50 Fascinating Facts About WWE in The 1980s
29. The WWF Roster Egged David Schultz On
Wrestlers fighting with WWF execs is one thing, but how about wrestlers cuffing the crap out of journalists on camera? That's what known tough guy David Schultz did to reporter John Stossel in 1984 during a 20/20 piece designed to expose wrestling as "fake". The roster didn't know that was Stossel's plan when he arrived, but word quickly got around that he was working a hatchet job on the industry.
During Vince's documentary on Netflix, Hulk Hogan appeared as a talking head and admitted that various wrestlers fired David up before he agreed to do an interview with Stossel. He went into his segment with a point to prove, and infamously slapped the reporter as hard as he could several times. Naturally, this led to legal action against Schultz, McMahon and the WWF.
It never rains but it pours.
Stossel sued everyone and received a $425,000 settlement. Later, he expressed regret at taking things to court because of the impact lawsuits can have on innocent bystanders who are just working hard for an organisation. Meanwhile, Schultz maintained that it was McMahon who told him to strike the journalist and put him in his place, but Vince has never acknowledged that.
Schultz clearly shouldn't have put his hands on somebody who wasn't part of the show, but it was ill-advised of Stossel to brazenly spit to an already irate working pro wrestler that what he did was a fake. Thankfully, the WWF could draw a line under this after settling in court, but the incident has been replayed hundreds of times over the years.