Brown was a face at this time and was way over for years in St. Louis. (Although I never remember him with the Missouri Title or even with shots at the various NWA champions.) He did get titles and what not in the Kansas City Central States promotion, so maybe he figured he didn’t need that in St. Louis. Strange, many of the real big names in Kansas City were mid-carders at best in St. Louis. Another topic for another day - the relationship between Bob Geigel in KC and Sam Muchnick in St. Louis.

So the match begins. I am awed at how close we were to the action. You could literally hear the forearms and chops. (Bulldog was a big chopper - and, in 1980, nobody “Wooo’ed” every time it happened!!) The jobber got in like two punches and an eye rake on offense. The ‘Dog chopped and slashed and eventually finished him off with a leg drop (finishers are a whole column unto themselves!) . An the crowd went nuts!

Next I remember Baron von Raschke again beating the hell out of a face jobber. With the claw, of course. As the Baron entered the ring, he did the obligatory “goose step” - hmm, how would that go over today?? But we ate up every minute of it. The great thing about being so close to the ring was that you could yell at the grapplers and you know they heard it. I could swear we made some of them smile with our comments. Another thing about being so close was you could really see up close a body slam or suplex. And hear the impact. And see how damn big professional wrestlers (yes, even the jobbers) are.

Another match I remember from the first taping is Harley Race (another perennial St. Louis favorite) beating the hell out of a jobber Art Crews. Finished him with a vertical suplex. A suplex! (again, a future column will be dedicated to finishers)

I think Art when on to make a bit of a name for himself somewhere else, but at the time, Art spent a lot of time looking up at the lights. It was probably just an honor to be working for Sam Muchnick, on St. Louis TV, period, in 1980, never mind jobbing.

And so the afternoon went. Each show consisted of (I think) four matches. (maybe three, any good readers can correct me, my memories are 21 years and many beers ago!)  What was interesting was after each taping, there was about a half hour break. The main task during the break was to move all the people out of the main bleachers, to give the appearance of a whole new audience. So for “weeks 2 & 3” my friends and I were in the side bleachers.

Speaking of being on good behavior and between show antics, my friend Jeff (no last names!) actually did “backyard” wrestling before there was such a thing. In 1980, fueled by WATC and Georgia Championship Wrestling on cable, we hacked and chopped each other and even developed a little repertoire - suplex, piledriver, and figure four leglock! And we very careful to land right, help each other, etc. Of course this sounds absolutely idiotic today, but hey, were 16 at the time. I think you can begin to get the picture of what happened………….

At a subsequent taping (3-4 months later), Jeff and I decided to actually get in the ring at the Chase and try it out. The studio was half empty, Larry and Mickey were gone, as well as the huge cop by the door. So Jeff and I quick jump into the ring.

We bounce off the ropes and exchange forearm smashes! Jeff grabs me around the waist and gives me a perfect side saddle suplex! The noise and commotion got the crowd going nuts! I recovered from the suplex, chopped Jeff across the chest and shot him off the ropes - LARIAT! Jeff sold it like he was shot. By this time, people were running back into the studio to see what all the commotion was - I grabbed Jeff by the hair (guess this made me the heel, carefully lined him up, PILEDRIVER!! (with his head missing the mat by a good foot - we did practice this many times). Our friends later told us it looked great from the seats!!

All of a sudden, the crowd got quiet. Jeff was just about the clamp on the figure four when I saw it. Six Foot Six Inches, 270 Pounds of Very Angry St. Louis Policeman!

Officer Moose Muehler of the Ninth District was in no mood to talk. Without a word, he grabbed both Jeff and I by the hair, dragged us out of the ring, down the hall, knocked our heads together (I swear to God I saw stars), and threw us out. No charges, no ticket, no fine. Just a headache. Our friends soon found us out back of Channel 11 - they said the crowd booed Officer Muehler mercilessly after he threw us out. We were back in three months and stayed in our seats from that point forward.

Funny, the next week after my one and only professional match (lifetime record 0-0-1), Larry Matysik made a point during his commentary that St. Louis fans are “the greatest”, but “there are always a few, who are knuckleheads” - YES! Larry acknowledged Jeff and I!! Also, within days, the story had spread around our high school. We were famous as “the guys who got in the ring”.

Epilogue: Years later, I saw Officer Muehler working security in the bleachers at a Cardinals game. He remembered me, and said it was the funniest damn thing he ever saw, but had to do his job. And, as it turned out, he worked security there because he was a part time indy wrestler (under a hood) trying to make it in the business. Hey, we shook hands, no hard feelings!

Other things I really remember circa 1980 on St. Louis TV (which I miss today):

·         The referees “gave instructions” and checked each competitor for “foreign objects”, including the boots,  prior to the match.

·         Tag matches were “Australian” tag team matches, complete with tag rope, which the heels made liberal use of during the match.

·         You could jump off the second rope, but not the top rope (immediate DQ per “Missouri State Rules”).

·         Every single match had a clean finish.

·         Every single match had a clear face and a heel.

·         Good (Dick Murdoch, Ric Flair) heel interviews.

·         Old School (Dory Funk, Jack Brisco) face interviews.

·         Scientific face wrestlers always having a “strong amateur background”

·         Flair or Funk using “strategy” to work over the leg before applying the spinning toe hold or the figure four leglock. (Larry Matysik always gave them credit for being great “ring generals”)

·         Knowing two weeks in advance (during the commercial plugs) every single match for the upcoming Kiel card. (Think about, for house shows today, you never know what you will see until you get there)

·         Occasionally two faces would have a “scientific” ten minute “draw” and shake hands when it was over.

·         Jobbers and TV squash matches (I really do miss them!)

NEXT MONTH: 

The Relationship Between Kansas City (Geigel) and St. Louis (Muchnick)