"Not a lot of people know that story" - WWE Veteran shares a tale about Ernie Ladd [Exclusive]
WWE veteran Dutch Mantell (aka Zeb Colter) recently shared a story about WWE Hall of Famer Ernie Ladd.
In the latest episode of Sportskeeda Wrestling's Smack Talk, Mantell spoke about his time with Ladd in Florida. He stated that the latter had a contract dispute with a Florida promotion so he decided to quit.
He added that Ladd had asked them not to film his matches as he was going to put people over on his way out, to which they agreed but filmed anyway.
"So, he gave them notice, and on the way out we were both in Jacksonville and Ernie used to like to fly. We got there and he had a match that night with Rocky Johnson. So he got into his match with Rocky and in the first three or four minutes, he looked up at the camera and saw the red light blinking. He walked out of the ring, into the dressing room, looked at me and said, 'Pack up your bags. Let's go. I'm done, let's go.' He had only been gone for like five minutes so I was waiting for him but he saw the (camera) light, so he walked out," Dutch Mantell said.
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Mantell revealed that Jack and Jerry Brisco owned a part of the Florida territory and were furious when they learned about the incident. He further stated that they yelled at Ladd over the phone when he got home. It led to the WWE Hall of Famer asking to meet them at the office to calm things down.
The former WWE Superstar revealed that things then turned physical
The former WWE manager stated that the Briscoes were in a foul mood and cussed at Ladd when he met them, which led to a tense situation. He went on to describe how the WWE legend knocked them out.
"He's 6'10'' and they are wrestlers, not fighters, so one leg-dabbed him and one came from the back and when he came up to hit the guy that leg-dabbed him, he hit one to the guy at the back, boom, knocked him out, then he went down on the one who had his legs and knocked him out. Now, they are both down bleeding and all that, now he (Ernie) freaks out and goes, 'If the cops come by, I go to jail' and all that so threw them both in the trunk of his car, closed the lid and drove down to an ER, dumped them out and drove off. The next day he narrated the story and said, 'I can't imagine the police stopping me, a six foot eleven black guy driving around with two white guys in his trunk, bleeding.' Not a lot of people know that story but it's true," Mantell said.
Mantell revealed that Ladd narrated the entire story the next day and that it was not known to many people.
You can watch the entire episode of Smack Talk below:
If any quotes are used from this article please give a H/T to Sportskeeda Wrestling for the transcription and embed the Smack Talk YouTube video.