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00:00I had 19 and a half inch biceps, and I was 225 pounds at age 19.
00:15God, he was a black Arnold Schwarzenegger.
00:17You have got it. Look at the alarm. You have got it.
00:20Yeah, I mean, he was a total package.
00:23I know that I need to work harder. I need to train harder.
00:25A bodybuilder turned wrestler, Mr. USA Tony Atlas broke barriers as one of the first major black superstars in the sport.
00:35You got to keep it. Getting it is one thing, but keeping it all together is a different thing.
00:39I remember seeing black wrestlers get tarred and feathered. A lot of questionable racist behavior.
00:47Tony Atlas made little black kids all over the world feel like, man, I can do that too.
00:53I am going to whoop on you and get paid for it.
00:57There were very few black wrestlers. There was a lot of time I wrestled in an area where I'm the only black guy.
01:02They saw money. They didn't see color.
01:05Hey, wait a minute.
01:06Holy shit. Look at this guy.
01:08Get in the way. Get in the way.
01:10Tony Atlas, Mr. USA, climbing the ladder of success very, very rapidly in the World Wrestling Federation.
01:15Rising to heights few black wrestlers of his era had ever reached, Tony Atlas began to unravel the weight of fame's pressures and pitfalls.
01:25I got trouble here, and I got trouble there, and I got trouble coming your way.
01:30Sick, drugs, and wrestling.
01:32There was a party every night at the hotel room.
01:36There were a lot of temptations, and there were a lot of different choices out there to make.
01:40I never bought drugs a day in my life. It was always given to me. It was in the dressing room, for God's sake.
01:46There's a lot of things about Tony Atlas I wonder. Whether it's legend or fact, is it true or not?
01:53Tony's battle with addiction cost him significant opportunities, leaving him with no place to call home.
02:00Here's a guy that would make hundreds of thousands of dollars, and he's living on the street.
02:04It's not how much you make, it's how much you save.
02:09I was some homeless guy that smelled like something died, no place to live, no nothing.
02:14I became a suicide. I didn't want to live no more. I wanted to die.
02:18All right, so we're going to watch this, and you just tell us whatever you think about it, feel about it.
02:36Mr. USA, Tony Atlas.
02:40And he looks fantastic. Looks like he was chiseled from granite.
02:44Man, he was jacked. What a well-put-together human.
02:47His opponent, weighing 320 pounds, the incredible Hulk Hogan.
02:55Sweet.
02:56Unbelievable size of Hulk Hogan.
02:59So, you press-slammed Hulk Hogan at Madison Square Garden?
03:02Yeah.
03:03Oh, look at that. Oh, yes, sir. Check it out. Check it out, bro. Check it out.
03:10And how do the fans react?
03:13Atlas grinding it out of it.
03:15The table and groove.
03:17Hulk Hogan's, what, 330 pounds at the time, 6'4".
03:24And press him over your head.
03:30Hogan, I can hear him now.
03:32Cussing up the storm.
03:35Damn.
03:36Tony wanted the press, the biggest guy in the company, because it was telling everybody in the audience,
03:43look how strong I am.
03:50A main event guy, Madison Square Garden, to go to, you know, living on a park bench.
03:59Sometimes people have to go through hitting bottom before they realize how good they really had it.
04:06I was born in Virginia.
04:10My mother was a devoted Christian.
04:14Christian. She'd only been with one man her whole life, and that was my father.
04:19My dad never worked. My mother worked.
04:21All of her dedication went directly to raising her kids. One time, we were walking down the street, and this guy slapped my mother on the butt.
04:30But, my mom turned around, she hit him with one punch and knocked him out.
04:35Laid him out right there.
04:36My mother said, I got to teach you kids how to protect yourself, because I ain't always going to be here for you.
04:41That was something she said all the time, because when I was young, you had to know how to use your hands.
04:47All through life, like when you go back to my childhood, I was in anywhere between 50 to 100 fights, anywhere in there, easily.
04:53So, I had a reputation that if you fight me today, and I don't win, you're going to see me again tomorrow.
05:00Most of the influence in the black neighborhood when I was a child was bad influence.
05:05We looked up to drug dealers. We looked up to street fighters. We walked to school, and there was a fist fight every other day.
05:12I didn't care who you were. I would fight anybody.
05:16Now, my dad, he was a gambler that liked to hustle money, so he took me down to Scrapper Corner and wait for the railroad men to come in.
05:23And when they get drunk, he would tell them, I bet you can't whoop that boy there.
05:28I don't fight these grown men.
05:30And he said, if you lose this fight, boy, you're going to get it worse when you get home.
05:35But I grew quick. By the time I was 12, I was already over 6 feet at 12.
05:41But only weighed like 110 pounds.
05:46I was like a stick.
05:49And so one day, I was walking with this girl.
05:52I helped her carry her books. I liked her.
05:55Really, I liked her shoes. She had tennis shoes on.
05:57So I hear this voice, baby, say, I'm going to push you.
06:01All of a sudden, I fell head first.
06:03I got the dent in my head right here.
06:07The whole world turned red because all the blood was ran down to my face.
06:13My grandmother kept running out.
06:15Oh, Lord, oh, Lord, come here, boy.
06:17My scar was split completely in half.
