RF Video Shoot Interview with Bill Alfonso

This shoot was filmed in either February or March of 1997. It was one of the first shoot interviews produced by RF Video. It is a two-disc set that runs for a total of three hours and eight minutes

DISC ONE




This disc runs for one hour and twenty-nine minutes

Bill said he became a fan of wrestling when his dad got free tickets from his friend who was a sports editor in Tampa when he was about 12 years old. He never watched wrestling before and took the tickets and went and has been a fan ever since.

He then mentions that he got started in wrestling with his step-brother, the Cuban Assassin Fidel Sierra. Bill said they loved it and would follow the wrestlers around the bars like marks.

Bill said that King Curtis took a liking to them and that Rocky Johnson gave him their first break in Dallas. Sierra asked if Bill could come out and referee, which he did occasionally in the Florida Independents. Gary Hart was the booker at the time. He got into the locker room and said he was basically a “Soda boy,” getting guys like Harley Race cans of coke. He also ran to the stores for the boys.

After several months of traveling, Bill was accepted to the guys but still had not been able to work as a referee. Sierra went to work for the Funk’s Territory in Amarillo for a little bit and put in a good word for Bill as a referee, who stayed in Dallas. A few months later, the Funk’s called back Sierra and told him to come back up and to bring Bill, who was extremely excited.

His first show and he had a oversized shirt with baggy pants and boots two sizes too big. His first night in the business was a match against Terry Funk and the Sheik, who was managed by Oliver Humperdink for the show. Terry came up to Bill and told him how the show would progress then told the interviewers to cut the tape as he wanted to protect the business as he was taught that way then comes back and briefly talks, without going into any specifics, about how the show would go down. Bill said that he became a natural as a referee that night. Bill tells a story of how the Sheik brought a snake to the ring and Humperdink yelled at Bill to sell the snake. After the night was over, he got a $90 check, his first in the business.

Bill and his brother then got booked in the Carolina’s. They had no idea how big that territory was at the time. They told Bill that they had several referees, including Tommy Young and one of the Hebner’s and he stayed for about six months. He started to get discouraged and wanted to do more then told his brother that he wanted to leave and go home. Paul Jones got wind of Bill wanting to leave to go back home to Florida and told Bill to go to Gerald Brisco, who was the booker and tell him that he was looking for work. Bill said that he didn’t want to just walk in and ask for a job so he went to work a regular job.

One day, he and his future cousin in-law decided to not show up to work and go to Palm Beach then got fired. Bill then got the idea to call up Brisco. He showed up to the office and met Brisco then told him that he was a friend of Paul Jones. Brisco asked who he worked with and he said the Funk’s, Gorge Scott, and Joe Blanchard. Brisco said they might be able to use him in the Summer when they run two towns.

During the Summer, one of the referee’s got fired on a Monday for missing the show due to a flat tire and not having a spare, plus numerous fuck-ups in the past. Bill got the call the next day to meet Dusty at 6pm. He met him at the armory and he and Dusty were the only two there, will Bill noting that Dusty was always early. In the locker room, guys were asking Dusty who he was and he told them that his brother was in the business and he is going to be a referee. After the night, Bill said that he fit in and that he got over in the locker room by telling some funny stories.

After a week, Gerald Brisco offered him a full-time gig but basically told him that if you fuck up, you could be gone quickly. Bill said he stayed in Florida until they folded.

Bill is asked when he realized that Florida hit it big. He said that no one went big until Vince went national. He said they had a hot territory but only ran in Florida and there were about 29 territories at the time. Bill said that when he came in, Dusty took over shortly after that and that is when the territory started to thrive.

Bill said that the office in Florida disliked Dusty because his vision was to do bigger things that would call for more money, to ultimately make more money, and they didn’t want that to happen as they were content putting out as little money as possible. Bill thinks that is why Dusty moved to the Crockett’s.

