c.
2018 Rod Ice
All
rights reserved
(8-18)
Pro
Wrestling.
David
Mark, friend of my erstwhile video co-host Manic McManus, once
described the genre as ‘spart.’ Sport and art combined.
Hearing
Jeanne ‘Hollywood’ Basone and Cheryl ‘Lightning’ Rusa discuss
their memories from the television program G.L.O.W., via Cult Radio A
Go-Go, was thrilling. But it also aroused dormant memories of an era
less concerned with political correctness and more with raw
entertainment value. A time when macro-brews like Miller and
Budweiser mattered, while thoughts of brie and imported wines seemed
foreign.
It
is likely that those outside the United States must view TV wrestling
with the same bewilderment we might feel for Spanish bullfighting or
for fox hunting in Great Britain. Though once a thing of grizzled
veterans sucking down pickled eggs and bar sausages, in the 1980’s,
such exhibitions joined mainstream culture thanks to celebrity
competitors like Hulk Hogan and ‘Macho Man’ Randy Savage.
The
‘Gorgeous Ladies of Wrestling’ series exploded this modern
paradigm shortly after it began. Though many of the themes were
familiar, they found new life when delivered with big hair and glossy
spandex. One might have expected a less serious approach to the
actual physical competition. Yet the women involved were relentless.
Bodies, furniture and foreign objects flew around the ring with
abandon.
CRAGG,
the Internet media sensation, provided a perfect venue to relive
memories of this moment in time. I tuned in on a recent Saturday
night through the use of a Roku app on my Vizio receiver, as always.
Jeanne and Cheryl interviewed other participants in the bygone
program, via telephone. Included were Johnny C., Corporal Kelly,
Olympia, Daisy, Jungle Woman, Justice, Tanya the Russian and the
Royal Hawaiian.
I
had promised to call in and participate, but failed.
The
tempo of this live broadcast was breezy, out of necessity. Not unlike
one of the matches featured on G.L.O.W. itself. ‘Hollywood’ moved
from guest to guest with skillful discipline. The stories and
personal anecdotes were compelling. Interspersed were popular tunes
from the period like ‘Pour Some Sugar On Me’ by Def Leppard,
‘Still Of The Night’ by Whitesnake, and ‘Rock Me Amadeus’ by
Falco.
I
was stunned to hear that the ladies themselves were sometimes treated
like valuable livestock. Multiple matches could take place in the
same day. They endured a grueling schedule. Injured participants were
simply pushed to the side while production continued. Perhaps most
shocking of all was the revelation that they were kept largely in the
dark about their own white-hot status with viewers:
Hollywood:
“So Lily, I got a question… when G.L.O.W. was over, where did you
go or what did you do…?”
Corporal
Kelly “I went back to singing and my band and you know, working a
straight job and that’s pretty much it.”
Lightning:
“How was it in your straight job, after your experience with
G.L.O.W., was it like, odd…?”
Corporal
Kelly “You know the funny thing is that G.L.O.W. has been that
constant thing where people are like ‘What? You were a G.L.O.W.
girl?’ And it has always blown my mind because they kept us so kind
of cloistered and secluded from what was going on… “
Lightning:
“Sheltered.”
Corporal
Kelly: “Yeah. That I felt like we didn’t, or personally, I didn’t
realize the impact that G.L.O.W. was having while we were involved in
it. You know?”
Hollywood:
“I think you’re right because I didn’t. There is no way, I
didn’t feel that either… somebody asked about us getting our fan
mail, there were bags and bags of fan mail...”
Lightning:
“Hollywood, you gave me like a dozen letters and that was it,
that’s all I ever saw because you were there and you stole a few of
them for me… she ‘Hollywooded’ them...”
Hollywood:
“I had to pick up my check on Wilshire Boulevard. So I went in
there one day and I saw these bags of mail. And I’m like ‘What
are those?’ And Jackie says ‘That’s the fan mail.’ And I go
‘What??’”
The
evening passed like a flashy, frenzied Heavy Metal video on MTV.
In
personal terms, I was transported back to working my ‘real job’
at a local supermarket in northeastern Ohio. Something I did to aid
my less-than-sufficient income as a professional writer. Managing on
the weekends and learning the trade to support my family. The store
staff and crew existed outside the realm of normal business
operations. Much like G.L.O.W. shattered the framework of typical
sporting events. On duty and after hours, we bent the rules. Breaks
could involve beer, wine coolers and pizza or nachos. We smoked
constantly. Pretty cashiers
sometimes visited when the store had closed. Being young and
rambunctious, we encouraged their
misbehavior. Our bosses were
very tolerant. We played Frisbee in the parking lot, at 3:00 in the
morning. Local police were amused and looked the other way.
My
wife went on the road for her company, from 1987 to 1989. This meant
I had to raise
our son with help from her parents. That part of life remained
serious and stable. It provided an anchor as I drifted on the rowdy
seas of my unconventional employment adventure.
When
the CRAGG session had ended, I felt spent.
In a good way. Like the sensation tingling over your skin after a
thrilling roller-coaster-rendezvous. I switched off the television
and sat with my cell phone, reviewing new posts about the show.
Now,
it was time to return to my home office, and get to work!
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