SLAM! Wrestling Canadian Hall of Fame: Gil Hayes
|
|
Gil Hayes. Photo courtesy Toni Hayes.
|
REAL NAME: Gil Hayes
5'10" 247 pounds
Gil Hayes is a matter-of-fact kind of guy, a master of the
understatement in conversation, and a proud Albertan.
"I've seen countries around the world. Some impress you, some don't. I'm
just an Albertan that kind of likes where he is," Hayes to SLAM! Wrestling from
his Edmonton home.
During his seventeen-year wrestling career, 'Mrs. Hayes's bad boy,
Gilbert' travelled the world, and fought the best. He wasn't the biggest
of the wrestlers out there -- just 5'10" and 247 pounds -- but somehow
managed to keep up with the big boys. "I was a small man in a very big
man's business and I had to take my bumps and bruises not just because I
was a wrestler, but because I was a small guy in comparison with some of
the 300, 340 pounders."
And he always managed to connect with the fans. "You'd be in Drummheller
at two o'clock in the morning on your way to Saskatoon, and some drunk
would come up while you're eating your soup and lean on your table and
breathe in your face and ask for an autograph on a pack of cigarettes
and you know he's going to lose them in 10 minutes because he's drunk,"
recalled Hayes. "The everyday fan, they were ridiculous at times, but
they were always there. We always used to remember how we made our
money."
In a
1997 interview with SLAM! Wrestling,
Stu Hart described Gil Hayes
as "a pretty good performer ... Gil might have been a little bit
egotistical. He liked glory. He liked having his hand raised. Getting
recognition meant more to him maybe than anything else."
Hayes laughed at Hart's description.
"It was just Gil Hayes being Gil Hayes. I always felt that if people
came to see me, whether they came to see me get a s***-kicking, or see
me come out on top, either way they were coming to see me and the ones
that were coming to see me get a s***-kicking, when I got my hand
raised, I let them know what I thought of their attitude. Does that make
me egotistical? Or does that make me Gil Hayes?," he asked.
"I wouldn't and never have done anything to make anyone else's life
miserable just for the sake of doing it. And it pisses me off when
somebody does that because tact and diplomacy have never been my forte."
He began his wrestling career in 1966 after meeting
Gene Kiniski after a
wrestling show in Fort Francis, Ontario. Hayes had been a wrestling fan
since age ten. "Because professional wrestling was the first ever TV
program I saw, it was just something that I wanted to do," he explained.
Hayes began training in a local church basement, utilizing his wrestling
skills from high school, and the boxing techniques he learned outside of
school.
He had his first match at St. Boniface Club in Winnipeg in 1965 or 1966,
and spent two and a half years in Winnipeg before going to moving to
Calgary and Stampede Wrestling.
In every promotion that he wrestled in, he was just Gil Hayes. "I had a
vest when I left Winnipeg and I came to Calgary. I had a vest with a G
on it. Because my name was Gilbert, they just said 'just keep your
regular name if you want.' I thought it was just as easy."
Fans in Stampede took to Hayes, though not in a fan favourite kind of
way. "I just never cared what the audience thought of my wrestling
style," he said. "Sometimes you would come out of one dressing room,
when they filmed it, you would find it almost as nasty as coming out of
the other one. So it was always a toss up. I just did my own thing,
didn't want to be classified as a good guy or a bad guy."
Usually in interviews, he would credit his mother for his heelish
tendencies.
"When I first started and my mom found out that I was into it, and she
had been a very strong wrestling fan [for]
Don Leo Jonathan, Gene
Kiniski and all those guys," he said. "Because she had been a wrestling
fan, and she found out that I was into it, she said 'you've got to be
crazy to be doing this.' And because she couldn't talk me out of it, she
just said 'you'd better hit first and run like hell' like a mother
would. "
In Stampede, he was North American champion in 1973, beating
'Cowboy' Dan Kroffat and
losing it to Omar Atlas. He would also hold the tag titles on six different
occasions with five different partners (Bill Dromo, Bob Sweetan,
Tiger Joe Tomasso, Benny Ramirez, and Mr. Hito).
His favourite partner was Bob Sweetan. "When two people think along the
same lines, and you wrestle long enough with that individual, you get
along with him on the road, outside of the ring. But his talents in the
ring and the way he wrestles, whether he thinks or not, along with his
abilities add up to 'is this the partner that you click with?' With him,
he was just as willing to take as he was to give. And I always
classified him as someone my equal. He didn't have to make any excuses
for anything he did. Nor did I. And to me, that's how a tag team should
work."
Calgary was a base for Hayes to travel the world. He was one of the
first foreigners to really make it in Puerto Rico.
"I went there with stars in my eyes because it was Puerto Rico. It was
in the Caribbean. It was supposed to be this fantastic, tropic island,"
Hayes said. "I went there and I was never so disappointed with a people,
and more you can say a race of people, but I gave them the benefit of
the doubt. But it took me not very long to realize that they think
differently and a very volatile people. When I went there, because of my
'always the same attitude in the ring, I don't give a damn what you
think,' because I had bleached blond hair, not a bad physique, and had
somewhat of an arrogant nature, I felt myself to the point of having my
life threatened, being chased down the street by individuals with
knives. And then I found out that the promotion was very unsavoury."
The flipside for Hayes were Florida and Japan, his two favourite places
to wrestle.
"I loved Florida. Florida was an absolutely gorgeous spot," he said,
recalling days sitting around in an air conditioned room, drinking
cervaza Coronas all day long just to stay cool.
