HAPPY FATHER’S DAY

"I haven't seen Iowans this excited since the night Frank Gotch and Strangler Lewis lay on a mat for three and a half hours without moving a muscle. Ooh! That was exciting!" (Mayor Shinn: The Music Man)

My father was a wrestling fan. I’m not talking about the ancient and revered sport which ought to be a beloved event at every Summer Olympics but am thinking instead of Professional Wrestling, of the flying mare, drop kick, and figure-four leg-lock variety practiced by someone who might wear a mask to the ring and hide a ‘foreign object’ in his trunks, hailing from parts unknown. Although he enjoyed watching hockey and boxing and would tell tales of Bobby Hull and Joe Louis, (the ‘Golden Jet’ and the ‘Brown Bomber’), Dad remained an avid wrestling fan throughout his life. It was a point of contact with us and I was grateful for it.

As a child I watched pro-wrestling on television but it was never as exciting as hearing Dad describe it, especially when he spoke of the exploits of such larger than life characters as Bull Curry, Gorgeous George, Cowboy Len Hughes, Killer Kowalski, and Man Mountain Dean. His all time favorite wrestler was Yukon Eric whose strength was legendary and whose matches with the aforementioned Kowalski were some of the most dramatic moments in all of human history, to hear Dad talk.

My first trip to a live wrestling show took place when I was 10 years old and drove with my father and a carload of uncles to Maple Leaf Gardens in Toronto. Whipper Billy Watson wrestled that night, and so did Tiger Jeet Singh, but the main event was Dick ‘The Bulldog’ Brower versus The Sheik. Had the Battle of Armageddon also occurred that evening it would have been a preliminary match early on in the card. As grand as all that was, though, for my money nothing ever quite matched the electric atmosphere and sheer thrill of it all found in Moncton, New Brunswick, on one of those magical nights when The Beast wrestled The Stomper. As Mayor Shinn would say, “Ooh! That was exciting!”

I’ve never been close to being in good enough shape or drunk enough to think I could be a professional wrestler. I’ve always been in awe of what they do. Not only does the body take a beating every time they perform, but their schedule with its constant travel and the countless times they’ve got to play hurt must all take a toll. The wrestling itself is something which relatively few people can do without incurring serious injury. Fewer still can wrestle well, and only a handful can do it in a way others will pay to see. They have to communicate, in character, with crowds in large arenas and with ‘invisible’ people through cameras in a studio. None of this is easy. Good writing helps. I recall how one guy used to say: “My opponent is a model wrestler; and if you look up ‘model’ in the dictionary you’ll see it’s an imitation of the real thing. I’m the real thing.” I always thought that was a good line but the funniest thing I ever heard in wrestling was during a taped local broadcast in the Maritime Provinces when one colorful combatant declared that he was going to win his match not only because he was more talented than his opponent but also because his opponent was ugly. “He’s ugly!” he exclaimed. “That man is so ugly he’s living proof of reincarnation. NOBODY gets that ugly in just one lifetime.”

By the time I was in High School I no longer really followed wrestling but endeavored to keep up to date with what was going on in that world so I could talk with Dad about it. He continued to watch the wrestling shows on TV where some drama was always unfolding and a good old-fashioned grudge match was just around the corner and coming to an arena near you, or later tonight … in this very ring.

Years ago I was reading about the actor Leslie Nielsen’s brother who had been Deputy Prime Minister of Canada and was a Member of Parliament representing the Yukon. He may have been the Honorable Erik Nielsen, PC, DFC, QC, LLB, but to Canadians he was known as ‘Yukon Erik.’ I smiled when I read that and knew Dad would smile too. Happy Fathers Day!