12 Things We Learned From Dark Side Of The Ring: Saving Paul Orndorff
6. Vince McMahon’s Promise Of A Job For Life
As Paul’s arm started to atrophy and became super noticeable, he started to realise he'd have to take time off television to try and fix things. That's when Vince McMahon pulled him aside and said: ‘Don’t screw me and you’ll have a job here for the rest of your life’. Travis: “And…my dad screwed him”.
Eek!
Orndorff no-showed the WWF after asking for days off that the company didn’t green light. So, he left the promotion on poor terms in 1988 and retired from the biz to run a bowling alley. He'd vanished so swiftly from the spotlight that a rumour began circulating that he’d died from steroids. In reality, Paul was just enjoying the chance to be a father and husband without the rigours of the road, and he was very self-conscious about his injured arm.
Teaming up with a business manager called Shelton Thorne, Orndorff invested a lot of the money he'd made during the peak of his run in wrestling's biggest company. Everything from WrestleMania payoffs to some merchandise royalties went into these investments, and it all initially seemed like Paul would be financially set for good.
Ignoring McMahon's plea would come back to haunt 'Mr. Wonderful' in a big, big way though. Even Travis knows now that it was foolish to butt heads with somebody who was offering security in exchange for loyalty and honesty. Some will laugh when reading that about a character like Vince, but VICE did make it seem like he was being on the level with Paul.