411’s Dark Side of The Ring Report: “Sensational Sherri”

-This is episode eight of the season, which means we are nearing the end. I am intrigued by this one as Sherri was always great in the roles she was given in the WWE and her pairing with Randy Savage where they tried to out crazy each other was fantastic. Sherri was also out there working as hard as the men in the ring and I only appreciated that as I got older and would watch the matches where she was a manager. Her Hall of Fame induction was also fantastic as you could tell she enjoyed having that moment in front of the crowd again. Let’s get to it!

-Chris Jericho is still our narrator!

-Jim Cornette calls her the only great female manager of the modern times in our cold open.

-We start at WrestleMania IX with Luna Vachon attacking Sherri and slamming her on the floor. We hear a phone call where someone asks Sherri how much of that is fake while the footage is of Sherri working as a wrestler in the ring. Sherri tells the man she has a job that wears her body out and that is not fake. She sits in the hospitals and that’s not fake. James Cornette says that the guys liked working with Sherri because she was all in and that Sherri was the first person he ever managed. They were thrown together in 1982 when he was just starting and she was still a rookie. They bonded because “she was greener than goose shit, and I was worse.” Fantastic! She wasn’t the over-the-top personality yet and nobody knew how great she would become.

-Kathy Fitzpatrick is next and she is Sherri’s best friend. She says Sherri was a Diva before there were Divas. She was a bad ass in the ring and a sweetheart out of it. Sherri grew up in a fatherless home and her mom would take her to wrestling shows in Mississippi. Sherri (from an old sit-down interview) says she always wanted to travel and do something different than everyone else.

-Jake “The Snake” Roberts says he met Sherri in 1974 when she was 17 and was sitting in front rows at shows in Mid-South. Jake was a referee at the time and says he and Sherri were on and off again for about 4-5 years. He says Sherri was beautiful and a kick your ass kind of girl. He doesn’t say he was in love with her, but he was in love with something. How did I never hear about Sherri and Jake being together in my life until now? He says they both wanted something that seemed so far out in reality as they never thought they would get to the big show. Sherri wanted to be a wrestling star from the jump.

-Cornette notes there was no wrestling training like today and you just had to hang around long enough until someone took interest. The first one that did was Grizzly Smith (Jake’s father) though he told her she was too young to wrestle at 16 and needed to come back when she was 21.

-Sherri was working regular jobs in New Orleans and met Leroy Gonzales, who ended up becoming her then husband and now ex-husband. Some great pictures of a very young Sherri. Leroy says they met in June of 1976 when he was working in a restaurant and Sherri was complaining about a roach in the booth. He jokes he wished he was the roach in the booth with her, so she invited him to have a drink at a club she worked across the street. She was a dancer and he notes that she swept him off his feet. She wanted to get out of that business, so they he bought a trailer, and they moved in together. They got married and he brings up that she would party with friends. He lists all the drugs she would take when out with them and it led to many heated discussions. Sherri wanted a family and they had a son, Jarred in July of 1978. “You wanted a child and you got one. It’s time to put your big girl pants on and take care of the child.” Sherri couldn’t take it and told Leroy she was leaving to pursue a career in wrestling. He laughed at her, but Sherri left when the baby was three months old. Oh man! Kathy says it bothered Sherri, but sometimes you have to do what you have to do. I don’t judge people for decisions they feel is best, but it would cripple me to leave either of my boys when they were that young (or any age) like that.

-Sherri moved to Memphis and was still doing work as an exotic dancer while looking for her wrestling break. Cornette notes there were outlaw wrestlers around major wrestling cities and Sherri met Butch Moore. She told him she wanted to learn to wrestle, so he slapped the living hell out of her, and she responded with, “is that all you got?” Cornette: “There you go. Outlaw Wrestler. What the fuck is that? I would have been interested to see if she slapped him back and if he could handle it.” Sherri says she was going to succeed in this and put in a year and went back to Grizzly. She threw her license at him, said she was twenty-one and ready as she had a son and was divorced. Grizzly asked her why she wanted to do it, and she said it was the career she wanted.

-Rockin Robin (Jake’s sister) is here and notes she defeated Sherri for the Women’s WWF Title. She would hang out with the girls to make them feel welcome and notes her dad, Grizzly, had a thing for younger girls. Oh boy! Here is my recap of the episode detailing Grizzly Smith and his children from a few years back. That one was brutal to watch! Jake: “He was a no good son of a bitch.” He notes Sherri was a little old for his dad’s wheelhouse. Damn!

-Cornette notes that Grizzly told Sherri she needed to go to Moolah for more training and work with her group. Cornette gives a run down of Moolah’s school and how it was military like and Moolah got a kick back of the bookings. There were curfews and Sherri liked her night life, so Moolah asked her to leave. That may have been a blessing for Sherri! Cornette says that let Sherri get over on her own merits.

-Leroy was trying to get Sherri to come home and hired an investigator to follow her. He says three guys walked up on him and told him to leave Sherri alone “as she belonged to us.” He took that to mean she belonged to the wrestling business, so he left her alone after that.

-Commercials!

