Rufus vs. Angus Part Two |
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When I left you last, I was in the middle of telling you about a night that happened 36 years ago in Kansas City, Kansas at the Veterans Memorial Hall. It was billed as a night of grudges as three of the five matches were exactly that. The opening bout was a tag event with Steve Bolus and Terry Martin against Frank Diamond and Black Jack Black. The bout ended in a 30-minute draw, even though I was at ringside trying my best to keep Diamond out of the opposite corner. The second match featured Omar Atlas against Benji Rameriz. It ended in a furious barrage of flying holds by Atlas. The third bout on the card had Kansas City's own Bob Orton Sr. facing The Viking from Oslo, Norway. The previous week, Orton attacked Viking after the bell rang to end their match. Orton claimed that he didn't hear the bell. Orton delivered two piledrivers and left Viking in the middle of the ring bloodied and unable to get back to the dressing rooms. As Viking approached the ring this night, he wore a neck brace that the doctors had given him. They also told him not to wrestle until he healed properly. Orton, from the ring, was shouting to Karras to bring that broken down excuse of a wrestler into the ring, and he would give him more of what he had given him the week before. Viking tore the brace off his neck and jumped through the ropes and charged at Orton. Bob, being the gentleman that he was, jumped out of the ring on the other side and began to hurl insults at the fans who tried to push him back into the ring. Six uniformed officers had to intervene to restore law and order. As I watched a master in action, I knew what Orton was doing … he was beating the Viking by out-thinking him and causing him to lose his temper. Referee Ronnie Etchison had rung the bell and was doing everything he could to keep the Viking in the ring while putting a 20-count on Orton. Bob broke the count by quickly coming into the ring and then hitting the floor again and pointing to his temple, showing the fans that he was, in fact, the smartest man in the building. After five minutes, Orton did, in fact, make it into the ring and tried to blindside Viking, who was arguing with the referee. Viking turned and grabbed hold of the former Central States Champ and proceeded to beat the stuffing out of him, much to the delight of fans and promoter Gust Karras. During a criss cross movement that Viking was doing with Orton, Bob side stepped him and threw him out of the ring over the top rope. The arena floor was solid oak and had no give to it. It seemed like Viking had dropped on his hip and jarred his back pretty badly. Orton seized that moment and jumped to the floor and hit the Viking with all his might with a well-placed right fist to the heart. The blow was so bad that it dropped Viking to the floor. Orton grabbed him and threw him into the ring. Then, he started to gloat to the fans that he had him right where he wanted him. As he lifted Viking to his feet once more, he got blasted with a heavily taped thumb to the throat that sent him flying backwards and onto his back. Both men were now down and slowly trying to get to their feet. A 10-count was started, and Viking made it to his feet first. Grabbing Orton in a side headlock, he again drove his thumb into Orton's throat. Jumping across his shoulders, he got a two-count in when the bell rang, signaling the time limit was over for the match. It took six of Karras’ goons to keep the two separated as Orton tried to get out of the ring. This was a match that was clearly not giving either man a decision. Following an intermission, the North American tag championship was next on the card. Before the contestants made it to the ring, promoter Karras grabbed the house mike and told the fans that the only way that Orton and Viking would be able to settle their feud is in a Lumberjack match. A roar went out from the crowd in anticipation. Former World Champ Pat O'Connor and Danny Littlebear came to the ring and were signing autographs when the doors to our dressing rooms opened. Chati Yokouchi and Yasu Fuji, the current champs, started their march to the ring with the sounds of Japanese music playing in the background. Fans did not like this pairing, as they had won matches for nearly two years using illegal karate chops and judo tactics brought with them from their homeland of Japan. Following the instructions, the two-out-of-three-fall match began. To be quite truthful, I had never seen the side of Pat O'Connor that I was witnessing that night. He had pulled out all the punches and was geared to win those belts at any costs. Special referee Bob Geigel used every bit of ring savvy to try and keep the four men from literally ripping body parts from each other. O'Connor won the first fall with a Kiwi Roll Up off the ropes. The second fall was won by Fuji with a karate chop to the neck of Littlebear, who had to be helped to his feet. The third fall began with O'Connor trying to start for his team, but he was ousted by Geigel, as the two men that ended the previous fall needed to start the next. It was clear that Yokouchi and Fuji wanted to retain the belts and were tagging in and out rapidly, keeping a fresh man in the ring and beating on Littlebear. O'Connor was finally able to tag in and began to beat on Yokouchi, and the roof almost came off the building as fans screamed in favor of the tag. What Pat didn't see was Fuji reaching into his tights for a package of ceremonial salt and then throwing it into O'Connor's eyes, blinding him to the point that he fell out on the floor. The referee, Geigel, had no choice but to count Pat out, and the belts were given back to the champs. It took a riot squad to get the Japanese team back to their dressing room. The Main Event featuring a Texas Death match was next to follow. To be continued .... Percival A. Friend,
Retired
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