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Chappell: When the shift
came later to WCW, you were
there weren’t you? Isn’t that
where you started getting hurt?
Slater: I got hurt in
’96. I got hurt in Gainesville,
Georgia. It was a TV match, and
I blew a disc out…L four and
five.
Chappell: That sort of
started all of your injury
problems?
Slater: That started it.
Then I had one operation…the guy
was supposed to be a good
surgeon, but he did a real bad
job. Then I had another
operation done by a surgeon who
was supposed to be a real good
surgeon…and he did a pretty bad
job.
There’s actually no back surgery
that’s 100% successful. It’s the
hardest part of the body to
operate on.
My last surgery was the latest
technology. But you never know
what can happen. It could put
you in a wheelchair forever.
Chappell: I thought that
all the problems with your back
started in that late WCW time
frame.
Slater: I never had one
bad injury until I had that.
Chappell: Going back a
little earlier in your WCW
years, you were reunited with
your good friend Dick Murdock as
the tag team of the
‘Hardliners.’ Tell us about
Murdock.
Slater: Oh yeah, Dickie
was a great friend of mine. Him
and I went to Japan together, on
his last trip over there. I
stopped on the way home in
Amarillo, Texas, and was at
Terry Funk’s there for about
three days. We talked to
Dickie’s girlfriend, and he had
gone to a rodeo and when he got
home, the next day, he sat on
the couch, said he wasn’t
feeling well, and he passed away
on the couch from a heart
attack.
I mean, I was just with him two
days before that. You know
David, that was a real bad blow
to me.
Chappell: It had to be…I
know how close you were to him.
Slater: We had just had a
great time together in Japan for
a couple of weeks. I was a real
big shock.
Same thing with Wahoo, you know?
A lot of people are gone now.
Look at all the people that are
gone. Ray (Hercules) Hernandez,
a good friend of mine, he’s
gone. Road Warrior Hawk, Mike
Hegstrand, is gone. There has
been quite a few of us that have
checked out.
Chappell: And many at
such early, premature ages.
Slater: (pauses) Yeah…I
know.
Chappell: Well, Dick,
after you finished wrestling in
the ring in the mid-90s, you
sort of faded from view. And
then, about a year ago, your
name surfaced again in a very
unfavorable light---you were
charged with attempted murder,
for allegedly stabbing your
ex-girlfriend repeatedly.
What was going on with you after
your in-ring career ended?
Slater: Funny thing
David…last month I had like
350,000 hits on the Internet,
you know? Everybody’s asking a
lot of questions about me, what
I’m doing. I haven’t answered
them yet, and I really haven’t
said anything at all.
Now I’m doing your interview,
and I’m writing a book.
Everybody’s concerned about, you
know, what’s happened to Dick
Slater and what’s he doing.
Chappell: We’re very
happy you’ve chosen the Gateway
to talk about some of these
things…
Slater: Basically, I’ve
been rehabbing myself back from
all these back operations that
I’ve had to go through…that was
absolutely a nightmare for me.
Chappell: As I understand
it, there were certain medical
issues in your life that most
people don’t know about…that had
a bearing on the legal issues
that people starting reading
about you about a year or so
ago?
Slater: It’s pretty hard
to try to explain legal issues
about what happened…when a
doctor messes up on you, for
one. The way the laws are
governed, especially in the
state of Florida…these insurance
policies that doctors have to
have to cover their self when
they make a little boo-boo.
It’s very hard to find another
doctor to testify against a
doctor, unless you can find one
out of state…
Chappell: So, when people
read these reports about you
being charged with attempted
murder…
Slater: I mean…I’d really
like to say a lot of things
about it, you know what I mean?
It was all drug related…most of
it all. I mean, I couldn’t tell
you what happened…if I didn’t
know what happened.
I really don’t know what
actually took place, other than
I was…I woke up in Intensive
Care in the hospital. I had gone
to the hospital by ambulance the
night before…
Chappell: You mean the
night before the incident with
your former girlfriend?
