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2021 Wrestling RIP Thread


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Marino's last TV run was in his mid-50's as Devil Blue during the final days of Championship Wrestling From Georgia before Crockett took over all TBS wrestling television. Dude looked like he was still in great shape here so I'm not shocked he made it to 90. His style here isn't the most exciting but every hold he works looks super snug and forceful.

 

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On 5/18/2021 at 12:18 AM, DEAN said:

Oh man, Don Kernodle, Steve Kiern and Tiger Conway Jr were the young lions of Mid-Atlantic when I was a wee lad.

As an adult, I think my favorite incarnation of Don Kernodle was him being the first trainee of Camp Slaughter.

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I'LL EITHER MAKE A MAN OUT OF YOU OR BREAK YOU, KID~!!  

Don and Sgt. Slaughter were a great heel team and their feud with Steamboat and Youngblood for the tag titles was fucking epic.  Kernodle's face was so bloody by the end of the title match where they dropped the Mid Atlantic tag belts to Steamboat and Youngblood that you could only see the whites of his eyes.

My little Cold War child's heart was broken when Don joined the Russians.

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HOW COULD YOU, DON~?  THEY'RE COMMUNISTS~!!  AXIS OF EVIL, MOTHER FUCKER~!!!!

Edited by J.T.
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On 6/1/2021 at 7:29 AM, AxB said:

 

Funny thing about Lady Frost,  my co-worker used to bartend with her.  She was not trained when she had her WWE squash match. In fact it was her first ever match. She lied and told them she was trained when in actuality she was not. Her husband the Savage gentleman was a bad ass MMA fighter. Not sure why he made the move to wrestling as the guy is a legit bad ass. Used to date another co-worker of mine.  Most of you may know this but for those that don't,  Mick Foley officiated their wedding.

 

Sam Adonis booked his first lucha show here and we sat around my house talking about matches. He asked me to find a lady to face Lady Frost I said "how about Ray Lynn"  The match was fun they wrestled in the bounce house as well.  Flashforward and now Sam and Ray Lynn are dating.


Crazy world. 

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There's a famous story (EDIT: here, scroll to the bottom) of how Bill refused to let Donna fraternize with any of the wrestlers while he was booking Memphis. TLDR: she wound up dating Bobby, and Bill consented to it because Bobby was the best guy in the territory. RIP.

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sad news. The Patriot was definitely one of my low-key favorites during his brief WWF run. I think maybe it was his upset of Bret Hart that made me think he was gonna be a huge star so he caught my attention. I didn't know he had already been in WCW and had a big run in Japan. 

The documentary that was put out on him a few years ago was pretty good. 

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 I was 10 years old  during his WWF run, I was barely even 2 years as a die hard fan. When he came in it was probably the best time period for Raw ever. I remember JR narrated a video package to introduce him to the audience. It was probably the first time being exposed to Puroresu , All Japan in particular, it was cool to see then show clips of him in Japan. His matches with Bret was really good I remember watching both matches over and over after they happened. I would've loved to see him vs Michaels but at the same time it could've been a situation where some like Bret Hart would've been the only top guy that would have made an effort to make him look good like with Hakushi.

I never was a fan of the Super Patriotic type baby face in wrestling but he played it well same Sgt Slaughter main because they could really kick ass in the ring. I've watched a couple of his All Japan work but I definitely want to go back and revisit 90s All Japan.  

It would've been interesting to see him around a little longer in WWF but at the same time alot of the guys he could've worked best with were leaving for WCW like Davey Boy and Bret or being phased out like Vader.

I remember he was one of the people standing at the ramp the night they were looking for a partner for Austin after Shawn left. That might have been his introduction, that obviously wasn't the original idea for his introduction. 

 

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Damn! Rest In Peace, Del Wilkes. I had seen The Patriot as one half of Stars N' Stripes in WCW, but I had just discovered Internet when he arrived to WWF and read he had pinned Bret Hart. If he had not injured his arm so badly he had to retire, he could have still done interesting stuff at the tail end of the Attitude Era, teaming and feuding with Kurt Angle and such. This makes me sad.