06:20We had no phone.
06:21She couldn't call the ambulance.
06:23She couldn't call the police.
06:24No way of contacting anybody.
06:26My grandmother said, I want you to pray.
06:30So I got down on my knees.
06:32And this is what I said.
06:33I want to be strong like Samson.
06:35Built like Hercules.
06:37And have a lot of money.
06:39And everything that I asked for in that prayer, God gave to me.
06:43And I blew it later.
06:46But still, he gave to me.
06:48Do you think that you suffered brain trauma from that incident?
06:51Yeah.
06:52Yeah.
06:52Have you been ever medically diagnosed?
06:55No.
06:56No.
06:56But I do know it was something wrong with me.
06:59That I was not like regular kids.
07:02And I think it has something to do with the shoes.
07:04The reason I'm so submissive to women in sneakers and stuff like that.
07:08Because all that was on at the same time.
07:11I don't understand.
07:11What do you mean?
07:12I buy shoes for the girls to step on them.
07:17Well, they got me into that.
07:20Oh, my goodness.
07:22That one.
07:23Fan one.
07:24Yeah.
07:24That's a nice pair of shoes right there.
07:26Now, what makes it good?
07:27Well, if they're family looking.
07:29They look like something should be on a woman's feet.
07:31I got stepped on in malls and gyms and houses, hotel, elevator.
07:37I got it done everywhere.
07:39A couple of dozen times I was with him.
07:41I seen him just buy his shoes and have him walk on his face.
07:44And never talked to him again.
07:46I was as shocked as the girl was.
07:49People knew nothing about fantasies.
07:51Fantasies and all this stuff was underground.
07:53So they thought because of my wrestling, they thought it was part of my training.
07:58He'd see a girl to matches and have him walk on his face.
08:00I'd give a woman $50 just to step on them.
08:03Plus, I'd buy the shoes for them.
08:05They didn't have to pay for the shoes.
08:07I thought it was a little bit out of the ordinary.
08:09You know, but then, you know, everybody has their little quirks, right?
08:15You know, things that make them feel good.
08:18As Popeye said, I am what I am.
08:20You know, he's not the only foot guy in the world.
08:24Well, they said, like, I suck toes, which I don't.
08:27They say I like high heels, which I don't.
08:30They say that I whack off, which I don't.
08:34They try to make it into a sexual thing.
08:37What, for me, my shoe feather keeps me calm.
08:41I got more control of it now than I did then.
08:44Get a sniff on it, Tom.
08:47Hey, now we're talking.
08:49I was into what's called dominatrix.
08:52So the dominatrix become your master.
08:55You're what's called a slave.
08:57I can't use that term now because I'm black, and black people get mad.
09:00But that's what it was.
09:01So they dominate you.
09:02See, I went to a person once, had to explain it to me, that was into all this psychology stuff.
09:08And I had this rage in me.
09:11You know, ever since I was a kid, I'd fight anybody.
09:14I'd beat up anybody.
09:15I couldn't lift anything.
09:16Nobody could beat me.
09:18So I had to learn more control.
09:21So I ended up going to the YMCA.
09:24I've never been to the gym in my life.
09:26I was 15 years old when I first started lifting weights.
09:29Hey, hello, welcome.
09:32Come on in, guys.
09:33Well, I know y'all gentlemen noticed I got a lot of stuff spread out here on the table.
09:39Because these items here are items for before there was a Tony Atlas.
09:46Now, this is Muscle Development Magazine.
09:49I never competed in bodybuilding before, but what ended up happening,
09:53I did a 350-pound press at age 19.
09:58That was the beginning of my bodybuilding and powerlifting.
10:11I saw Tony the first time at the YMCA.
10:15My name is David Crockett.
10:16I am part of the Crockett Wrestling family that started Mid-Atlantic Championship Wrestling,
10:22World Championship Wrestling, TBS.
10:25That's us.
10:26In Charlotte, the only place you had to exercise or lift weights was the YMCA.
10:34A lot of the wrestlers, George Scott, Sandy Scott, Johnny Heideman, you name it,
10:39they all were down there working out.
10:41And they said, hey, we've got this young man that we think we can do something with.
10:46They take me to the office.
10:48There were some mats there, and they said, you know, put him through the paces just to see, you know, if he knew anything, which he didn't.
10:56But he definitely had potential.
11:00They said, we're going to pay you $150 a week to trade.
11:06We took an investment in Tony.
11:09Other people, we did not see it worth buying stock in them.
11:15So was there jealousy?
11:16Oh, yes.
11:17And it was very hard for him, very hard.
11:20But he was like a sponge.
11:22You know, he'd learn.
11:24Now, George Scott said, well, Tony, I guess tomorrow we have to teach you how to work.
11:30I said, George, I don't want to work.
11:32I want to be a wrestler.
11:34He said, no, Tony, you don't.
11:35I said, I don't want to work.
11:36I said, I don't want to be a worker.
11:38I want to be a wrestler.
11:38I learned it ain't up to me to win or lose.
11:42It's up to some promoter.
11:44It was hard to swallow.
11:45Me being for so many years as a weightlifter, a bodybuilder, I was in legitimate sports.
11:52Now I'm in a sport where I got to let people whoop me that can't whoop me.
