This was filmed in 2014
It runs at one hour and twenty-five minutes long
Ricky asks Ole to go back when he broke into the wrestling business. Ole said he started out wrestling in Canada for Stu Hart and hated it then came back to Minnesota where he met up with Lars Anderson then with Gene Anderson to form a trio. Ole said all he wanted to do in wrestling was make money as he did not give a shit about anything else. They wrestled for Jim Crockett Sr. for about a year but Lars wanted to go back home.
Ole goes back to his original training and how Danny Hodge broke his ribs and he ended up being hospitalized for a week. He also claims to have been there when Hodge broke a pair of pliers with his bare hands. Ole adds that Hodge was a great wrestler but no one was able to really draw any money with him. After telling Verne Gagne he was going to beat someone, Ole was then sent to Omaha and became champion as Verne took a liking to him. It was there when Gene asked him if he wanted to beat people up or make money as it was then where Ole set out to make the most money.
He got his first job as a booker while for Jim Barnett in Georgia in 1976, who called Ole up and offered $500 a week plus whatever else he made as a wrestler. Ole said that he was the only guy that Barnett never fired because he made money by doing stuff Barnett thought was crazy as Ole does an impression of Barnett. Ole said he quit due to the fact he was running a saw mill in Minnesota but came back after Barnett called him up to offer $2,000 a week plus whatever he made wrestling as Ole said he made $250,000 that year. He quit after getting tired of a “lot of shit” that was going on in the territory.
Ole then worked for Crockett and worked with booker George Scott. He tells us that David Crockett “didn’t know shit about anything but thought he knew about everything” before calling him a “dumb fuck.” Ole said that Jim Crockett Jr. was okay but had some dumb ideas himself.
Ricky then asks Ole about Tommy Rich in Georgia and how over he was as a babyface and if he was a part of his career. Ole said that Rich wouldn’t have done anything without him and that Barnett was the one who wanted him pushed. Ole said in Rich’s first match he put him up against Abdullah the Butcher, or the “big, fat black guy” as he remembered him where Rich got annihilated. The next week they wrestled again as Ole told Rich everything to say in the interview about getting beat but how his parents told him never to give up and wanted a rematch. Abdullah beat him again but Rich brushed off a few guys who were going to help him up as Rich getting up by himself got the crowd to go nuts and after that he became the hottest babyface in wrestling.
On his best run as a tag wrestler, Ole said he made a lot of money against Mr. Wrestling 1 & 2 and with Wahoo McDaniel & Paul Jones. He also thought Gene and himself could make money with anyone as long as they were “worth a shit.” Ole then recalls seeing the Rock n’ Roll Express for the first time and thought they were a joke due to their size. Ricky tells a story about doing an angle with Ole & Arn Anderson where during a match Ricky hit Ole a bunch of times in the corner but Ole did not go down. Ricky then took a bump as Ole went over to pick him up and said he did not know whether or not to kick his ass because he had balls to do this but Ole did not recall the incident. Ole talks about how crazy the fans went for Ricky and adjusted his style in the ring then credits Ricky for doing a great job.
Ole tells us a story in Atlanta he took a call from Vince McMahon Sr., who said they drew 16,000 at Madison Square Garden. Ole said that is great and asked when they were going back and after Vince said in four or five weeks, Ole said they drew the same in Atlanta at the Omni and will draw that same amount the next week then Vince hung on the phone.
We now get a story about Vince McMahon Jr. Ole talked about being a “dumb shit” for not realizing what Vince was trying to do with wrestling. Ole said he had no clue about Pay Per View and that Vince said he would make more money with him than ever possible but Ole thought he was full of shit. Vince even brought his wife with him to meet Ole, who told them both to go fuck themselves. Vince told him he would never wrestle again as Ole said he was also too dumb to realize Vince was buying everyone out.
Ole talks about Hulk Hogan and that in Georgia he was not “worth a shit” so he called up the WWF and said he would be good for them.
Regarding Dusty Rhodes, Ole said Dusty couldn’t “book his way out of a paper bag” and that the Crockett’s lost money with him as Dusty kept blowing smoke up Jim’s ass as Ole also said Dusty took feuds he did in Atlanta but did not have a fucking clue what he was doing with them.
Ricky asks Ole about Jim Herd. Ole said he was an “asshole” and would try to have him do certain things but Ole said he didn’t give a fuck about what Herd said and stuck to his guns.
Ole said that Vince McMahon making a lot of money is good for himself but there is no competition and its tough to make money as a wrestler with just one promotion. He once again tells us how Vince got mad at him for telling his wife to go fuck herself.
