Chappell: After you broke
in, did you stay in Tampa for
long?
Slater: Well, I stayed
here in the state of Florida for
a long time after I first broke
into wrestling…in the
professional area.
I stayed here for probably, I’d
say, two or three years. That’s
a long time to be in one place,
in the territories, you know?
Chappell: Definitely.
Slater: Those first years
in Florida were great years.
From there I went out to
California, and worked in Roy
Shire’s territory…
Chappell: Some great guys
out there.
Slater: Oh yeah. The Von
Brauners were out there…and
Moondog Mayne. Pat Patterson and
Ray Stevens were there…
Chappell: Right…
Slater: Those guys were
working out there when I went
out there. And I stayed out
there, I’d say for a good year.
Traveled up and down the
mountains up there and over to
Las Vegas, and up to Reno,
Nevada…
Chappell: (laughs) Not a
bad territory at all!
Slater: (laughing) Me and
my buddy Moondog Mayne! You ever
heard the stories about Moondog
Mayne?
Chappell: Oh yes, yes!
But share one for our readers!
Slater: I wrote a lot of
stories about Moondog in my book
that’s coming out.
Chappell: And we will
definitely talk about your
upcoming book during the
interview. In fact, tease the
book with a good Moondog story!
Slater: (laughs) Oh God…Moondog!
I tell you a funny one David,
that really got me…you know, he
was a compulsive gambler…
Chappell: Really?
Slater: Yeah…and we’d
flown down to Vegas one time,
and he stayed in my room with
me. One night he goes down and
blows about $500, and he comes
up and borrows $50 from me. So,
he goes back down to the casino
and I don’t see him for about
three or four hours. Then he
comes back to the room, and he’s
drunk out of his mind…
Chappell: (laughing)
Slater: But he’s like
$42,000 ahead!
Chappell: (laughing hard)
Slater: I told him not to
play any more, and he says, ‘I’m
goin’ back down!’
Chappell: Stop while
you’re ahead!
Slater: Yeah…stop while
you’re ahead! But he went back
down, and when I saw him in the
morning he had $70,000 he’d won,
right?!
Chappell: (laughs)
Unbelievable…only in Vegas!
Slater: So, he goes to
Reno, Nevada the next day…and he
buys himself a brand new
Cadillac! He loved yellow, so it
was a yellow Cadillac. He always
wore yellow, you remember that?
Chappell: He sure did!
Slater: And he had yellow
hair…and he would go out and
play Santa Clause---what a guy!
Chappell: (laughs)
Slater: But anyway,
besides the yellow Cadillac, he
went out and bought a boat, golf
clubs, a yellow Mustang for his
wife…
Chappell: Geez!
Slater: And David…he went
and lost ALL of it! The rest of
the money…he lost it all!
Chappell: Dick, you’re
kidding?!
Slater: Nope. And you
know one thing…he never gave me
the $50 back! (laughs)
Chappell: (laughing) I
was just thinking, you know, it
was your $50 that ended up
making Moondog $70,000! At least
for a little while! How long did
it take him to lose it all?
Slater: He won it on a
Friday, on Friday night in Las
Vegas, and he lost it on a
Monday night in Reno!
Chappell: (laughing) Oh
man!
Slater: (laughing) Easy
come, easy go!
Chappell: (laughing) But
those three days were great!!
Slater: I’ve got a bunch
of [stories] on him!
Chappell: I can only
imagine…that was a great one!
It was great hearing about your
time on the west coast. I guess
the first time I really remember
reading about you a lot, well
before you came into Jim
Crockett Promotions, was when
you were in the Georgia
territory.
Slater: Georgia…I stayed
there like seven or eight years,
something like that. Working for
Jim Barnett.
Chappell: Anything from
that territory jump out at you?
Slater: I mean…I turned
into a figure in the wrestling
business when I was there.
Chappell: Georgia put you
on the wrestling map big time,
so to speak?
Slater: Working for Jim
Barnett, he was the kind of
promoter that anybody that he
brought into his place had to
draw money. He was the kind of
promoter, if you weren’t drawing
any money, he would really be on
the warpath.
