Bill Alfonso Reflects on Working as the Personal Assistant for Giant Gonzalez in WWE and WCW

– Pro Wrestling Rarities recently interviewed former ECW talent and WCW referee Bill Alfonso, who discussed the career of late former WWE Superstar Giant Gonzalez. Below are some highlights (transcript via WrestlingInc.com).

Bill Alfonso on working as the assistant for Giant Gonzalez/El Gigante in WCW and WWE: “He had to have an assistant with him 24 hours a day. He was a giant. He was eight [feet] tall. The only car we could rent from Avis or any other rent-a-car place would be a Cadillac, and even his knees were [folded] in a Cadillac. Cadillac was the best car for him. Better than a van, better than anything. It was just me and him traveling around the world for three years, which was pretty cool. I got paid to do it. They didn’t have to pay me actually, but they did because we became terrific friends, super friends.”

Alfonso on how El Gigante got his start in WCW: “He played pro basketball. How he got here was he was playing European basketball, and Ted Turner owned the Atlanta Hawks. So, he had some scouts looking at the European teams over in Europe, and he [saw] this giant. ‘Wow. Look at the guy, eight [feet] tall. I’m gonna bring him over and play for the Hawks. So they brought him over, paid him, but he had already been playing basketball for several years, so his knees were already starting to go and stuff. And he was a [good] athlete on the court. Not much of a performer in the ring. It wasn’t a natural art for him to be into wrestling, because he had never heard of it, never seen it.”

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k-5Cj1EbeqM&feature=youtu.be