-Sherri spent time in Japan and Mid-South and then found more success in the mid 80s with The AWA. Verne Gagne didn’t have a relationship with Moolah which was good for Sherri as he would book people outside of Moolah’s group. Sherri was physical and could dish out and take with the best of them. Madusa is next and she notes she looked up to Sherri a lot and tried to emulate what she did. She remembers talking to Sherri about her son and how at the time it was frowned upon for women wrestlers to be pregnant or have children.

-Jarred Gonzales, Sherri’s son, is here and he calls his mother a legend. We get subtitles as his speech is not the best. He is not in the best of health and says it’s not easy. Kathy thinks he has cancer, though he has never come out and told her. He lost part of his tongue due to cancer. He sounds like a man that loves his mother. We see him showing off pictures as he notes he was always taken care of and she made sure of it. “In a way, she made the best decision for me.”

-Leroy says that Jarred was three years old when they told him who his mother was. His earliest memory of her was a magazine that was published in Japan. They made arrangements for her to meet him for a week, and she sent him back after two days. He tells the producer he is still angry about it.

-Madusa says it took a toll on women as they pushed the envelope to prove a point. They took the idea of doing what they were told and do your job in hopes you would get elevated.

-Jesse Ventura jumped to WWF and put in good words to Vince McMahon for Sherri. She was brought into the company and was put in a feud with Moolah for the Women’s Title. Moolah was in her 50s and a change needed made, so they put the Title on Sherri. Cornette notes that as a wrestler that was the peak of her career.

-Robin was put in a dark match with Sherri and soon she was part of the roster and they worked each other every night of the week with people like Hulk Hogan on top. Jake notes that Sherri was probably working harder than she needed to. Leroy says he never liked wrestling as it took Sherri away, but that was her choice.

-Jake notes that Sherri was emotionally wrecked, but didn’t let anyone know. She was focused on working hard and getting validation from the boys. Cornette says that Sherri was one of the boys and that was a compliment. Robin: “She could have drank or snorted them under the table.” Madusa says that Sherri loved her pot and when mixed with alcohol and cocaine, she isn’t sure how they were able to go every night. She notes that Sherri was never late for a match.

-Robin tells the story of an outdoor show and Sherri seemed out of it and looking past her. She hit her with a stiff kick to the throat and Robin thought she was going to die in the ring.

-Commercials!

-Back with Robin struggling to breath. She was able to regain her breath and once over, Sherri gave Robin the biggest hug because she knew it was bad. Robin: “She liked pot, which was no big deal.” It was a problem when it was mixed with other substances.

-We jump ahead as Cornette notes Vince was never fully behind a women’s division, so he stopped it. He had Sherri though and wanted to make her a manager with some of his top stars. “You can be the Women’s World Champion and make, ehh or you can be the manager for a Main Event Male Star in the WWF and make a fortune.”

-Eric Bischoff puts over what everyone saw in Sherri: a very gifted, athletic, physical woman that was very attractive, the camera loved, and there wasn’t a microphone she couldn’t own. Cornette notes Sherri would tweak her appearance to match who she was managing while also making sure she was still Sherri. Bischoff notes Sherri had a ridiculous impact on the business as we see her with Randy Savage. Leroy says he didn’t know she was going to be able to do it that well. “As time went on she became very famous.”

-We see her on Arsenio Hall as Leroy notes Jarred would fly out to be with her and meet the wrestlers. He says he grew up on the road with her and calls his mom a legend again. She wasn’t the everyday mom, but that’s how legends were made.

-Cornette talks about how Sherri was different than any other female manager at that time. That leads to discussion of Miss Elizabeth and as I will say again, all of my wrestling friends in elementary school in the 80s had the biggest crush on Elizabeth. Just a stunningly beautiful woman! Cornette talks about Liz, and then later, Sunny, and Sable and how they weren’t trained wrestlers, but Sherri was. We see Sherri taking crazy bumps as Madusa notes that a woman’s frame is a little less. Jake is sure she took meds to deal with her pain.

-Jarred says if he ever opened his mouth and told everyone what he saw, he would not have been allowed to go back to see her. He isn’t sure if he ever saw his mom sober. Oh man!

-Sherri says she found ways to get through as Cornette talks about the increased use of Somas. Madusa says it was like candy and was readily available. There would be doctors writing scripts and that leads to WWF instituting a drug testing program. Cornette says it started because of the steroid scandal and they also tested for street drugs. Sherri failed a number of times for marijuana. Sherri says she was called to the office with Vince, Prichard, and JJ Dillon. They informed her she failed another test and they had to let her go. She said there was no point in yelling and screaming as she knew she messed up. Cornette says back then nobody was sent to rehab and instead you were just fired.

-Commercials!

-Sherri is fired in 1993 and ends up with Jim Cornette back in Smokey Mountain Wrestling. He notes she was the same old Sherri and did a wonderful job. There was one night he could tell she was “on a cruise on Lake Have-A-Soma.” Kathy says Sherri had bad back pain and the Somas were for the pain and not to get high. Sherri says she could not see how destructive it was. She felt the drugs helped her perform and couldn’t see what everyone else saw.

