WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:02.540 Billy Anderson. I want you to just let that name 00:00:02.540 --> 00:00:05.320 sit with you for a second. Billy Anderson. If 00:00:05.320 --> 00:00:08.099 I didn't give you any context at all, who is 00:00:08.099 --> 00:00:10.779 that guy? It's the ultimate guy next door name, 00:00:10.919 --> 00:00:13.320 right? It sounds like the guy who runs the hardware 00:00:13.320 --> 00:00:16.899 store. Totally. Or maybe the accountant who politely 00:00:16.899 --> 00:00:19.140 reminds you that you forgot to sign line 47 on 00:00:19.140 --> 00:00:22.079 your tax return. Exactly. It's just so normal. 00:00:22.300 --> 00:00:25.399 It is. delightfully, almost aggressively generic. 00:00:25.699 --> 00:00:27.960 It sounds like a name you just scroll past without 00:00:27.960 --> 00:00:30.480 blinking. But as we're about to find out, that 00:00:30.480 --> 00:00:34.219 anonymity is kind of a superpower. It's the perfect 00:00:34.219 --> 00:00:37.340 cover. It is. Because the Billy Anderson we are 00:00:37.340 --> 00:00:39.799 talking about today lived a life that was anything 00:00:39.799 --> 00:00:41.939 but generic. Yeah. If you look at the resume, 00:00:42.179 --> 00:00:44.820 we are talking about a man who lived this massive 00:00:44.820 --> 00:00:47.200 dual existence. We really are. We've got a stack 00:00:47.200 --> 00:00:49.679 of sources here. Biographies match records from 00:00:49.679 --> 00:00:51.960 like three different continents, Hall of Fame 00:00:51.960 --> 00:00:54.420 inductions. And they paint this picture of a 00:00:54.420 --> 00:00:57.500 guy who was just everything, everywhere, all 00:00:57.500 --> 00:00:59.759 at once. He really was. I mean, to millions of 00:00:59.759 --> 00:01:02.340 kids watching TV on Saturday mornings in the 00:01:02.340 --> 00:01:05.719 80s, he was a professional loser. Right. He was 00:01:05.719 --> 00:01:07.379 the guy in the plain trunks getting thrown around 00:01:07.379 --> 00:01:09.599 by the superheroes. But to the history books 00:01:09.599 --> 00:01:12.079 and to the people who actually work inside the 00:01:12.079 --> 00:01:14.900 wrestling business, William Billy Anderson is 00:01:14.900 --> 00:01:17.500 a pivotal figure. He was a champion in Mexico, 00:01:17.799 --> 00:01:21.799 a masked villain, a referee. And this is the 00:01:21.799 --> 00:01:24.379 part that gets me. The man who taught legends 00:01:24.379 --> 00:01:26.780 like Sting and the Ultimate Warrior how to actually 00:01:26.780 --> 00:01:29.549 be wrestlers. That's the real shocker for the 00:01:29.549 --> 00:01:32.670 casual fan. That is the hook for me. We're looking 00:01:32.670 --> 00:01:34.769 at the ultimate utility player. So the mission 00:01:34.769 --> 00:01:38.030 for this deep dive is to figure out how one man 00:01:38.030 --> 00:01:41.209 can be the guy getting squashed, the guy holding 00:01:41.209 --> 00:01:43.849 the championship belt, and the guy building the 00:01:43.849 --> 00:01:46.709 next generation all in one lifetime. It's a lesson 00:01:46.709 --> 00:01:49.370 in versatility, really. In any industry, you 00:01:49.370 --> 00:01:51.510 know, we tend to focus on the names, on the marquee. 