11:57It was the most disappointing day of my life.
12:05I was 20 years old when I finished high school.
12:08A lot of kids could not afford to do senior pitching.
12:11So this here became my senior pitcher.
12:14And then look at my arms.
12:16Tony Atlas was one of the biggest and one of the strongest.
12:20So I completely identified with it.
12:23I'm Mark Henry.
12:24Some might say the strongest man that ever lived.
12:28And Tony Atlas was my manager.
12:30Ever present Tony Atlas.
12:33Tony was a heavyweight that didn't look like a heavyweight.
12:37You could see every vein and muscle.
12:41He wasn't just the guy that had show muscles.
12:44Tony had go muscles.
12:47I was a champion in three sports simultaneously.
12:51I was a champion in bodybuilding.
12:52I was a champion in powerlifting.
12:54I was a champion in weightlifting.
12:56You know, 22-inch arms, 24-inch waist, 28-inch thighs, lats, traps, shoulders.
13:05It was built.
13:07And it just wasn't cosmetics because he had the strength to back it.
13:10Elbows locked and he did it.
13:12Hi, I'm Ricky the Dragon Steamboat, 2009 WWE Hall of Famer, NWA World Champion.
13:21Weighing 237 pounds, Ricky Steamboat.
13:26There will only be one winner.
13:28Thanks for being here.
13:29So, maybe people don't know this, but at some point, you and Tony were both competing in bodybuilding competitions, right?
13:36We have competed on the same stage, but I won Mr. Southern States and he won Mr. USA.
13:45Mr. USA.
13:46Mr. USA.
13:48Mr. USA.
13:49Mr. USA.
13:52Tony Atlas.
13:53My 50-some-odd-plus years in this business, I've seen bodybuilders come and go.
14:02You're big, you're strong, and all this stuff, that doesn't make you a great wrestler.
14:08Hey, I'm Gerald Briscoe, WWE Hall of Famer, but you might know me better as Jerry Briscoe.
14:14Gerald Briscoe!
14:18Tony was a bodybuilder that was a wrestler.
14:21Look at the agility of this man, Tony Atlas.
14:25They wanted me to be a main event.
14:26They didn't want me on bottom.
14:28They wanted me on top because, you know, by then I had best body in wrestling.
14:32The first year of my career, I was a champion.
14:35With his chiseled physique and natural talent in the ring,
14:39Georgia Championship Wrestling wastes little time crowning Tony their television champion.
14:45You know, when you got this belt, you gotta keep it.
14:48Yeah, I mean, big guy, good looking.
14:53I mean, he was a freak of nature.
14:56Hello, my name's Tommy Wildfire Rich, former NWA World Heavyweight Champion when wrestling was wrestling.
15:03If you see Tommy, you gonna see me.
15:06If you wanna fight Tommy, you gotta fight me.
15:08If you wanna make love to Tommy, you gotta love me, too.
15:11A few months, they started pushing us as a tag team.
15:15Yeah, that's me and Wildfire Tommy Rich.
15:17That's when we were young whippersnappers right there.
15:19Me and Tommy enjoyed the championship wrestling.
15:22Black and white, we fight all night.
15:25And the people just loved it.
15:27I mean, it was, you know, salt and pepper.
15:29And I'm talking about back in 78, I think, is when I started in there.
15:34It's the black and white thing, you know.
15:36It was a different world back then.
15:40You know, some of them little towns didn't like black folks there.
15:43Today, it would be called racism.
15:49My day, it was called average.
15:56You gotta realize that the territory only kept one black in every territory.
16:01So, if I walk in a dress room and a black guy is sitting in that dress room, he was all the matter to my enemy.
16:07But that was life for people of color.
16:10Now, I got called nigger so many times in professional wrestling that one time a guy walked up and said, hey, Tony.
16:16I didn't know who he was talking to.
16:18There were very few wrestlers that didn't use the term nigger.
16:21Tommy Rich didn't.
16:22It was just in the world at that time.
16:24It was not, you know, they all used the term.
16:28They all did it.
16:30And you never said stop or...
16:33No.
16:33Why not?
16:34I was making money.
16:36My mom helped me with this.
16:38She said, you pick your bottles.
16:40As long as I was making money, I didn't care.
16:44I made $100,000 my first year.
16:47And that was my smallest year.
16:49I didn't know what it was like to work your way from the bottom.
16:51I didn't know what that was like.
16:53It was given to me too quickly.
16:55Too much, too soon.
16:57I was not supposed to be in that position that soon.
17:01Because mentally, I was not ready for it.
17:03What did you start spending the money on?
17:05I gave it away.
17:07Gave my friends money.
17:10In fact, when I took a girl out on a date, I would take her shopping first.
17:14I said, you've got to get something to wear.
17:16I said, well, you've got to have a piece of jewelry.
17:18And the boys were all big spending.
17:20They told me when I first thought, there's two ways to be, live like a king or be rich.
17:27You choose.
17:28I live like a king.
17:30He'd never seen that much money before.
17:32And it happens to a lot of athletes.
17:35They don't know how to deal with it.
17:37And they spend it like there's no tomorrow.
17:40You know, he goes to the bar, starts buying drinks.
17:43Man, it's like piranhas when they come in.
