Insane Insights From Dark Side Of The Ring: David Schultz

If there is one part of pro wrestling that is super underrated, it is the Kayfabe. Kayfabe according to the wrestling dictionary is the fact or convention of presenting staged performances as genuine or authentic. It means living the character on and off the field. For example, a professional wrestler is not out of the ring hanging out with any wrestler that they are in a feud with or just had a match with. By doing that it breaks the vision on whether a storyline is reality or not.

The topic of Kayfabe was explored in Dark Side of the Ring’s episode on Dr. D David Schultz who was taught to never break Kayfabe. When he slapped reporter John Stossel to keep his character realistic it pretty much ended his career in pro wrestling. There was a ton of new information provided in this Dark Side of the Ring documentary.

10. David Schultz Was Trained By Herb Welch

Herb Welch was a big star in pro wrestling during the Great Depression up until the 1950s. When he retired, he became a notable trainer in pro wrestling. He would often take wrestlers to his farm to train them in his barn and beat the living hell out of them.

There was one story Jim Cornette tells where Welch would often take a dump then rub it on his armpit and hold wrestlers in these long headlocks. The goal was to hurt people physically and mentally to see if they had what it took to be a part of the wrestling business. Luckily David Schultz survived the unorthodox training, but he thought pro wrestling was legit. He was constantly stiffing others and fighting for his life in the barn. Welch had to smarten him up about the business and stressed the importance of Kayfabe.

9. Hulk Hogan And David Schultz Were Roommates

David Schultz and Hulk Hogan were close when starting their careers in the business. They worked in the same territories in Florida. When Hogan started wrestling, he was broke and homeless. It was to the point where Hogan was living in a van. Shultz invited Hogan into his apartment, and they became roommates. When Hogan finally signed with the WWF, he got David Schultz a contract as well, because he convinced McMahon that he could make money bringing Schultz in.

8. Schultz Was Such A Master of Kayfabe That He Got A Warrant For His Arrest

Schultz did a promo where he was ordering his wife and son around the house. In that promo, he accidentally fired guns in the house. It got him over as a heel in the company. That level of believability got the police to launch an investigation.

The police went to Vince McMahon’s office trying to find Schultz. He had a warrant for arrest on child and spousal abuse as it was that believable on TV. Vince had to tell them it was part of the show and just an act. Vince supplied Schultz with those guns and the women/children in those promos were not his family. The house they shot this in was not even his as well. The fact there was a warrant out for his arrest showed the power of Kayfabe in pro wrestling.

7. Why Eddy Mansfield Went On John Stossel’s 20/20 Documentary

The documentary dives into Eddy Mansfield who was the wrestler featured on Stossel’s documentary. Mansfield wrestled as “The Continental Lover” and started to wrestle in many Territories after his baseball career came to an end.

Mansfield loved wrestling but was shocked by the low wages, no medical insurance, and no 401K. Which is still a massive problem in wrestling to this day.

Mansfield got blackballed from the business as he did not give 20% of his money to the booker of the promotion. That was the norm in the old days of wrestling. Mansfield not agreeing to that resulted in all of his bookings being stopped. Mansfield wanted to go on the documentary to expose the promotors in the way they handled business. Another goal from Mansfield was trying to get insurance and a 401K. Here is the problem, Mansfield was only looking for himself. He was trying to get back at the promotors for what they did to him, not to get the wrestlers insurance and a 401K.

6. The 20/20 Crew Pushed For Mansfield To Blade

Eddy Mansfield was being interviewed by John Stossel. In the 20/20 he showed Stossel some moves in the ring and admitted to wrestling being fixed. Mansfield admitted that wrestlers were told to lose or win matches as well.

The most memorable part on Mansfield's side is when he shows everyone how to use the blade and how to hide it. He didn't want to do it but got peer pressured into doing it. Mansfield just wanted to express the lack of insurance, 401K, and how brutal the promotors of the industry were. The producers of the 20/20 were more interested in the way wrestlers got themselves to bleed.

Mansfield even would later go on and say he got tricked as he wanted to help the business not expose it. Mansfield is so full of nonsense because it totally helps the business by exposing the secrets including how to bleed. The dude either wasn't thinking or was full of it.

5. Eddy Mansfield Warned John Stossel Not To Interview David Schultz

Vince knew Stossel was going to interview wrestlers and sent Schultz to him. Vince told Schultz to be in character while in the interview as he was making fun of the business. With how much Kayfabe was behind Schultz’s character he cut a promo while being interviewed. The promo was fantastic, and Stossel got terrified of Schultz.

Not terrified enough as Stossel told Schultz that he believed wrestling was fake. Schlutz slapped him multiple times and with the way he said it, Stossel deserved it.

Before this incident happened, Eddy Mansfield had told Stossel multiple times not to even interview or go near David Schultz. That is advice Stossel should have taken as Mansfield knew how dedicated Schultz was to Kayfabe. If Stossel was to bother him with questions, he knew something bad was going to happen. Stossel failed to take his advice and got slapped.

4. The Real Reason Why David Schultz Was Fired

Schultz slapping Stossel was a moment that many fans thought got him blackballed, but this was not the case. The slap was a contributing factor, but his beef with Mr. T didn't help things either.

The first-ever WrestleMania was being planned and Vince was going all in to takeover the industry. One of his big celebrity involvements was with Mr. T, who was a tremendous part of the main event. His being included led to Schultz being left off the card which angered him. There were rumors that Schultz and Mr. T had a confrontation with each other at this show. That is just a classic lie told by Hulk Hogan.

