Just a quick post

From one of our programs when we were promoting ICW in Mississippi. Tom Jones was a true legend in professional wrestling and Tom "Boogaloo" Shaft was one of the best talkers around on the mic and also one tough, legit man that believe me, you did not want to mess with! These two appealed to wrestling fans of every age and color and were truly two of the nicest guys you would ever want to meet! Before Shaft got into professional wrestling he was a boxer and told stories about sparring with Cassius Clay (Muhammad Ali), and later compete in many Tough Man competitions being held around the country before they were banned. RIP my friends. Was an honor knowing you both and traveling many miles together.

Another little tease from my upcoming book

Security was on their toes stationed between the dressing room and the ring watching for signs of trouble when here he comes, Bobby bolting out of the dressing room running straight towards the ring. The crowd was on their feet yelling and screaming and it seemed for a moment he had made it there safely and security was prepared to get all involved safely back to the dressing rooms. As Bobby hit the ring the referee was calling for a disqualification, the time keeper was ringing the bell, then it quickly became obvious that there was quite a bit of blood on the ring canvas. Someone was bleeding very badly, but who? About as soon as Jack and Bobby jumped out of the ring there was no doubt. It was Bobby with blood gushing out from what appeared to be between his legs! As soon as he got back to the dressing room, leaving a trail of blood from the ring, he was immediately rushed to the emergency room. I don't think anybody knew exactly what happened, not even Bobby, but later it became clear. At some point during the excitement someone had slipped underneath the ring, right behind the ring post where they knew Bobby would be coming, and as he was jumping into the ring they thrust a knife upwards into him, catching him with one leg in the air as he jumped! The knife had hit a artery on the inside of his upper thigh, about as close as it could come to where I think you can imagine the assailant intended, then he or she vanished into the crowd and out the door. It all happened so quickly. That was a night when a fan's emotions could have easily become deadly.

What a Night in Natchez, Mississippi!

When I went over his match he stopped lacing his boots and just sat there for a few moments not saying anything. Then he looked up at me and said “I'm not going to do it. I'm not putting that son of a bitch over”. As you can imagine I was a bit stunned and after a moment I said something like hey, I'm just the messenger and so forth which didn't change things at all and he said that Johnny would know why. I will tell you at this point Frankie had quite a reputation in the wrestling business as not only a really tough guy that had basically come up on the streets, boxing at a very young age and wrestling in carnivals taking on all challengers. He had also been known to punch out a promoter or two over disagreements of some sort and was even “blackballed” from the wrestling business at some point, but he had always been very nice to me and easy to get along with. With this in mind I left the dressing room and thought for a moment of what to do.

Stay tuned!!

"Pretty Boy" Ripper Collins, Greenwood, Ms. TV, What Could Go Wrong?

L-R Superstar and "Pretty Boy"

