By Rikki Lee Travolta
I’ve had a number of nicknames bestowed on me over the years – some by friends, some by the media. I think my personal favorite moniker I’ve ever been called is “The Hot Pink, Black Leather Fantasy.”
It is of course complementary, but there is also an element of poking fun that in some ways I am stuck in a bygone era. There are people who upon first meeting you will automatically associate with the 1960s. They have that hippie vibe that is purely of that era. Well, I emote that same kind of association with the 1980s and 90s – when hot pink and black leather were all the rage.
Back then Bret “The Hitman” Hart was one of the faces of the wrestling world. There are only a handful of wrestlers to attain the heights of popularity and respect in the industry that Bret achieved. Hulk Hogan and Ric Flair were the first big names of globally popular wrestling. Macho Man Randy Savage and Sting belong in the conversation too. And then there’s Bret – who showed that a man who is confident in himself can wear hot pink spandex and a black leather jacket and still be cool and macho.
To little kids, professional wrestlers are like living breathing comic book superheroes. They’re big and muscular and they wear crazy costumes. The superhero essence is further amplified in the clear divisions of good guys and bad guys – or babyfaces and heels as they are known amongst the wrestling community.
As a kid, I was fascinated by the World Wrestling Federation or WWF (now known as the WWE – or World Wrestling Entertainment). I got sucked into the testosterone-powered fantasy world because of Hulk Hogan and Mr. T.
The whole world loved Hulk Hogan. He was the champion of positive messages like encouraging kids to take their vitamins and say their prayers. As far as the world was concerned, it was Hulkamania everywhere at all times.
Mr. T was the quintessential tough guy actor. He broke into the industry in “Rocky III” and then later starred in the TV series “The A-Team”. But in addition to acting, he was known to make special appearances with the WWF – like tag teaming with Hulk Hogan at the first Wrestlemania.
The torch of being the championship face of the company was passed among a few elite stars over time. Among them was Bret Hart – the best there is, the best there was, and the best there ever will be. And his colors were black and hot pink.
Bret was one of my favorite wrestlers in the 80s, and, like I noted, by 1992 he had become champion, taking the title from legend Ric Flair and starting his reign as the poster boy of the franchise.
Bret was a far different kind of champion than Hulk Hogan. Hogan was all about being loud, animated, and over exaggerated. He was popular first and foremost as a character, with his actual in-ring wrestling talent being rather secondary.
Like other greats such as Macho Man Randy Savage, Bret came from a wrestling family. As such, Bret was a master technical wrestler. He could dissect an opponent like an engineer laying out blueprints. He was the king of precision.
After a glorious career in WWE and WCW, Bret eventually retired from the ring to focus on other interests. One of those interests is acting.
Bret appeared as series regular Luther Root on “Lonesome Dove: The Series”. Other television appearances included “Honey I Shrunk the Kids – The TV Show”, “Sound”, “The Immortal”, and “The Adventures of Sinbad”. He also has done voiceover work for “Jacob Two-Two” and “The Simpsons”. His stage work includes playing the Genie in “Aladdin”, while his film work includes “The Demented” and “Stalker”.
I come up with a lot of concepts for television series and films. Some have been produced, some are in the process of being developed, and some are happy memories of what could have been.
One series I worked on was called “Champion of the People” about a professional wrestler who is elected mayor of a small town. The fish-out-of-water idea came about from former wrestler Jesse “The Body” Ventura being elected governor of Minnesota. This was before wrestler turned actor Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson decided to create a television show about his wrestling character running for president of the United States. (I did love his show “Young Rock” though).
When we started developing the “Champion of the People” we talked to Jesse’s people to make sure he was okay with our concept. He had long since left office and had no problem with the concept and wished us well. Adding Jesse as a producer was even discussed, but he was focused on serious issues in the world as manifested in the shows “Conspiracy Theory with Jesse Ventura” and “Off the Grid”.
