Old School Indian Wrestlers

Chief Wahoo McDaniels

Since the age of televised wrestling Native Americans have been characters, except for most recent years. I didn’t know how far back as my reference only goes so far as Chief Wahoo McDaniels, Well, the other day I was looking up the actor who played Luca Brasi in the Godfather and found his name was Lenny Montana. He did have some ties with the mob, Wikipedia called him an "associate" of the Colombo family. But he had spent years as a professional wrestler and had feuded with Chief Little Eagle. Reading on Chief Little Eagle led me to Chief Big Heart, and Chief Big Heart led me to Suni War Cloud. This is a whole tradition of Native wrestlers I had never heard of. And the people they feuded with include Grizzly Smith, Dick the Bruiser, Waldo Von Erich, Gorilla Monsoon, Bob Orton Sr. and my favorite Skandor Akbar. Suni War Cloud even got to act in the Jim Thorpe movie about the famed Sac and Fox athlete.

It must have been fun to watch American Indian wrestlers back then. The only downside is they all wore war bonnets. But with a nostalgic look, even that is appealing of a simpler time. I can imagine a promoter telling a Native athlete trying to get into professional wrestling if he was going to play the Indian angle he would have to wear a war bonnet. Then the athlete wondering where the heck he can get a war bonnet. Native American businesses do not sell many war bonnets. They are not a big seller.

Chief Jay Strongbow

In my day there was Wahoo McDaniel and Chief Jay Strongbow. I didn’t get to see Strongbow much growing up, as he was in the Northeastern promotions and I was in the Midwest/South. Then there was Tatanka. Never felt the kinship there as he was Lumbee. Wahoo was Chickasaw and Choctaw and played for the Oklahoma Sooners.

So, I wonder to this day what it would be like if old timers could wrestle in today's Native arenas. There are the big venues like the Mohegan Sun or Foxwoods but there are also a lot of smaller arenas. Places where there is ESPN boxing matches. The Citizen Potawatomi have a large venue that could have smaller pro wrestling matches. Most of the California casino tribes have forums for big events. I am just saying it would be neat to see Native wrestlers performing in Native arenas.

Old Is Cool With The AWA Reruns

It has been enjoyable to watch AWA wrestling on ESPN classics. It's fun to see a lot of young rookies back in the day, having seen a very young Shawn Michaels, Scott Hall, and Mick Foley. If it is also good to see the old style of wrestling with old timers like Chief Wahoo McDaniels and Baron Von Rashcke. It does my heart a lot of good.

This period of an AWA wrestling is set in the late nineteen eighties. Just after Wrestlemania III is Verne Gagne's response to the rise of the WWF. It is interesting to see wrestlers who are iconic on the WWF and then wrestle for the AWA. An enjoyable recent rerun was Sergeant Slaughter who attacked by the Iron Sheik, and then to Slaughter's rescue came Guerrero Brothers- Hector, Mondo, and Chavo Sr. Which again shows the generational change since this period of wrestling.

For me personally, I stay up late to catch AWA just for a promo or match with the Baron. They just don't make them like him anymore.

Khali Vs. Kane = Good

I have been enjoying this feud been The Great Khali and Kane. It was a bit odd how Kane started it, but it looks like The Great Khali is ready to finish it.

This is a very good fued for Khali as he needs something after his turn to face with his comedic bit of kissing. That was fun and a unique way to turn someone to being a face. Now, we get to see him back in action, I do hope he has worked some on his wrestling moves though. I think it would be good for big men like him to study with old school wrestlers about holds and other tools they use to use back in the day. Face it, Khali will not be in a ladders match any time soon. But if he had a bag of holds he could pull from, then part of the match could be him doing his holds with would be devastating because of his strength. Then the other parts could be his opponents using acrobatics to chop him down.

Of course, this would necessitate him wrestling more MVP's or Shelton Benjamin's, rather than Kane's. But a speed versus strength match is has more opportunities than a strength versus strength match.

TNA Suffocating Homegrown Talent

TNA has run into a long standing problem with crowds. It is easy to draw a crowd, but the way you draw a crowd is the way you are going to keep it. That is why one can buy a crowd, but a bought crowd has to keep being paid. In the case of TNA wrestling, the crowd was bought with the Main Event Mafia. Now, it has a problem because it has to try and grow its "organic" talent- A.J. Styles, Samoa Joe, etc. They are cheaper and being younger have the longevity to grow TNA. Main Event Mafia you get what they bring, where they are is the most you will get out of them.

