It Was All Worth It
By Chris Casino
WrestleMania is copyright World Wrestling Entertainment, Hulkamania, Hulk Hogan, etc., is copyright Marvel Comics, Andy Kaufman and all others belong to themselves.
AUTHOR'S NOTE
As an Andy Kaufman fan as well as a lifelong fan of professional wrestling, I realize there are some people out there who will read this and say, "You dumb bastard! How could you begin this story in August of 1984? Don't you know the poor man died in May of 1984?" And the answer is yes. Just let me explain.
The evolution of this story came as I was playing the Sony Playstation 2 game Legends of Wrestling II against Andy, who's a featured wrestler in it. The game, although it features mostly old-school guys, features pretty much modern forms of wrestling. It suddenly occurred to me: Andy's goal, to bring wrestling back to network TV and to get a mainstream audience behind it, was achieved a year after he died, by Vincent K. McMahon, Jr., owner of what was then known as the World Wrestling Federation. What if Andy had lived to work with this man? What if he had participated in the Rock 'n' Wrestling Connection? Or the first WrestleMania? I then concocted a scenario whereby Andy Kaufman never contacted lung cancer and was contacted by Vince McMahon to participate in the Rock 'n' Wrestling Connection and the first WrestleMania? I then figured the main event would be Hulk Hogan and Mr. T vs. "Rowdy" Roddy Piper and Andy Kaufman (subbing in this story for the real-life combatant in that match, Mr. Wonderful Paul Orndorff)! I figured that would make sense, good guy wrestler and good guy celebrity vs. bad guy wrestler and bad guy celebrity.
Another factor which contributed to the evolution of this story was the testimony of Andy's friend Bill Apter (featured in here, by the way) that Andy had wanted to wrestle for the WWF at Madison Square Garden, but Bill told him Vince McMahon, Sr. would never go for it. Vince McMahon, Sr. was nowhere near the visionary his little boy Vince, Jr. was. Vincent James McMahon, while known as a compassionate man, was a strict wrestling promoter, and he firmly believed wrestling could never appeal to anybody but the beer drinking, cigar chomping bar stool crowd it did while he was running things, while his little boy Vincent Kennedy McMahon saw it as something that, if done correctly, could appeal to almost anybody. It was for these reasons that I truly believe while Vince Sr. wanted no part of Andy Kaufman's "God-man-woman-dog", "I'll send you back to the kitchen" wrestling women schtick, not only would Vince, Jr. have brought him in, he would have brought him in and loved every minute of it. I have opted not to use Mr. Kaufman's family or friends in this story, first of all because they're not really relevant to it and secondly out of fear of portraying them wrong.
I realize there are those of you reading this who'll say, "Yeah, right. He wouldn't have kept wrestling," or "Vince McMahon never would have contacted Andy Kaufman." Whatever. But I'll bet that Andy's in Heaven watching WWF/WWE DVD footage to this day sulking that he never had the chance to work for Vince McMahon. And I know that wherever he is right now, Andy Kaufman is smiling at me.
Chris Casino December, 2002
By Chris Casino
WrestleMania is copyright World Wrestling Entertainment, Hulkamania, Hulk Hogan, etc., is copyright Marvel Comics, Andy Kaufman and all others belong to themselves.
AUTHOR'S NOTE
As an Andy Kaufman fan as well as a lifelong fan of professional wrestling, I realize there are some people out there who will read this and say, "You dumb bastard! How could you begin this story in August of 1984? Don't you know the poor man died in May of 1984?" And the answer is yes. Just let me explain.
The evolution of this story came as I was playing the Sony Playstation 2 game Legends of Wrestling II against Andy, who's a featured wrestler in it. The game, although it features mostly old-school guys, features pretty much modern forms of wrestling. It suddenly occurred to me: Andy's goal, to bring wrestling back to network TV and to get a mainstream audience behind it, was achieved a year after he died, by Vincent K. McMahon, Jr., owner of what was then known as the World Wrestling Federation. What if Andy had lived to work with this man? What if he had participated in the Rock 'n' Wrestling Connection? Or the first WrestleMania? I then concocted a scenario whereby Andy Kaufman never contacted lung cancer and was contacted by Vince McMahon to participate in the Rock 'n' Wrestling Connection and the first WrestleMania? I then figured the main event would be Hulk Hogan and Mr. T vs. "Rowdy" Roddy Piper and Andy Kaufman (subbing in this story for the real-life combatant in that match, Mr. Wonderful Paul Orndorff)! I figured that would make sense, good guy wrestler and good guy celebrity vs. bad guy wrestler and bad guy celebrity.
Another factor which contributed to the evolution of this story was the testimony of Andy's friend Bill Apter (featured in here, by the way) that Andy had wanted to wrestle for the WWF at Madison Square Garden, but Bill told him Vince McMahon, Sr. would never go for it. Vince McMahon, Sr. was nowhere near the visionary his little boy Vince, Jr. was. Vincent James McMahon, while known as a compassionate man, was a strict wrestling promoter, and he firmly believed wrestling could never appeal to anybody but the beer drinking, cigar chomping bar stool crowd it did while he was running things, while his little boy Vincent Kennedy McMahon saw it as something that, if done correctly, could appeal to almost anybody. It was for these reasons that I truly believe while Vince Sr. wanted no part of Andy Kaufman's "God-man-woman-dog", "I'll send you back to the kitchen" wrestling women schtick, not only would Vince, Jr. have brought him in, he would have brought him in and loved every minute of it. I have opted not to use Mr. Kaufman's family or friends in this story, first of all because they're not really relevant to it and secondly out of fear of portraying them wrong.
I realize there are those of you reading this who'll say, "Yeah, right. He wouldn't have kept wrestling," or "Vince McMahon never would have contacted Andy Kaufman." Whatever. But I'll bet that Andy's in Heaven watching WWF/WWE DVD footage to this day sulking that he never had the chance to work for Vince McMahon. And I know that wherever he is right now, Andy Kaufman is smiling at me.
Chris Casino December, 2002