Waterloo, Iowa 2008 Part Two |
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NOTE--Walter "Killer" Kowalski, 81, has suffered a massive heart attack this past Friday and is in stable but serious condition at a hospital in Boston, Massachusetts. Please keep this gentle giant in your thoughts and prayers as he fights the biggest battle in his life. I have known him since 1958. Also, remember Inita Marie Conway, widow of Tiger Conway Sr., in your prayers, as she passed from this life August 6. in Houston, Texas.--Percival |
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Thursday evening wound itself down after a huge meal with the past and present inductees. I felt very much at ease in the dining facility set up just for us. I ended up taking the remainder of my club sandwich and the trimmings back up to the room and giving them to Bob Roop, who had opted not to attend the pre-banquet dinner. I hit the sack and never moved until around 6 a.m. the next morning, when the phone started ringing, wondering when I was coming down to breakfast. Bob and I got ready for a huge day with a breakfast filled with fresh fruit, cereal, waffles, sausage & bacon. It was topped off with cranberry juice mixed with orange juice over a lot of ice. We were seated in the rear of the restaurant. Many fans coming to the event were coming up and asking for autographs, and some even sat down with us and asked wrestling questions. Bishop Jason Sanderson finally came down at 8:30 and joined us, with Abe Jacobs and Fritz Von Goering. Since we had the day to ourselves, we decided to go and see the museum. It didn't take me long to get my bearings and find E. Jefferson St., and, soon, we were at the Dan Gable Wrestling Museum. Looking at the building from the outside, you would have never known it had been ravaged just a few weeks ago by a massive flood that took homes, trees and cars in its path. The 10-foot basement was completely engulfed in water that destroyed everything housed in it, including a 40-year collection of memorabilia owned by Mike Chapman. The main floor had been hit by 3 1/2 feet of water, and all the walls inside had been cut upwards to 4 feet to help dry it out. There were huge suction fans going in just about every room, drawing out the odor of musty and mildew walls. The carpet had to be completely stripped out, and many showcases with the contents were destroyed by Mother Nature. One of a kind items that can never be replaced were lost in the waters. What a heartbreaking experience to witness. Bob and I returned to the hotel after a drive thru a few streets that had been through the same ordeal. People were still cleaning up the mess. We decided to rest up and get ready for the matches that night at the Young Arena. Arriving at the arena at 6:30, the doors had just begun to be opened, and the more than 400 people in the parking area were making their way into the huge auditorium for the WLW event. Harley and B.J. Race were at the bottom of the stairs and directed us to the legends tables set up for sales and greetings. Bob and I took our place next to Abe Jacobs and Danny Hodge. I was looking around at the huge throng of people at some tables at the far end of ours and found out that they had been set up for a silent auction to help the museum out. People began to come up and get autographs and buy pictures and books that some of the wrestling authors had brought with them. As I looked up while signing one of my pictures, I caught sight of a very familiar face. Police Chief Paul Farber had come up from Southern Illinois. I turned the other way when I got bumped into, and it was Dr. Ken Ramey, who had come up from Louisiana. What a homecoming this was. Nikita Koloff and his dad came in behind me and said hellos to all the fans. It was then that I heard a scream let out and looked to see Bret Hart and Rowdy Roddy Piper coming into the autograph area just as intermission was starting. For nearly an hour, these two signed pictures and shook hands with every fan in the building. Bret Hart did over $1,200 in sales and donated it all to the museum to help in its rebuilding. During the evening’s matches, I had the opportunity to see Go Shiozaki wrestle to a time limit draw. The crowd loved him so much that they demanded that the match be re-started, and he eventually won in the overtime segment. He graciously shook his opponent’s hand and then went into the crowd shaking hands as well. I returned to the area where the silent auction was being held and bid on a 1953 program from Des Moines that had a picture of a young 24-year-old Bob Orton Sr. in it. I was the winner of the program and looked down the table to see a show card with me and Bobby Hart, as the Patriot, on it from Hereford, Texas in 1973. What memories it brought back to me. Returning to the hotel after the matches were over, I decided to go downstairs to the sports bar and wound down a great day. I spotted Brad Rheingans and went over to say hello to him. I greeted him in Japanese, as he is one of the goodwill ambassadors to that country from the old AWA territory and still makes many trips there on business. Seated at the bar were Masanori Saito and his wife, who had just come into Minneapolis a few hours before and were brought in by private plane to Waterloo for the weekend. Also seated at the bar were Wendi Weaver and Dr. Ken Ramey. Before long, many of the wrestlers on the card began to appear in the lounge area, and the stories began. At about 1 a.m., I finally went up to my suite on the 7th floor and retired for the night. Saturday morning started off again at the hotel restaurant with another huge breakfast. It was during the breakfast that many of the young people that wrestled on the card came by to pay their respects to us and go on to the next card in Chicago that night for Ring Of Honor. It is a huge honor for the older professional athletes to be thought of that way, and it is something that I will not forget. Most of the “kids” had been taught by Harley at his facility in Eldon, Missouri, and every one of them were very respectful of the people that paved the way for them to go and make a living. Thank you, Champ. Bob and I made it back to our suite just in time to get ready to go across the covered walkway to the Five Sullivan Brothers Center, where the activity would be held. To be continued ... Percival A. Friend,
Retired
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The 2008 Harley Race/Pro-Wrestling NOAH Camp:
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