Anybody here remember the old movie Smokey & The Bandit with Burt Reynolds? If so, you might remember that Bandit actually ran cover for a trucker named “Snowman” who was played by a guy named Jerry Reed.
Now Jerry Reed was somewhat of a celebrity in his own right in the early to mid 70’s. Reed was a song writer who penned such classic country tunes as “When You’re Hot, You’re Hot”, “Eastbound and Down”, and the tender love ballad “She Got the Gold Mine, I Got the Shaft.” He also wrote a little song named “Amos Moses”.
Now if you’re wondering what all this has to do with professional wrestling, I am proposing right here that Vince McMahon came up with the idea for a character by listening to Reed’s song. Don’t believe me? Listen to this clip, and tell me if you think it bears any resemblance to a former WWF Superstar.
Not enough proof? Then let’s analyze a profile on Skinner that was in WWF Magazine (courtesy of SpaceH0G34@aol.com) against the song Mr. Reed sang all those years ago:
|
| ||||
| Born and Raised in Florida Everglades | Born and Raised in Louisiana Swamp | ||||
| Currently Lives in Swamp | Currently Lives in Swamp | ||||
| As a boy, he would venture into swamp for days until he had an alligator hide | As a boy, his father would throw him in the swamp as alligator bait | ||||
| Would stay in the swamps for weeks, defending himself against wild boars, panthers and bears (BEARS?!). | Would fight alligators with one hand; apparently, he came out on the wrong end of a fight with one once. | ||||
| Goal was to lure WWF wrestlers into the ring and skin them alive. | Goal was to lure police officers into the swamp and not let them come out alive. |
So what does all this teach us? Well, I’m not really sure, but I think we can all agree on one thing:
Jerry Reed ROCKS!