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J.W.'s Dirty Dozen-Question Interview: J.W. Sits Down with the Legendary "Hacksaw" Butch Reed

Posted: Jun 9th 2010 By: mikeiles

In the brightest moment of my short career, I recently had a chance to sit down with the legendary ?Hacksaw? Butch Reed. Butch Reed, for those that don?t know, is a world renowned professional wrestler. He started wrestling in 1978, and he quickly became a star. As a wrestler for Bill Watts? Mid-South wrestling, he won the Mid-South North American heavyweight title, the Mid-South television title, and the Mid-South world tag-team titles. He also had a brutal feud with WWE Hall of Famer, Junkyard Dog. He then went to WWE and became ?The Natural? Butch Reed with Slick as his manager. There he had some great matches with some of the top names in the sport, especially Ricky ?The Dragon? Steamboat. Finally, he went to WCW, where he formed the awesome tag-team of Doom, with Ron ?Farooq? Simmons, and with Teddy Long as their manager, were able to capture the WCW tag-team titles on two occasions. This was during a time when the WCW tag-team ranks had the Steiner Brothers, the Road Warriors, and several other tag teams. Reed also made quite an impact in Japan, when wrestling over there. While I had to narrow the questions down to just 12, the honor and privilege of interviewing this great superstar was a tremendous opportunity.

J.W. McGillicutty: Butch, thank you so very much for this opportunity. It is a privilege and an honor to be able to interview you. Now, before pro-wrestling, you had the opportunity to play professional football. What made you decide to make the change?

Butch Reed: I was hurt, and I was on injured reserve for the Chiefs, you know, Kansas City. I?m an athlete, so one day I went down to a bar and met Bob Giegel (former NWA president), and I met Ronnie Etchison, an old timer from back in the carnival days, and he trained me in Lord Littlebrook?s gym. When I went into the bar, he told me I should be a pro wrestler while we were drinking a beer, which is what I had in mind, anyway. I found pro wrestling?I never wrestled in high school because we didn?t have it. We had football, basketball, and baseball, but no wrestling.

JWM: You?ve wrestled a who?s-who list of people in the professional wrestling business. Who were some of your favorite people to work with?

BR: Junkyard Dog, Harley Race, Terry Funk, Dory Funk, Jr., Ric Flair, Bruiser Brody, John Studd?I wrestled against all them. [I also really liked working with] my partners Terry Taylor, Chris Colt, Tommy Gilbert, which was one of my favorite partners?Tony Atlas, Jacques Rougeau, Ron Simmons, my world tag-team partner. Tito Santana was another favorite of mine. Oh yeah, and there was my North American tag-team champion partner, Jim ?The Anvil? Neidhart.

JWM: Who were some of your least favorite people to work with?

BR: I try not to put them into a category like that, but Hulk Hogan, because he ran from me like a pup. The Ultimate Warrior, Jim Hellwig was another one. I only say that because those boys were sheltered from me?THEY WERE RUNNING FROM BUTCH REED. I wrestled Hogan one time in my professional career in West Palm Beach, FL. They kept Jim from me. I was one of the guys that had an attitude in this business, and I?m glad I did. Otherwise, I wouldn?t have made it in the business.

JWM: You had a memorable feud against the late, great Junkyard Dog. What was the toughest match that you two had against each other?

BR: Superdome! They were all tough, but the Superdome match, when I stole the North American Heavyweight title from him with a pair of brass knucks?I had to cheat him to beat him.

JWM: You once wrestled to a draw after one-hour for the NWA World Heavyweight title, against ?Nature Boy? Ric Flair. What were your thoughts going into that match? What are your thoughts about Flair?

BR: I just wanted to whip his ass. [laughs] Flair is a great champion. I beat him on a couple of occasions, but when I beat him, there was always a stipulation where I didn?t win the championship. I don?t blame that on Flair, I blame that on politics and racial reasons. I should have been the champion two times. It?s nothing against Ric, it?s against the politics of the NWA.

JWM: You had the opportunity to wrestle at the legendary Wrestlemania III. What was it like to work in such an electric-filled atmosphere?

BR: I wrestle Koko B. Ware?the bird man. It was an honor and a pleasure to be in front of one of the largest crowds ever. I was proud to be there with Aretha Franklin singing the National Anthem.

JWM: Being part of one of the most awesome (and one of my personal favorite) tag teams of all time, Doom, how is the relationship today between you, Teddy Long, and Ron Simmons?

BR: Just great! We?ve always got along great. We were always brothers with the same cause, and we were very successful. My relationship with Teddy and Ron is like an old homecoming and family reunion. Ron is my brother. Ted is my brother. We?re brothers, and we?ll always be that. Not only did we get famous, we got good. All I have to do is call them up, or they can call me up, and we?ll be there for each other.

JWM: Do you think Doom was used to their fullest potential?

BR: And beyond! We worked day and night?night and day. I didn?t get to see my family for two months because we worked so much. We were used and abused. Let Jim Herd and Bill Watts hear that ****! Cowboy Bill Watts?God bless him. They were over-killing the Doom team. We had a lack of R ?n R?rest and relaxation. They worked us like Georgia mules in a rock field. But, we?re die-hards, and we kept going for the sake of our families and the business.

JWM: It?s been said that you were slated to win the Intercontinental title during your time in WWE, however, it was given to the Honky Tonk Man, as it was said that you no-showed. Care to comment?

BR: It was a gift to Honky Tonk Man because I did no-show due to fatigue. I was late for a plane and missed my flight. There was no problem. I have no regrets about that. Honky Tonk was a good champion, but he wasn?t the caliber of champion of Butch Reed.

JWM: What are your thoughts about Ricky ?The Dragon? Steamboat?

BR: Ricky Steamboat?s a great individual. He?s a hell of a talent. He?s one of the most awesome contributions to this business. He?s a world-class athlete. He?s dedicated his life, like me and several others to this business. He?s a top pro. I give him all the compliments in the world for his contributions to me and this business?just a world-class athlete.

JWM: Who is the one person you would most like to wrestle (alive or dead) that you never got the chance to?

BR: Hulk Hogan! That was the world champion that I couldn?t ever catch.

JWM: What do you want the fans to remember the most about you and your career?

BR: My fans need to know that I was as loyal to them, good or bad, as they were to me. I salute them, and thank them. God bless them, and keep your cards and letters coming. I will respond to their cards and letters. Without them, Butch Reed wouldn?t be Butch Reed. That?s what I want them to know all over the world.

Butch Reed is one of the coolest guys I?ve ever had the pleasure of talking to, and I was amazed at how open and sharing he was about his time in the big time of professional wrestling. He?s the type of guy that will hold nothing back, and I appreciated the time he gave me for this interview. Thank you, ?Hacksaw? Butch Reed.

Honored and privileged,
John Wayne ?J.W.? McGillicutty

Tags: Butch Reed, Bill Watts, MSW, WWE, Junkyard Dog, WCW, NWA, Lord Littlebrook, Harley Race, Terry Funk, Dory Funk, Jr., Ric Flair, Bruiser Brody, Terry Taylor, Tommy Gilbert, Tony Atlas, Tito Santana, Jim Neidhart, Ultimate Warrior, Koko B. Ware, Honky Tonk