Unbelievable Shocker: WWE Hall of Famer Ultimate Warrior Passes!

Heartbreaking news out of the wrestling world.  The Ultimate Warrior, who was recently inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame and was seen on Monday Night Raw just this past Monday, has passed away at the age of 54.

The former WWE World and Intercontinental champion received his Hall of Fame accolades just this past Saturday during Wrestlemania week in New Orleans, LA.  Sunday, he was in attendance at Wrestlemania XXX and Monday, he was at Raw where he made a wonderful speech with a Warrior mask on.

Warrior (his legal name) had just signed a multi-year deal with WWE.

Just absolutely stunned by this news.  I, admittedly, was not a big Ultimate Warrior (or Dingo Warrior as he was in World Class) fan during his tenure -- although I have no issue with his placement into the Hall of Fame.  Having said that, this goes to show that we need to honor those who have paved the way in ANY walk of life while they are still here to receive the honors due.  Deepest condolences to Warrior's family and the wrestling community.

WWE 2014 Hall of Fame Class Receives Honors!

It was a very long WWE Hall of Fame ceremony Saturday night in New Orleans, LA.  As one wrestling site has said, these were some long-winded people.  However, the 2014 class of hall of famers received their accolades.

The best speech of the night came from Jake "The Snake" Roberts who was brutally honest in reliving his career.  Roberts, along with Scott "Razor Ramon" Hall, put a gold star on their roads to redemption by their inductions.  Wrestling fans should be eternally grateful to Diamond Dallas Page for his DDP Yoga and how this program has literally changed lives.

By the way, it was nice to see "The Kliq" -- Triple H, Shawn Michaels, Kevin Nash and Sean "X-Pac" Waltman -- all there to support Hall.

Lita, being the first honoree of the evening, set the tone for the night with a brutally long, yet somewhat entertaining speech about her life in the business.  She even gave a shout out to a local promotion in Maryland -- that was cool!

Speaking of cool, it was nice to see Carlito in the building as he joined his brother Primo and his cousin (not brother, Jerry Lawler), Epico, induct the patriarch of their family dynasty, Carlos Colon.  Many people were against Colon's induction because of his possible cover up of the murder of Bruiser Brody in 1988.  It has also been alleged that Colon's induction was done strictly so the WWE could obtain the video library of Colon's promotion, the World Wrestling Council.

Whatever the reason, the best part of Colon's speech was his acknowledgement of perhaps the very first Puerto Rican wrestling star, Pedro Morales.  This is a name that rarely comes up when the great WWE stars are mentioned.  Morales was the first man to win the "Triple Crown" of titles in the WWE -- The world title, the Intercontinental championship and the world tag team titles (with Bob Backlund).

For celebrity wing honoree Mr. T, he was not allowed to speak after a long-winded tribute to his mother, actually being taken off the stage, Sandman Sims-like by Kane. Those of us who were hoping for maybe even a burying of the hatchet with Roddy Piper, were severly disappointed.

Paul Bearer was very well-honored -- first by Kane, then by his sons, one of whom did a great Bearer voice impression (he even looked like him, eerily enough) and then by The Undertaker in a beautiful visual ceremony.

As far as the main event of the ceremony -- the induction of The Ultimate Warrior -- well, whether in or out of character, the word "coherent" has never been a part of his vocabulary.  Warrior (his legal name) rambled through his speech, however, there were points that were somewhat inspirational.

I have to admit, I'm a sucker for hall of fame ceremonies in any business because it gives fans an opportunity to thank those who have been so important in their lives as fans.  Congratulations to all the inductees!

WWE Network is Like the Miz..AWESOME!

Now that we are two weeks into the launch of the WWE Network and most of the kinks are worked out, I can truthfully say that the network has been a major godsend to this wrestling fan.

I don't know why any wrestling fan -- other than price -- would not want this gem of a streaming service.  It has everything for any wrestling fan at any age.  For me as an older fan, the ability to see every WWE, NWA/WCW and ECW pay-per-view in existence is fabulous and, of course, the freedom not to have to pay $50 or more each time a current pay-per-view takes place makes this a wonderful investment at $9.99 a month.

The network currently shows episodes from World Class Championship Wrestling.  I'm hoping that WWE will open its vault completely to show cards from Mid-South/UWF, AWA, Jim Crockett Promotions, Georgia Championship Wrestling and the original Florida Championship Wrestling.  WWE owns all of those territorial libraries and would make the network even better if those legendary programs could be shown.  This would be great for the younger fans because they can really see how this business has evolved.

