First Times
#PWHS #Article #FirstTimes
June 16, 1997 - Coca Florida Today
"There is always a first time for everything." A rather obvious cliché when you stop to ponder the expression. In terms of being a wrestling fan, one gets the joys and sorrows of many, many first time experiences. Looking back from 1968 to the present day, I thought that I would share a few of my first time memories, and maybe that will cause you to do the same.
The First Time that I Saw Professional Wrestling
The year was 1968. I was four years old and was bored on a Saturday afternoon. Cartoons had ended earlier in the day. This was at a time when cartoons were full of funny violence-long before "those that know better" decided that cartoons should be devoid of all violence and humor, so as not to "scar" the susceptible youth of America…sheesh!
As I turned the knob (yes, kids-there were no remote controls then) in search of something on the 5 channels that our rabbit ears antenna could receive…there it was! I saw a wrestling ring with these two, large and colorful (in personality-color television was not a common thing to have in 1968) men engaged in a fight. The announcer kept me abreast of who these guys were and I quickly figured out that Pete Sanchez was a good guy, and Johnny Rodz was a bad guy. The match went two-out-of-three falls ending in a draw. All of this terminology meant nothing to my four-year-old mind at the time. I was simply fascinated watching what was happening. I also caught my first glimpse of the man who would for years be my hero, and to whom I still give a great deal of respect today: WWWF Champion-Bruno Sammartino.
I really had no clear idea why these guys were fighting each other, but I did know that I liked what I saw. I started watching wrestling as often as possible, and although there are large gaps in my memory of the first three years that I was a wrestling fan, this "first" clearly stands out in my mind.
The First Time that I Felt Devastated Watching Wrestling
Fast-forward three years time and it is early 1971. I am seven and beginning to get an idea that there is a world outside of my front yard thanks to what I am learning in school. I still watch wrestling every Saturday, only now, I no longer live in New York State, but rather in New Hampshire. The wrestling show that I used to watch isn't broadcast in New Hampshire (WOR New York's WWWF show), but I still see the wrestlers that I love and with whom I am familiar. These new shows, I find out, come from Pennsylvania and both are hosted by a young man named Vince McMahon.
The very first show that I remember opens with a montage of my hero, Bruno Sammartino wrestling the evil Russian, Ivan Koloff. Over the film montage I hear the ranting of a man who sounds half-crazed.
"We did it McMahon! We did it! We beat the great one! They all doubted Louis Albano and The Russian Bear, but we proved them ALL wrong!! We are the champion! Not Sammartino! Us!!!"
I had turned to my favorite television program to learn that my hero, Bruno, had been beaten. NOBODY beat Bruno! He had been World Champion longer than I had been alive! Now he wasn't champion. A Russian was Champion. I didn't know much about Russia except that it was evil and was trying to take over the world. Now, a Russian had beaten Bruno. I didn't watch wrestling for a month afterwards.
My First Heel Turn
As I wrote in my last article, the heel turn of Spiros Arion on Chief Jay Strongbow sent me into a rage as a child. But that wasn't the first heel turn for me. My first also involved Strongbow, however. Strongbow (who was my second favorite wrestler, behind Bruno) had taken a young wrestler under his wing- "Gentleman" Jimmy Valiant. Valiant was clean cut, smiled a lot and never, EVER broke the rules. He never punched. He never kicked. The referees never had to administer even a one-count to get him to break on the ropes. He was learning from the Chief every day and was beginning to master the intricate and deadly sleeper hold that Strongbow used to end most of his matches.
On television, in the autumn of 1971, Strongbow and Valiant had a match against The Black Demon (Tony Nero under a hood) and "Beautiful" Bobby Harmon. Strongbow got into peril quickly, due to the cheating tactics of his opponents, but Valiant-true to form-would not enter the ring to save Strongbow until a legal tag had been made. Remember, Gentleman Jimmy NEVER broke the rules. Finally in desperation, Strongbow chopped the Demon and ran to his corner. Valiant reached out his hand for a tag, only to be snap-mared into the ring by an irate Strongbow. Valiant, upset, walked out of the match and headed to the dressing room while the heels did a number on the helpless Strongbow. The next week, Valiant came out to defend himself from accusations and was accompanied by nefarious manager, The Grand Wizard of Wrestling. A heel was born.
