Cloverleaf Radio's host "The Host with the Most" Jimmy Falcon welcomes back his old friend, Former WWF Superstar, AWA Superstar, Actor, Promoter, and Trainer, "Big" Bill Anderson!
Biography via Wikipedia:
William Laster (born November 12, 1956) is an American professional wrestler and trainer better known by his ring name Billy Anderson best known for working in California and Arizona, the World Wrestling Federation from 1983 to 1993, American Wrestling Association, and Japanese and Mexican promotions during the 1980s and early 1990s.
Anderson made his professional wrestling debut in 1974 against Buddy Rose in Tucson, Arizona. In 1982, Anderson became the very last NWA "Beat the Champ" Television Champion when he defeated Killer Kim in Los Angeles.
Anderson made his debut in the World Wrestling Federation (WWF) in 1983. He would spend many years with the WWF as an enhancement talent, performing whenever they were in Los Angeles or Phoenix. He would work against Adrian Adonis, Bret Hart, Randy Savage, Jake Roberts, Harley Race, One Man Gang, and Tito Santana.
In 1986, Anderson worked in Mexico and became the very first WWA World Heavyweight Champion defeating Tinieblas. He dropped the title to Tinieblas in January 1987.
From 1986 to 1988 Anderson worked for the American Wrestling Association, performing whenever they appeared in Las Vegas. In 1988, he became the promoter for Western States Wrestling Association, a position he retained until 1991.
In November 1988, Anderson became the masked Black Knight in the WWF. During this time he also refereed matches and served as the ring announcer for Los Angeles shows. He left the WWF in 1991.
In 1990, he jointed Herb Abrams's Universal Wrestling Federation (Herb Abrams), retaining his Black Knight persona. He left in 1991.
In 1991, he traveled to Tijuana, Mexico with Tim Patterson and his student Louie Spicolli, with whom he formed a stable known as "Los Mercenarios Americanos" ("The American Mercenaries"). They were a trio of masked villains who feuded with Los Villanos (Villano I, Villano III, Villano IV and Villano V). The Mercenarios were forced to unmask in July 1991.
Then in late 1991, the Los Mercenarios Americanos made their debut in Japan for Frontier Martial-Arts Wrestling. They disbanded in 1992. In 1992, he worked as Star Man.
In January 1993, Anderson returned to World Wrestling Federation as the masked White Shadow. His last match in the WWF was a lost to Kamala (wrestler) on April 6, 1993 for WWF Wrestling Challenge which aired on April 25.
In 1994, he worked for the Las Vegas-based promotion National Wrestling Conference. He retired from wrestling in 1996 and became the promoter for Empire Wrestling Federation in San Bernardino, California.
After wrestling, Anderson trained many wrestlers at a school in California. He trained The Ultimate Warrior, Sting, Cheerleader Melissa, Louie Spicolli, Rocky Romero, Candice LeRae, TJ Perkins, Frankie Kazarian Steve DiSalvo, Angel of Death, Keiji Sakoda, Tom Howard (wrestler), Cincinnati Red, Tim Patterson, Doug Anderson (father of Cheerleader Melissa), and many others. His school would shut down in 2001.
Check it out!!
Stuff You Should Know
If you've ever wanted to know about champagne, satanism, the Stonewall Uprising, chaos theory, LSD, El Nino, true crime and Rosa Parks, then look no further. Josh and Chuck have you covered.
Dateline NBC
Current and classic episodes, featuring compelling true-crime mysteries, powerful documentaries and in-depth investigations. Follow now to get the latest episodes of Dateline NBC completely free, or subscribe to Dateline Premium for ad-free listening and exclusive bonus content: DatelinePremium.com
CrimeLess: Hillbilly Heist
It’s 1996 in rural North Carolina, and an oddball crew makes history when they pull off America’s third largest cash heist. But it’s all downhill from there. Join host Johnny Knoxville as he unspools a wild and woolly tale about a group of regular ‘ol folks who risked it all for a chance at a better life. CrimeLess: Hillbilly Heist answers the question: what would you do with 17.3 million dollars? The answer includes diamond rings, mansions, velvet Elvis paintings, plus a run for the border, murder-for-hire-plots, and FBI busts.