“Champion of the People” was stylized after “Spin City” in which Michael J. Fox played the deputy mayor of New York, who had to keep the city running despite the constant snafus of the actual mayor. The mayor was played by the legendary star Barry Bostwick who you’ll remember as Brad in the cult classic film “The Rocky Horror Picture Show” and who was the original Danny Zuko in “Grease” on Broadway.
For “Champion of the People” the wrestler-turned-mayor wasn’t so much incompetent as marching to the beat of his own drummer and not inclined to follow the rules. Similar to “Spin City”, this leaves the mayor’s chief of staff to plug the holes in the damn and keep all the gears turning. Also like in “Spin City”, there was a small pool of quirky mayoral staff contributing to the mayhem.
The mayor, of course, had to have a fabulous wrestling name, and I had the perfect one: Adonis Truth. Talk about a name that screams wrestling champion.
As a writer, I’ve always leaned more towards stylish monikers for the characters I create. I’m just not a fan of common names, jokingly referring to them at times as “insurance salesman names.” I have nothing against them for other people’s purposes, but for my characters I lean towards flashy and unique. I guess I was influenced by my sister’s soap operas. Those shows always had wonderfully stylish names.
For the role of Adonis Truth we knew we needed a recognizable name. And that name almost had to come from the wrestling world. (The only non-wrestler we talked to for the role was bodybuilder turned actor Lou Ferrigno of “The Incredible Hulk” fame).
Bret Hart was my personal first choice to play Adonis Truth. Not only was he a former wrestler, he was one of the greatest champions of all time. And, he had already taken the steps to prove he could act.
Much to my delight, Bret loved the concept and the pilot script. He signed on immediately. I knew with Bret playing Adonis, if we surrounded him with the right supporting cast, we’d have a good shot at a hit show.
Bret was always a joy to talk to. He was so incredibly nice and professional. We always strive to use the most talented people for our projects, it is extra rewarding when they turn out to be amazing people as well. Bret Hart is such a person. I would work with him again in a second.
One of the things that Bret insisted on was that we always treated the wrestling world with respect. We could have fun with it, of course. Afterall, this was a situation comedy. But the comedy could never be mean or demeaning of the industry. There was never any intention of disrespecting wrestlers or wrestling, so this was never an issue.
The biggest key to the cast was the role of the mayor’s chief of staff. The equivalent of Michael J. Fox’s character on “Spin City”, the chief of staff was the actual one carrying the bulk of the show. We were looking for a good actor with a recognizable name. Since the role parodies Michael J. Fox to a certain degree, we also were looking for someone on the shorter side who was known for looking young for his age. Corey Feldman came to mind.
Corey was a former child star who first achieved fame in classics like “The Goonies”, “Stand By Me”, and “The Lost Boys”. He’d gone on to have a notable career in teen-focused comedies, often collaborating with Corey Haim. He won three Young Artist Awards for his work in “Stand By Me”, “The Lost Boys” and “License to Drive”.
As an adult, Corey had not received the opportunities he should have. He made occasional television appearances, such as on “Sliders”, “The Crow: Stairway to Heaven”, “Greg the Bunny”, and “Psych.” But the role that he gained the most praise for was playing Michael Douglas in the Off-Broadway play “Fatal Attraction: A Geek Tragedy”, which was a parody of the 1987 film “Fatal Attraction”.
I have always thought Corey to be a very talented but underappreciated actor. I was convinced that if I paired him with Bret in “Champion of the People” we could create something special. We reached out to Corey, and after a few months of back and forth with his manager, he was attached to play chief of staff Pharoah Creed, who sarcastically claims his parents burdened him with such an obscure name “because Apollo Creed was already taken.”
There were two other key characters in the mayor’s office. They included Bridgette Sinclair, a drop dead gorgeous but incredibly unqualified press secretary, and Sky Baxter, a slickster government affairs manager who is always looking out for himself and his future career opportunities.
Bridgette was a fun character. She would always use words she had no idea the meaning of, and inevitably would use them in ridiculously wrong ways.
Sky was a character that we created for me to play. Before I ever became a writer and a producer, I was an actor. In fact, many of my early writing projects were specifically to write roles I could play to advance my career. So, it made sense to write a role for myself.
