Is Wrestling Fixed? I Didn’t Know It Was Broken: From Photo Shoots and Sensational Stories to the WWE Network — Bill Apter’s Incredible Pro Wrestling Journey

FOREWORD

by Jerry

THE KING

Lawler

During our time on Earth, there are people who come along and dramatically impact the course of our lives. Bill Apter is one of those people. He totally and positively changed the direction of my career—and changed my life for the better as well. I am flattered that he asked me to write the foreword of this book.

My career needed some fixing for sure, and Bill was quite the handyman, because he introduced me to Andyman! More about that below …

A lot of people don’t realize this, but I always keep it in the back of my mind: if it wasn’t for Bill, I would probably never have been part of WWE. I owe so much of my success and career to him.

At a time when our little Memphis-Nashville promotion was so obscure, so unknown, I would send Bill photos, trying to do some self-promotion to get me and the territory into the national magazines. He was kind enough, for some unknown reason, to take a personal interest in me and, along with the rest of the magazine staff, really helped to get my name out there.

The biggest thing that ever happened in my entire career, however, was the feud I had with Andy Kaufman. Bill was single-handedly responsible for hooking me up with Andy. If it were not for him, that entire classic adventure would never have happened. This incredible story became perhaps the most influential happening in the history of the business. It certainly changed the face of professional wrestling, and it really was the first time the sport experienced the involvement of a major celebrity. This was Hollywood—and the birth, even though no one knew it at the time, of sports entertainment. Our story revolutionized the business. Mainstream media couldn’t get enough, and the fans showed their approval by setting record attendance numbers. And all of this happened because Bill handed Andy to me (the entire story in Bill’s own words is in this book of course).

Back in the territorial days, whenever word got around that Bill Apter was coming to do interviews and shoot photos, the wrestlers upped their game, hoping that Bill would get a memorable picture or quote that would make it into a magazine. Remember there was no social media, no internet back then. If you were endorsed by Apter, you were something special, and you usually wound up somewhere in the magazines. He was the right guy to know.

Bill also knew how to play the game. He was smart in our business and quickly became accepted as one of us. If you confided in him or told him something that was to remain kayfabe, you could rest assured he would never tell a soul.

Whether you were an iconic wrestler or an opening-match player, Bill was—and still is—always a welcome sight. The same is true for the promoters, business people and, of course, the fans. He is part of our fraternity and respected the world over. It’s amazing that he has been doing his work with an undying passion for 50 years. That’s half his life … (A little age humor doesn’t hurt now, does it Bill?)

Bill, so many of us owe you so very much. I guess it’s now time to crown you King of the wrestling magazine glory days (and online—when you include me in your reports, of course).

THE DISCLAIMER APTER WAS FORCED TO WRITE

I am proud to say I have no enemies in the sports entertainment/pro-wrestling business. It’s amazing I can say that after a 45-year career in one of the most wonderful, colorful, intense, mad and unusual worlds around. Who else do you know has spent this much time reporting, photographing and befriending half-naked men in bathing suits who make like they’re beating each other up?

As I write this, I’m astonished that millions of people from all over the world now witness this genre in full glory on their TVs, computers, cell phones and iPads. You will read about the happiest times of my career, interacting with the wrestlers, promoters, fans and critics, as well as the ugly times that no business can avoid.

This book is not about the various publishing companies I’ve worked for. There are stories about my time at those places, but this is not a representation of their business in any way.

If you’re wondering why the millions and millions of photos I shot throughout my career are not in this book, the answer to that is quite simple: I was employed by the publishing companies—paid a weekly salary—and they own those photographs. I have no regrets. I was their employee and it’s the way their business operated.

To the people who were part of this ride, no matter if it was a segment of the good or the bad, I thank you for being there on my incredible journey that continues onward.

I learned valuable lessons that helped me make better choices.

In some stories, people may appear in an unfavorable light. During those periods, I didn’t quite understand that we just did business in different ways. However, from each of them I learned valuable lessons that helped me make better choices as my career progressed. I do not think poorly of these people now; it’s all a matter of history. But the stories do need to be told. I may have had heat with them in the past, but many are gone, and the others have settled peacefully on their perches and we are now in a friendly place.

Some of this book is about my relationship with WWE and the McMahon family. It was a fun yet sometimes troublesome roller coaster. Despite many challenging times that were purely business based—not personal—today, World Wrestling Entertainment and the McMahon/Levesque family and I have an excellent relationship, which makes me very proud. I am delighted to be regarded as a family member of WWE (as one of the McMahons recently told me).

If, by chance, I somehow left out anyone who believes they should have been included in this book—wrestlers, promoters, former coworkers—please forgive me and bring it to my attention. Know that it was not intentional, I just cannot recall every step of the 45-plus years spent plying my trade.

