Randy Savage (later the "Macho Man"), right, Roberto Soto have me in their sights
So, Atlanta, which has hosted Super Bowls, World Series, the Olympics and eventually will be home to the College Football Hall of Fame, wants Wrestlemania, too. Can’t get enough of a good thing (money), I guess.
But from a competitive standpoint, the WWE’s version of the Super Bowl is a different animal. The “E” stands for entertainment, which tells you that the outcomes of those matches are not always determined in the ring.
Fans obviously do not care. WWE events regularly get high TV ratings, and Wrestlemania had an estimated $51.5 million impact on Houston last year.
As one who could not escape the activity in my younger years, either on TV or in person, I see significant changes. These days, performers such as Triple H (son-in-law of WWE Chairman Vince McMahon Jr.) and the Undertaker look more like video game characters than athletes. And one of those scrawny little divas would get tossed into the third row after a minute or so in the ring with the late Fabulous Moolah or Judy Martin, famous women heels of the past. Even when Chyna wrestled men back in the ’90s, it was still worth watching. I just thought of them as actors who do their own stunts.
Such was my weird interest in the activity in my younger years that I was all too eager to volunteer when a Macon Telegraph editor suggested that someone referee a pro wrestling match for a story. The paper then was doing a series of first-person articles on reporters doing unusual things.
And it doesn’t get much more unusual — and yes, dangerous — than getting between two muscular, temperamental wrestlers. I’ve seen matches where the ref got knocked cold (or so they said) so that some dastardly deed could be perpetrated without punishment in the ring.
So Macon promoters Fred Ward and “Choo Choo” Lynn consented to our request for such a story. Wrestling took place every Tuesday night at the Macon Coliseum in those days, usually featuring the same wrestlers that performed in Atlanta. The fans were vociferous and dedicated to the soap-opera style proceedings.
Before my match, I received a quick briefing from referee Ron West. If they are in the ropes, they have to break at a five-count, etc. “And if one of them doesn’t listen, disqualify him,” West said.
He also emphasized not to try to physically separate them. Easier said than done, I discovered. No, there were no instructions as to the outcome of the match.
I was introduced to the crowd along with the wrestlers, Randy Savage and Roberto Soto. This was a mid-card match, not the main event. Savage would later gain fame and a world title in wrestling as the ”Macho Man.”
And once the action began, I was surprised how fast things moved in the ring. I’ve always been empathetic when criticizing referees in any sport, realizing that it’s not as easy when you are watching from the stands or on TV. Definitely the case here. These guys were aggressive and went at each other tooth and nail with all the moves. Were they pulling punches? Honestly, I could not tell.
And when they got tied up in a corner, I unwisely tried to physically pry them apart, and got a rude shove back from Savage at one point. And as you can see from the above picture, the wrestlers sometimes had to wait to allow me to escape harm’s way.
The outcome? Controversial, of course. I pounded the mat three times when Savage had Soto’s shoulders down. However, seems Savage also had a handful of Soto’s tights, a common rule-breaking maneuver that I did not detect. The fans let me have it good.
Fatigue may have been a factor. When I took a seat in the stands after the match, I was quite wrung out.
But I was also quite happy, that I had done something unique and memorable. I’m good about saving old newspaper clips and pictures, but I still can’t find my own account of this. Online, there’s scant mention. Here’s one link, and you have to scroll down to August 1977 to find my name. But hey, it’s my contribution to wrestling history.
2 Comments
September 30, 2009 at 12:27 pm
Fantastic story! Really like your writing style as well. Surfed in because I recently wrote a wrestling-related blog entry but will try to keep up with your future posts now too
October 1, 2009 at 8:49 am
Thanks.