Ricky now asks Ole to define what he means by “the shits.” Ole tells us that if a guy who did not listen or pay attention to him when he was the booker is “the shits.” He talks about giving guys a finish and for them not to throw any “bullshit” punches or grab a guy by the balls and if they couldnt work a match under those parameters then they were in fact “the shits.”
Ole tells us that Ric Flair is an “asshole” who wrestled the same “shitty” match over and over again. Ole then said he suggested to Eddie Graham that they make Flair the NWA Champion because he didn’t want Flair around Charlotte, where he was booking, and would be wrestling around the country for most of the year and the different crowds would not realize he wrestles the same match each time. Ole said he took in Flair like a brother but realized it was a mistake. Ole said Flair he thinks he’s something super but adds “who gives a fuck.” He also says Flair’s interviews were full of shit too.
On booking, Ole said if he didn’t like them or if they did not work out he would fire them and bring in new talent. He did not care about the owner and what they thought.
He talks about everyone hating Buzz Sawyer but that he liked him. Ole talks about the Brisco Brothers and how they thought they could beat the shit out of everyone as Ole threatened them and said if they tried that with him in the ring he’d take out an eye. Ole said that Jack was a good wrestler but did not draw while Jerry was “the shits.”
Ricky asks Ole about the story between Ernie Ladd and The Brisco Brothers. Ole said to the best of his knowledge, The Briscos were going to beat up Ladd while they were in car. Ladd had them pull over and said he was going to grab some beers or weed, because the Brisco Brothers were drunks according to Ole, but instead got a tire iron and beat the shit out of them both. However, Jack & Jerry were telling people that Ladd came after them without provocation and the whole story got messed up but Ole believes Ladd as The Briscoes once tried to go after him too.
Ole goes off on some of the older undercard talent Crockett had working for him in the 70’s. He said that Art Nelson wrestled for “fifty fucking years” and was still the “absolute shits” then Crockett called up Ole to come back as Nelson was teaming with Gene Anderson and not drawing any money. He also said that George Becker was the “absolute shits” and Johnny Weaver was just as bad at both booking and wrestling.
He talks about not having a favorite match because all he cared about was making money. Ole also talks about Bill Watts wanting to beat the shit out of him in Chicago and when Ricky asks him what he planned on doing about that, Ole said he was going to beat the shit out of Watts.
Ole thought his team with Arn Anderson was “okay” and that Arn did a good job then said that Ric Flair told Ole to take Arn as a partner after Gene could no longer work. Ole said that Arn wrestled a bit like Gene too which made it easier for him but that he was not as good as Gene. Regarding Lars, Ole said that he beat him in college and they both hated each other at the time as Lars was a football player and Ole’s fraternity made the match happen. Ole said that weighed 185 lbs at the time and was still able to beat Lars, who weighed 245 lbs.
Tom Prichard is off camera and asks Ole if he remembers him. Ole does not and apologizes as Prichard said he worked for him in Georgia and took care of him in the ring. Ole then recalls how Gene put an ad in the paper for those looking to become wrestlers then Ole asked him “where did you get these assholes from” and that is where they found Don Kernodle as he apparently likes Kernodle a lot Ole that he beat the shit out of all the guys in training but Kernodle was tough and acted like an “okay” guy. Ole also takes credit for teaming up Kernodle and Sgt. Slaughter.
Ole puts over Ricky once again for listening to him in the ring, having good comebacks, and being able to sell. Ricky then tells a story of how one night in Charlestown, WV where Arn was drunk and fell on top of him trying a move so Ole dragged Arn to the apron and said he was going to work the whole match himself and did a great job. Ole does not remember this, either.
Ricky talks about “old school” wrestling was about working with each other because they did not have contracts and depending on each other to make money. Ricky then closes out by thanking Ole and how it was a pleasure to sit with him as Ole responds by saying even if it wasn’t, he still sat there anyway.
Final Thoughts: Predictably, Ole was his usual miserable self here. However, now wheelchair bound and struggling with memory problems due to MS, he is in a deteriorated state. Throughout the interview, he kept forgetting names and had to ask his what I believe was his wife, who was off camera.
Ole seems to like Ricky Morton and thinks a majority of the wrestlers were “the shits” and takes credit for many things that happened while he was a booker.
If Ole calling people “the shits” and being grumpy in in general is entertaining to you then by all means watch this interview. If not, then you will probably think it is “the shits.”
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