00:01:51.510 --> 00:01:54.129 The headliners. The headliners, yeah. But today 00:01:54.129 --> 00:01:56.109 is about the foundation. It's about the people 00:01:56.109 --> 00:01:58.670 who make the industry actually function. So let's 00:01:58.670 --> 00:02:01.290 unpack this. The story starts in Tucson, Arizona, 00:02:01.530 --> 00:02:05.310 back in 1974. He makes his debut against a guy 00:02:05.310 --> 00:02:08.569 named Buddy Rose. But for most people, the Billy 00:02:08.569 --> 00:02:10.969 Anderson story really begins when he shows up. 00:02:11.159 --> 00:02:13.479 In the World Wrestling Federation. The WWF, yeah, 00:02:13.560 --> 00:02:15.759 in 1983. And this is the golden era. Oh, yeah, 00:02:15.860 --> 00:02:17.900 the Rock and Wrestling Connection, Hulk Hogan, 00:02:18.000 --> 00:02:20.539 Cyndi Lauper, MTV. The whole business is just 00:02:20.539 --> 00:02:23.699 exploding. And Billy Anderson is right there 00:02:23.699 --> 00:02:26.180 appearing on television for a solid decade. From 00:02:26.180 --> 00:02:30.060 83 to 93. But, and we have to be honest here, 00:02:30.219 --> 00:02:34.060 he wasn't exactly racking up the wins on national 00:02:34.060 --> 00:02:36.860 TV. No, he wasn't. And to understand why that's 00:02:36.860 --> 00:02:39.139 not a bad thing, we have to define a term that 00:02:39.139 --> 00:02:41.479 gets thrown around a lot. Jobber. Right. If you 00:02:41.479 --> 00:02:44.580 go on Twitter or Reddit today, jobber is an insult. 00:02:44.659 --> 00:02:46.900 It means you're a loser. In fan slang, sure. 00:02:47.060 --> 00:02:50.020 But inside the business, the term is, well, it's 00:02:50.020 --> 00:02:52.199 more polite, but also more accurate. They call 00:02:52.199 --> 00:02:54.939 it enhancement talent. Enhancement talent. I 00:02:54.939 --> 00:02:57.099 love that. It sounds so corporate. It's descriptive, 00:02:57.280 --> 00:02:58.900 though. Think about it. Billy Anderson spent 00:02:58.900 --> 00:03:01.439 10 years getting the call whenever the WWF came 00:03:01.439 --> 00:03:04.039 to Los Angeles, Phoenix or San Diego. His job 00:03:04.039 --> 00:03:07.639 wasn't to win. His job was to lose. but to Lee's 00:03:07.639 --> 00:03:10.000 in a very specific way. He had to make the other 00:03:10.000 --> 00:03:12.319 guy look like a million bucks. I'm looking at 00:03:12.319 --> 00:03:14.860 the list of guys he was in the ring with during 00:03:14.860 --> 00:03:19.319 this run, and it is a literal Hall of Fame ballot. 00:03:19.960 --> 00:03:23.639 We're talking Bret the Hitman Hart, Randy Macho 00:03:23.639 --> 00:03:26.300 Man Savage, Jake the Snake, Roberts, Harley Race, 00:03:26.460 --> 00:03:29.439 Tito Santana, even the monsters like King Kong 00:03:29.439 --> 00:03:32.199 Bundy. That list tells you everything you need 00:03:32.199 --> 00:03:34.280 to know about his reputation. You have to understand 00:03:34.280 --> 00:03:37.210 the... The risk management here. You do not put 00:03:37.210 --> 00:03:40.310 a clumsy, dangerous rookie in the ring with Randy 00:03:40.310 --> 00:03:42.270 Savage. Because Savage is just moving at 100 00:03:42.270 --> 00:03:44.189 miles an hour. Exactly. He's high intensity, 00:03:44.330 --> 00:03:46.610 high speed, and he's a massive investment for 00:03:46.610 --> 00:03:49.030 the company. If the guy taking the moves doesn't 00:03:49.030 --> 00:03:52.430 know what he's doing, Savage looks bad. Or worse. 