Hillbilly Jim shares the story of the time Uncle Elmer (Stan Frazier) couldn’t make a WWF show in the ’80s and how Vince McMahon reacted in an exorbitant (albeit wasteful!) way.
“I grew up dirt poor,” McMahon shared in a 2016 interview with Muscle & Fitness. “When you’re in that class, a lower economic class, everyone is, quote, ‘above you.’ And there were a number of individuals who thought they were above me because of their economic situation. It always bugged me that people would think they were better than me. I developed a philosophy that no one’s better than me, and at the same time, I’m no better than anyone else.”
His meager start in life fueled his ambition, and by the mid-’80s, McMahon was surrounded by excess via the boom period of WWF’s Golden Era. There are many stories out there of the unnecessary spending Eric Bischoff made in WCW with someone else’s money, but Vince was no better with his own. This story is an example of that!
“Uncle Elmer [was booked for] a match against King Kong Bundy,” Hillbilly Jim began in a 2012 shoot interview with RF Video. “It was already advertised. [But apparently] he ‘ain’t going.’ Vince was livid!
“‘You gotta go.’
“‘ME gotta go?’
“‘YOU gotta go.’
“‘How am I gonna get there..?’
“They hired a Learjet.”
Rather than Vince use any other member on the roster to take the place of Uncle Elmer, he dug deep into his pockets to fly Hillbilly Jim out to Providence, Rhode Island as a replacement.
“So I’m flying along when the captain says, ‘Hey, you must be a pretty important guy.’
“I was sitting back going [looks around] ‘Me?’
“He said, ‘Yeah, you must be a pretty important guy.’
“I said, ‘Why you say that?’
“He says, ‘Well you’re just flying there by yourself…’
“I then asked, ‘How much does it cost to fly me?’
“To which he replied, ‘$27,000.’
“Remember – this is in the 80s!”
When Hillbilly Jim arrived in the town of the show, he was in for quite a surprise.
“[Later in the limo] I say to the driver, ‘Take me to the arena!’
“He said, ‘Nah, just take your time. Don’t worry about it…’
“I said, ‘No, I need to get there-!’
“He says [calmly] ‘Don’t worry about it, I’m here to take you to the hotel.’
“I said, ‘BROTHER! I have to be at the Providence Civic Centre!’
“The dude looked around the corner, and he says, ‘Uncle Elmer showed up.'”
The reason Uncle Elmer almost no-showed the event in Providence was due to the fact that he was trying to hardball Vince for more money. As it turns out, things were worked out between the two before Hillbilly Jim even landed. Despite not being needed at the show after all, at least Jim got a sweet ride and unique story to share from the experience!
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