HULK HOGAN's New Restaurant Dress Code.

[LuvMyMan]

Who wasn't??

Was that BEFORE he learned how to play the piano? lol (The hidden lifestyle of Liberace)!


One famous old time wrestler from Detroit...Dick the Bruiser. Not sure of the name, but there used to be a Cheif would wear a head dress. It was more fun to watch back then compared to today. Oh another one came to mind, "The Destroyer"....he always wore a mask. It may be that more than one person played being that wrester, not sure???? And that one big person Hay Stack. I was fairly young and my Dad would watch all the wrestlers on our television set.

 

[HudsonHawk]

One famous old time wrestler from Detroit...Dick the Bruiser.

Dick The Bruiser was one of the first former professional football players to go into pro wrestling, after playing for the Green Bay Packers in the 50s. He was a very popular "heel" for many promotions, particularly in the Midwest. David Letterman even named his Late Night band, "The World's Most Dangerous" after Bruiser's nickname. Sadly, Bruiser died in the 90s.

Not sure of the name, but there used to be a Cheif would wear a head dress. It was more fun to watch back then compared to today.

There were numerous "chief" characters. Two of the more famous were Jay Strongbow and Wahoo McDaniel. Strongbow was actually an Italian guy from Philly who took on the chief persona later in his wrestling career, though McDaniel actually was Native American. McDaniel was also a well known former professional football player. Both are also dead.

Oh another one came to mind, "The Destroyer"....he always wore a mask. It may be that more than one person played being that wrester, not sure????

Masks have been used since the beginning of pro wrestling. Many times it was so that different promoters could use the same character with different wrestlers under the mask. It was also used to "refresh" a wrestler who's popularity was waning, billing him a a new character. They're also used to advance kayfabe story lines where the appearance of a certain wrestler would not fit.

And that one big person Hay Stack. I was fairly young and my Dad would watch all the wrestlers on our television set.

Haystacks Calhoun. Billed as just a big corn-fed country farm boy, which was pretty much the truth. At his peak, he was around 6'6" and 600 lbs. Like so many from wrestling's Golden Age, he's also no longer with us.

 

[dh66]

Here's Jay Strongbow. I remember that guy. He was from up north, but made the rounds of the gulf coast often enough.

And since we've moved on to the topic of golden age rasslin (which is TOTALLY COOL BY ME) here's a little match up to tie it back in with the thread.

Of course, the "golden era" was long over by this point, but it was a testament to Hogan's popularity at the time that Andre the Giant let him have the belt.
It was kind of sad to have watched what a train wreck Hogan's public life became.

 

[LizzieMaine]

Chief Jay Strongbow was a real favorite up here, where Penobscot and Passamaquoddy Indians form the largest non-white segment of the population. His shows at the old Bangor Auditorium always sold out.

As for Golden Era rasslers, two of them had significant careers as Hollywood actors. Bull Montana played an endless parade of thugs and goons in both silent and talking pictures, as did Constantine Romanoff -- sometimes known as "the ugliest man in the movies" -- who specialized in roles as a comic heavy. Even if you don't know their names, you know their faces.

Bull Montana, he of the classic cauliflower ear, was the visual prototype for every comic-strip thug of the 1920s and 1930s.

Constantine Romanoff -- always ready and available if you needed somebody to beat up Harold Lloyd or Wheeler and Woolsey.

 

[dh66]

Chief Jay Strongbow was a real favorite up here, where Penobscot and Passamaquoddy Indians form the largest non-white segment of the population. His shows at the old Bangor Auditorium always sold out.

Doesn't that scream volumes about the changing times. Nowadays if an Italian-American from Philadelphia were to try to pull the chief act they'd be crying foul louder than folks are doing about Hogan's dress code.

 

[HudsonHawk]

Of course, the "golden era" was long over by this point, but it was a testament to Hogan's popularity at the time that Andre the Giant let him have the belt.

I saw an interview with Hogan where he talked about the title transfer from the Giant. Andre's health was really failing by then, and he knew he didn't have much longer. Since Hogan's popularity was on the rise, they decided that's who should get the belt. Hogan commented that no man alive could have beat Andre in a real fight, so if he'd been selfish or mean-spirited, Andre could have done anything he wanted. Hogan was nervous about it. But he said Andre was such a gentleman and dedicated professional.

 

[HudsonHawk]

Doesn't that scream volumes about the changing times. Nowadays if an Italian-American from Philadelphia were to try to pull the chief act they'd be crying foul louder than folks are doing about Hogan's dress code.

Many American rasslers also took on personas of foreign enemies to play on American anti-German/Japanese/Soviet/Iranian/whathaveyou sentiment. Guys like Fritz von Erich, the aforementioned Yamamoto, the Iron Sheik, Ivan Koloff, etc were highly successful at exploiting that fear and hatred.

 

[dh66]

I saw an interview with Hogan where he talked about the title transfer from the Giant. Andre's health was really failing by then, and he knew he didn't have much longer. Since Hogan's popularity was on the rise, they decided that's who should get the belt. Hogan commented that no man alive could have beat Andre in a real fight, so if he'd been selfish or mean-spirited, Andre could have done anything he wanted. Hogan was nervous about it. But he said Andre was such a gentleman and dedicated professional.

