“MEMORY LANE” EPISODE #1 – Featuring a Steel Cage Main Event

CUE OPENING VIDEO

How cool was that? Bears, women wrestling in mud, fire, tables, snakes, mummies, and an unfiltered “Macho Man” Randy Savage. People give ECW the props for being Hardcore, but the reality of it is, true “hardcore” wrestling was perfected many years earlier in places like Memphis, Knoxville….and the ICW… The video above was from the opening of Angelo Poffo’s ICW Wrestling program which ran from the late 70’s into the early 80’s. The ICW was an “outlaw” promotion, meaning they weren’t affiliated with the NWA. Owned by Angelo Poffo, and featuring his sons Lanny and of course “Macho Man” Randy Savage, among other talents such as Ron Garvin, Bob Orton, The One Man Gang, and Bob Roop to name a few. Each week we’ll open up Memory Lane, much like an episode of your favorite wrestling program, with a nostalgic look at wrestling intro videos of years gone by. What better way to kick things off than with some Macho Madness… Ooh yeah!

Every week here on Memory Lane we’ll be bringing you the complete package of what a wrestling program was all about. You’ll have your opening video, your segment of the week, an interview or two, you can’t forget a good old-fashioned squash match, and of course a feature match to close the show!

Now… Onto the action!!!

SEGMENT OF THE WEEK

Our very first segment of the week features the man who made the term “excess flesh” a household catchphrase… or maybe not, though Bob did love using those words when given the chance to perform color commentary. When you want to learn to wrestle today, you pay someone, and they train you. Sometimes you find a good trainer, sometimes you pay a back yarder, but at the end of the day they attempt to train you. Well, back in the “old school” days things weren’t so cut and dry. You’ve heard the stories of Hiro Matsuda breaking the leg of Hulk Hogan, or the Andersons taking peoples money and crippling them with no intention of training, and then there was the case of “Mad Dog” Buzz Sawyer who simply took people’s money (like the Undertaker) and just left town. We can throw this video somewhere in between the Andersons & Matsuda way of “training”. Here’s a young guy attempting to break into the rasslin’ business, all he has to do is make it through former Olympic wrestler, and all around tough guy, Bob Roop. But instead of seeing what the guy had to offer, Roop decides to show him that wrestling is REAL. Watch as Roop breaks the guy’s arm and the young man screams in pain. Still not sure what purposely breaking human being’s body parts does for anyone, if it makes you feel like a man, or what the deal is. Anyway, here’s Roop prior to a taping at Championship Wrestling from Florida teaching a young man a “lesson” about the business.

Ya know, maybe the guy went on to get married, have some kids, and hold down a career… But probably not… Wonder if he ever got full rotation back in that arm?

SQUASH OF THE WEEK

It’s the greatest Tag Team to ever come out of Shaker Heights, Ohio! Beau & Blake, the Beverly Brothers. Actually, you may also know them as Wayne Bloom & “Mean” Mike Enos. Nevertheless, the Beverly Brothers had one of the most dangerous double team finishers of all time, especially if you didn’t know how to take the move. Dubbed “The Shaker Heights Spike”, Blake would throw the opponent into the air and Beau would grab them by their head and seemingly spike them into the mat. Now this wasn’t the safest of moves to begin with, but imagine what happens when you take a nose dive into the mat with this move! Watch as the Beverlys battle Tony Ulysses and Nick Danger. Danger, was the right word. And if damn near breaking his neck wasn’t enough for one night, the Beverlys have some extracurricular fun with “Danger” after the match. Check it out!

INTERVIEW OF THE WEEK

Of all the legendary masked stars in professional wrestling, who is the first you think of? The Destroyer, The Spoiler, Mr. Wrestling #2? For those new generation fans, maybe it’s Rey Misterio Jr. or El Generico? Well let me introduce you to an unsung hero of the masked man community. His name, The Golden Terror! Now this guy isn’t to be confused with the other 47 Golden Terrors that have graced the squared circle since the 1920’s. This particular Golden Terror was none other than jobber extraordinaire “The Duke of Dorchester” Pete Doherty. The Duke had a lot of fun with this character, and though the Terror was never much of a threat, he was quite amusing in the ring with silly antics and Pre-JT Smith clumsy bumps. (Old ECW reference there) The Terror was so intriguing that even Capt. Lou Albano couldn’t resist but to manage him for a short cup of coffee. Here’s the Capt. and the Terror being interviewed by Vince McMahon from the late 70’s. Watch Vince’s reaction when Albano says the Terror is a suplex artist. Albano’s response in reply is classic, too. If only the Golden Terror had stuck around, he had his cult followers, both back then, and now.

FEATURE MATCH OF THE WEEK

Well we promised you a Cage Match for the main event, and now we must deliver. Everyone knows about the shark cage in wrestling. You know, the mini-cage a wrestler or manager would be placed in, sometimes elevated above the ring, in order to prevent interference. It was all the rave of the 1980’s. Well imagine the exact opposite! TWO men being “locked” inside a small shark cage to battle it out. The goal? To escape the cage! You’d think whoever had their back to the door should win this thing in a matter of seconds, no? Well if you thought that, you’d be wrong. So here we go with, to the best of my knowledge, the first and ONLY Shark Cage match in the history of wrestling. And there’s good reason why, just watch and see. It’s Chief Jay Strongbow taking on “Bulldog” Don Kent from the Sheik’s old Detroit promotion. I believe the year is 1977.

What a match ladies and gentlemen! Now that’s when wrestling was wrestling. These two guys, well past their primes, went out there in a ridiculous gimmick match and milked it for SEVEN MINUTES. Yes, the match sucked, but the fans were entertained. Nowadays you give two guys a 20 x 20 ring and they fall flat with the crowd in 2 minutes. Some say it’s the crowds impatience, some say it’s that workers don’t comprehend psychology anymore. Personally, I say it’s a little of both. But how about that match? Huh? Huh? I promise, next week I’ll find you something with a little more action. That shouldn’t be too hard to do, eh?

Well, I hope you enjoyed episode #1 of “Memory Lane”. I’m open to ideas so feel free to send in your picks or comment below!