Back before Vince McMahon completely ruined it, I was a huge professional wrestling fan when I was a kid. During the winter and spring, they used to have National Wrestling Alliance wrestling shows every couple of weeks at what was then called Kiel Auditorium (now the Enterprise Center) and I was almost always there.
Greatest place to watch pro wrestling ever.
I knew it was fake. But I always found it interesting that a great many people who also knew that pretended that it wasn't. The sports sections of the St. Louis papers would run the results and they'd also have an occasional feature on some wrestler or other. There's still a whole section of the Missouri state legal code that deals with how pro wrestling events are to be conducted.
And there was, of course, a local wrestling TV show. In St. Louis, it was called "Wrestling at the Chase" since it was filmed at the Chase Park Plaza Hotel. Since it was free, I went down there for it once. Interesting experience.
They usually filmed four of these at a time (since it was the end of the season, they only filmed three when I was there). After every show, the people sitting in the first row had to shift to the stands to their left. Which, of course, meant that if you sat two or three rows back, you could get your face on television for three or four weeks straight.
Anyway, one of the wrestlers there that day was Harley Race. At some point, I yelled something insulting or other at him whereupon he did something that no athlete had ever done before or has ever done since.
He yelled something insulting back at me.
I don't know what Race yelled. But I do know that from that moment on, Harley Race instantly became my favorite pro wrestler of all time and nobody else was even close. He was never roided up like one of McMahon's stable. He was a just a regular guy. Gave me at least the impression that I might actually get in the ring myself some day.
Rest in peace, champ.
Greatest place to watch pro wrestling ever.
I knew it was fake. But I always found it interesting that a great many people who also knew that pretended that it wasn't. The sports sections of the St. Louis papers would run the results and they'd also have an occasional feature on some wrestler or other. There's still a whole section of the Missouri state legal code that deals with how pro wrestling events are to be conducted.
And there was, of course, a local wrestling TV show. In St. Louis, it was called "Wrestling at the Chase" since it was filmed at the Chase Park Plaza Hotel. Since it was free, I went down there for it once. Interesting experience.
They usually filmed four of these at a time (since it was the end of the season, they only filmed three when I was there). After every show, the people sitting in the first row had to shift to the stands to their left. Which, of course, meant that if you sat two or three rows back, you could get your face on television for three or four weeks straight.
Anyway, one of the wrestlers there that day was Harley Race. At some point, I yelled something insulting or other at him whereupon he did something that no athlete had ever done before or has ever done since.
He yelled something insulting back at me.
I don't know what Race yelled. But I do know that from that moment on, Harley Race instantly became my favorite pro wrestler of all time and nobody else was even close. He was never roided up like one of McMahon's stable. He was a just a regular guy. Gave me at least the impression that I might actually get in the ring myself some day.
Rest in peace, champ.
4 comments:
I've never quite understood why wrestling matches are pantomimes and those of other sports are not (except when corruption is present).
I once saw a documentary on pro wrestling that basically declared that pro wrestling was a farce since day one but everyone just decided to pretend that it wasn't.
And I was okay with that. Kind of nice to have a sport you can just let yourself have some fun with. I like not getting too serious about games.
Not sure. I do no that in early television, the fare commonly ran to wrestling and roller derby. Someone once said of roller derby "They say roller derby is a sport; defenestration is a sport for those who like it". They were still broadcasting it on weekend afternoons in my area, ca. 1971.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s4FJgZblqU0
I remember the Roller Derby. Saw it once or twice when it came through town. Good times.
Midwest Pioneers, baby!
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