By Mr. Mal Occhio 

Man, talk about a time warp for Mr. Mal . . . boy, does this card take me back. For those just coming in, you have a ringside seat at the Windsor Arena in Windsor, ON, way back on Dec. 28, 1986 in the second half of this edition of Time Travelin’ with Mr. Mal - THE SHEIK! The card was promoted by George “Crybaby� Cannon and tickets were just $8 - you know you’re old school when you’ve actually attended a card for under $10, eh? It was the first-ever professional wrestling card ever attended by a fresh-faced Mr. Mal and cousin Double T, plus good friend Dr. Mindbender.

I would have only been 16-years-old, if truth be told, and what a way to break in. I mean, how often do you get to see the Original Sheik from the front row? Yep – Mr. Mal was there – and you should have seen the chaos. No one, but no one, could ever generate heat the way the Sheik could. Believe me, I’ve seen them all – and no one comes close. He was so good, you would have thought the man capable of murdering each and every fan in the building, just by the way people reacted to him. What an amazing performer, who even at this stage of his career (he was 62) was still the man everyone loved to hate.

Some other notes of interest from this card include it featuring “Canadian Wildman� Dave McKigney and his constant companion, Gentle Ben the 500 lbs. Wrestling Bear. McKigney, who was the bear’s handler, passed away in the automobile accident that claimed “Adorable� Adrian Adonis and Pat Kelly on July 5, 1988 along the Trans Canada Highway. Seeing poor shlubs believe they could actually take down this bear was truly a sight to see, as Ben could so easily swat them away with one of his enormous paws it was barely enough to keep him awake. An era truly passed with McKigney’s passing, and with it, so went Gentle Ben the Wrestling Bear.

The Rock’s uncle – Ricky “Soulman� Johnson was also on the card (apparently feeling no ill will in pilfering his brother Rocky’s handle) and at one point took advantage of the chair vacated by Mal Pal Dr. Mindbender - who left to go get some French fries - by using it wack his opponent , “The Wolfman� over the head with. You should have seen the Herr Mindbender mark-out when we told him what had happened when he returned to his seat. Sheer, glorious unbridled fabe.

Also appearing: a native wrestler billed as Joey War Eagle (who the ring announcer felt compelled enough-by to attempt to lead the fans in chants of “Let’s go Joey!� – which Mr. Mal and the good doctor still laugh about to this day) as he took on the infamous Johnny K-9, who longtime fans may remember as an enhancement talent in that era’s WWF. Otherwise known as Ion William Croitoru, many fans may not realize that he is now awaiting a double murder charge in Canada in the deaths of lawyer Lynn Gilbank and husband Fred on 11/16/98, and has a lengthy criminal record that includes assault, forgery, drug dealing and a bombing conspiracy. Yikes. That’s one scary dude. Mr. Mal can’t help but wonder if having to put over “greats� like Ted Arcidi – on television no less - had anything to do with all that anger he eventually built up? But that’s enough on him (Mr. Mal likes life plenty, and wouldn’t want to have Johnny K-9 show up at his door one day).

Lastly, another underachieving son of a former great was on this bill, namely Angelo Mosca Jr., plus, a Polynesian wrestler known as Superfly Tui who booked matches in Hawaii when not putting-over 62-year-old men in foreign countries for about 300 people. The night ended, incidentally, with a 12-man “1-ring Super Scrap� – otherwise known as a battle royal – with the winner receiving $5000.00 in cash.

Just between you, Mr. Mal and the lamppost – I think that part of the promotion was a work. Just a guess, but something tells me we may have been duped. Maybe Kevin Sullivan caught wind of that, too. Then again . . .

sources/great links:
Sheik profile at Obsessed with Wrestling
Dave Mc Kigney profile at Obsessed with Wrestling
Wolfman profile at Obsessed with Wrestling
Johnny K-9 profile at Obsessed with Wrestling
Johnny K-9 law troubles #1 at SLAM! Wrestling
Johnny K-9 law troubles #2 at SLAM! Wrestling
Angelo Mosca Jr. profile at Obsessed with Wrestling

This entry was posted on Friday, April 28th, 2006 at 6:00 pm and is filed under Wrestling History, Musings from Mal Occhio, Time Travelin' with Mr. Mal. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.