WrestleZone.com reader RocknSock5230 sent along the following …
The following are interview highlights with new WWE Hall Of Famer Tully Blanchard:
Blanchard as being a heel and not being a babyface: “No, not ever. I started in this business as a babyface ‘cause I was a promoter’s kid and that lasted about a year, maybe two years. I wasn’t a babyface, I wasn’t a good babyface. There was 500 guys equal to me or better than me as a babyface; but as a heel that’s where I was at my best and I could make others around me be at their best.”
On Wrestling Security: “Security in the 80’s was different as it was in the mid-80’s and on; barricades and police and everything as opposed to two poles and string… Two deputies that are local fans as well, that don’t like you and won’t fight for you, versus having a security team made up of police that would travel with you. So, that kind of stuff is definitely something you had to be aware of and know how to do.”
The art of “Heat”: “You had to control the crowd; no matter how mad they were, you could not show fear. You had to be absolutely immovable and control your setting, because I’ve been in a couple of very, very hairy situations, that if it would have gotten chaotic, people could have gotten hurt, me included. That’s something that’s not taught anymore; I’m don’t know it was ever really taught, I learned from some very key people. That kind of heat, I don’t know if it is generated anymore.”
On ministry vs wrestling: “They tried to get me to come back in 1991, and offered me $1,000 a day, and then Ricky (Steamboat) took my spot, cause I turned it down, for 100 days.”… “I had a newborn, and I was adjusting to being a dad, to being a husband, and to this is how I get paid and feed my family (is traveling and speaking) and I get offered $100,000 for wrestling and I talked to my pastor and didn’t feel right about it.” … “I told them I couldn’t do it and Ricky Steamboat slid right in and had his biggest year in wrestling.”
In a nearly 45 minute interview, he discussed his role as a heel in the industry, being a partner with Gino Hernandez, modern vs 80’s wrestling security and running from building for safety, the craziness of the Horsemen schedule, his interaction with Baby Doll and JJ Dillon, his departure from WWE/NWA and subsequent ministry work, and what the heck happened to his San Antonio Spurs?!