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I remember The Patriot when the Global Wrestling Federation debuted on ESPN. IIRC, he was going to be the top babyface in the promotion (even won the tournaments to crown the initial heavyweight and TV champs), then bolted when all the big names did.

Joe Pedicino used to drop by the old CompuServe wrestling discussion groups way back in the day, promoting the GWF and encouraging people to watch it and ask questions. Someone asked him if The Patriot and AWA's Trooper were one and the same. Pedicino complimented the guy for having "a good eye" and sent him a GWF hat and T-shirt. (The Trooper was a goofy gimmick in the AWA's dying days -- after winning a match, he'd give his opponent a ticket -- but Wilkes found a way to make it work).

He was in the WWF for a hiccup, but he did get a title shot against Bret at the September 1997 IYH and, at the very least, played a role in the tail end of the "Bret vs. America" storyline. Even if he didn't get hurt, I really can't see The Patriot working in the Attitude Era  at first -- as someone previously mentioned, perhaps bring him back when you debut Angle.

Do need to check out some of his All Japan work. 

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I recall a really interesting tag with him in AJ, not sure if this is it or not but probably worth watching just for the sheer WAR-ness of the lineup. 

Spoiler

 

 

Anyway, Del was a good foil for the Hart Foundation and I thought he was a solid promo too. 59 is too young. RIP

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First time I saw him was in GWF, then WCW and all the way to WWE although I never really caught any of his AJPW stuff but the fact that he was active there meant he was in the Fire Pro games and that was awesome. Such a good looking gear, too! Like wrestling's legitimate answer to Captain America, and that great fucking mask. 

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3 hours ago, JLSigman said:

This is just coming across the radar here in Columbia. He's a beloved son because of his U South Carolina football career. 59 is way too fucking young.

And despite him being such an f'n beast with the Gamecocks, they won't even put him in their HOF due to his issues during his time there (heavy steroid usage) and after (all the arrests). Sad.

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I got to meet Del Wilkes a few times. We have a mutual friend who was kind enough to facilitate. More than anything, dude loved to tell stories. Without getting too much into detail, it would shock me if any former tag team partner of Marcus Bagwell didn't end up hating him. Del had good stories from Japan, Texas, WCW, and even one or two from WWE. I don't think we can understand just how bad off he was physically when he signed with WWF and how little support he had from the people you need support from to succeed in WWE. But a cool guy, and an absolute joy to spend an afternoon drinking Coors Light and shooting the shit with...

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This is about a week old but I only just saw about it in the new WON

Quote

Doug Anderson, who wrestled in California independents in the 80s, the father of “Cheerleader” Melissa Anderson, passed away on 7/3. “It is with great sadness that I announce the passing of my wonderful father, Doug Anderson. Doug passed away peacefully in his sleep on the morning of July 3 in his home. Doug was a beloved member of his local church and community. He served in the Navy, worked with the Los Angeles Police Department for 29 years, and was a very beloved man in the wrestling industry. He will be missed, but not forgotten.” Doug was a regular at Cauliflower Alley Banquets dating back to 1997, and his proudest moment was when his daughter got the Future Legend Award in 2004. Billy Anderson (William Laster), who was billed as his brother when they were a tag team, wrote, “I knew Doug for 37 years. He was a dear friend and a tag team partner. I helped train Doug back in 1985. He was a loyal friend and one of the nicest guys I’ve ever met. My heart is so full of tears for his passing. We talked at least once a month by phone. We shared so many great times together through the years.” They were so close that Billy lived with Doug’s then-wife and Melissa when Melissa was a chil

 

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I was lucky enough to meet Paul. Was a nice guy to me. The crowd heckled him because his in ring promo took awhile too long and it was sad to see. I was also at Fall Brawl 2000 when he was injured ?   Always a fan of his and he had one of if not the best piledrivers in the business.  RIP Paul. 

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