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Bill Watts Interview

Posted: Jun 23rd 2006 By: mikeiles

This interview originally appeared on WrestlingObserver.com on May 8, 2006

Bill Watts does more than chronicle the life of one of pro wrestling?s most successful talents in The Cowboy and The Cross. Besides addressing his days as a wrestler and promoter (along with co-author Scott Williams), Watts also talks about his spiritual rebirth and what Jesus Christ has meant in his life. In the following interview, the 67-year-old Watts discusses how the book project began, his thoughts on Christianity and the wrestling business, and his thoughts on today?s industry [Note: Watts promoted Mid-South Wrestling (later the Universal Wrestling Federation in the 1980s, ran World Championship Wrestling in 1992 and worked for World Wrestling Entertainment in 1995).

For information on The Cowboy and The Cross ($19.95, ECW Press), visit www.cowboybillwatts.com.

Q: What type of feedback have you gotten so far from the book?

Watts: ?I?ve gotten phenomenal feedback. My purpose in writing this wasn?t in self-aggrandizing or as a financial venture. People have come to me a lot on that. It never did turn me on as far as putting in the effort to do it. I was looking for a way to present my life story with a total candidness where I would show the choices I made and their consequences. I want to give something back because I?ve sure taken a lot.
?To me, everybody has got to deal with something. Not a lot of us deal with the fact that we all have a terminal disease that causes our mortality. There is a 100-percent death rate. I read somewhere that 11,000 people an hour are dying. It raises the question about where you want to spend eternity. In this book, I wanted to show good in contrast to darkness ? If I can impact one person who reads the book in a positive way, this would have been well worth it because, as far I?m concerned, I?m just a vessel. But the results I?m getting are phenomenal. It?s triggered a lot of things for people who may say they believe but do not invest in a personal relationship with God. I believe there is a personal and unique God who desires to get to know each and every one of us.
?I also received an email from someone I hadn?t seen since sixth grade. He wrote, ?I can?t believe you had the guts to lay out your life story out there like that. I would never have that courage.?
?Even the guy i co-authored with, Scott Williams, he felt writing the book changed his life That?s a huge complement to me and the power and love of Christ. I?ve received very little negative feedback. Some of it you expect.?

Q: I think the cover photograph, which shows you being carried by two referees like Christ coming down from the cross, was a perfect fit for your book. How did you feel about it?

Watts: ?I didn?t like it. The guy who handled our account said it was a metaphor for a book pointing out rebellion, wrestling and redemption. I didn?t want somebody to think I was hyping a book off of trying to make the cover look symbolic. We had a lot of discussion. Finally, I said, ?You?re the professionals. You?ve done everything else I?ve asked.? Now I?m glad it?s the cover, although . I don?t even believe in the picture of Christ on the cross, not because I don?t believe but because I don?t think anybody knows what it looked like. ECW said it would attract people to the book; personally, I?d probably run from it. I look like a guy who was in a car wreck or mugged. I was especially concerned because we were talking about how this book could hit a crossover audience. I?m thinking, ?Gee whiz, why should I think a Christian bookstore should even carry it?? But then I realized this was not my field of expertise, so I decided to go with it.?

Q: There is a sizeable number of wrestlers who have become born-again Christians in recent years. Why is that?

Watts: ?It?s really just happened in the last 20 years. I think it?s because it?s a godless business. Before if somebody was a believer, you never heard them talk about it. I am thrilled to see the Lord working in that field. I don?t watch it any more at all. It has gone beyond the pale of personal, ethical or moral responsibility. When someone challenges me about that statement, I say, ?List 10 things that you want your child or somebody you cared deeply about to get from watching WWE programming that would be positive as far as their character or moral development.? Ok, maybe that?s too hard. Name five things. Or even one thing. It wouldn?t be respect for authority, respect for the other gender, respect as far as anti-drugs. One guy said to me, ?I just look at it as mindless entertainment.? I said, ?That?s proof of just one thing ? you?ve lost your mind.? There?s no such thing as mindless entertainment because anything you allow into your mind, your mind absorbs.
?I can go back and look at what we did. We tried to be morally responsible as far as realizing there will children and families watching. It still didn?t excuse me from studying the demographics and catering how to present certain things. I?m not trying to make myself lilywhite.
?I?m glad to see God working in wrestling with people like Ted DiBiase. Tully Blanchard was a cocaine addict and he?s had a great transformation. Not everyone has to leave wrestling to find God. But I tried getting back into wrestling two more times (after converting) because I had a great ability to make money in it. It fulfilled me self esteem-wise but every time at the end I wanted it out of my life. To me, I don?t know how you participate in the business and endorse it on one hand and claim you?re a follower of Christ on the other.?

