I've never had an interest in MMA. It's never been something that I've been into. I don't watch it. I don't follow it. I respect it. I respect some of the positive that it has done for amateur wrestling. I also recognize some of the negative that it has had on wrestling, but still acknowledge & praise with gratitude the positives that it has had on the sport. Many former collegiate & high school wrestlers that I know or have followed compete in it. I'm not a huge fan of the trash talk but I admire the amount of hard work, skill & dedication that it takes to compete. These guys are some of the toughest individuals on the planet. There's no denying that.
I haven't had a lot but I've had a handful of people that have tried to get me into MMA over the years. I've gone to a handful of dojos & worked out but never because I wanted to be a competitor. It was always as a means of doing something to get more cardio in. An itch to get back on the mat because I miss wrestling. I like exchanging takedowns & I'm eager to learn the art of jujitsu but I have no desire to get punched full force in the eye or take a knee to the face. It just doesn't appeal to me.
When I was in my early twenties I was attending Indian Hills Community College while working at South Hy-Vee in Ottumwa. I worked in the meat department & there was a guy named Al that worked in the Bakery. Al looked like a real life G.I. Joe character. Short military hair cut & a well maintained mustache. He took one look at me and got excited. I didn't even know the guy when he came up to me & asked me if I'd come workout with him after work. I'm always up for pumping iron, so I said, "Why not?"
Only we didn't go to a weight room. We went to an old building downtown with wrestling mats laid out on the upper floor. Al ran a MMA group & he wanted me to be a part of it. I told him that I wasn't keen on it as I had no desire to be stricken or to strike. His answer back to me was that we'd ease into the punching & kicking. He wanted to see how good I was on my feet.
Albert was incredibly strong but obviously didn't have an amateur wrestling background as I often used his own momentum & mistakes to take him down. On about the fourth go, he got me into a chokehold & I felt like he was going to dislocate my head from my body. I couldn't breathe & it hurt. I tapped his ribs for him to let go. He held on for a good 3-4 more seconds.
I tapped my hand on the mat. "Isn't this the signal for 'give up' 'I quit' 'You win' ?"
"Yeah, yeah." He said back to me. "Gotta let you know I could've finished you before I let up."
Albert put me in that move twice more as I began to think about what to do to avoid the choking neck wrench. I noticed that he needed me to be parallel with himself. If I could get perpendicular with him, it would ease the pressure & great space for me to breathe. When he went for the move again, I circled in the opposite direction of what I had the three time prior. This time I took my Jay Leno chin & dug it hard into his ribs. He didn't like that.
"That's illegal. You can't do that."
I heard the phrase, "That's illegal" about ten more times that night.
Now I liked Albert but he loved to tork on you & hold onto painful maneuvers for about 3-5 seconds past the tap out. I have no shame in saying he got the better of me that night, because he did. I made him tap once in a banana splitz & he made me tap about 25 times. Yet our session ended when I did another "illegal move."
I got in on a really good shot where I had Albert up in the air in a double leg takedown. He somehow or another wrapped me up to where he was choking on me as I had him in the air. I came down easy as I tapped out. He again held on to the move past the point when I tapped out.
"Al" I said to him. "You really gotta start letting go after I tap out. I didn't come here tonight to get injured."
"Ah." He said back to me. "It'll toughen you up."
Our next & final go for the night I got in on another great double leg takedown. As he went to put me in the hold he had me before, I drove him as hard as I could into the mat. Sort of like an Arn Anderson Spinebuster.
I knocked the wind out of him & as his breath slowly came back all I heard was, "That's illegal...that's illegal."
Instead of being mad though it actually made him happy. He said that he had been trying to get me pissed off all night & it took him an hour to do it, but it was obvious that I did have a killer instinct in me even if I didn't think so.
"I think I can make you into a real fighter."
I told him about 10 more times in that conversation as we walked out into the parking lot that I enjoyed the workouts but I had no desire to actually fight.
I went to about twelve more practices over the next couple of weeks & lifted weights with Albert as well. He was a high strung individual with a ton of energy but I enjoyed him. He was a character.
Then on a Saturday he walks over from the bakery into the meat department.
"I got you a fight tomorrow." He says to me.
"I don't want to fight." I say back to him. "I told you that."
"It's about a little over an hour from here. You can meet us in the parking lot here & ride with us."
"I'm not going." I responded. "I already told you that."
"Well I already got you signed up for the fight." He laughed. "You have to go."
"I'm not even going to be in Ottumwa tomorrow." I said back to him. "I live in Sigourney. It's thirty miles away. I only come here for work and school."
"You'll make enough money to cover you gas. I'll buy you your dinner."
"Al!" I was shouting at this time. "I'm not going!"
"Why?"
"I'm not even in shape for it."
Which in my opinion I wasn't. I was in pretty decent shape at the time. I was lifting weights 4-5 times per week. I was running about 10 miles a week. I was training with him & others about 3 times per week. BUT I also knew I wasn't in the type of shape that I had been in high school wrestling. In my opinion I couldn't see myself going the distance unless I was.
"oh nonsense." He said back to me. "You're the hardest working guy I got."
I knew I couldn't stand there & argue with Al all day long so I just threw my hands up & said, "I got work to do."
"Great." He said back to me. "See you tomorrow at 10."
My boss Brad Suter looked at me & said, "Are you gonna go then?"
"No." I said back to him. "I told Al from the very beginning I wasn't interested in fighting."
And I didn't go. Sunday came around & if memory serves me correctly I think I spent that day riding a four wheeler around a pond in between Webster & South English.
When I got to work on Monday the first thing the South HyVee meat counter let me know was that Al was looking for me & he was pissed.
As I put on my uniform & walked up to the meat counter ready to help the next customer Al walked up to me & pointed a finger in my face.
"We waited a half hour in the parking lot for you!!" He shouted loud enough to wear it drew a small audience. I stood their with a stupid look on my face as he reprimanded me.
"You embarrassed me & you embarrassed the team!"
I was glad that there was a glass case full of meat between the two of us. I think had there not have been, he might have attacked me.
"A forfeit!" He stamped his foot in place of a swear word. "A forfeit!!!"
He then took off his black HyVee hat with the red lettering and slapped it against his side.
"You know what??" he put his hat back on his head. "You can just stop coming to practices. If you ain't gonna be there for competitions then you don't need to come to practices either. Screw it. Lift weights by yourself."
And that was the last words Al ever spoke to me.
My official record in MMA as a result of a forfeit in a town I think was somewhere west of Albia was 0-1.
And that's my experience in MMA.
Friday, July 17, 2020
Tuesday, July 7, 2020
Booking the End of the NWO
The New World Order (NWO) was one of the most successful, clever & ingenious concepts (as well as executions) that the world of professional wrestling has ever known. At par with the Four Horsemen I would call it the best thing that ever happened in WCW. Hulk Hogan's heel turn will never be surpassed as the greatest Heel turn of all time & Sting Vs the NWO would easily make anyone's Mount Rushmore when it comes to feuds.
With that said, mistakes were made. The faction lasted too long & got too powerful. There were members that never should have joined. I truly believe that in terms of WCW vs WWE in the rankings war, that WCW need to defeat the NWO in an ultimate showdown. I think that needed to happen & it never did.
For one I never in a million years would have had Randy Savage join the NWO. It was he who Hogan leg dropped to officially spark the start of the NWO on July 7th, 1996 at the Bash at the Beach in Daytona, Florida. Savage joining to me was a representation of giving up. The white flag blowing hard in the wind. No more fight, but a surrender. I also think it was a mistake to have Bret Hart join. When brought in, he should have been used as the heavy artillery to help combat the NWO. The ally, the savior if you will that joins WCW in an effort to defeat the NWO. For the record I never would have had Stevie Ray join either.
Here's how I would have booked things.....
I'd have had NWO get the best of WCW wrestlers throughout the rest of 1996. As NWO remains a strong unit, there is still dissension within WCW. The Four Horsemen while fighting the NWO is still fighting others in WCW. As suggestions are made for the Four Horsemen to join up in an effort against the NWO, at first they outright refuse. Flair as their spokesman says that the Four Horsemen need each other & only each other. Yet as time goes on, as a consultant for the Horsemen it becomes subtly clear that Arn Anderson thinks Flair should consider WCW's offer.
On an episode of Nitro, the NWO gets the best of the Four Horsemen. Causing serious damage to Anderson & hospitalizing him. A week later Flair comes out with the rest of the Horsemen & cuts a promo saying "All right!! Enough!!!" If joining the rest of WCW in order to defeat the NWO is what it is going to take, then that's what he's going to do. He issues a challenge to NWO. At Starrcade 12-27-1998 he wants a series of nine matches. Whoever wins the most matches takes complete control. Meaning that the NWO gets to run the show if they win & the NWO has to disband & do as WCW tells them if they win.
NWO agrees to the terms.
Here's the card.
I think this would be a great opener for the Pay Per View between two solid technicians with an assortment of fun aerial maneuvers. A straight forward match with no outside interference. Keep it a good 6-8 minutes with Syxx catching Malenko coming off the turnbuckle with a facebuster for the 1-2-3.
Billed & hyped up as a grudge match between two brothers based on ultimate betrayal. Scott not only turns on Rick as he did, but he consistently cost Rick matches. This will be the first time Rick has had an opportunity to seek vengeance. As a very competitive match nears its end, Scott pulls a dirty tactic such as a low blow or salt in the eyes. It looks hopeless for team WCW as Scott puts Rick in the Steiner-Recliner. Yet he cannot get Rick to submit as Rick slowly begins to inch his way out of the move. Finally he gets to his feet with Scott still on his back, he falls backwards pinning Scott's shoulders to the mat for the victory. 12-15 minutes ought to do it.
NWO of course has to resort to dirty, lowdown tactics throughout the night & I think it would be appropriate for a series of these to happen in this match. Wrestling wise it is clear that Harlem Heart is the better team but V&D pick up the W through cheating. I'm picturing a scenario of either Booker T or Stevie Ray being taken out, unable to get back in the ring before the end of a count-out. 10 minutes allotted for the match.
I can't see this match being anything other than a classic. Two of the greatest in ring talents of all time going head to head. I'd want to give this one twenty minutes in order to get the full story told to the best of its ability. I'd trust these guys to put on an 11/10 match. Hart goes over via submission with the Sharpshooter.
I never felt that Brian Adams had a large enough role in the NWO. Honestly I felt that was just sort of their. Sort of as filler. Not sure what to do with him, so let's just put him in the NWO. A big fan of Adams, I felt that they could have used him better. Here's what I would have done...
Adams is the one that puts Anderson out. Adams is the one that hospitalizes him which leads to Flair deciding to join up with team WCW in the war against NWO.
Give this match 10 minutes & it ends in a Double Disqualification, so no win for either team.
I'd give this one 12-15 minutes of the Giant having the upperhand due to his size & strength, but with small increments of Savage using his speed & agility for hope-spots. Ending here would be a removed turnbuckle pad, Giant goes to smash Savage's head into it, Savage blocks & rams his head into it instead. Savage climbs the ropes, hits the elbow & that's a victory for WCW.
Tornado style tag team match given about 15 minutes on the card. Two referees assigned to this match. At the end of the match, at the exact same time, Nash hits Luger with a jacknife powerbomb & Sting hits Hall with a Scorpion Death Drop. Both referees count to three in sync. As the one ref raises the hand of Nash, the other raises the hand of Sting. Confusion & controversy to the anger of both teams, the match is then officially declared a draw.
In seven matches, two of which ended indecisive, WCW leads 3 to 2 headed into match eight.
Headed into the match, team WCW is rallying up behind Hennig letting him know what is riding on the line. One more win for team WCW, this one is in the bag. He heads out to the ring to take on Michael Wallstreet. The two meet in the middle of the ring as Wallstreet grabs a microphone & begins to ridicule him & the WCW. Hennig snatches it out of his hand & begins to ridicule Wallstreet and the NWO. He says he is hear to win this match & it'll be the end of the NWO. The bell rings & Hennig falls immediately to his back without being touched by Wallstreet. Wallstreet covers him & secures the 1-2-3. Hennig then celebrates with Wallstreet as the NWO's newest member.