00:03:52.509 --> 00:03:54.569 Savage gets hurt. Savage gets hurt. And that's 00:03:54.569 --> 00:03:56.969 a disaster. So the jobber is actually the safety 00:03:56.969 --> 00:04:00.370 net. Precisely. Being a professional loser at 00:04:00.370 --> 00:04:02.250 that level means you are actually one of the 00:04:02.250 --> 00:04:04.569 safest, most reliable mechanics in the ring. 00:04:05.210 --> 00:04:07.349 The company trusted Billy with their biggest 00:04:07.349 --> 00:04:10.270 assets. He was the canvas that the superstars 00:04:10.270 --> 00:04:12.370 painted their masterpieces on. That's a great 00:04:12.370 --> 00:04:14.330 way to put it. It's performance art. If I punch 00:04:14.330 --> 00:04:17.009 you and you just stand there, I look weak. If 00:04:17.009 --> 00:04:18.629 I punch you and you do a backflip, I look like 00:04:18.629 --> 00:04:20.829 a superhero. That's called selling. And Billy 00:04:20.829 --> 00:04:23.730 Anderson was a master salesman. But here's where 00:04:23.730 --> 00:04:26.129 the chameleon aspect kicks in. He wasn't just 00:04:26.129 --> 00:04:27.949 Billy Anderson, the guy in the plain trunks. 00:04:28.410 --> 00:04:31.889 He realized that to survive, you can't just be 00:04:31.889 --> 00:04:34.290 one thing. You need a wardrobe. You need to reinvent 00:04:34.290 --> 00:04:37.250 yourself. So in November 1988, he puts on a mask 00:04:37.250 --> 00:04:40.149 and becomes the Black Knight in the WWF. The 00:04:40.149 --> 00:04:41.610 Black Knight. It sounds like something out of 00:04:41.610 --> 00:04:43.829 a Monty Python sketch. But in the 80s, that was 00:04:43.829 --> 00:04:46.350 cool. It gave him mystique. It allowed him to 00:04:46.350 --> 00:04:49.329 work a different style. As Billy Anderson, he 00:04:49.329 --> 00:04:52.269 was the plucky underdog. As the Black Knight, 00:04:52.560 --> 00:04:55.019 he could be more villainous. Sneakier. Yeah, 00:04:55.160 --> 00:04:57.800 use some underhanded tactics. He even took that 00:04:57.800 --> 00:05:00.699 persona to Herb Abrams Universal Wrestling Federation. 00:05:01.240 --> 00:05:03.740 Which, if you know anything about wrestling history, 00:05:04.000 --> 00:05:08.300 the Herb Abrams UWF was. Let's just call it chaotic. 00:05:08.639 --> 00:05:11.439 Controlled chaos at best. But Billy was a pro. 00:05:11.560 --> 00:05:14.189 He showed up, did the job. And then, just to 00:05:14.189 --> 00:05:16.970 flip the script entirely, he returns to the WWF 00:05:16.970 --> 00:05:20.230 in 93 as the White Shadow. From Black Knight 00:05:20.230 --> 00:05:22.410 to White Shadow. You literally cannot make this 00:05:22.410 --> 00:05:25.189 stuff up. He just inverted the colors. It's classic 00:05:25.189 --> 00:05:27.949 wrestling psychology. Same worker, new coat of 00:05:27.949 --> 00:05:30.230 paint. It refreshes the character. Although, 00:05:30.370 --> 00:05:33.490 to be fair, his last match in that run was a 00:05:33.490 --> 00:05:36.470 loss to Kamala. The Ugandan giant. A guy who 00:05:36.470 --> 00:05:38.649 was billed as a cannibal from the jumble. Yikes. 