JJ Dillon recently spoke with ESPN and below are some interview highlights:
Working for Vince McMahon, Dusty Rhodes, and Eddie Graham:
“I see Vince as one thing, Eddie as one thing and Dusty as another. I always regard Eddie Graham as my mentor, and maybe that’s because he was regarded in the industry as a true genius because of his attention to details. For example, during manager cheating situations, Eddie would make sure the cheating happened in a logical way so that the people were mad at the heel for cheating, instead of being mad at the referee for not seeing the cheating. Dusty was a big idea guy. I was a detail person that gave attention to the other things that made the story the absolute best it could be. We were together for a long time because it was a successful collaboration with the two of us. Vince was different because a lot of the credit for the success of the WWE actually goes to Pat Patterson. Pat was one the true geniuses of the business that I was around. A lot of the success of the WWE, which has continued on to this day, was the result of Pat.”
Arn Anderson being the most underrated of the Four Horsemen:
“By all means. He was usually the first one out there and he went out and left everything in the ring. He would come back and [pass by without saying anything, as too] say ‘guys, try to follow that.’ And we would all go out there with the mindset that he set the bar for tonight and we’ve got to measure up to it and if possible try to exceed it.”
Mentality as a manager:
“My philosophy as a manager was always less is more. I wore a suit or dress clothes. I didn’t wear a flashy costume or cape. Jimmy Hart has his megaphone and Jim Cornette has his racket and I didn’t really have any props as such other than in my early days I carried a cigar that wasn’t lit. I remembered as a kid I used to see these guys from Little Italy riding around in convertibles and smoking a big cigar. The cigar was just a heat magnet, as somebody smoking a cigar like that meant they thought they were somebody special.”
Nick was born and raised in Detroit, Michigan, and lived there until the age of 18, when he decided to pack his flack jacket and move to New York City.
