|
Garvin:
Pure sabotage. Because the fact
is, Kevin played such a great evil
person. And Patti was so innocent. And
then Kevin got the valet later,
remember, that girl? His wife
actually!
Now,
let me ask you…how far could we have
gone with that? We could have done
another Texas! What do you think would
have happened with Kevin and his valet
and me and Patti?
Chappell:
I see what you’re saying…it
had ‘Texas’ written all over it.
Garvin:
Yeah, but it could have been even
bigger than Texas. But, they would
NEVER let it happen…they would never
let it happen.
Chappell:
Do you think the deal there was
mainly the personality of Dusty…if
it got really hot, he had to be in it
or he wouldn’t push it?
Garvin:
He had to squash it…because how
could he follow it? He wasn’t
involved in the angle, so how does
that make him look?
Dusty
wanted to be the star; Dusty wanted to
be the one that draws. He’s the one
that wanted to be the ‘Big Daddy.’
And it always was that way…always.
Dusty
never really liked me anyway. Because
I knew what he was made of…and he
knew that I knew what he was made of.
Chappell:
And you would never bow down to
him…
Garvin:
He could kiss my ass…and so
could anybody else that acted like
that.
Chappell:
To hear a lot of people tell
it…Dusty pretty much had
Jimmy Crockett mesmerized.
Garvin:
Oh yeah…without any doubt.
The
damn thing with Wahoo was
sabotaged…it was cut short. The
Tower Of Doom with Kevin was the same
way. It was just pathetic…Dusty
sabotaged that SO bad. You know…it
could have been SO incredible.
Chappell:
Weren’t you set to be in a major
program with Magnum TA before he was
hurt in the motorcycle accident?
Garvin:
Terry Allen and I were getting
ready to do something, but you know
what was going to happen there?
Chappell:
Dusty again? Magnum was Dusty’s
boy, wasn’t he?
Garvin:
Terry’s a good friend of mine…
Chappell:
Still is, right?
Garvin:
Yes, very much so. But
David, the main thing to remember when
I’m talking about this stuff…is
that I’m not sour at all. Because I
had a great 23 year career. I just
call a spade a spade.
I’m
a happy person, and I had a great
career. But the bastards that were
there that pulled that sh*t…they’d
tell you one thing to your face, and
then they’d go behind the curtain
and do completely the opposite. I was
never that way…my Daddy didn’t
raise me that way. And I refused to be
that way…to the very end.
Chappell:
I know all of our readers
appreciate your candor,
Jimmy. Certainly, I don’t think anybody
is going to fault you for sticking to
your guns and not playing the
political games…even if it meant
that you weren’t featured with
Crockett in the mid/late 80s as much
as you could or should have been.
Garvin:
These guys were trying to live off
of other people’s blood…and trying
to live off of other people’s
talent.
David, the most important thing I can say
is the fact that all I was…was an
artist. And all I wanted was a canvas
and some paint. And, I really didn’t
care about too much else. I knew that
I just wanted to paint some, and that
I had a message, or an angle or a
story to tell.
I
was just an artist, trying to work.
And it was unfortunate, that I had to
deal with those jerks.
Chappell:
You were an artist…not a
politician!
Garvin:
Yes! I’ve got a good one about
Ric Flair real quick…
Chappell:
Fire away!
Garvin:
When Hurricane Hugo came through,
it destroyed my house. It put an oak
tree through two stories, and a
microburst came out of it and took the
house 20 degrees off the foundation…
Chappell:
Oh man…
Garvin:
Thank God I was home…I happened
to be off that night. I was with my
family watching the weather, so I knew
what was coming with my aviation
background. I put everybody in the
basement at about 3:30 in the
morning…underneath a brick stairwell
type thing.
When
the storm hit, the microburst came out
and it just completely destroyed my
house. It caved in everything. Luckily
nobody was hurt, but I couldn’t go
to work because my family had no place
to stay. I mean, I had to get hold of
my insurance company and try to
salvage what we had in the house,
because it was all getting flooded
with the rain.
And
you know, Ric Flair tried to fire me
three times for not showing up for
work…
Chappell:
What?
Garvin:
Yes…
Chappell:
You mean, using that as an excuse
to try to get rid of you?
Garvin:
Yeah…I just wrote that on one of
the Message Boards---Wrestling
Classics or Kayfabe Memories…
Chappell:
I go on those occasionally. It’s
nice to see you posting on those type
of fan forums…under your real name
no less! (laughs)
Garvin:
Yeah…hell yeah! Again, I just
tell it like it is. I ain’t got
nothin’ to hide.
But
yeah…Flair tried to fire me, man.
Three times, when he was working for
Turner (Broadcasting System). He was
in the office, and he actually sent a
message to me by Michael Hayes that if
I don’t come to work I’m fired.
Well, my family was in the street,
man. I was just trying to find them a
place to stay.
Chappell:
I’m sure something like that is
impossible for you to forget.
Garvin:
It was just a shi**y thing to do.
So, I don’t have really great
feelings towards him.