00:05:39.160 --> 00:05:40.920 Losing to a cannibal is a rough way to close 00:05:40.920 --> 00:05:43.040 out a chapter. But this brings us to the biggest 00:05:43.040 --> 00:05:45.699 disconnect in his career. The real key insight 00:05:45.699 --> 00:05:47.720 for me. This is where it gets really fun. If 00:05:47.720 --> 00:05:49.740 you only look at his American TV crew, you see 00:05:49.740 --> 00:05:51.899 a reliable guy who stared at the lights a lot. 00:05:52.139 --> 00:05:54.600 But if you look at his passport, he was the man. 00:05:54.759 --> 00:05:57.319 He was the man. Mexico changes everything. So 00:05:57.319 --> 00:06:00.959 1982, he wins the NWA Beat the Champ TV title 00:06:00.959 --> 00:06:03.759 in L .A. That's a legitimate accolade. But then, 00:06:03.879 --> 00:06:07.379 1986, he goes south of the border. And Billy 00:06:07.379 --> 00:06:10.879 Anderson becomes the very first WWA World Heavyweight 00:06:10.879 --> 00:06:13.839 Champion. By defeating Tini Blas. Now, for those 00:06:13.839 --> 00:06:16.720 who don't follow Lucha Libre, can you contextualize 00:06:16.720 --> 00:06:20.540 Tini Blas? Who is this guy? Tini Blas is a legend. 00:06:20.560 --> 00:06:23.220 I mean, a giant in Mexican culture, literally 00:06:23.220 --> 00:06:26.379 and figuratively. He's a movie star, a comic 00:06:26.379 --> 00:06:29.620 book hero. He's a national icon. So for Billy 00:06:29.620 --> 00:06:33.600 Anderson, the guy American fans just saw lose 00:06:33.600 --> 00:06:36.959 to Jake Roberts? To go down to Tijuana and beat 00:06:36.959 --> 00:06:39.339 a national hero for the first ever world championship, 00:06:39.639 --> 00:06:41.540 that's mind blowing. How does that even happen? 00:06:41.740 --> 00:06:43.480 It speaks to the regional nature of wrestling 00:06:43.480 --> 00:06:45.339 back then. There was no internet. You could reinvent 00:06:45.339 --> 00:06:47.560 yourself across state lines. In the U .S., he 00:06:47.560 --> 00:06:49.800 was the mechanic. In Mexico, he was the foreign 00:06:49.800 --> 00:06:52.490 invader. The gringo. And he held that title for 00:06:52.490 --> 00:06:54.769 a while. It wasn't a fluke. No, until January 00:06:54.769 --> 00:06:57.290 1987. That's a real run. Remember, the style 00:06:57.290 --> 00:06:59.189 in Mexico is totally different. Lucha Libre is 00:06:59.189 --> 00:07:01.970 fast. It's aerial. Beatrical. Yeah. And Billy 00:07:01.970 --> 00:07:04.649 had to adapt his American technical style to 00:07:04.649 --> 00:07:06.870 base for these high -flying luchadors. It just 00:07:06.870 --> 00:07:09.639 proves he could work any style anywhere. It's 00:07:09.639 --> 00:07:12.759 amazing. He's driving to Phoenix to get squashed 00:07:12.759 --> 00:07:15.379 by the one -man gang, then hopping on a plane 00:07:15.379 --> 00:07:17.959 to Mexico to defend the World Heavyweight Championship. 00:07:18.379 --> 00:07:21.240 It's a double life. It's the life of a true journeyman. 00:07:21.420 --> 00:07:23.660 You go where the work is. Sometimes you're the 00:07:23.660 --> 00:07:25.819 nail, sometimes you're the hammer. Billy was 00:07:25.819 --> 00:07:28.180 comfortable being both. Speaking of Mexico, we 00:07:28.180 --> 00:07:31.040 have to talk about... Los Mercenarios Americanos. 00:07:31.040 --> 00:07:33.519 The American Mercenaries. It sounds like a straight 00:07:33.519 --> 00:07:36.500 to VHS action movie. It really does. So this 00:07:36.500 --> 00:07:39.319 was 1991. Billy heads back to Tijuana, but this 00:07:39.319 --> 00:07:41.879 time he brings back up. He takes Tim Patterson 00:07:41.879 --> 00:07:44.439 and one of his students, Luis Spicoli. A trio 00:07:44.439 --> 00:07:47.459 of masked Americans invading Mexico. That is 00:07:47.459 --> 00:07:50.160 instant heat. Oh, nuclear heat. I mean, nothing 00:07:50.160 --> 00:07:52.839 gets a crowd in Mexico angrier than a group of 00:07:52.839 --> 00:07:54.939 masked Americans coming in to beat up the local 00:07:54.939 --> 00:07:57.779 heroes. They feuded with Los Vianos. The Vianos, 00:07:57.879 --> 00:07:59.959 a legend. Jerry Wrestling Family. That's right. 