To the fans who have made me a part of their lives—and asked for this book—thank you for your years of support. I enjoy meeting you on my trips around the wrestling world and love chatting about the old days, as well as the current sports entertainment scene.

Two final notes: I want to thank Greg Oliver for pushing me to write this book, sparkling up the chapters and mentoring me throughout the process. Authoring a book is totally different than writing magazine columns and stories; I had no idea how much of a newbie I would be at this craft. I could not have done this without him! Secondly, most of this book does not follow the chronology of my career. I wanted to make a book that you could just pick up and dip into—because that’s the way I like to read. Yes, I am a chapter jumper.

Enjoy the Apter chapter jumps …

IT’S NEVER TOO LATE TO START AGAIN

ONE

I was enjoying lunch with my wife and son at Philadelphia’s XFINITY Live! restaurant on a beautiful, sunny Wednesday afternoon in early September 2014. Halfway though the meal I felt nature calling and excused myself. Down a long corridor leading from my table, I bumped into an acquaintance I had not seen in years.

Bill Apter, how the hell are you? he said. Then, before I could reply he asked, I guess you retired? It’s nice to see you again. I followed him as he rushed away. When I caught up, I tapped him on the back. He politely turned, and I could tell he was in a hurry, but I had to tell him, I’m not retired. As a matter of fact I’m doing more now in the wrestling business than I ever did. I’m still with 1Wrestling.com, doing appearances on the WWE Network, writing semi-regularly for WWE.com, appearing at wrestling conventions, helping persons with disabilities find quality employment and entertaining at senior homes. I am not retired, and I never want to be retired. I love what I do.

Really? You’re doing stuff for WWE? Cool! Then he shook my hand, patted me on the back and left.

This scenario plays out a few times a month. People can’t fathom I’ve been in this business for 45 years. Even when I saw the Great Muta at a TNA show in New York City and did an interview with him, he asked, on camera, You’re still alive?

Thanks to a guy named Eric Paulen, and another guy named Paul Levesque, I feel like I’m just getting started again in the world of sports entertainment.

***

Let me explain.

In late 2012, I took a huge slap in the face. No one physically did anything to me, but it still hurt. I was backstage at the Wells Fargo Center in Philadelphia at a WWE Raw show. Going up and down the corridors, I saw a few people coming out of a makeshift studio. One of them was Stu Saks, who is a dear friend and the publisher of my old home, Pro Wrestling Illustrated. Being curious, I asked what he was doing. Stu explained that WWE was producing a DVD that would chronicle and celebrate its 50th anniversary, and he was interviewed for the project. To say I was envious is an understatement. I was happy about Stu’s participation, yet deep down it really hurt that I wasn’t included. I had been out in the trenches since 1970, photographing matches, conducting interviews and making relationships that would last forever. I was there when Bruno Sammartino lost the World Wide Wrestling Federation title to Ivan Koloff. I was there when WWWF became WWE. I talked regularly with Vince McMahon Sr. I knew everyone, I had no enemies—or at least none that I was aware of—so why wasn’t I part of this historical DVD or even the book that came out to coincide with it? Hell, I’m a reporter—a journalist—so I decided to investigate.

I telephoned a few of my contacts in WWE, and one of them said he would contact the people who produced it and get back to me. In a matter of hours I had the answer. I was told whoever was working on the project really didn’t know that much about what I had done in the business. The producers knew about Pro Wrestling Illustrated and went that route. I was told it was an oversight, and I would be called upon for future projects. My name was now on their radar.

Around the same time, I received a call from a friend named Eric Paulen, who is a filmmaker, producer, director and anything else you can think of when it comes to moving images. I first met Eric when he produced some amazing footage for a few WrestleReunion conventions I hosted. Coincidentally, at the time of the call, he had recently been hired by WWE as a producer for the fledgling WWE Network. He was involved in putting together a few shows that included The Monday Night War, WrestleMania Rewind and WWE Countdown. They had a bevy of talent coming in for weeks and were doing on-camera talking head-style interviews for the show.

At one point, he asked one of the other producers, Why haven’t you had Bill Apter come in here yet? He was met with, Who? They then said they had no idea where to contact me.

This is no knock, but these producers were not longtime wrestling people, and they had no clue where I fit into the scheme of wrestling’s history. They knew all the current talent base but not much about the time when I was in my prime.

After looking at the thousands of Bill Apter bits on the internet, Eric called me and invited me to be a part of some of the shows. I was thrilled; I was finally working for WWE in a capacity I always wanted—on camera, as part of the WWE broadcast world.

The next day, I sent Eric a thank-you email. For some reason, I thought I should send one to Triple H (Paul Levesque), as I know he oversees almost everything in the company.

