The Godfather On How Much He Was Told Bam Bam Bigelow Made In 80s

WWE Hall Of Famer The Godfather recently spoke to Insight with Chris Van Vliet about how he got into professional wrestling. He revealed that people would often approach him and advise him to do it. However, it wasn't until The Godfather learned how much money was involved that he started to consider it.

"They were filming a movie called, 'Over The Top'. Yes sir, and a lot of those guys in that movie were wrestling extras or wrestling guys. Scott Norton was in it and other guys," he said. "Well the MGM was right down the street, they would come to my bar where I was bartending managing. And I was just a monster. Bro, I mean, I'm not big like — I'm 60 years old now. Thank you, I'm trying. Back then, I was a monster. I was a big biker, like a hardcore biker.

"I had all these from way back then {his tattoos}. They would come in and say, 'Dude, you should become a wrestler'. This is exactly what I would say: 'I don't want to do that phony *ss wrestling'. You know, I use to watch roller derby because in the Bay Area where I'm from, in the 70s, roller derby was much bigger than wrestling. So they're like, 'you've heard of this guy named Bam Bam Bigelow?' And I'm like, 'Yeah, the dude with the tattoos all over his head, he looks cool'. They said, 'well, he made a million dollars last year.' And I went, 'what? Wrestling? There's that type of money in wrestling?'

"I swear to you from that time right then, they told me to make a call to this guy in New Jersey and go to this place called the Monster Factory. Within a couple of years from that call, three at the most, I'm in the WWE. I was in wrestling school, it was a very short time. It was probably — you're supposed to be there for months and months and learn. I might've been there two months and the whole time I'm there, I'm hanging out at strip clubs, getting drunk, I'm hanging out with the guy that runs the place. I think I actually went to school three or four times."

The Godfather then reflected on his very first match in wrestling, which was against Jerry Lawler. The King put him over and dropped the title to him in his first match, showcasing the faith that Lawler had.

"Jerry Lawler sees me. And mind you, I'm black, I'm big, I'm tattooed, and they're like, 'Jesus Christ, we could make some money with this kid'. Not knowing anything, Jerry Lawler books me on a contract in Memphis to go through a program with him. It's my very first match ever," he stated. "All I knew how to do was lock up with somebody and throw a kick. That was it.

"That's the days that I went there, that's what they were working on. So I went to Memphis and Jerry Lawler just basically said, 'Hey kid, do what I tell you to, listen to me and we'll get through this'. And my very first match ever was against him on a Monday night. Yes, he put me over that night and I won the heavyweight title. My very first match."

If you use any quotes from this article, please credit Insight with Chris Van Vliet with a h/t to Chris Van Vliet for the transcription.