By James Caldwell, Torch assistant editor

The following is a transcript of 1980s WWF headliner Paul Orndorff, age 61, revealing his recent cancer diagnosis on the Wednesday, January 5 edition of the Busted Open satellite radio show. (Audio of Orndorff's interview can be heard at BustedOpen.net.)

Busted Open: "Thinking how great you were and where you're thought of in the lexicon of pro wrestlers, never to have won the WWF Title is shocking to me. Is that something that's bittersweet to you? Does that bother you when you look back at your career?"

Orndorff: "You know. (pause) I was a rebel. I'm proud and I'm not proud of that. I let my work do my talking. I wasn't a very good politician. I said what I thought; I did what I thought was right for me and my family. Were they the right thing? I don't know. Were they the wrong thing? I don't know. Am I rich? Hell no. I have cancer right now. I wish I had saved some of my money for my family, and things I've done, but I didn't make enough. And that's just the way it is."

Busted Open: "Paul, how are you doing right now? Are you in remission? Where are you at with the cancer?"

Orndorff: "I don't know. I'm going to doctors. They're doing things. I say that and I brought that up not for no sympathy 'cause I don't want it. I just found out. I'm sitting here telling you all this stuff and I wonder if I should have played the game. That's my reason for bringing that up. I don't know. But, I didn't."

Busted Open: "Part of the reason that you were Paul Orndorff, Mr. Wonderful, was because you were a rebel and you didn't play the game.

Orndorff: "Right."

Busted Open: "If you did do that, we probably wouldn't be talking to you right now."

Orndorff: "And...maybe this world wouldn't be in the shape it's in right now. Maybe we need more rebels."

-- Earlier in the interview, Orndorff said he appreciates his Pro Wrestling Hall of Fame induction over his WWE Hall of Fame induction. He said it's more prestigious to him because he was voted in by his peers and the WWE Hall of Fame vote-in was based on what only Vince McMahon thought of him.

-- Orndorff also covered other subjects in the interview, with seven-and-a-minutes of audio available on BustedOpen.net.

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