00:08:00.199 --> 00:08:02.779 Vianna, Faith, Third, Three, and V. And the sources 00:08:02.779 --> 00:08:07.610 mention a specific moment in July 1991. The unmasking. 00:08:07.689 --> 00:08:10.529 This is high drama. And lucha libre, the mask 00:08:10.529 --> 00:08:13.170 is sacred. It's your identity, your honor. Betting 00:08:13.170 --> 00:08:16.269 your mask in a match is the highest stakes imaginable. 00:08:16.389 --> 00:08:18.970 And the mercenarios lost. They lost a mask versus 00:08:18.970 --> 00:08:20.769 mask match, so they had to take them off in the 00:08:20.769 --> 00:08:23.170 middle of the ring in front of thousands of screaming 00:08:23.170 --> 00:08:25.990 fans. It's the ultimate humiliation for the character. 00:08:26.250 --> 00:08:28.769 But for the performer, it's a massive paycheck 00:08:28.769 --> 00:08:31.350 and a legendary moment. I just love the adventure 00:08:31.350 --> 00:08:34.070 of it. He's taking his student, Louis Spicoli, 00:08:34.149 --> 00:08:36.500 on this road trip. They're wrestling in Tijuana, 00:08:36.580 --> 00:08:38.440 getting booed out of the building. Then they 00:08:38.440 --> 00:08:40.899 take the act to Japan. To Frontier Martial Arts 00:08:40.899 --> 00:08:44.620 Wrestling FMW. And FMW was no joke. Not at all. 00:08:44.639 --> 00:08:47.129 That was a hardcore league. barbed wire, explosions, 00:08:47.450 --> 00:08:51.090 blood. It was wild. So Billy's taking these young 00:08:51.090 --> 00:08:54.929 guys from the polished rings of California to 00:08:54.929 --> 00:08:57.929 the wild crowds of Tijuana and then the hardcore 00:08:57.929 --> 00:09:00.450 rings of Japan. It just shows the bond between 00:09:00.450 --> 00:09:02.250 them. This wasn't just a business arrangement. 00:09:02.529 --> 00:09:05.250 Billy was mentoring Spicoli and Patterson. He 00:09:05.250 --> 00:09:07.549 was showing them the world. Which is the perfect 00:09:07.549 --> 00:09:11.129 segue to what is arguably his most enduring contribution, 00:09:11.529 --> 00:09:14.259 the training. The Kingmaker. After the rings 00:09:14.259 --> 00:09:16.960 and the masks and the titles, Billy opened a 00:09:16.960 --> 00:09:19.659 wrestling school in California. It ran until 00:09:19.659 --> 00:09:24.960 2001. And when I looked at the alumni list, I 00:09:24.960 --> 00:09:26.940 honestly thought it was a typo. It's unbelievable. 00:09:27.639 --> 00:09:29.960 It's hard to believe one guy had a hand in all 00:09:29.960 --> 00:09:32.460 of these careers. It's the definition of a legacy. 00:09:32.779 --> 00:09:35.759 You might not know Billy Anderson, but you absolutely 00:09:35.759 --> 00:09:38.539 know the people he built. Let's start with the 00:09:38.539 --> 00:09:41.879 megastars. The sources list the ultimate warrior 00:09:41.879 --> 00:09:44.879 in Sting. Two of the most iconic, recognizable 00:09:44.879 --> 00:09:47.679 faces in the history of the industry. But here's 00:09:47.679 --> 00:09:50.500 my question. Sting and Warrior were known for 00:09:50.500 --> 00:09:53.039 their look and their energy, not necessarily 00:09:53.039 --> 00:09:56.480 for their technical wrestling, at least not early 00:09:56.480 --> 00:09:58.919 on. They were bodybuilders. Right. How did Billy 00:09:58.919 --> 00:10:01.100 Anderson, the technical mechanic, teach them? 00:10:01.200 --> 00:10:03.379 Well, that's exactly why they needed him. Sting 00:10:03.379 --> 00:10:05.299 and Warrior started as a tag team called the 00:10:05.299 --> 00:10:07.720 Blade Runners. They look like Greek gods, but 00:10:07.720 --> 00:10:09.580 they didn't know a wrist lock from a wrist watch. 