1980s Backstage Wrestling Tales

In the history of professional wrestling, the 1980s was one of the most crucial decades for how the sport changed. These changes were the result of Vince McMahon’s aggressive expansion of WWE — then known as the World Wrestling Federation — from a regional promotion to a national and even global juggernaut. As the territories were on the decline, Turner Broadcasting would purchase Jim Crockett Promotions, resulting in the establishment of WCW, which would become a major force in the 1990s.

10 Things Wrestling Fans Should Know About Jim Crockett Promotions

Fans might not know much about the pre-WCW days, so let’s take a look at the history of Jim Crockett Promotions.

But those are just the broad strokes of wrestling in the 1980s. Such a tumultuous decade is fully of backstage stories — tales of violence, death, and kayfabe-breaking moments. Let’s take a look at 10 of the most crucial stories of the 1980s, including some related to WWE’s rise.

10 Andre The Giant Personally Fires The Fabulous Freebirds

The Icon Didn’t Take Kindly To The Trio’s Antics

Fabulous Freebirds WWE Run	Other Promotions
1984	WCW, WCCW, Mid-South Wrestling, Jim Crockett Promotions

Wrestling in all over the territories including World Class Championship Wrestling and WCW, the Fabulous Freebirds were one of the great teams of 1980s wrestling, a trio of partying southern rock-inspired heels. Fans may be completely unaware, however, that they had a brief run in WWE, where their tendency to “live the gimmick” didn’t sit too well with the legendary Andre the Giant. When Michael Hayes, Terry Gordy, and Buddy Roberts started coming to shows late, Andre the Giant told them they were fired from the company. While Andre didn’t have the power to fire them, the Freebirds acquiesced rather than suffer the wrath of The Giant.

9 Black Saturday Spells The End Of Georgia Championship Wrestling

WWE Once Aired Programming On TBS

Black Saturday Date	Timeslot
7/14/1984	6:05pm EST

With Vince McMahon at the helm — having purchased the company from his father — WWE staged a hostile takeover of the wrestling world, hiring the top talent from every territory. In one notable instance, they even bought an entire television timeslot. In 1984, McMahon purchased the majority of the Georgia Championship Wrestling territory in an incident called Black Saturday, taking over GCW’s famed 6:05pm EST timeslot on TBS. Of course, WWE replaced the Georgia show with its own programming, much to the chagrin of viewers who’d been watching for years.

8 Ole Anderson vs. The McMahons

The Georgia Booker Didn’t Take Kindly To WWE Buying The Territory

Ole Anderson In-Ring Run	Accomplishments	Promotions Booked
1967-1990	NWA World Tag Team Champion, NWA Georgia Tag Team Champion, NWA National Tag Team Champion	GCW, Championship Wrestling From Georgia, WCW

While the fallout of Black Saturday infuriated the fans of Georgia territory wrestling, it also maddened the booker of the territory, Ole Anderson. Unlike most fans, Anderson was able to make his annoyance known to the head of WWE when Vince McMahon and his wife Linda visited the TBS offices.

Georgia Championship Wrestling: One Of The Most Powerful Wrestling Territories Ever

During the days of territories, Georgia Championship Wrestling was at the top, and was even the first to get a national cable TV deal.

A traditionalist who didn’t approve of the WWE’s hostile takeover of the pro wrestling territories, Ole Anderson refused to be police in their encounter, cursing out the McMahons.

7 Stan Hansen & The AWA Belt

Hansen Ran Over The World Title With His Car

Stan Hansen AWA World Heavyweight Title Reign	Notable Challengers
182 Days	Nick Bockwinkel, Curt Hennig, Riki Choshu, Sgt. Slaughter, Rick Martel

As fans may be aware, Stan “The Lariat” Hansen is one of those pro wrestling legends who had a more notable career in Japan than he did in the West. That isn’t to say that he was unsuccessful, however — in 1985, he even won the top belt of the American Wrestling Association, the AWA World Heavyweight Championship. However, Hansen got annoyed with the AWA’s booking of them, which came to a head when he realized he was going to be a mere transitional champion. After holding out for a while, Hansen returned the belt to the AWA — but not before running it over with his car.

