10 Things We Learned From Dark Side Of The Ring: Billy Jack Haynes
8. He Slapped Paul Bearer Over A Finish
Len Denton was better known as 'The Grappler' during his time in the AWA, Mid-South and other NWA territories. He worked opposite Haynes many times during Billy Jack's formative years in the biz, but Denton found out firsthand that he could never actually trust the hot young newcomer during their matches - Billy Jack had a short fuse and could snap at any moment.
At one point during the episode, Denton recalled seeing Haynes come through the curtain and make moves towards manager Percy Pringle (best remembered as The Undertaker's ghoulish Paul Bearer). Billy Jack was mad that Pringle had messed up the finish to one of his matches vs. Rick Rude, so he slapped him hard and told him why he was doing it.
It doesn't sound like that kind of over-reaction and show of violence was an isolated incident either. Longtime wrestling ref Bill Alfonso called Haynes a "Jekyll and Hyde" character, 'cause nobody knew for sure which one they were going to get on any given day. This made it more difficult for guys like Denton to respect Billy Jack.
He started to view Haynes as nothing more than a bully who’d target people he knew he could beat up. For example, Percy. Physically attacking somebody because they made a mistake and screwed up the finish to your match is unacceptable. It says everything that even those in the wild west territorial days of the 1980s also thought Billy Jack was going too far here.
Pringle didn't deserve to take a beating for making a routine error.