The problem was I didn't understand it. Valiant hadn't done anything "wrong". He had actually behaved as he always did-working 100% within the rulebook. Strongbow had started it all, yet Valiant was being booed. I knew that The Grand Wizard was evil, but I still couldn't grasp all the elements that caused the adult fans to boo valiant out of the building. It would take a while before I understood about plots and evil plans, etc. But that was my first heel turn.
My First Live Event, Or as We Used To Say - A Trip To the Matches
After years of begging my Dad and Mom to let me go see wrestling in person, they finally acquiesced in 1974. My Dad took me down to the Pulaski Park Arena in Nashua, NH. We stood in line a long time and when we were three people away from the ticket booth, the "SOLD OUT" sign went up. I was disconsolate. I raised such a bratty stink on the drive home, that my dad made a silent vow to purchase advance tickets from then on.
The next card that came through was the following month. The WWWF at that time would run shows in the smaller New England cities on a monthly basis from April-October. This time, the venue was 40 minutes north in The Queen City (and our largest city)-Manchester, NH at the JFK Coliseum. My dad had gladly parted with $20.00 earlier in the week so we could sit ringside (and believe me, $20.00 was a small price to pay to keep me from pitching a fit).
I saw the Valiant Brothers take on Tony Garea and Dean Ho (my favorite tag team). The strange thing to my eyes was that neither team was wearing the WWWF Tag Team Belts. What I learned in later years was that until the title switch (that had happened in Hamburg, PA a week before) aired on our local stations, neither team dared wear the belts in case some local fan had already heard the news about the title switch. So although it was a "Championship match", neither team was introduced as the champions.
I saw George "The Animal" Steele up close and personal. Too personal. He lunged at me shouting his trademark "HEY! YOU!!" I nearly peed myself and had the shakes for the entire match until he went back to the dressing room. My Dad found this to be hilarious. Thanks, Dad. A little later during another card, Farkus the Wolf man had the same effect on me.
But scared or not-I loved it!! Being that close to the wrestlers (although I never dared walk up to the apron to ask for an autograph) was tremendous! My parents made me a deal. If I kept my grades up and did my chores ahead of time, they would take me to the matches each month in lieu of an allowance. I grabbed at that like Dusty Rhodes grabbing an all-you-can-eat buffet pass. I was hooked.
That's all for now. Maybe later on, I'll continue with the theme of "wrestling firsts". What are some of yours?
The First Time that I Saw Professional Wrestling
The year was 1968. I was four years old and was bored on a Saturday afternoon. Cartoons had ended earlier in the day. This was at a time when cartoons were full of funny violence-long before "those that know better" decided that cartoons should be devoid of all violence and humor, so as not to "scar" the susceptible youth of America…sheesh!
As I turned the knob (yes, kids-there were no remote controls then) in search of something on the 5 channels that our rabbit ears antenna could receive…there it was! I saw a wrestling ring with these two, large and colorful (in personality-color television was not a common thing to have in 1968) men engaged in a fight. The announcer kept me abreast of who these guys were and I quickly figured out that Pete Sanchez was a good guy, and Johnny Rodz was a bad guy. The match went two-out-of-three falls ending in a draw. All of this terminology meant nothing to my four-year-old mind at the time. I was simply fascinated watching what was happening. I also caught my first glimpse of the man who would for years be my hero, and to whom I still give a great deal of respect today: WWWF Champion-Bruno Sammartino.
I really had no clear idea why these guys were fighting each other, but I did know that I liked what I saw. I started watching wrestling as often as possible, and although there are large gaps in my memory of the first three years that I was a wrestling fan, this "first" clearly stands out in my mind.
The First Time that I Felt Devastated Watching Wrestling
Fast-forward three years time and it is early 1971. I am seven and beginning to get an idea that there is a world outside of my front yard thanks to what I am learning in school. I still watch wrestling every Saturday, only now, I no longer live in New York State, but rather in New Hampshire. The wrestling show that I used to watch isn't broadcast in New Hampshire (WOR New York's WWWF show), but I still see the wrestlers that I love and with whom I am familiar. These new shows, I find out, come from Pennsylvania and both are hosted by a young man named Vince McMahon.
The very first show that I remember opens with a montage of my hero, Bruno Sammartino wrestling the evil Russian, Ivan Koloff. Over the film montage I hear the ranting of a man who sounds half-crazed.
"We did it McMahon! We did it! We beat the great one! They all doubted Louis Albano and The Russian Bear, but we proved them ALL wrong!! We are the champion! Not Sammartino! Us!!!"