Tied at 3 matches apiece this is where all the marbles are on the line. Winner takes all. Desperate for a victory, we see both NWO & WCW got to every level necessary to win this match. Towards the end, it looks like an NWO victory is inevitable. I want Piper so beat up, so beat down, that the idea of a team WCW victory seems impossible. When I say I want things to appear hopeless, I want them to appear hopeless.
Hogan stands a groggy Piper who can barely stand on his feet up & slaps him across the face. He then shouts, "Die WCW die!!" as he goes to slap Piper again. Piper ducks & with the last ounce of energy he has slaps a sleeper onto Hogan. Hogan tries to fight it but Piper holds on as he slowly puts Hogan to sleep. The ref raises his arm & lets it drop three times to what it is hopefully the roar of applause. Team WCW takes control & this is the official end of the NWO.
This is what I would have done because I believe WCW needed a clear & decisive victory over the NWO, that was a finalization of the end of the war. This is how I would have done it.
With that said, mistakes were made. The faction lasted too long & got too powerful. There were members that never should have joined. I truly believe that in terms of WCW vs WWE in the rankings war, that WCW need to defeat the NWO in an ultimate showdown. I think that needed to happen & it never did.
For one I never in a million years would have had Randy Savage join the NWO. It was he who Hogan leg dropped to officially spark the start of the NWO on July 7th, 1996 at the Bash at the Beach in Daytona, Florida. Savage joining to me was a representation of giving up. The white flag blowing hard in the wind. No more fight, but a surrender. I also think it was a mistake to have Bret Hart join. When brought in, he should have been used as the heavy artillery to help combat the NWO. The ally, the savior if you will that joins WCW in an effort to defeat the NWO. For the record I never would have had Stevie Ray join either.
Here's how I would have booked things.....
I'd have had NWO get the best of WCW wrestlers throughout the rest of 1996. As NWO remains a strong unit, there is still dissension within WCW. The Four Horsemen while fighting the NWO is still fighting others in WCW. As suggestions are made for the Four Horsemen to join up in an effort against the NWO, at first they outright refuse. Flair as their spokesman says that the Four Horsemen need each other & only each other. Yet as time goes on, as a consultant for the Horsemen it becomes subtly clear that Arn Anderson thinks Flair should consider WCW's offer.
On an episode of Nitro, the NWO gets the best of the Four Horsemen. Causing serious damage to Anderson & hospitalizing him. A week later Flair comes out with the rest of the Horsemen & cuts a promo saying "All right!! Enough!!!" If joining the rest of WCW in order to defeat the NWO is what it is going to take, then that's what he's going to do. He issues a challenge to NWO. At Starrcade 12-27-1998 he wants a series of nine matches. Whoever wins the most matches takes complete control. Meaning that the NWO gets to run the show if they win & the NWO has to disband & do as WCW tells them if they win.
NWO agrees to the terms.
Here's the card.
 |
| Syxx Vs Dean Malenko |
I think this would be a great opener for the Pay Per View between two solid technicians with an assortment of fun aerial maneuvers. A straight forward match with no outside interference. Keep it a good 6-8 minutes with Syxx catching Malenko coming off the turnbuckle with a facebuster for the 1-2-3.
 |
| Scott Steiner Vs Rick Steiner |
Billed & hyped up as a grudge match between two brothers based on ultimate betrayal. Scott not only turns on Rick as he did, but he consistently cost Rick matches. This will be the first time Rick has had an opportunity to seek vengeance. As a very competitive match nears its end, Scott pulls a dirty tactic such as a low blow or salt in the eyes. It looks hopeless for team WCW as Scott puts Rick in the Steiner-Recliner. Yet he cannot get Rick to submit as Rick slowly begins to inch his way out of the move. Finally he gets to his feet with Scott still on his back, he falls backwards pinning Scott's shoulders to the mat for the victory. 12-15 minutes ought to do it.
 |
| Vicious & Delicious Vs Harlem Heat |
NWO of course has to resort to dirty, lowdown tactics throughout the night & I think it would be appropriate for a series of these to happen in this match. Wrestling wise it is clear that Harlem Heart is the better team but V&D pick up the W through cheating. I'm picturing a scenario of either Booker T or Stevie Ray being taken out, unable to get back in the ring before the end of a count-out. 10 minutes allotted for the match.
 |
| The Great Muta Vs Bret Hart |
I can't see this match being anything other than a classic. Two of the greatest in ring talents of all time going head to head. I'd want to give this one twenty minutes in order to get the full story told to the best of its ability. I'd trust these guys to put on an 11/10 match. Hart goes over via submission with the Sharpshooter.
 |
| Brian Adams Vs Ric Flair |
I never felt that Brian Adams had a large enough role in the NWO. Honestly I felt that was just sort of their. Sort of as filler. Not sure what to do with him, so let's just put him in the NWO. A big fan of Adams, I felt that they could have used him better. Here's what I would have done...
Adams is the one that puts Anderson out. Adams is the one that hospitalizes him which leads to Flair deciding to join up with team WCW in the war against NWO.
Give this match 10 minutes & it ends in a Double Disqualification, so no win for either team.
 |
| The Giant Vs Randy Savage |
I'd give this one 12-15 minutes of the Giant having the upperhand due to his size & strength, but with small increments of Savage using his speed & agility for hope-spots. Ending here would be a removed turnbuckle pad, Giant goes to smash Savage's head into it, Savage blocks & rams his head into it instead. Savage climbs the ropes, hits the elbow & that's a victory for WCW.
 |
| The Outsiders Vs Lex Luger & Sting |
Tornado style tag team match given about 15 minutes on the card. Two referees assigned to this match. At the end of the match, at the exact same time, Nash hits Luger with a jacknife powerbomb & Sting hits Hall with a Scorpion Death Drop. Both referees count to three in sync. As the one ref raises the hand of Nash, the other raises the hand of Sting. Confusion & controversy to the anger of both teams, the match is then officially declared a draw.
In seven matches, two of which ended indecisive, WCW leads 3 to 2 headed into match eight.
 |
| Michael Wallstreet Vs Curt Hennig |
Headed into the match, team WCW is rallying up behind Hennig letting him know what is riding on the line. One more win for team WCW, this one is in the bag. He heads out to the ring to take on Michael Wallstreet. The two meet in the middle of the ring as Wallstreet grabs a microphone & begins to ridicule him & the WCW. Hennig snatches it out of his hand & begins to ridicule Wallstreet and the NWO. He says he is hear to win this match & it'll be the end of the NWO. The bell rings & Hennig falls immediately to his back without being touched by Wallstreet. Wallstreet covers him & secures the 1-2-3. Hennig then celebrates with Wallstreet as the NWO's newest member.
 |
| Hulk Hogan Vs Roddy Piper |
Tied at 3 matches apiece this is where all the marbles are on the line. Winner takes all. Desperate for a victory, we see both NWO & WCW got to every level necessary to win this match. Towards the end, it looks like an NWO victory is inevitable. I want Piper so beat up, so beat down, that the idea of a team WCW victory seems impossible. When I say I want things to appear hopeless, I want them to appear hopeless.
Hogan stands a groggy Piper who can barely stand on his feet up & slaps him across the face. He then shouts, "Die WCW die!!" as he goes to slap Piper again. Piper ducks & with the last ounce of energy he has slaps a sleeper onto Hogan. Hogan tries to fight it but Piper holds on as he slowly puts Hogan to sleep. The ref raises his arm & lets it drop three times to what it is hopefully the roar of applause. Team WCW takes control & this is the official end of the NWO.
This is what I would have done because I believe WCW needed a clear & decisive victory over the NWO, that was a finalization of the end of the war. This is how I would have done it.
Wednesday, July 1, 2020
Could Bart Gunn's Career have been Salvaged After His Loss to Butterbean?
The ugliness of politics within professional wrestling has always been something that has turned me off. With all of the intriguing characters & mesmerizing storylines that have kept me hooked throughout the years, the petty b.s. behind why someone's career ends up not going as far as it should has always pushed me away.
I was always a fan of Bart Gunn's. Ever since his arrival in WWE as one half of the popular tag team The Smokin' Gunns, I thought he was a talent. To call his career a complete bust would be unfair, as along with Billy Gunn he held the coveted WWE tag team championship on three occasions. However post his time with Billy, his career fizzled in the WWE & never recovered....although by all means it should have.
I've heard Bruce Pritchard shoot on Bart Gunn saying that they were unable to get him over after the breakup of the Smokin' Gunns. I think that was at the fault of the company & not Bart Gunn's. The feud with Billy Gunn was starting to get steam & then ended up going nowhere with a ridiculous kayfabe injury angle that had Billy Gunn's wife screaming like a lunatic at the end of the match, "He's your brother!!!' It reminded me a lot of when Strike Force broke up & how Tito Santana Vs Rick Martel could've been a great grudge match, but it never came to fruition. It was no different here. Billy Gunn Vs Bart Gunn could have been a great opener for a PPV, but it was instead put as a throw away match on television, with one of the stupidest finishes ever seen in a wrestling match.
So then they job him out in a series of matches to other top talent before throwing him together with Bob Holly as the New Midnight Express. While both great workers & essentially what could have been a good tag team, neither was into the gimmick of trying to duplicate the past. They both wanted to do their own thing & have their own unique voice. It was clear that it was something that they were thrown into & had no passion for.
Then of course the Brawl For All, which everyone by now knows the story. He went in and won a tournament designed for Steve Williams. As a result of combining his amateur wrestling skills, with his brawling skills to show his legit toughness, he was punished. Instead of thinking of ways to capitalize upon his success & make him into something as they should have, they thought of ways to sabotage him instead.
Vince Russo said, "we had nothing for him." And I just have to say one way or another that is complete bullshit. A, if Vince Russo is the talent he claims to be as a writer & as a creator, then it should have been more than doable to find an angle for Bart Gunn. Or it means B, Vince Russo isn't as talented as he thinks he was & it's bullshit that he was one of the people in charge. My opinion. Take it as it is. Either Russo is a liar or he's full of it. I'm sure Jim Cornette would say, "C" the option for both.
I've heard others say that sticking him in the boxing match with Eric "Butterbean" Esch was the point of no return. That once he was humiliated by Butterbean there was no turning back. No saving his career in the WWE. It was through. It was finished.
I can't say I agree with that.
There's something that I would have wanted to have tried. I can't say that it would have worked or that Butterbean would have agreed to it, but I can say that I have enough confidence within it that I would have tried it.
I would have made Butterbean the ultimate heel. Had him on television bragging about what he did to Bart Gunn. Calling wrestlers pussies & saying that boxers are so much better & so much tougher. Riling up the audience calling them fans of wimps & how they should really be watching boxing instead.
That's when Bart Gunn comes in & says to the effect, "You're a boxer that beat a wrestler in boxing. If you're that good, how about we play my game? How about you the boxer step into my ring & see if you can't beat me as wrestling?"
This leads to the Bart Gunn Redemption. The two meet at SummerSlam, Bart not only avenges his loss to Butterbean but wrestling's loss to boxing.
I think that not only could have saved Bart Gunn's career, I think it could have excelled it. I really do.
Granted, he did go on to have six years of success in Japan including holding both the All Japan tag team titles & the New Japan tag team titles, but I think his career in the WWE didn't have to end when it did.
As of how he'll always be remembered as is Marty Jannetty is to the Rockers, the "other" Smokin' Gunn & the "Brawl For All guy."
It's a shame because in my opinion the guy was a real talent. Maybe not World champion material, but a contender for the I.C. title for sure.
Monday, June 29, 2020
Picture Story
Camping, fishing, nature, being around a warm fire in the darkness of the night. I had been looking forward to this trip since Julie first suggested it to us back in February. Her & her boyfriend Tommy had recently purchased a Mobile home & they were eager to show it off. Iris & I took the tour & couldn't believe the size of it. It was about the size of our apartment & the cost of a small house.
