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I was the class clown, you know, that kind of thing, and I gathered around me a group of guys who also were silly. I was in all the plays and everything. But I don't know, at that time show businesses looked like the moon, you know, it was so far away. I wanted to be a radio announcer.
When I was a kid, I had ambitions for being a television announcer, which was before television took off, you know, in the late '40s. And just through necessity, going out looking for work, I was starting to sing, and dance, and act, and I never expected to do that, nor to have any success at it at least.
I did, of course, eventually find my way into television, taking all kinds of jobs, climbing the ranks rung by rung. Anyway, it was several years later, when I was working nationally in Hollywood as the announcer and second banana on ABC-TV's late-night entry, 'The Joey Bishop Show,' that I had my big moment.
Actually, a person asked me if I was ever going to come back to WWE. I told them that if I came back, it probably wouldn't be as WWE Superstar, because the young guys are really what it's all about. Bringing me back as an announcer is a great position for me to actually go out and make the young guys bigger stars.
When I was 15, I fought a guy who was 26 and he was 20-0, undefeated. It was a way for my dad to show me that I was better than I thought. I ended up beating the brakes off this 26-year-old guy. After the fight, the announcer asked my opponent how it felt. He answered, 'I wonder why I stepped in the ring with that boy.'
Many times, I would be on live television and have no idea what the next match is, and I'd have no clue who was coming out next. The last person to know is always the announcer, and it's always your fault if you make a mistake - even if you didn't know. I was always on top of everything and never said the wrong name or the wrong town.