Hogan at the time had a falling out with Schultz, what else is known about Hogan? This wasn't mentioned in the documentary, but Hogan had a falling out with almost everybody he called a "Friend". The main example was with Brutus "The Barber" Beefcake as both have not spoken to each other in years.

David Schultz and Chief Jay Strongbow spoke to each other to hash things out. Chief Jay Strongbow at the time was a big behind-the-scenes agent for the WWF. Strongbow told Schultz to stop bothering Mr. T or he would be fired. Schlutz said, “Then fire me” and that is what Strongbow did.

When David Schultz was leaving he went up to pro wrestler Toru Tanaka to say goodbye. All of a sudden security was following him along with a policeman to kick Schultz out of the arena. Strongbow called them to get him out and said that he was a "dangerous guy". Schultz was handcuffed and hogtied, and even shotguns were aimed at him. They then tossed him out the backdoor and he was gone from the building and company. Chief Jay Strongbow went overboard with Schultz and the worst part is he has a history of doing this.

This wasn't mentioned in the documentary but Strongbow has a history of constantly abusing his power behind the scenes. Before Macho Man Randy Savage died, he stated that Strongbow ruined more careers in pro wrestling than drugs have. "Superstar" Billy Graham once stated that Strongbow once ordered 9 jobbers to share a single room in a hotel. If they didn't, they wouldn't be booked for the show and they would be blackballed from the industry. His beef with the Honky Tonk Man is full of insanity as well with Strongbow trying to blackballing him too. Chief Jay Strongbow is a real piece of work and there are plenty more shady things he did. He could be a legit a topic in a future Dark Side of the Ring episode.

3. Eddy Mansfield Does Not Come Across Great In This Documentary

Throughout this documentary, Eddy Mansfield had a big voice, and the more he talked, the more he sounded like a fool. Some of the statements he makes are not adding up including his motivations.

The weirdest thing he said in this documentary was “Abraham Lincoln freed the slaves, but he forgot to free the pro-wrestlers.” That is not a good comparison for somebody to make. He sounds ridiculous just saying that. Jim Cornette said it best when he called Mansfield a has been and never was that pretended to do this for the boys. He only cares about himself, and this documentary proved that.

After the 20/20, Mansfield got a ton of death threats and allegedly had cocaine planted on him. The problem is at the same time he claims that 4 FBI agents were assigned to protect him and get him out of the South. There is no chance that the FBI or all organizations would bring somebody like Eddy Mansfield to safety. Mansfield doesn't come across as great in this documentary, but he's not the only one

2. John Stossel Does Not Come Across Well Either

John Stossel tries and fails to paint himself as the innocent party in this documentary. He comes across as a liar when discussing his motivation to expose the scam of wrestling. He also completely mishandled and used Eddy Mansfield, specifically, pushing him to use the razor blades.

The most annoying part with Stossel is the lawsuit he filed with the WWF. After the slapping incident, Stossel claimed his ears were ringing nonstop. Stossel wanted to teach them a lesson, so he decided to sue. A doctor had to examine him and diagnosed it as a mental issue. The doctor was quoted "he was holding onto his pain for the lawsuit".

A year passed, and Stossel decided to settle, and in the documentary claimed he got 285 thousand dollars. According to Google, Stossel got 425 thousand dollars. This wasn't mentioned in the documentary, but 275 thousand dollars was paid directly, and insurance covered 150 thousand dollars.

Stossel then with a smug look on his face admitted the doctor may have been right. Stossel stated, "his pain got better once he got paid". Wow making that statement in a documentary on TV is such a scummy thing to do.

Even looking back on it Stossel was selling it when getting slapped. Shultz’s slap was nowhere near Stossel’s ears. He sued for a quick and easy payday.

1. David Schlutz Worked As A Bounty Hunter

With Schultz out of wrestling, he had to find a new way to make money. He got a position as a bounty hunter, and it was easy for him. He got adjusted to the role very quickly and it helped it was at a time when nobody was doing bounty hunting.

As a notable pro wrestler at the time, Schultz was able to earn the trust of criminals. It was effortless easy to pick them up, bring them to jail, and get the bounty. There even was footage of one of his captures. Schultz met up with a drug addict, who was openly doing drugs in front of him and bonding with him. Schultz then took him to the jail and the same guy says, "I feel good going in with you man.”. Schultz became a very reliable Bounty Hunter.

The craziest story he tells involves him going to Puerto Rico. What happened was a man decided to kidnap two girls and he treated them horribly. This piece of trash tied them to the toilet and were only allowed to drink the toilet water. It was a big news story and Schultz managed to track this guy down in Puerto Rico. The two girls were seen stripping at a club and at that club Schultz confronted him. Schultz apprehended the guy and managed to get these girls, a baby, and a few dogs to safety

Schultz was risking his life on the streets, and he was doing good in the world by getting these evil people locked up behind bars.

My Thoughts On The Documentary

Coming into this documentary when it aired, I had no idea who David Schultz even was. This documentary did a fantastic job going through what happened to him along with his career and life. Honestly, John Stossel deserved to get slapped for the shenanigans he pulled. He really should have thought things through before interviewing Schultz.

David Schultz got screwed here and he could have made WWF/WWE a lot of money if this incident did not happen. Regarding Eddy Mansfield from all the stories I have heard about him, the dude does not come across as a class-A-type character.

The MVP of this documentary is the man himself, Dr. D David Schultz. Schultz has had an insane life and just comes across as a likable guy. Schultz is in the category of a What if as I think Schultz would have been a big heel in the wrestling business if he never slapped John Stossel. This episode also shows how important Kayfabe was back in the day and how it can sometimes go too far. Schultz was the true victim here, not Stossel or Mansfield.