Sorry to hear Vern has passed. RIP to a good man and an asset to the Twin Cities
Just hearing the name brings back a lot of memories of guys like:
-”Mean Gene” Okerlund and Roger Kent, the stalwart announcers/interviewers
-Da Crusher
-”The High Flyers” - Greg Gagne and Jumpin’ Jim Brunzell
-Kenny “Sodbuster” Jay
-George “Scrap Iron” Gedasky
-Jerry Blackwell from Stone Mountain, Georgia
-Tito Santana (the only man to ever body slam the 468 lb Jerry Blackwell)
-Nick Bockwinkel
-Bobby “The Brain” Heenan
-Ray “The Crippler” Stevens and Pat Patterson
-Lord Alfred Hayes (of Windemere, England) and his proteges, the “Super Destroyers” Mark II and III
-Larry “The Axe” Hennig
-Ken Patera and Mr. Saito (who cast salt “to the four winds” before each match)
-”Big Bad” Bobby Duncum
-Stan “The Lariat” Hansen
-Kamala the Ugandan Giant
-Rufus R. Railroad Freight Train Jones
-Chief Wahoo McDaniel
-Sheik Adnaan al-Khaesi
-Baron von Raschke
-Buck “Rock n Roll” Zumhofe
-Jimmy “Superfly” Snuka
...and that’s just off the top of my head; the list goes on. Memories of Saturday and Sunday TV viewing in the late 70’s and early 80’s.
Oh, and you knew the match was a big deal when they brought in “Special Referee” Lord James Blears. :-)
And how could I have omitted Maurice “Mad Dog” Vachon, and the hated Colonel DeBeers of the South African Army, or Jacques Goulet of the French Foreign Legion?
Vern made having only four TV channels a lot more bearable, now that I think about it.
That would be the “very capable” Kenny “Sodbuster” Jay, who, to my knowledge, never won a match.
But where’s Haystack Calhoun on the list?
“The Sheik” is a pretty good documentary about Iron Sheik.he was a gifted Olympian wrestler from Iran.