I am also impressed with some of the original programming on the network thus far.  The Raw and Smackdown Pre-Shows are really done well, much like the NFL and NBA pre-game shows. Also the Countdown show is really a fun show to watch and the Wrestlemania Rewind is a great historical show about how "The Show of Shows" has developed.

By the way, I am withholding full judgement on the "Legends House" reality series until I actually see an episode.  Not expecting much there.

There are still minor issues with the network -- The on-demand videos occasionally lag and they really need a way to pick up a video from where you leave it instead of forcing you to start from the beginning and find your way to the point.

However, this is a wrestling fan's dream channel and it is great to see it in service!

Thoughts on WWE Hall of Fame!

Again, I apologize for not posting more on this blog.  I just wanted to express my thoughts on recent events that not only embrace the present and future of pro wrestling but also embraces its past.

So far (and I don't know if they will go any further), I am impressed with the 2014 WWE Hall of Fame class. I pay even more attention to it and think that it's more legitimate now that Bruno Sammartino and Bob Backlund -- two of the longest reigning champions in WWE's history -- are finally in the hall.

The 2014 class -- The Ultimate Warrior, Jake"The Snake" Roberts, Lita and, most recently, Paul Bearer -- is a good class.  In the Warrior and Roberts, you have two tremendously popular characters.  With Roberts in particular, it is a great moment in a recent life that has had some difficult bumps in the road, including his most recent cancer surgery.  Lita was one of the greatest Divas ever and Paul Bearer was a very exceptional manager.

I don't think the class needs a celebrity induction this year and I'm not sure who would be a good selection anyway.  I do believe one more solid performer would be good to add.

A lot of people want to see the late, great Randy "Macho Man" Savage inducted this year and that is way overdue.  Definitely one of the more popular wrestlers in WWE history.  I'm not sure that Savage left the WWE on the best of terms and that could be why he is not in there already.

Two wrestlers I really want to see inducted are "The Russian Bear" Ivan Koloff and the original tag-team specialist Tony Garea.  Koloff pulled off the first really big wrestling upset of my lifetime in 1971 when he beat Sammartino for the WWWF championship in Madison Square Garden.  Garea won the federation's tag team titles six times with four very diverse partners (Haystacks Calhoun, Dean Ho, Larry Zbyszko and Rick Martel). Garea also worked behind the scenes for the WWE for many years.  This may be a personal preference as to why Garea may not be in the hall -- he may not want to.

By the way, you could make an interesting choice for Martel in the Hall of Fame since he was in two of the most popular tag teams in WWE history -- his team with Garea and in Strike Force with Hall of Famer Tito Santana.  Also, Martel was the AWA Heavyweight champion and later came back to the WWE as a heel (The Model) and did well.

Those are just some of my thoughts.  I am happy that I will be able to see the ceremony live on the WWE Network.  I will have thoughts on the Network in a later post.

William Moody BKA Paul Bearer, Percy Pringle, Passes at 58!

The wrestling world is saddened by the passing of 58-year-old William Moody, who gave us two very unique characters in the business.

Many of you may remember his persona in the World Class Championship Wrestling territory in Dallas -- Perceival "Percy" Pringle III -- where he managed some great wrestlers including The Missing Link, the PYT's (Koko B Ware and Norvel Austin) and the tag team of "Maniac" Matt Borne and "Mad Dog" Buzz Sawyer. Moody was also one of the key on-camera figures when World Class made the transition to the USWA as Fritz Von Erich sold the territory to Jerry Jarrett.  The Pringle character was a face at that time as he was the advisor to "Flamboyant" Eric Embry.

However, it was the persona of Paul Bearer -- the manager and confidant of The Undertaker -- that brought Moody to the masses.  Who can forget Bearer (who actually was a licensed mortician) holding the urn high as he led the Undertaker to the ring?  Who can forget that lovingly creepy voice (OHHHHHHH YESSSSSS) that he spoke with?  And of course, the legendary storyline that brought Undertaker and his "brother" Kane together.

The picture above is one I took of Moody at the NWA Legends Fanfest in Atlanta in 2011.  I didn't, unfortunately, get a chance to speak with him very long that day but he seemed to be a very nice man and loved being around the fans and the other legends that were in attendance.

A very good friend of mine -- Daniel Donnelly -- has a nice story on his great I Met A Wrestler blog about meeting Moody a few years ago.  I think it is a fitting tribute to him.  Please read.

http://www.imetawrestler.com/2011/08/managers-part-one-paul-bearer.html

Sammartino And Backlund Are In The Hall!

