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Saturday Night Wrestling

Written by Randy ANDREW

Sunday, 28 February 2010

Wrestling at the Armory
By Randy Andrew

Dick the Bruiser

In the late 50s I got hooked on watching televised wrestling. In those days the only way we got TV reception was with rabbit ears or an antenna on the roof. WTHI-TV channel ten was the only station in Terre Haute at that time. If a television show wasn’t on CBS chances were we didn’t see it. We did of course get the three Indianapolis stations but they came in rather fuzzy depending on which way the antenna was facing or what direction the wind was blowing. But it was channel four, the station in Bloomington which aired live championship wrestling each Saturday night hosted by Chuck Marlowe. I would tune in and watch combatants like Dick the Bruiser, the Assassins and Cowboy Bob Ellis take it to the mat.

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My dad was quite a sports fan and seldom missed a televised sporting event so I couldn't understand why he didn’t share my enthusiasm for wrestling. One day I heard on WBOW that professional wrestling was coming to the Terre Haute National Guard Armory. All of the wrestlers I watched on TV were going to be in town. I begged my dad to take me and finally he gave in and bought tickets. We sat in the third row and I cheered for the good guys and booed the bad guys. Then Roy and Ray Shire came into the ring. The Shire Brothers were the world tag team champions and they were mean. As they circled the ring sneering at the spectators I hollered a few harsh words at them. They both had long blond hair and of course bulging muscles, but they didn’t scare me. As one of them got within ear shot I yelled, “The Shire Brothers Suck.” He stopped and looked at me... I was face to face and eye to eye with him… from the third row of course. He pointed his finger at me and said, “You shut your mouth kid!” Suddenly I was no longer in the mood to voice my opinions. I didn’t say anything for the rest of the evening.

My parents had planned a vacation to Florida in the spring of 1959 and we were leaving on a Friday morning. I was concerned that I wouldn’t have a television to watch Saturday night because they were wrestling for the World Heavyweight Championship. We stopped in Calhoun, Georgia Saturday afternoon to spend two days with one of my dad’s old army buddies and his wife. While mom and dad visited with their friends in the kitchen, I asked if I could watch their television. I searched the stations and sure enough I found Saturday night wrestling... but where was Chuck Marlowe? As the world heavyweight champion entered the ring I had no idea who this guy was…. what happened to Dick the Bruiser? The night continued, and still I recognized no one. The world tag team champs were not the Shire Brothers…. there was no Cowboy Bob Ellis... I was certain I had entered the “Twilight Zone.” I tried to make sense of what had happened, but it was just too much for me to comprehend at eleven years old. When we returned to Terre Haute I had kind of lost my interest in championship wrestling. I later found out that the Shire Brothers weren't even brothers, just two guys that looked alike. Another life’s lesson… there is NO Santa Claus Virginia!
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Last Updated ( Thursday, 06 May 2010 )