00:10:09.779 --> 00:10:12.100 They were green. Super green. So Billy provided 00:10:12.100 --> 00:10:14.379 the software for the hardware. I like that. He 00:10:14.379 --> 00:10:17.220 taught them the absolute basics. How to fall 00:10:17.220 --> 00:10:19.799 without breaking a hip. How to run the ropes. 00:10:19.940 --> 00:10:22.899 How to project that energy to the back row. Billy 00:10:22.899 --> 00:10:24.840 had been in the ring with Ric Flair and Harley 00:10:24.840 --> 00:10:28.240 Race. He knew what a star felt like, and he passed 00:10:28.240 --> 00:10:31.399 that on. So it's wild to think that the energy 00:10:31.399 --> 00:10:33.620 of the ultimate warrior, shaking the ropes, the 00:10:33.620 --> 00:10:36.159 face paint, and the brooding mystique of Sting. 00:10:36.659 --> 00:10:39.840 Billy Anderson's DNA is in the foundation of 00:10:39.840 --> 00:10:42.000 both of those characters. Without Billy, they 00:10:42.000 --> 00:10:43.840 might have just been bodybuilders who flamed 00:10:43.840 --> 00:10:45.879 out in a month because they hurt someone. He 00:10:45.879 --> 00:10:48.399 gave them the tools to have careers. But then 00:10:48.399 --> 00:10:50.789 just to show off his range. You look at his modern 00:10:50.789 --> 00:10:54.250 students, people like Rocky Romero, TJ Perkins, 00:10:54.409 --> 00:10:56.950 Candice LeRae, Frankie Kazarian. That is a completely 00:10:56.950 --> 00:10:59.549 different universe of wrestling. Right. TJ Perkins 00:10:59.549 --> 00:11:01.990 and Candice LeRae are smaller, faster, technical 00:11:01.990 --> 00:11:04.750 wizards. They're high flyers. They wrestle nothing 00:11:04.750 --> 00:11:06.690 like the Ultimate Warrior. Which proves that 00:11:06.690 --> 00:11:08.850 Billy wasn't just teaching his style. He was 00:11:08.850 --> 00:11:11.210 teaching the physics of wrestling. He could look 00:11:11.210 --> 00:11:14.690 at a 280 -pound bodybuilder and say, here's how 00:11:14.690 --> 00:11:17.629 to be a monster, and then look at a 170 -pound 00:11:17.629 --> 00:11:19.370 cruiserweight and say, here's how to use your... 00:11:19.340 --> 00:11:21.899 speed. That is a master teacher. That's a professor. 00:11:22.120 --> 00:11:24.440 It really is. And we mentioned Luis Bacoli earlier. 00:11:24.799 --> 00:11:27.440 That relationship seems to be the emotional core 00:11:27.440 --> 00:11:29.879 of Billy's teaching career. Yeah, the sources 00:11:29.879 --> 00:11:32.080 mentioned they were best friends. Luis Bacoli 00:11:32.080 --> 00:11:34.240 was a tremendous talent who tragically passed 00:11:34.240 --> 00:11:38.240 away very young in 1998. Billy didn't just train 00:11:38.240 --> 00:11:40.720 him, he mentored him. They traveled the world 00:11:40.720 --> 00:11:43.480 together. It adds a layer of personal tragedy 00:11:43.480 --> 00:11:46.529 and depth to Billy's story. He wasn't just churning 00:11:46.529 --> 00:11:49.690 out students for money. He was building a family. 