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2021 Wrestling RIP Thread


RIPPA

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From today's WON:

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Tom Cusati, an independent promoter/manager and longtime fan, passed away this past week. He was living in Las Vegas. He was good friends with Sabu, who also lives in Las Vegas, and Sabu hadn’t heard from him in several days and went to Cusati’s condo and asked security to let hi in, and he was found dead on the floor of his bathroom. He was in his late 50s. Cusati was best known in the Northeast independent scene as manager Royce Prophet in the 1990s as well as the promoter of the Galaxy Wrestling Federation. He also helped book talents for events. He was a huge fan, and had been a subscriber of this publication since probably the 80s. The story on him is that he was well off financially due to an inheritance and would use that to buy his way into working as a manager on shows at first, or at times, even book talent to hang out with him on vacations. I would see him at shows, sometimes at our own talk shows or at PWG events. We don’t have any info on the cause of death. Cusati, Reggie Parks and Bryan “Yettay” DeBord were all hanging around together at the Cauliflower Alley Club. Parks and DeBord both died from COVID-19 and at least one of the other people with them also had COVID

Interesting that "Royce Profit" was a shoot gimmick for all intents and purposes.

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15 hours ago, Pete said:

Cusati, Reggie Parks and Bryan “Yettay” DeBord were all hanging around together at the Cauliflower Alley Club. Parks and DeBord both died from COVID-19 and at least one of the other people with them also had COVID

the timeline for that

September 13th-15th, 2021: Cauliflower Alley Club. DeBord works a Battle Royal on September 12th, 2021 at CAC

September 24th, 2021: CAC Executive Board Advised of Positive Covid Tests for Some 55th Reunion Attendees ("the Cauliflower Alley Club, in an abundance of caution, recommends that all individuals who feel that they may have been exposed to Covid 19 go and get tested")

October 7th, 2021: Parks dies of COVID-19 at the age of 87

October 15th, 2021: DeBord dies of "a heart attack due to complications of COVID-19" at the age of 42

October 28th, 2021: Cusati found dead in his late 50s after being incommunicado for days

Here's a photo of Reggie Parks, Stuart Kemp, and Bob Orton Jr from September 13th.

StuartKempReggieParksBobOrtonJr.jpg

Theorizing what we can theorize now... perhaps the timing was bad for a hotel gathering of various older former pro wrestlers and other middle-aged men. Sorry if that's a little hindsight heavy.

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6 hours ago, Matt D said:

Literally one of my favorite things in pro wrestling history is this insane Mosca promo:

 

Such a great beatdown angle with three of my fave heels and cfrazy-ass ticket selling promo, but -UGH- AMJr. is inarticulate and rough and green and bowling shoe ugly in the ring, my word. I had forgotten just how far that apple rolled away from the tree - like, into the next area code. RIP King Kong.

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I have a vivid memory of Mosca in Mid-Atlantic in the mid 70s, feuding with Rufus R Freight Train Jones and I remember the last thing before signing off is Mosca shouting, :"YOU BIG SACK OF MANURE!"   So Canadian.

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15 hours ago, Matt D said:

Literally one of my favorite things in pro wrestling history is this insane Mosca promo:

 

At first I thought Mosca was saying something about VD. 

Best part of the whole clip, though, is Crockett promising that Starrcade '84 will top Starrcade '83. That didn't work out so well.

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1 hour ago, RIPPA said:

Judy Bagwell has passed away at the age of 78

Apparently she had been battling dementia

Damn, that sucks. Dementia is an asshole. Hope she didn't suffer. 

To this day I would truly and honestly like to know who came up with Judy Bagwell as on air talent, why, and just how they assumed it was going to be good. It's honest curiosity. 

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9 hours ago, ReiseReise said:

Damn, that sucks. Dementia is an asshole. Hope she didn't suffer. 

To this day I would truly and honestly like to know who came up with Judy Bagwell as on air talent, why, and just how they assumed it was going to be good. It's honest curiosity. 

She probably spent so much time backstage tending to his son that somebody thought that if she's around all the time, we might as well put her on TV, maybe as a rib, maybe not?

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Meltzer sorta recapped it on the WON radio show this morning

Judy Bagwell was somewhat of what might now be called a helicopter parent. She was notorious in WCW's front office because she was always calling. Like "Buff is sick so he can't make it" or she would call to complain about how Buff was booked. So she was a character to them.

The Steiner/Bagwell tag title thing was pre-Russo if you can believe it (though it sounds like a Russo idea especially when read the recap of the execution). So it was someone in that period of time who had the idea (Dave seemed to imply that no one has, rightly, taken credit for it)

HOWEVER - all the stuff later on (like "Judy Bagwell on a Forklift") was Russo

 

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