Statesville, North Carolina wrestling fans (and I was one) were treated to THREE nights of JIM CROCKETT PROMOTIONS wrestling shows during the summer of 1966.
A perfect location for wrestling during the summer months...the wooden grandstand ball park similar to that in the movie BULL DURHAM. Sponsored by the COMMUNITY BASEBALL CLUB, who also gave us DOUBLE A BASEBALL at the same site. The ring was set up at home plate, surrounded by metal ringside seat chairs all around. The grandstand served as the General Admission area. The wrestlers entered the ring from the two dugouts.
No rainouts during the summer of 1966. THREE shows in TWO months.
As a fifteen-year old 'rasslin' fan, I found myself at all three shows parked in my $2.00 ringside seat.
This was the first card of the 1966 summer...
For whatever reasons (maybe analysis would reveal why), two memories come back to me about this night.
(1) My cousin, who attended with me, spilled a cup of Coca-Cola on himself during the matches.
(2) One of The Masked Red Demons (either Billy or Jimmy Hines) came out of the dugout for the main event smoking a cigarette (through the mask), discarding it as he approached the ring. I thought to myself - "Athletes aren't supposed to smoke." Give me a break, I was a naive fifteen year-old who was reading FAMOUS MONSTERS and wrestling magazines, instead of PLAYBOY, at the time. (Don't worry, the PLAYBOYs came later.)
Regardless of my mental stability, I remember the evening fondly.
No comments:
Post a Comment