So long, JYD
Click on the photo above to see the JYD Retro Clip.
|
By JOHN POWELL
SLAM!
Wrestling
A sports editor turned to me pointing out that there indeed was a wrestling
story on the newswire. Well, knock me down and call me Kamala. Usually,
I'll search the wires throughout the day for any wrasslin' stories that
move. Let me tell you, they are few and far between. They are about as rare
as a WCW house show in Canada.
My workmate broke the news to me. Junkyard Dog, the swaggering, growling,
snarling ring veteran had passed away. JYD, the victim of a horrible
automobile accident of which the circumstances are not yet known.
I felt strange at that moment having just read a small news note in The Pro
Wrestling Torch last week on Junkyard's backstage incident at a recent ECW
house show. The memories came flooding back the way they usually do when a
name from the past creeps on back tapping you on the shoulder politely as
can be.
I wasn't JYD's biggest fan by any stretch of the imagination. He was too
slow and too stiff in the ring for my liking. I dreaded that inevitable
crawling head butt gag in his matches. Didn't anyone ever tell him that it
looked so damn phoney? More often than not, I've cheered for the baddies so
I kinda ruled him out. The villains are so much more interesting and
entertaining I've found.
My teenage period nine years behind me, I sat at my desk in the office and
something struck me. I may have never rated Junkyard Dog as a great ring
technician but he did entertain the hell out of me.
The way he fell to the mat after a baddie knocked him senseless. Like Ric
Flair's famous face-first fall, you could almost see the invisible cartoon
stars twirling about his noggin as he took that header. That was classic.
How he'd have that stern but goofy look on his face whenever some idiot
would dare head butt him. JYD pulling Jimmy Hart's pants off to reveal his
bright red bikini underwear. The Funk Brothers braining him with that
branding iron. Junkyard parading around the ring in Harley Race's crown and
cape. Whether I was in his corner or not, JYD made me laugh and that's no
small accomplishment.
Junkyard Dog was the epitome of wrestling's bygone era where the chuckles
came as fast and as furious as the back drops. I don't laugh as much as I
used to while watching wrestling. To tell you the truth, I kinda miss it. I
miss it baaad. In the quest for respectability, wrestling has lost its
sense of humour. Sylvester Ritter. He put the word “entertainment” in the
term "sports entertainment". And ain't that what this biz is all about?
Advice For Uncle Vince
The Stone Cold - McMahon storyline is hotter than a weekend barbecue. The
recent Raw ratings speak for themselves. So what's my problem with it? It
could be much better is what.
If we're supposed to believe Vinnie Mac is really, really out to pull the
rug out from under Austin why allow Stone Cold to shoot his mouth off?
Shouldn't McMahon be commanding the techies to cut the live feed or switch
the cameras or the mics off? If backstage deals were being orchestrated
against Austin, would McMahon permit them to be captured on live video?
Should Stone Cold's theme be playing when he arrives uninvited? Gimme a
great big "Hell, NO!". The beginning of this week's Raw saw McMahon take a
step in the right direction airing that biased (but very clever) video
update on the happenings at Over The Edge. That's exactly the kind of
"manipulations" which will push Austin hard as the "working man kept down
by the establishment". Don't coast, Vinnie Mac. Put the pedal to the metal.
Exit stage left
Na-na-na-na. Na-na-na-na. Hey! Hey! Hey! Goodbye. Sable has hit the road
(or so we're led to believe) but I would much preferred that it was Sunny.
The miserable overacting (eg: her insistent wailing during Raw's LOD, DOA
streetfight) and juvenile behavior is more annoying than a fruit fly
nesting in your ear. Yech. Yech. Triple yech. Is it just me or does Sunny
continually stand around with a dazed expression on her face not sure of
what she's supposed to be doing in any given storyline? Get with the
program, sis.
Please. Please. I'm begging here. How about Sunny and
Luna in a
"loser-leaves-the WWF-match"? A man can dream, can't he?
Hart is in the right place
Bret Hart said it best himself in his latest Calgary Sun column.
"If Sting agreed with me, he'd be a powerful ally. If not, he'd let the cat
out of the bag before I could even make the first few moves in what may be
the most excellently executed long-range plan in the history of wrestling."
Read between the lines, folks. Hart isn't and will never be nWo Hollywood.
It's a master scheme. Gain Hogan's trust and then..WHAMO!..blindslide him
BIG TIME. In the words of Kevin Nash...Bret, my man...it's too sweeet!
While we are talking about The Outsiders...what's the deal with the Nash ,
Hall break-up? What reason could Bischoff possibly have for tampering with
the popular duo and slitting his own throat in the process? Seems like
behind-the-scenes politics to me. If it ain't broke, don't fix it. Duh.
Agree? Disagree? E-Mail SLAM! Wrestling your response by clicking
here. Your opinion could appear with our next editorial.
