Surprised the Texas hands hadn't mentioned these ol' boys....

It's good to see that you still support the sport, 160, even though you're retired from it. Do you still have the cape and the mask?

I remember watching wrestling, from a very early age, with my brother and Dad , as Mom made Sunday dinner. That would have been the early 70's.

Even then, I think I knew it was not totally real, but still enjoyed the entertainment value of it.

Then , during the mid 80's , I had started watching again, and when I was about 14 or 15, Dad agreed to take me to a live show. After it was over , all I wanted to do was go home and tell my brother about how cool it was.

Dad said we had to stop and see if Mom was still at her friends place. Unbeknownst to me, " her friends place" was the bar, at the hotel, where most of the wrestlers were staying . The gate to the bar area was pulled closed, and I told Dad " yep , it's closed , let's go". He called down the hall for Mom and she poked her head around the corner, saw it was us , and had her friend come and unlock the gate. When we turned the corner into the bar area, I was amazed. Here were most of the wrestlers, that I had just watched, all sitting around , having a good time.

I walked over to where my Mom was sitting, at the bar, and she said . " How was the show ? Do you want to meet a few of the wrestlers? " I was standing there , awestruck, and she taps the guy on the other side of her and says " Hey , George, I'd ;like you to meet my son"

It was George The Animal Steele. He proceeded to introduce me to ,The Moondogs, Tony Garerra, Junk Yard Dog , Greg the Hammer Valentine, and several others.
Everyone was very friendly, and took the time to ask how I liked the show, and other such small talk. They all signed autographs for me.

Then later, after I was back sitting with Mom and Dad, Johhny Valiant came walking over , and asked i I wanted to play pool. He had been playing with Greg the Hammer Valentine, but him and Junk Yard Dog , decided to head for the next nights show.

It was an awesome evening for a young teen.

Now here I am in my 50's and I've recently started watching some of it again. Mostly documentaries, and greatest hits type stuff. Netflix has a deal with the WWE and they have a ton of stuff available , all the way back to Wrestlemania 1.

When our kids were little , they would watch it sometimes, but they never , really got in to it. We even took them to a live show, and they just never " caught the wrestling bug" I guess.

Mick Foley was my all time favorite, but had many more that I enjoyed rooting for over the years . Rowdy Roddy Piper , Jimmy "Superfly " Snuka, Andre, George the Animal Steele, Ric Flair, Ole and Arn Anderson. and many more.

Ahh the good ol days.

[video:youtube]https://youtube.com/shorts/dcBVpZxRp8A[/video]

I actually shook hands with "Dick the Bruiser" about 45 years ago at a match at the local Armory. It's not what it used to be, I think it's about half fake now, LOL!

Never watched it.
Why would anyone watch it today when you can watch the real stuff; MMA.

I grew up in NE Ohio and remember all those guys. That’s going back a ways.