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Dirty White Boy Tony Anthony Shoot Interview (2012) 11/24/12

In this entertaining 2012 shoot interview hosted by longtime rival and friend Dr. Tom Prichard, Tony Anthony reflects on a career that made him one of the most recognizable stars of Southern wrestling. Best known as “The Dirty White Boy,” Anthony discusses his rise through Memphis, Continental Wrestling, Central States, the USWA, and Smoky Mountain Wrestling, where he became one of the region’s top heels and most reliable box-office attractions. He shares stories from his legendary feuds with Tom Prichard, Tracy Smothers, Bob Armstrong, Brian Lee, Jerry Lawler, and The Rock ‘n’ Roll Express, while discussing life in the territory system and the challenges wrestlers faced traveling from town to town.

Anthony also looks back on his memorable run in WWE as the ill-fated T.L. Hopper, revealing how the infamous plumber gimmick was created, his reaction to the character, and whether he felt the gimmick was doomed from the start. He discusses working for Vince McMahon, his expectations upon arriving in WWE, frustrations over his lack of push, and his eventual departure from the company. Throughout the interview, Anthony offers candid opinions on Vince McMahon, Jim Cornette, Smoky Mountain Wrestling, the decline of the territory era, and the many colorful personalities he encountered during a career that spanned wrestling’s last great territorial generation.