Yes, I've read that story too.
And it was of no small significance. Wrestlemania III (1987) held the record until 2010 for the largest attendance of an indoor sporting event (over 90,000) and, for better or for worse, helped launch the pay-per-view industry (which may be better suited to the modern-inventions-that-pretty-much-suck thread)
Ol' Hulk had it going on at one point.

 

[dh66]

Many American rasslers also took on personas of foreign enemies to play on American anti-German/Japanese/Soviet/Iranian/whathaveyou sentiment. Guys like Fritz von Erich, the aforementioned Yamamoto, the Iron Sheik, Ivan Koloff, etc were highly successful at exploiting that fear and hatred.

Yes, those kinds of characters (caricatures?) were hugely popular back in the day, and even now pop up from time to time, although usually not as successfully.
Their appeal lends validity to your theory of pro-rasslin' as a study in human psychology.

 

[CaramelSmoothie]

Does anyone remember G.L.O.W? Gorgeous Ladies of Wrestling? They just made a movie about the characters. I didn't know it then but nearly all of them were from the adult entertainment industry.


I'm surprised this made news. Dress codes are nothing new and it looks like the dress code that many nightclubs have.

 

[dh66]

And while the topic is hot, I have pretty much no use for "modern" rasslin in the pay-per-view era, all the characters just look like steroid fueled pretty boys. Gone are the days of barrel bellied grown-ass men having it out. But one guilty pleasure I do indulge in from time to time is a little Mexican rasslin, lucha libre, to go with a pitcher of dos equis and basket of chips and salsa down at the local Mexican bar & grill. The action is fast and insane, and a lot of the guys still wear masks, and it's generally pretty low-budget, like back in the old days.

 

[dh66]

Does anyone remember G.L.O.W? Gorgeous Ladies of Wrestling? They just made a movie about the characters. I didn't know it then but nearly all of them were from the adult entertainment industry.

And were you surprised?

 

[HudsonHawk]

Their appeal lends validity to your theory of pro-rasslin' as a study in human psychology.

People watch wrestling to stir primal emotions that we're afraid to exhibit ourselves. It's the same reason we go see horror films. No one wants a real life zombie or teenage slasher running around, but we want to be afraid of one. Likewise, we want to feel the emotion of physical conflict and gladiatorial mayhem, but we want it in a controlled environment. Pro wrestling gives us that.

 

[CaramelSmoothie]

And were you surprised?

I was about 12 years old when it originally aired so it ruined my childhood memories, lol!!

 

[dh66]

People watch wrestling to stir primal emotions that we're afraid to exhibit ourselves. It's the same reason we go see horror films. No one wants a real life zombie or teenage slasher running around, but we want to be afraid of one. Likewise, we want to feel the emotion of physical conflict and gladiatorial mayhem, but we want it in a controlled environment. Pro wrestling gives us that.

Valid assessment.

 

[LizzieMaine]

Wrestling appeals to its fans on the same level as super-hero comic books appeal to theirs -- larger-than-life power fantasies, with the added benefit of being "real."

 

[31 Model A]

I was visiting my grandparents in St Louis for the summer and on 22 July 1963 it was the re-match between Sonny Liston and Floyd Patterson. My grandfather being a really big fight fan wanted to see that fight real bad. At the same time local wrestling was on and of course I liked wrestling. I wanted to see wrestling and granddad tried his best to talk me into watching boxing, telling me all kinds of lies that it was all put on for entertainment. I have felt bad for many many years...........and I still do, sorry granddad, I knew nothing of what I was watching, I was just a kid!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

[Fastuni]

Many American rasslers also took on personas of foreign enemies to play on American anti-German/Japanese/Soviet/Iranian/whathaveyou sentiment. Guys like Fritz von Erich, the aforementioned Yamamoto, the Iron Sheik, Ivan Koloff, etc were highly successful at exploiting that fear and hatred.

The actors of "Yamamoto" and "Iron Sheik" were ethnically Japanese and Iranian and born in the respective countries.
"Iron Sheik" Vaziri was cool before he started with this silly "Arab Sheik"-shtick... as an Iranian! :eusa_doh:

 

[Matt Crunk]

Wrestling appeals to its fans on the same level as super-hero comic books appeal to theirs -- larger-than-life power fantasies, with the added benefit of being "real."

Comic book heros I get, but I've never understood the mass media appeal of Professional Wrestling on a national level such as WWF or WCW, especially to adults. I understand it better as local live entertainment, on the same level as Roller Derby. Something about the sleaze factor makes it better that way.

 

[HudsonHawk]

The actors of "Yamamoto" and "Iron Sheikh" were ethnically Japanese and Iranian and born in the respective countries.
"Iron Sheikh" Vaziri was cool before he started with this silly "Arab Sheikh"-shtick... as an Iranian! :eusa_doh:

"Yamamoto" (Harold Watanabe) was ethnically Japanese, but he was born in Hawaii. Vaziri was an Iranian Olympic wrestler, who came to the US to coach American Olympic wrestlers before getting into the professional thing. He was one of the few who were trained in legit "scientific" wrestling. His "sheik" shtick was a huge draw in the late 70s/early 80s.