The Wrestler Who Was Cancelled
Meltzer wrote:
"Schultz had gotten notoriety from slapping Stossel that he was a scary violent guy. Plus, he could talk. As a wrestler, he was below average, but he had the size, the talk, and a mean scary face and great heel demeanor. But the fear of his temper was what made promotions not book him."
And while this is a subjective opinion, it isn't without merit. Even if Schultz never slapped Stossel, it is difficult to foresee Vince going with him over the excessively charismatic Roddy Piper, the arrogant and immaculately sculpted Paul Orndorff, or one of the all-time greatest attractions, irrespective of his physical condition, in André the Giant. Schultz wasn't on Tully Blanchard's level either, much less Ric Flair's, which meant he wouldn't have fared particularly well in Jim Crockett Promotions.
David Schultz was a legitimate tough guy who was hardly going to lose a fight and disgrace the business: doesn't that read as exactly the sort of wrestler Bill Watts would have adored in Mid-South Wrestling?
Could it be that even Schultz is the mythical 1980s wrestler?
That the inflammatory Stossel incident lionised his tough guy aura well above his talent and drawing ability?
In a 2006 RF Video shoot interview with Schultz, Meltzer's narrative is brought further into focus - by Schultz himself, unwittingly. He said he left Memphis in his first run there because he was held back by Jerry Lawler. He reckoned that he verbally threatened Verne Gagne when, after he told the AWA owner that he was quitting for the WWF, Gagne threatened to kick him out of the building. Schultz also claims that he told NJPW founder and top star Antonio Inoki that he wouldn't do a televised job for him, which was yet another very reckless career decision.
Schultz might have been talking sh*t in a bid to amuse himself or maintain his dangerous, unhinged aura in wrestling circles. The shoot interview is as ironic a term as it gets. Still, his own narrative corresponds with Meltzer's, which says rather a lot. The old 1980s heel cliché was of a man "mad, bad, and dangerous to know". Schultz, it would seem, lived the gimmick. This isn't intended to read as a hit piece, but the myth surrounding David Schultz is embellished.
If he truly is the Wrestler Who Was Cancelled, that last word carries about as much meaning as it does elsewhere.