It is unfortunate that it takes time to grow talent, and in the mean time the bills continue. And an investment in ready-made talent does have a short-term payoff. But what has happened is that Matt Morgan, AJ Styles, and Samoa Joe are stale with little prospect of any immediate creativity. And with the Main Event Mafia, Sting, Jeff Jarrett, and Mick Foley, TNA singles action is in a stalemate with itself. Only TNA tag-team has any life to it.

A company cannot buy their way into growing, ask the WCW.

The Lame Return of DX

The reintroduction of DX was a lackluster. With Triple H and Shawn Michaels coming out in full bluster mode only to be waylaid by Legacy. DX did not even have the opportunity to speak, and it is that in-ring talk that is their strength. I can understand WWE creative wanting to build the feud for Summerslam, but this was not the way to do it. It would actually have been better for DX to return at Summerslam. With Triple H and Shawn Michaels showing such weakness as to be jumped man to man and being unable to recover, makes DX look weak. This flies in the face of all the hype that the WWE has put into the return of DX.

Ultimately, I don’t mind the WWE bringing DX back, mainly because the last time they used them I believe Triple H was injured. That left Shawn Michaels alone and after Triple H was healed, DX was not reformed. Then there was a one-night return somewhere down the line. But DX needs to be near invincible due to their savvy, and not simply jumped by a pair of lackeys.

WWE Guest Hosts

Guests host for WWE Raw on Monday nights has been enjoyable. I do not know about the longevity for the guest host format, but it could go until to end of the year or until Wrestlemania. Oddball guest hosts have been the most enjoyable like ZZ Top. Then having an athlete like Shaquille O'Neill or past WWE superstars make a lot of sense to guest host. What has not been making a lot of sense are actors who have no bearing on wrestling. Seth Green and Freddie Prinze Jr. were a bust. Jeremy Piven was able to bring something with his charisma and a short theme to the show, but thus far he has been the exception. If the WWE would reach further for guest hosts then that would help this gimmick come off better.

The highlight of these hosting shows has been Santino. Funny when he can easily outshine someone like Freddie Prinze Jr. He can keep these segments up until it ends, then return to a new theme with his unaware character. It's a gimmick that will not stale quickly, provided WWE creative doesn't wear it out.

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Knowing The Ropes

I was at a WWE match once when Goldberg was under contract. After the show a small crowd gathered to watch the wrestlers gather to be taken away. A few had their own vehicle but most gathered onto a pair of passenger vans. This took a long while and people shouted out at that their favorites as you caught glimpses. Most were cordial and waved at the crowd, a few ignored the crowd, but it was what Goldberg did that was amazing.

Out of all the WWE talent at his televised show, Goldberg came up the ramp with some security and signed autographs. He was nice and kept it moving as the crowd gathered around him. He teased a young boy about wearing a Stone Cold t-shirt and not his. A real pro. The question of mine is that with all the talent needing to get over with an audience, why no one else come up and sign a few autographs? In my humble opinion this raises the question, did Goldberg reach the heights of wrestling because he did what no one else was willing? Did Goldberg sign autographs because he was a top wrestler, or did he become a top wrestler because he signed autographs?

Having read both The Rock’s book The Rock Says and Stone Cold’s book The Stone Cold Truth there are some interesting revelations that led to the true superstars success. Both The Rock and Stone Cold’s success can only be compared to likes of Andre The Giant or Hulk Hogan.

What was intriguing about The Rock is how much he worked on his character and his promos. Spending a lot of time developing and crafting, even taking his character out of the writer’s hands. Compare this to hearing so many wrestlers complain about what creative is doing to their characters when they could be taking charge of their characters.

To help assist them with character development is taking a page from Stone Cold’s book. Steve Austin carried a notebook around and anytime he had an idea for his character he wrote it down. Again taking responsibility for his character and continually working on it. The Rock and Stone Cold doing what others do not.

Getting to the WWE is a long and hard road I am sure. The school, training, and paying of dues. Then there is the hit and miss of getting booked from talent. I can see why many wrestlers coast when they get contracted, because they see getting contracted as the end of the journey. The reality is that it only continues and those that reach the heights know that. Stepping up and doing more after busted you butt time and again just to get where you are., is something that very few wrestlers do. I know most have it in them, because that is what it took to get to The Show.

This is success in any field though, there is no stopping just something new. But consider that the extra is doing things like signing autographs, working new promos, and being 24 hour consistent on character development is not too much more to do than the next guy. But the gain is extraordinary.

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