17:46You know, everybody's his friend then.
17:48He was like a Ric Flair with his money where he'd make five grand and the next day he'd be broke.
17:54You find a lot of guys that all of a sudden start to make it big.
17:59And the next thing you know, they're buying watches and cars.
18:02He went out and bought 1976 Lincoln Continental.
18:06You got to party with these big guys.
18:08You got to spend the money.
18:10And unfortunately, the parasites in our business jumped onto Tony.
18:15And now they're becoming Tony's friends because he's got all this money.
18:19And he's going to these bars.
18:21And he's spending all this money.
18:23Hey, Tony, buy me a drink.
18:24You know, buy me dinner tonight.
18:26Let's go out and have some fun, right?
18:28And you go to a club.
18:30And the next thing you know, you got a $300 bar tab.
18:33And guess what?
18:35The friend that was with you is gone.
18:37The girls would come up to you.
18:42You didn't have to go to them.
18:43And they said, you want to go to the room?
18:45Most of the time, I would take three women up to the room.
18:49Party, drink, smoke.
18:51Every night was an orgy.
18:53I wanted to fit in.
18:54And drugs was in the dressing room, for God's sake.
18:57I didn't go out looking for it.
18:59It was in the dressing room.
19:00You know, whether it was a pain pill, Valium, or Xanax, or a little Coke.
19:05Whatever it was, you know, we all participated a little bit.
19:10They called our group the bad boys because we was in trouble every week.
19:14I'm referee Nick Patrick.
19:15You probably remember me as the NWO ref.
19:17I also was a referee for WWE.
19:20Nick Patrick for crying out loud!
19:22We were just, every week, somebody doing something stupid.
19:25Just drinking and doctors writing out whatever we wanted and smoking and just snorting and whatever.
19:31We were just, it's a miracle we survived.
19:35But anyway, we got tired of Tommy never driving and just finally said,
19:40we are not your chauffeur any longer, which was a horrible mistake.
19:43And I've been drinking and I was driving.
19:47I just rented Lincoln, got on the interstate, went down the road probably two miles.
19:54We were like really close back to our hotel and the car started flipping.
20:03The car flipped upside down three times.
20:06So I'm in the car unconscious.
20:09I don't know what's going on.
20:10I was almost dead.
20:18An intoxicated journey down the freeway ends in disaster,
20:22leaving Tony Atlas and his fellow wrestlers wrecked in a horrifying accident.
20:27The roof of the car was crunched down on my side.
20:30I guess it come down and hit me and drove my head down and knocked me out.
20:33And I had a broken neck.
20:36Tony, you know, I mean, he was in the hospital for about three or four days and then come out and still couldn't wrestle.
20:43Was that accident a wake-up call for the lifestyle?
20:47It was a business.
20:49We went on as normal.
20:50Nothing ever stopped.
20:52I feel bad for Tony.
20:54I wish that he did have people around him that was like, hey, man, you had enough.
20:59Come on, go get some rest.
21:00You don't know if you get in the car.
21:02Though he struggles with life on the road, Tony shines brighter than ever in the ring,
21:08stepping into the spotlight of the famed World Wrestling Federation.
21:11Tony Atlas.
21:15You signed to face a number of individuals.
21:18And I can tell you one thing, the fans are certainly delighted about it.
21:20If y'all don't mind, I'd like to show y'all a few of my sketches.
21:23That's gorgeous.
21:24Yeah, I'm working on that.
21:26His arms are almost as big as yours, Tony.
21:29I believe so.
21:31If there was ever a talent that was built for New York, it was Tony Atlas.
21:37Take a look at that.
21:39Tony wasn't getting booked mid-card.
21:43Tony was getting booked main event.
21:47You know, and when they did, what happened, man, the business started exploding.
21:52And the chance and reaction that Tony was getting was second to none.
21:57Tony Atlas, undefeated in the World Wrestling Federation.
22:00As one of the WWF's biggest stars, Tony joins forces with future Hall of Famer Rocky Johnson to form a history-making tag team.
22:12It was brand new where you had two African-Americans getting that rocket ship attached to both of these young men.
22:22Rocky was already the established star, and Tony was still the up-and-coming star.
22:28And the two of them together with the power and the look that they had, it was magic for both of them.
22:35You see, back then, all this stuff was new for black athletes.
22:40One team for them!
22:41He's a new champion!
22:43But we are the first black tag team champions of the world ever!
22:47Now, that was great.
22:51My problem was, me and Rocket didn't get along, because Rocket was a top wrestler.
22:56I was a top wrestler.
22:57I'm the only one who could take his spot.
22:59Tony, I'm sure you're so happy.
23:01You've got tears in your eyes.
23:03It wasn't that he hated me or disliked me.
23:06As you know, Rocket's older than me.
23:09And this was Rocket's first break in the WWF.
23:13Think about it.
23:14I made, in one week, what took Rocket Johnson 10 years to make.
23:20There was a lot of jealousy came into play with that.
23:22So, after a while, it started souring, and it turned into a bitter relationship.
23:27And that's sad, because those two guys in the beginning, they were equal.
23:31And then, all of a sudden, Rocky noticed that Tony was getting the bigger push.
23:36You did it, Tony! You did it, Tony!
