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Shoot interview with the senior referee of the old NWA. Tommy Young refereed some of the most historic bouts of all time. You can see him in a special interview on the Ric Flair Triple DVD set as he explains to the fans what is now called "The Dusty Finish" as to why Ric Flair retained his title.
Tommy Young speaks about his early start in Detroit under The Sheik. He started as a wrestler and remembers his matches with such wrestlers as Abdullah the Butcher and Andre the Giant (during Andre's first North American tour).
Tommy tells of how he became a referee. He was at a show when the referee no-showed. He volunteered to referee instead of wrestle for the the night, and he stuck with it. He got praise from those working around him, and he decided to stop wrestling and just work as a referee.
He talks about some of the early matches he got to referee from Flair-Steamboat to Brisco-Funk.
Young worked for the outlaw IWA after leaving the Detroit area when George Scott, the promoter for Mid-Atlantic area, saw him. He was asked to join Crockett's Mid-Atlantic area, and that is where he stayed until 1989.
The interview will talk about all the names of the day: Abdullah the Butcher, plenty of Ric Flair stories, Dusty Rhodes, the Crockett Family, Wahoo McDaniel, Nikita Koloff, Lex Luger, Barry Windham and everyone else.
Young has no attachment to wrestling anymore, and he is not worried about burning any bridges. If he hates a guy, he says so. Young had all the insight any other wrestler of the day had. He saw all the talk and drugs and cheating and hustling.
This interview isn't just about Tommy Young, the referee, but the era of the time. The names you know. What were they really like?
What were some classic ribs pulled? What were some distasteful ribs?
Young shares for the first time the story of a Ric Flair vs. Ricky Steamboat match gone bad. And we mean bad as Flair and Steamboat wrestled in a ring full of human crap. Who's crap was it? How did it happen? How did the two men continue to wrestle? This story is not only amazing but hilarious.
Young speaks about such memorable bouts as Starrcade 1985's main event with the classic 'Dusty Finish' where Young had to discuss the situation in a televised interview the following week. Also, Young speaks about Nikita Koloff's memorable exposure at Starrcade '86. Also, Young remembers Halloween Havoc 1989 where the cage caught fire and he had to beat the fire out with his hand.
Young speaks about other referees of the time including Randy 'Pee Wee' Anderson, Nick Patrick, Dave Hebner, Earl Hebner, Dick Worle and more.
Young speaks very open and candid about his ring ending injury during a televised match between Tommy Rich and Mike Rotundo. He speaks of it in great detail as well his lawsuit with WCW that followed. You won't believe what Young got for the injury and who advised him to sue.
The WWE came knocking for two nights in 1998. Who got him in? Was it played out as planned? What kind of time did he have? How did the WWE treat him? Who backstage did he see for the first time in over 10 years?
This is one of those interviews where it is the stories that tell the story. Young, although well known, really had some great insite and stories that no one else has.
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