The Wrestler Who Was Cancelled

Mr. T
WWE

Elements of his act have dated horrendously - like many wrestlers of that era, he was homophobic to a vile extent - but then, certain old school fans you find online might like that about him. He was intensely threatening, but funny with it. He intersected the intimidation and charisma of a hard-ass heel to perfection. When taking Sgt. Slaughter to task, Schultz said, with his brutal southern brogue, "And I don't care if you bring your momma with you, Sgt. Slaughter, I'll slap her like a dog. And I don't care if you bring your daddy, I'll beat him like a dog. See, I just don't care..."

He was so funny that he made Mean Gene Okerlund corpse more than once, but was so terrifying that, watching his promos back now, you fear for the interviewer some 40 years after you know fine well that he didn't get a slap to the face.

So why, then, did Schultz, as legitimate as it gets, all but vanish from a scene that was supposedly built in his image?

Because somebody did get a slap to the face: John Stossel, a 20/20 reporter who was present at Madison Square Garden in 1984 to film a notorious exposé of wrestling's closely guarded trade secrets. Schultz even by the standards of a very secretive era held kayfabe and the fake notion of legitimacy in sacred reverence, and when this was questioned, he exploded. Stossel said to Schultz that he thought wrestling was fake; Schultz slapped him very hard, twice, in the face. Stossel was the victim of an assault. There was no justification for Shultz's actions, even if "the boys" - those among them, Bret Hart - reckoned that he got what he deserved.

Schultz was immediately suspended by the New York State Athletic Commission for his conduct and was promptly fired by the WWF following the furore - though not necessarily as a result. This incident forms only part of the David Schultz story; an early 1985 altercation with Mr. T is what drove his exit from the WWF.

Schultz maintains that the altercation wasn't physical, and when profiled on Vice's Dark Side of the Ring didn't offer any real information about it. He said he simply talked with Mr. T in the corridor, and was told by then-agent Jay Strongbow that, if he were to keep "bothering" Mr. T, he'd be fired. "You better fire me, then," Schultz said, and that was that. In the "never say never" business, Schultz was never seen in the WWF again.

CONT'D...(2 of 5)

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Contributor
Contributor

Michael Sidgwick is an editor, writer and podcaster for WhatCulture Wrestling. With over seven years of experience in wrestling analysis, Michael was published in the influential institution that was Power Slam magazine, and specialises in providing insights into All Elite Wrestling - so much so that he wrote a book about the subject. You can order Becoming All Elite: The Rise Of AEW on Amazon. Possessing a deep knowledge also of WWE, WCW, ECW and New Japan Pro Wrestling, Michael’s work has been publicly praised by former AEW World Champions Kenny Omega and MJF, and current Undisputed WWE Champion Cody Rhodes. When he isn’t putting your finger on why things are the way they are in the endlessly fascinating world of professional wrestling, Michael wraps his own around a hand grinder to explore the world of specialty coffee. Follow Michael on X (formerly known as Twitter) @MSidgwick for more!