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Things Just Ain't The Way They Used To Be! |
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Remember when a bad guy wore a stripe down the sides of his tights so the audience could tell him from a pretty boy ... or he had a beard that was completely out of style for the day?… Remember when Angelo Poffo wore candy-striped trunks and had them covered with a pair of plain brown trunks and did a strip tease to reveal the under trunks, much to the dismay of the crowd?… Remember when long peroxide blonde hair was a dead giveaway to being a bad guy ... remember when music first brought the wrestlers to the ring?… Remember when loud mouth, fast talking, little guys like Leo Newman, J.C. Dykes or Red Berry would take all the attention the fans could muster as a manager … they would make you so infuriated that you would go just to see them get theirs at your local arenas… Many things change in a lifetime ... INCLUDING PEOPLE. Wrestling was the name on the marquee, and men like The Sheik, Bobo Brazil, Mr. Moto, Gorilla Monsoon, Argentina Rocca, Hans Schmidt, Buddy Rogers, and the list could go on forever ... paved the way for the superstars of the era we see today. If it were not for the antics of Gorgeous George Wagner, his epic matches with men like Don Eagle, Larry Moquin, Billy Goelz and a host of others ... wrestling might not have made it to the television status it has today. He was the originator of wearing the long, flowing hand made silk and satin robes with mink collars and diamond-studded buttons. He also was the originator of spraying perfume all over the ring to antagonize not only fans but opponents as well. If it were not for the arrogance of men like Hans Schmidt, Moose Cholak, Bob Orton Sr. and Dick The Bruiser ... wrestling's toughest boys would have been just another name to be announced on a card. They instilled fear in fans and incited riots at a moments notice. They commanded attention wherever they went. If it had not been for the beautiful, multicolored capes and jackets that irritated fans when he wore them into the ring ... and the strut he invented ... Nature Boy Buddy Rogers might have just been plain old Herman "Dutch" Rhode for the rest of his career. Televised matches from the Amphitheater in Chicago, from the Garden in New York and many other huge buildings help to draw in fantastic crowds at arenas nationwide. Men that wrestled on these cards paved the way for excitement as we know it now in the world of professional wrestling. It was not uncommon to see crowds of 10 to 12,000 on a weekly basis at arenas like I just mentioned. Television had drawn a new concept to wrestling. People wanted to be a part of it and attend the live matches. Today's television reaches a far more distant audience by way of cable and satellites ... it is not reminiscent of days gone by ... it lacks the same charisma that made it was it is today ... the characters are not anything like the predecessors that molded the way it presents itself. Things just ain't the way they used to be... Till next time... Percival A. Friend, Retired
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