He is asked if he has any Gordon Solie stories. Bill said he is a great guy and that they still talk to each other and they named his road after him. He doesn’t tell a story about him though.

When asked about Eddie Graham’s involvement at this time, Bill said that he was not really involved much when he got there in 1980. He loved the business but stayed at home in Tampa and would show up to television.

Bill said that after Eddie died, the office constantly gave Dusty shit over production costs.

After Florida closed, he was going to go over to Mid-Atlantic but stayed home with his wife, who was sick and unfortunately passed away from kidney failure at age 22 two years later. Dusty told him to call him up when he was ready.

Bill said he saw guys like Lex Luger and Ron Simmons start out in the business. 

He came to WCW after a break of about a year, citing he was burned out and needed a break from the business. Hiro Matsuda called him up and said he could do the match as they were having a WCW/Japan show. They then show a clip of Bill at the beginning of the match. Bill said that Matsuda gave him credibility among the Japanese because he recommended him for the match.

Bill puts over the Japanese office for giving him first-class accommodations and throwing a fabulous party after the show.

When the show ends, the last three guys at the party were Ric Flair, Dusty, and himself. They hopped in a cab and left as Ric and Dusty were talking then talked to Bill and Dusty said that they will call him Tuesday about a job offer. They get back to the states and he got called that Tuesday and started shortly after that. His first check was for $1,900

He ended up getting paired up with El Gigante, who had difficulty speaking English. Ricky Santana was with him at first but something happened so Bill got the job, plus an additional $400 a week and a Cadillac to drive. He said that he got more money and even saved more due to not having to rent a car. He said that he was a nice guy. Ole Anderson came in and wanted to cut expenses but El Gigante refused to take a pay cut. Gigante then asked Bill if he knew anyone in the WWF and Bill said that he knew JJ Dillon. Bill talked to JJ and told him that Gigante’s contract was up for renewal and he was considering either going to play basketball or leave for Japan but wanted to know if he could land in the WWF. JJ said he would get back to them after speaking with Vince and twenty minutes later, JJ called and said that Vince was interested. Bill sold them as a package deal, stating that he took care of him and also was a referee.

They fly up to Stamford to Vince’s house and they talk with JJ until Vince walks in wearing a red suit. Vince is interested in him and asks Gigante what he was making in WCW. When they told him $250,000 Vince said he would make way more than that in the WWF and be marketed better. When Gigante told Vince that they were still owed $37,000 by WCW, Vince told Gigante that he would write him a $45,000 check on the spot to go work for them and not to go back to WCW. Gigante accepted the offer but did not want to start until mid-January as he wanted to be home with his family for Christmas for the first time in three years. Vince was fine with that as he still needed time to come up with ideas. They then asked Bill if he wanted to start with Gigante or sooner. Bill wanted to work ASAP and Vince told JJ to put him to work immediately. Bill then said that Vince had someone drive them to the offices and Gigante got his check. JJ put him on all of the big shows, including the MSG shows, which Bill did not realize stood for Madison Square Garden at first. They then were given contracts that same day

Bill said Gigante couldn’t fit in with the WWF as he was unable to bump and also was in a lot of pain. Bill talks about people not liking Vince but he said that he was treated wonderfully by him and will never say a bad word about him.

Bill said he knew a majority of the locker room in the WWF anyway and fit right in with the rest.

He ended up leaving the WWF as they were struggling financially. Gigante was let go and Vince told Bill that they were cutting back and he was living in Florida and they had a lot of referee’s in the Northeast, were they were taping TV. Vince gave him a $10,000 check and said the door is not closed. Bill said that is just how business works and has no ill will. He then said that he had no expenses as he saved well. He then moved into his parents lake house as they were unable to keep up with the property and Bill said he would maintain the grounds.