There were also two reporters in the series: Andrea Gitlin from Channel 9 News and Scoot Fletcher, a wrestling blogger. We saw Andrea as a potential love interest for Adonis down the line and Scoot was just a riot of a character. He was a fish-out-of-water himself. You don’t see mamy wrestling bloggers who still live in their mother’s basement in the the political press corps.
Everything was proceeding beautifully with “Champion of the People”, until misfortune struck and one of our core cast members had a serious illness strike their family leaving their availability in question. Sometimes when that happens a replacement can be transitioned in seamlessly. Other times it brings the project to a screeching halt. Sadly, that was the case with this show and Adonis, Pharoah, Bridgette, and Sky had to be put out to pasture.
Later there was movement revisiting the show with Dustin Diamond as the chief of staff and Tommy “Tiny” Lister as Adonis Truth. Dustin had played Screech on the series “Saved by the Bell” and Tiny had portrayed the wrestling character Zeus in the WWE. However, that cast pairing didn’t attract the same interest as a Bret Hart and Corey Feldman pairing.
Ironically, a few years later Bret and Corey ended up doing a film together: “Tales from the Dead Zone”. As you can imagine from the title, this was not a reimagining of “Champion of the People”. It’s a horror film from writer/director Barry J. Gillis about a medical examiner who lives out fantasties of unspeakable horrors. I believe it is still in post-production awaiting release, but you can find out information at www.TalesFromTheDeadZone.com.
I for one would love to see these two talented performers finally on screen together – even if it isn’t as Adonis Truth and Pharaoh Creed. So, I hope “Tales from the Dead Zone” gets released and is a huge success.
And, when it comes to “Champion of the People”, who knows what the future holds? Maybe we’ll revisit it. I mean, it’s still an excellent premise for a show. And with Zac Efron and Jeremy Allen White’s “The Iron Claw” film dominating the headlines, wrestling is a hot topic for entertainment projects. With so many streaming channels looking for content, maybe there is a future life for “Champion of the People”.
Bret Hart will always be remembered as one of the greatest to ever get in the squared circle. He will always be one of my heroes and inspirations. Not only did he fuel my pro-wrestling fascination as a child, in many ways he is responsible for me becoming “The Hot Pink, Black Leather Fantasy” I am today.
For additional information on WWE Hall of Famer Bret “The Hitman” Hart visit www.BretHart.com. The best there is. The best there was. The best there ever will be.
To little kids, professional wrestlers are like living breathing comic book superheroes. They’re big and muscular and they wear crazy costumes. The superhero essence is further amplified in the clear divisions of good guys and bad guys – or babyfaces and heels as they are known amongst the wrestling community.
As a kid, I was fascinated by the World Wrestling Federation or WWF (now known as the WWE – or World Wrestling Entertainment). I got sucked into the testosterone-powered fantasy world because of Hulk Hogan and Mr. T.
The whole world loved Hulk Hogan. He was the champion of positive messages like encouraging kids to take their vitamins and say their prayers. As far as the world was concerned, it was Hulkamania everywhere at all times.
Mr. T was the quintessential tough guy actor. He broke into the industry in “Rocky III” and then later starred in the TV series “The A-Team”. But in addition to acting, he was known to make special appearances with the WWF – like tag teaming with Hulk Hogan at the first Wrestlemania.
The torch of being the championship face of the company was passed among a few elite stars over time. Among them was Bret Hart – the best there is, the best there was, and the best there ever will be. And his colors were black and hot pink.
Bret was one of my favorite wrestlers in the 80s, and, like I noted, by 1992 he had become champion, taking the title from legend Ric Flair and starting his reign as the poster boy of the franchise.
Bret was a far different kind of champion than Hulk Hogan. Hogan was all about being loud, animated, and over exaggerated. He was popular first and foremost as a character, with his actual in-ring wrestling talent being rather secondary.