6 Ric Flair’s Phantom Title Change

Flair Lost A Match In The Dominican Republic To Keep The Crowd Happy

Match	Location	Date
Ric Flair vs. Jack Veneno	Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic	12/19/1982

When it comes to title histories, it’s not uncommon for a championship to have a bunch of title changes that happened but were ultimately not acknowledged by the belt’s related promotion, usually because it happened in a foreign country and nobody stateside would ever find out. One of the more fascinating examples of this saw Ric Flair — who himself had a number of “phantom” title changes — dropping the NWA World Heavyweight Title to Jack Veneno in 1982. The atmosphere in the arena was tense and there was a sense that the crowd might get hostile if Veneno lost, so Flair feigned losing the title to Veneno in order to diffuse the situation.

5 How Atsushi Onita Got Hardcore

The Deathmatch Innovator Learned Ultraviolence In America

Atsushi Onita Debut	Accomplishments
1974	NWA International Junior Heavyweight Champion, FMW Brass Knuckles Heavyweight Champion, All Asia Tag Team Champion

One of the most important figures in deathmatch and hardcore wrestling is Atsushi Onita, innovator of the exploding barbed wire deathmatch whose promotion FMW was a huge influence on ECW. But Onita didn’t develop hardcore wrestling in a vacuum — he was actually inspired by his experience in America. A former junior heavyweight star in All Japan before a career altering injury, Onita found himself writing in Memphis, where bloody, violent brawls were common and led Onita to bringing the style with him when he returned to Japan, adding his own flourishes to it.

4 Jim Duggan & Iron Sheik Get Arrested

Their Arrest Was A Notorious Kayfabe-Breaking Moment

Jim Duggan WWE Accomplishments	Iron Sheik WWE Accomplishments
Won 1988 Royal Rumble	WWE Championship, WWE Tag Team Championship

Arriving in WWE in 1987 following a successful run in Mid-South Wrestling, “Hacksaw” Jim Duggan proved to be a popular patriotic babyface among WWE fans. However, his momentum got stalled with a poorly-timed drug arrest alongside former WWE Champion The Iron Sheik.

Why The Iron Sheik Was Fired By The WWE In 1987, Explained

A incident involving The Iron Sheik in 1987 threatened the integrity of the professional wrestling industry and led to his release from WWE.

But it wasn’t necessarily the drugs that got the two in trouble with WWE — it was the fact that Duggan and Sheik were feuding at the time. With kayfabe broken, Duggan experienced a bit of a burial, and never held a title in WWE.

3 David Schultz Slaps John Stossel

Dr. D Kept Kayfabe To His Own Detriment

David Schultz Debut	WWE Run
1974	1983-1985

On the flip side, it can also be a problem to keep kayfabe. In late 1984, 20/20 reporter John Stossel brought a TV crew backstage to a WWE show with the intention to prove that wrestling was fake. Reportedly, Vince McMahon enlisted WWE roster member “Dr. D” David Schultz to set Stossel straight on the whole matter — in other words, keep him convinced that it was real. However, Schultz got too real and struck the reporter several times, ensuring his infamy in wrestling history even if he never really became a star.

2 Ken Patera Goes To Jail

A Bizarre Incident Lands The Former Olympian Behind Bars

Ken Patera WWE Run	WWE Accomplishments	Prison Stint
1984-1988	Intercontinental Champion	2 Years

An Olympic weightlifter, Ken Patera was one of many forgotten WWE midcarders, albeit once that once held the Intercontinental Champion. But his run in WWE was interrupted by a stint in prison resulting from an incident that went down before arriving in the company. While wrestling for the AWA, Patera broke a McDonald’s window after finding that he couldn’t order food after it had closed, and got into a brawl with the cops when they tried to arrest him. Because of this, Patera was sentenced to two years in prison.

1 Harley Race Threatens Hulk Hogan With A Gun

The Eight-Time NWA World Champion Was Notoriously Tough

Harley Race World Title Reigns	Hulk Hogan World Title Reigns
8	12

While many fans have questioned the credibility of WWE icon Hulk Hogan, few have ever questioned eight-time NWA World Champion Harley Race, who was considered one of the toughest men in wrestling. There’s actually a notable story about the two from the mid-1980s, when WWE was pillaging the territories. Upon arriving in Kansas City to hold some shows — which was Harley Race’s home territory — Race invaded the WWE locker room, threatening Hulk Hogan with a gun. According to The Hulkster, however, Race decided not to shoot him, and instead asked for help getting a job with WWE.