"While I have always applauded the WWE's Hall of Fame efforts in chronicling the history of the business, I have always felt that the Hall of Fame was not legitimate without (Bruno) Sammartino's inclusion.  There are other longstanding alumni of the WWE that have not been recognized as yet including another long-time world champ in Bob Backlund." -- December 19, 2012

And now..BOTH ARE IN!

The WWE announced on Monday  that "THE Living Legend" Bruno Sammartino will finally be inducted into the Hall of Fame.  That, coupled with the inclusion of former world champ Bob Backlund announced earlier, brings immediate legitimacy to the Hall of Fame.  Congratulations to both!

Bruno Sammartino Asked to Accept WWE Hall of Fame Induction!

Reports are circulating that former two-time WWE (then known as the WWWF -- World Wide Wrestling Federation) Heavyweight champion "The Living Legend" Bruno Sammartino is being courted to accept the WWE invitation to be inducted into the organization's hall of fame next year.

Sammartino has repeatedly turned down WWE's invitations into the hall of fame because of long-standing differences he has had with the company and its direction.  Also, there are reports that Sammartino believes he is due revenue from merchandising.

I unabashly say that Bruno Sammartino is and for as long as I have been a wrestling fan, my favorite wrestler.  My early days as a wrestling fan were spent at the old Capital Centre in Landover, MD to watch Sammartino take on the likes of Ivan Koloff, Stan Hansen and Larry Zbyszko.  The battle against Zbyszko, his former protege, was a lumberjack match that drew the first wrestling sellout in Capital Centre history -- 20,000 -- a week after the two drew 41,000 at Shea Stadium in New York.

What is well known about the history of the WWE is that, without Bruno as champion and its main draw during the 60's and 70's, the company may have never experienced Hulkamania or Wrestlemania.  There were a number of times that the McMahon Family looked to Sammartino to pull them out of financial despair.  Sammartino still holds the record for the longest championship reign (eight years from 1963-1971) in WWE history.  Sammartino's second reign was three years.

While I have always applauded the WWE's Hall of Fame efforts in chronicling the history of the business, I have always felt that the Hall of Fame was not legitimate without Sammartino's inclusion.  There are other longstanding alumni of the WWE that have not been recognized as yet including another long-time world champ in Bob Backlund as well as one of the greatest tag-team wrestlers of all time, Tony Garea.

Reports are saying that Triple H is trying to set up a personal meeting with Sammartino to discuss this situation.  I'm not holding out too much hope that "The Living Legend" will accept the invitation but it would make things very complete if he did.

Bruno Sammartino was the first and only pro wrestler to be featured on the old syndicated sports TV show "Greatest Sports Legends" (sometimes known as "Classic Sports Legends").  Here is that episode, hosted by hall of fame baseball pitcher Tom Seaver.

Bruno Sammartino -- Greatest Sports Legends 1979

Freebird Buddy 'Jack' Roberts Passes!

Another tough loss for the old-school wrestling fan.  Buddy "Jack" Roberts has passed away at the age of 65.  Roberts had been battling throat cancer for some time.

Roberts was best known as one-third of the greatest three-man tag team ever -- The Fabulous Freebirds.  Roberts was the veteran mentor to young wrestlers Michael "P.S. Hayes and Terry "Bam Bam" Gordy.  Their battles with the Von Erich Family are still talked about in Dallas, TX and the rest of the wrestling world.  Prior to becoming a Freebird, Roberts was one half of the original Hollywood Blonds with Jerry Brown (There would later be a Hollywood Blonds team with Stunning Steve Austin and Brian Pillman).  Roberts and Brown would be a championship team led by Sir Oliver Humperdink among others.

Hayes and the "Undercover Freebird," Jim Garvin are the only remaining official Freebirds remaining.  Gordy passed away at the age of 40 in 2001.  Ironically, Brad Armstrong, who passed away earlier this month, was in a later edition of the Freebirds as the masked wrestler Badstreet.

Brad Armstrong Passes Away at 51!

Once again, more sad news about a wrestler passing away too young.  Brad Armstrong, who wrestled primarily in the Georgia, Mid-South (UWF) and NWA/WCW territories, passed away on November 1 at the age of 51.

The oldest son of "Bullet" Bob Armstrong, Brad Armstrong had won a number of junior heavyweight titles but was best known for his work in tag matches either with his father as his partner or with "White Lightning" Tim Horner as "The Lightning Express."  Brad's brothers, Steve, Scott and Brian (AKA Road Dogg Jesse James) were also wrestlers.  In 2011, Brad helped induct his father into the WWE Hall of Fame.

