It wasn’t by mistake that General Hugh G. Rection was put in charge of this band of rejects. As a matter of fact, he was specifically hand chosen by ME. Bill DeMott was in my view everything that a wrestler should be. He was class, man, he came to play every day and never said a word. He was thankful. Thankful for the opportunity. Bill DeMott was a TEAM PLAYER. There was absolutely no politician in this guy. None. Which is one of the reasons why he was so buried beneath the pack when I arrived. Bill DeMott ALWAYS worked hurt, ALWAYS. He never sold anything, not even when I clearly knew that he was in no condition to compete that night.
It’s called work ethic.
Not knowing his wrestling roots, there was one thing that was certain to me – whoever trained the young Bill DeMott trained him the RIGHT WAY. Trained him with honor, dignity and respect, many traits that wrestlers who I worked with over the years lacked. But, it was more than that. Bill DeMott was trained to be a survivor in a business that will chew you up and spit you out without even thinking twice about it. Bill DeMott was not only trained to be a wrestlers, he was also schooled on how to be a man.
I have no idea what happened at the WWE training facility, and many of us never will, however I do know this – whatever Bill DeMott’s training methods were, he employed them because he thought they were “right”. He employed them because back in the “old school”, perhaps he was trained the same way. It’s quite possible that Bill DeMott was only training the way that he “knew”, the way that the art of wrestling was passed down to him.
Look, there are no sides here, that’s not what this is about. This is about a very respectable man not having a job today, not having a way to support his family. Opportunities come few and far between in wrestling, especially when you’ve been accused of the things that Bill has as a trainer. And, you know what, that sucks. It sucks for Bill, and it sucks for his family.
Maybe it all could have been handled a different way. I’m sure it could have, but, regardless, and, as they say in wrestling, “it is what it is”. But, nevertheless, I owed this column to Bill DeMott. He always treated me with the utmost respect and I just wanted to return that favor to him. So, thank you, Bill, this former writer will never forget what you brought to me, and to the arena of professional wrestling. Hold your head high, my friend, you are respected by more than you know.