I expressed to Triple H that I always wanted to be on the broadcast end of WWE, and these appearances for the network made that dream come true. He shot an email back that read, On that note, I have an idea and eventually we’ll talk about it. I filed that away somewhere in my brain. I didn’t know if it was a line or whether it might go somewhere one day.

Not long after that, the DVD department called asking me to come in and be part of a few upcoming projects. To date I have appeared in several of them. I was part of the Paul Heyman DVD. It was my first appearance, other than old footage of me presenting awards on behalf of PWI. Next I was brought in to tell my part of the Jerry Lawler versus Andy Kaufman story for a DVD called It’s Good to Be the King, and I also hosted an entire segment about Haystacks Calhoun for the True Giants DVD. Forty-five years in the business and I was finally part of an official WWE DVD.

As editor-in-chief of WOW Magazine, I was proud to present Triple H with the World’s Outstanding Wrestler award in 2000. No one could have predicted that he would go on to become a major force in every facet of the business.

In mid-2013, I was back at the Wells Fargo Center for a live Monday Night Raw. I walked into the catering area to schmooze with the talent. While there, I noticed Rob Bernstein, the head of WWE.com. I had met Rob a few times in the past and we kept in touch, and I always hinted that I would love to write or do video interviews for the site. He waved me over to his small table and asked if I had a minute to talk.

Paul [Triple H] and I had a meeting about a few things a week or two ago, and he mentioned he would like you to contribute to WWE.com when you have time, he said. I couldn’t believe it. I was on the network, appeared in a few DVDs and, not long after the meeting, started contributing to the website on a semi-regular basis. Another dream come true!

WWE doors seemed to be opening for me at lightning pace. Just days after author Brian Shields called me and asked for a quote he could use in the 30 Years of WrestleMania book, a huge opportunity came. In late May 2013, I received a call from Randy Helms, Triple H’s executive assistant at that time. He told me that Hunter wanted to personally invite me to the grand opening of the WWE Performance Center in Orlando, Florida. Although there would be a lot of other press there, Randy assured me that Hunter had only personally extended the invite to a chosen few. That incredible event happened in June and I was allowed to do interviews with Triple H, Stephanie McMahon and others. It also gave me face time with a lot of the top WWE brass and superstars.

My heart was beating.

A few weeks before WrestleMania XXX, I was invited by a few WWE executives to WrestleMania and the WWE Hall of Fame ceremony. One of the emails I received around this time was from Jane Geddes, Triple H’s right-hand person. A total professional, Ms. Geddes told me that Paul wanted to discuss an idea with me. I told her that I would be at the WrestleMania press conference at the Hard Rock Cafe in New York City and perhaps we could talk there.

That day was a zoo, with tons of press and fans around. We connected only once. As he was leaving the stage at the end of the press conference, he saw me, walked over, shook my hand and said, I’ll call you in a few weeks. It was just too hectic to talk today.

In late May, I was driving on the Pennsylvania Turnpike one evening and my cell phone rang. It was Karra, one of Triple H’s executive assistants. She told me Paul was on the line and wanted to talk. I pulled off the road and onto the shoulder as fast as I could. My heart was racing.

Apter, listen, remember I told you I had an idea? Well here’s what I’d like to do. I want to shoot a pilot show in Florida with you interviewing some of the legends. I’m not sure about the format, but I want to at least see what this looks like with you on our TV and how you interact with the talent. He went on to tell me that someone would arrange to send me to Orlando to tape the interviews on the day of the NXT taping. Before our conversation ended he said, Let’s do this and see what happens. It has to go through the proper channels and that could take some time after it’s shot and edited.

In the early morning of June 11, I was picked up at home in a limo, brought to the Philadelphia airport and landed in Orlando a little over two hours later. Our pilot show-taping was scheduled for June 12.

In June 2014, I hosted a pilot show for a possible future series on the WWE Network. The format was me chatting with wrestling legends. Larry Zbyszko (rear left), Terry Taylor (center) and the late American Dream Dusty Rhodes were my guests.

I was taken to the WWE Performance Center, where I spent a few hours hanging out with NXT and WWE talent and trainers. I was supposed to go to the hotel but was told that the taping would be one hour later (and one day earlier than the taping was scheduled) and that things had to be rearranged. I was told that I would be doing three different segments: one with Dusty Rhodes (topic: Starrcade), another with Terry Taylor (subject: Mid-South Wrestling) and the final one with Larry Zbyszko (about: Bruno Sammartino). For the third one, Renee Young would be brought into the mix to see how a three-way interview would work, just in case the one-on-one wasn’t smooth enough.

Before I could even think about what was happening, I was whisked into a makeshift studio with a dozen or more crew and the expert direction of Chris Chambers and Michael Cole. I changed from my jeans and shirt into a suit, was brushed with some makeup and then it was onto the set where I was seated face-to-face with Dusty Rhodes. I was told to spend about 10 to 15 minutes with Dusty.

