Newsday.com - Pro wrestler Freddie Blassie dies at 85
OK, here's where I lose some of you...
When I was a kid, Saturday night was "rasslin' night." After the 11:30 news, my dad would sit back in his recliner with some odd midnight snack and watch the WWF. Not the over-the-top, blow-your-head-off, superstar WWF of today...but cheesy, greasy, black-and-white TV brawls. You know. RASSLIN'!
I wasn't a big fan of it (especially in my teen years when I wanted to watch Saturday Night Live like all the cool kids), but it was one of those "Dad" moments that has stuck with me. It would be so cool to sit with him one more time and yell at Fred Blassie, Chief Jay Strongbow, the Grand Wizard of Wrestling and Captain Lou Albano, while gnoshing on some sardines or Vienna sausages, some reeeeeally sharp cheddar cheese, some crackers (Ritz or saltines) and milk. That's not something I would have bet on missing several years ago, that's for sure!
For those of you who remember rasslin' (or the curious few who are still trying to figure out why I am the way I am), check out the photos and bios at The Professional Wrestling Online Museum.
![My Breakfast with Blassie [VHS]](http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/51TGKYCMHPL._SL120_.jpg)
Article comments
1 - Al Barger
Wait, you're referring to Mr. Blassie as "pencil neck"?
2 - Solonor
He's dead, now, so it's finally safe!
3 - Al Barger
Safe to dis Freddie Blassie? Maybe, but I wouldn't chance it.
4 - sonny
you won't lose me, sol, but i might lose everyone. tho i remember watching the old wwf on tv saturday mornings as a kid, i never took the next step until i was high 20 something year old and hooked up with other like minded crazies. just prior to the big explosion of pro wrestling, we started going to the live events and cheering for the bad guys. we would get some wild reactions from the crowd, 99.9% of which was believing it was real and liked the good guys. we discovered the levels of 'reality' when we found out that the blood was real (some people thought it was fake) but that the guys were actually cutting themselves with a small razor edge (the people who thought the blood was real thought that it was being caused by the opponent).
blassie was an awesome tv interview. so was the grand wizard. andy k. was brilliant with blassie and the whole "i'm from hollywood" wrasslin gig he did.
i've been in small sleazy arena where truly dangerous individuals like the original sheik and abdullah the butcher took the fight outside the ring into the crowd, who ran for their lives. and then i saw the beginning of the huge commercial success of junior mcmahon and the big stadiums. that was the end of an era.