wrestled, and it's not saying anything negative
on them, that you just said to yourself, wow,
we are just on two different pages and we
can't get anything go here?
>>Jimmy: I'm sure along my way, there were
guys like that.
I can't really bring to my mind right now.
I'd really have to stop think about the guys
that I worked with.
Sometimes you would just have bad chemistry.
Maybe the guy would just be thinking too one
sided.
That's a question we'd have to think over
a little bit and let me think of the guys.
There was a black guy, bald headed guy, named
Sonny&hellip;
>>Eric: Sonny Fargo?
>>Jimmy: No, he was down in Florida.
I couldn't remember his name.
He was always hard to work with, but he was
going to do everything he could do to get
over and that's not always the best thing
to do.
It takes two guys working together to make
everything happen.
I'll probably remember that guy's name when
we hang up.
>>Eric: (Laughs) I'll look for it on the boards.
What are your memories of Texas?
I've been lucky, I had Kevin Von Erich on
the show a few times and one of the few guys
that I actually stay in touch with between
his appearances.
What a super guy, from my experiences with
him.
>>Jimmy: Great guy.
Good friend of ours.
Good family friend, as were all the Von Erich
boys.
Good friends with Patty and I. Texas was just
a magical place.
I've said this before, too, on the boards
or from my e-mail club.
In '83, when we went there, all the stars
were lined up in the right place.
The boys were on top of their game.
The Freebirds were there, feeling no pain,
and on top of their game.
The angle with myself and Chris Adams was
hot.
Iceman King Parsons, everything was just so
perfect.
We could do no wrong.
It was just magical in Texas.
Everybody was paired up with the right person.
All the angles that were being constructed
were with the right people.
It was perfect.
>>Eric: How did you wind up with Sunshine?
Where did she come from?
>>Jimmy: Sunshine's my cousin.
>>Eric: Oh okay.
>>Jimmy: She's my cousin.
She's from Tampa and she's doing fine now.
Originally, to make a long story short, when
I was just Jimmy Garvin, an old timer down
in Florida, a friend of Eddie Graham's, Lester
Welch saw me working.
I came back in the dressing room and he said,
&lsquo;Jim, I've known you forever.
You've got a good background, you've got a
good basic style, but you need to have a gimmick.'
So that really burnt on my mind that he's
probably right.
The "Gorgeous" Jimmy Garvin character came
up and Eddie Graham had a friend, who he hooked
me up with to be the valet, and I just created
the character from there.
Of course, the fact of this girl, the limo
picking me up at home, being away for days,
that was kind of wearing on the family.
Patti is such a wonderful person and a wonderful
wife, and I realized the pressure there, so
I said, &lsquo;Look, we'll get rid of her
and I'll try to figure something about, but
I got to keep the gimmick going.'
Because I knew it was just a matter of time
before the gimmick totally caught on fire,
as it did.
So I said, I got an idea; I'll get my cousin
Valerie.
I called her up and she had never even been
to a wrestling match.
I'll teach you on the way to Texas, this what
we're going to do.
She was just a perfect natural; she did just
a great job.
That's how Sunshine was brought to Texas.
>>Eric: Your wife was such a natural, especially
when you were a heel, just that voice and
you guys had charisma together.
She was such a natural in that role.
>>Jimmy: That's amazing, too.
She didn't want anything to do with that.
I had to beg her and beg her and beg her.
In fact, I still owe her for doing that.
>>Eric: (Laughs)
>>Jimmy: When Sunshine was in Texas with me
for almost a year, we were partying really,
really hard, to hard for our own good, actually.
It got to the point where her and Buddy Roberts
were having a good time, a couple days at
a time, and her dependability started to wear.
No disrespect to her, that was just normal
to take a young girl out of a small town,
and Tampa being a small town compared to the
rest of the United States, where we traveled,
she needed a break.
I said, &lsquo;You got to do it, Patti.
There's nobody else to do it.'
Patti said, &lsquo;No, no, no.'
It's totally against her normal nature.
Finally, she said okay, I'll do it for you.
She did it for me for five years; she traveled
around the world.
24 hours a day, seven days a week, we've been
together 35 years.
I'm so grateful.
I'm so blessed.
God has really watched over me and I appreciate
it.
>>Eric: Well, God bless you.
That's tremendous.
What an example.
You could write a book right there.
>>Jimmy: 35 years, we met when were kids,
she just turned 14, I was 16, something like
that, and tomorrow I'll be more in love with
her then I am today.
We have two beautiful daughters, one's going
to be 27 in August, she lives in Manhattan,
she's a photographer, and her name is Brianne,
and the other one's Lacie, she's going to
go University of Louisiana as a junior this
fall.
>>Eric: That's tremendous.
I'm going to take a break and we'll wrap it
up and try and scoot around the country in
the different territories that you worked
and maybe some different anecdotes.
>>Jimmy: Alright, brother.
>>AFTER THE BREAK
>>Eric: Jimmy, one of my favorite questions,
that I like to ask guys, especially like yourself,
that were in the business that were constantly
on the road, a favorite story or stories,
ribs, what were your favorite ribs, that you
either saw or applied yourself or maybe were
the recipient?
>>Jimmy: There was an enormous amount of ribbing
back then.
I think one of that sticks in my mind, didn't
involve me, but it was one with the Steiners.
They were going down, I think Interstate 20,
they were getting ready to pass Brian Pillman,
God bless him as well, and he was sleeping,
like laying up against the window in the backseat,
with his head catching some zzzz's.