Chappell:
I can imagine!
Well,
we were talking about Magnum TA a few
minutes ago. Please tell us about
Magnum.
Garvin:
We are still very close, to this
day. We still ride motorcycles
together. I talk to him every couple
of weeks on the phone.
I
had his last match in Greenville,
South Carolina.
Chappell:
I was wondering if you worked his
last match, since they were hooking
you two up right before his accident.
Garvin:
Yeah…the last match Terry ever
had was with me. And we were friends
from way back…from Oklahoma. He was
in Oklahoma driving me around!
Chappell:
(laughs)
Garvin:
Before he was really in the
business. He was driving me around,
just trying to break in. And, we were
just great friends from the beginning.
Chappell:
What did the promotion have on tap
for you two, before his accident cut
it short? How would it have gone had
it been able to play out?
Garvin:
Well, you know, because Dusty was
involved with it, I would have been
fighting and struggling to make
anything happen with it.
I’m
sure something good would have
happened with it, because we would
have had GREAT matches. I think the
quality of the matches would have been
exceptional…
Chappell:
Surely…
Garvin:
Because of his talent and
mine…and with Patti there I think
the angle would have been good.
But
I think, sooner or later, Dusty would
have screwed it up…
Chappell:
(laughing)
Garvin:
I feel very certain about that. He
would have, because no angle could get
better than his angle. Because, then,
he doesn’t look that good.
You
know, Dusty didn’t know a friggin’
wristlock from a wristwatch. He
couldn’t wrestle his way out of a
paper bag.
Chappell:
That certainly sounds like a
likely scenario with you and
Magnum…some good matches but
probably not a lot more.
Garvin:
It would have been killed…it
would have been killed.
Chappell:
In the time frame we’re talking
about Magnum, there are so many
‘what ifs.’ What if he hadn’t
been in the accident? The landscape of
Jim
Crockett Promotions could have been
significantly different.
Garvin:
Right…he would have gone far.
Chappell:
As we wrap up
Jimmy, I did want to touch on a couple of
more angles you were in with Crockett
in the mid and late 1980s.
Garvin:
Okay…
Chappell:
One was with ‘Space Mountain’
in ’87…Flair and Precious.
Garvin:
Oh God!
Chappell:
At the time, Flair seemed to be so
over the top with the thing with
Precious. And to now learn from you
that you and Flair didn’t get along
anyway! How was it like living through
that angle?
Garvin:
(pauses) Well, Ric was being Ric.
And I don’t think he was doing
anything like weird, you know? Anyway,
no more weird than he normally was…
Chappell:
(laughing)
Garvin:
(pauses) I don’t know…it was a
good angle. I think they knew before
they started with it, that they
weren’t going that far---too far,
that is.
Chappell:
Those were some of the first
‘modern’ style vignettes that I
remember…much like what you see
today. The camera is there, and
there’s no attempt to shy away from
the fact that the camera is there and
filming the angle.
Garvin:
Yeah…with Miss Atlanta Lively
and Ronnie comin’ in the door…
Chappell:
(laughing) A comedic vignette, to
be sure!
Garvin:
Actually, [the promotion] was
kinda starting to catch on that this
was how it works. But unfortunately,
because of their friggin’
narrow-mindedness and jealousy, they
couldn’t expand on it any. They
wouldn’t allow it to be expanded on.
So,
that was really a limited thing too.
Chappell:
You just mentioned Ronnie, and I
thought it was interesting that during
this same time frame they tried to
hook you two together as
‘brothers’ in an angle. I think
the Midnight Express burned Ronnie’s
eye.
It’s
even more interesting now, as we now
know you two were never close in real
life!
Garvin:
Right…I came out in Charlotte
and became a babyface.
Chappell:
How was that angle for you?
Garvin:
That was crap! (laughs hard)
Chappell:
(laughing)
Garvin:
(still laughing) That was all
crap! Again, that was stuff
like…let’s cut a tree and put it
across the road. That had no business
happening, because they didn’t plan
on doing anything with it. And the
reason why they didn’t plan on doing
anything with it…is because they
knew they couldn’t do anything with
it.
It
was nothing there between Ronnie and
I.
Chappell:
It really couldn’t have gone
anywhere.
Garvin:
No, it couldn’t have gone
anywhere…and anybody could have
realized that.
Again,
it was an office thing. I’m telling
you, I was a beaten man before I
started! You gotta really realize what
I’m saying here,
David! (laughs)
Chappell:
Hard to get out from behind that
eight ball!
Garvin:
I was a marked man. And don’t
ask me why…except the fact that they
all knew that I thought they could
just kiss my ass.
I’ll
do my work in the ring, I’ll do my
work out there…but don’t ask me to
kiss your ass.
Don’t ask me to come to the office and
bow to you, because that ain’t gonna
happen.
Chappell:
Tell us what it was like when, a
little later, you actually became a
member of the Fabulous Freebirds.
Garvin:
Yeah…I took a year off and
Michael Hayes called me up and said,
‘Do you want to come and join me?’
