Nothing says hurt like a Dusty Rhodes elbow
Posted by Shannon on January 20, 2007
With one of my friends, at some point the conversation somehow makes a reference to some old school wrestling talent from back in the 1970s or 1980s. We all watched wrestling at least once in our lives, especially if we you are a male and had a pulse. It’s hard to explain it, but there is humor in watching two men throw themselves around a ring, and then cut a promo talking about limo ridding, jet flying, or how they were the American dream.
That each had their own charisma and charm that transended the ring. Perhaps that is why we watched. OK, we watched because it was funny. But back then watching wrestling didn’t mean having to shut your eyes with the glorification of sex and other sins that have dominated the WWE in the past 10 years.
You can’t go wrong with some of the old school guys. Here are some of my favorites:
Ric Flair - The man. The myth. The legend. He’s still going at it, which should be a shock to all things AARP. The man could entertain. He had the mic skills, “To be the man, you’ve got to beat the man.” He had the charisma. And he had the hilarity with his some of his stunts in the ring, like the fall flat on your face or the end-over-end flip on the turnbuckles. I saw Flair wrestle once in Raleigh for a Monday Night Raw taping in a lader match against Edge. Why he is still wrestling beats me.
Dusty Rhodes - You can’t talk Ric Flair without mentioning the American Dream, Ric Flair. He had the style, and the elbow, and trying to listen to him cut a promo required close attention to understand what he was trying to say to talk smack to the likes of Nakita Kolof, Ric Flair, Randy Savage, or even this one regarding Baby Doll. But one thing about it, the man gave large people all over America hope.
Road Warriors, the Legion of Doom - At some point you have to bring in the tag team, and the Road Warriors were the beast. They were impressive in the ring and I wouldn’t want to mess with them out of the ring. Of course what sold them was the promos, “What a Rush,” and the spiked football pads. Could you imagine if Animal’s son James Laurinaitis wore those pads in a game? I know my pal Grant would be angry if Ohio State came down to play to something other than the school’s fight song, but just for Laurinaitis, let him come down to “Iron Maiden” wearing the War Paint and the pads.
Enjoy. So who were some of your favorites?
January 22, 2007 at 8:50 am
I remember a steel cage match between Ric Flair and Ricky “The Dragon” Steamboat where Flair was trying to walk on the top rope from one turnbuckle to another and Steamboat just grabbed the rope and shook it…Flair fell with the rope between his legs and made this hilarious face! It was great!
Then there was the time Dusty Rhodes held off all of the original Four Horsemen by elbowing them one at a time and they just kept getting up and getting elbowed…one at a time. Classic!
My favorites wrestlers go back to the days of the WWW baby! Superstar Billy Graham with the ORIGINAL 24″ pythons and the Boogie Woogie Man. But who can forget the all-time great tag teams like the Killer Bee with “Killer Bee 1″ Killer Bee 2″ and of course the bruisers…”Thunderbolt 1″ and “Thunderbolt 2″! When they got in the ring…you just knew what was gonna go down baby!
January 22, 2007 at 9:44 am
I think I saw one of the Boogie Woogie types at the Raleigh County Armory back home way back in the 1980s. I think on the same card was Sgt. Slaughter and the Iron Sheik. My grandfather took me, I believe. It was my first experience with the “USA” chant. I couldn’t understand what was being said. I was like 8.
Some others to add to the list of guys you had to watch growing up - the Macho Man (if not for Miss Elizabeth just for the lesson in phonics), Piper, Mean Gene Okerland, and, of course, the Warrior (those he’s gone batty).