In May of 1995, he received a call from Paul Heyman, not knowing that he was the same as Paul E. Dangerously and asked Bill if he wanted to work for him in ECW, which Bill did not know about at the time. Bill then tells a story of how Paul started out in Florida and wanted to go to the ring with someone. Bill then told Heyman to get a suit and a cell phone and Paul did that as he had his dad’s credit card at the time.

Bill first got to ECW and delivered a promo, which he had not done before. Bill was told to create the promo as a shoot, putting over that he had been a referee all over the place. He then talks about how he loved to entertain in the ring and that when he did something with Tod Gordon in the ring, Bill got hit three times in the temple with his knuckles, stating that they are not wrestlers and are not smooth workers at all. Bill then said he told Tod he didn’t want to get laughed at or try comedy so they went out and worked. He said after “November to Remember,” the boys gave him a standing ovation in the locker room.

DISC TWO




This disc runs for one hour and thirty-nine minutes


Bill is asked if he has received any offers from either WWF or WCW since being in the spotlight in ECW. Bill said he spoke with Kevin Sullivan who said that he would like to have him there one day. He said that he hasn’t heard from WWF but thinks that Heyman and Vince have a relationship and speak together. Bill then said he loves ECW and wouldn’t leave for the WWF for $100,000 because he is happy but he said that he could still be bought.

When asked if he ever foreseen WCW eclipsing the WWF, Bill said he saw the talent flocking over to WCW and that Vince was losing guys for not giving out big contracts and wanting to give guys paycuts. Bill thinks that Vince has learned now.

He is asked about what will happen in a year and he said that everything cycles and that Vince is starting to get guys and talks about the older stars in WCW like Hogan and Savage will not be around forever. He said that Vince also likes to create stars.

Bill tells a story back in 1985 about Kevin Sullivan and Purple Haze. Peter Maiava’s wife was going to run a joint show with Crockett Promotions in Hawaii and Bill got to make the trip. There was 20,000 in the stadium to see Flair go against the Hawaiian champion, Sivi Afi. At the hotel, he was with the NWA guys and some guys from Japan. A wrestler named Lars Anderson, who Crockett refused to have his guys work the same card as the guy. They went back and forth then Anderson got a beer and dumped it all over Crockett. Everyone was pissed and the show almost did not happen but they cooled down and it went on. Crockett then got fucked over on his payout too. Anyway, they all went out and ended up in Crockett’s suite afterwards and as Bill was sitting in the chair, Crockett ran over and clotheslined him out of the chair. Bill was thinking about what to because he wanted to fuck him up but he also didn’t want to lose a potential job as a result. So, Bill jumped up and the room was silent and he told Crockett that he was the only guy in the room that he would let get away with what he did and he said the rest of the guys popped for that and Crockett went over and shook his hand and they hugged.

He now tells another story, this time about Steve Keirn accidentally shooting Barry Windham in the leg. They were driving down to Miami, which was a five hour drive down “Alligator Alley” which was brutal. He was traveling with Keirn and Windham who had a trunk full of ammunition. Bill said it was not uncommon for the guys to stop and shoot things during the drive. Keirn bet Windham that he could hit a pole on a quick draw and he shot it but it ricocheted and went into Windham’s leg. They yanked it out and Windham worked a match against Harley Race that night.

Bill now tells us a story about Roddy Piper involving an alligator. Bill starts by saying how Piper was a really nice guy and would personally give the job guys he beat $25-$50 during the TV tapings for helping him look good. Anyway, he was with Piper, Kevin Sullivan and Frank Dusek. Piper saw a bunch of alligators sunbathing and wanted them to pull over. He said he wished he had a gun and Dusek said he had one so they stopped. Dusek had a shitty .38 and Piper took it and Bill said it would have been a miracle to shoot the gator but Piper hit it right in the head and it started to convulse. The game warden walks by and if you were caught shooting a gator, you could get fined and have your gun and even car repossessed. They waved to him and he went by then Piper wanted to get the gator so he had Sullivan go on one side to wave him on so Piper could grab it. Well, some of the gators come towards Sullivan and Piper swims to the gator he shot but it was fine and turned towards Piper who was able to escape the water.

