Former WWE star Tony Atlas recalls being homeless and says Vince McMahon giving him the Saba Simba role saved his life

Right After Wrestling with Tony Atlas
Hosts: Arda Ocal and Jimmy Korderas
Available at TheScore.com or at Itunes.

"In the early '80s, I went to LA. It was my decision to get involved in drugs which screwed me up at the beginning of my career. I became homeless in 1989. This lady saw me sleeping in the park in Maine, didn't know who I was. I had been homeless for a year and half.  I slept on the park bench. That day, it was 22 below zero and she invited me into her home.

"When Vince tried to get a hold of me, he didn’t know how to reach me. Vince didn’t know how to get a hold of me so a policeman told me he had a number of someone who wanted to reach me so I called Vince and he told me about the idea of bringing me back as Saba Simba. Before I went homeless I was 280 pounds. When she found me, I was 190 pounds and when I went back to Vince I was 240 pounds. Saba Simba saved my life."

Other Topics

- His book “Atlas: Too Much Too Soon”, where the name of the book comes from and stories within the book.

- Talking openly about his foot fetish, racism/sexism in wrestling, rules and locker room etiquette then vs. now.

- Jimmy recollects about Tony Atlas always being cheerful in the locker room and never being upset, and Tony explains why.

- Talking about making $1500 in his first week in wrestling, and $75,000 his first year.