"You have to have a CDL to operate this thing?" I asked Tommy
"Yep." He said back to me. "Had to study up & take a test."
"You and Iris ought to come up to the Lake with us." Julie said to me.
I looked at Iris. She didn't have to answer. I could tell by the look in her eyes that she was all for it.
"You mean Superior?"
"No. Much smaller lake. Tommy & I usually go a few times a year."
"When are you thinking?"
"This spring. As soon as it's warm enough."
I took a look at the little area that I figured would be ours. A small mattress facing a television in a little living room area right off the kitchen. I pictured Iris & I cuddling in the peacefulness of the country, far away from the many sounds that made up our city block.
I found myself talking to Tommy a lot about the trip. He asked me what I knew about fishing & I told him that my grandpa had taken me a few times when I was a kid. It was something I enjoyed but after he passed away, never got back into. Tommy said that we'd fish from a boat, something I've never done but looked very forward to.
"Ever hunted?" He asked one day while showing me his gun.
"No." I said back to him. "I have no real desire to. Nothing against it. I'd be more than happy to go out with you, but I don't think I could pull the trigger."
I wasn't 100% positive that I could even watch Tommy kill a squirrel or a deer or whatever he planned to shoot, but I knew for a fact that I couldn't do it myself.
"Well, we don't have to do it." He said as he put the gun back in its case. "We can just stick to fishing."
I liked Tommy, he had a way of reading people. I think he knew that I didn't want to watch him shoot anything, but I wanted to remain open to the views of others. It was Julie that was Iris's friend, but the more I got to know Tommy the more interesting I found him. I looked forward to getting to know him on this trip.
Curiosity got the best of me as I found myself on the internet one day. In Minnesota "The Lake" can literally refer to 10,000 different places. When Julie said the one we were going to was a little less than two hours northwest, I decided to look it up. It was near an itty bitty town named Orr. A population less than three hundred people, but a personality I'd find out in reading of its history every bit as big as Duluth's.
It took long enough. April was far colder than it should have been & it took May all of 25 days to warm up to a respectable temperature but Iris had good news for me when I arrived home.
"Tommy & Julie want to go out this weekend." She said to me. "They're picking us up at four tomorrow & we'll get home late Sunday night."
I sat up in the front with Tommy the whole way up there as Iris & Julie sat in the back. I didn't think much of it when Tommy said something that I'd later find out would change the entire course of the trip. In fact, I simply said, "oh, ok" not giving it another thought.
"We have some other people that might be camping beside us." He said. "Friends of Julie's."
My thought was "cool." I enjoyed getting to know new people. I switched the subject back to fishing as Tommy told me the finer details of cleaning and cooking fish.
We pulled into our site & as we got out, Tommy asked me if I'd got out into the woods to collect firewood.
I didn't think much of it & began to walk towards the wooded area.
"Watch for bears." He said with a smile.
I was from northeastern Missouri. We didn't have bears there. I knew bears & Minnesota were a thing, but not something I had worry about much in Duluth.
"I have wood in here." He laughed as he opened up a compartment on the side of the mobile home. "Here help me carry this."
"You don't think Bears will come up to the campsite do you?" I asked him as we laid the wood down in pile.
"Na." He said to me as he pointed to an area full of trees. "As long as you don't go up into their you should be fine. This area is too populated with people. I wouldn't worry about it."
And with that he motioned me to follow him as he suggested that we take a ride around the lake in a boat.
"You know there was a time when I could swim from one end to the other without taking a break."
"Seriously?" I questioned.
"Oh Yeah." He said as he took a look around. "I was on the swim team in high school. Never fast enough to get my name on any walls or in any books, but I built up serious stamina. I could go on forever."
"Think you still could?"
"Ha! I'd be lucky if I made it a fourth of the way. I'd drown."
The further we got away from the land, the more I began to inspect my life jacket. It was good and tight.
"You do any sports in school?" He asked as we began to circle back.
"uh." I thought for a minute on whether to be honest or not. "Yeah, sorta."
Tommy laughed not sure what to make of my statement. "What do you mean sorta?"
"Bowling" I said it quick & barely loud enough for him to hear. I guess it was unfair of me to anticipate his response. At my high school the Bowling team was laughed at. The football players, the wrestlers, the basketball players, Hell even the track team made fun of us. They were the "real" athletes. We didn't have a swim team, but I'm sure if we would have they would have given us shit too.
"Were you any good?" He asked.
"Decent." I said to him. "Good enough to earn a bronze medal at the conference meet my junior & senior seasons. Captain of the team."
"Hey that ain't bad."
I wondered if his sincerity would have been as genuine had he known that I was the only senior on a co-ed team of seven kids. Three of them female, two of them in Special Ed, & the foreign exchange student named Emalai who rode home on the wrong team bus after the conference tournament.
As we headed back to dock the boat, I thought of how in both my junior & senior years, no one had given a shit that I had placed third at the conference tournament. Every time the football team won a game we'd hold a pep rally, the town would throw a parade & it'd be front page news. My mom had to drive to Hannibal to get a copy of the bowling results from conference. Our paper "forgot" to mention them. I guess I am featured on one third of a page in the year book we had to share with the Chess & debate teams. You need to put your glasses on to see it but about an inch tall by an inch wide is a photograph of me standing in the third place slot. Better than my junior year, it wasn't even mentioned. All the other sports got at least a full page. Some even got two. Basketball three. Football four.
I was lost in my own world thinking of the past when suddenly it be came my present.
"Dilly!!"
I looked up & there he was. Walt Gould. Captain of the football team, the basketball team & the track team. The star athlete of our school. I had heard that he had gotten a scholarship to a small school where he continued to excel in all three sports. I never bothered to find out where.
"You two know each other." I starred at Walt as Tommy asked me the question. It shocked Iris, Julie & the other woman sitting there as much as it did him.
"Yeah." I said ready to call the little over an hour I had spent here a weekend & head back home.
Instead I just sat there as Walt Gould continued to call me Dilly & brag about all of the accomplishments he had made during his life.
It didn't take long for Iris to get annoyed by Walt's arrogance as she kept it polite but stern, "His name is Bert. He goes by Bert now."
"DIL-Bert." Walt may have been able to take a football across a goal line & put a ball into a basket, but his comedic skills left much to be desired. Nevertheless I put my hand on Iris's leg & gently tapped it to let her know it wasn't worth the effort. Walt Gould loved to push people's buttons & ten years prior when he was a senior & I was a freshman we tried playing the "My name isn't Dilly, it's Bert" game. Held down by the head with one arm & having my underwear yanked up my rectum with the other, gave that fight a W in win/loss record of Walt Gould.
To tell the truth as we sat their by the fire it didn't bother me to hear him brag about himself. He had gone to Carleton College in Northfield. All conference in football three years straight. All American in Basketball & a NCAA Division III champion in track. He had been named the MIAC (Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference) athlete of the year. He let us know all about it. He had dated & eventually married the hottest girl on campus & now the two of them were raising two strapping young lads destined for the same athletic prowess, while he coached basketball at Rainey River Community college in International Falls.
It's when he started taking shots at me that I began get irritated. Not enough to do anything about it, but enough to let it bother me.
"What are you up to these days Dilly?"
Iris, Julie, Tommy & Walt's wife whose name I still had yet to learn sat looking at me in anticipation of my answer. I think Tommy wanted me to grab one of the logs in the fire & smack it straight across Walt's face. Julie's eyes were a mixture of guilt & regret. I wanted to say to her that I wasn't angry with her. There's no way she could have known that her friend's husband had been a former tormentor of mine. Iris...I wasn't able to look at Iris. I thought maybe she might be ashamed of me not standing up for myself. Walt's wife? I couldn't tell. She was either embarrassed by her husband's braggadocios demeanor or she was turned on by it.
"I work in Duluth" I said hoping to leave it at that.
"What do you do there? Work at a bowling ally?"
Boy didn't Walt think that was a good one as he cracked open a can of beer & laughed a way. Before I could tell him that I worked for the Tribune selling advertisements, he continued to make guesses.
"Waitress at the bowling ally?" He continued to laugh. "Serving up them cokes and chips to the mighty bowlers of Duluth?"
He stopped laughing at his own joke long enough to see that none of the rest of us got the joke. He took another sip of his beer as he felt a need to explain.
"You see here Tommy." He said. "Oh Dilly here was captain of the bowling team in high school."
Walt expected Tommy to scoff at me the way he did, but he didn't.
"I know." Tommy said much to Walt's dissatisfaction. "He said he earned All conference honors twice."
Walt raised his eyebrows in confusion as he turned his attention to me. "You won conference bowling?"
"No." I said to him. "took third."
He scoffed again.
"How many teams were in your conference?" Tommy asked.
"Twelve" I answered.
"Top three out of twelve two years in a row?" He asked. "I find that pretty impressive."
I forgot to mention to him that only nine of the twelve schools in our conference sponsored bowling but he didn't know that & luckily for me, neither did Walt.
Walt had looked for a companion, a fellow bully to ridicule me into feeling bad about myself that I wasn't the star athlete that he was, nor did I have the exciting job of coaching junior college basketball. I could tell it pissed him off that Tommy wasn't here to join in on his fun.
"You an athlete?" Walt asked as he threw an empty beer can into the fire.
"Swimmer."
Walt thought a moment. Figured to himself it wasn't football or basketball but it was still better than bowling.
"Looks like I'm the only real athlete here." He grabbed another can of beer. "A man among..."
He hesitated as he looked at Tommy & I.
"A man among, a man. Himself"
That's when Tommy had enough.
"If you were that good of an athlete why didn't you go Division I?"
Walt stood up as Tommy remained seated.
"Carleton is Division III ain't it?" Tommy looked right at Walt never taking his eyes off of him. "Don't the best go DI?"
Walt clenched the can of beer so tight in his hand that it splattered up and onto his face.
"I could've gone DI if I wanted to!"
He reached down & grabbed his wife underneath the arm as he yanked her up & started walking towards their car. He said something to her but I couldn't make it out.
"No we're not leaving." She said to him. "You've had too many tonight & I'm not driving."
"It's only 40 minutes." He yelled.
"Yeah, not tonight."
She sat back down as he remained standing.
"I could beat you at anything at any time." He said as he pointed his index finger at Tommy.
Perhaps the "right thing to do" would have been to have bowed and to let a near drunk man have the satisfaction of believing he was better than you & more importantly believing that you believed it too.
Tommy pointed at the lake.
"Tomorrow morning." He said as he looked back at Walt. "Me & you. We'll have Bert go out in the boat. When you can't swim anymore & you're too tired. It's over. Last man in the water wins."
"You're on."
Walt went back to his camper, parked right beside Tommy's. He walked up the stairs, opened up the front door & slammed it as he went in.
His wife gave Tommy a dirty look & then turned her attention toward's Julie as the look worsened. She soon followed Walt into their camper, slammed door and all.
"I suppose she probably wanted me to just say that I know I couldn't beat him at anything." Tommy said to break the silence.
"Screw what she wants." Iris was the next to speak.
"Are you sure you want to do this?" Julie asked him. "You're not in the same kind of shape you used to be in."
"Neither is he."
With that the subject changed as we roasted marshmallows & talked about more pleasant things. Then we went to bed.
That night I went to bed uneasy about what the morning would hold. If Walt won, that'd probably be the best case scenario. It'd be a day & night filled with him boasting about himself & reminding Tommy of how foolish he was to have ever thought that he a mere mortal could beat a God like him in any physical contest.
The idea of Tommy winning actually scared me. A guy like Walt was anything but gracious & if Tommy defeated him, it might drive him crazy. Maybe even to the point of violence. I fell in and out of sleep, dreaming each time. One dream was Walt pulling a knife. The next was a gun. Then the last was him figuring out a way to push Tommy's mobile home into the lake will all of us trapped inside. Humorous as it may sound, knowing Walt as I did from years prior, even that didn't seem unrealistic.