On the other side of the world was the Land of the Rising Sun. "Japan,
Japan, Japan, Japan, you can't say enough about Japan. Japan, the
promotion in Japan I thought was the greatest because they put the bare
minimum, whatever that would be, and I never have nor will I divulge
what I made. Only I wish I was making wrestlers nowadays are making. But
Japan would put the minimum on a contract, along with a round-trip
ticket in your pocket in your hand, and all transportation and hotels
paid, and the minimum was generous compared to what you'd make here.
They always kept their word. They believed in a person's ability rather
than how well they could ingratiate themselves with the promotion."
Hayes did six trips for the old International, promotion, and shared a
story than means a lot to him to this day.
"I'm three-quarters of the way around the world, and it happens to be my
birthday. And when we get to the arena, we are designated our dressing
rooms. And the referee, which is somewhat of an interpreter, he took me
off to the side and said to follow him. So I followed him underneath
this dungeon-like place, all the way around to the other side, which was
a half a mile, and we came into this area which was very dimly lit. And
then all at once, the lights came on and there were all the Japanese
wrestlers sitting around in their dressing room and they have this
birthday cake. And everyone of them began to sing Happy Birthday to me.
And I had no idea anything like this would ever happen, and it took me
completely by surprise and literally overwhelmed me. That far away from
home, and them finding out somehow that it was your birthday -- and they
don't even know what they are singing, but they sing Happy Birthday to
you. I thought that was pretty nice. So I have a whole lot of respect
for them."
On this side of the world, Hayes had the utmost respect for Archie 'The
Stomper' Gouldie, whom he considered a mentor of sorts. "Even though I
wrestled him, I really had to admire the individual," said Hayes.
The Stomper was all business, recalled Hayes. "He got into the ring, did
his thing, and when it was all over and done with, he was a family man.
He lived out of town and he'd talk about his dog (a Saint Bernard). ...
He got it as a pup, and he kept talking about this pup over and over,
and as it was growing and the things it was doing, I swear to God I knew
the dog."
Hayes retired from wrestling in 1981 while in Hawaii, with both knees
blown. "I quit four times before I finally got out of it," he said.
"It's in your blood. You can't manufacture something like this. It's
there, and you have no answer for it. You could leave your wife and kids
crying at the door but you've got to go do it because it's in your
blood."
By his own description he went through a couple of wives "one because I
was always on the road" and the second marriage ended "because I was no
longer in the spotlight" and off the road.
"A lot of times when you've crying in bed after a match, watching a
television show in a hotel room that's a 1,000 miles or 300 miles away
from home, you have icepacks, and you can't move. And you are expected
to wrestle in the next town the next night."
Yet, he offers without question in a soft voice that "it was something
that I'd do over again. I'd do it all again."
Since his retirement from wrestling, Hayes has worked for the City of
Edmonton in the streets department, and is now semi-retired from his
second career. He's also woodworker as a hobby, making old-style wooden
toys like trains and puzzles that are sold on consignment.
Hayes still finds himself stopping the remote on the WWF or WCW on
occasion, whistfully thinking 'been there, done that.'
He recently ran an angle with the resurgent Stampede Wrestling in
Edmonton, and will be refeering for the promotion on occasion "just to
keep my foot in the door."
It does beg the question, will we ever see Gil Hayes back in the ring?
Hayes laughed, and truthfully answered. "If you're looking at the size
of my ego, and the complete lack of common sense, given the opportunity,
I'd probably try it. But it could be disastrous, who knows!"
-- By GREG OLIVER, SLAM! Sports
Memories
Memories from a daughter of a wrestler:
From the time I could walk, I remember watching wrestling and watching
all the different people that came and went to watch the sport. Being a
daughter of a wrestler was not easy. Being in a different country at
times and being told that you have to flee the country for your life
while you have no idea where your dad is (meanwhile, he lays bleeding in
a friends apartment building) after being roughed up by some unruly
promoters. Not knowing who your real friends are.. A lot of kids wanted
to hang out with you only to get your dad's autograph and then to dump
ya.
I am not bitter at all. Ironically, it has made me a better person and
more compasionate. I am very close to my dad and my brother. I love them
with everything I have. We made it.. and we made it together. I am now
a single mom and a hunting and fishing guide. My dad has always told me
that nothing is impossible. I have two wonderful kids. .. I Love doing
something that is mainly considered a man's sport. I also am involved
with homecare and work with the elderly. I am also the animal control
officer in this area of Manitoba Canada. I have lots of animals on our
hobby farm. I am a first aid instructor.*giggle.. should have had this
as a kid.. *smile.
I guess I could write a book, but I don't regret any of it and I am a
very proud daughter.
Miss Toni Hayes, http://www.geocities.com/the_prarie_princess
I grew up on Stampede Wrestling and remember Gil as a tough scrapper.
One night he had already wrestled and was standing at the dressing room
entrance watching Abdullah the Butcher wrestle. Actually, Abdullah had
been ambushed by his opponent that night and was taking a terrific
beating. He was bleeding from the ears and I swear it must have been a
shoot as they were both going at it. As I hated Abdullah I was totally
pumped by what was happenning. Gil and another wrestler were getting
ready to intervene when I grabbed Gil by the arm and held him back. I
must have been nuts. Anyway, Gil gave me a dirty look, but I had
startled him and he didn't move. I can't remember how the match ended,
but I do remember the night I prevented a "run in".
John Campbell
