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The WWF Debut of Jamison Winger is the stuff memories are made of. As James Guttman explains, Bobby Heenan had been granted his own 30 minute slot at the end of Prime Time Wrestling to present "The Bobby Heenan Show". The initial introduction of their first guest was made by Lord Alfred Hayes and set up Jamison as the "head air traffic controller at New York's LaGuardia Airport", not to mention a former NASA rocket scientist. However, when he appeared, the dorky Winger told the dumbfounded Brain that he must have gotten him confused with someone else as none of that was true. John DiGiacomo, the man behind the gimmick, explains to ClubWWI.com members that everything you saw in that debut was completely off-the-cuff and Heenan was genuinely as surprised as he appeared to be on TV.
"Everything I ever did with WWF was all improvisational. It was all ad-libbed. Bobby was a master and he made it easy for me. We kind of clicked right from the get-go. They brought me in, Vince (McMahon) did, totally unannounced to Bobby that Jamison wasn't this real guy. They told me they wanted me to come in in-character and interact with Bobby because they were looking for a co-host to the Bobby Heenan Show. From the minute we laid eyes on each other and started going after each other, it was a kind of magic."
JG points out that John didn't overdo his character. For example, when Heenan asked if Winger tied his own tie, he didn't play into and pretend that someone else did. He offered an indignant "yes", leaving Bobby somewhat speechless. John tells ClubWWI listeners that all this was done by design.
"I made that decision to stay with the character I created and it kind of worked. Bobby didn't know where to go, which was kind of fun because he was so good, it put him on the spot there. Believe me when I tell you, there was absolutely no prep with what questions were going to be asked. So I just kind of went in there and stumped him, not knowing where to go with the interview, and it worked. I think it went great. I laughed."
John speaks at length about being discovered by Vince McMahon and his time with the company. As Guttman points out, the character was ahead of its time by years since characters without set roles (managers, wrestlers, referees) weren't common back then, but common today. It helped get everyone else over, without having to worry about selling Jamison merchandise. He was there to work with others and it worked well. James then brings up how even other companies saw the potential. Case in point - the Global Wrestling Federation.
Shown on ESPN each day at 4pm EST, Guttman recalls how the group actually ripped off the Jamison gimmick completely. While Heenan had his dorky Jamison, the GWF's Gary Hart had "Sebastian". JG says he was hesitant to bring it up, since he didn't know if John had ever even heard of him. Turns out, as the ClubWWI.com interview continues, that John had…
"Yeah, I remember that. But for me, I didn't really take offense to it. I knew they weren't on a level with WWF. It was more flattering that they thought enough of Jamison that they thought it was a recipe for success. Listen, I wasn't even insulted when people thought Andy Kindler was Jamison. I had friends who took more offense to it and I think I even had friends who contacted Kindler's management to complain. If I remember correctly, someone did call him out for that…"
The Andy Kindler situation is addressed at length with DiGiacomo speaking about how much credit Kindler had been given, what Andy's management told John, the story of when James Guttman called Kindler's agent, and more. But, at the end of the day, it's not about credit. It's about doing what you love. John loves entertaining people and, after doing two autograph shows and being inducted into the New England Wrestling Hall of Fame, he's ready to do it again. DiGiacomo announces that he's taking serious inquiries for conventions and other appearances at Jamesonxwwf@gmail.com and hopes to meet many new fans.
This situation is different from the late 90s when Bobby Heenan jumped to WCW. As James asks, the setup of WCW seemed ripe for a Jamison Winger debut. After all, WCW loved pillaging former WWF talent and Heenan was already there. In a surprise, Jamison tells ClubWWI.com members that he was actually approached about debuting with World Championship Wrestling…but turned them down.
"They asked me. For me, it just wasn't feasible because they had studios in Atlanta, I believe. I just wasn't going to go down to Atlanta with everything else I had going on. I had started writing by then. I actually wrote a play that went off Broadway and felt I needed to stay close to New York to get that part of my career jumping."
Remember, this rare interview is just one of hundreds available on ClubWWI.com the moment you sign up. Since 2005, author James Guttman has presented tons of interviews on ClubWWI including other Prime Time Wrestling stars like Bobby Heenan, Jim Duggan, Slick, Hillbilly Jim, Sean Mooney, and more.
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