The year was 1981. I was an 11 year old kid trying to get through the sixth grade. I remember one day during class our teacher, Mrs. Rossi, went around the room and asked everyone who their favourite athletes were. Sports stars of the day such as Dr J, Bucky Dent, Mean Joe Greene, Mike Bossy and Reggie Jackson were names heard around the room as my classmates picked their favorites. When it was my turn to name my favorite athlete, the answer I gave was Quick Draw Rick McGraw. When the teacher questioned who that was, I proudly proclaimed that he was a professional wrestler. I told her that McGraw was my favourite because he was short, like me and he never gave up. He took on all opponents even though he wound up on the losing end of most of his matches. I was a big fan of Rick McGraw because, the way I saw it, he kept trying and I figured one day he would start winning more that he was losing.
When I was kid, professional wrestlers meant everything to me. They were larger than life characters that represented the battle between good vs. evil. Whenever we got the new TV guide I would always flip through the pages looking for the dates and times professional wrestling was on. Besides McGraw, I cheered for the stars of that time which included Bruno Sammartino, WWF Champion Bob Backlund, Ivan Putski, Tito Santana, Tommy Rich, Steve O, and Dusty Rhodes.
Whenever I got my allowance, I was off to the local candy shop looking for new editions of wrestling magazines that I didn’t have yet. My favourite publication was Pro Wrestling Illustrated because of the colour posters they included with each magazine. I knew the exact day when the new issue of Pro Wrestling Illustrated would be available and would count down the days until it was released. I’d run to the candy shop in anticipation of who the next star would be to grace the colour poster. Every “good guy” poster went up on my wall. I had Bruno Sammartino, Ricky Steamboat, Ivan Putski, Tommy Rich, Dusty Rhodes, and Mr Wrestling II all on my bedroom wall.
We were living in East Meadow, New York when it was announced during a WWF TV program that on March 22, 1981 the stars of the WWF would be making their way to the Nassau Coliseum. The Nassau Coliseum was a 15 minute drive from our house which made it very convenient.
Many matches were announced for that show including Rick Martel vs. Baron Scicluna, the hated Sgt Slaughter vs. Tony Garea, Stan Hansen vs. Domenic DeNucci, Andre the Giant vs. Hulk Hogan and the WWF Tag Team Champions The Moondogs defending against the team of SD Jones and my favorite at the time Rick McGraw!
After I pleaded and begged non stop, my Dad relented and agreed to take me to the show. I couldn’t believe that I was going to my first live WWF show! We drove over to the Nassau Coliseum box office and I’ll never forget the ticket sales agent telling my Dad that the tickets were 8, 6, or 4 dollars. My Dad was all set to get 6 dollar tickets when the shrewd ticket sales agent informed my Dad that he had seats 4 rows from the ring but they were 8 dollars each. My Dad took a deep breath, looked at me, and said, “Ok, give me the 8 dollar seats”. The transaction was completed and we were going to the show! I was the happiest kid in the world at that moment!
I loved watching WWF TV programming even more now because they were running promos for the Nassau Coliseum show and I was going to be there for the first time to watch it all unfold. One promo had Sgt. Slaughter demanding respect from the Nassau Coliseum crowd on March 22, 1981. I booed furiously at the TV screen. I remember promos from Andre the Giant and Hulk Hogan as well.
All of my friends knew I was going to my first WWF event as I talked about it every day to the point that I am sure they got sick of it. I told, not only my friends, but really anyone who would listen. My teachers knew, the owners of the candy shop where I got my wrestling magazines knew, all my relatives knew and even the elderly barber who cut my hair knew. I boasted that I was going to get to see Andre, Tony Garea, and of course, Rick McGraw live and in person.
The big night was upon us as my Dad and I arrived at the Nassau Coliseum. I was a fireball of excitement as we entered the arena. The usher took us to our seats which were not only the 4th row on the floor but right next to the aisle where the wrestlers walked to the ring. At the time, the heels and babyfaces came to the ring down separate aisles and I had hoped so much that we were sitting next to the “good guy” aisle. About 30 minutes later, Johnny Rodz came walking past me to enter the ring for his match against The Great Yatsu and I quickly realized we were sitting near the “bad guy” aisle.
After the preliminary matches, it was time for the big matches. One match I remember distinctly well was Domenic DeNucci vs. Stan Hansen. DeNucci was in the ring as Stan Hansen roared past me like a wild bull. The booing for Hansen was loud. Hansen jumped into the ring and made very short work of DeNucci, beating him in less than three minutes. Hansen then roared past me again, let out his trademark yell, and disappeared to the back.
I was in absolute awe of getting to see these larger than life characters up close and in person. To be able to see Stan Hansen, Johnny Rodz, Domenic Denucci up until that point in the show was simply an incredible experience. Little did I know what was about to happen.
It was time for the despised Sgt. Slaughter vs Tony Garea encounter. Garea made his way to the ring first amidst loud cheers. Those cheers turned into a chorus of rabid boos as Sgt Slaughter made his way down the aisle. His walk to the ring was very slow as if he was enjoying the booing that was raining down on him. As he approached the seat I was at, I had no idea that hell was about to break loose. I heard a man about two rows behind me screaming non-stop obscenities at the Sarge. Hearing enough, Slaughter stopped and turned around to see who the foul-mouthed guilty party was. It was then I felt a whoosh over the top of my head as the fan responsible for the verbal tirade threw a punch at Slaughter. Security and officials were quickly on the scene. Another crazed fan joined the fray by hurling additional punches at Slaughter. My dad had genuine concern as he quickly pulled me away and shielded me from the ensuing brawl. Things were really starting to escalate out of control when I remembered that Tony Garea was in the ring and he would surely come out to protect me from this melee. I looked at Garea but he was just in the ring smiling at what was unfolding in the aisle. After a few minutes, security finally got things under control. Slaughter actually made quick eye contact with me before leaving the scene. I didn’t realize it then but I believe now that the quick locking of eyes with Slaughter was him making sure that I was ok and not hurt in anyway.
I was completely shaken up as I wasn’t expecting anything like that to happen. My dad realized this and asked if I wanted to move seats, maybe to a higher level which I agreed. We moved to the 6 dollar seats and enjoyed the rest of the show.
I was so happy to finally see Rick McGraw in person but was sad that he and SD Jones failed to capture the WWF Tag Team Titles as they lost to The Moondogs in a long, hard fought match. This 11 year old popped hard for Rick McGraw throughout the match.
As I got older, I did develop a feeling of regret about leaving our original seats. As Hulk Hogan, who was a heel at the time, made his way to the ring to face Andre, he stopped right at the empty chair that I had occupied to turn and look at the crowd. I would have been literally inches away from Hulk Hogan.
My first live WWF experience was quite a wild one and it’s something I will never ever forget.
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