"The Magnificent" Don Muraco
26th Feb 2002
Hi mate!
Well, Muraco got his ass kicked by Vince. Muraco, and a lot of other wrestlers
were touring Europe in the late 80's and one evening Don and some other of his
colleagues visited the hotel bar.
Dynamite Kid asked a drunken Muraco to imitate the booker for this tour, Nick
Bockwinkel. The Magnificent One made the typical "Ahaw, Ahaw, my boys"
rant from Nick and this guy was upset. They got in a heated exchange of words
where Bockwinkel stated that he was the AWA heavyweight champ, something Muraco
has never accomplished.
Muraco answered: "What will you know. I drew more people than you ever
could in my career" Don't forget that Muraco had a little bit too much.
As a result of this incident, Bockwinkel went to Vinnie Mac and told him about
that story. When the tour was finished, McMahon ordered "The Rock"
into his office. McMahon gleefully asked how the tour has been. Don told him
that it has been "fine".
As a result of this McMahon answered: "OK. It was fine. Fine, you are fired."
Muraco stood there pissed and did not know what to do. He requested an explanation
for this rather unorthodox style of McMahon. The sucker only told him that he
doesn't need people, who don't respect their bookers and road agents...
Now, what do you say about that. To this day I cannot remember a significant
title defense of Bockwinkel that drew huge crowds. Coming to Muraco, what comes
instantly to my mind are his wars against Snuka, Piper and Steamboat. And don't
forget his feud against Pedro Morales.
Thinking about steel cage matches, I still remember the one Muraco had against
Snuka, where Snuka delivered his famous splash from the top of the cage on a
prone Muraco...
And let's not forget, Don was two times IC-Champ in the WWF. Talking about firing
a legend...
You know what? After all these years I spent and I am still spending with wrestling
I discovered that Vince McMahon is a complete asshole when it comes to humanity.
OK, I give him credit for his business geniuses, but as a man he completely
stinks.
Look what he did to Rick Steamboat. Tom Billington quoted in his book, that
Vince laughed behind the curtain, because "his" wrestlers had to act
ridiculously in some ways. The Bruce Lee shit, Steamboat had to do and his second
stint with the WWF comes to my mind: his absurd dragon-costume he had to wear.
Comes close to the shit Giant Gonzalez had to wear...
I mean tradition does not count for Vinnie Mac. And Muraco, just like Orndorff,
fell prey to this mans' sick attitude.
Best regards to my mate in Sydney!
Harry