411’s Dark Side of the Ring Report: ‘David Schultz and The Slap Heard Round the World’

411’s Dark Side of the Ring Report: ‘David Schultz and The Slap Heard Round the World’

-Welcome back as Dark Side of the Ring continues with their latest episode. The 80s theme continues as this week we go inside the story of David Schultz slapping a reporter for calling pro-wrestling “fake.” I was about 5 months shy of my 4th birthday when this incident occurred, so I only know the details by what I’ve read online over the years. The Rock even hyped this episode up so this should be a good one. Let’s get to it!

-As a reminder this series is narrated by Chris Jericho.

-Teaser: Very few played the role of villain better than Dave Schultz. He became a star in an era where the boys protected the code and one incident scared his legacy forever.

-Jericho tells us that for most of the 20th century pro-wrestling was a closed society where the paying public wasn’t let in on what was happening. Those traditions started to change when the boom period of the 80s started and some guys weren’t quick to change with the times.

-We meet David Schultz as he gives us a tour of one of the sheds on his farm. He shows off a stun gun and then shows another gun. He says in his opinion he is the greatest pro-wrestler of all time. He watched wrestling on TV and told himself that wasn’t hard and went off to become a wrestler. He trained under Herb Welch and Cornette tells us that Welch learned from the carnies. He was one of the last few that had ties back to the pioneers that came from the carnivals.

-They discuss the training method as Cornette calls Herb a salty and mean bastard. He would take a dump and rub it under his arms. He would then put guys in a headlock and yeah, that’s nasty. Schultz caught on rather quickly, but was stiff because he thought it was real. He had to be smartened up, but also had kayfabe beaten into his head. They discuss kayfabe and how you can’t ruin the illusion of what the fans are in seeing in arena and on TV.

-Shultz found success by being himself turned up to 20. He was trained to never break kayfabe and he kept up the idea that he was one of the craziest men in the sport. Schultz says he made those in the ring with him work hard and one of those was Hulk Hogan. They show a promo from Memphis in 1979 of Hogan. Schultz thought he was just a body builder that wanted to make money. They became friends when Schultz let Hogan live with him for a bit.

-Vince McMahon came calling and Hogan was hand picked as his main attraction in 1983. Schultz is asked why Hogan went with Vince and he says for money. Hogan was promised he would get the title and be the number one guy. Schultz then says Hogan wanted him to come along and work with him because he knew they could make money together. Vince called Dave and told him he would be set for life. Vince told him to be the baddest heel around.

-Dave wasn’t the cookie cutter heel and they show video from TNT where Schultz is setting off shotguns in his house and ordering his wife around in the kitchen. Apparently the police showed up to Vince’s office and had a warrant for Dave’s arrest on spousal and child abuse based on what they saw on TV. Vince had to tell them it was part of the show and Dave says none of those guns were his and that Vince had someone bring them. That wasn’t his house, wife, or kids. That was all to get fans to hate Schultz and the more he was hated, the more money they would make.

-Next we meet John Stossel as the popularity of wrestling was attracting those outside the business. Stossel was a rising journalist for ABC News and 20/20. His deal was he investigated shady companies and corrupt businesses. He decided to look into pro-wrestling for deceiving their audience. He admits he was a wrestler in high school and it annoyed him that people thought pro-wrestling was real. Stossel says “I thought it was interesting that this big, growing, successful business was based on bullshit. Cleverly done, athletic bullshit, but lies.” Cornette says that everyone was going to want to know if wrestling was fake or not.

-Commercials!

-Back to Cornette as he spouts wrestling history and shows that in the 30s in New York the business was exposed in papers and it took years to get kayfabe back. Schultz says it was a business and as a pro-wrestler he had standards he had to keep.

-ABC News was investigating and they found 1/3 of the people they polled thought pro-wrestling was real. They needed to find someone on the inside to tell them what was really happening and enter, Eddy Mansfield. Eddy tells us that he was the Continental Lover and got into pro-wrestling after he injured his arm playing baseball. He was able to draw money because he could talk on the mic. He quickly had problems with pay-offs for sold out arenas and that there was no health insurance. He made these concerns known and soon he was blackballed from the business. He was the wrong person to burn apparently as he warned them he would go on National TV and expose everything. Damn!