And the Steiners pulled up along side, without
anyone seeing too much, it happened so fast,
and one of them climbed out the window and
opened the door on the side that Pillman was
sleeping on.
He almost fell into the Interstate.
>>Eric: (Laughs)
>>Jimmy: (Laughs) Which I guess wouldn't have
been too darn funny.
>>Eric: No, no.
>>Jimmy: That kind of ribbing, that sticks
in my mind.
The Freebirds did an awful lot of ribbing.
I remember one, in West Palm Beach, the Briscos
and I, we were going along the road, and there
used to be a lot of armadillos hanging around
by the side of the expressway.
So we stopped, got a towel, and ran one of
these armadillos down, and it was big armadillo.
We caught up him and put him in the trunk.
Then we brought him in the dressing room and
I think it was Bearcat Right, I'm almost positive
it was Bearcat Right, a black wrestler, had
stepped out of the room for a minute and so
we took the armadillo and put it in Bearcat's
bag and zipped it up.
>>Eric: (Laughs)
>>Jimmy: The armadillo by now, he'd been the
towel for several hours, now he's in Bearcat's
bag, you could see when Bearcat came back
in the dressing room, you can see the top
of the zipper, it was one of those big hockey
bags, and it was kind of [moving] where the
armadillo was trying to get out and, of course,
Bearcat's not paying attention, he's telling
a story or something.
So he reaches down and unzips his bag all
in one stroke, well, when that armadillo seen
light, it sprung straight up.
When Bearcat seen the armadillo jump out of
his bag, at the time, I don't think he knew
exactly what it was, it hit the floor, he
hit the floor, the armadillo went one way,
he went the other way screaming like a little
girl.
>>Eric: (Laughs)
>>Jimmy: That was pretty funny.
>>Eric: That is a great story.
It would seem, as hot as you were throughout
your career, you would have at least been
a natural fit as some point for the WWF.
Were there any talks or negotiations in your
career, past, present, or whenever?
>>Jimmy: Well, in '92, when I retired, as
I had planned to do when I was 26 years old,
I did get a call.
Pat Patterson called me and said, &lsquo;Vince
wants you to come up' and get a load of this,
he said, &lsquo;Vince wants you to come up
and try out.'
>>Eric: What?
>>Jimmy: Yeah, that was the phrase.
He wanted me to try out.
>>Eric: That's crazy.
>>Jimmy: So he flew me up to New York.
Of course, I thought, &lsquo;Try out?
I got something you could try out.'
But I wanted to fly up there and see the boys
anyway and I had nothing else to do, so I
went on up there.
I did an interview with Gene Okerlund and
it didn't feel comfortable at all.
It felt so out of place and it felt like I
didn't need to be here.
I didn't speak more than ten words to Vince,
nothing against Vince, whatever he does is
his business, but I believe there are people
in this world that just don't get along, and
I believe Vince and I are those two.
He never really cared much for me, and I didn't
care much for him.
They wanted to change my name, I said no,
that ain't happening.
I just didn't care, as usual.
>>Eric: If you had the entire library of film
to put on tape and DVD from your career, if
you could pick three matches to put on there,
for any reason at all, off the top of your
head, what three matches would they be?
>>Jimmy: The Hour Broadway with Harley Race
from Tampa, Florida, at Al Lopez Field.
It would be any match that I had with David
Von Erich.
And it would be any match that I had, it would
be a toss up between Chris Adams and Rick
Martel.
>>Eric: Interesting.
You've already talked about why you retired,
you had it in your mind, what have you been
doing since that time?
>>Jimmy: I'm a commercial pilot.
I started flying when I was 19 years old.
Sam Menacker took me to a town in his airplane
and I fell in love with aviation.
I flew throughout my career.
There were certain periods of time when I
was just too busy on the road, and too wound
up, and wasn't in the right frame of mind,
to say the least, to be in airplane, so I
took a break from it.
But it was always in my mind that when I turned
40 to retire and fly airplanes and play a
little golf.
In '86, when I came to Crockett's territory,
I bought a 401, flew that around the country,
again building time, I had already accumulated
every rating that you could get from Federal
Aviation.
On my birthday, when I quit, I had a flight
instruction job lined up; I went into flight
instruction.
I did that for about a year, then I flew freight
for a couple years, then I got on with the
US Air express carrier out of Charlotte.
I flew jet stream for five years, and then
wanted to fly jets before I really quit.
I went to Midway, and flew almost two years
there, flying their regional jet, the CL-65,
which is a real nice piece of equipment, state
of the art stuff.
Then of course, after 9/11, they went under
and now I'm working with the sixth largest
airline in 
the world, I'm a captain for them and I have
really wonderful job.
>>Eric: That's tremendous.
Jimmy, the hour went by so fast.
When you put out the next DVD, I'd love to
have you back.
>>Jimmy: I'd love to be back.
I'd like to thank everybody for all the years
of support, and, again, being so blessed,
to be able to live my dream in professional
wrestling, I'm just like an artist, I just
needed a place to paint, and that provided
me that.
And now I'm living my dream in aviation.
I'm so blessed to have such a wonderful family,
a wonderful wife, and I'm thankful to God
for everything.
>>Eric: Jimmy, all the best to you and your
family and we'll be looking forward to having
you back sometime&hellip;Jimmy, thank you
very much.
>>Jimmy: Take care, Eric.