23:39Rocket Johnson tried to get me far a thousand a time.
23:42They were kind of toxic together.
23:44You know, Rocky would play Tony and get him in trouble.
23:48They would have very vocal arguments in the dressing room, to the point where you'd get
23:54a little concerned, how far is this going to go?
23:57And a lot of times, you had a road agent stepping in to kind of calm them down.
24:02Then they'd go out, and they'd have one of the best matches you've ever seen.
24:05Trouble, Piper, now!
24:06Just double that piece!
24:07What was really concerning was one that would follow over.
24:11I mean, you want to clear a bar out, but in a hurry, you get these two gigantic men arguing
24:15with each other, cussing each other out.
24:19You're going to clear a spot for them.
24:21The new World Stag Team champion, Rocky Johnson and Tony Atlas!
24:25Yes, but here's the kick in the britching.
24:28After we won the belt, they did very little with us.
24:30Look at that!
24:32Five months later, we lost the belt.
24:35Down to get three!
24:37I didn't know we were going to lose that night.
24:39Vince never told me nothing about it.
24:42Ole Anderson, Ole used to tell me the world is not ready for a black champion.
24:46I think Tony dealt with a lot of racism, not only through the fan, but backstage, too,
24:54with the guys.
24:55The foundation of the business was owned by whites.
24:59You know, like, your representation was based off biases, and some of them were based off
25:05ignorance.
25:07You had guys that was member of the KKK, like Dick Murdoch.
25:10You open his bag and see a KKK freaking suit in his bag.
25:14I didn't know this then.
25:16Well, one time, Dick Murdoch was in a dress room.
25:20They would give out these flowers.
25:22And they said, Tony, I got some friends that want to meet you.
25:25I said, oh, thank you, Mr. Murdoch.
25:27You know, I'm trying to be respectful.
25:29So I said, yeah.
25:30I said, can Tommy go?
25:31Oh, yeah, Tommy go.
25:33So we pulled up into this dirt road, and up on the hill was a guy in the hood, the clang
25:38outfit, with a shotgun.
25:41Tommy said, get down, T!
25:45People don't realize this, but I have a trouble with reading.
25:54When I got dyslexia, whatever you call it.
25:56My mother said I was a slow learner.
25:59And she said, it happened to me.
26:00She said, I got brain damage as a kid.
26:02So anyway, Dick Murdoch gave me this flyer.
26:06So me and Tommy, we drive it, and Tommy had not looked at the paper yet.
26:11She said, let me see that damn flyer you got there, Tony.
26:15Hot damn team, this is for the KKK.
26:20So I lay down in the seat.
26:22Tommy's on the car around.
26:24How do you see me?
26:25He goes, oh, that two clunk clang.
26:27Didn't you read the same team?
26:29I looked at him.
26:30He's hot damn Murdoch, this son, this damn clang meeting.
26:34So we get by the dressing room, and the guys are having a laugh.
26:37They said, we didn't really think you were in gold.
26:39Yeah, he was definitely taking advantage of it.
26:42Tony never looked for the bad in someone.
26:46You know, even after the first couple of stabs in his back,
26:49didn't quite understand it.
26:51Maybe didn't quite feel it.
26:53But then, you know, you get stuck enough times,
26:55you go, what the hell's going on here?
26:58Years of racism, exploitation, and locker room jealousy
27:03pushed Tony to numb the pain with his vices.
27:06He told me he would go do drugs,
27:09or he would go get so sloppy drunk
27:12that he couldn't even think about nothing
27:14but him being intoxicated.
27:18That's a horrible existence.
27:21Then I started going to the locker room to intimidate,
27:24and that's when everything started spiraling down.
27:28And the success and the money and the fame
27:31started going to my head.
27:33I had a Coke .357 Magnet,
27:37and I started shooting at the ceiling with it.
27:40I destroyed my own career by wanting revenge.
27:44I figured I would hurt others
27:45as much as I was hurt when I was a kid.
27:48He became a different person.
27:50He was not Tony Atlas then.
27:52Not the Tony Atlas I first saw at the YMCA.
27:55He's going to be in trouble now.
27:58All these wrestlers that he's beating,
28:01he's on top of the world and self-destructs.
28:05I mean, it was like sex, drugs, and rock and roll,
28:07but it's sex, drugs, and wrestling.
28:09Of course, back then, we was all doing it.
28:13I was stupid.
28:14Even though I had all this fame and everything,
28:16I was not a happy person.
28:17I walked out over a pair of shoes.
28:22I threw away the championship for a pair of sneakers.
28:24What do you mean?
28:25Well, one day I'm at the airport,
28:27and this girl was telling me,
28:28she can't wait to see me.
28:29She got some new shoes.
28:30She said, I'm going to walk all over you.
28:32I said, shit.
28:34I could go do this and come back to Ratchet.
28:38And Chief J. Strongboat tried to save me.
28:41He said, this match is going to be
28:42one of the most important matches of your life.
28:44I said, oh, and I'm going to L.A. to be my girl.
28:49Wait, hold on a second.
28:50You would have had an opportunity
28:51to become the first black world champion,
28:55but instead you decided to get on a plane
28:57to go get walked on?
28:58Yeah.