-Eddy called ABC and Stossel was more than happy to meet with him. We see the video they did together with Eddy exposing how everything was done. Schultz calls them both wimps and that they should have asked him to get in the ring. Mansfield even went as far to show everyone the blade and how they bleed. Mansfield says they pushed and pushed for him to show the blade and he finally relented and cut himself on National TV. Stossel says he was shocked and can’t believe the things they would do for this sport, but quickly corrects himself as he doesn’t think it is a sport.

-Schultz says Mansfield wasn’t worth a shit and Cornette buries him as a has been and never was that pretended to be doing this for the boys. Mansfield wants the promoters to step up and take care of the boys. Mansfield: “Abraham Lincoln freed the slaves, but he forgot to free the pro-wrestlers.” Damn! I’m not sure that’s a comparison you want to make. I’m sure there is also a joke in there about Lincoln being one of the boys and former World Champion according to some who trace the lineal World Title.

-Stossel felt they needed to ask someone who was currently in the business for a response so they went to MSG and Vince McMahon authorized it. Schultz says he was told by Vince that there would be a reporter there that was making fun of the business and he wanted him to go talk to him and tear his ass up. Stossel says he was interviewing The Iron Shiek first and then Schultz came out next.

-Cornette says it was a recipe for disaster and doesn’t know why anyone would go up to Schultz. He cuts a fantastic promo and insults Stossel and the cameraman. Stossel admits he was intimidated and almost didn’t ask the question, but ended up telling Schultz that he thought it was fake. Schultz says he was told by Vince to stay in character, so he did what Dr D would have done in that situation: namely, slap the piss out of Stossel.

-Commercials!

-They play the incident for Cornette and as you would expect he is giddy watching it. He says that Dr D took it easy because it was only a slap and he didn’t even wind up. Schultz says he was told that if a man gets up you need to knock him back down and that’s why he slapped him a second time. Mansfield said he told Stossel to avoid Schultz and not ask him anything stupid. Schultz didn’t think anything of it because to him it was the same as his mother slapping him for rude manners.

-Schultz goes to the ring for his match and loses to Antonio Inoki. He gets to the back and Vince tells him to get to the hotel as Stossel is threatening to press chargers. Schultz: “for what?” Vince tells him to not even shower and just get out of there.

-The next day they meet in Stamford and Vince tells him he would pay the fine with the NYAC and send Schultz to Japan. The ABC News report is aired and Cornette is irate that Stossel is trying to take money out of their pocket. Mansfield admits he got death threats and people were trying to plant coke on him. Cornette says that Mansfield wasn’t hurting the promoters, he was hurting the boys. Mansfield says that killed his chances in wrestling, but that ended up being a blessing as he was better off without wrestling. “Why would I want to protect something that doesn’t want to protect me?”

-Schultz is sent to Japan and the controversy follows him over there. The first thing they wanted him to do was hit a reporter. He told them he would only do it if it was written down as part of the show. So, they did and papers took photos of Dr D standing over a helpless reporter.

-Back in the US over 1000 people called ABC to check on Stossel. He admits he had ringing in his ears and wanted to teach the WWE a lesson so he sued them. Schultz says he spoke to Stossel’s lawyers before they brought the case against the WWE. He then spoke to Vince who wanted him to admit that it was all his idea and Schultz isn’t stupid enough to do that. Schultz brings up that he wasn’t named in the lawsuit. As part of the suit, Stossel had to let a WWE doctor examine him and that went about as well as expected. Years later they settled and Stossel got $280,000 and admits the WWE doctor may have been right in that his pain got better once he was paid. Amazing!

-Commercials!

-WrestleMania I is on the horizon as Vince wants to make a statement about his company. The idea is to bring in Mr T and have him team with Hulk Hogan. Schultz was left off the card and he was annoyed that Mr T was brought in. Schultz says he didn’t think T should have been brought in and calls it a joke that he was paid more than the wrestlers. He also wanted to know why he wasn’t on the card.

-The producers ask Schultz if he had a physical confrontation with Mr T and he says no. They were talking in the hallway and Jay Strongbow told him that if Schultz bothered T he was going to be fired. Schultz said they better fire him then and so he was fired. He went to the ring to see a friend work the show and Strongbow had the police called. Schultz was handcuffed with guns drawn and tossed out the backdoor.