Slater: Yes…they had
given me a shot of Morphine, and
when I went to the Emergency
Room they had apparently gave me
two forty milligram Oxycontins
on top of that. And on top of
that, I was already on Vicodin
and Klonopin and Neurontin.
And they had a drug called
Avinza, which is a Morphine
based pain pill. Plus, I had
nerve damage and I could hardly
walk. And I had a hurt neck…I
had spinal stenosis in my neck.
So, I was like in real bad
shape. And when they did all
that…they let me out of the
hospital! They put me in a
friend of mine’s car, and I
ended up at his house. I
couldn’t tell you what happened
from there. (laughs)
Like I was saying, I woke up in
the hospital later, and I
was…pretty messed up.
Chappell: Let me get my
bearings here…you’re talking
about being at a hospital a
second time in the space of a
day or so, right? This time
waking up in the hospital, after
your ex-girlfriend had been
stabbed?
Slater: Yeah…that was the
whole thing. To this day, you
know, that’s all I remember.
Chappell: And basically,
you’re saying that was because
of a combination of a lot of
drugs…legal drugs.
Slater: Legally too many.
Chappell: Okay…right.
Slater: I didn’t take
them myself…that’s the whole
thing. I got them shot in me by
an ambulance driver, and put in
my mouth by a doctor.
That’s the whole deal…they gave
me all those drugs. I mean, I
got shot with a shot of
Morphine…
Chappell: So, right
before your ex-girlfriend was
stabbed, you were taken to the
ER at a hospital for some health
issues…that actually can be
traced back to injuries you had
in wrestling?
Slater: Yeah…I was taken
by an ambulance from a friend of
mine’s house to the hospital. On
the way there, I was in pain and
they shot me up with Morphine.
And then when I got in the
Emergency Room, and this is what
the medical records say, I
remember taking a couple of
pills for pain…forty milligram
Oxycontins on top of that. So,
that’s Morphine and another
eighty milligrams of synthetic
Morphine on top of that.
Oxycontin is synthetic Morphine.
On the top of all that, I’ve
already had Vicodin in me, and
Klonopin and Neurontin…
Chappell: And these last
drugs were ones you were taking
regularly yourself, by
prescription?
Slater: I was taking
Vicodin for pain normally…right
after my operation. I tell you
what happened, I went to have a
spinal stimulator put in my back
by a pain management doctor,
because I have nerve damage, and
it was a major problem…
Chappell: I’m sure…
Slater: I had no reflexes
in my legs at all…I couldn’t
walk. Maybe a city block at the
most…that’s as far as I could
make.
Chappell: I had no idea
you were in that kind of health
situation.
Slater: Not being able to
walk wasn’t because I was in
severe pain, it was because I
have no nerves in my legs.
Today, I still have pretty bad
nerve damage…but I keep on
training and I can walk now a
lot better, you know? Some of
the nerves can grow back…they
only grow back like a millimeter
a month. But where the nerve
itself was damaged, it may never
come back.
I got ten screws, and three rods
in my back…
Chappell: What in
particular prompted you to go to
the ER on this occasion? Right
before the incident with your
ex-girlfriend…
Slater: I went to the
Emergency Room because I was in
severe pain. I had to call an
ambulance on myself, at a friend
of mine’s house. The pain was so
bad. This was right around
Christmas (2003).
Chappell: I remember the
reports of your arrest were
right after Christmas (2003).
Slater: Yeah…and they
laid me flat down on a board,
put me in an ambulance and took
me to the hospital.
They sedated me really well, and
after they sedated me and after
they x-rayed me…that’s when they
gave me all those drugs. Then
they just sent me out the door,
you know? (laughs)
Chappell: So, you were
never actually admitted to the
hospital on that occasion?
Slater: No.
Chappell: You were just
administered those painkillers,
and sent on your way?
Slater: I was overdosed.
I went home, and then the next
morning, is when I got in
trouble. And then later that
day, I went back to the hospital
for the overdose.
But I went to the hospital for
overdosing, not because I
overdosed…myself. All that was
given to me.
