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On my first anniversary with my first wife we celebrated at a wrestling match in Corpus Christi. It was at the "coliseum". Kamala the giant was heading to the ring. I made some stupid comment and then looked around me. Everybody had vacated their seats and I was alone. I raised a peanut sized fist as this monster came down the aisle.

LOL! An anniversary made memorable with ruined shorts for a souvenir! You brought back some memories of Southwest Championship Wrestling during the mid 1980s when I was stationed at Ft. Hood, traveling wherever possible to see these weird guys whose posters my barracks buddy literally covered the walls with. We saw all the Von Erichs, the Sheepherders (pre-Bushwackers they were drunk, vicious and fined a lot for seriously injuring people), Exotic Adrian Street and his valet Ms. Linda, The Bull Manny Fernandez, the Missing Link, "Dr. Death" Steve Williams, the Fabulous Freebirds, "Mad Dog" Buzz Sawyer, Tommy Rich, the Minnesota Wrecking Crew, Mil Mascaras, Tully Blanchard before he teamed up with Arn Anderson, Cowboy Scott Casey (who got his leg broken in two places by the Sheepherders right in front of me - sick), Eric Embry, Terry Allen (who went on to become Magnum TA), Eddie Gilbert, your acquaintance Kamala and some upstart named Rick Rude.

In the last twenty years about 20 to 25% of those guys have passed away. It's a hard lifestyle.

I remember watching the old Houston Wresting with Paul Boesch.

One thing that they did back in those days was carry a small razor into the ring so at the proper time they could cut their own forehead. Blood a plenty. Up close their foreheads were terribly scarred, thick and rough.

Jose Lothario, Mil Mascaras, Ernie Ladd (a hero in his hometown of Houston, a mega-heel everywhere else), the Funks, and the Briscos. Other stars who came into the area were Brute Bernard, Harley Race, the evil Playboy Gary Hart, Red Bastien, Ivan Putski, Superstar Billy Graham, the late, great Gino Hernandez, Andre, Tony Atlas and Al "don't call me a Mexican, I'm an Indian" Madril.

The Sam Houston Coliseum was a dark, smelly old municipal building in downtown Houston used mostly religious revivals, second rate circuses, and pro wrestling. I never got to visit as my parents didn't care that it would be the ultimate birthday or Christmas present. They continued to give me socks and crap like that.

Once back in the mid 1940's my Grandfather was paid to saw a board under the ring partially in two so the ring would break at some time. I don't know anything else about this as he died a few months before I was born.

I once saw Jose Lothario at Memorial City Mall. Barrel chest and bird-legs. Nick Kozak owned a wrecker company named Kozaks Towing. He had one beat up truck and he was the only employee. That was sad.

The Mexican wrestlers started wearing masks so that they could wrestle night after night under different names. If memory serves Spoiler I (one) was among the first Americans to wear a mask. I never found out why.

I remember Ivan Putski tearing license plates in half. I found out that it wasn't a trick that he was just that strong.

Oh the memories!!