I woke in the morning before everyone else. I laid in bed for a while as I watched Irish sleep. She has a funny way of sleeping that makes it easy to tell that she's actually asleep & not just lying their with her eyes closed. She tilts her head back with her chin pointed towards the air as she makes faint "caw" noises like a bird. I thought about waking her up & seeing if we couldn't quietly sneak away. My intuition sensed that someone bad was going to happen & I didn't want to be a part of it. Yet I also knew that it wouldn't be right of be to leave Tommy alone to deal with Walt. It wasn't the first situation in my life where damned was the only option I had.
Tommy came into the kitchen already wearing a pair of swimming trunks. My hope that maybe he'd try & talk Walt out of this ego measuring contest was quickly laid to rest. He sat down on the floor & began doing stretches.
"Ate some garlic about a half hour ago." He said to me. "Supposedly helps with conditioning."
"Heard eating pears can have a similar effect." I said to him. "You really think you can out last Walt today? He was a national champion in track."
"He was a sprinter." Tommy wasn't phased by Walt's credentials. "Those guys never go long distances. Besides, swimming is a whole new ball game."
It wasn't long after that Julie & Iris were up, as the four of us sat & ate breakfast. Tommy of course having nothing but a small glass of energy drink.
When we walked outside Walt was standing their in nothing but his pair of trunks.
"Was wondering if you were ever gonna come out." He said as his wife soon appeared from behind his camper. "Thought as long as it took you to get out here, you might be forfeiting."
"You ready?" Tommy asked as he took off his shirt. "Cause I am."
Along with Iris & Julie, I went and took Tommy's boat about 25 feet from the dock. My job was to keep the boat within 10 feet or so of the two of them as they raced. Walt's wife decided to watch from the shore.
"Back & forth as many times as you can." Tommy explained to Walt. "No stopping for breathers. You reach the other side, you immediately turn around & come back."
"Yeah, yeah." Walt said as he got in position to dive in. "Try and keep up."
"There's a gun in the cockpit" Tommy yelled at me. "Count to twenty or so & then fire it."
As I looked into the cockpit, I noticed an emergency tube. One of those that will inflate upon pulling a string. It stuck out to me as if I were meant to see it & I'd find out soon why. I grabbed the flare gun, counted to 10 and fired it.
Tommy & Walt dove into the water & began to swim near us. When they got within 15 feet, I put the throttle on as low as it would go. Iris & Julie cheered Tommy as Walt's wife screamed at him from the shore.
It was all going well until suddenly Walt let out a yelp of pain. He stopped in the middle of his stroke as he let out another yelp.
"Ah!" He yelled.
It was clear to me that he was suffering a cramp as I yelled out to him.
"Walt you all right?"
Focused on his own swimming Tommy heard me yell & turned around to look at Walt. As he did, Walt disappeared under the water.
"Oh shit!" I yelled as I put the boat into full throttle & turned around to head towards the spot where I thought Walt went under. Tommy took off on a dead sprint back to the same position.
Iris & Julie began to panic as Walt's wife screamed frantically from the shore for us to do something.
I watched the water as Tommy dove down & came back up in a panic. He too was running out of energy & I knew he wasn't going to be able to dive down many more times.
"Jesus." I thought to myself. "I wanted the son of a bitch to be humiliated in a loss today. I didn't want him to die."
Without thought I opened up the cockpit, grabbed the inflatable and dove into the water. I couldn't see a thing as I headed towards the bottom. I had no idea how far down it was or if I'd run out of air before I even got there. I couldn't see a thing as I held on tight to the inflatable with my left hand & felt around with my right.
I thought to myself this might be it for me. This action might be the last I ever took in my life. Here I was trying to save the life of a guy who had done nothing but make my life Hell every chance he got. He picked on me and bullied me when I was in high school, & last night had had been a complete jerk to me. If the circumstances were reversed, I couldn't help but think he wouldn't have done the same for me.
That's when I felt what I felt was his torso. I began to rap the cord around my body as tightly as I could as I grabbed Walt's body in a bearhug & began to frantically search for the pull cord. Time was running out as I felt all over but couldn't feel for it. Had it taken me another 15 seconds I don't think I would've found it. My chance or by miracle, I pulled on the cord and up we went.
I have no idea how Tommy & the women got the two of us onto the boat. I have no idea how long it took Iris doing CPR on Walt to get him to start breathing again or if CPR had even been done on me. I had passed out on our way up & the next thing I remember was being wheeled on a gurney in a hospital in International Falls.
It didn't take long for me to recover. Iris beside me the whole time. Tommy & Julie came & went a few times. Mostly to grab me drinks & food I was craving. I inquired about Walt as Tommy informed me he was a few rooms down recovering. Doctors thought there was a chance that he might have brain damage from being deprived of Oxygen for as long as he was.
When I had the energy I took the slow walk to his room to see if he was awake. He wasn't as his wife sat looking at him. She didn't even notice me until I had been standing their a few minutes. She wasn't sure what to say to me as she slowly walked up to me & gave me a hug.
"Thank you." It was faint & it was the only thing that was said.
I went back to my room as Iris lay "Cawing" in a chair that I knew was far too uncomfortable to ever fall asleep in. That's how exhausted she was.
I sat in the bed & thought about life. Everything that I had done up to that point. All that might happen to me in the future. And how less than two days before, it all could have came to an end.
The door began to open. Figuring it was Tommy I said, "You get me those wings I asked for?"
A small child came into the room. He wasn't probably five years old at the most.
"Are you lost bud?" I asked him as he stared at me.
He looked nervous as he chewed on his thumb. He never took his eyes off of me.
"Are you looking for your mom & your dad?" I asked him
He still didn't say anything as he starred.
"Are you the hero?"
His question caught me off guard as a woman walked in.
"Cody!" She said, "There you are."
She looked up at me, "I'm so sorry. He knows better than to do this."
They were gone before I could process a response as Iris began to wake.
"A kid came in and asked if I was a hero." I told her.
"The doctors must be talking about what you did." She said back to me. "And you are."
We left the hospital the next morning as I sat in the passenger seat next to Tommy as we headed down the road to Duluth.
"Looky here." He said to me as he handed me a paper
I unfolded it to read Local Sports Legend Survives Death Scare
The article was all about Walt. His accomplishments in high school, his accomplishments at Carleton & his accomplishments as the head coach of the Rainy River Community College Men's basketball team. His wife's name, "Beth" printed nice and neat. The rest of us were referred to as, "acquaintances."
I shook my head and laughed as I laid down the paper.
"Hey if you never get to do another important thing in you life." Tommy said to me. "At least you had the privilege of saving the life of a legend."
The two of us laughed as I looked off into the clouds. I wondered do we have purpose? Do we have meaning? If we do, what was mine? Why was I put on this earth? Maybe it really was to save the life of Walt Gould. Should I feel guilty for hoping there's more to it than that?
"You have to have a CDL to operate this thing?" I asked Tommy
"Yep." He said back to me. "Had to study up & take a test."
"You and Iris ought to come up to the Lake with us." Julie said to me.
I looked at Iris. She didn't have to answer. I could tell by the look in her eyes that she was all for it.
"You mean Superior?"
"No. Much smaller lake. Tommy & I usually go a few times a year."
"When are you thinking?"
"This spring. As soon as it's warm enough."
I took a look at the little area that I figured would be ours. A small mattress facing a television in a little living room area right off the kitchen. I pictured Iris & I cuddling in the peacefulness of the country, far away from the many sounds that made up our city block.
I found myself talking to Tommy a lot about the trip. He asked me what I knew about fishing & I told him that my grandpa had taken me a few times when I was a kid. It was something I enjoyed but after he passed away, never got back into. Tommy said that we'd fish from a boat, something I've never done but looked very forward to.
"Ever hunted?" He asked one day while showing me his gun.
"No." I said back to him. "I have no real desire to. Nothing against it. I'd be more than happy to go out with you, but I don't think I could pull the trigger."
I wasn't 100% positive that I could even watch Tommy kill a squirrel or a deer or whatever he planned to shoot, but I knew for a fact that I couldn't do it myself.
"Well, we don't have to do it." He said as he put the gun back in its case. "We can just stick to fishing."
I liked Tommy, he had a way of reading people. I think he knew that I didn't want to watch him shoot anything, but I wanted to remain open to the views of others. It was Julie that was Iris's friend, but the more I got to know Tommy the more interesting I found him. I looked forward to getting to know him on this trip.
Curiosity got the best of me as I found myself on the internet one day. In Minnesota "The Lake" can literally refer to 10,000 different places. When Julie said the one we were going to was a little less than two hours northwest, I decided to look it up. It was near an itty bitty town named Orr. A population less than three hundred people, but a personality I'd find out in reading of its history every bit as big as Duluth's.
It took long enough. April was far colder than it should have been & it took May all of 25 days to warm up to a respectable temperature but Iris had good news for me when I arrived home.
"Tommy & Julie want to go out this weekend." She said to me. "They're picking us up at four tomorrow & we'll get home late Sunday night."
I sat up in the front with Tommy the whole way up there as Iris & Julie sat in the back. I didn't think much of it when Tommy said something that I'd later find out would change the entire course of the trip. In fact, I simply said, "oh, ok" not giving it another thought.
"We have some other people that might be camping beside us." He said. "Friends of Julie's."
My thought was "cool." I enjoyed getting to know new people. I switched the subject back to fishing as Tommy told me the finer details of cleaning and cooking fish.
We pulled into our site & as we got out, Tommy asked me if I'd got out into the woods to collect firewood.
I didn't think much of it & began to walk towards the wooded area.
"Watch for bears." He said with a smile.
I was from northeastern Missouri. We didn't have bears there. I knew bears & Minnesota were a thing, but not something I had worry about much in Duluth.
"I have wood in here." He laughed as he opened up a compartment on the side of the mobile home. "Here help me carry this."
"You don't think Bears will come up to the campsite do you?" I asked him as we laid the wood down in pile.
"Na." He said to me as he pointed to an area full of trees. "As long as you don't go up into their you should be fine. This area is too populated with people. I wouldn't worry about it."
And with that he motioned me to follow him as he suggested that we take a ride around the lake in a boat.
"You know there was a time when I could swim from one end to the other without taking a break."
"Seriously?" I questioned.
"Oh Yeah." He said as he took a look around. "I was on the swim team in high school. Never fast enough to get my name on any walls or in any books, but I built up serious stamina. I could go on forever."
"Think you still could?"
"Ha! I'd be lucky if I made it a fourth of the way. I'd drown."
The further we got away from the land, the more I began to inspect my life jacket. It was good and tight.
"You do any sports in school?" He asked as we began to circle back.
"uh." I thought for a minute on whether to be honest or not. "Yeah, sorta."
Tommy laughed not sure what to make of my statement. "What do you mean sorta?"
"Bowling" I said it quick & barely loud enough for him to hear. I guess it was unfair of me to anticipate his response. At my high school the Bowling team was laughed at. The football players, the wrestlers, the basketball players, Hell even the track team made fun of us. They were the "real" athletes. We didn't have a swim team, but I'm sure if we would have they would have given us shit too.
"Were you any good?" He asked.
"Decent." I said to him. "Good enough to earn a bronze medal at the conference meet my junior & senior seasons. Captain of the team."
"Hey that ain't bad."
I wondered if his sincerity would have been as genuine had he known that I was the only senior on a co-ed team of seven kids. Three of them female, two of them in Special Ed, & the foreign exchange student named Emalai who rode home on the wrong team bus after the conference tournament.
As we headed back to dock the boat, I thought of how in both my junior & senior years, no one had given a shit that I had placed third at the conference tournament. Every time the football team won a game we'd hold a pep rally, the town would throw a parade & it'd be front page news. My mom had to drive to Hannibal to get a copy of the bowling results from conference. Our paper "forgot" to mention them. I guess I am featured on one third of a page in the year book we had to share with the Chess & debate teams. You need to put your glasses on to see it but about an inch tall by an inch wide is a photograph of me standing in the third place slot. Better than my junior year, it wasn't even mentioned. All the other sports got at least a full page. Some even got two. Basketball three. Football four.
