One MIND-BLOWING Secret From EVERY WWE WrestleMania

40. WrestleMania 2 | Mr. T Was In Fact The Fool

Again: Mr. T was a pop culture phenomenon. As much the architect of WWE’s success as anybody else, T was a perfect fit for the promotion in the 1980s. 

Known for his “I pity the fool” catchphrase, he was visually striking, as toyetic as any box office action hero of the day - but despite a not unimpressive background, his hyper-masculine image was not entirely on the level. He served in the army and worked as a bouncer, and was brought to the attention of Rocky III screenwriter Sly Stallone for his bloody and emphatic victories in two tough-man contests that aired on NBC. Mr. T however would have been exposed in top-level boxing, but the American public weren’t to know that: T’s ability to mythologise himself, in tandem with his outrageous charisma, positioned him as one of the better workers of an era built on superficial toughness. 

The WWF hired legendary heavyweight Joe Frazier to legitimately train Mr. T ahead of his worked boxing match against ‘Rowdy’ Roddy Piper at WrestleMania 2. Frazier was wholly unimpressed, because Mr. T refused to spar. According to the November 21, 2011 Wrestling Observer Newsletter, T confided to people within the WWF that he feared for his public image. Mr. T needed to be known as one of the hardest guys on the planet - a myth that would have been shattered, were he to get knocked out by somebody who actually knew what they were doing. 

Frazier was annoyed, but he wasn’t stupid: he still accompanied T to the Nassau Coliseum main event to secure his payday. The attraction was a shambles, an interminably long mess, and a gassed Mr. T was the culprit.