Here was my moment. Chris Chambers pointed to me and I was on. I heard myself say, For the WWE Network, this is Bill Apter—and then I stopped suddenly. I wasn’t nervous, and I hadn’t frozen on camera. I just could not believe what I heard myself saying. I tried a second time and again it happened. Finally on the third take I got into my rhythm and was going full force. After about 15 minutes and a hearty round of applause from the crew, pilot segment number one was complete. This was followed by another good segment with Terry Taylor, and finally Zbyszko with my cohost Renee Young.

When it was all over, Michael Cole came over to say how good he thought the segments went. Then Chris Chambers and the other members of the crew all had nice things to say. It felt really good.

The next day I was a guest at the NXT taping. It was there I got to talk to Triple H. He told me he heard it went really well (as did his gal Friday Jane Geddes and WWE agent/talent scout Michael Hayes). Triple H told me he would be in touch. He added, No promises, Bill. We will see what happens.

No matter what the decision is, I cannot thank him enough for making a real dream come true.

While people my age are retiring, I am just starting again.

For the WWE Network, this is Bill Apter …

I really love the sound of that.

ATTACKED!

TWO

Wrestlers are much bigger than me.

That doesn’t stop them from manhandling me like I’m a heavyweight. Either spontaneous or planned, most of the attacks have not been much fun. They did, however, make for very colorful and highly interesting stories.

Abdullah the Butcher holds the record for number of attacks.

The first incident was in 1971, during a dressing-room visit at the Utica War Memorial Auditorium in Upstate New York. Abdullah was sitting on a bench taping his hands with long rolls of gauze. Standing near him was his manager for the night Beautiful Bruce Swayze.

Hey, wrestling photographer, Swayze called as he waved me over. Can I have your camera for a minute? I introduced myself to him and he said, Oh great. The magazine readers will love this. I had no idea what he was talking about until a moment later. He requested that I lie down on the floor, and told Abdullah to pose over me to make it look like the Madman from the Sudan was attacking me. The readers will go nuts when they see this, he assured me. I was game. After all, it was a still photo.

Oh great. The magazine readers will love this.

I lay down on the hard, cold concrete floor near a set of lockers while Abdullah searched for something in the dressing room. Swayze moved back to make sure he would get both Abdullah and me in the frame. As I lay there waiting, I saw Abdullah approach me with a huge metal garbage can. He held it high above my head and looked like he was going to crash it right into me. Swayze yelled, Freeze you two, this is a great shot! The flash went off about three times as he shot the photo from a few different angles. He smiled and said, Great! At that moment, Abdullah followed through and tossed the can on me, full force, laughing as it hit. Damn, it really hurt. He put out his hand to help me get up and laughed as he said, That was good, kid! He patted me on the shoulder, went back to the bench and put a huge cigar in his mouth. He looked like a gigantic bully sucking on a lollipop after beating up some nerd. Swayze gave me back my camera, I put it in my bag and was just about to leave the dressing room when Abdullah (in broken English, of course) said, See you at ringside. Be careful. Sometimes I lose myself out there and even attack the ringside photographers! I was absolutely terrified less than an hour later when his match against Tex McKenzie spilled out of the ring. Abdullah looked across the ring to where I was and began chasing me! Luckily, as I saw my entire life flash before me, I ran into the audience. I had never been so scared—until the next time he got me …

I thought wrestling was fixed! But it became all too real photographing the matches at ringside. Here an enraged Abdullah the Butcher tries to remove my head at the Omni Coliseum in Atlanta in the mid-’70s.

It was in Atlanta many years later. Abdullah was wrestling Tony Atlas. This time Abby not only chased me, he caught me. As I shot photos, Abdullah reached for me and pulled my head into the ring apron. His near 400-pound body was crushing as he punched me on the top of the head. I finally worked my way out and was about to run away when he grabbed my tie and pulled me back. Then, he started eating my tie! I quickly untied it and it slipped from my neck, and he put the whole thing in his mouth. That was it. I ran back to the dressing-room area for safety. The few wrestlers who were watching the match from behind the curtain were laughing, but I certainly was not. He hurt me—and ruined a perfectly good tie. Another photographer around the ring, Emmy Yates, got a photo of him trying to yank my head off. On the way out of the arena, fans treated me as though I was a hero—just for being attacked by Abdullah! I was over in Atlanta.

In a Detroit hotel room in the early ’70s, I was doing an audio tape interview with Pampero Firpo. I also had a photographer with me. Before I started the interview, Firpo was such a sweet, soft-spoken, pussycat kind of guy. As soon as I pressed the record button, he became the superior animal he always professed he was. Just