28:59I had to lose everything
29:01to learn to appreciate what I had.
29:05What?
29:06What the hell's going on?
29:09A pair of Christmas.
29:11If you miss one show
29:12and you got a good excuse,
29:13that's one thing,
29:14but if you start missing
29:15one here and there
29:17and here and there,
29:18you lose your dependability.
29:20And that's what they do.
29:21They depend on us
29:22to do what we're supposed to do.
29:25I can't think of nothing worse.
29:28Everybody there that paid money
29:30because, oh, I want to see Tony Atlas.
29:32Now look at that.
29:34Yes, sir.
29:35And then you go,
29:36I ain't coming.
29:39Come on, man.
29:40You can't do that.
29:41When I came back,
29:43Vince let me go.
29:45I was fired.
29:46He told me himself,
29:49I have to make an example
29:50out of you.
29:51In fact,
29:53it was a compliment
29:54in a way.
29:55See, all the wrestlers
29:56were screwing up.
29:57He said,
29:58I have to make an example
29:59out of you
30:00because if I fired Tony Atlas,
30:02then anybody would know
30:03I would fire anyone.
30:05Think about it.
30:06You taking out
30:07your biggest star
30:08you got on your car
30:09on your roster.
30:10That says a lot
30:11about the promoter
30:11because he's sacrificing
30:13crowds and houses
30:14to try to bring you
30:15back to reality.
30:17You know,
30:17sometimes you got
30:18to be protected
30:19from yourself.
30:21Tony's addiction
30:22and release
30:23from the WWF
30:24land him in a small
30:26New England-based promotion
30:27under the control
30:28of promoter
30:29Mario Savoldi.
30:31Mario told me,
30:33I know you used to
30:34making more money,
30:35but I could guarantee you
30:37$50,000 to $75,000 a year.
30:40He said,
30:41it's not much,
30:42but here in Maine
30:43is Liberman.
30:44Then all of a sudden,
30:45Mario would book a show
30:47on a Saturday.
30:50Vince would book a show
30:51in Maine on a Friday
30:52trying to put Mario
30:54on a building.
30:56Mario would tend to
30:57decide to drop,
30:58drop, drop, drop, drop.
31:00All of a sudden,
31:01I had no money,
31:02no place to go.
31:03I became homeless.
31:05I lost everything.
31:06I'm not very well educated.
31:08The only way that I knew
31:09how to make a living
31:10was in that ring.
31:12I don't come to the park
31:14no more.
31:1520 years since I've been
31:17in this park.
31:18This here was my home,
31:20right here.
31:23It's where I slept.
31:26Was here for
31:27a year and a half almost.
31:29The same people
31:32that give you something,
31:33they can also
31:33take it away.
31:36And you could lose
31:37everything you ever owned
31:38in a matter of suckers.
31:40Got in fights
31:41down here on Knox Street.
31:44He said that once
31:46he woke up
31:47and had rolled off
31:49a bench,
31:50he said,
31:51Mark,
31:51I woke up
31:51and I was laying
31:52in a mud puddle.
31:53Man.
31:59Making hundreds
31:59of thousands
32:00of dollars
32:01is like you're
32:01making a million dollars
32:02back in the 70s
32:03and 80s, you know.
32:05And I went
32:06from that life
32:07to living on
32:09Knox Street
32:09and eating
32:10out of a dumpster.
32:12Here I am
32:12standing on
32:13a freaking corner
32:14and everybody
32:15knows me.
32:16That's what made
32:17it so hard.
32:17See, I was poor
32:18before,
32:19but nobody knew me.
32:20But to be poor
32:22and famous,
32:23I was more hooked
32:25on cocaine
32:26here in Maine
32:26than I have been
32:27in my whole life.
32:29I became a suicider.
32:30I tried to die
32:32by police shooting.
32:33I used to go
32:34to the police station
32:34to try to get them
32:35to come out
32:35in the parking lot
32:36to shoot me.
32:37I used to walk
32:38in front of cars
32:39and everything
32:39trying to die.
32:42Though he's ready
32:43to give up,
32:43a local woman
32:44comes to Tony's aid,
32:46saving him
32:47from his darkest struggles.
32:49Monica was walking
32:50right down
32:51this street here.
32:53She said,
32:54what you doing here?
32:55I said,
32:55I sleep here.
32:56She said,
32:56you can't stay here.
32:58It's 20 below zero.
32:59She said,
32:59you will freeze to death.
33:01I said,
33:01I don't give a f***.
33:02I want to die.
33:04So she left.
33:05Next day,
33:06she came back
33:06to check on me again.
33:08I cursed her out again.
33:10Fatty got so
33:11that gum cold
33:12and my legs
33:13went none.
33:15Monica called
33:16the ambulance.
33:17And they tried
33:18to ask Monica
33:18all these questions
33:19about me.
33:20Monica can't tell them
33:21nothing.
33:21She don't even know
33:22my name.
33:24I went into a coma.
33:30That picture there,
33:31this is when I first
33:32met my wife,
33:33Monica.
33:35That's when we first met.
33:37I didn't have a pot
33:39to piss in
33:40and the one
33:40to throw it out of.
33:42I had nothing to eat.
33:43All I had
33:44were the clothes
33:45on my back
33:45and my trophy.