So far I have talked on the serious side about the background of ICW Wrestling and given my opinion, for what it's worth, on a few folks and a couple of promotions, and I want you to know that anything I write about will be from my own personal experiences and not from the many things I have heard or know of. That being said, I am going to switch to the lighter side of behind-the-scenes incidents that can and do happen in the wrestling business which the fans never see, or, in this case, lots of folks in the Greenwood, Mississippi TV viewing area DID see! If you were one of those lucky ones, you will never forget. I surely will not! True Story - "Pretty Boy" + Johnny Cascio + Channel 6 + General Manager on the phone + Christmas Time + Decorations = A Night To Remember! Let me tell you, if you did not know and had not been around "Ripper" Collins, or were not there at the TV studio that night, there is no way you can fully appreciate the scene, but I will do my best to give you an idea of the chaos!
Johnny Cascio was the sports commentator for Channel 6 TV in the Greenwood/Greenville area. When we started filming our weekly ICW Wrestling Show live from the Sportatorium each Friday night in Greenwood, we had recruited Johnny to be "the voice of ICW", calling the matches from the commentary position. Johnny was a natural! He called the matches with excitement and enthusiasm in a very serious manner, such as the Jim Ross of today. Excellent at what he did!
"Pretty Boy" Ripper Collins was one of the wrestlers we brought in during that time who had been around different areas but not really known to the fans in the South. Well, it did not take him long to get their attention and realize that this was a wrestler that was "outrageous, flamboyant and, very unpredictable! His wardrobe was usually very bright and  outlandish and especially for Friday "TV" nights, he would go get his hair 'done', nails polished, and usually a bit of make-up. Now here is what happened this particular night; It was after our live TV taping at the Sportatorium and we were at the Channel 6 Studio to cut interviews. It was at Christmas time. We were waiting for Johnny to finish his late broadcast. During this "waiting", Pretty Boy had been wandering around the set out of view and had come across their Christmas Decorations. Nobody had really paid any attention to what he was doing because he was always into something! Johnny was wrapping up his broadcast and, to Ripper's defense, I guess it did seem like it was over when Johnny said "goodnight". Well, about the time the words got out of his mouth, here comes...(you have to try to picture this in your mind) "Pretty Boy" - dancing, prancing and skipping onto the the set, with all sorts of ornaments and garland in his hair and pinned on his outfit, throwing glitter and whatever into the air, singing "Merry Christmas, Merry Christmas" in a high pitched voice, then at Johnny's side at the chair with a piece of mistletoe in his hand, held it over Johnny's head (who was still looking straight ahead), then leaned over and gave Johnny a big kiss on the cheek! It was hilarious! Camera crew was cracking up, Johnny turned red in the face and then - Here comes the problem! The cameras were still rolling! The phone is ringing - for Johnny - and it is the General Manager of Channel 6! He not only demanded to know what was going on and Who was that, but also WHAT In The Hell WAS that?!! By then the rest of us realized what was happening. Johnny was still red, still on the phone with the boss, somewhat speechless, our Booker Frankie Cain, The Great Mephisto was chewing Ripper up and down, and as far as I remember, I was standing there speechless like Johnny, but at the same time trying to hold back the laughter! The rest of the crew at the station were still rolling on the floor. Needless to say it took a bit of talking and a cooling off period for the General Manager. So, I never will forget the night that "Pretty Boy" Ripper Collins, the big dancing Christmas Ornament, invaded Channel 6 TV in Greenwood, Mississippi! I could write a book about this man! There were so many more "incidents" with him! Felt like strangling him sometimes but yet, couldn't help but love the guy - Never a dull moment!! Great memories! Thanks for reading and, Stay Tuned!

LOYALTY? Grizzly Smith - The BIG STOOGE!

During the time  in the 1970's when we pulled away from the Bill Watts promotion, Mid-South Wrestling, and formed International Championship Wrestling in Mississippi, we had many wrestlers that were loyal to us and willing to take a chance on our promotion. I will forever be grateful to these guys. On the other hand, there were those that truly wanted to see us fail, whether it was for fear of "bucking" the big established group, fear of being "blackballed" if they came with us and we failed, or greed and the desire to dominate and intimidate. Yes Bill, talkin' bout you. So, here comes the big plan and the attempted screw job. Enter the Big Stooge Grizzly Smith. Grizz' had come to us claiming to be fed up with Bill and wanting to be a part of ICW. Although we had doubts in the back of our minds, he was very convincing and we decided to give him a chance. Things were going great, Grizz' was always there on time and wanting to help in any way. A big feud developed between him and The Great Mephisto (Frankie Cain) that led up to a big upcoming cage match at the coliseum in Jackson, Ms.. Just prior to this, these two ran into each other while Christmas shopping mid-day in downtown Jackson, a street fight erupted, police were called, a newspaper photographer showed up on the scene, and the two bloodied men were handcuffed and arrested. So, what happens the night of the big Cage Match?? Stay tuned for Part 2!