And I said, ‘Hell yeah!’ I knew
we’d have a good time.
Chappell:
I bet you all had a blast!
Garvin:
Oh my God…yeah. I’m so glad
just to be alive after that!
Chappell:
(laughing)
Garvin:
(laughing hard) That was just a
lot of fun…we had a LOT of fun!
Chappell:
You wound down with WCW in the
early 90s, and actually did something
unique as opposed to almost all of
your peers. You retired from wrestling
at a set time…age 40. And you stayed
retired!
Garvin:
When I was 26 years old, I said
that when I turned 40 I was quitting!
And I did…on my birthday just about.
Chappell:
Before we finish up,
Jimmy, you currently have a really unique
item for sale on your website…
JimmyGarvin.com.
It’s
backstage footage you shot yourself
from the Great American Bash…it’s
really a neat thing. Please tell us a
little about it.
Garvin:
It’s stuff that I took behind
the scenes with my video camera at the
Bash…I think people will really like
it. It’s different!
For
some reason, I just thought about
taking film of the guys. And it’s
just a real inside look at behind the
scenes at the Bash---what the guys
were doing in the dressing room to
entertain themselves and entertain
each other. You know, keeping a good
frame of mind and keeping an upbeat
kind of attitude before the big event.
Chappell:
This DVD is really unique…I know
I’ve never seen anything like it.
It’s like having your own Backstage
All-Access Pass…through Jimmy Garvin
!
Garvin:
Exactly…
Chappell:
You had the foresight to bring
your camera in there all those years
ago!
Garvin:
It’s beautiful footage…
Chappell:
Good quality…
Garvin:
Yeah, it’s shot the way it’s
shot. Some of it is dark, because I
was in the dark corners of the
dressing room…because they were
doing sh*t in the dark! And I just
happened to have the camera there…
Chappell:
You went where the action was!
Garvin:
Yeah…it’s all really good. And
as you said, it can be found on my
website.
Chappell:
And we have a link to your site on
the Gateway’s main page.
I
understand that you have some more
similar DVDs on the way?
Garvin:
Yeah…we have a ‘Behind The
Scenes’ in Africa in production
right now. That’s gonna be fabulous,
with Kevin von Erich, Chris Adams,
Jimmy Snuka and the Iron Shiek. Yeah,
that’s gonna be fabulous!
Chappell:
So, stay tuned to JimmyGarvin.com for more backstage
antics, courtesy of Gorgeous Jimmy Garvin
!
Garvin:
Absolutely! And,
David
, shortly I’m going to be doing a
campaign for Multiple Sclerosis, and
try to raise some money for them on my
website. I’m going to have one of my
robes, that I want people to put a
donation up for…for that charity.
And then they’ll be entered into a
drawing to win that jacket.
Chappell:
What a great prize, and certainly
it’s for a wonderful cause.
Garvin:
There’s a multi-function to my
website, and eventually a big part of
it will be used to try to raise money
to help people out.
Chappell:
It certainly says a lot about you
that you are using your fame and
celebrity as a vehicle to help others.
Garvin:
It’s my pleasure to do that…it
makes me feel good at night and makes
me sleep good.
Chappell:
Tell us about Patti and what
you’re doing now.
Garvin:
Patti’s doing great, and
she’ll be in Fayetteville with me on
August 14th and 15th
for the NWA Fanfest. Which is
amazing…she’s actually coming out
there.
Chappell:
I know everybody will love seeing
her again. I’m going to come up and
introduce myself, and tell her I was
the one that kept
Jimmy on the phone so long!
Garvin:
(laughs) Yes, please do…so she
can give you sh*t!
Chappell:
(laughing)
Garvin:
But she’s doing great, and my
two daughters are doing great. I have
a 26 year old who lives in Manhattan
and is a photographer. And I have a 21
year old who is currently in college.
Chappell:
Sounds like the family is doing
great! What is Gorgeous
Jimmy up to these days?
Garvin:
I’m a Captain on the sixth
largest airline in the world. I have a
great job…I fly for a great Company.
I fly state of the art aircraft.
It’s just wonderful.
Chappell:
In closing, anything you’d like
to say to all your fans from the
Mid-Atlantic area and
Jim
Crockett Promotions?
Garvin:
Well, I appreciate all their
support. It was a great experience
wresting here in the Carolinas.
Obviously, so much so that I settled
here and made my home in Charlotte. I
could live anywhere in the world, and
I live in Charlotte, North Carolina
for a reason…and I’ll leave it at
that!
Chappell:
Yeah, I’d say that’s a pretty
strong endorsement of your feelings
for the old Crockett territory…you
stayed here!
Garvin:
Absolutely.
Chappell:
Jimmy, we’re glad you stayed here, and
thanks so much for talking with the
Gateway at length tonight. It’s been
great, and I hope we’ll do it again
soon. Look forward to seeing you in Fayetteville
at Fanfest.
Garvin:
Same here, Dave. Thank you brother. Call
me anytime.
|
