3. Virgil
Mike Jones entered the WWE in 1987 as Lucius Brown. Later that same year he debuted as Virgil Million Dollar Man Ted DiBiase's flunky/bodyguard carrying around DiBiase's 'Million Dollar Belt' and wads of cash. Apparently he was given the name 'Virgil' due to that great wag Bobby Heenan naming him after Wrestler Dusty Rhodes' penchant for talking in a faux African-American way (Rhodes' real name is Virgil Runnels). Virgil was made to wear a glittery wrestling version of a butler's suit, and DiBiase would frequently dive out of the ring and leave poor Virgil to take a beating on his behalf. On more than occasion he would be verbally obedient to DiBiase, often with the not-at-all controversial line 'Yessir!'. in other words he looked, talked and acted like a slave/servant, which nobody appeared to find bizarre. They loved the Virgil-DiBiase dynamic even though it was appallingly racist. They also booed Virgil as hard as DiBiase because he was his acolyte. Eventually things got stale and Virgil turned on DiBiase, hitting him with his million dollar belt at the Royal Rumble in January 1991 and becoming a face. At that year's Summerslam, he beat DiBiase and won his Million Dollar belt. But Virgil's career didn't really go anywhere after his feud with DiBiase it was another case of shameful racism but in a more innocent age in which we didn't think about the racial ramifications of what was going on. And poor Mike Jones will forever be immortalised as DiBiase's stooge who never cracked a smile. Not that he had much to smile about.
Clare Simpson
Contributor
My first film watched was Carrie aged 2 on my dad's knee. Educated at The University of St Andrews and Trinity College Dublin. Fan of Arthouse, Exploitation, Horror, Euro Trash, Giallo, New French Extremism. Weaned at the bosom of a Russ Meyer starlet. The bleaker, artier or sleazier the better!
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Clare