We get another story, this time involving the Great Muta, Angelo Mosca Jr. and Bill Thorpe, who was a ring announcer. Bill was driving the Cadillac and he saw a gator in the road and tried avoid him but he hit it then slammed on the brakes and wanted to take it home. They picked him up and put him in trunk by folding him, because the trunk was not long enough. They drove and 30 miles later, they heard banging in the trunk as the gator was twisting around, causing Muta to freak out in the backseat, who was only in America for a week at that point. They get to the hotel and open the trunk and the gator had slowed down and Bill also saw that his jaw was broken. Some of the other guys came over and noticed that the gator was in his car and blinking his eyes so Bill decided to open it’s mouth and stick his head inside as the others thought it was unbelievable.

Now, Bill discusses the cage match between Lex Luger and Bruiser Brody, which he was the referee. Luger ended up walking out of the match after Brody would not sell any of his offense. Bill said that they didn’t go over the match beforehand and that Lex was new and not smartened up to the business yet. Brody refused to lockup with him when Lex approached then brushed off his armbar attempt, which confused Luger who was used to overpowing everyone. Bill said that Luger decided to leave a few minutes into the match and climbed the cage and ran to the dressing room. Apparently, they settled things backstage and Bill puts over Luger for making more money than both of them combined.

Bill said that he once received 77 stitches while refereeing a match between Wahoo McDaniel and Sgt. Slaughter. Slaughter backed him in the corner and Wahoo didn’t see him and went for a belt shot and instead of coming down with the belt flat, the side hit Bill and sliced his head open, knocking him out. The camera zooms in on his scar. Mike Rotunda ended up driving him to the hospital.

He now talks about the time he and Taz jumped over the guardrail during an episode of RAW. One of the photographers, someone who Bill knew and worked with when he was with the WWF, attempted to stop them as he had no idea it was a work. Taz shoved him away but the guy and someone else went after Bill and the photographer kicked Bill, bruising his kidney.

They ask Bill if he has any crazy stories about Ric Flair. In Florida, Ric wanted to drive with Bill because he liked him. Flair also bought him food and other things. He said that Ric was wasteful and would buy new combs, shampoo, toothbrushes and other things and use them once then leave it all at the building and buy everything new the next day. He said that one time, Ric ordered 40 Kamikaze’s for the bar and would do that all of the time. He also tells a story of Ric dancing naked with a few girls at a bar in Atlanta. Bill said that Ric would only do that when he knew the owner’s thus not getting in trouble with law enforcement if it happened. Bill said Ric was a great guy.

When asked about Rick Rude, Bill said that he used to ride with him when he started out in Tampa. He said when he left WCW, he was making about $700,000 and said that he talked to him the other day.

He briefly mentions how Mike Rotunda ripped his nuts after he got the caught in a fence he was trying to jump and required roughly 100 stitches.

Bill met Woman first when she sat ringside for all of the shows. The photographer was taking photos of Kevin Sullivan and saw Woman dressed in all black and she was attractive so he took some photos and that is how her and Sullivan met.

He is asked about his favorite moment in ECW so far and he said it was last week when he was announced as being involved in the company’s first PPV event (Barely Legal 1997). Bill then says that when you think of ECW, you picture guys like Sandman and Taz but not himself.