I was lost in my own world thinking of the past when suddenly it be came my present.
"Dilly!!"
I looked up & there he was. Walt Gould. Captain of the football team, the basketball team & the track team. The star athlete of our school. I had heard that he had gotten a scholarship to a small school where he continued to excel in all three sports. I never bothered to find out where.
"You two know each other." I starred at Walt as Tommy asked me the question. It shocked Iris, Julie & the other woman sitting there as much as it did him.
"Yeah." I said ready to call the little over an hour I had spent here a weekend & head back home.
Instead I just sat there as Walt Gould continued to call me Dilly & brag about all of the accomplishments he had made during his life.
It didn't take long for Iris to get annoyed by Walt's arrogance as she kept it polite but stern, "His name is Bert. He goes by Bert now."
"DIL-Bert." Walt may have been able to take a football across a goal line & put a ball into a basket, but his comedic skills left much to be desired. Nevertheless I put my hand on Iris's leg & gently tapped it to let her know it wasn't worth the effort. Walt Gould loved to push people's buttons & ten years prior when he was a senior & I was a freshman we tried playing the "My name isn't Dilly, it's Bert" game. Held down by the head with one arm & having my underwear yanked up my rectum with the other, gave that fight a W in win/loss record of Walt Gould.
To tell the truth as we sat their by the fire it didn't bother me to hear him brag about himself. He had gone to Carleton College in Northfield. All conference in football three years straight. All American in Basketball & a NCAA Division III champion in track. He had been named the MIAC (Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference) athlete of the year. He let us know all about it. He had dated & eventually married the hottest girl on campus & now the two of them were raising two strapping young lads destined for the same athletic prowess, while he coached basketball at Rainey River Community college in International Falls.
It's when he started taking shots at me that I began get irritated. Not enough to do anything about it, but enough to let it bother me.
"What are you up to these days Dilly?"
Iris, Julie, Tommy & Walt's wife whose name I still had yet to learn sat looking at me in anticipation of my answer. I think Tommy wanted me to grab one of the logs in the fire & smack it straight across Walt's face. Julie's eyes were a mixture of guilt & regret. I wanted to say to her that I wasn't angry with her. There's no way she could have known that her friend's husband had been a former tormentor of mine. Iris...I wasn't able to look at Iris. I thought maybe she might be ashamed of me not standing up for myself. Walt's wife? I couldn't tell. She was either embarrassed by her husband's braggadocios demeanor or she was turned on by it.
"I work in Duluth" I said hoping to leave it at that.
"What do you do there? Work at a bowling ally?"
Boy didn't Walt think that was a good one as he cracked open a can of beer & laughed a way. Before I could tell him that I worked for the Tribune selling advertisements, he continued to make guesses.
"Waitress at the bowling ally?" He continued to laugh. "Serving up them cokes and chips to the mighty bowlers of Duluth?"
He stopped laughing at his own joke long enough to see that none of the rest of us got the joke. He took another sip of his beer as he felt a need to explain.
"You see here Tommy." He said. "Oh Dilly here was captain of the bowling team in high school."
Walt expected Tommy to scoff at me the way he did, but he didn't.
"I know." Tommy said much to Walt's dissatisfaction. "He said he earned All conference honors twice."
Walt raised his eyebrows in confusion as he turned his attention to me. "You won conference bowling?"
"No." I said to him. "took third."
He scoffed again.
"How many teams were in your conference?" Tommy asked.
"Twelve" I answered.
"Top three out of twelve two years in a row?" He asked. "I find that pretty impressive."
I forgot to mention to him that only nine of the twelve schools in our conference sponsored bowling but he didn't know that & luckily for me, neither did Walt.
Walt had looked for a companion, a fellow bully to ridicule me into feeling bad about myself that I wasn't the star athlete that he was, nor did I have the exciting job of coaching junior college basketball. I could tell it pissed him off that Tommy wasn't here to join in on his fun.
"You an athlete?" Walt asked as he threw an empty beer can into the fire.
"Swimmer."
Walt thought a moment. Figured to himself it wasn't football or basketball but it was still better than bowling.
"Looks like I'm the only real athlete here." He grabbed another can of beer. "A man among..."
He hesitated as he looked at Tommy & I.
"A man among, a man. Himself"
That's when Tommy had enough.
"If you were that good of an athlete why didn't you go Division I?"
Walt stood up as Tommy remained seated.
"Carleton is Division III ain't it?" Tommy looked right at Walt never taking his eyes off of him. "Don't the best go DI?"
Walt clenched the can of beer so tight in his hand that it splattered up and onto his face.
"I could've gone DI if I wanted to!"
He reached down & grabbed his wife underneath the arm as he yanked her up & started walking towards their car. He said something to her but I couldn't make it out.
"No we're not leaving." She said to him. "You've had too many tonight & I'm not driving."
"It's only 40 minutes." He yelled.
"Yeah, not tonight."
She sat back down as he remained standing.
"I could beat you at anything at any time." He said as he pointed his index finger at Tommy.
Perhaps the "right thing to do" would have been to have bowed and to let a near drunk man have the satisfaction of believing he was better than you & more importantly believing that you believed it too.
Tommy pointed at the lake.
"Tomorrow morning." He said as he looked back at Walt. "Me & you. We'll have Bert go out in the boat. When you can't swim anymore & you're too tired. It's over. Last man in the water wins."
"You're on."
Walt went back to his camper, parked right beside Tommy's. He walked up the stairs, opened up the front door & slammed it as he went in.
His wife gave Tommy a dirty look & then turned her attention toward's Julie as the look worsened. She soon followed Walt into their camper, slammed door and all.
"I suppose she probably wanted me to just say that I know I couldn't beat him at anything." Tommy said to break the silence.
"Screw what she wants." Iris was the next to speak.
"Are you sure you want to do this?" Julie asked him. "You're not in the same kind of shape you used to be in."
"Neither is he."
With that the subject changed as we roasted marshmallows & talked about more pleasant things. Then we went to bed.
That night I went to bed uneasy about what the morning would hold. If Walt won, that'd probably be the best case scenario. It'd be a day & night filled with him boasting about himself & reminding Tommy of how foolish he was to have ever thought that he a mere mortal could beat a God like him in any physical contest.
The idea of Tommy winning actually scared me. A guy like Walt was anything but gracious & if Tommy defeated him, it might drive him crazy. Maybe even to the point of violence. I fell in and out of sleep, dreaming each time. One dream was Walt pulling a knife. The next was a gun. Then the last was him figuring out a way to push Tommy's mobile home into the lake will all of us trapped inside. Humorous as it may sound, knowing Walt as I did from years prior, even that didn't seem unrealistic.
I woke in the morning before everyone else. I laid in bed for a while as I watched Irish sleep. She has a funny way of sleeping that makes it easy to tell that she's actually asleep & not just lying their with her eyes closed. She tilts her head back with her chin pointed towards the air as she makes faint "caw" noises like a bird. I thought about waking her up & seeing if we couldn't quietly sneak away. My intuition sensed that someone bad was going to happen & I didn't want to be a part of it. Yet I also knew that it wouldn't be right of be to leave Tommy alone to deal with Walt. It wasn't the first situation in my life where damned was the only option I had.
Tommy came into the kitchen already wearing a pair of swimming trunks. My hope that maybe he'd try & talk Walt out of this ego measuring contest was quickly laid to rest. He sat down on the floor & began doing stretches.
"Ate some garlic about a half hour ago." He said to me. "Supposedly helps with conditioning."
"Heard eating pears can have a similar effect." I said to him. "You really think you can out last Walt today? He was a national champion in track."
"He was a sprinter." Tommy wasn't phased by Walt's credentials. "Those guys never go long distances. Besides, swimming is a whole new ball game."
It wasn't long after that Julie & Iris were up, as the four of us sat & ate breakfast. Tommy of course having nothing but a small glass of energy drink.
When we walked outside Walt was standing their in nothing but his pair of trunks.
"Was wondering if you were ever gonna come out." He said as his wife soon appeared from behind his camper. "Thought as long as it took you to get out here, you might be forfeiting."
"You ready?" Tommy asked as he took off his shirt. "Cause I am."
Along with Iris & Julie, I went and took Tommy's boat about 25 feet from the dock. My job was to keep the boat within 10 feet or so of the two of them as they raced. Walt's wife decided to watch from the shore.
"Back & forth as many times as you can." Tommy explained to Walt. "No stopping for breathers. You reach the other side, you immediately turn around & come back."
"Yeah, yeah." Walt said as he got in position to dive in. "Try and keep up."
"There's a gun in the cockpit" Tommy yelled at me. "Count to twenty or so & then fire it."
As I looked into the cockpit, I noticed an emergency tube. One of those that will inflate upon pulling a string. It stuck out to me as if I were meant to see it & I'd find out soon why. I grabbed the flare gun, counted to 10 and fired it.
Tommy & Walt dove into the water & began to swim near us. When they got within 15 feet, I put the throttle on as low as it would go. Iris & Julie cheered Tommy as Walt's wife screamed at him from the shore.
It was all going well until suddenly Walt let out a yelp of pain. He stopped in the middle of his stroke as he let out another yelp.
"Ah!" He yelled.
It was clear to me that he was suffering a cramp as I yelled out to him.
"Walt you all right?"
Focused on his own swimming Tommy heard me yell & turned around to look at Walt. As he did, Walt disappeared under the water.
"Oh shit!" I yelled as I put the boat into full throttle & turned around to head towards the spot where I thought Walt went under. Tommy took off on a dead sprint back to the same position.
Iris & Julie began to panic as Walt's wife screamed frantically from the shore for us to do something.
I watched the water as Tommy dove down & came back up in a panic. He too was running out of energy & I knew he wasn't going to be able to dive down many more times.
"Jesus." I thought to myself. "I wanted the son of a bitch to be humiliated in a loss today. I didn't want him to die."
Without thought I opened up the cockpit, grabbed the inflatable and dove into the water. I couldn't see a thing as I headed towards the bottom. I had no idea how far down it was or if I'd run out of air before I even got there. I couldn't see a thing as I held on tight to the inflatable with my left hand & felt around with my right.
I thought to myself this might be it for me. This action might be the last I ever took in my life. Here I was trying to save the life of a guy who had done nothing but make my life Hell every chance he got. He picked on me and bullied me when I was in high school, & last night had had been a complete jerk to me. If the circumstances were reversed, I couldn't help but think he wouldn't have done the same for me.
That's when I felt what I felt was his torso. I began to rap the cord around my body as tightly as I could as I grabbed Walt's body in a bearhug & began to frantically search for the pull cord. Time was running out as I felt all over but couldn't feel for it. Had it taken me another 15 seconds I don't think I would've found it. My chance or by miracle, I pulled on the cord and up we went.
I have no idea how Tommy & the women got the two of us onto the boat. I have no idea how long it took Iris doing CPR on Walt to get him to start breathing again or if CPR had even been done on me. I had passed out on our way up & the next thing I remember was being wheeled on a gurney in a hospital in International Falls.
It didn't take long for me to recover. Iris beside me the whole time. Tommy & Julie came & went a few times. Mostly to grab me drinks & food I was craving. I inquired about Walt as Tommy informed me he was a few rooms down recovering. Doctors thought there was a chance that he might have brain damage from being deprived of Oxygen for as long as he was.
When I had the energy I took the slow walk to his room to see if he was awake. He wasn't as his wife sat looking at him. She didn't even notice me until I had been standing their a few minutes. She wasn't sure what to say to me as she slowly walked up to me & gave me a hug.
"Thank you." It was faint & it was the only thing that was said.
I went back to my room as Iris lay "Cawing" in a chair that I knew was far too uncomfortable to ever fall asleep in. That's how exhausted she was.