33:47That's all I had.
33:49I had nothing,
33:50nothing,
33:50nothing,
33:51nothing,
33:51nothing.
33:53And this woman
33:54took me in.
33:56She said,
33:56if you need a place
33:57to stay,
33:57you can stay with me.
33:59You understand?
34:00She took me home
34:01to her house.
34:02So I started
34:03going back to the gym,
34:05working out.
34:06I got a little
34:07part-time job here.
34:08I work as a bouncer
34:09to pay the rent.
34:11All of a sudden,
34:12Vince saw me
34:12a contract.
34:14With Mario
34:14Savoldi's promotion
34:15struggling,
34:16Vince McMahon
34:17reaches out,
34:18offering Tony
34:19another opportunity
34:20for glory.
34:22Monica started crying.
34:24She said,
34:24now that you're back
34:25doing what you do,
34:27I probably will
34:28never see you again.
34:29And I said,
34:30Monica,
34:31yes,
34:31you will.
34:33I bought these
34:34cheap rings.
34:37I bought these rings,
34:38this ring right here.
34:39I still got it.
34:41And I said,
34:41Monica,
34:42now we are married.
34:44For Vince to do that,
34:45that's, you know,
34:46because it's easy
34:47for him to just say,
34:48get the hell on.
34:49And of course,
34:50I'm sure Tony
34:51had enough time
34:52to know
34:53that he'd done wrong
34:54and loved the opportunity
34:56to get to come back.
34:58He said,
34:58well,
34:59let's bury the hatchet.
35:01He said,
35:01I got a great idea
35:02for you.
35:03What have we got here?
35:04Take a look at this,
35:05would you?
35:06Saba Simba!
35:08Proud of his heritage
35:09indeed.
35:10We have not seen
35:10this man for years
35:12and legally changing
35:13his name
35:14to Saba Simba.
35:15Now here's the kick
35:16in the teeth.
35:17My first night
35:18at Saba Simba,
35:19Ronnie Piper
35:20said this.
35:21That's Tony Atlas.
35:23That ain't no Saba Simba,
35:24that's Tony Atlas.
35:25Piper's right.
35:27You know,
35:28everybody knows
35:29that's Tony Atlas.
35:31I thought it was Lowe.
35:34And he ain't the only one.
35:36There's a lot of people
35:36that have played roles
35:38and characters
35:38that they felt like
35:40were belittling.
35:43Tony Atlas
35:44was a respected superstar.
35:45All of a sudden
35:49he's a,
35:50who?
35:53Vince,
35:54what were you thinking?
35:56Why would Vince
35:57have me to come out
35:58and do a gimmick
35:58and then tell people
35:59who I am?
36:00I couldn't understand
36:01why he did that.
36:02Why walk around
36:03looking like that?
36:04You look like a fool.
36:05From behind there,
36:06don't...
36:07I think it was a way
36:10of making fun of him.
36:12And what,
36:12was it just because...
36:14It's because
36:15Vince can't.
36:18You know?
36:19I think Ricky the Dragon
36:21Steamboat worked great.
36:23But then when they turned me
36:24into the costume-wearing,
36:25fire-breathing dragon,
36:27it was more like
36:28a caricature.
36:30And of course,
36:30with Tony,
36:31the same thing.
36:32Look at Atlas, wow!
36:33Just 180 degree turn.
36:36If that was the intent,
36:37then it was a success.
36:39Because...
36:40That was embarrassing.
36:43Oh, God.
36:45Salva,
36:46give me a break.
36:48My third grade son
36:49at that time
36:50could have promoted
36:51a better idea than that.
36:53So how did you feel
36:54about the gimmicks?
36:57I believe...
36:58Right before Salva Simba,
37:00I was eating out of dumpster,
37:02sleeping on a park bench.
37:04And you're gonna ask me
37:05how you like the gimmicks.
37:06Brother,
37:07he could have put me
37:08in a freaking pink gorilla suit
37:10at that time.
37:12I would have loved it.
37:13Tony's return
37:15to the WWF
37:16doesn't last long.
37:18And despite stints
37:19and other promotions,
37:20he never regains
37:22his former glory.
37:24But in 2006,
37:26Tony is inducted
37:27into the WWE Hall of Fame,
37:30giving him one last moment
37:31in the spotlight.
37:32Well, and of course,
37:34this is my
37:34Hall of Fame introduction here.
37:36WWE Hall of Famer.
37:38Tony was a role model
37:46for a little black kid
37:48that watched wrestling
37:50and had somebody
37:51that identified
37:51and looked like him.
37:53And I requested Tony
37:55as my manager.
37:57I wanted Tony.
37:59Yes, sir.
37:59I heard you need to do that
38:00for a payday.
38:02Next thing I know,
38:04they're telling me
38:04I'm gonna abandon
38:05Mark Henry.
38:09Over 15 years
38:10after leaving WWE,
38:13Tony's new role
38:13as a mentor
38:14sees him guiding
38:15Mark Henry on the road,
38:18hoping he won't repeat
38:19Tony's mistakes.
38:21It was just
38:22a childhood dream.
38:24Wanting to be
38:25in the same room
38:26with Tony Atlas.
