A few mos. ago, I was at my grandparents house, and my grandpa was watching these old wrestling tapes that featured guys like Rick Rude, Paul "Mr. Wonderful" Orndorff and "Stunning" Steve Austin (the days when he had hair LOL) and boy was it a blast from the past.  Bobby "The Brain" Heenan and a young Jim Ross did the commentary LOL

It got me thinking about the great days of wrestling in the 80s and 90s when it was all about man vs. man in the ring.  Now adays, it's all about backstage with pipes and chairs.  That's not wrestling.  Give me classic old school wrestling anyday.  Remember these guys ...

♦ "Iron" Mike Sharpe
♦ Dave Barbie
♦ Dino Bravo
♦ "The Birdman" Koko B. Ware
♦ Paul Roma
♦ "Leaping" Lanny Poffo (later known as "The Genius")
♦ The Brooklyn Brawler
♦ Cowboy Bob Orton
♦ Outback Jack
♦ Corporal Kirschner
♦ Billy Jack Haynes
♦ Jim Powers
♦ The One Man Gang (later known as Akeem the "African Dream")
♦ David Stoudermire
♦ Barry Horowitz
♦ Ricky Ataki
♦ "Dangerous" Danny Davis
♦ Killer Khan
♦ Ken Patera



In 1986, a whole cast of WWF Superstars got together to record a cover version of 'Land of A Thousand Dances'.  It was released as a single, and though it didn't chart in the States, it was a Top 40 hit in Canada.  Produced by Jim Steinman and Rick Derringer, and featuring appearances from Meatloaf, Derringer and Cyndi Lauper.  What a classic ...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y7769W-d57s

Back when they had memorable wrestlers and heels like

-  Hulk Hogan
-  Cowboy Bob Orton
-  The Road Warriors, Hawk and Animal
-  Superfly Jimmy Snuka
-  Jake "The Snake" Roberts
-  Sgt. Slaughter
-  The Iron Sheik
-  Rowdy Roddy Piper
-  "Macho Man" Randy Savage
-  Ricky "The Dragon" Steamboat
-  Dusty Rhodes
-  "The Million Dollar Man" Ted DiBiasi
-  Junkyard Dod
-  Paul "Mr. Wonderful" Orndorff
-  "Nature Boy" Ric Flair
-  George "The Animal" Steele
-  Demolition, Ax and Smash
- The Ultimate Warrior

and managers and annoucers such as

"Classy" Fred Blassie, Bobby "The Brain" Hennan, Captain Lou Albano, Mr. Fuji, Gorilla Monsoon, Jimmy "The Mouth From The South" Hart,
and "Mean" Gene Okerlund 

Wow, I really miss those days.... :\'(

My favorite wrestler was Ricky "the Dragon" Steamboat. I also liked Mr. Perfect Curt Hennig, "Macho Man" Randy Savage, the Ultimate Warrior, "Million Dollar Man" Ted DiBiase, and Jake "the Snake" Roberts.

What about Rick "The Model" Martel?

I definitely jumped on the WWF bandwagon in the 80s. My brother and dad are big fans to this day!

What did I love most about it? The WWF LJN figures! I had almost all of them. My favourite was Junkyard Dog. I also remember King Kong Bundy coming away from his packaging on the store shelves cos the figure was so heavy. Great memories!

The man himself (RIP)

http://i20.ebayimg.com/01/i/000/b8/a4/d7e3_1.JPG

http://a763.g.akamai.net/7/763/1644/v002/app.infopia.com/img/image/fp/VPID/3961169/img002/img.jpg

I definitely jumped on the WWF bandwagon in the 80s. My brother and dad are big fans to this day!

What did I love most about it? The WWF LJN figures! I had almost all of them. My favourite was Junkyard Dog. I also remember King Kong Bundy coming away from his packaging on the store shelves cos the figure was so heavy. Great memories!

The man himself (RIP)

http://i20.ebayimg.com/01/i/000/b8/a4/d7e3_1.JPG

http://a763.g.akamai.net/7/763/1644/v002/app.infopia.com/img/image/fp/VPID/3961169/img002/img.jpg


I loved the LJN rubber figures.  I even had a few of the thumb wrestlers, but they got confiscated by my Grade 1 teacher because I brought them to class :\'(

I totally remember that about King Kong Bundy.  The Big John Studd and Andre the Giant figurines also did the same thing

I remember the larger versions and the thumb wrestler versions.