I sat in the bed & thought about life. Everything that I had done up to that point. All that might happen to me in the future. And how less than two days before, it all could have came to an end.
The door began to open. Figuring it was Tommy I said, "You get me those wings I asked for?"
A small child came into the room. He wasn't probably five years old at the most.
"Are you lost bud?" I asked him as he stared at me.
He looked nervous as he chewed on his thumb. He never took his eyes off of me.
"Are you looking for your mom & your dad?" I asked him
He still didn't say anything as he starred.
"Are you the hero?"
His question caught me off guard as a woman walked in.
"Cody!" She said, "There you are."
She looked up at me, "I'm so sorry. He knows better than to do this."
They were gone before I could process a response as Iris began to wake.
"A kid came in and asked if I was a hero." I told her.
"The doctors must be talking about what you did." She said back to me. "And you are."
We left the hospital the next morning as I sat in the passenger seat next to Tommy as we headed down the road to Duluth.
"Looky here." He said to me as he handed me a paper
I unfolded it to read Local Sports Legend Survives Death Scare
The article was all about Walt. His accomplishments in high school, his accomplishments at Carleton & his accomplishments as the head coach of the Rainy River Community College Men's basketball team. His wife's name, "Beth" printed nice and neat. The rest of us were referred to as, "acquaintances."
I shook my head and laughed as I laid down the paper.
"Hey if you never get to do another important thing in you life." Tommy said to me. "At least you had the privilege of saving the life of a legend."
The two of us laughed as I looked off into the clouds. I wondered do we have purpose? Do we have meaning? If we do, what was mine? Why was I put on this earth? Maybe it really was to save the life of Walt Gould. Should I feel guilty for hoping there's more to it than that?
Sunday, June 28, 2020
EARN Your moments: A guide to creating captivating & lasting scenes in your writing.
We've read them in books & we've seen them in television & film. Those pivotal moments designed to create a response, usually sorrow or anger, within the audience. You ever notice how sometimes when those moments happen you are over come with emotion. You clinch your fist, you slam it on the chair, you grit your teeth & your heart beats a little faster. Or perhaps the moment is sad & you cry. We've all read & seen these moments. We've also read a moment in a book or watched it in a film that was meant to create this emotion within us but it didn't. Why is that? Why is it that we can read a scene in one book that has us unabashedly bawling our eyes out & then read the exact same scene in another book & it doesn't phase us in the slightest? Why?
The key as a creative writer is to realize that the moment in itself is NOT what creates the response. The character failing or the character dying is not what makes you cry. It's the buildup to the moment that makes you cry.
If you have doubts as to what I say do me a favor. I want you to go on youtube.com & type in something like, "Saddest movie scenes" or "Heartbreaking movie scenes" or something of the sort. Watch two or three of those montages of various scenes from film & television. You'll begin to notice something. In the films & television shows that you are familiar with, that you have seen, you'll have a stronger response. To those you haven't seen, your response won't be as strong. It isn't necessarily because the moments that you're familiar with are done any better than the ones you're unfamiliar with. It isn't because the scenes are weaker. It's because of the buildup. You know what happened in the book, film or television show prior to the moment.
So it begs the question, how does one earn a moment? How does one make sure that when the moment comes in their novel or screenplay , that they're going to get the response from their audience that they intend?
I'll illustrate through example.
TURNER & HOOCH a film from 1989 about a cop who develops a friendship with a dog who witnessed a murder. (If you haven't seen it, sorry. Maybe we can discuss another film that you have seen.)
At the end of the film, after being shot, Hooch dies on the operating table at the Veterinarian's office & we're all left shedding enough tears to fill the Atlantic. Why is it that Hooch's death has such an effect on us? Why are we as distraught as Turner is? Why? Because the moment was EARNED.
Here's how....
Throughout the film a bond is created between Turner & Hooch, that has us as the audience in turn bond with the characters as well. We sense their comradery & love for one another. That in itself helps to create the response, but it doesn't do so alone.
Three times throughout the film Hooch saves Turner's life.
Turner goes to the hotel looking for Zach Gregory & Gregory sneaks up behind him putting a gun to his head. Gregory has Turner drive him & quick on his feet Turner rams the car into a barricade, sending Gregory flying out through the windshield. When Turner goes to get him Gregory goes to grab his gun & shoot Turner. Right before he is able to, Hooch bites his arm saving Turner from getting shot.
Then in the warehouse, Boyett sneaks up behind Turner & is about to shoot him when Hooch distracts Boyett (getting shot himself in the process). This gives Turner an opportunity to react, shooting Boyett.
Lastly, as Hooch is lying on the floor dying, Howard is about to shoot Turner, when with the last bit of energy he has left Hooch bites Howard on the leg. Turner is then able to overpower Howard & kill him.
Three occasions where if it hadn't been for Hooch, Turner would have been killed.
That's why in the veterinarian's office we empathize with Turner's pain. It's why we hurt as badly as he does. We know that Hooch saved his life three times throughout the film & he was unable to save him in return.
Our tears were earned in that moment.
So as you write, remember that for your most dramatic scenes. Earn those moments!
The key as a creative writer is to realize that the moment in itself is NOT what creates the response. The character failing or the character dying is not what makes you cry. It's the buildup to the moment that makes you cry.
If you have doubts as to what I say do me a favor. I want you to go on youtube.com & type in something like, "Saddest movie scenes" or "Heartbreaking movie scenes" or something of the sort. Watch two or three of those montages of various scenes from film & television. You'll begin to notice something. In the films & television shows that you are familiar with, that you have seen, you'll have a stronger response. To those you haven't seen, your response won't be as strong. It isn't necessarily because the moments that you're familiar with are done any better than the ones you're unfamiliar with. It isn't because the scenes are weaker. It's because of the buildup. You know what happened in the book, film or television show prior to the moment.
So it begs the question, how does one earn a moment? How does one make sure that when the moment comes in their novel or screenplay , that they're going to get the response from their audience that they intend?
I'll illustrate through example.
TURNER & HOOCH a film from 1989 about a cop who develops a friendship with a dog who witnessed a murder. (If you haven't seen it, sorry. Maybe we can discuss another film that you have seen.)
At the end of the film, after being shot, Hooch dies on the operating table at the Veterinarian's office & we're all left shedding enough tears to fill the Atlantic. Why is it that Hooch's death has such an effect on us? Why are we as distraught as Turner is? Why? Because the moment was EARNED.
Here's how....
Throughout the film a bond is created between Turner & Hooch, that has us as the audience in turn bond with the characters as well. We sense their comradery & love for one another. That in itself helps to create the response, but it doesn't do so alone.
Three times throughout the film Hooch saves Turner's life.
Turner goes to the hotel looking for Zach Gregory & Gregory sneaks up behind him putting a gun to his head. Gregory has Turner drive him & quick on his feet Turner rams the car into a barricade, sending Gregory flying out through the windshield. When Turner goes to get him Gregory goes to grab his gun & shoot Turner. Right before he is able to, Hooch bites his arm saving Turner from getting shot.
Then in the warehouse, Boyett sneaks up behind Turner & is about to shoot him when Hooch distracts Boyett (getting shot himself in the process). This gives Turner an opportunity to react, shooting Boyett.
Lastly, as Hooch is lying on the floor dying, Howard is about to shoot Turner, when with the last bit of energy he has left Hooch bites Howard on the leg. Turner is then able to overpower Howard & kill him.
Three occasions where if it hadn't been for Hooch, Turner would have been killed.
That's why in the veterinarian's office we empathize with Turner's pain. It's why we hurt as badly as he does. We know that Hooch saved his life three times throughout the film & he was unable to save him in return.
Our tears were earned in that moment.
So as you write, remember that for your most dramatic scenes. Earn those moments!
Sunday, June 21, 2020
My Top 10 Undertaker Memories
Now I was watching professional wrestling around the time that Mark Calaway was in WCW as "Mean" Mark Callous but I honestly don't remember him at that time. While I watched WWE religiously, back in the late 80's & early 90's, WCW was more sparingly. It wasn't until he came to the WWE & became the Undertaker that I got to know the man that soon became known as "The Phenom."
I have many favorite memories of the Undertaker & it isn't easy narrowing it down to ten. It isn't easy to then take those ten & put them into chronological order. It's such a long illustrious career full of an assortment of highlights. Thirty years & while it wasn't all gold, it was never anything less than silver.
I'll start off with a couple of honorable mentions before I get into my top ten.
This is a match that could've & in my opinion should've developed into a huge feud. Papa Shango was such a neat, eerie character that could have easily have been used as the evil to offset the good that was the Undertaker. Speaking in terms of religion I always thought of the Undertaker as the Holy Ghost of the World Wrestling Federation. Hulk Hogan was God, The Ultimate Warrior was Jesus and Taker was the mysterious, mystical holy spirit. Papa Shango could have easily have came off as the Devil. Yet neither Charles Wright who played Shango nor Pat Patterson who did most of the booking cared for the character. So instead we got a one off throw away match on television as Papa Shango soon lost all of his luster becoming enhancement talent and Undertaker went on to bigger and better things.
I have to tell you that years later when Undertaker began feuding with Kama (Another character that Wright portrayed) it outright ticked me off. Kama was such a lame, forgettable character. Laughable compared to Papa Shango. Always hated those series of matches were against Kama & not against Shango.
God I loved Paul Bearer & I'm tickled pink that he gets all of the recognition and love that he does from both the fans & those that worked with him in the business, but I hate how few remember the Undertaker's Creatures of the Night. I have no idea who these people are or whatever became of them, but I friggin' loved them. I thought they were so cool. I remember going to a show in Des Moines, Iowa at Veteran's auditorium & wanting to go up to them so bad. I got within about twenty feet of them & I tell you what they stayed in character the entire time. People yelled at them and tried to break them all night but they never did. I'm not sure why this idea was abandoned as quickly as it was. Perhaps because no one else thought it freakin' ruled the way I did.
Without further adieu.....my top 10!
I can't necessarily say I understood the Undertaker's face turn but I can say that I accepted it with welcome arms. It puzzled me as to why he suddenly went from being Jake Roberts ally to being his enemy. All I could figure is that when Jake went to hit Elizabeth with a chair & Undertaker prevented him from doing so, that it simply meant this emotionless character dead to the world had principles. He stood up for women. Good enough for me.
I can't say the match itself was a 5 out of 5 star, but the build up to it & the aftermath of it is what made it great. I was always sad that Warrior took off the way he did & we didn't get to see Warrior & Jake go at it, but in a way I'm glad because it led to Taker's face turn. I don't know if anyone else could have helped Taker's credibility as a good guy more than Roberts did. He was such a sinister, callous individual that anyone who ended his reign of terror was going to be instantly loved by the fans.
I liked everything about this match. It had great build up and excellent psychology. Diesel was this arrogant, cocky, fearless bully who acted like nothing could phase him. When the feud first began, he played it off nonchalant & cool. A lot of people give Kevin Nash a lot of crap for not being that talented but here he did a great job of slowly transitioning his fear. Each little thing the Undertaker would do slowly began to creep underneath his skin. He began to get more and more paranoid until it was clear that the Undertaker scared him. When Paul Bearer wheeled out the casket & it had a wax model of Diesel laying inside of it, Diesel's reaction was perfect. The match at WM 12 was again not a 5 out of 5, but still very solid.
Slap yourself a few times if you need to. Go get a glass of water and pour it over the top of your head. No, you are not dreaming & no I am not joking. You are seriously seeing me put his feud with Giant Gonzalez on this list. What gets me is that whenever anyone mentions Undertaker & Giant Gonzalez they always refer to their match at Wrestlemania IX & how awful it was. Yes, it was awful! As Ole Anderson would say, "It was the shits." But it wasn't the only match they had! They had another match at Summerslam 1993 & that match was good! That match was fun! Again it wasn't a 5 out of 5. Hell it wasn't even as good as Taker vs Roberts or Taker vs Diesel, but what it was, was a match that built upon the Undertaker's legacy. That cemented him as the hero that WWE needed during that time. Bret Hart was the working class hero that related to the more mature audience but WWE still needed that comic book character to fill the void that Hulk Hogan and Ultimate Warrior left. Undertaker filled it.