-Sherri ends up in WCW as Eric says he never asked why she was no longer with WWF. He didn’t care as all he knew was that she was a great talent. We see Sherri with Harlem Heat as Cornette notes they looked great together and Sherri gave them instant credibility.

-Jarred says there are many times she held him, begging for forgiveness. He would tell her that she didn’t need to beg. Madusa says that Sherri seemed more lost and uncertain. Sherri says she could no longer handle things and Bischoff says he let her go because she could no longer perform on camera. She would show up on something, and he thinks it was prescription drugs, but it didn’t matter what it was. Madusa had no issue with Eric firing Sherri for her drug use, but says it should been done two fold on a handful of men in the company as well.

-After WCW there was no place to go as Sherri was in her 40s and younger women had come into the business. Jake had heard through the grapevine that Sherri was on Oxy and was now out of a job where there aren’t 20 wrestling companies out there. He puts over how great the run is that she had, but in their minds it is never enough.

-Commercials!

-Sherri marries her boyfriend, Robert Schrull. Robert had nothing to do with the wrestling business and that can be bad as they marry a celebrity and now Sherri was just a normal person. She didn’t handle that well as we continue to talk about the prescription drug use. Jarred says Robert was always trying to put a wedge between Sherri and the family. The last time he saw his mother was the night she was inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame. Oh, that’s sad he didn’t get more time with her than that.

-Hall of Fame 2006: Sherri becomes the second woman inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame. Kathy says it was Sherri’s time to shine and she spoke from the heart. We see her busting Bischoff’s balls, not realizing he is in the crowd at first. Jarred was happy that his mom was alive to be there and says it was the top of her career. We see Sherri shout-out her son, husband, and Kathy in her speech.

-Robin says that Sherri realized it wasn’t a great occasion as it was a bow on her career. She was looking forward to the next chapter and had news to share with Kathy, but didn’t want to jinx it. Kathy heard that the plan was for WWE to bring Sherri back, pay for the surgery to have her back fixed, and have her train the women. That would make sense assuming Sherri could stay clean. It may have helped her stay clean to be out of pain and have a purpose like that. Cornette knows she wanted to go back, but doesn’t know if the WWE was receptive.

-June 15, 2007: Sherri passes away at the age of 49. Jarred received the call that his mother had passed. Jake was told by her sister and he drove to Alabama to be there. He says he felt empty inside. Jarred: “She didn’t deserve to die the way she did.”

-Commercials!

-Next week it’s The Sandman! That should be a fascinating!

-Alabama police open an investigation as Jarred says Sherri collapsed in a rocking chair on the porch sitting next to her mom. It was ruled as an accidental overdose as we see the report. Her addiction struggles were on display at the funeral as Madusa says several people that showed up were coked out of their mind. One being Jake, who was leaning over the casket while mentally out of it. Jake says all he can remember is Stevie and Booker T being there. He was at his lowest and he was asked to speak. He said, “how dare you leave me behind.” He thought they would be friends to death and he honored her friendship and honored her. Kathy starts to cry as she talks about her friend and how she is still with her.

-Eric doesn’t know how you can talk about women in wrestling and not put Sherri at the top of the list. Cornette says he doesn’t think fans appreciated Sherri as much as they should. Everyone in the business had a high opinion of Sherri and her talent.

-Jarred has letters that his mother wrote to him over the years. Leroy says the only thing he had against her was that she left. He says Jarred is special and he does what he can to keep him going. Jarred calls his dad a great provider. His mom and step-mom loved each other. “She couldn’t pick a better person to raise me.” He then asks the producer if he can have her come on camera with him. Oh man, I am getting teary eyed over this. Pat Gonzales, Jarred’s step-mom, stands beside him with tears in her eyes and says Jarred is her everything. “Sherri was my mother, but this was her tag team partner.” Oh man! Pat is crying as she says Sherri was awesome, and she just chose her career. “My mom, that’s all she knew and I don’t hate her for it at all.”

-Sherri: “I sacrificed so much of my life. My family time. I’d like to know the mistakes I made, people won’t remember me so much for those, but for the good that I tried to do. I hope people will look back and maybe learn something from my mistakes.”

-That ending got to me with Jarred talking about Sherri and bringing his step-mom on camera to talk about her as well. This was a great episode and I glad it shed more light on Sherri and what she meant to wrestling. This was obviously heart-breaking at times and I can understand the feelings of her ex-husband. As noted, I can’t judge Sherri for leaving behind her child as she felt she made the best decision and as Jarred noted it was likely the best decision for her as he ended up with a loving step-mom. The talking heads were all great as each added a lot to this. This was more a story of Sherri the person, so they didn’t go into great detail about her runs with Savage, Flair, and Harlem Heat but there was enough covered. It would have been interesting to see if Sherri could have turned things around had the WWE brought her back as a trainer, but that’s obviously hard to say. With two episodes to go this was one of my favorites of this season and one of the best of the entire series. Definitely check this one out and thanks for reading. Call your mother as well and tell her you love her!