00:00The passing of Ted Turner. What can you say about this maverick? Unbelievable. Owner of the Atlanta Hawks, owner of
00:09the Atlanta Braves, the startup of CNN, the Cartoon Network, Owning Turner's movies, all of that.
00:19This guy was a maverick. He started the first superstation with TBS. Then a second one would start in Chicago.
00:27That would be WGN. This guy created cable television.
00:32When I was a kid, you had the major networks and you had to have your parents get the clothes
00:38hanger, put it on the back of the TV and move it around so you could get the old UHF
00:43channels.
00:43This guy created cable. This guy created all things that we see today, especially CNN. Now, I had a relationship
00:53with Ted Turner. I actually worked for him.
00:56He owned WCW and he loved wrestling. And I got a chance to go to Peachtree where they held the
01:03offices there with Turner.
01:05And you walk in, Cowboy Bob Orton hired me after I got done playing professional ball. And there was Ted
01:12Turner sitting there going, I love wrestling.
01:15When you walked in, you got a chance to meet him. He was so accessible. And he was able to
01:21talk to everybody and put a hand out for all.
01:24This guy was a maverick. Make no mistake about it. The stuff you see today on television is all due
01:32to this guy.
01:33Nobody has done more. I'll tell you, you put him in the same category as William Randolph Hearst.
01:39Back in the day, Randolph Hearst owned all the newspapers, created media.
01:44This is basically what Ted Turner did today. CNN started network television when it came to covering wars, 24-7
01:53news coverage.
01:54You see Fox News. You see CNN news. These were all started because of this guy's mind and the way
02:01that he went about creating television.
02:03He created programming. It was incredible. And the relationship that he had with people in the building was insane.
02:11Like I said, I had a chance to meet him. I had a chance to have a small relationship with
02:16him.
02:17And anytime we ever wanted an interview with him, Ted Turner was always there.
02:23He was always there and accessible to have that interview because he wanted to touch as many palms as possible.
02:30He was a guy that was without a doubt one of the most interesting people I've ever met in my
02:35life.
02:35I'm a massive wrestling fan. Rick Fair talks about him all the time on what kind of relationship he had
02:41with all the wrestlers.
02:42I was very early into the business and Turner brought me into his office and it was insane.
02:48There I am with Cowboy Bob Orton and everyone talking wrestling with Ted Turner.
02:54Rest in peace, my friend.
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