Exclusive: Bill Apter Talks New Book, Benoit Murder-Suicide Theory, Being Misquoted, WWE’s Media Relationship, more (Audio)

The following is an exclusive interview granted to WrestleZone Radio with legendary pro wrestling journalist and the author of the new book Is Wrestling Fixed? I Didn’t Know It Was Broken!, Bill Apter. In this exclusive interview Bill is interviewed by WrestleZone Daily’s Nick Hausman.

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You can find the full audio of the interview and transcribed quotes below. We have also included videos that Bill references in his interview. Enjoy!

On how he came up with the title of his book Is Wrestling Fixed? I Didn’t Know It Was Broken!:

BA: You know where the title came from? Probably in the late seventies I was shooting a match between Abdullah the Butcher and Mr. Wrestling #2. After the match this kid came over to me and said, “(Southern Accent) I seen the wrastler bleed too because Abdullah cut him with a knife.” And he said, “Mr. Apter, I read your magazines and is wrastlin’ fixed?” And out of my mouth came out, “You know, I didn’t know it was broken.” His Dad who was standing next to him said, “(Southern Accent) That’s right, you can’t fix something that ain’t broken.” When ECW Press and Greg Oliver, who is the wonderful Editor for this book, I had never written a book I was a rookie at this. He helped polish and shine the whole package here. When we were trying to come up with a headline people were coming up with, you know, “Bill Apter: My Career In Wrestling.” All I could think was, “Boring!” So, I wanted a catchphrase. I didn’t know what it was. So, I remembered that and they loved it right away! Last week, depending on when you’re listening to this, which would be the third of October, at Legends of the Ring in New Jersey. I did a Q&A in front of about 75 people. I walked in the back of the room, turned, faced forward and looked at all of them and said, “I’m Bill Apter and before I start, I have a question for all of you, ‘Is wrestling fixed?'” In unison they all went, “I didn’t know it was broken!” Come on.

On working with the WWE after all these years:

BA: A lot of people don’t know that a year ago they flew me down to do a pilot show at Full Sail. Kind of something that would be in the vain of Inside The Actor’s Studio. That type of thing with me interviewing legends. I did fifteen minutes with Dusty, fifteen minutes with Larry Zybszko, with Renee Young as the other person with me and then fifteen minutes with Terry Taylor. It’s still there in Network land as a pilot show and whether it will get picked up or not I have no idea. Just the fact that Triple H, who is an old school guy in a new school world, appreciates the history and was able to mix it with what Vince McMahon wants as well. The fact that he got in touch with me and reached out to me and asked me to host this pilot show was the most amazing thing of my career to date.

On reported comments he made on Talk Is Jericho about how Chris Benoit and his family may have been the victims of a “mob-styled hit” (Note: WZ never reported this but I am clarifying other reports I had seen on-line):

BA: You see? That’s it. Misquoted. I never said that. I never used the word, “mob.” It’s wrong. I said it might have been a, “hit,” but I never said, “mob hit.” This is just a theory and there’s no validity to it. This is just me. About a week or two before the incidents happened I was on AOL and an IM popped up from Chris and one from Nancy as well. Chris had his son Daniel on his lap and he said, “Oh, Daniel says hello.” Then he asks me why am I not working for the company. He says, “You want me to throw your name around to Vince or whatever?” I said, “Sure. Why not?” So, here’s my theory: He was enamored with his son, Daniel. Ok? Husbands and wives sometimes kill each other. You read about it in the newspaper everyday, right? Husbands and wives sometimes kill each other. What doesn’t make sense to me was him allegedly murdering his young son. I can’t see him doing that as well as I knew him and how we always used to talk about his son. So, what I said was what I think might have happened. I don’t know. Is that he got in to some kind of trouble and when he got home his wife and son were already dead. By however it happened. And if someone puts a hit on you and they may want it to look like you did it. If it’s a professional type of hit and it can probably be done. I don’t know. I don’t know but that’s my theory. Again, husbands and wives kill each other sometimes but not the boy. That kid is the part that makes no sense to me. People say, “Oh, well he had the traumatic brain injury,” and all that. I understand that, I get it, I know it but I don’t think he would have murdered his son. That’s the one thing that is always in the back of my mind. 

On possibly being inducted in to a “media wing” of the WWE Hall of Fame alongside other pro wrestling journalists like Dave Meltzer:

BA: I think George Napolitano belongs in there too. I don’t know if they’d put Dave in there because back in the day, you know, Dave was “the enemy.” He wrote everything that they did not want out. 

You can find the full audio from the interview by clicking HERE or listening in the embedded player at the top of the page.

In the full interview Bill chats candidly with Nick about never retiring, being the Editor-And-Chief of 1Wrestling.com, being an on-air personality for the WWE, why he decided to write his first book, rapping, whether he is the “OG” of pro wrestling journalism, Triple H’s influence in bringing him in to the WWE fold, whether he likes to interview wrestlers in character, his theory on what could have happened in the Benoit murder-suicide incident, his friendship with Andy Kaufman, being inducted in to the St. Louis Pro Wrestling Hall of Fame, possibly being inducted in to the WWE Hall of Fame, the difference between him and Dave Meltzer, his love of karaoke, more

Here are some videos to co-inside with Bill’s first appearance on WrestleZone Radio: