The golden age of wrestling

[Msmith]

Reading this article about George "the Animal" Steele brought back all those fond memories, Ricky Steamboat, Jesse Ventura, Dick the Bruiser, the Iron Sheik...etc.

"Wrestling is a make believe business, and the stars are never truly in control of their own success." ~ Jim Myers, a.k.a. George "the Animal" Steele

I didn't know until now, George Steele's day job is a high school teacher.

[cosmo20002]

Originally Posted by Psyko Tek

I used to watch it with my grandfather in the early 70's I was 7 to 10 years old
this was back when it was a regional thing, we watched out of omaha

one of my fondest memories of the man

Omaha was a hotbed of wrestling in the 70s. Mad Dog Vachon was my favorite in the late 70s. He still lives in Omaha.

[stonedstooge]

Originally Posted by Psyko Tek

I used to watch it with my grandfather in the early 70's I was 7 to 10 years old
this was back when it was a regional thing, we watched out of omaha

one of my fondest memories of the man

My grandfather would be hollering and thrashing around after he went to bed and fell asleep on Saturday nights after the wrestling matches back in the 60's. Minnesota wrestlers were badass

[Tribal Warfare]

[Crush]

Originally Posted by Msmith

Mr. Fuji, the famous, ultimate heel that spanned 30 years in the ring.

[Lex Luthor]

Originally Posted by Dayze

The Heart Foundation
CoCo B Ware

Dude. It was the HART Foundation with Bret "The Hitman" Hart and Jim "The Anvil" Neidhart. Gorilla Monsoon always used to say that Neidhart was a former NFL player "who quit playing football because it just wasn't tough enough".

I loved watching wrestling back in the 1970s, 1980s and 1990s. But I've been completely bored with it for the last 15-20 years and I never watch it any more. After Vince McMahon admitted in a courtroom that wrestling is "sports entertainment" and that the outcomes are pre-determined, I got the impression that the wrestlers no longer even attempted to pretend that it was legitimate, and the storylines got too outrageous and unbelievable for me to watch it any more.

My WWF / NWA / WCW favorites:
Ric Flair
Kerry von Erich
Hulk Hogan
The Hart Foundation
Mr Wonderful Paul Orndorff
George "The Animal" Steele
Lex Luger
Randy Savage
The Lovely Elizabeth (not a wrester, but she was hot)
The British Bulldogs
The Honky Tonk Man (loved his "Disco Inferno" theme song)
Andre the Giant
The Junkyard Dog
Mr. Perfect
Jesse "The Body" Ventura (best announcer ever in any sport)

My local favorites:
Handsome Harley Race
Nature Boy Kirby
Rufus R. Jones
The Stomper
Bob Geigel
Danny Littlebear
The Viking
Dory Funk Jr.
Terry Funk

About 6 years ago I was in a bar in NKC and some old fossil walked by. One of the guys in the group insisted that it was Bob Geigel. I said "No, that guy is too old". One of the girls yelled "Hey Bob!", and he came over to our table. It was Bob Geigel. He looked like he was about 150 years old. Considering that I watched him when I was a kid and I'm 55 now, he probably was only 85 or so.

[Demonpenz]

Say hello...to the bad guy.

[The Poz]

Had to have one fave from each of the main two promotions.

Big John Studd and Kevin Sullivan

[cosmo20002]

Originally Posted by The Poz

Had to have one fave from each of the main two promotions.

Big John Studd and Kevin Sullivan

Kevin Sullivan? He's got an X on his forehead, two black eyes, a chain around his neck, and he's choking a bitch. And the best name he could come up with for himself was "Kevin Sullivan?"

[The Poz]

Originally Posted by cosmo20002

Kevin Sullivan? He's got an X on his forehead, two black eyes, a chain around his neck, and he's choking a bitch. And the best name he could come up with for himself was "Kevin Sullivan?"

Also known as "The Taskmaster"

Got 10 min to kill? Read up on his ex, Nancy Benoit.

Clip from Wikipedia.

"In an example of kayfabe (the storylines in wrestling) becoming real, Sullivan's wife Nancy Daus, left him in favor of his rival, Chris Benoit. In the late 90's Sullivan conceived an angle where Woman (Nancy Daus Sullivan, Sullivan's wife both on-screen and off), would leave his character for Chris Benoit's. Sullivan insisted that the two should travel together to preserve kayfabe for the general public and to make the affair look real, (hold hands in public, share hotel rooms, etc.).[5] Nancy ultimately married Benoit in 2000. Because of the real life imitating kayfabe, Sullivan and Benoit had a contentious backstage relationship at best and Benoit defeated Sullivan in a Retirement match at Bash at the Beach. Benoit did, however, admit having a certain amount of respect for Sullivan, saying on the DVD Hard Knocks: The Chris Benoit Story that Sullivan never took undue liberties in the ring during their feud, even though he blamed Benoit for breaking up his marriage. Sullivan later publicly paid tribute to Chris and Nancy after their tragic deaths in June 2007."

[ChiefsFanatic]

Ric Flair is the greatest professional wrestler of all time. He was the best at making his opponent look like a world beater.

I loved watching him wrestle everyone. I saw him wrestle to the 60 minute time limit at least 10 times. These days, if there is 10 minutes of action its an amazing match.

I loved watching Dusty Rhodes help the 4 Horseman beat the Russians, only to be trapped in the cage and attacked by the 4 Horseman afterwards.

He had great matches with everyone from Dusty Rhodes, Road Warrior Animal, Magnum TA, Rick Steamboat, Barry Windham, Nikita Kollof, Harley race, Sting, Terry Funk, Vader.....just everyone.

I always hated that Hulk Hogan was popular. He had three moves: The Boot, The Body Slam and The Leg Drop. That's all he could do.

[tomahawk kid]

Originally Posted by ChiefsFanatic

Ric Flair is the greatest professional wrestler of all time. He was the best at making his opponent look like a world beater.

I loved watching him wrestle everyone. I saw him wrestle to the 60 minute time limit at least 10 times. These days, if there is 10 minutes of action its an amazing match.

I loved watching Dusty Rhodes help the 4 Horseman beat the Russians, only to be trapped in the cage and attacked by the 4 Horseman afterwards.

He had great matches with everyone from Dusty Rhodes, Road Warrior Animal, Magnum TA, Rick Steamboat, Barry Windham, Nikita Kollof, Harley race, Sting, Terry Funk, Vader.....just everyone.

I always hated that Hulk Hogan was popular. He had three moves: The Boot, The Body Slam and The Leg Drop. That's all he could do.

Ah, he actually had a decent amount of wrestling skill / moves in his younger days. No where near Flair mind you, but he didn't become a three trick poney until he got older.

[Mr_Tomahawk]

What a ruuuuuuuuusssshhhhhh.....

[stonedstooge]

Originally Posted by ChiefsFanatic

Ric Flair is the greatest professional wrestler of all time. He was the best at making his opponent look like a world beater.

I loved watching him wrestle everyone. I saw him wrestle to the 60 minute time limit at least 10 times. These days, if there is 10 minutes of action its an amazing match.

I loved watching Dusty Rhodes help the 4 Horseman beat the Russians, only to be trapped in the cage and attacked by the 4 Horseman afterwards.

He had great matches with everyone from Dusty Rhodes, Road Warrior Animal, Magnum TA, Rick Steamboat, Barry Windham, Nikita Kollof, Harley race, Sting, Terry Funk, Vader.....just everyone.

I always hated that Hulk Hogan was popular. He had three moves: The Boot, The Body Slam and The Leg Drop. That's all he could do.

THAT'S HANDSOME HARLEY RACE TO YOU. Harley came to a pig roast a friend of mine had back in the late 70's. It was just a few miles from his birthplace of Quitman, Missouri. Population 45

[Rausch]

Started watching because of Hulk Hogan.

Kept watching because of...

[KC-TBB]

Big John Stud looks like Dog the bounty hunter...