I had turned to my favorite television program to learn that my hero, Bruno, had been beaten. NOBODY beat Bruno! He had been World Champion longer than I had been alive! Now he wasn't champion. A Russian was Champion. I didn't know much about Russia except that it was evil and was trying to take over the world. Now, a Russian had beaten Bruno. I didn't watch wrestling for a month afterwards.
My First Heel Turn
As I wrote in my last article, the heel turn of Spiros Arion on Chief Jay Strongbow sent me into a rage as a child. But that wasn't the first heel turn for me. My first also involved Strongbow, however. Strongbow (who was my second favorite wrestler, behind Bruno) had taken a young wrestler under his wing- "Gentleman" Jimmy Valiant. Valiant was clean cut, smiled a lot and never, EVER broke the rules. He never punched. He never kicked. The referees never had to administer even a one-count to get him to break on the ropes. He was learning from the Chief every day and was beginning to master the intricate and deadly sleeper hold that Strongbow used to end most of his matches.
On television, in the autumn of 1971, Strongbow and Valiant had a match against The Black Demon (Tony Nero under a hood) and "Beautiful" Bobby Harmon. Strongbow got into peril quickly, due to the cheating tactics of his opponents, but Valiant-true to form-would not enter the ring to save Strongbow until a legal tag had been made. Remember, Gentleman Jimmy NEVER broke the rules. Finally in desperation, Strongbow chopped the Demon and ran to his corner. Valiant reached out his hand for a tag, only to be snap-mared into the ring by an irate Strongbow. Valiant, upset, walked out of the match and headed to the dressing room while the heels did a number on the helpless Strongbow. The next week, Valiant came out to defend himself from accusations and was accompanied by nefarious manager, The Grand Wizard of Wrestling. A heel was born.
The problem was I didn't understand it. Valiant hadn't done anything "wrong". He had actually behaved as he always did-working 100% within the rulebook. Strongbow had started it all, yet Valiant was being booed. I knew that The Grand Wizard was evil, but I still couldn't grasp all the elements that caused the adult fans to boo valiant out of the building. It would take a while before I understood about plots and evil plans, etc. But that was my first heel turn.
My First Live Event, Or as We Used To Say - A Trip To the Matches
After years of begging my Dad and Mom to let me go see wrestling in person, they finally acquiesced in 1974. My Dad took me down to the Pulaski Park Arena in Nashua, NH. We stood in line a long time and when we were three people away from the ticket booth, the "SOLD OUT" sign went up. I was disconsolate. I raised such a bratty stink on the drive home, that my dad made a silent vow to purchase advance tickets from then on.
The next card that came through was the following month. The WWWF at that time would run shows in the smaller New England cities on a monthly basis from April-October. This time, the venue was 40 minutes north in The Queen City (and our largest city)-Manchester, NH at the JFK Coliseum. My dad had gladly parted with $20.00 earlier in the week so we could sit ringside (and believe me, $20.00 was a small price to pay to keep me from pitching a fit).
I saw the Valiant Brothers take on Tony Garea and Dean Ho (my favorite tag team). The strange thing to my eyes was that neither team was wearing the WWWF Tag Team Belts. What I learned in later years was that until the title switch (that had happened in Hamburg, PA a week before) aired on our local stations, neither team dared wear the belts in case some local fan had already heard the news about the title switch. So although it was a "Championship match", neither team was introduced as the champions.
I saw George "The Animal" Steele up close and personal. Too personal. He lunged at me shouting his trademark "HEY! YOU!!" I nearly peed myself and had the shakes for the entire match until he went back to the dressing room. My Dad found this to be hilarious. Thanks, Dad. A little later during another card, Farkus the Wolf man had the same effect on me.
But scared or not-I loved it!! Being that close to the wrestlers (although I never dared walk up to the apron to ask for an autograph) was tremendous! My parents made me a deal. If I kept my grades up and did my chores ahead of time, they would take me to the matches each month in lieu of an allowance. I grabbed at that like Dusty Rhodes grabbing an all-you-can-eat buffet pass. I was hooked.
That's all for now. Maybe later on, I'll continue with the theme of "wrestling firsts". What are some of yours?
Unique content strictly for the Professional Wrestling Historical Society.
First Times.
Author: Harry Grover.
Published: Pre-October 2014.
Article: #69.
Editor: Jimmy Wheeler.
First Times.
Author: Harry Grover.
Published: Pre-October 2014.
Article: #69.
Editor: Jimmy Wheeler.
Other articles by Harry can be Read Here.