00:11:49.970 --> 00:11:52.850 He even trained Doug Anderson, who was the father 00:11:52.850 --> 00:11:55.889 of cheerleader Melissa. Another huge name in 00:11:55.889 --> 00:11:58.110 women's wrestling. It's like six degrees of separation, 00:11:58.370 --> 00:12:01.049 but all roads lead back to Billy. He's the root 00:12:01.049 --> 00:12:03.509 system. You see the flowers, Sting, Melissa, 00:12:03.730 --> 00:12:06.570 Rocky Romero, but Billy is the root that fed 00:12:06.570 --> 00:12:09.340 them all. And he documented this. He wrote two 00:12:09.340 --> 00:12:12.039 books. He did. Big Bill Anderson Remembers, The 00:12:12.039 --> 00:12:14.799 School of Wrestling in 2009, and a second one 00:12:14.799 --> 00:12:17.440 about his fallen friends in 2013. And get this. 00:12:17.559 --> 00:12:19.840 The foreword for that second book was written 00:12:19.840 --> 00:12:23.360 by superstar Billy Graham. Wow. That's a massive 00:12:23.360 --> 00:12:26.639 endorsement. Superstar Billy Graham was the prototype 00:12:26.639 --> 00:12:29.120 for Hulk Hogan. He was the biggest star of the 00:12:29.120 --> 00:12:32.399 70s. If he is writing your foreword, you have 00:12:32.399 --> 00:12:35.200 the respect of the absolute top tier of the industry. 00:12:35.799 --> 00:12:37.960 Now, we've talked about the wrestling, the masks, 00:12:38.120 --> 00:12:40.220 the teaching, but there's another chapter to 00:12:40.220 --> 00:12:42.559 William Laster's life, that's his real name, 00:12:42.720 --> 00:12:45.399 that has nothing to do with headlocks or suplexes. 00:12:45.440 --> 00:12:47.600 The service chapter. This is the part that really 00:12:47.600 --> 00:12:49.740 humanizes him for me. After retiring from the 00:12:49.740 --> 00:12:52.340 ring in 1996, and even after closing his school, 00:12:52.440 --> 00:12:54.820 he didn't just sit on the porch. He went to work 00:12:54.820 --> 00:12:56.879 for Armed Forces Entertainment. And this wasn't 00:12:56.879 --> 00:12:59.740 just a cushy PR tour? No. I'm looking at the 00:12:59.740 --> 00:13:02.559 list of places he visited. Korea, Japan. Okay, 00:13:02.600 --> 00:13:05.360 those are nice. But then... Kuwait, Afghanistan, 00:13:05.720 --> 00:13:08.820 Uzbekistan, Egypt, Bahrain. These are active 00:13:08.820 --> 00:13:11.299 zones. He was flying to conflict areas to entertain 00:13:11.299 --> 00:13:14.039 the troops. Imagine the toll that takes. You've 00:13:14.039 --> 00:13:16.320 spent 30 years destroying your body in a wrestling 00:13:16.320 --> 00:13:18.639 ring. Your knees are shot, your back is sore, 00:13:18.820 --> 00:13:21.340 you retire. And then you decide, I'm going to 00:13:21.340 --> 00:13:23.679 hop on a cargo plane and fly to a war zone to 00:13:23.679 --> 00:13:26.980 shake hands. It speaks to a sense of duty, but 00:13:26.980 --> 00:13:30.200 I also think it speaks to a love for performance. 00:13:31.440 --> 00:13:34.159 Wrestlers feed off the crowd. Whether that crowd 00:13:34.159 --> 00:13:36.980 is in Madison Square Garden or a mess hall in 00:13:36.980 --> 00:13:39.639 Afghanistan. That's a great point. He wanted 00:13:39.639 --> 00:13:41.720 to make people smile. It's a beautiful second 00:13:41.720 --> 00:13:44.500 act. And he did get recognition for all of this. 00:13:44.639 --> 00:13:46.799 He was inducted into the Southern California 00:13:46.799 --> 00:13:49.759 Pro Wrestling Hall of Fame and honored by the 00:13:49.759 --> 00:13:52.000 Cauliflower Alley Club. And the Cauliflower Alley 00:13:52.000 --> 00:13:53.500 Club, for anyone who doesn't know, that's the 00:13:53.500 --> 00:13:55.860 fraternity wrestling. Getting a nod there isn't 00:13:55.860 --> 00:13:57.600 about your follower count. It's about respect. 