I was a big fan of Brad Armstrong either in singles or in his work with Tim Horner.  The Lightning Express, in my opinion, were one of the most underrated tag teams of the mid-to-late 80's, which were stocked with quality tag teams.  Here they are wearing the UWF Tag Team title belts.  No official word on cause of death.

WWE Roundtable About African-Americans in Wrestling!

I happened to find this video on YouTube.  If you notice, the first post on this blog was my interview with legendary wrestler Claude "Thunderbolt" Patterson.  That was by design because I really felt that his contributions as an African-American wrestler were legendary and needed to be noted.

Recently, I came across a wonderful roundtable discussion that the WWE did about the role of African-Americans in the wrestling business and I was interested to learn that Patterson wasn't the most appreciated black wrestler in this business -- and that includes by other black wrestlers and performers.

That was just one of the many things that learned watching this EXCELLENT roundtable discussion that is part of the WWE's "Legends of Wrestling" series.  It first aired during Black History month and was called simply "Soul."  The moderator is Jim Ross and the guests are "The American Dream" Dusty Rhodes, "Mr. USA" Tony Atlas, Teddy Long and Cowboy Bill Watts.

http://youtu.be/GziVXp_Guro

RIP Mike Graham!

I know I haven't done much with this blog but every now and then I will be posting something.  Many times, it will be in tribute to someone who has left us.  Such is the case with this post.

I received word that former Florida great Mike Graham was found dead today in Daytona Beach, FL.  He was 61 years old.  Graham was the son of the legendary hall of fame wrestler and promoter Eddie Graham -- one of the Golden Grahams along with Dr. Jerry, Crazy Luke and Superstar Billy.  Where the Grahams weren't brothers by birth, Mike was indeed Eddie's son.

I didn't see a lot of Mike Graham during his career but I read a lot about him in the magazines, especially in moments like these:

This was when Graham (right) was the co-holder of the United States Tag Team championship in the Florida territory alongside his long-time tag partner Steve Keirn.  This was probably in the mid-to-late 70's prior to Keirn's legendary tag team with Stan Lane -- The Fabulous Ones -- in Memphis and the AWA in the 80's.

Graham followed in his father's footsteps as a promoter when he took over the Florida Territory in the 80's just before the WWE's national expansion.  He also trained and worked with many of the superstars of wrestling in the 90's up until today.

There are also reports that Graham may have followed his father in another, more tragic way.  Eddie Graham committed suicide in 1985.  Reports say Mike Graham may have done the same.

RIP to Chief Jay Strongbow!

Sorry I haven't posted here in a while and I'm also sorry I come back at a tough time, for we lost a true legend in the one and only Chief Jay Strongbow. This man was a mainstay of the old WWWF (World Wide Wrestling Federation) during the 70's.  He won the WWWF Tag Team Titles four times with Sonny King, Billy White Wolf (AKA Sheik Adnan Al-Kaissie) and twice with his "brother" Jules Strongbow.

He was never a world champion but he was the epitome of a "People's Champion."

Tully and the 'Perfect 10!'

One of the great wrestler-valet combinations in pro wrestling was Tully Blanchard and his "Perfect 10" Baby Doll (also known as Nickla Roberts). It was a great pairing of two great-looking Texans. I've been following Blanchard since his days in his father Joe Blanchard's Southwest Championship Wrestling territory. Tully made a great team with the late Gino Hernandez. Their feud after the team broke up was memorable.

Ironically, Roberts (who also came from a wrestling family) had a connection to Hernandez in the World Class territory. She was "Nickla the Lady Giant" and served as Hernandez's valet.

Tully and Baby Doll got together in the Mid-Atlantic territory right before Blanchard became part of the infamous "Four Horsemen." It was a magical pairing. Seeing them together again was memorable. I've kept in touch with Baby Doll through Facebook and she is STILL a Perfect 10 in my book!

Here is a classic interview with Tully Blanchard and his Perfect 10, Baby Doll:

Meeting Wrestling's 'Man With The Hands of Stone!'

Sorry I haven't posted in a while. Had the opportunity in Atlanta to meet another one of my favorites. This is a guy who was given a major push in the NWA Mid-Atlantic territory that resulted in him defeating Ric Flair almost 24 years ago -- September 25, 1987. The push was complete with inspirational videos set to Frank Sinatra's version of "My Way."