Q: When was the last time you watched much of the current product.

Watts: ?When I worked for Vince (McMahon) around 1995 and 1996. I don?t have to watch it. Nothing?s changed. You just have to get up to speed on who the pawns are. It?s a chess game. It?s the same pieces. You just have to know how to put together events and set up situations.
?I?ll never forget what Sting told me when I went to WCW. He said, ?Bill the business has changed.? It had, since you used to get paid through the gate and the fans believed in it as a sport. Neither is true anymore. They all know it?s all a farce. Most of the guys today can?t fight in the ring, let alone back from the ring. They?re just small cogs in a giant promotional tool.?
Q: It seems like you got out at the right time in both 1987 with the UWF and in 1995 working for WWE.

Watts: ?You could never take back and recapture what we did. It?s not like when somebody says the old-time football players aren?t better than the modern-day athletes who are bigger and stronger. It?s a different thing. The vehicle itself [i.e. wrestling] is more corrupt. It?s more polished. I don?t think it?s been better for the business. In the old days, you had wrestling in just about every state every night of the week somewhere. You always had a continuing, maturing, evolving talent base. Now, it?s stagnant. You may like chocolate cake but you don?t want it every day of your life. There is no place for the talent to gain maturity and experience. Guys so desperately choreograph matches. I remember toward the end of my WWE stay that a couple of guys got upset because they found out they had to do a 10-minute match on TV only an hour-and-a-half before bell time. These were main event wrestlers. My god, you have to talk for an hour-and-a-half to do a 10-minute match? I remember flying into Jackson, Mississippi. My plane had gotten cancelled from Memphis because of a tornado watch. I called the promoter to cancel but he panicked because this is when we were just starting to pop Jackson. I rented a beach craft and flew the thing through a tornado watch to Jackson, changed into my wrestling gear at the airport and ran into the ring immediately when I got there to wrestle The Spoiler with Gary Hart in a two-out-of-three-falls main event. We never said one word to each other beforehand. The difference is we knew what to do. We controlled the match and the emotions of the people. We did not let them control us. We did not take bumps just to take bumps. Everything today is so choreographed.
?There are guys like (Shawn) Michaels and some others who are phenomenal performers. I would watch [Michaels?] matches when I was with Vince and he was thrilling. But I still don?t think the business is better overall. There?s only one place to work and it?s (McMahon?s) way or the highway. One think I do love about it, though, is that Vince kicked Ted Turner?s a--. Ted is one of the most arrogant, egotistical atheists I ever met. How one guy could beat an entire television conglomeration? I love it!?

Q: Who are you most proud of having helped develop as a performer?

Watts: ?I am proud of being able to recognize and build talent. One of my legacies is studying demographics. How there were no black superstars for a long time was insane. I had to find a way to get a black guy to be my star. It was a hard thing to do sometimes not because of a lack of (black) talent but the culture at the time that you had to overcome. Thunderbolt Patterson was an awesome attraction, but he also self-destructed because of inner turmoil. The guy who made it for me was Ernie Ladd. He was such a high-class individual and tremendous athlete. Everybody thought at first in the NFL that he was just a big strong guy, but he could move! He also was a student of whatever he did, whether it was playing dominos or whatever. Ernie also educated me more than anybody about this subject. Anybody who is a white man who can say he understands what it?s like being black is drinking the Kool-Aid. You can?t understand what it?s like unless you?ve been in the black man?s shoes. Ernie helped me understand that whole situation. Through that consequence, I was able to develop JYD, Sylvester Ritter. He had all the charisma in the world but was very limited on what he could do in the ring. We brought him along and made a great superstar out of him.
?I would like to think my legacy would be being the first promoter to build back superstars and use blacks in positions where they would not be allowed [i.e. Ladd as a booker]. When I went to WCW, Ron Simmons became champion. I feel so blessed with that part of my career, yet it also is so misunderstood.?

Q: Finally, what are you doing now that the book is over and you?re done with wrestling?

Watts: ?I don?t do much. I have a couple of home-based business and spend some time with that. I may do a little more public speaking about spiritual issues or life. I recently did an engagement at the Tulsa Rotary Club and it was very well received. That made me happy because it was a pretty crossover audience. I spoke mostly about the wrestling business, which I know most people listening have the desire to know more about.?

Credit: Alex Marvez and WrestlingObserver.com