"Chief" Wahoo McDaniel was my first mentor, instructed me on the ins and outs of television interviews and actually let me interview him for my very first one. His instruction was simple, something like "Put yourself over as a wrestling announcer and then introduce me and ask me to explain the rules of the Indian Strap Match and then just hold the mic for me..." Did exactly as asked, totally surprised to be told to put myself over. Shocking.
Favorite interaction was late 90's with ACW at a building near the Greensboro Coliseum with a personal favorite grappler, "Pistol" Pez Whatley. Pez came out before his match and demanded the house mic, calling me a "long-haired raggedy roody-poo". I popped as hard as anybody in the building. True story, he apologized to me afterward for calling me names. I thanked him for talking to me and told him that he would always be a favorite memory.
Got to spend a lot of quality time over a few years with my very first pro wrestling "hero", Johnny Weaver. I could barely speak, I just wanted to hear him talk. He was great about answering questions or explaining details or memories, and seemed to really enjoy going down memory lane. Worked with Ricky Morton from the Rock & Roll Express dozens of times, Ricky is the master story-teller in the locker room. Dude is gold, all day long. Always a glad hand for this man, a lot of memories shared.
The wrestler that terrified me most when I was a young fan was Swede Hansen, the right-hand man of Rip Hawk. He came to a couple of events with Wahoo and was honestly shocked to be recognized. Super sweet gentleman, would sit and talk for hours about wrestling. The most feared guy EVER in pro wrestling was the rookie Ivan Koloff. Big, muscular, vicious and downright frightening. Another great guy who made for me the greatest social media icon photo in history!
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