Kayfabe, Lies and Alibis: JJ Dillon Shoot Interview Crockett Years

Presented by Ellbow Promotions and Highspots.com

JJ hates when people spell his last name “Dillion”. I was guilty of this for a long time.

Dillon was a fan all the way back in the 50’s in New Jersey.

He saw Antonio Rocca, Killer Kowalski, Karl Von Hess, Haystacks Calhoun and tons of other legends.

JJ worked as a ring boy, sold programs and many other odd jobs for the wrestling league when he was a teen. He finally told the guys he wanted to be a wrestler.

He was told to learn amateur wrestling and get an education first.

Dillon spent 8 years serving as a ref.

The old guys weren’t big on helping the young talents as they saw him as someone who could take their spot.

JJ was able to ref many WWWF title defenses by Bruno Sammartino.

Watching all the vets do their thing up close allowed JJ to learn the business intimately.

The Sheik finally allowed Dillon to work in the ring in 1967 in Detroit.

Dillon held down a job and wrestled on the weekends.

Jim Crockett was looking for fresh talent and Dillon was one of the new faces chosen to come in.

By this point, Dillon was already 29.

The WWWF had huge arenas that ran monthly, JCP was small towns that had weekly shows.

Talent in JCP at this point included George Becker, Nelson Royal, Paul Jones, Gene Anderson, Rip Hawk, The Missouri Mauler, The Fabulous Kangaroos and Les Thatcher.

Thatcher and Dillon teamed up often. Les and Johnny Weaver gave Dillon a wrestling education.

Ole and Gene Anderson were as good as anyone ever during this time frame.

JJ got a chance to work in Canada, and Big Jim Crockett paid his way. He paid Jim back upon his return.

When Big Jim died, the show was canceled on the night of the funeral and all the wrestlers attended.

Big Jim kept his kids away from the business, so his son-in-law John Ringley took over as head man.

Ringley had an affair, so he was booted out in favor of Jim’s kids.

Dillon worked with World Champ Dory Funk Jr. and that boosted his confidence.

JJ suffered a sprained ankle two days beforehand but he still worked with Dory well enough to earn a chance to go to Dory’s Amarillo territory.

More world traveling followed and ultimately Dillon ended up in Florida as a manager.

Dillon spent 3 years in Florida feuding with Dusty Rhodes. Then Dusty took him to JCP when Rhodes became the booker.

JJ wanted a low-key gimmick as a manager. He tried to portray himself as a businessman and not a flashier manager like a Jimmy Hart or Jim Cornette.

The accidental formation of the Horsemen is gone over. We have all heard this one a million times by now, so no need to recap that.

The Horsemen promo work kept them over, no matter how often they lost in the ring.

Dillon enthusiastically retells the infamous parking lot beatdown the Horsemen laid on Dusty Rhodes. JJ explains how the nuances of the story were all covered, and laments that details are lost in today’s product.

The attack ultimately backfired on the Horsemen, as Dusty used the cast from his “broken” arm to assault the heels.

Ole Anderson was written out of the Horsemen based on real life situations where Ole wanted to support his son in high school wrestling meets, so they turned it into a on-air angle.

Dillon puts Ole’s heel heat and skills over hard and explains how long Ole worked on top.

Tully Blanchard’s natural unlikable swag made him a great heel.

The downfall of the territorial wrestling system thanks to the advent of cable TV is discussed.

The fans saw major stars on cable TV and then their local promotions would not have them for the house shows that ran in their neck of the woods.

Once Vince McMahon started to stampede into other promotion’s territories, Vince Sr. was bombarded by his peers in the ownership circles to keep his son in line.

Magnum T.A. was the complete package and had unlimited potential. Rhodes groomed him for super-stardom until TA’s tragic injury.

Dillon’s been married 3 times and had kids late in life. His parents lived to be close to 100 years old, so JJ isn’t planning on going anywhere anytime soon.

The doctors feared Magnum might die and the Horsemen were snuck into the hospital at midnight to see their fallen comrade.

Magnum was unconscious and strapped to a machine that was designed to aid in his blood flow. They never spoke and left soon after.

Jim Ross heavily hinted to Crockett that Bill Watts was going to sell to Vince, in order to convince JCP to buy out Watts’ UWF.

Dillon and Dusty were moved away from Charlotte and into Dallas in an effort to expand JCP into a true national powerhouse.

Less than a year later, Tully and Arn jumped to the WWF and JCP was over whelmed with debt and was forced to sell to Ted Turner. The magic that JCP had died in a shockingly short amount of time.

The Turner execs started dabbling right away and soon Dusty was gone and Jim Herd was in as the head man in WCW.

With all this turmoil ongoing, Tully called JJ and told him the WWF needed an office man like Dillon to help Vince and Pat Patterson book and organize talent.

Dillon goes into why and how he decided to write his autobiography. He was over 50 when he had 3 of his kids, so he wanted a way to show his kids all the travels and adventures he went through.

JJ goes over the various Hall of Fames he has been inducted into and what a thrill being in the WWE Hall of Fame is, considering this was his home promotion when he was a kid.

Jim Crockett Jr. is praised for having the guts to try and expand his business. You have to spend money to make money.

The Crockett’s were very loyal to their talent and their office staff. Dillon thinks different office staff MIGHT have helped JCP stay afloat longer than what actually occurred.

Dillon had no issues with Dusty’s booking. Rhodes and JJ worked together in the ring and in the office for many years and never had heat with each other, despite rumors to the contrary.

JJ finishes by putting Jim Crockett Jr. over once again. He owes Jimmy a lot.

Final thoughts:

Dillon’s passion for the business shines through each word he speaks. A knowledgeable and engaging subject, Dillon shares his 40 years of wrestling experience with the listener and has the credibility to make us trust his world views. This was certainly a welcome edition to “The Crockett Diaries”.

If your interested in further reading on JJ, I covered his career in another shoot here:

http://culturecrossfire.com/wrestling/kayfabe-lies-and-alibis-jj-dillon/#.VBXEDhaGf_k