This was a fun, unique and very clever way to end Undertaker's feud with the Million Dollar Man's corporation. The long build up to the match & how the WWE kept fans interested in the Undertaker while he was healing up from injuries. I loved the late Leslie Neilsen's involvement as the detective looking for him & the vignettes involving Paul Bearer. I have to hand it to "Prime-Time" Brian Lee for pulling it off & learning Undertaker's mannerisms & maneuvers as well as he did. It was a Hell of a task to try and pull it off & he does't get anywhere near the credit he deserves for as good of a job as he did. I know when I first saw this match, I noticed the good undertaker wore purple & the evil undertaker wore grey. It gave me an idea for a storyline I would have loved to have booked. Undertaker battling duality. An inner struggle with good & evil. To where he comes out and his left side is decked in purple and his right side with grey. Within his matches he switches back & forth between the two personalities. It's up to Paul Bearer to help him make sure that the Purple side wins.
First off, My God, what a match! WHAT A MATCH! 5 out of 5 stars? How about 6 out of 5 stars? Hell 10 out of 5 stars. These guys put on one of the best matches in the last 15 years I've ever seen at a Wrestlemania. They went out of their way to show the wrestling world why they deserve to be called two of the best entertainers of all time.
With that said, it was rewarding to see Undertaker finally get a win over that little selfish pip squeak. They had so many matches & all of them seemed to end with either Shawn winning or some sort of absolute bullshit shenanigans. Getting Shawn to do anyone a favor back in the day was like pulling teeth on a Nile Crocodile. He just wouldn't do it. So when Taker caught him in that moonsault & then drilled his head into the mat with the tombstone piledriver you better believe I marked the F out. I stood up out of my chair, pumped my fist in the air & counted that one, two, three.
You gotta remember, I was a little kid when this happened. Scared, impressionable, Hell I still believed in Santa Claus & used to wonder which of the bunnies I saw out in the yard left the chocolate eggs. When Undertaker's music blared & he came down to the ring, he had my undivided attention. I was outright scared for Dusty Rhodes, Bret Hart, Jim Neidhart & Ko Ko B Ware. This guy looked like something out of one of the horror film previews that would sometimes advertise on the TV. It was extremely effective.
Looking back now, I think WWE is lucky that no one laughed at Brother Love tagging along in the background. That could have easily backfired, yet Undertaker had such a presence and did such a good job of keeping the focus on himself that you didn't even realize Brother Love was there. A part of me hates how Dusty Rhodes was completely buried here but I now understand why it was vital to have Taker go over someone as established & monumental as "The American Dream."
The feud between Undertaker and Mankind seemed to be never ending. As if the two were going to have matches until the Earth finally got close enough to the sun & exploded in a ball of flames. Even though the two seemed to have 100 matches over a period of time that seemed endless, they never became stale or boring. They stayed fresh & updated with new ideas consistently being thrown into the mix.
What I loved most about the feud is that Undertaker had gotten to a point to where he seemed unchallenged. As if no one could get to his level & suddenly this deranged freak came out of nowhere & posed a serious threat. Taker did a great job of getting Mankind over, while at the same time never completely burying himself. It was a great chemistry of checks and balances where the two teeter tottered to keep one another strong.
Their Hell in the Cell match was nothing short of epic. I hate that Mick Foley felt that he had to do something so dangerous to please us as fans, but despite the life risk that it was, I cannot help but look back on it in absolute awe. That match is talked about over twenty years after in happened and it'll still be celebrated twenty years from today.
I was really, really into the Kane character. Matter of fact I was in the audience in Des Moines, Iowa the night Paul Bearer first began talking about Kane. From his Debut up until this match, I thought he was one of the best heels I've ever seen. Later, I thought he was a great face. I loved him up until the mask came off.
To be honest I thought this was where Undertaker's Wrestlemania win streak would come to an end. Looking back now, I wish it would have. I still get sick to my stomach when I think of Brock Lesnar being the man who defeated Undertaker. I keep on hoping someday I'll wake up to find out that was nothing more than an horrendous dream. Until then, I have to chalk it up as my LEAST favorite Undertaker moment.
As to Kane, I was shocked that not only did Undertaker defeat Kane, but he defeated him clean. I think it helped to propel him to new heights, although I don't feel WWE capitalized upon it as well as they could have. Kane up to this point had defeated both Vader and Mankind, so he was looking unstoppable. Loved the match and loved the feud, but still feel a bit more could have been done.
I love Undertaker's matches with Bret Hart. I absolutely adore them. What technical masterpieces full of great psychology, chemistry and action. At first when it was announced Taker & Hart would go at it, I couldn't picture the match in my head. Taker up to that point at been pretty one dimensional in the ring & I wondered how that style would work against the mat expertise of Bret Hart. Boy did these two show me!
This was when I thought Undertaker got to show the world what separates him from the Hogans and the Warriors. He's not just a great character full of great charisma. The man can work!! The man can wrestle! And I don't know if he displayed his in ring abilities better with anyone than he did with Bret Hart. These two put on a 5 out of 5 match every time they got into the ring. Maybe Taker's best match was with Shawn Michaels at WM 25, but not every match he had with Shawn Dean Douglas would grade an A. Give every match with Bret an A+
There's only one thing I hate about this match. The fact that WWE always made Bret Hart look like such a pansy Vs Sid. I hated that, especially here. He went out and essentially beat the shit out of the toughest son of a bitch in the WWE, Stone Cold Steve Austin & then later in the night, gets thrown around like a rag doll by Sid. I know this blog is about Taker, but that still leaves a sour taste in my mouth.
It's no so much the match with Sid as it is seeing Taker get his moment that he had more than earned. Yes, I know that he had a short title reign vs Hogan but that didn't showcase the caliber of champion that Undertaker was. Here against Sid it did. It was long awaited & of all WWE title wins perhaps the most deserved of any. It was very rewarding seeing him get the belt that night.
-----
It's hard to believe that it lasted as long as it did. It's hard to believe that it went by as quickly as it did. It's hard to believe that I was a little kid when I first saw Taker on my television screen and now with gray hairs in my goatee I'm only a few short years away from forty. Undertaker was one of the absolute best in more ways than one. I hope that he has many years left on this earth & I hope he enjoys them in peace. L.I.P. dead man, L.I.P.
I have many favorite memories of the Undertaker & it isn't easy narrowing it down to ten. It isn't easy to then take those ten & put them into chronological order. It's such a long illustrious career full of an assortment of highlights. Thirty years & while it wasn't all gold, it was never anything less than silver.
I'll start off with a couple of honorable mentions before I get into my top ten.
 |
| Honorable Mention Match Vs Papa Shango |
This is a match that could've & in my opinion should've developed into a huge feud. Papa Shango was such a neat, eerie character that could have easily have been used as the evil to offset the good that was the Undertaker. Speaking in terms of religion I always thought of the Undertaker as the Holy Ghost of the World Wrestling Federation. Hulk Hogan was God, The Ultimate Warrior was Jesus and Taker was the mysterious, mystical holy spirit. Papa Shango could have easily have came off as the Devil. Yet neither Charles Wright who played Shango nor Pat Patterson who did most of the booking cared for the character. So instead we got a one off throw away match on television as Papa Shango soon lost all of his luster becoming enhancement talent and Undertaker went on to bigger and better things.
I have to tell you that years later when Undertaker began feuding with Kama (Another character that Wright portrayed) it outright ticked me off. Kama was such a lame, forgettable character. Laughable compared to Papa Shango. Always hated those series of matches were against Kama & not against Shango.
 |
| Honorable Mention The Creatures of the Night |
God I loved Paul Bearer & I'm tickled pink that he gets all of the recognition and love that he does from both the fans & those that worked with him in the business, but I hate how few remember the Undertaker's Creatures of the Night. I have no idea who these people are or whatever became of them, but I friggin' loved them. I thought they were so cool. I remember going to a show in Des Moines, Iowa at Veteran's auditorium & wanting to go up to them so bad. I got within about twenty feet of them & I tell you what they stayed in character the entire time. People yelled at them and tried to break them all night but they never did. I'm not sure why this idea was abandoned as quickly as it was. Perhaps because no one else thought it freakin' ruled the way I did.
Without further adieu.....my top 10!
 |
| #10 Vs Jake "The Snake" Roberts Wrestlemania 8 |
I can't necessarily say I understood the Undertaker's face turn but I can say that I accepted it with welcome arms. It puzzled me as to why he suddenly went from being Jake Roberts ally to being his enemy. All I could figure is that when Jake went to hit Elizabeth with a chair & Undertaker prevented him from doing so, that it simply meant this emotionless character dead to the world had principles. He stood up for women. Good enough for me.
I can't say the match itself was a 5 out of 5 star, but the build up to it & the aftermath of it is what made it great. I was always sad that Warrior took off the way he did & we didn't get to see Warrior & Jake go at it, but in a way I'm glad because it led to Taker's face turn. I don't know if anyone else could have helped Taker's credibility as a good guy more than Roberts did. He was such a sinister, callous individual that anyone who ended his reign of terror was going to be instantly loved by the fans.
 |
| #9 Vs Diesel Wrestlemania 12 |
I liked everything about this match. It had great build up and excellent psychology. Diesel was this arrogant, cocky, fearless bully who acted like nothing could phase him. When the feud first began, he played it off nonchalant & cool. A lot of people give Kevin Nash a lot of crap for not being that talented but here he did a great job of slowly transitioning his fear. Each little thing the Undertaker would do slowly began to creep underneath his skin. He began to get more and more paranoid until it was clear that the Undertaker scared him. When Paul Bearer wheeled out the casket & it had a wax model of Diesel laying inside of it, Diesel's reaction was perfect. The match at WM 12 was again not a 5 out of 5, but still very solid.
| #8 Feud Vs Giant Gonzalez |
Slap yourself a few times if you need to. Go get a glass of water and pour it over the top of your head. No, you are not dreaming & no I am not joking. You are seriously seeing me put his feud with Giant Gonzalez on this list. What gets me is that whenever anyone mentions Undertaker & Giant Gonzalez they always refer to their match at Wrestlemania IX & how awful it was. Yes, it was awful! As Ole Anderson would say, "It was the shits." But it wasn't the only match they had! They had another match at Summerslam 1993 & that match was good! That match was fun! Again it wasn't a 5 out of 5. Hell it wasn't even as good as Taker vs Roberts or Taker vs Diesel, but what it was, was a match that built upon the Undertaker's legacy. That cemented him as the hero that WWE needed during that time. Bret Hart was the working class hero that related to the more mature audience but WWE still needed that comic book character to fill the void that Hulk Hogan and Ultimate Warrior left. Undertaker filled it.
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| #7 Undertaker Vs Fake Undertaker Summerslam 1994 |
This was a fun, unique and very clever way to end Undertaker's feud with the Million Dollar Man's corporation. The long build up to the match & how the WWE kept fans interested in the Undertaker while he was healing up from injuries. I loved the late Leslie Neilsen's involvement as the detective looking for him & the vignettes involving Paul Bearer. I have to hand it to "Prime-Time" Brian Lee for pulling it off & learning Undertaker's mannerisms & maneuvers as well as he did. It was a Hell of a task to try and pull it off & he does't get anywhere near the credit he deserves for as good of a job as he did. I know when I first saw this match, I noticed the good undertaker wore purple & the evil undertaker wore grey. It gave me an idea for a storyline I would have loved to have booked. Undertaker battling duality. An inner struggle with good & evil. To where he comes out and his left side is decked in purple and his right side with grey. Within his matches he switches back & forth between the two personalities. It's up to Paul Bearer to help him make sure that the Purple side wins.