Chappell: Okay…as I
recall the reports I read soon
after your arrest, I was under
the impression you overdosed
AFTER the incident with your
ex-girlfriend.
Slater: No…it was based
on all the medicine they gave me
before that. Eighty milligrams
of Oxycontins. I was already
taking the other prescribed
drugs like Vicodin, Avinza, that
I have talked about…which are
types of narcotics, and the
others are for seizures like
Klonopin and Neurontin.
From what I read in the medical
books, you’re not supposed to
mix narcotics with
benzodiazepines, drugs for
seizures. They say don’t take
this drug with this drug and
this drug. But you take them
anyway…because the doctor gives
you those drugs. Well then,
whose fault is it when there’s
something wrong with you because
of those drugs? I mean…that’s
what I don’t understand.
David, I’ve never been in
trouble in my life for anything…
Chappell: I think a lot
of wrestling fans were taken
aback when these stories broke
about a year ago, saying Dick
Slater was arrested for
attempted murder by a stabbing.
Slater: Yeah, well, that
got dropped…that was all
dropped.
If all they charged me with was
true, I’d still be sitting in
the Pinellas County Jail now.
I hate to be a heel when I’m
not, you know…I ain’t pleading
to somethin’ I didn’t do.
Chappell: The attempted
murder charge…
Slater: I never had any
history of altercations with [my
ex-girlfriend] at all.
Chappell: So, you don’t
have a prior history of criminal
behavior?
Slater: No, no history at
all. I got arrested for public
intoxication once. You remember
Luna Vachon?
Chappell: Oh yes.
Slater: (laughing) I
wasn’t as wild as she was…half a
hairdo!
Chappell: (laughing)
Slater: One time her and
I took my boat over to a Tiki
bar. I got outta the boat, and
the boat turned over! I slammed
into the sea wall, and cut my
feet on barnacles!
Chappell: What a sight
that must have been!
Slater: Somebody grabbed
me from behind to pick me up,
and Luna ended up getting in a
fight with three guys behind the
bar! She was fightin’ three
guys, and finally I had to try
to break it up.
Chappell: I’m sure Luna
was probably holding her own?
Slater: She was! But
finally the police get there,
and of course the only one that
got arrested was me! For public
intoxication! It was so bad,
they let me go and I went to the
(Florida) Keys from there!
(laughs)
Luna and I laughed about that.
But that’s the extent of my
prior trouble.
Chappell: I’m not sure
the resolution of the original
charge of attempted murder got
as much publicity as the arrest,
but didn’t you plead guilty to a lesser
charge? Is that correct?
Slater: Well, I mean,
they threw a $100,000 bond on
me…and it’s really complicated
for me to get into the whole
story about the legal system.
Chappell: (laughs) As a
lawyer, now doing all criminal
defense work, I know what you’re
saying…but try to just give the
folks a basic idea of how this
went down.
Slater: They threw a big
bond on me, and I couldn’t have
bailed out (of jail) anyway. You
know what I mean?
Chappell: So you were in
jail a number of months awaiting
trial, because you couldn’t make
bond? You weren’t able to get
out on bond?
Slater: Well, no, I
wanted to bond out…but I
couldn’t raise the money. It was
$100,000 to get out…
Chappell: But this thing
did get resolved fairly recently
in Court, didn’t it, on a lesser
charge? What’s the outcome on
that?
Slater: I just got two
years probation on that now.
Chappell: Okay…
Slater: And I got six
months on house arrest.
I had to plead what I had to
plead…you know, because I had to
get out of jail. Finally get out
of jail, you know…
Chappell: What did you
actually plead to?
Slater: Uh…I don’t know.
Aggravated battery, I think…
Chappell: Okay, or
something like that…a lesser
charge.
So, basically, your sentence as
far as active time, was the time
you sat in jail pending trial.
And, you were put on two years
probation?
Slater: Yeah.
Chappell: And part of
that was house arrest?
Slater: I’m almost off of
that now. I’m still on
house arrest, but I go back to
Court soon and I hope to get
that removed…
Chappell: To have the
house arrest component of your
probation removed?