Chappell: I know Georgia
was where I started to follow
your career…
Slater: I tell you what,
I never got a chance to get to
North Carolina until much later…
Chappell: You never
worked for Crockett until you
came into the Mid-Atlantic area
in January of 1983, right?
Slater: (pauses)
Yeah…you’re right.
Chappell: I mean, I don’t
remember you doing any shots for
Crockett at all before that…at
least in my area of Richmond,
Virginia.
Slater: That was getting
to the time in the 80s that was
interesting between Jim Barnett
and Crockett…with the Turner
cable hook up thing.
At one point I was in Knoxville,
Tennessee booking for Ron
Fuller…and Jim Barnett came and
asked me if I wanted to come
back in and book the Atlanta end
of Turner’s television show. And
then what happened, was Jimmy
Crockett was in the middle of
buying out Jim (Barnett), and I
didn’t even know about it! So,
when Jimmy Crockett bought it
from Barnett, I was a booker for
Crockett. And Dusty (Rhodes)
became a booker for Crockett at
some point there…so it was a
pretty interesting time!
Chappell: Yeah, of course
as fans we didn’t know about all
this…but looking back now you
can definitely see Dusty’s
influence on the Mid-Atlantic
area not too long after
Starrcade 1983.
Slater: I was on the
first Starrcade…that was a GREAT
show!
Chappell: Without a
doubt! You and Bob Orton, Jr.
against Wahoo McDaniel and Mark
Youngblood. No titles were at
stake in that match, but you
held a ton of titles over the
course of your career.
Slater: It’s a funny
thing you mention that…there’s a
guy down in Texas that called me
recently that has a wrestling
newsletter. I don’t know how he
did it…but he has information on
every single title I ever won,
and every single guy that I
wrestled and if I won or lost!
(laughs) I couldn’t remember a
half or a quarter of the titles
that I won!
Chappell: Wow…that must
be some list! Is this guy
helping you with your book?
Slater: No, but I’m
trying to get hold of him and
that information!
My book is just a little bit
different. I mean, it’s not ALL
about wrestling. It’s about a
lot of places I’ve been all over
the world.
Chappell: I’m sure
wrestling opened up all kinds of
adventures for you.
Slater: A lot of the book
is about wrestling, but a lot of
it is about things people just
wouldn’t believe, things I’ve
seen and things I’ve been
involved with…both good and bad.
Chappell: One of the
things that has struck me most
about interviewing wrestling
legends like yourself for the
Gateway, is that you all have
truly led some AMAZING lives!
Slater: Terry Funk called
me the other night…he’s my best
friend!
Chappell: For real?
Slater: Yeah…he came and
lived with me in Florida for
many years. And we still talk
all the time. The other night,
he was telling me that the
wrestling business is a great
business, but the only thing
wrong with the wrestling
business is sometimes the people
that run it! He said it’s not
the business, but the people
that run the business!
Chappell: That’s
certainly a complaint that comes
up from time to time!
Speaking of Terry, I always
thought there were a lot of
similarities between you two.
You were definitely both wild
and crazy!
Slater: We both went over
to Japan for years, and I guess
we have similar styles. Guys
that you can never guess what’s
gonna happen next…
Chappell: ‘Mr.
Unpredictable,’ Dick Slater! I
think that phrase was used by
the commentators for every match
you ever wrestled on Crockett
TV. The only thing
‘predictable,’ was that they
called you ‘Mr. Unpredictable!’
Slater: (laughs) Yeah…and
they also called me ‘Mr.
Excitement’…
Chappell: That’s right,
they sure did. And “Dirty” Dick
Slater. You didn’t lack for
nicknames!
Slater: (laughs)
Chappell: As we’ve been
talking so far, you were a huge
star before you ever entered the
Mid-Atlantic area. You won the
Missouri Heavyweight Title in
the late 1970s, and that title
was often a springboard to the
NWA World Heavyweight Title. At
that point, were you really in
the mix to get the World’s
Title?
