Welcome To My Blog
Sunday, May 16, 2021
On Tuesday, I will be officially launching my Literary Squared Circle blog. The first book I will be reviewing is The Eighth Wonder of the World: The True Story of André the Giant by Bertrand Hébert and Pat Laprade.
I selected André the Giant as the subject of my first blog entry for two reasons. The first being that Wednesday, May 19th is the 75th Anniversary of André’s birth. Second, it was André the Giant who, in 1985, got a 12-year-old me so worked up that I begged and pleaded with my dad to take me to my first-ever live wrestling event.
You see it was during a televised match one Saturday morning, in late 1984, that André was assaulted by Big John Studd, Ken Patera, and Bobby “The Brain” Heenan. I watched in disbelief as the villainous trio beat André unconscious and then proceeded to not only cut The Giant’s hair, but as commentator Vince McMahon put it, “rape the dignity of André the Giant”.
The following Saturday, during the local cut-in portion of WWF Championship Wrestling, “Mean” Gene Okerlund interviewed André, who seemed to be two to three inches shorter minus his iconic Afro. “Mean” Gene informed the audience watching at home that WWF President Jack Tunney had afforded André the opportunity to select ANY venue and ANY tag team partner he wanted to seek his revenge on The Heenan Family. The angry Giant, of course, chose… wait for it… the LOS ANGELES MEMORIAL SPORTS ARENA and his partner would be, none other than, the JUNKYARD DOG!!! What were the odds that André the Giant would pick the arena in my local media market for such a historic showdown? Why not Madison Square Garden? Why not partner with Hulk Hogan? What did I know? I was a 12-year-old mark. All I knew was that I HAD to be there!
Somehow, I convinced my dad that wrestling tickets would be the perfect early birthday present. He begrudgingly took me to the show. I remember him bringing along a book to read, and I remember his disappointment when the house lights were dimmed as the matches began. Since that show, I have been to dozens, if not hundreds, of live events. But, as a 12-year-old, seeing The Eighth Wonder of the World, André the Giant live and in-person, albeit from the nosebleed seats on the concourse level, is an experience which I will never forget.
So, I choose to dedicate my first blog entry to the man who headlined the first live event I ever attended: André the Giant. Years later, I discovered that my first live event was the same show at which “Dr. D” David Schultz had his encounter with Mr. T, which resulted in Schultz’s immediate firing. But, that’s another story for another blog entry.
Check back Tuesday for my review of The Eighth Wonder of the World..
On Tuesday, I will be officially launching my Literary Squared Circle blog. The first book I will be reviewing is The Eighth Wonder of the World: The True Story of André the Giant by Bertrand Hébert and Pat Laprade.
I selected André the Giant as the subject of my first blog entry for two reasons. The first being that Wednesday, May 19th is the 75th Anniversary of André’s birth. Second, it was André the Giant who, in 1985, got a 12-year-old me so worked up that I begged and pleaded with my dad to take me to my first-ever live wrestling event.
You see it was during a televised match one Saturday morning, in late 1984, that André was assaulted by Big John Studd, Ken Patera, and Bobby “The Brain” Heenan. I watched in disbelief as the villainous trio beat André unconscious and then proceeded to not only cut The Giant’s hair, but as commentator Vince McMahon put it, “rape the dignity of André the Giant”.
The following Saturday, during the local cut-in portion of WWF Championship Wrestling, “Mean” Gene Okerlund interviewed André, who seemed to be two to three inches shorter minus his iconic Afro. “Mean” Gene informed the audience watching at home that WWF President Jack Tunney had afforded André the opportunity to select ANY venue and ANY tag team partner he wanted to seek his revenge on The Heenan Family. The angry Giant, of course, chose… wait for it… the LOS ANGELES MEMORIAL SPORTS ARENA and his partner would be, none other than, the JUNKYARD DOG!!! What were the odds that André the Giant would pick the arena in my local media market for such a historic showdown? Why not Madison Square Garden? Why not partner with Hulk Hogan? What did I know? I was a 12-year-old mark. All I knew was that I HAD to be there!
Somehow, I convinced my dad that wrestling tickets would be the perfect early birthday present. He begrudgingly took me to the show. I remember him bringing along a book to read, and I remember his disappointment when the house lights were dimmed as the matches began. Since that show, I have been to dozens, if not hundreds, of live events. But, as a 12-year-old, seeing The Eighth Wonder of the World, André the Giant live and in-person, albeit from the nosebleed seats on the concourse level, is an experience which I will never forget.
So, I choose to dedicate my first blog entry to the man who headlined the first live event I ever attended: André the Giant. Years later, I discovered that my first live event was the same show at which “Dr. D” David Schultz had his encounter with Mr. T, which resulted in Schultz’s immediate firing. But, that’s another story for another blog entry.
Check back Tuesday for my review of The Eighth Wonder of the World..
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