Slater: Yes, I hope I’ll
be taken off that.
Chappell: You’re hopeful?
Slater: Yeah…I haven’t
gotten in trouble or anything.
Chappell: That’s
certainly real important, and
should work in your favor.
Slater: I had to sign a
piece of paper to the State
here, saying I couldn’t make any
money off of my story. When they
made me sign that, it made me
think that maybe they didn’t
have as good a case as they
thought on me.
Chappell: Interesting….
Slater: My ex-girlfriend
testified in my favor at a
deposition. She was a witness on
my side, along with two doctors
and a lawyer. If I’d gone to
trial, I think I’d have got off
on the whole thing. But I
would’ve had to sit in jail for
another…well, who knows how
long.
Chappell: I understand
what you’re saying…I see the
same type of thing nearly every
day.
Slater: I mean, there’s a
lot of people that are
innocent….a lot of them in jail
right now.
I tell you another thing, I had
to go through that whole thing
on a Motrin a day, you know…
Chappell: That might have
been the worst part of all of
this…being in jail with all your
physical problems.
Slater: Yeah…very bad
pain, my friend. High blood
pressure medicine three times a
day…that was it.
Chappell: You mentioned
signing something with the State
that you couldn’t make any money
off of your story. Will you be
able to get into any of this in
your upcoming book?
Slater: Well, David, I
can’t say actually what
happened…because I don’t even
remember what happened! I don’t
know what happened. My (ex)
girlfriend could say what
happened more than I could.
Chappell: And certainly
being a criminal defendant is a
tough place to be in, regardless
of the specific facts of your
case.
Slater: I couldn’t do
anything about it. Once you’re
in that position, you can’t do
anything.
They moved me around
everywhere…people couldn’t even
find out if I was even there.
[People] would call in, and they
would say I wasn’t even at the
jail…when I was there.
Chappell: Was this done
because you were a celebrity…a
former professional wrestler?
I’m sure the jail was thinking
about your safety, but I know
that wasn’t what you were
focusing on at that point in
time!
Slater: Well, of course,
that’s right.
They moved me from protective
custody to the back and then to
somewhere else. I was moved
around everywhere…was I the only
celebrity ever at the Pinellas
County Jail?
Chappell: That would seem
hard to believe!
Slater: I’m not for
sure…but it felt like that to
me! It was pretty much a
nightmare to me.
But when I came to jail they
pushed me in with a
wheelchair…but I walked out.
They pushed me in with a
wheelchair, and I was a big heel
when I went in there, and I
walked out the babyface!
(laughs)
Chappell: (laughs) Having
spoken with you several times
over the last couple of months,
I’ve been amazed how upbeat you
seem as you’re dealing with all
this. You sound as though
you’ve really risen above it.
Slater: Fought back all
the way. You know I’m gonna
fight back!
I’d be down about a few things
at times. I had everything that
I ever owned taken away from
me…alright? I lost everything. I
lost my house, I lost every dime
I had in the bank, I lost my
car…I lost everything. I lost my
clothes…everything was gone.
Everything I had was
gone---everything.
When I walked out of jail, I had
one pair a pants and a pair of
socks and one t-shirt.
Chappell: Unreal…
Slater: And there’s no
rehab in the jail. I was
fighting the law, fighting the
pain, fighting the legal
system…fighting to stay alive.
You know, there were a few times
that I thought I might not make
it. But, I just wanted to make
it…so that’s why I made it.
I came out fighting…I’ve never
been a quitter. You’ve never
seen me be a quitter…
Chappell: Absolutely not.
I suspect you had to dig down
deeper than you’ve ever had to
in the last year or so?
Slater: Oh, it was real
bad. I got let out of my cell
the first four or five months
while I was in there…maybe 15
minutes a day. That was it
buddy. I was locked in…I was
there by myself. Protective
custody…they cut the phone off
and I couldn’t call anybody.
It was like living a nightmare.
It was a bad deal.
I was locked down buddy. I
wasn’t in a good position! I had
to fight everybody…the legal
system---everybody. It gets to
be rather hard, you know?
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