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I am waiting, like everyone else, to see how this Chris Jericho angle plays out.
The segment with Jimmy “Superfly†Snuka the other day on RAW brought back so
many memories. I can remember clearly being in Hamburg, PA, when Roddy Piper hit
Jimmy Snuka with that coconut. I still remember digging into that bag of fruit
and Piper making sure I didn’t eat any of it. I had no idea why it was sitting
there or that Snuka would be in Piper’s Pit. I really don’t know what the payoff
to this thing is going to be.
So far three legends have been beaten up on television. I have known two of
the men a very long time. I met Jimmy Snuka nineteen eighty one and Roddy Piper
since he debuted in the WWF in the mid eighties. The other I haven’t known as
long, but we have become much closer friends Ricky Steamboat. I am a big fan of
the legends and support them being used on television. I wait with anticipation
for Monday Night Raw to see where they are going with this angle. Who knows what
they are going to do with Jericho at the Mania. At this point they can go in any
direction and it appears they are leaving all options open in regards to a
Jericho opponent for Wrestlemania.
It is hard for me to believe that Wrestlemania is twenty five years old. It
reminds me how long I have been in the business. When Wrestlemania started there
was no PPV there were only closed circuit locations all over the country. I held
an event at the Westchester Community College. At first tickets sold slowly but
as all the NY City locations filled up people trended north. The very first
match was Tito Santana against someone I believe named The Executioner. It may
have been Playboy Buddy Rose under a hood. I am not sure why they wanted him
under a hood or why he wanted to be wearing one. It would be great to have been
in the very first Wrestlemania match. If you ask me they should have both of
those guys back. I can tell you Buddy would probably do it and want to work as
hard as anyone out there. I know I used him at WrestleReunion 1 ... talk about a
guy who wants to prove he can still go.
There are many wrestlers still around that were a part of the original
Wrestlemania. Hopefully they will be asked to participate at the show. It would
be nice to also pay tribute to those that are no longer with us. The most
recently departed is S.D Jones. It was S.D. who wrestled King Kong Bundy who was
lead to the ring by Jimmy Hart. It was my first time seeing Jimmy Hart work. I
certainly had no clue at the time what a major part of my life he would become.
I have to say that so far the buzz for Wrestlemania seems very weak there isn’t
much to it. I hope that something changes.
I do want to congratulate Tammy “Sunny†Sytch for being given a chance to
participate at Wrestlemania. It seems there will be a diva battle royal and some
former ladies are being asked back. I have heard some rumors swirl. It will be
interesting to see how it comes out. What I know has changed forever is that
people won’t be online for a closed circuit broadcast at 8am with their lunch in
hand for first come first serve seating. It is quite an accomplishment to take
something from nothing to being a household word. I remember when WWE employee
Ed Cohen said “Sal, can you get a little bit bigger building we are going to do
something called Wrestlemaniaâ€. Who would have ever known that all these years
later Wrestlemania would be the symbol of excellence that it is?
This photo was taken in Valley Forge, PA at WrestleReunion 2 when Tito Santana
the man that won the very first Wrestlemania match beat his old rival Greg “The
Hammer†Valentine for the IWA Heavyweight Title.