-They get back to Connecticut and Vince has to sort everything out. He listens to what Strongbow has to say and informs Schultz that he is fired. Jericho then tells us that Hulk Hogan had a different story and we get audio from Hogan’s appearance on Austin’s podcast. Hogan tells it that Schultz slapped Mr T in the face when he was sitting ringside at one of the shows. He says that he was done after that because Vince was pissed.

-Back at Schultz’s storage shed as he goes throufg old photos and calls Hogan “Big Head.” He has a picture of Hogan and on the back it reads “old friend forgot his name.” Schultz says it was crap when people say he was fired over Mr T. He then mentions that Hogan dropped Belzer on TV a few months later. We get video from that and Hogan chokes the man out and he collapses to the floor. Cornette mentions it as a thing the boys would do on shows as they would do a simple move. Schultz brings up that nothing happened to Hogan and Cornette fires back that Vince wouldn’t have done anything to Hogan even if he had shot Belzer in the head. There was a settlement that was paid off by Vince. They show Hogan apologizing on the show, but admitting that it was just a simple hold that shows what can happen when someone laughs in his face about what he does.

-The producer brings up that Dave and Hogan were close at one point. Scultz says they were very close and Hogan turned his back on him because he was linked to Vince. Hogan turned into the biggest star in the world while Schultz couldn’t get work. He feels he was blackballed by Vince who told all the promoters to stop using Schultz.

-Commercials!

-Things get crazier as Schultz is introduced to Bounty Hunting. He was in need of cash and was told he would get 10% of the bounty. He found it rather easy and says that his work as a pro-wrestler helped. He was used to taking guys to the ground and became a natural. They have footage of him working and this is just fascinating. He admits it was easier getting into houses because everyone knew him. We see people marking out over him as he takes them to jail. Again, fantastic!

-Schultz is asked his most memorable case as a bounty hunter. He tells a story of a guy that kidnapped two teenage girls. He had the girls tied to a toilet and that is how they were able to get something to drink. Schultz found the guy in a strip club in Puerto Rico. He was able to get the two girls, two dogs, and a baby back home.

-Commercials and a promo for next week about Herb Abrams and the UWF.

-Four years after WrestleMania I, Vince comes out as being entertainment in a way to avoid paying athletic commissions and taxes. Mansfield says that Vince justified what he had been saying for years. He wants to know what idiot came up with kayfabe. They show the press conference in 1997 in Jersey where they deregulate wrestling with Taker standing next to the Governor of New Jersey.

-Mansfield is asked if he will ever forgive Stossel and he says he’s not God as only He can forgive him. Cornette says that Dave’s career could have only gone two ways and if not for Stossel he probably would have blown up about something else as Vince continued to make his wrestlers cartoon characters.

-Stossel is still annoyed that people bring the slap up to him. Schultz says he would be willing to sit down with Stossel to straighten it out, but Stossel responds with “Fuck You David.” I guess that’s a no then. Schultz gets the final word as he says he stood up for wrestling and he doesn’t care what people think about him.

-I loved all of this! This was easily the most enjoyable episode of the season and part of that is because there was no murder, attempted murder, or anything too dark. I mean, it was an open hand slap to a reporter who asked a question he probably shouldn’t haven given the situation. It also helped that both sides were here to talk about the incident. I also liked that they scaled back the talking heads on this one and kept it to the main people involved and Cornette for the history. Cornette is fantastic in these and is always great for a good one liner. I do think in Stossel and Belzer’s case they each made a mistake in poking the bear. Now, I am not saying they deserved what happened, but sometimes it’s best to just be respectful. In Stossel’s case I am not sure why he would even ask Schultz the fake question considering he had all the inside information he needed from Mansfield. Speaking of Mansfield, I had never heard of the guy and I can see why he was blackballed. Cornette is obviously not a fan and it did seem like Mansfield was kind of remorseful for what he did, but at the same time seems content with getting back at a business that he felt did him wrong. This was just a fascinating watch and I am curious if we get any response from Hogan, or anyone else that would know if something really did happen between Schultz and Mr. T. I also can’t forget the craziness of Schultz as a bounty hunter. Go out of your way to check this one out as it won’t crush your soul and make you feel dirty like the previous episodes. Thanks for reading!