15 Things We Learned From Dark Side Of The Ring: Tony Atlas
9. A KKK Meeting Was Treated…Like A Rib?!
VICE wasn't quite done with the shocking racism content.
Tony claims that fellow NWA and WWF alumni Dick Murdoch (one of the most random WWE Royal Rumble entrants ever) was a member of the KKK and was handing out flyers in the locker room one day. Turning to Tony, Dick said he had some friends he’d like Atlas to meet. Trying to be respectful, Tony agreed without even reading the flyer or understanding what Murdoch was talking about. He just didn't want to ruffle a veteran's feathers by being rude.
Tommy Rich (who'd been Tony's tag-team partner for a while) went with him, and they were faced with members of the Ku Klux Klan, complete with hoods and outfits. One of them even had a shotgun, so Rich shouted: “Get down, T!”. Don't forget that Atlas hadn’t even read the flyer, so he had no clue what'd be waiting for him.
It gets worse. When they were in the next town, wrestlers were laughing about it and acting like Murdoch had ribbed Tony. Ribbed him by...potentially getting him killed by a racist group? Yikes. Atlas didn't reveal exactly which company he and Dick were working for at the time, but it sounds like it was one of the NWA territories and not the WWF.
This is definitely the kind of thing that could never happen today, thankfully. If it's true (some talking heads did question a few of Tony's stories), then shame on Murdoch for doing it. He easily could've got Atlas and Rich murdered by some of his so-called "friends" who wanted to meet Tony face to face.