The Three Count

by Jimmy Korderas

  The match began and, as one might suspect, chaos and mayhem ensued. The participants fought all over the arena. They fought in the ring, out of the ring, and even all the way backstage. Falls counted anywhere in the building, so that meant Tim and I had to follow the action wherever it took us. At one point while I was standing at ringside during the match, someone began to heckle me with a barrage of insults. Normally I would ignore such comments, especially during TV or PPV events, but this person would not stop. After a few minutes of listening to this guy go off, I decided it was time to tell this guy to shut up. I turned around, fully intending to let this guy have it. Suddenly, I was face to face with none other than Michael Clarke Duncan. That’s right; the big dude from the movie The Green Mile was the guy giving me the gears.

  My frustration disappeared and I began to silently “mark out” over the fact that MCD was jaw-jacking me. He looked right at me, smiled, and extended his hand. I wasn’t sure if it was a good idea to shake his hand while in the middle of a match but I didn’t want to offend the big guy either. So I did shake his hand, very quickly mind you, and turned my attention back to the match. I was only distracted for a few seconds. Thankfully I didn’t miss anything, considering the match was going on while I was dealing with my celebrity heckler. It was a cool moment for sure, but that wasn’t the end of it.

  After WrestleMania was over, some of the notables in attendance were invited backstage to meet some of the boys. One of those notables was Michael Clarke Duncan. As I approached him he broke out into a huge smile, shook my hand, and tried to apologize for hounding me during the Hardcore Battle Royal. I told him it was fine and that it was an honour to be heckled by a big star such as him. Again he laughed and put his rather large arm around my shoulder and said, “You’re a good sport. Thanks for playing along.”

  Now I was laughing. He asked me why I was laughing and I explained to him that before I turned to see who was yelling at me, I was getting legit angry because it was getting under my skin and when I turned around to say something and saw him, I thought it was so cool and changed my tune. We both laughed and MCD gave me the guy-hug thing. I then told him that I’d love to hang out but I had to get to work on tearing down the ring. He said with a bit of a smirk, “No problem, dude. We’ll do this again next time! Take care.”

  Walking back to get out of my referee gear, I couldn’t help but think about my encounter with a Hollywood star and how cool he was. Another part of me wondered if we ran into each other at another wrestling show, would he even remember who I was? That question was answered the very next time we staged an event in Anaheim, California. It was a regular TV event and, just like every time the WWE is in the Los Angeles area, the stars come out to the show. Michael Clarke Duncan was indeed at the show and much to my surprise, he remembered me. He walked right to me, shook my hand, and started chatting with me. It was so cool because he is such a down-to-earth guy and he always had a smile on his face. After our friendly chat, I had to go to work and he was escorted to his seat to watch the show.

  After the show, I was outside the arena by the loading docks talking to my wife on my phone. I didn’t notice MCD leaving the building and as he put his hand on my shoulder to get my attention, he asked me, “Who are you talking to?” I said I was talking to my wife and he held out his hand and said, “Give me the phone!” Looking puzzled, I handed him the phone and he began speaking to my wife, Audra. Only being able to hear MCD, I could tell that Audra had no idea who she was talking to. Even after he told her who he was, she did not believe him. I think Audra eventually caught on and became apologetic for not believing him in the first place. They conversed for a minute or two until MCD said to her, “It was really nice talking to you. Let me hand the phone back to your skinny-legged husband.”

  If it wasn’t Michael Clarke Duncan calling me skinny-legged, I might have been offended. I didn’t think my legs were skinny at all but I guess compared to his, they just may be. It’s kind of weird but it didn’t seem like I was interacting with a celebrity. That was how much of a good guy he is. It speaks volumes that someone so famous stays so grounded. Every time I got to see him at shows, he always made an effort to say hello to me and just shoot the shit. MCD is quite possibly my favourite celebrity meeting of all time. I was saddened to hear of his untimely passing in September 2012. He will be sorely missed by his family, friends, and fans.

