Author Brad Balukjian appeared on the latest episode of Talk Is Jericho to talk about his new book, “The Six Pack: On The Road in Search of Wrestlemania.” A book that serves as a tribute to The Iron Sheik also branches off into multiple storylines from what many consider a Golden Age of professional wrestling.
Balukjian talked with Jericho about how WWF came to prominence, and the author interviewed a host of behind-the-scenes people who helped make it happen.
“Vince meets Jim Troy,” Balukjian explained. “Who becomes kind of like his Pat Patterson before Pat. It’s like his right-hand guy. And Jim Troy is the guy that goes out all over the country staring in ’83 with Joe Perkins, who was another behind the scenes guy. And these are the guys that actually go to all those meetings with the station managers to pay to get Vince’s show on TV. All those stories we’ve heard about ‘Here’s how Vince did the expansion,’ and ‘Here’s how Vince did it,’ it was really cool to sit down with the people who were actually there who have almost never been interviewed.”
Balukjian went on to explain that the WWF’s Chief Financial Officer at the time, Bob McMullan, outlined to him the finances of the company when he arrived. “(McMullan) told me, ‘Here’s how much Hogan made for Wrestlemania 1. Here’s what the situation was like financially in the company when I came in,’ which was like a mess. He explained to me how he got all the books in order to allow Vince to go do this thing. And also really credited Linda. She’s the one who really dotted the I’s and crossed the T’s in those early years.”
Jericho then asked “What did Hogan make for Wrestlemania 1?” “300 grand,” replied Balukjian.
“That’s a great payoff for for 1985,” Jericho responded. “It’s a great payoff now.” Listen to the full episode of Talk Is Jericho here.
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