Virgil on being trained by Afa Anoai, how hard Yokozuna's bonzi drop felt, using real money to throw to audience
Whether you knew him as Soul Train Jones in AWA, Virgil in the WWF/E, Vincent in the nWo while in WCW, or reprising his role as Soul Train Jones in AEW, Virgil has spent over 35 years in the professional wrestling/sports entertainment industry.
In part one of Virgil's interview, Virgil discusses what it was like being trained by Afa Anoai, how it felt taking the Bonzi Drop from Yokozuna, joining the World Wrestling Federation.
SK: I know you were trained by Afa Anaoi, of the famous Anaoi family.
Virgil: Oh yeah. Afa was great. The man who put the action on me was Sika because he spoke very little English. Oh, yes, man. Sika used to give me those clotheslines. I almost had no voice.
When I broke in, it was me, Rodney Anoai, you might know him as Yokozuna, and Alofa, you may know him as Rikishi. We all broke in together. We broke in Allentown, Pennsylvania.
SK: You had a match with Yokozuna actually at SummerSlam. What was it like taking the Bonzai Drop?
Virgil: He could hit that Bonzai so good. It was like a feather is laying on your chest. That's how good he is. He could move like a rattlesnake, but this rattlesnake weighed 500 pounds.
SK: In summer of 1987, you debut as Virgil with The Million Dollar Man Ted Dibiase. What was it like to make your way to the WWF?
Virgil: In 1987, with Ted, we went all around the world doing all kinds of videos. We were dogging people all around the world and show that everyone has a price.
SK: There were times during the Million Dollar Man's entrance, you and Million Dollar Man would throw money at the audience. Was that real money? Were those real $100 bills?
Virgil: That was 100% real money, man. I had to go to Vince McMahon to get $20,000 in $100 bills. Actually, I believe I got it from Gorilla Monsoon. We'd throw these $100 bills to all the people. They wanted that money. They wanted that paper.
Check out the full interview in the video above.