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WRESTLER OF THE DAY: ERNIE LADD


RIPPA

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I'm pretty certain that Ernie Ladd is my favorite wrestler of all wrestlers that I've seen less than twenty matches of. Definitely for a US guy. I'm not sure who else would register outside the scumbag journeyman class of Chris Colt/Bobby Bass/etc. 

 

And I'm not entirely sure why. I first encountered him in mid-south, when I was watching the 84 season, two years before he retired due to knee problems, and when he was 46 years old. That's hardly in the guy's prime. We don't have a whole lot from his prime, as best as I can tell. There was just a presence to him, though. He was a big man who knew as well as anyone, how to work like a big man. You could tell that from just a few matches. It's the same thing that draws me to late-career Andre. He knew what to do with his size, and he knew how to get heat, and he know how to move the crowd, and he definitely knew what not to do. The guy had a presence that was proportional to his height, and it was obvious he knew his limitations and understood the art of pro wrestling well enough to work around it.

 

For what we have in the 70s of him (and remember he was already deep into his 30s for a lot of what we do have), I think you can still see signs of that wisdom in the ring. 

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I love Ernie Ladd.   I cannot believe he's never been a WoTD before today.

 

I actually thought I had done him during Black History Month Week but then in looking back I realized that he was just my inspiration for the week and not a guy I actually picked.

Which worked out for the best.

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Two observations after watching the Ladd-Rufus R. Jones fiasco:

 

1. Said it before, say it again: More wrestlers need time to talk, even if it's not 20-minute-long promos. Everyone talked in Mid-Atlantic, lower carders, midcarders, whoever. It's pretty much the only way to make fans care about you. Again, beaing a dead horse, but that's what Ziggler needs most. Great wrestler, but has never had the time to show a personality. Let him talk or let someone talk for him. You have freakin' Ric Flair on your roster and he's not talking for someone?

 

2. Bo Dallas REALLY REALLY needs to be working a Mark Youngblood-esque gimmick.

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Solie's intro to that clip ("a cloudy, misty night in Tallahassee...") would be the greatest thing ever if it weren't for all those fans losing their marbles for Ladd's dastardly tactics. Less LiveJournaling, more Dick Murdoching (tm Raven Mack).

 

Watching Boardwalk Empire, t's a shame he's passed away... he would've been fucking awesome on that show as an enforcer-type or the old don role that went to Louis Gossett Jr.

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