00:13:58.100 --> 00:14:01.120 It means the boys respect you. So when we step 00:14:01.120 --> 00:14:03.259 back and look at the Billy Anderson archetype, 00:14:03.259 --> 00:14:06.120 what are we really seeing? We are seeing the 00:14:06.120 --> 00:14:08.759 machinery of an industry. We love the stars. 00:14:08.840 --> 00:14:11.360 We love the posters. But the industry just collapses 00:14:11.360 --> 00:14:13.440 without the Billy Andersons. He was the promoter 00:14:13.440 --> 00:14:15.320 running promotions of his own. He was the referee. 00:14:15.600 --> 00:14:17.519 He was the ring announcer. He is the guy making 00:14:17.519 --> 00:14:19.919 stars look good. He was the guy winning belts 00:14:19.919 --> 00:14:22.620 in other countries. And he was the teacher creating 00:14:22.620 --> 00:14:25.679 the next generation. He wore every single hat 00:14:25.679 --> 00:14:28.200 you can wear in professional wrestling. And he 00:14:28.200 --> 00:14:31.860 did it without the massive ego that usually destroys 00:14:31.860 --> 00:14:34.299 careers in that business. It's a rare quality 00:14:34.299 --> 00:14:37.100 to be content being the foundation rather than 00:14:37.100 --> 00:14:39.639 the skyscraper. But without the foundation, the 00:14:39.639 --> 00:14:43.399 skyscraper falls over. Sting doesn't exist without 00:14:43.399 --> 00:14:46.019 Billy Anderson. The ultimate warrior doesn't 00:14:46.019 --> 00:14:49.320 exist. That exciting match you saw on TV doesn't 00:14:49.320 --> 00:14:51.279 happen without a guy like Billy knowing exactly 00:14:51.279 --> 00:14:53.720 how to take the fall. It really changes how you 00:14:53.720 --> 00:14:56.059 watch the show. Next time you see a so -called 00:14:56.059 --> 00:14:59.120 jobber walk to the ring, maybe don't write them 00:14:59.120 --> 00:15:01.100 off so quickly. Right. They might be a champion 00:15:01.100 --> 00:15:03.539 in Mexico or the future trainer of the next icon. 00:15:03.799 --> 00:15:05.340 Or they might just be the toughest, smartest 00:15:05.340 --> 00:15:08.039 person in the ring. That's the takeaway. Real 00:15:08.039 --> 00:15:10.940 expertise often lies with the teachers, not just 00:15:10.940 --> 00:15:13.860 the performers on the poster. Absolutely. So 00:15:13.860 --> 00:15:15.799 here's a question for you to chew on as you go 00:15:15.799 --> 00:15:18.960 about your day. We all have stars in our fields, 00:15:19.039 --> 00:15:22.019 the CEOs, the lead singers, the top salespeople. 00:15:22.590 --> 00:15:25.129 But who is the Billy Anderson in your world? 00:15:25.309 --> 00:15:28.769 Who is the person quietly training the rookies, 00:15:28.850 --> 00:15:32.129 fixing the problems before they happen, and wearing 00:15:32.129 --> 00:15:34.629 a dozen different masks just to keep the machinery 00:15:34.629 --> 00:15:36.730 running? Chances are they're the most interesting 00:15:36.730 --> 00:15:39.190 person you haven't talked to yet. Go find your 00:15:39.190 --> 00:15:42.429 Billy Anderson and say thanks. Well said. That's 00:15:42.429 --> 00:15:44.090 it for this deep dive. We'll see you next time.