Bill Apter

1. How did you get involved in the whole wrestling reporting business?

I was a fan since I was about five years. Moving very fast forward, in 1970 after graduating from broadcasting school a few years prior to that year, I had purchased time on a New York radio station in order to air an interview program I had done in the school and wanted to continue. I did remote interviews with celebrities when they would come to a local theater near my home. Being a wrestling fan, I pursued getting a press ticket to a show in Queens, New York at Sunnyside Garden. After being approved I interviewed Bruno Sammartino, The Mongols with manager Tony Angelo, Victor Rivera, Manuel Soto, and a few of the other wrestlers and aired the segments. They received a great reaction at the station (WHBI--105.9 FM) so I kept asking for credentials and worked my way to shows at Madison Square Garden, interviewing wrestlers backstage and with a $10 camera taking photos. It was at that point where I first met Vince McMahon Sr. He was fine with me giving his wrestlers publicity on the radio. Shortly afterwards I sent a transcript of my Mongols/Tony Angelo interview to the editor of Wrestling Revue, Lew Eskin and he published it (early 1970). Next I sent a few transcripts along with some photos to Stanley Weston who was the owner/publisher of The Wrestler/Inside Wrestling. Within a few days Mr. Weston contacted me and asked if we could setup a meeting as he was looking for someone to help take some of the workload off of him (he was also the owner/publisher of boxing magazines). I hate to use a cliche' but the rest is history. Thirty-three years later I'm still around the wrestling magazine business, now Senior editor of Total Wrestling magazine.

2. How do you manage to stay objective?

It's very difficult as I am personal friends with so many of the wrestlers and business people. I try my best and sometimes I don't succeed!

3. For a long time you were a mainstay at PWI. PWI was (and still is) primarily known as a publication that didn't break kayfabe. As the Internet began to grow, fans started (for better or for worse) to become a little "smarter" about the actual wrestling business. Do you think PWI's continuing to stay focused on the storylines and angles, and not break kayfabe, helped or hurt them in any way?

I think their sales figures tell them what works best for them. If their formula continues to work, why fool with it. A good chef rarely changes his best recipes as sometimes even a slight change in taste will chase a customer away. Most folks don't like change when they make a habit purchasing a a certain product. Stick with what works best for you and who your target buyers are and you can't go wrong.

4. You left PWI and became heavily involved in WOW magazine. What was your involvement with that magazine and what led to it's demise?

Actually I guess you could say I was the booker. I scheduled what stories should go into the magazine, edited features and columns, did much of the photography, and had a great staff of editors and art talent working with me. WOW was my magazine breakout into the world of "smart" writing. The magazine's demise was caused by financial problems the mother company had experienced. Although WOW was still a red-hot item, many of the other publications, mainly teen-based music magazines, were not making money. Their flagship publication that the company was initially successful with -- Beanie Baby magazine had hit hard times as the Beanie Baby market was rapidly losing steam. I hate when I hear people say "WOW magazine went out of business because the entire wrestling business was losing money." That's just not true. The problem was with the publishing company, not the wrestling business.

5. You've seen a lot in the wrestling business. If you had to choose just 3, what three angles stand out most in your mind?

What a tough question. Off the top of my head here are three from three different eras: Bruno Sammartino-Larry Zbyszko ... Magnum T.A.-Nikita Koloff "best of seven" match series ... Hogan-The Rock.

6. What has been your most embarrassing moment in the business?

In the late 70's I was going through some serious marital problems. One day I had flown to Atlanta from my home in New York to present Tommy Rich with an award on TV. That same morning and my wife and I had decided, as I was leaving for the airport, that it was over between us. Needless to say when my mind was not on what I was supposed to do on nationwide TV (on Ted Turner's WTBS-Superstation). When I got on the set and broadcaster Gordon Solie introduced me, I froze. Had he asked me my name I probably wouldn't have remembered me. All I can recall is mumbling "yes" to every question he asked me. Tommy Rich came out to accept the award and tried to tickle me (jolting me with his fingers into my back, not visible to the viewers) hoping I would come out of my fear (if you have ever seen the old TV show Honeymooners episode "Chef of the Future" I was exactly like Jackie Gleason's Ralph Kramden character in that particular show. All I could say was "humma hummma humma" and "yes" to everything.) Five minutes on camera seemed like an eternity. When the cameras were off, Gordon said "you've been on TV a million times and this has never happened -- what happened." I told him the story about my wife and I and he said "You could have begged off." But that never crossed my mind. Backstage Ole Anderson, who was running the TV, couldn't believe what had just transpired either. It was months before he would ever let me appear on his TV again!

7. OK. Everyone has heard stories and rumors. Can you set us straight? What exactly was the PWI title (or whatever it was called) and what wrestlers did you defend it against up in your offices? How did this whole thing come about?

It wasn't the PWI title -- it was the C.O.W title. C.O.W. stands for "Championship Office Wrestling." I "defended" it against RVD, Tazz, Jimmy Snuka, Dan Severn (my toughest opponent) and dozens of others at PWI, WOW, and even at Total Wrestling in the UK. I always have the belt in the trunk of my car, and I take it on all my trips just in case an office challenge comes up and I have to defend the COW belt! Actually the belt started out as a cardboard belt and now I have a genuine belt that Reggie Parks, the world's best belt-maker, gave to me. It's got the COW logo on it along with my 'rasslin' name -- Wonderful Willie.

8. You are now Senior Editor for Total Wrestling Magazine. How did your involvement with this magazine come about? How does this magazine differ from the other ones on the newsstands today?

After the demise of WOW, Highbury House, one of the UK's leading publishing companies, (they had published WOW in England), decided they would start their own brand of wrestling magazine. With me not being employed for the first time in over 30 years, I made contact with publisher Steve May at Highbury and we began discussions regarding a new magazine and the final result of those discussions eventually led to Total Wrestling magazine.

9. How long has Total Wrestling been in existence and what influenced the decision to bring it to the states?

Total will be celebrating the first year anniversary in August (we are a monthly publication). We'll be in the US (Barnes & Noble/B. Dalton/Hastings, and many indy dealers as well as the Chapters chain in Canada). The reason for the US distribution basically is that we've got what I think a top product and we feel the fans will really enjoy the unique style our writers and photographers bring to the business of pro wrestling. We've got regular monthly material from me, Steve Ganfield, Steve Anderson, Vince Russo, Jim Varsallone, and many other well-known magazine personalities.

10. Where do you see yourself and Total Wrestling in 5 years?

Hmmmm .. I'll be 63 years old ... Total Wrestling will be 6 years old. I guess Apter, Steve May, Steve Ganfield, and company will just keep taking care of the baby (I hope)!

When using any of this information give proper credit to Cactusb and the Wrestling Clothesline at http://www.wrestlingclothesline.com

Questions? Comments? Results? Wrestling Related items? Send them to us here. If we use them on the page you will be given full credit for supplying us with it!