38:29And Tony and I
38:30would go to the gym.
38:32He used to amuse him
38:34with the stuff
38:34that I could do.
38:35And I got in really
38:36good shape though
38:37riding with Tony.
38:38Tony Atlas
38:39and the world
38:40And then I went
38:42into a different level
38:43of, you know,
38:44Hall of Fame stuff.
38:46And he's going to call
38:47the police.
38:48That was awesome.
38:49So how and when
38:50did Vince fire you
38:51for good?
38:52The last time
38:52I worked for him
38:53I was with Mark Henry.
38:54Tony Atlas is going
38:55into the fabric
38:56of our craft.
38:57I had to catch a flight.
38:59That red eye,
38:59leave out at like
39:0012, 30 or something
39:01out of Long Vegas.
39:02Vince said,
39:03Tony, you're just
39:04as much a part
39:05of this company
39:06as anybody here.
39:08I get home,
39:09I get a phone call,
39:10we have to terminate
39:11your contract.
39:13I just talked
39:14to him yesterday.
39:15That's Vince.
39:16What come out
39:17of Vince's mouth,
39:18don't trust it.
39:23Are you ready?
39:26One more.
39:27years after his
39:28historic time
39:29in WWE,
39:31Tony Atlas keeps
39:32his legacy alive,
39:34offering fans
39:35another glimpse
39:36of Mr. USA.
39:37Mr. USA,
39:39Tony Atlas.
39:41The legend of Tony
39:42Atlas won't die
39:43because it still lives
39:45because people see him.
39:46They go to autograph
39:47signings,
39:48so he'll go up
39:49and say hi
39:50and hug people.
39:51I was in Boston
39:52a couple of years
39:53back and I'm
39:54doing meet and greets
39:55and Tony's there.
39:57All of a sudden
39:58I see Tony
39:59take off his jacket.
40:01Then all of a sudden
40:02I see Tony
40:02bending over,
40:04lacing up
40:04a pair of boots.
40:05Now,
40:06holy cow.
40:08And I say to Tony,
40:09what the hell
40:10are you doing?
40:11Brisco,
40:11I'm working tonight.
40:12Man got to
40:15make a living.
40:18I'm not
40:18financially secure.
40:20I'm not that
40:21well educated.
40:22The only thing
40:23I got left
40:23is my health
40:24and strength.
40:26I met three women
40:27in my whole life
40:28that cared about me.
40:29Three.
40:30My mother,
40:31my grandmother,
40:33and my wife,
40:34Monica.
40:35Well, right now
40:36when people say
40:37how is she doing?
40:38Not good.
40:402019,
40:41my wife,
40:41Monica,
40:42had a stroke.
40:43And she's been
40:44hospitalized since.
40:46This is my home
40:47away from home.
40:49My wife is here.
40:50If I'm not at the gym,
40:52I'm here.
40:53I thought I lost my wife.
40:55I sure did.
40:57This is my wife,
40:59Monica.
41:00Yeah,
41:01come on, baby.
41:02Well,
41:02this is the woman
41:03that found me
41:04in the park
41:05and she took me in,
41:07went through
41:08hell and high water
41:08with me.
41:10Say hi, baby.
41:11Hi, baby.
41:11So how's your day
41:17going, baby?
41:19Compassion
41:20is the biggest thing.
41:22When somebody is
41:23bedridden sick,
41:26he have to cook for her
41:27and clean for her
41:28and bathe her.
41:30And I got my little kit here.
41:32This is my Monica kit.
41:35It's a special person
41:36that does that.
41:37I wash her face.
41:40I put chapstick on her
41:42and then I help her
41:44to go to bed.
41:46I could never
41:47do enough
41:49for this woman.
41:51Like I said,
41:51I would not be here
41:53right now
41:54if it wasn't for Monica.
41:55I'm sure Tony
41:59has reflected back
42:00to those days
42:01with Rocky Johnson
42:02and Madison Greergaard
42:03getting those $5,000
42:05or nine payoffs.
42:06And I'm sure
42:07he reflects back
42:08at being homeless
42:09after having
42:10all that money
42:11and having nothing
42:12that's not in place
42:13where you lay your head.
42:15But you can't do it
42:16all over again.
42:18I'm going to say this.
42:19Tony had his moments
42:20in the business
42:21and those are the moments
42:22that he should be
42:23recognized for.
42:24No, this can't be done.
42:26Mr. USA clears the ring.
42:28The winner,
42:29Tony Alton.
42:31If I had been
42:31a little bit more humble,
42:33I would have been
42:33the first black world champion.
42:36But I'm more happy now
42:37with no career,
42:39no money.
42:40And I was a miserable
42:41when I had all that money
42:43and glory.
42:44I was not happy.
42:45The only thing
42:46made me happy
42:46was getting some girl
42:47to stomp on my face.
42:48other than that.
42:52Moral's story
42:53is it's never too late
42:54to say I'm sorry.
42:56It's very stiff.
42:57It's never too late
42:59to wash all the mud off
43:00and act like you got
43:02some damn sins
43:03because other people
43:05are depending on you too.
43:09I do this every day.
43:11And you're willing
43:12to live for them
43:14rather than die for them.
43:18You getting prettier
43:22from you.
43:23Yeah.