  The list of celebrities who have been a part of wrestling and WrestleMania is endless. From A-list celebs to the more obscure, here is a partial list of famous people I have met over the years minus the three already mentioned. I will try not to make it a Chris Jericho–type list with 1,004 wrestling holds. Here goes. Jermaine Jackson, Mr. T, Floyd Mayweather Jr., Vinny Pazienza, Pete Rose, Bob Uecker, Boyz II Men, Ice-T, Snoop Dogg, Kid Rock, Gladys Knight, Kim Kardashian, Raven Simone, Donald Trump, Vanna White, Dan Marino, Shaq, Tracey Murray, Jerome Williams, Ozzy Osbourne, Leslie Nielsen, Mike Ricci, Doug Gilmour, Bruce Willis — I could go on and on, but I think you get the point. I have had the pleasure of meeting so many incredible celebrities that it’s impossible to keep track of them all.

  As it turns out, I just remembered another one. This time it was the day of WrestleMania VI in my hometown of Toronto. Among the celebrity guests that day were Steve Allen, Rona Barrett, Mary Tyler Moore, and singer Robert Goulet. Goulet was scheduled to sing the Canadian national anthem to kick off the show. One small problem though: Robert Goulet didn’t know the words to “O Canada.” Pat Patterson found me that afternoon and asked me if I knew the words to the Canadian national anthem. I was a bit perplexed but said that I did. He asked me if I could teach it to Mr. Goulet. I thought Pat was kidding, but he insisted it wasn’t a rib and took me to meet the singing legend. It was somewhat intimidating meeting him without the added pressure of teaching him the anthem. After a few minutes of reciting the words, I had a brainstorm. “Why couldn’t they just put the words up on the Jumbotron and Mr. Goulet could read them from there?”

  Pat looked at the star and said, “Would that work for you, Robert?” Goulet agreed that was the best course of action. He said thank you, and I left his dressing room. Pat followed me out and thanked me for the idea. I was just happy I didn’t have to sing for the guy, even though I can carry a tune. As for how the national anthem came across that night, putting the words on the big screen worked like a charm. Problem solved!

  Sometimes when you meet celebrities, they can surprise you with their knowledge of the wrestling business. One such celeb was Freddie Prinze Jr. It was widely known by those in wrestling that Prinze was a huge fan of the WWE. In 2008 he was hired by World Wrestling Entertainment as part of the creative team. At the SmackDown tapings one day, I thought it would only be proper for me to introduce myself to him. I noticed he was standing by the ring and made my way over to him. I extended my hand. “Hi, Mr. Prinze, I just wanted to introduce myself. My name is Jim Korderas and I’m one of the referees here on SmackDown. It’s a pleasure to meet you.”

  As soon as I finished my greeting, he said, “First off, please call me Freddie and secondly, I know who you are. It’s a pleasure meeting you, Jimmy, and I’m looking forward to working with you.”

  We chatted a bit about his love for wrestling and how excited he was to be a part of the WWE. How freaking awesome was that? Freddie Prinze Jr. knew who I was! Now that was definitely a boost to the old ego. How can you not be impressed that a Hollywood star knows who you are? After all, no one pays money to see the referee and most of the time we go unnoticed so it was nice of him to say he was aware of who I was and was familiar with my work. It’s a nice little feel-good moment that I will always remember.

  Of course there are many more celebs whom I have had the privilege of meeting and working with. But for me there are no bigger celebrities than the men and women I worked with about 250 days a year. The WWE superstars are some of the most recognizable figures in the world. They are on television in more th
an 145 countries and viewed by as many as 15 million people each week. I don’t know of any other entertainment enterprise with that kind of exposure. I guess that means I also was viewed in those countries by that many people. Obviously fans recognize the Cenas and the Undertakers and the Triple Hs and not the referees. I never had any illusions about being a superstar myself. The only person who thought of me as a star was my wife, Audra. But it’s still nice to think that you are seen around the world by so many people and that maybe, just maybe, they will remember you and appreciate your contributions.

  Chapter 18

  Viva la Raza: My Friend Eddie

  Every so often, someone comes along in the wrestling business who is so gifted, so talented, and so passionate that you cannot help but feed off the energy they bring with them each and every day, not only at work but in their everyday life. Eddie Guerrero was definitely one such person. Before I get into how much he influenced me and helped bring me out of my shell, let me tell you a little about my friend, the Eddie Guerrero I knew.

