Giving Paul Ellering His Flowers
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What is the significance of Paul Ellering in professional wrestling?
Welcome to the Busted Open podcast. This is Dave LaCrecca. On today's episode, myself and Bully Ray have one of the greats, and that is precious Paul Ellering, the Hall of Fame manager of the Legion of Doom, the Road Warriors, with some crazy stories I've never heard right here on the Busted Open podcast. This is the Busted Open Podcast. The one and only precious Paul Ellering. Sir, how are you? And thank you so much for the time.
I am good. And thank you for inviting me. And I appreciate the honor of you putting me on Mount Rushmore.
How did the Road Warriors become a legendary tag team?
That's a tremendous honor. Thank you very much.
Paul, whenever the conversation comes up, we are proud on this show to always say and shout at the top of our lungs how the Road Warriors are the greatest tag team that has ever existed. And you were a major part of that, being not only their on-air manager, but behind the scenes as well. And we will always show you the love, the respect, and appreciation of for what the three of you were able to accomplish in professional wrestling. So thank you as always.
Oh, thank you. You know, for us, it was a, the perfect storm, how we came together. And within a year we were a team of destiny.
What was the experience of the Road Warriors during their entrance in Japan?
And from there, we went on to create a dynasty and being in the sport of wrestling. It's just been a, Tremendous high point in my life. Especially being with Hawk and Animal.
Paul, I want to ask you about some of the videos I see on social media. You guys have obviously performed in front of 100,000 people and massive crowds, but... I'm going to take you back to the all Japan days when the Warriors would make their entrance and just blaze through the crowd and the crowd would part like the Red Sea and there you would be in tow right behind them. Can you describe the energy in an arena when the Road Warriors would make their entrance in Japan?
Well, the guys that paved the way before us, it was Bruiser Brody, and Stan Hansen and Abdullah, the butcher.
Why did Paul Ellering transition from wrestler to manager?
And the first time, uh, we were in Japan. I told, uh, animal and Hawk. I said, watch, watch how these guys go to the ring. And, and they watched and they, we all looked at each other. Yeah, we're going to do that. And the rest was, uh, history, you know, uh, it was just, it was, we were like Godzilla. And, uh, They parted like the Red Sea, and it was just a tremendous time in the sport of wrestling when Japan was so hot. And in the 80s, that was always our ace in the hole as far as bargaining went. We always had Japan.
What challenges did the Road Warriors face in WWE compared to other promotions?
My question for you, because when I first started watching wrestling, when you first became a manager, you had the Legion of Doom with the Spoiler and Jake Roberts and the Road Warriors. Talk about that transition, because you were still very much a young man when you became a manager. Why the transition from wrestler to manager?
Well, that's a really long story. I was wrestling Robert Gibson. in, uh, Columbus, Georgia. And I ruptured my patella tendon. So I go back to, uh, uh, uh, Jerry Oates takes me to the hotel. We're going to go to the hospital the next morning. And, uh, who's there, but Dr. Jimmy Andrews, who's head of the Birmingham clinic now, or was, and, uh,
How did the Road Warriors maintain their popularity over the years?
So he operated on me the first time and I was rehabbing for about seven months. And Ole calls me up and he says, you ready to get back to work, kid? And I go, yeah, I guess I'm ready. I, you know, really trained hard to get it back. I hadn't done anything in the ring though. And Ole says, after I wrestled on TV and he says, you know, maybe we should give the leg a, just another month or two. It seems like you're favoring it. I said, okay, that's fine. And he said, did you ever think about being a manager?
What were some of the most memorable matches involving the Road Warriors?
He says, be careful because you get stigmatized as a manager, then that's where you'll be the rest of your career. And I had a, even before I got into wrestling, I was in college and I had a premonition dream that I was a wrestling manager. So this was five years before I even thought about wrestling. And when Ole said that, I said, let's do it. And the rest was history. I started managing Spoiler and Jake the Snake, Buzz Sawyer.
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Chapters
8 chapters
1
What is the significance of Paul Ellering in professional wrestling?
0:00–0:41
2
How did the Road Warriors become a legendary tag team?
0:41–1:29
3
What was the experience of the Road Warriors during their entrance in Japan?
1:29–2:35
4
Why did Paul Ellering transition from wrestler to manager?
2:35–3:21
5
What challenges did the Road Warriors face in WWE compared to other promotions?
3:21–4:19
6
How did the Road Warriors maintain their popularity over the years?
4:19–5:00
7
What were some of the most memorable matches involving the Road Warriors?
5:00–5:54
8
What impact did the Road Warriors have on the wrestling industry?
5:54–33:45