Produced by Jim Steinman and Rick Derringer, and featuring appearances from Meatloaf, Derringer and Cyndi Lauper.  What a classic ...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y7769W-d57s


Just a slight correction... I'm friends with a Steinman aficionado who said that Steinman only produced The Hulk's theme. This track was in fact produced by Rick Derringer and a Dave Wolff.

http://www.discogs.com/release/618469

Anybody remember these 70s wrestlers (All Star Wrestling):
Mad Dog Vashone and his brother Butcher
Doctor X & Double X
Black Jack Lanza (I think Bobby Heenen was his manager)
Da Crusher and his cousin Dick The Bruiser
Verne Gagne
Nick Bockwinkle
Ray "The Crippler" Stevens
Super Destroyer
Kobiyashi (always threw salt before each match,  it was a Japanese custom for good luck)

Anybody remember these 70s wrestlers (All Star Wrestling):
Mad Dog Vashone and his brother Butcher
Doctor X & Double X
Black Jack Lanza (I think Bobby Heenen was his manager)
Da Crusher and his cousin Dick The Bruiser
Verne Gagne
Nick Bockwinkle
Ray "The Crippler" Stevens
Super Destroyer
Kobiyashi (always threw salt before each match,  it was a Japanese custom for good luck)






I definitely remember the old AWA wrestling. For many years the TV shows were recorded in Minneapolis, MN at a studio in the Calhoun Beach Club. My brother and I were frequently at these tapings. The AWA was the orginasation that trained and debuted many of the top wrestlers .....Hogan, Flair, Road Warriors, Shaun Michaels, Henning, Heenan, Ventura, etc...in addition to the great ones of that era you mentioned. I used to love Mad Dog, The Baron Von Raschke, Jerry Blackwell, Sheik Adnan el Kassie,.... too many more to even list. An awful lot of great memories! 

back in the mid to late 80's me and 3 friends went to see Wrestling (I think they were the NWA then)  at The Cow Palace in San Francisco. we had close seats and got to see Nature Boy Rick Flair and the rest of The Four Horseman, The Road Warriors, Ravishing Rick Rude, Gorgeous Jimmy Garvin & Precious, and several others and I still have some of the pics I took somewhere.  I remember the commentaors always provided comedy which made it fun to watch. before Vince McMahon Jr. took over he and Lord Alfred Hayes made a very funny team as commentators, but to me, Bobby The Brain Heenan was the funniest.

one of the strangest was George The Animal Steele http://rds.yahoo.com/_ylt=A0Je5mWpoCVH8w0BOx6jzbkF/SIG=12b1ea3on/EXP=1193734697/**http%3A//www.canoe.ca/WrestlingImagesS/steele_george3.jpg

one of the strangest was George The Animal Steele http://rds.yahoo.com/_ylt=A0Je5mWpoCVH8w0BOx6jzbkF/SIG=12b1ea3on/EXP=1193734697/**http%3A//www.canoe.ca/WrestlingImagesS/steele_george3.jpg




Indeed.  He always used to bite chunks out of the turnbuckle ;D

Indeed.  He always used to bite chunks out of the turnbuckle ;D


Didn't he also have an unusually long green tongue??? I remember my older brother had me believe he was some mutant. I wonder who he was in real life and if he was normal?  :D

http://www.georgesteele.com/

This is George "the Animal" Steele's official website.  :) It offers a very interesting look into his life, including his battle with Crohn's Disease.

I agree; Bobby "the Brain" Heenan was the funniest of all the commentators. He was supposed to be on the side of the bad guys but I just couldn't help but to laugh at just about anything he says.  ;D

I was a BIG fan of wrestling from ages 7-20.

"Classic: wrestlers I grew up on:

-Hulk Hogan
-"Superfly" Jimmy Snuka
-The Iron Sheikh
-Nikolai Volkoff
-"Rowdy" Roddy Piper
-Brutus Beefcake & Greg "The Hammer" Valentine (aka "The Dream Team")
-Junkyard Dog
-"The Birdman" Koko B. Ware
-Big John Studd
-King Kong Bundy
-"Bam Bam" Bigelow (RIP)
-Ken Patera
-Jerry "Crusher" Blackwell (RIP)
-"Claw Master" Baron Von Raschke
-George "The Animal" Steele
-Sheikh Adnan alKaissy (a good friend of mine)
-Tito Santana
-The Killer Bees (Jim Brunzell & B. Brian Blair)
-Demolition (Axe, Smash & Crush)
-The Powers Of Pain (Barbarian & Warlord)
-S.D. Jones
-Rick "The Model" Martel
-Jake "The Snake" Roberts
-Lanny "The Poet" Poffo
-Curt Hennig
-The Texas Hangmen
-The Road Warriors (Hawk & Animal)
-The Ultimate Warrior
-Ravishing Rick Rude
-Sivi Afi
-Carlos Colon
-Jerry "The King" Lawler

....Many more I could name.
Just ask.

^ The Killer Bees were awesome.  I remember they used to crawl under the ring and switch masks to fool the referee and win the match ;D

More Tag Teams I grew up on:

-The Bolsheviks (Nikolai Volkoff/Boris Zhukov)
-The Midnight Express (Bobby Eaton/Stan Lane)
-The Fabulous Rougeau Brothers (Jacques/Raymond)
-The Rock 'n Roll Express (Ricky Morton/Robert Gibson)
-The Fantastics (Bobby Fulton/Tommy Rogers)
-The Sheepherders (Bushwhackers) (Butch Miller/Luke Williams)
-Los Conquistadores
-The 4 Horsemen (Arn Anderson/Tully Blanchard/Ric Flair/JJ Dillon)
-The Moon Dogs (Rex/Spot/King)
-The Natural Disasters (Earthquake/Typhoon)