  Eddie was born into the wrestling business. His father Gory Guerrero was a very famous wrestler, not only in Mexico but also in the Southern United States. Eddie’s brothers Chavo Senior, Mando, and Hector also donned the tights and entered the family business, as well as his nephew Chavo Junior. Eddie had wrestled all over the world for every major promotion except for one, the WWF. Before he entered the WWF, it was rumoured that Eddie, along with his friends Chris Benoit, Dean Malenko, and Perry Saturn, were unhappy with the goings-on in WCW, where they were employed. Eddie and the gang apparently talked about leaving WCW but were unsure whether the WWF, which was and still is the number one sports entertainment company on the planet, would hire them. After all, the promotion up north was known as the “Land of the Giants” and since all of them were smaller in stature, they thought the WWF might not want to hire them. But then again, Chris Jericho, a wrestler of similar stature, had made the successful jump from WCW to WWF, paving the way for them.

  This leads to a story that very few people know. It is however a true story about how I played a minor role in helping the WWF land Eddie and his gang, the Radicalz. It was a Sunday morning around Christmastime in 1999. The phone rang and woke me up at about nine-thirty a.m. Yes, I was sleeping in; after all I had the weekend off, so why not? I answered the phone and it was my friend Jeff Marek. Jeff is a radio and television analyst who covers NHL hockey; however at the time he was the host of a weekly wrestling talk show on the radio called Live Audio Wrestling. I had been on the show a few times, so Jeff and I had become pretty good friends. He’s really a good guy and has a great respect for the wrestling business. Jeff wanted to know if he could ask me a hypothetical question. I told him of course, ask away. He then followed with this scenario: “What if there were four wrestlers who worked for this certain company and they were very unhappy and wanted to quit?” It was early. I wasn’t fully awake yet, but I still kind of clued in to who he was talking about. After all, it was no secret that those four wrestlers were very unhappy in WCW. We even heard the scuttlebutt in WWF.

  “Okay,” I replied.

  Jeff continued, “And these four wrestlers don’t know if the other major wrestling company would have any interest in them.”

  Now I was fully awake and I said to him, “Are we talking about the four guys I think we are talking about?”

  “Yes!” he said emphatically.

  This was unbelievable. I thought for a few seconds as this was absolutely out of my area of expertise and definitely not part of my job description. At this point, I definitely knew who Jeff was talking about. I also knew that he was good friends with Chris Benoit and that he knew the others as well. I told Jeff to give me a little time to make a call and I would phone him back. A hundred different thoughts were running through my head. Did this just happen? Should I get involved? Is this considered some form of tampering with talent under contract to another company? What’s my next move? Who can I call?

  I searched the numbers on my cell and decided to call Michael “P.S.” Hayes, who is an influential member of the creative team. I got along well with Michael and felt comfortable with him, so I figured he would be a good place to start. I called and when he answered, I said, “Hello, P.S., it’s Jimmy Korderas.”

  You could tell he was a bit puzzled because I very rarely if ever called anyone from the office unless it was truly important.

  “Hey, Jimmy, what’s up?” he answered, sounding a little curious.

  I proceeded to explain the phone call I had received from my friend. I told him that this was surely outside my area of expertise with the company and asked him what I should do next. Even though I didn’t mention any names, Michael knew as I did who we were all talking about. He told me not to do anything just yet and he would get back to me. I began to worry. I started thinking that maybe I’m getting the WWF in hot water. Maybe they would not appreciate my involvement in this situation. One thing I did know was that I was in way over my head and should just let those who deal with this sort of stuff handle it.

  Just then my phone rang again, “Hi, Jimmy, it’s Bruce Prichard.” Holy crap! Why was Bruce calling me? Now I’m really thinking that I’m in big trouble. Bruce was one of Vince McMahon’s multi-tasking right-hand men. He was a writer, agent, and producer as well as an assistant with Talent Relations.

  Trying to sound calm, I said, “Hi, Bruce, I’m assuming that P.S. gave you a call?”

