Riots & Fights (Part One)
Today, not many fights involving fans occur at wrestling matches. Perhaps they don’t want to be thrown out after paying $100 a ticket?
In the old days, Chicoutimi in Quebec was known as the wrestlers graveyard. All the fans attacked the wrestlers, and you had to fight your way out. Hard Boiled Haggerty,(he played the blacksmith in "Paint Your Wagon") had his arm broken there.
Montreal was very rough too. Some of its arenas had a tunnel from the ring to the dressing room for the wrestlers to escape, and a cage to stop fans jumping into the ring. This did not stop them throwing darts, or squirting bleach from washing up liquid bottles, or taking the odd shot at you.
One wrestler was laying close to the ropes in a new York match, when a fan appeared from nowhere, stuck a sharp knife or scalpel into his hip, and sliced his leg down to the ankle, right down to the bone. He disappeared just as quickly, and was never caught.
Some Canadian towns used their ice rink for a wrestling venue. The ring sat untethered on the ice, so if someone was thrown at the cornerpost, the ring shot across the ice. On one such occasion in Lethbridge, I was entering the ring wearing only boots and tights, when a youth threw a boiling cup of coffee over my back. I turned quickly and caught the hood of his anorak as he ran, swung him round my head a few times, and let him go. He slid across the ice at speed on his back, and crashed into the barrier, much to the amusement of the crowd. I was tag partners with Angus in Red Deer, when another youth tried to bite me as I stood on the apron. I jumped down and knocked him out, only to see him spring back up again. I thought I was losing my punch. Angus tagged me in, but I was watching the youth with one eye. Sure enough, he tried to attack Angus, but got a size 15 boot on the chin for his trouble. He flew up into the air and landed on his back, out cold. Suddenly, he was up again and still being a nuisance.
He had a further beating before he was thrown out. That was not the end, though. After the match, Angus and I were in the dressing room when he charged in. Angus turned him upside down, and drove him headfirst into the floor, then folded his legs over his head and sat on him until the police took him away. Police told us on our next visit, that the idiot had injected a large dose of amphetamine, and drunk a whole bottle of whisky. The amphetamine had woken him up every time he was knocked out. With the drugs, booze, and the beating he took, it’s a wonder he lived.
The Chinese like to get their moneys worth. In Singapore, Steve Rickard had managed to get away from the old system of having rounds, like boxing, and brought in time limit wrestling matches. A one hour six man tag was advertised, one fall to decide the winner. The capacity crowd enjoyed the match, until the fall was taken after forty minutes, and the match ended. They considered that they had been ripped off, and that a one hour match should last an hour. Someone shouted something in Chinese, and the riot began, it was raining bricks and bottles, and a rhumbutan tree landed in the ring. King Kong, Rickard, and myself were trapped. We tried to take refuge under the ring, but it was set on fire, and we were fighting for our lives. The stadium lights were put out, I don’t know who by, but he was probably on our side, as it allowed us to find a broom cupboard and barricade ourselves in. We were there for a night and a day before riot police could get us out, but it was business as usual the following Saturday.
Earl Black
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