I was looking for a job in my particular field when my cousin who works in the movie industry said she could get me work as a production assistant on a movie for a couple of months. Well that would give me something to add to my resume and kill a couple of months so I went.
I met one of the producers and he was surprised to have a 40 year old guy want the job because usually it was inexperienced kids fresh out of college. But he said he was grateful because he had a particular assignment that suited me. I discovered I would be the production assistant for one of the stars of the film Oprah Winfrey.
It seems the younger set so wanted to impress Oprah in hopes they might get to work for her they didn't pay attention to the rest of the job. But since I wasn't aspiring to climb the entertainment ladder I wouldn't have the same issues. Truth of the matter is I never really watched her show, I've seen her act and I know she's a media giant but not a big fan.
So the first day I was introduced to Oprah and after telling her about myself and telling her I thought I understood the task at hand she told me she thought I'd do fine. For the next few days I made sure of her schedule, got her the revised script pages for the day, let her know when she was needed on set and drove her around the set in golf cart. Oh to be in pictures.
The second week we were on location and staying in a hotel, I was assigned a car so after getting the days schedule from the production staff, driving Oprah from the hotel to the location shoot started my day. After driving her back to the hotel I usually didn't have any responsibilities with her.
On the third day driving back to the hotel Oprah asked if I was busy that evening, I mentioned that some of the crew was meeting at the pool and that was about all I had planned. She asked if I could stop by her suite on my way to the pool. I didn't see that as any problem.
I got there about 7:30 and Oprah invited me in and offered me a drink, which I declined as I figured to wait until after swimming. She was wearing sweat pants and an oversized t-shirt and I had on swim trunks and a Hawaiian shirt. That's when she hits me with the oddest question I could have imagined, "Do you wrestle Jimmy?"
After a few seconds to process that one I said, "Not since high school gym class I don't think."
That didn't phase Oprah who said, "Well that's OK you look like you can handle yourself. Why don't you move that loveseat, chair and table to give us some room."
I know this wasn't in the job description but here's Oprah ready to go to the mats with me. A younger man might have simply fled the room but I actually thought, this could be an adventure. So I moved the furniture and turned to see Oprah had removed her sweats and shirt and was wearing a lycra bodysuit that clung to and accentuated every curve and roll of her wide thick body.
As I removed my shirt it dawned on me that this is actually happening. I'm 40 years old 6 feet tall and 190 pounds and I'm looking at Oprah who is about 20 years older, about 5-6 tall and I'm guessing like 240 pounds because I sure as shit ain't going to be asking her. She's wearing knee pads and is putting on a headband to contain her massive afro.
She then laid out the rules, best of 3 falls, shoulders down 3 count pin or submission, nothing dirty, no punching, just a friendly competitive match. Well as crazy as the situation seemed I wasn't fleeing the room so it was game on.
We circled slowly, I was trying to formulate a plan of attack against a heavier, wider opponent who I had no idea of her skill level at this. Whatever plan I had I reached out as did Oprah and I made a quick move to avoid her and was able to get behind her trapping her left arm in a half nelson and getting my right arm around her waist.
Well we were going at it and at least I was doing something. Oprah countered by thrusting her big butt back at me and bending forward. I took her lead with her bent facing the floor I eased forward ending up off the floor on her back. Oprah has some damn thick legs and was able to hold on a few seconds before staggering a bit and slowly dropping to her knees on the floor.
I seized the opportunity to slip my right arm under hers and lock her down in a full nelson as Oprah was face down flat on the floor as I layed on top of her. With her arms locked up Oprah could only struggle but was unable to counter me in any way. And we did that for a couple of minutes as I didn't think she would submit quite yet while I pondered my next move.
Due to the lycra suit Oprah had on and her struggling under me the next move came in the form of my sweaty body slipping off of her. I slid onto my hip, maintaining the full nelson and Oprah sort of rolled with me ending up likewise on her side between my legs. With one leg under my opponent I wasted no time swinging my other leg over and scissored Oprah's waist locking my ankles in front of her stomach.
Oprah let out a groan, not from any great pain my double hold inflicted but she knew she was in an inescapable position. Rather than quickly ask if she wanted to submit I decided to just hold where I was for and let her see what she did. After a minute or so Oprah began to churn her legs and try to push us around the floor to no avail then after another minute or so I quietly said, "Do you want to concede the fall?"
