Want more wrestling news, rumors, and results? Be sure to visit PWInsider.com and PWInsiderXtra.com.
“The ultimate measure of a man is not where he stands in moments of comfort and convenience, but where he stands at times of challenge and controversy.” Martin Luther King Jr.
I’m doing this week’s column talking about the pride I have in a number of athletes from my generation and beyond. No, it’s not about how great their wrestling was, or how well they drew at the box office, or got heat. No, it’s about their current spirit and how they have or are copping with adversity in the face of illness and disabilities.
I started thinking about this more recently when it was announced that Sonny Fargo was to be inducted into the Legends Fanfest Hall of Heroes this August at that annual event in Charlotte, North Carolina. I have been a part of this event on two occasions and had the pleasure of spending time with Fargo, and the first year of the event was shocked to see Sonny in a wheel chair due to the amputation of his legs. He was the same upbeat personality that I had worked and traveled with back in the sixties and seventies, and joked about rolling down the road near his home to the local convenience store. I was blessed with the opportunity to visit with him again two years ago before his passing, and that great smile and sense of humor never wavered. I commented to several people that I could only hope to stand that strong under those conditions and was proud of how my friend handled it all.
Then two more events this year made an impression on me about the mental and emotional strength of the gladiators I had the privilege of working with over the years.
Three grizzled veterans at the Mobile reunion back in March left a strong impression on me. First Dickie Steinborn who I hadn’t seen in several years made his first appearance at the reunion since his illness. I had talked to him a few times on the phone and by his voice I had no idea of the physical specimen I would encounter. When he first walked up to say hello, I looked at him and started wondering who this man was shaking my hand and acting as if we were old friends, then the voice hit me, and I was shocked to see a reed thin hundred and forty pound man standing where I had always seen a athletically muscular two hundred and twenty pounder top flight performer. But, wrestling fans, that performer was still there as Dick did three skits on the weekend shows with the same flair, timing, and skill as he had used to manipulate wrestling crowds years ago, and the sense of humor and upbeat personality never wavered. The inner person gave no clue as to what the body had suffered over the years.
Ole Anderson has a strong opinion about everything wrestling and everyone has their opinion of Ole. I was privileged to work with he and Gene who were one of the all time best heel tag teams ever period, I’ve worked in the administrative end of the business with him, butted heads with him, and the only time I was ever fired in the wrestling business was by him. However my respect for Anderson grows every year I watch him needing help to get in and out of a car, and struggling to walk with a cane for short distances before needing to sit and rest.
I watched that scene unfold again this year in Mobile as my wife and I pulled into the parking lot where the reunion was held. We caught up with Ole and friends as they were registering at the entrance desk. I called his name and he turned and held out his hand, but I said to hell with that I want a hug; knowing full well the reaction I would get as I started to put my arms around him. He went into the full Ole Anderson promo mode saying “Get away from me, I don’t do those #@$*&%#* hugs crap!” Which was exactly what I was looking for from vintage Ole Anderson. I along with those around us laughed and I settled for the handshake. The body may be withering, but the spirit and personality are exactly what they have always been even as he jokes about his fading health and spits in the face of his illness. Two years ago I told him that it had been an honor to have worked with he and Gene in the ring and he asked me what the rib was!
I was so happy to see my long time friend Bill Bowman smiling in March as over the past two years he has faced enough adversity for six people. Bill, and Anne Bowman were like family to me and their son Brian who has a son of his own now still calls me Uncle Les. Anne left us a little over eighteen months ago only a few weeks after being diagnosed with cancer. It knocked the easy going Bill for a loop as she had been his life for so many years and left him at emotional loose ends. Since then Bowman has spent more then a dozen weeks in the hospital himself with a laundry list of illnesses and aliments to his heart and other body parts and you have to wonder how he has stayed on his feet and kept moving forward. But he has continued to run his janitorial business and devote time to helping put together the great weekend we have every year on the Gulf Coast. Bowman had dropped almost a hundred pounds since I had last seen him, and although he needed to lose some hanging out in a hospital bed wasn’t the way I had suggested. But through it all the personality hadn’t changed nor the pleasant demeanor I had come to know. My buddy Bill has just shaken it off and continued on.
After leaving Mobile we spent time in the North Carolina Mountains visiting in-laws and during that time I got a visit from old shooter Billy Wicks who lives nearby. Wicks if you weren’t aware used to turn them away in Memphis during his feuds with the late Sputnik Monroe in the late fifties and early sixties. In recent years he had been teaching “catch wrestling” (shoot style to those who haven’t heard the catch phrase before) and had the credentials to be a master at it.
I hadn’t seen Billy in several years and had heard his health was failing, but wasn’t prepared to see him using a walker with wheels as he entered the Waynesville Recreation Center where he had worked and my brother-in-law and I were doing our cardio.
We exchanged hugs (Wicks isn’t an anti-hugger) and after a short conversation on a wooden bench he suggested we adjourn to the office where the chairs were padded and more comfortable. That move entailed going up about a half dozen steps and as Billy put his walker off to the side and took hold of the hand railing I took his elbow and offered assistance in climbing the steps. He shook me off and very politely told me he was alright, and labored up those steps on his own.
Later he also refused help in going back down and was the same independent strong willed guy that was the healthy athlete of years gone by. As we parted company in the parking lot my thoughts were of how well he was handling this whole thing, and again the personality and voice were as strong as ever.
I write this not because these men are suffering from things caused by their career choice, riotous lifestyle, or drug abuse of which none is guilty as far as I know. I write it because they are dealing so well with illnesses and problems that can affect an insurance salesman, or a school teacher simply due to aging (late sixties to mid-seventies for these gentlemen), and no matter our relationship before this, I truly am in admiration of their strength of mind and will as they kick the ass of life’s adversities and just keep on, keep’ in on. I could only hope to cope this well in the same situation. Also, I am proud to be a member of their generation of the professional wrestling world. God bless’em all!
To end this week, I want to mention I’ll be in Peoria, Illinois on Saturday May 30th with the current incarnation of the Heartland Wrestling Association of which I was the founder of the original 14 years ago. They are doing a pilot taping that evening in HD and I will be doing a training seminar from one till five Central Standard Time in the same building the Exposition Gardens. I’ve never been to Peoria before, so come on out and join me if you’re in the area. Information is at www.hwaonline.com .
Train hard and master your craft.
Till Next Time,
Les
Les and Harley Race form Elite Pro Wrestling Training along with the principles left by former staff members Ricky Steamboat and Dr. Tom Prichard. For details on the company go to www.epwt.com. To book an EPWT seminar, camp, or trainer contact Les at les@epwt.com.
Get your copy of “The Professional Wrestler’s Workout & Instructional Guide” by Harley, Ricky, Les, and Alex Marvez published by Sports Publishing LLC at your local bookstore or from the PWInsider.com Superstore by clicking this link: http://astore.amazon.com/pwincom-20/detail/1582619476.
The annual Harley Race/Pro Wrestling Noah Training Camp is set for September 28th thru October 1st at Harley’s school in Eldon, MO. This year’s special guest is Ric Flair. You can sign up now. All the details are at www.harleyrace.com.
Les travels to Peoria, IL. Saturday May 30th for an afternoon training seminar 1: PM till 5: PM CST sponsored by HWA at the Exposition Gardens, and a television pilot taping that evening. To sign up or for information go to www.hwaonline.com or e-mail hwareborn@yahoo.com .
Join Les and Host Rich Tate every Wednesday night at 9: PM EST for “Peach State Pandemonium”.
