Georgia State University - Rampway Yearbook (Atlanta, GA)

Page 17 text:

Dean Alllllllii Continued ln amateur wrestling, a competitor could either win by pinning his opponent to the mat or by beating him on points given on the basis of manuevers. ln professional wrestling, however, there is no point system at all. There were and are two ways to win. Wrestlers could pin their opponents in the same fashion as amateurs or they could force them to submit, which made the sport take on a new dimension. Spectators constantly asked, Do punches really hurt? Did he really kick you? How do you land so that you don't hurt? Those with the questions should have looked, really looked, at the ring. lt was a steel framework covered with plywood and then canvas, which could be horrible because the canvas caused skin burns. The fans made the distinctions between the good and the bad guys. lf two wrestlers were put into the ring who were both known for being good guys, the fans would invariably begin to find fault with the moves of one of them and begin to boo. The nature of the sport dictated that the rules were either enforced, resulting in a scientific match, or they were ignored completely. There wasn't much in between. Ignoring the rules meant a free-for-all. Johnny Valentine was once quoted as saying, When a guy throws you out of the ring onto your back on the concrete floor there is no way to fall. No secrets will help you. The only thing you can do when you're thrown is tuck your head, pull in your arms, and try to tuck your feet a little bit so nothing is flopping and will get broken. That's all you can do. Most of the wrestlers would get angry if the referee tried to disqualify someone. They didn't want the fans to think that they fthe wrestlersi were being protected by the referee. As a result, the rules were usually viewed with a somewhat jaundiced eye. The bottom line on the brutality is that the box office always dictated attention to the rules and fans were quick to let managers know what they liked and what they didn't like. Wrestling was and is a type of art form. lt had to be. The sheer bulk of some of the participants made it so. lf a contender didn't know what he was doing, he could get killed, some of the competitors weighed three hundred pounds or more. A major difference between wrestling and another sport like baseball is the proximity of the action. ln a baseball stadium, all of the action takes place relatively far away. But when people went to the matches, they sat down in their seats, the lights went out and only the ring lights were on. There was no distraction. Everyone concentrated on what happened between two men, and every little thing was seen. Two men fought it out and the crowd fought with them. The fans cheered, booed, and grunted along with the wrestlers because in a peculiar way, the fans WERE in there with them. The men in the ring were simply trying to beat each other, it came down to dollars and cents. The real temperaments came out in a match. Whatever courtesy or dignity they might have had in life outside of the ring, was gone. The theatrics and wardrobe made it more exciting for the crowd. Most of the wrestlers then as now, tried to get the fans to remember them. Whether they did it with masks, fancy dress like Gorgeous George, or by screaming threats at the opponent, it had to be something different. They were competing for the attention of the public. Wrestlers who just wrestled indifferently made an average living. But if they wore curlers into the ring like Gorgeous George or an lndian Chief's headress like Wahoo McDaniels . . . some little spark . . . and won their matches, their money got better. Aside from the costumes, the more matches they won, the more money they made. lt was a dollars and cents situation. Some got up to a quarter of a million annually, even in the fifties. The livelihood then and now depended on the fans. Wrestlers got paid according to how the house went, so it was very important to them for the house to go well. Gorgeous George was one of the most memorable professional wrestlers. He was born in Houston, Texas, and got his start in small arenas around the Houston area. He began his career as a good, solid wrestler and then he got the idea for a gimmick. He bleached his hair and let it grow long, was followed into the ring by a valet and wore ring robes that looked more like a large size of something .Jean Harlowe would wear than the warm-up robe for a wrestler. He was temperamental and difficult, and he probably spent more time at the beauty parlor than he did at the gymnasium, but he got more percentage out of promoters and the people paid to see him. K lt's rough to really pin down the popularity of wrestling. Maybe it was the violence. lt was and is a game of throwing a giant man over the shoulders of another giant man, pounding heads and gouging eyes. The audience was a cross- section of bank presidents, truck drivers and little old ladies. Whatever the reason, the sport drew them to the old auditorium and when that building was sold to GSU, they moved en masse to the OMNI and to television. The fans are still demanding and they are still wild. Only the names have changed. Student L fe lj

Page 16 text:

Gorgeous George, El Mongol, Man Mountain -if X Ji W' 'I l,f'They got invited and everyone Came. Twenty-six wrestlers crowded onto the arena for an all-out melee The largest was Haystack Calhoun, a 600 pounder. 2fGorgeous George musses someone else's hair for a change and refuses to release the name of his hair' dresser What a way to spend an evenmg. l2fStudent Life 4

Page 18 text:

-X X Y, - -xx-0.1 ,EN , 1 , ,xx ,.,X Xz-.Xf'- 'rw XX! .,, , X,f ' LJ H I N X VX, -,N A W L, X -5 x ff ,K f., QQXX-xl , , X J N , 4N.xv, lg, ff' n - W' x in Q wx we 1 v 1 1 'S Q. If il:-TW-W-.-.w..... . 'Q