Honky Tonk Man Describes How It Was Wrestling In Puerto Rico

The Honky Tonk Man found success in a number of territories before he joined the WWF. That includes a run with the World Wrestling Council in Puerto Rico during the early 1980's. His first run on the island came almost by accident.

"Dutch [Mantel] was gonna take Dennis Condrey," Honky Tonk Man recalled on Stories With Brisco And Bradshaw. "And [WWC] had promo'd Dennis Condrey, put his pictures in the program, the magazines, everything down there. And then Dennis up at the last minute said he wasn't going. So Dutch was stuck and Dutch asked me if I'd go and I said, 'I don't know Dutch. You know, I've got this thing with Larry [Latham]. We've been doing OK.' And he said, 'Man, do you want to make some money or do you want to stay up here with Nick [Gulas]?'"

Honky Tonk Man's decision to go to Puerto Rico ended a successful tag team run he had with Larry Latham. The Blonde Bombers won tag team championships on six separate occasions, but they never tagged again after Honky Tonk Man's run in the WWC.

Honky Tonk Man wrestled under the ring name Danny Condrey and found success as a singles star in Puerto Rico. He won the WWC Caribbean Heavyweight Championship in 1980 and says he enjoyed his time wrestling on the island.

"We only worked 4 days one week and 3 days the next," He recalled. "So it was, you know, a vacation. And you got paid. I mean, you put your life on the line every night."

While Honky Tonk Man enjoyed working in Puerto Rico, he admits that not everything was perfect. He was sometimes disappointed to see WWC owner Carlos Colon bring in bigger names to headline major stadium shows on the island.

"You worked your butt off to draw a big house for a big show at the stadium – at Clemente [Stadium] or [Juan R. Loubriel Stadium in] Bayamon or one of those big stadiums – and then they bring in [Abdullah The Butcher] for that," Honky Tonk Man recalled. "They bring the Funks in for that. They bring – it's like, man, come on Carlos. Give us a little bit of that cheese. But that's just how they did it and that's how it worked. You learned to live with it."

If you use any of the quotes in this article, please credit Stories With Brisco And Bradshaw with a h/t to Wrestling Inc. for the transcription.