- Eric Westlund

These are my recollections of ICW Wrestling from the time frame of mid to late 1981.  Randy Savage held his grip on the world championship tightly, and the tag belts were still in the hands of Leaping Lanny and George Weingeroff.  There was a new television champion, the Great Tio, and his task was to elevate the status of his mid and upper card opponents. 

Crusher Broomfield was a man involved in several different angles with the promotion at this juncture.  He was still under the contractual control of Randy Savage (with physical help from Pez Whatley) and was required to do their bidding.  The one-man gang, Ronnie Garvin, set out to free the big man from his bad situation.  It was relayed in the story line that Crusher had a sister who had cancer or something and that was how he ended up with this bad financial obligation.

Garvin had just worked a program with Savage for the world title.  In two matches at the ICW base headquarters of Lexington, Kentucky, Garvin had just barely come up short in his efforts to wrest the title from Mr. Poffo.  In the first bout in April of that year, Garvin was disqualified for hitting the referee causing his disqualification and a hefty fine.  In the rematch, Savage required Garvin to put up his hair to get a second world title match.  This match, which I attended, was a great back and forth exhibition of these two men’s skills.  In the end Savage won with a clean pinfall victory.  As he and his manager Steve Cooper went to try to shave the head of the distraught Canadian, Garvin retaliated with a different ending.  After punching out Cooper and grabbing his cane, Garvin went after the victorious Macho Man.  Savage high tailed it mid way back to the dressing room and watched as Garvin pile drove the senseless Cooper. Savage never tried to help his manager as Garvin screamed at the referee to get the scissors and the clippers.  The crowd was in a frenzy at Henry Clay High School as Garvin first cut Cooper’s long hair with the scissors and then finished the trim with the clippers. 

In the following weeks of the show, Savage demanded on television that Garvin must have his head shaved as the contract stipulated.  Garvin laughed at the legal papers and wondered who was man enough to hold him still to have his haircut.  Savage also boasted Garvin would never get another title shot at his valued world belt.

Garvin, several months later, unhappy with the treatment Crusher was receiving at the hands of Savage and Whatley, issued a challenge to the Macho Man.  If Savage would put up Crusher’s contract in a match against Garvin, this would give Crusher a chance to be free.  Garvin had to put up $25,000 and leaving the ICW forever just to get the match with Savage to potentially free the 6’10” behemoth.  Knowing what was to be the outcome of this conflict I chose not to attend this live event.  Garvin won the match and freed Crusher to do his own bidding.