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| #6 Vs Shawn Michaels at Wrestlemania 25 |
First off, My God, what a match! WHAT A MATCH! 5 out of 5 stars? How about 6 out of 5 stars? Hell 10 out of 5 stars. These guys put on one of the best matches in the last 15 years I've ever seen at a Wrestlemania. They went out of their way to show the wrestling world why they deserve to be called two of the best entertainers of all time.
With that said, it was rewarding to see Undertaker finally get a win over that little selfish pip squeak. They had so many matches & all of them seemed to end with either Shawn winning or some sort of absolute bullshit shenanigans. Getting Shawn to do anyone a favor back in the day was like pulling teeth on a Nile Crocodile. He just wouldn't do it. So when Taker caught him in that moonsault & then drilled his head into the mat with the tombstone piledriver you better believe I marked the F out. I stood up out of my chair, pumped my fist in the air & counted that one, two, three.
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| #5 Undertaker's Debut Survivor Series 1990 |
You gotta remember, I was a little kid when this happened. Scared, impressionable, Hell I still believed in Santa Claus & used to wonder which of the bunnies I saw out in the yard left the chocolate eggs. When Undertaker's music blared & he came down to the ring, he had my undivided attention. I was outright scared for Dusty Rhodes, Bret Hart, Jim Neidhart & Ko Ko B Ware. This guy looked like something out of one of the horror film previews that would sometimes advertise on the TV. It was extremely effective.
Looking back now, I think WWE is lucky that no one laughed at Brother Love tagging along in the background. That could have easily backfired, yet Undertaker had such a presence and did such a good job of keeping the focus on himself that you didn't even realize Brother Love was there. A part of me hates how Dusty Rhodes was completely buried here but I now understand why it was vital to have Taker go over someone as established & monumental as "The American Dream."
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| #4 Feud vs Mankind (In Particularly King of the Ring 1998 Hell in a Cell) |
The feud between Undertaker and Mankind seemed to be never ending. As if the two were going to have matches until the Earth finally got close enough to the sun & exploded in a ball of flames. Even though the two seemed to have 100 matches over a period of time that seemed endless, they never became stale or boring. They stayed fresh & updated with new ideas consistently being thrown into the mix.
What I loved most about the feud is that Undertaker had gotten to a point to where he seemed unchallenged. As if no one could get to his level & suddenly this deranged freak came out of nowhere & posed a serious threat. Taker did a great job of getting Mankind over, while at the same time never completely burying himself. It was a great chemistry of checks and balances where the two teeter tottered to keep one another strong.
Their Hell in the Cell match was nothing short of epic. I hate that Mick Foley felt that he had to do something so dangerous to please us as fans, but despite the life risk that it was, I cannot help but look back on it in absolute awe. That match is talked about over twenty years after in happened and it'll still be celebrated twenty years from today.
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| #3 Vs Kane Wrestlemania 14 |
I was really, really into the Kane character. Matter of fact I was in the audience in Des Moines, Iowa the night Paul Bearer first began talking about Kane. From his Debut up until this match, I thought he was one of the best heels I've ever seen. Later, I thought he was a great face. I loved him up until the mask came off.
To be honest I thought this was where Undertaker's Wrestlemania win streak would come to an end. Looking back now, I wish it would have. I still get sick to my stomach when I think of Brock Lesnar being the man who defeated Undertaker. I keep on hoping someday I'll wake up to find out that was nothing more than an horrendous dream. Until then, I have to chalk it up as my LEAST favorite Undertaker moment.
As to Kane, I was shocked that not only did Undertaker defeat Kane, but he defeated him clean. I think it helped to propel him to new heights, although I don't feel WWE capitalized upon it as well as they could have. Kane up to this point had defeated both Vader and Mankind, so he was looking unstoppable. Loved the match and loved the feud, but still feel a bit more could have been done.
| # 2 Undertaker's Matches with Bret Hart |
I love Undertaker's matches with Bret Hart. I absolutely adore them. What technical masterpieces full of great psychology, chemistry and action. At first when it was announced Taker & Hart would go at it, I couldn't picture the match in my head. Taker up to that point at been pretty one dimensional in the ring & I wondered how that style would work against the mat expertise of Bret Hart. Boy did these two show me!
This was when I thought Undertaker got to show the world what separates him from the Hogans and the Warriors. He's not just a great character full of great charisma. The man can work!! The man can wrestle! And I don't know if he displayed his in ring abilities better with anyone than he did with Bret Hart. These two put on a 5 out of 5 match every time they got into the ring. Maybe Taker's best match was with Shawn Michaels at WM 25, but not every match he had with Shawn Dean Douglas would grade an A. Give every match with Bret an A+
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| #2 Undertaker wins WWE Title for Second Time vs Sid at Wrestlemania 13 |
There's only one thing I hate about this match. The fact that WWE always made Bret Hart look like such a pansy Vs Sid. I hated that, especially here. He went out and essentially beat the shit out of the toughest son of a bitch in the WWE, Stone Cold Steve Austin & then later in the night, gets thrown around like a rag doll by Sid. I know this blog is about Taker, but that still leaves a sour taste in my mouth.
It's no so much the match with Sid as it is seeing Taker get his moment that he had more than earned. Yes, I know that he had a short title reign vs Hogan but that didn't showcase the caliber of champion that Undertaker was. Here against Sid it did. It was long awaited & of all WWE title wins perhaps the most deserved of any. It was very rewarding seeing him get the belt that night.
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It's hard to believe that it lasted as long as it did. It's hard to believe that it went by as quickly as it did. It's hard to believe that I was a little kid when I first saw Taker on my television screen and now with gray hairs in my goatee I'm only a few short years away from forty. Undertaker was one of the absolute best in more ways than one. I hope that he has many years left on this earth & I hope he enjoys them in peace. L.I.P. dead man, L.I.P.
Friday, June 12, 2020
Why Sonny King & Rufus R Jones are overlooked as being the first Black Champions
The history of professional wrestling is a long and illustrious one full of an assortment of happenings and stories. It's no secret to anyone that follows what is known today as "sports entertainment" that while blacks have been involved pretty much since the beginning, they have been both underappreciated & underutilized.
If you really want to examine the origins of where blacks were first give the opportunity to shine look no further than the World Wrestling Associates (WWA) based out of Los Angeles. It was there in the height of the American Civil Rights movement in 1963, shortly before Martin Luther King Jr gave his famous "I have a Dream" speech, Bearcat Wright became the first black champion. The WWA would crown two more black champions in Bobo Brazil in 1966 & Art Thomas who won his title a month before any black man would see gold in any other professional wrestling organization in April of 1972.
Truth is though that the WWA out of Los Angeles is not, was not & never will be seen in the same light as is the WWE or the NWA/WCW. In fact with exception to the diehard fans, most think of the World Wrestling Association out of Indianapolis when one mentions the WWA. Some even think of the current Lucha-Libre company out of Mexico. Most aren't familiar with WWA in Hollywood or the pioneering effects that the company had in paving the road for future black superstars.
Therefore it is understood and it is recognized that when mentioning "the first" as subjective & disputed as it may be, that WWE & NWA is where it is at.
Ron Simmons who won the NWA title in 1992 at the Great American Bash with a stunning upset over Vader, is often looked at and celebrated as the first world's black champion. WWE wouldn't crown their's until the Rock won his first title in 1998.
Yet in both NWA and WWE, blacks wore gold around their waists long before this & to me this is where things get very interesting.
As to the WWE tag team championship, ironically enough when talking about blacks and being the first, it is the Rock's father, Rocky Johnson, along with Tony Atlas, who often gets the nod. Known as Soul Patrol, the two won their first WWE tag team title on November 15th, 1983. This is often seen as and treated as the first blacks to ever hold gold in the WWE. Truth is, a black held a WWE tag team title over 10 years before. Along with Chief Jay Strongbow, Sonny King was crowned WWE tag team champion on May 22nd, 1972.
Yet King is never mentioned in discussions of WWE's first black champions. In fact his name is never mentioned at all. WWE puts out videos recognizing and celebrating some of the best black wrestlers, and neither a photograph or a mention comes up for Sonny King. I think it is a fair question as to why.
I think it is also as fair to ask why Rufus R Jones isn't equally recognized as the NWA's first black gold holder. Along with partner Wahoo McDaniel, he was crowned tag team champion on January 27th, 1976.
Beloved by many & the father of the legendary Dr. of Style, Reverend Slick, it is as sad as it is maddening that Jones doesn't get the recognition and celebration that he deserves.
Both of these men helped to break a color barrier in the two biggest wrestling organizations the world has ever known. Yes there were a handful of Asian as well as Mexican/Latino/Hispanic & Native Americans that also held the titles (McDaniel being one of them, Strongbow was actually of Italian descent) but for the most part professional wrestling at the biggest stage was predominately white. King and Jones set the precedent. They were before Ron Simmons. They were before The Rock. They were even before Rocky Johnson and Tony Atlas.
I think it's about time they were recognized as such.
If you really want to examine the origins of where blacks were first give the opportunity to shine look no further than the World Wrestling Associates (WWA) based out of Los Angeles. It was there in the height of the American Civil Rights movement in 1963, shortly before Martin Luther King Jr gave his famous "I have a Dream" speech, Bearcat Wright became the first black champion. The WWA would crown two more black champions in Bobo Brazil in 1966 & Art Thomas who won his title a month before any black man would see gold in any other professional wrestling organization in April of 1972.
Truth is though that the WWA out of Los Angeles is not, was not & never will be seen in the same light as is the WWE or the NWA/WCW. In fact with exception to the diehard fans, most think of the World Wrestling Association out of Indianapolis when one mentions the WWA. Some even think of the current Lucha-Libre company out of Mexico. Most aren't familiar with WWA in Hollywood or the pioneering effects that the company had in paving the road for future black superstars.
Therefore it is understood and it is recognized that when mentioning "the first" as subjective & disputed as it may be, that WWE & NWA is where it is at.
Ron Simmons who won the NWA title in 1992 at the Great American Bash with a stunning upset over Vader, is often looked at and celebrated as the first world's black champion. WWE wouldn't crown their's until the Rock won his first title in 1998.
Yet in both NWA and WWE, blacks wore gold around their waists long before this & to me this is where things get very interesting.
As to the WWE tag team championship, ironically enough when talking about blacks and being the first, it is the Rock's father, Rocky Johnson, along with Tony Atlas, who often gets the nod. Known as Soul Patrol, the two won their first WWE tag team title on November 15th, 1983. This is often seen as and treated as the first blacks to ever hold gold in the WWE. Truth is, a black held a WWE tag team title over 10 years before. Along with Chief Jay Strongbow, Sonny King was crowned WWE tag team champion on May 22nd, 1972.
![Shitloads Of Wrestling — Chief Jay Strongbow and Sonny King [1972]...](https://66.media.tumblr.com/36828bb43d989ff378133da669c78ef8/tumblr_owkk5roJsv1rg89a6o1_1280.jpg) |
| Left - Chief Jay Strongbow Right - Sonny King |
Yet King is never mentioned in discussions of WWE's first black champions. In fact his name is never mentioned at all. WWE puts out videos recognizing and celebrating some of the best black wrestlers, and neither a photograph or a mention comes up for Sonny King. I think it is a fair question as to why.
I think it is also as fair to ask why Rufus R Jones isn't equally recognized as the NWA's first black gold holder. Along with partner Wahoo McDaniel, he was crowned tag team champion on January 27th, 1976.
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| Left - Wahoo McDaniel Right - Rufus R Jones |
Beloved by many & the father of the legendary Dr. of Style, Reverend Slick, it is as sad as it is maddening that Jones doesn't get the recognition and celebration that he deserves.
Both of these men helped to break a color barrier in the two biggest wrestling organizations the world has ever known. Yes there were a handful of Asian as well as Mexican/Latino/Hispanic & Native Americans that also held the titles (McDaniel being one of them, Strongbow was actually of Italian descent) but for the most part professional wrestling at the biggest stage was predominately white. King and Jones set the precedent. They were before Ron Simmons. They were before The Rock. They were even before Rocky Johnson and Tony Atlas.
I think it's about time they were recognized as such.
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