Like other greats such as Macho Man Randy Savage, Bret came from a wrestling family. As such, Bret was a master technical wrestler. He could dissect an opponent like an engineer laying out blueprints. He was the king of precision.
After a glorious career in WWE and WCW, Bret eventually retired from the ring to focus on other interests. One of those interests is acting.
Bret appeared as series regular Luther Root on “Lonesome Dove: The Series”. Other television appearances included “Honey I Shrunk the Kids – The TV Show”, “Sound”, “The Immortal”, and “The Adventures of Sinbad”. He also has done voiceover work for “Jacob Two-Two” and “The Simpsons”. His stage work includes playing the Genie in “Aladdin”, while his film work includes “The Demented” and “Stalker”.
I come up with a lot of concepts for television series and films. Some have been produced, some are in the process of being developed, and some are happy memories of what could have been.
One series I worked on was called “Champion of the People” about a professional wrestler who is elected mayor of a small town. The fish-out-of-water idea came about from former wrestler Jesse “The Body” Ventura being elected governor of Minnesota. This was before wrestler turned actor Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson decided to create a television show about his wrestling character running for president of the United States. (I did love his show “Young Rock” though).
When we started developing the “Champion of the People” we talked to Jesse’s people to make sure he was okay with our concept. He had long since left office and had no problem with the concept and wished us well. Adding Jesse as a producer was even discussed, but he was focused on serious issues in the world as manifested in the shows “Conspiracy Theory with Jesse Ventura” and “Off the Grid”.
“Champion of the People” was stylized after “Spin City” in which Michael J. Fox played the deputy mayor of New York, who had to keep the city running despite the constant snafus of the actual mayor. The mayor was played by the legendary star Barry Bostwick who you’ll remember as Brad in the cult classic film “The Rocky Horror Picture Show” and who was the original Danny Zuko in “Grease” on Broadway.
For “Champion of the People” the wrestler-turned-mayor wasn’t so much incompetent as marching to the beat of his own drummer and not inclined to follow the rules. Similar to “Spin City”, this leaves the mayor’s chief of staff to plug the holes in the damn and keep all the gears turning. Also like in “Spin City”, there was a small pool of quirky mayoral staff contributing to the mayhem.
The mayor, of course, had to have a fabulous wrestling name, and I had the perfect one: Adonis Truth. Talk about a name that screams wrestling champion.
As a writer, I’ve always leaned more towards stylish monikers for the characters I create. I’m just not a fan of common names, jokingly referring to them at times as “insurance salesman names.” I have nothing against them for other people’s purposes, but for my characters I lean towards flashy and unique. I guess I was influenced by my sister’s soap operas. Those shows always had wonderfully stylish names.
For the role of Adonis Truth we knew we needed a recognizable name. And that name almost had to come from the wrestling world. (The only non-wrestler we talked to for the role was bodybuilder turned actor Lou Ferrigno of “The Incredible Hulk” fame).
Bret Hart was my personal first choice to play Adonis Truth. Not only was he a former wrestler, he was one of the greatest champions of all time. And, he had already taken the steps to prove he could act.
Much to my delight, Bret loved the concept and the pilot script. He signed on immediately. I knew with Bret playing Adonis, if we surrounded him with the right supporting cast, we’d have a good shot at a hit show.
Bret was always a joy to talk to. He was so incredibly nice and professional. We always strive to use the most talented people for our projects, it is extra rewarding when they turn out to be amazing people as well. Bret Hart is such a person. I would work with him again in a second.
One of the things that Bret insisted on was that we always treated the wrestling world with respect. We could have fun with it, of course. Afterall, this was a situation comedy. But the comedy could never be mean or demeaning of the industry. There was never any intention of disrespecting wrestlers or wrestling, so this was never an issue.
The biggest key to the cast was the role of the mayor’s chief of staff. The equivalent of Michael J. Fox’s character on “Spin City”, the chief of staff was the actual one carrying the bulk of the show. We were looking for a good actor with a recognizable name. Since the role parodies Michael J. Fox to a certain degree, we also were looking for someone on the shorter side who was known for looking young for his age. Corey Feldman came to mind.