Slater: (pauses) Ah…yes,
I was.
Chappell: Can you tell us
about that? You were certainly
right up there with anybody at
that time.
Slater: Well, David, it’s
kinda hard for me to explain the
politics of all that…
Chappell: I know, I know…
Slater: I know the reason
why I didn’t get the Title, but
I’m gonna be a good guy, you
know what I mean? I’m gonna be a
good guy, and not tell you the
truth! (laughs)
Chappell: (laughing)
Well, your initial answer of
‘politics’ probably sums it up
pretty good!
Slater: I’m not saying
anything bad about anybody,
because I really enjoy my life
David. I don’t have any
complaints about, you know, what
I could have been and what I
am…what I made of myself.
Chappell: What I’m sort
of hearing you say Dick, is that
you had the right stuff to be
NWA World Champion, but that it
was something that was in the
hands of others…and they opted
to go a different direction.
Slater: (laughing) I came
and went my own way, you know?
Chappell: But that
Missouri Title was often a
tip-off that you were headed in
the direction of the World’s
Title…
Slater: I was headed in
that direction. All that was
back in the middle of the
National Wrestling Alliance, and
the Board of Directors…it was
politics and you had to go along
with that, you know?
Chappell: Yeah…yeah, I
understand.
Slater: (laughs) I had a
lot of belts…but that one eluded
me. But it eluded a lot of other
people, too!
It would have been nice to get
it, but you know, I’m not
worried about it. It’s not that
I wasn’t good enough to have
it…I was good enough for a lot
of people. It’s like voting for
your Congressman, you know…you
may not get the right votes. I
didn’t get the right votes!
Chappell: (laughs) And as
they say, timing is everything!
Slater: Well, you know, I
don’t have any regrets. I mean,
I can’t say I have any regrets.
I really don’t…I really don’t. I
enjoyed myself in the wrestling
business, and I wish I could do
it again. But being that I had
major injuries that keep me from
getting back in the ring…it’s
not possible.
Chappell: Do you ever in
your head, think about the
number of matches you wrestled?
Slater: There was a
Physical Fitness seminar in
Orlando recently, and Cal Ripken
was the guest speaker there. And
it was funny, because he said he
played in 2,000 or so
consecutive baseball games
without missing a game…right?
Chappell: Yep…the
‘Ironman’ of baseball.
Slater: I’m thinkin’ you
know, I wrestled 2,000 matches
in a row…in one year!
Chappell: (laughing)
Yeah, you have to put some of
these milestones in perspective!
But seriously, you professional
wrestlers were truly ‘Ironmen’
in your own right.
Slater: I mean, you know,
that was a phenomenal thing for
[Ripken] to do…and I say, good
for him. But, that’s in his
whole career. (laughs)
Chappell: I know as a fan
at the time, I never had any
concept of how you all wrestled
every day and sometimes double
shots…year after year after
year. And every town you went to
you had to bring your ‘A’
game…every night. It had
to be grueling beyond belief.
Slater: And Crockett…it
was very hard to work for him. I
mean, we had to do a lot of
traveling there…in Virginia,
North Carolina and South
Carolina. We were on the road a
lot.
Chappell: With the guys
I’ve talked with, it seems that
Crockett’s territory was the
toughest in that regard…with the
possible exception of Watts’
territory.
Slater: I booked for Bill
(Watts) there for a while, and…
Chappell: So it was YOU
that was running everybody into
the ground there! (laughs)
Slater: Naw! I booked
Bill Watts’ territory, I booked
Joe Blanchard’s territory…and
Paul Boesch…I was bookin’ all
three of them at one time!
Chappell: Unreal…
Slater: That was a
record-breaker right there!
Chappell: Again as fans,
all we saw was Dick Slater the
wrestler. We had no concept that
you were just as busy with your
work behind the scenes.
Slater: Right, I was
doing all that---and working! We
were doing very good business…we
set [Watts’ territory] on fire.
We had Jake ‘The Snake’
(Roberts) and ‘Hacksaw’ Jim
Duggan…
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