By Mr. Mal Occhio

Ya’ll are some real old school wrasslin’ lovers – Mr. Mal will say that. Judging by the number of responses generated by merely mentioning some of those classic days of yore (thanks again to all who have participated) I have decided to begin a new feature here on Wrestler’s Ramblings: Time Travelin’ with Mr. Mal. We will start today with one of the first cards young Mr. Mal ever attended, smack dab in the middle of the yellow finger era. This time out, we are transported back to the year 1987. It is Sunday night, May 3rd, and instead of studying for his math test the next day, Mr. Mal is instead scrutinizing suplexes at Cobo Hall in downtown Detroit, MI. The World Wrestling Federation was in town again – and that meant only one thing – how much were tickets, and what time did the bell ring? Let’s begin - but hold on tight, wrestling fans – you may experience some slight turbulence while we work in our new Mal-nificent Malmobile, defying all laws of known physics, as we are instantly placed back to a simpler wrestling time and place.

This card I will always remember for something that happened before the first wristlock. Double T and I were wandering around the back corridor of Cobo waiting for the matches to start, when low and behold, like he was just another fan attending the matches, we spotted the “Doctor of Style� Slick himself getting a hot dog at the concession stand. We were absolutely dumbfounded, for a few reasons: One, didn’t the WWF have any catering for these guys backstage? I mean, Slick was one of the top managers of the day (with the legendary Iron Shiek and Nikolai Volkoff among his charges). Secondly, shouldn’t the “Doctor of Style� have more refined tastes than us ham-and-eggers? Make no mistake – hot dogs are great at almost any arena (if you’re in to that sort of thing – which Mr. Mal most assuredly is) but I just figured Slick would be more of champagne and cavier type-of-guy. Apparently not.

We instantly ran up to him, and he was very accommodating. While not willing to sign autographs, saying, “Why would you want my autograph for? I’m a bad guy!� he did pose for this nice picture.

We shook his hand, and he proceeded on his merry way, enjoying his hot dog, and going back to the dressing room area to ready himself for the card. Trust us – our night was already made.

The lid-lifter saw veteran Frenchy Martin (who would later go on to wave the Fleur-de-Lis as the manager for Dino Bravo) roll-over for Jerry Allen, with Nick Kiniski (son of the legendary Gene Kiniski) roll up Jesse Barr, working under the mask as the maniacal Jimmy Jack Funk.

Some thoughts: Allen never went anywhere from beyond his enhancement-talent level, and seeing him actually win a match was rare in and of itself. Kiniski, on the other hand, was someone who I would love to know the real reason as to why he never received more of a push. He had good size, good look, was a decent worker, and had obvious pedigree. Strange. Apparently, he went to the David Sammartino School of How-Not-to-Get-Ahead-in-Wrestling. Jimmy Jack Funk was always fun to watch, especially when they would fabe that he was the “craziest Funk of them all!� and had to keep his face hidden because he was wanted by authorities for an unnamed crime.

You gotta watch them guys that wear masks for a living, fans. Believe me.

Take a gander at that card folks, if you haven’t already – we’re just starting to roll here. Come back later in the week for more great reminisces from this card and some of the best pics a cheap Kodak camera could get! To wet your appetite, check out the action shot of Ricky Steamboat chopping down the Macho Man – deep within the heart of a 15-foot high steel cage. Don’t be a stranger – we’ll talk again soon! Feel free to help yourself to a complimentary bag of peanuts in the meantime. And tell your friends! Mr. Mal signing off . . . for now.

 

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This entry was posted on Sunday, April 23rd, 2006 at 7:38 pm and is filed under Wrestling History, 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.