Corey was a former child star who first achieved fame in classics like “The Goonies”, “Stand By Me”, and “The Lost Boys”. He’d gone on to have a notable career in teen-focused comedies, often collaborating with Corey Haim. He won three Young Artist Awards for his work in “Stand By Me”, “The Lost Boys” and “License to Drive”.
As an adult, Corey had not received the opportunities he should have. He made occasional television appearances, such as on “Sliders”, “The Crow: Stairway to Heaven”, “Greg the Bunny”, and “Psych.” But the role that he gained the most praise for was playing Michael Douglas in the Off-Broadway play “Fatal Attraction: A Geek Tragedy”, which was a parody of the 1987 film “Fatal Attraction”.
I have always thought Corey to be a very talented but underappreciated actor. I was convinced that if I paired him with Bret in “Champion of the People” we could create something special. We reached out to Corey, and after a few months of back and forth with his manager, he was attached to play chief of staff Pharoah Creed, who sarcastically claims his parents burdened him with such an obscure name “because Apollo Creed was already taken.”
There were two other key characters in the mayor’s office. They included Bridgette Sinclair, a drop dead gorgeous but incredibly unqualified press secretary, and Sky Baxter, a slickster government affairs manager who is always looking out for himself and his future career opportunities.
Bridgette was a fun character. She would always use words she had no idea the meaning of, and inevitably would use them in ridiculously wrong ways.
Sky was a character that we created for me to play. Before I ever became a writer and a producer, I was an actor. In fact, many of my early writing projects were specifically to write roles I could play to advance my career. So, it made sense to write a role for myself.
There were also two reporters in the series: Andrea Gitlin from Channel 9 News and Scoot Fletcher, a wrestling blogger. We saw Andrea as a potential love interest for Adonis down the line and Scoot was just a riot of a character. He was a fish-out-of-water himself. You don’t see mamy wrestling bloggers who still live in their mother’s basement in the the political press corps.
Everything was proceeding beautifully with “Champion of the People”, until misfortune struck and one of our core cast members had a serious illness strike their family leaving their availability in question. Sometimes when that happens a replacement can be transitioned in seamlessly. Other times it brings the project to a screeching halt. Sadly, that was the case with this show and Adonis, Pharoah, Bridgette, and Sky had to be put out to pasture.
Later there was movement revisiting the show with Dustin Diamond as the chief of staff and Tommy “Tiny” Lister as Adonis Truth. Dustin had played Screech on the series “Saved by the Bell” and Tiny had portrayed the wrestling character Zeus in the WWE. However, that cast pairing didn’t attract the same interest as a Bret Hart and Corey Feldman pairing.
Ironically, a few years later Bret and Corey ended up doing a film together: “Tales from the Dead Zone”. As you can imagine from the title, this was not a reimagining of “Champion of the People”. It’s a horror film from writer/director Barry J. Gillis about a medical examiner who lives out fantasties of unspeakable horrors. I believe it is still in post-production awaiting release, but you can find out information at www.TalesFromTheDeadZone.com.
I for one would love to see these two talented performers finally on screen together – even if it isn’t as Adonis Truth and Pharaoh Creed. So, I hope “Tales from the Dead Zone” gets released and is a huge success.
And, when it comes to “Champion of the People”, who knows what the future holds? Maybe we’ll revisit it. I mean, it’s still an excellent premise for a show. And with Zac Efron and Jeremy Allen White’s “The Iron Claw” film dominating the headlines, wrestling is a hot topic for entertainment projects. With so many streaming channels looking for content, maybe there is a future life for “Champion of the People”.
Bret Hart will always be remembered as one of the greatest to ever get in the squared circle. He will always be one of my heroes and inspirations. Not only did he fuel my pro-wrestling fascination as a child, in many ways he is responsible for me becoming “The Hot Pink, Black Leather Fantasy” I am today.
For additional information on WWE Hall of Famer Bret “The Hitman” Hart visit www.BretHart.com. The best there is. The best there was. The best there ever will be.