Bill tells another story about Dusty. He was offered to fly home with Dusty after a show one night. On the way to the airport, Dusty stopped to the liquor store and asked Bill what he wanted to drink. Bill said that he really didnt drink much and told Dusty he would drink whatever he was having and Dusty got a bottle of Crown Royal. Bill said this turned out to be a rib at the time as it was a plan to get him really fucked up, which is what happened. They landed in Tampa and there was a big trash can in the airport and asked him to kick it as far as he could and he did but what he didnt know was that the can was bolted down and he fell on his ass after the attempt. After that, they went to a bar and drank until it closed as Bill was completely hammered. Dusty asked where he lived and they drove to Bill’s neighborhood and he was too drunk to remember which house was his, stating he only moved into the neighborhood a month before. Dusty was getting frustrated as he wanted to go home and said something so Bill punched him in the face. Dusty didnt get hurt then told Bill if he couldnt find his house, he was on his own. So, Dusty kicked Bill out of the car and dropped him in front of a 7-11 then told the clerk to watch him until the cab picked him up. Dusty did not realize that Bill had no money on him at the time and the next thing he knows, he was in a cab and it was daylight with a cop shaking and telling him that if he didnt pay the $44 cab, he would be arrested. Bill said the cabbie couldnt wake him up and left him in the car in front of his house with the meter running for an hour and a half. Bill said that Dusty always tells this story.

Bill talks about dealing with guys who are starts now but he first met them when they were trying to break into the buisness. He tells a story about Bam Bam Bigelow, who mentioned to Bill that he approached him in Florida about how to break into the business and he was really nice to him. He said that he was approached by Raven when he was in colllege and said he wanted to kick his ass at the time. He talked about how Raven’s dad had a high profile job. Bill said you always treat guys nice because you never know who your next boss is going to be.

He now tells a story about Harley Race. They were at a bar in Tampa when two big redneck guys were heckling a young prelim guy and followed him into the bathroom. Harley saw this happen and walked into the bathroom. The two saw Harley and said hi to him but Harley ended up turning off the lights and a few minutes later, some guy ran in and saw that Harley fucked up both guys.

Bill talks about working on the pilot episode of “Thunder in Paradise” with Hogan. Vince wanted Giant Gonzales in the show but didnt want to pay for Bill to be there. He said that Jimmy Hart told him that there wasn’t room in the budget for him. Bill does a pretty funny Jimmy Hart impression too. Anyway, he is at the bar with Hogan and some of the other actors and Hulk asked him what he needed to pay him. Bill said he had no idea and Hogan asked him how much he made, with Bill saying $1,000 at MSG and about $300 on other shows. So, Hogan said that every week he would give him a blank check and Bill was there for four weeks and wrote $1,400 each week. He said he had a blast.

He talks about the Von Erich’s for a bit, stating they were all wild but could work. He didn’t hang around with them much though. He said that he worked with Buzz Sawyer briefly and said that he had a horrible memory and was legitimately crazy.

Bill tells a story about being at a strip club in upstate New York with the Undertaker after being invited by a club owner. They got free food and drinks and Bill got hammered off of Goldschlager as Taker was signing autographs and holding up Bill, who was too fucked up and sliding off of the chair.

His favorite matches were Ric Flair vs. Barry Windham and Dusty Rhodes vs. Kevin Sullivan.

He is asked about ECW going to far but Bill doesnt think so because its a different brand of wrestling. He thinks that everyone is waiting for them to make mistakes. He says that Heyman reminds him of Sullivan in the sense that they are team players. The interview closes after that, with Bill stating that he would be open to doing another shoot.

Final Thoughts: I thought this was a really fun shoot overall. The first disc was slow and it just glossed over his career but in the second disc, they just asked him to tell stories and Bill was great.

This was only like the 3rd or 4th shoot video that RF Video ever produced and it shows. The production values are poor, as is the editing. You see Bill in different chairs and on the couch throughout the shoot. They also didnt seem to have a format down yet, which is actually refreshing to the mandatory script of questions they ask nowadays.

Bill came off as a super nice guy. I have also never heard anyone have a bad thing to say about him either. He has been just about everywhere in wrestling and has a ton of funny stories and not a bad word to say about anyone. He wasn’t even holding a grudge against Vince for firing him. He is truly happy to do what he does in wrestling.

I do recommend this shoot and again, If you do watch, the first disc does start off slow and at points it does drag but the second disc is great and fun throughout.