12 Things We Learned From Dark Side Of The Ring: Saving Paul Orndorff

9. ‘Mr. Wonderful’ Wasn’t A Gimmick

Clips show Paul talking about his character in a 2002 shoot interview, and they don't shy away from his very-real arrogance. On the 'Mr. Wonderful' gimmick that he cultivated, Orndorff said: “That was me, that wasn’t fake. That’s the way I was. Ask my wife, she’ll tell you. I was a jerk!”. You've got to appreciate his candour if nothing else.

Orndorff found it easy to be one of the WWF’s top heels, because he was that arrogant in real life and really meant what he said about having a killer body, pretty face and everything else. The dude wasn’t just cutting wrestling promos then laughing it off once the cameras stopped rolling - he was a walking, talking version of the man fans watched on screen.

At one point in the doc, Brian Blair said that Ronda knew her husband wasn’t loyal, and Travis recalls being at hotels on the road with groupies waiting to sleep with his father. Yikes. That's not good. Trav has a very innocent view of certain moments in his childhood (more so back home), but hanging around motels whilst his dad had sex with various hangers-on who idolised his wrestling character? That's more than a bit grim.

Hopefully, his memories of that aren't too vivid. For his own sake.

Like Ric Flair and the whole 'Nature Boy' silliness, Orndorff lived his gimmick and basked in it whenever he was in the public eye. His was a little more toned down than Flair's, but it was still a way of life rather than an act to him in the 80s.