  “Yeah, he did. What’s going on?” he asked.

  I explained the whole thing to Bruce. After I was done giving him the lowdown, Bruce asked me if I was sure we were talking about the four guys we all assumed we were talking about. Right then I thought, Why is everyone asking the same question; of course it is the same four guys we are all talking about. You would think by now we would all have it figured out. Then he asked me if my friend could be trusted. I assured Bruce that we were talking about the same four individuals and that I had no reason not to trust my friend.

  Bruce then said, “All right then, give your friend my pager number and have him call me and leave his number and I will contact him.”

  I called Jeff back with all the info I had been given. We had a short conversation about wrestling in general and how things were getting very interesting. We then wished each other well and hung up the phone. I didn’t hear another thing about this until a few weeks later. On the January 31, 2000, Monday Night Raw in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, the Radicalz debuted attacking the New Age Outlaws, Road Dogg Jesse James and the Bad Ass Billy Gunn. The place exploded as these four outsiders jumped over the security barrier and soundly manhandled these established WWF superstars. Eddie, Chris, Dean, and Perry were now members of the WWF family and I like to think that I had a hand in bringing them into the fold. Okay, a small hand, but a hand nonetheless.

  For me the best thing to come out of these new arrivals was that I developed a close relationship with Eddie, Dean, and Chris. Don’t get me wrong, Perry and I got along fine, it was just that he kind of did his own thing, marching to the beat of his own drum.

  When I first met Eddie Guerrero, it’s not like we became instant buddies. You could sense that he was maybe a little overwhelmed by his new surroundings. It is understandable that there would be an adjustment period. I can’t speak for the atmosphere he was subjected to in the WCW; all I can tell you is that in the WWF at that time, it truly felt like we were all on the same team. I believe that Eddie and the others were a little apprehensive, not being sure how well they would be accepted. I also believe that the uncertainty they felt regarding their acceptance by the WWF locker room was quickly put to rest. Despite the rivalry between the WWF and WCW, in my mind there was never really any heat between the talents. After all, the boys are the boys and they will always have each other’s backs. That being said, the Radicalz were now a welcomed addition to the WWF roster.

  Back to Eddie. One night after a television tapi
ng in Austin, Texas, I believe, I went to the locker room to get changed into my “tear down the ring” clothes. The only two guys there were Chris and Eddie. They were slowly getting dressed but seemed to be having a conversation. I excused myself for interrupting and said I would only be a minute while I quickly got dressed. They both said not to worry and to take my time, that I wasn’t interrupting anything important. Before I began to change, I thought this would be a perfect opportunity to spark up a little conversation. After all, it was Eddie Guerrero and Chris Benoit sitting right there, two wrestlers I very much respected. I began by asking them what their take was on the WWF and how the change of scenery had been going for them so far. They agreed that they were both pleasantly surprised at how receptive everyone here was and seemed to want to continue our friendly conversation. I knew plenty about their careers but not a whole lot about them. They also knew nothing about me other than that I was a referee, so I guess they figured now was the time to find out who and what I was all about.

  They began asking me questions about how long I had been with the company, how long I had been refereeing, and so forth. I was amazed that they were truly interested in not only my role with the company but me personally. We were sitting across from each other just chatting like old friends. I really had not realized how much time had gone by and I totally forgot that I was in a bit of a hurry to head out to ringside to help tear down the ring. That is until Tony Chimel popped his head into the dressing room door and asked me what was taking so long and that they were almost done and about ready to load the ring truck. Laughing, I apologized and told him I would be right out. Eddie and Chris both apologized for holding me up. I told them not to worry about it and that it was about time that Tony did some work around here and that my back was sore from carrying him for so long. They popped on that one and told me that they very much appreciated my hard work and that they truly respected me because they could tell that my passion for the wrestling business was genuine. I thought, Wait a minute, this is kind of odd. Here are two guys that I respect the hell out of telling me that they respect me very much. I was blown away. I thanked them and told them that I hoped we could have more conversations like this. They said most definitely we would. Leaving the locker room the only thing I could think was, Wow, how freaking cool was that? Right then and there I knew a friendship was in the making.