The man was almost unrecognizable until I heard him speak and realized it was the "Man With the Hands of Stone," Ronnie Garvin. I had never seen him with dark hair. Ronnie Garvin was extremely gracious and still said Baltimore was his favorite town -- he did win two of his regional titles (The National heavyweight title and the National TV title there).

But here is his biggest moment -- the entire championship title bout from the Joe Louis Arena in Detroit, MI!

My Brief Conversation with 'The Russian Bear!'

The date was January 18, 1971. The place was Madison Square Garden in New York City. The event shook wrestling like the earthquake that hit DC and other parts of the east and midwest today. Ivan Koloff upset the "Living Legend" Bruno Sammartino to win the WWWF World Heavyweight title. Many people say that you could hear a pin drop in the Garden after the three-count.

I startedd to talk to "The Russian Bear" about that night and other aspects of his career, but he was a very busy man. Having said that, it was a joy to speak to him for the little time that I did.




And here is the bout where (as Gorilla Monsoon would say) history was made!

Digital Rocks And Rolls With The Express!

I got to meet one of my all-time favorite tag teams at the NWA Legends Fanfest in Atlanta, GA. They were one of the most popular tag teams ever. I'm talking about Ricky Morton and Robert Gibson -- The Rock 'N' Roll Express. They won four NWA world titles and is regarded among the all-time great tag teams. Pro Wrestling Illustrated ranked them at number four among the top 100 tag teams of all time, while the great book "The Pro Wrestling Hall of Fame -- The Tag Teams" has them at number six.

Before we took this picture, I mentioned to Ricky and Robert how it was great to see them wrestle in my hometown of Washington, DC. Robert, in typical Rock and Roll fashion, said to me, "we rocked and rolled down there, didn't we?"

Since I don't have an interview personally with them, here is a classic Rock and Roll Express interview followed by a commercial for the Rock 'N' Roll Express fan club!



And this is a classic matchup against their arch-rivals Bobby Eaton and Stan Lane, The Midnight Express from the Great American Bash in 1987.

Digital the Plebian Talks to Nick the Champ!

I had the extreme pleasure of talking to four-time AWA World Heavyweight champion and three-time AWA Tag Team champ Nick Bockwinkel. We talked about his legendary battles with Verne Gagne as well as the influence of his father, Warren Bockwinkel, a great wrestler in his own right.

Here's the chat:



The reason I titled this post this way is because Bockwinkel was so famous for his very classy-sounding and intelligent interviews. Here's an example:

Digital and 'The Bolt' Have a Conversation!

My first interview during the fanfest was with a true legend of the Championship Wrestling From Georgia territory -- Claude "Thunderbolt" Patterson. Patterson was a mainstay throughout that territory for most of his 44-year career in wrestling, winning the Georgia tag-team titles with Mr. Wrestling II, Tommy Rich and Tony Atlas(all of whom were also at the event) and winning the National tag team titles with Ole Anderson (who was also there).

Patterson now runs a church organization for children and puts on free wrestling shows for them (with no profanity, he points out).

Here is my brief interview with "The Bolt!"




This was possibly Patterson's last public wrestling event -- at WCW's Slamboree 93 where he was in a legends match with Brad Armstrong (subbing for his father, Bob) against Ivan Koloff and Baron Von Raschke. The match was held in the Omni in Atlanta, GA.

Welcome to One Man's Journey Through Wrestling History!

Hello! For those who don't know me, my name is Gary "Digital" Williams. In the blogosphere, I'm known for my blog about boxing in the DC/Maryland/Virginia area called Boxing Along The Beltway. I've been working that blog for six years and I'm quite proud of it.

I'm also proud of being an unabashed fan of the old-school style of pro wrestling. I remember taking many a trip to places like the Capital Centre in Largo, MD or the DC Armory in Washington to see everyone from Bruno Sammartino to Hulk Hogan to The Four Horsemen.

On August 4-7 of this year, I was able to relive some of those great moments by attending the NWA Wrestling Legends Fanfest at the Atlanta Airport Marriott Hotel in Atlanta, GA. There were about 60 wrestling legends at this event, people who were among my all-time favorites. It was an amazing event! Greg Price, who has put this event on for 10 years, along with his staff should be highly commended for putting on a first-class event for hardcore, old-school wrestling fans.

By the way, next year's event will be in Charlotte, NC on August 2-5.

The purpose of this blog is twofold. One, to share my personal journey through this event. I have pictures as well as some audio with some of the legends and personalities. Secondly, I plan to put up video of many of these legends and show why they are just that, legends. Youtube has a host of old video.

So I hope you enjoy and let me know what you think!

Take care!