Who was your favorite Pro Wrestler growing up( that was not a star)?

[Nole Daddy]

Not the Ric Flair’s of Hogan’s of the world, but a guy that was not some super star. My favorite wrestler growing up like this was Mr. Wrestling 2, who wrestled at Florida and Georgia Championship Wrestling( NWA). He was never a huge star, but did his thing. How about you?
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mr._Wrestling_II

 

[NoleInNC]

I was a big George the animal steele guy back when I was a kid.

 

[NoleFan2U]

Jimmy Superfly Snuka and Andre the Giant. Although they may qualify as superstars. For my 16th birthday, I wanted my sweet 16 at wrestling. My mom couldn't believe it!

 

[RunRonnieRun]

Blaze

 

[West Duval Nole]

Blackjack Mulligan and the Von Erichs, I think it was Kevin that did the flip off the top rope.

 

[cmanole]

Mr. Fuji

 

[MIKE_G]

Barry Windham (AKA Black Jack Mulligan Jr., AKA The Dirty Yellow Dog). Favorite total non-star would be Tony Garea (from Aukland, NZ) from the pre-hoopla WWF days.

 

[Nole-4-Life]

Ken Lucas

 

[cfbfan23]

Ken Patera
Big John Stud

 

[GwinnettNole]

Junkyard Dog
Macho Man Randy Savage (athough he was a star)
Tito Santana

 

[SatBchNole]

Bob Backlund

 

[noleit]

Jerry Lawler, Dusty Rhoades. That mountain from the McDonald's video was pretty solid.

 

[DanC78]

Wasn’t a big pro wrestling fan.

However, if you are a fan of Disco Inferno, he now works at Sapphire in Vegas. He goes by Disco. He is the door guy.

 

[DDennis73]

They used to have wrestling down here in the Panhandle out of Dothan I think. I remember this wrestler called Lord Humongous.

 

[LesClaypool]

They used to have wrestling down here in the Panhandle out of Dothan I think. I remember this wrestler called Lord Humongous.

I think that may be a Warchant poster too. That handle sounds awfully familiar.

 

[SeaPA]

The Brisco Brothers
Joe Le Duc

 

[NDallasRuss]

I guess it would be the Von Erichs - I'm not sure any of them were ever stars outside of Texas. They were a big deal around the Dallas area growing up.

 

[riseboi]

Hacksaw Jim Duggan

 

[Nole Daddy]

I guess it would be the Von Erichs - I'm not sure any of them were ever stars outside of Texas. They were a big deal around the Dallas area growing up.

I used to watch that circuit on TV as a kid, and those guys were huge in Texas.

 

[MIKE_G]

I guess it would be the Von Erichs - I'm not sure any of them were ever stars outside of Texas. They were a big deal around the Dallas area growing up.

The Von Erichs. From Denton, TX!

 

[Nole Daddy]

Barry Windham (AKA Black Jack Mulligan Jr., AKA The Dirty Yellow Dog). Favorite total non-star would be Tony Garea (from Aukland, NZ) from the pre-hoopla WWF days.

He was huge in Florida Championship wrestling. I was a big fan back in the day.

 

[MIKE_G]

He was huge in Florida Championship wrestling. I was a big fan back in the day.

Yeah, I saw him wrestle in the early '80s in the W. Palm Beach Civic Center and Hollywood Sportatorium.

 

[Nolebra Kai]

He might be considered a superstar but Million Dollar Man Ted DiBiase was my second favorite wrestler next to Hogan.

Also, Tito Santana I always liked.

 

[cfbfan23]

Ricky Steamboat

 

[MIKE_G]

The Great Kabuki

 

[Imtotallynottribe]

My faves that were stars as a rugrat were A-List Dusty Rhodes, Macho Man and Hulk Hogan. My favorite B-Listers were Hacksaw Jim Duggan, Ricky the Dragon Steamboat and Koko B Ware.

 

[kelleynole#1]

The Von Erichs and The Freebirds imo is the greatest wrestling feud of all time. And I watched it all on cable in upstate New York. World Class was way ahead of most of the nation in syndicating to other parts of the nation.

My other faves were:

Ice Man King Parsons
Bruiser Brody
Rick Rude
The Great Kabuki
The Missing Link

 

[MIKE_G]

Exotic Adrian Street

 

[DFSNOLE]

Yeah, I saw him wrestle in the early '80s in the W. Palm Beach Civic Center and Hollywood Sportatorium.

That would be the West Palm Beach Auditorium aka The Leaky Teepee. Florida Championship Wrestling was there every Monday night through at least the mid 70's.

 

[skramer100]

Used to love Junk Yard Dog and Brutus the Barber.

 

[mwfudge]

Chief Wahoo McDaniel. There were few in the business who were legitimately tougher than him. In the mid-'80s I was at the matches at Spartan Sports Center in Tampa and Wahoo was facing Abdullah the Butcher. Very little of the match was actually in the ring.

Abdullah was another great one. He would go from one territory to another and terrorize the local babyfaces. I went to his restaurant in Atlanta and got to meet him and talk to him for a little while. Super nice guy.

Bruiser Brody. He left us too soon because he was stabbed to death by Invader 1 in Puerto Rico.

I was spoiled as a young rasslin fan because growing up in Tampa I got to see a lot of Championship Wrestling from Florida. After we got cable I watched rasslin from the Mid-Atlantic, World Class, Georgia Championship Wrestling, Mid-South/UWF and AWA. I'm not going to list the WWF/WWE because they pushed Georgia Championship Wrestling off WTBS in '84 and I got tired of Hulk Hogan's act by the time I was a Senior in high school.

 

[mcgrawfsu]

Erik Embry and the guy that used to go crazy when the fans would rattle their keys

 

[Nole Daddy]

Yeah, I saw him wrestle in the early '80s in the W. Palm Beach Civic Center and Hollywood Sportatorium.

I saw so many matches in the 80’s at the WPB Auditorium when I was a kid.

 

[SeaPA]

I liked Johnny B Badd when he rassled under that persona, not as much when he became Mark Mero.

 

[GwinnettNole]

I saw so many matches in the 80’s at the WPB Auditorium when I was a kid.

That and the Hollywood Sportatorim were such dumps...

 

[Nole Daddy]

Remember Kendo Nagasaki? I remember I was a kid and we were waiting outside the WPB Auditorium for autographs and Barry Windham and some others rolled out in their car drinking beer and smoking cigs. They said they had to take one of the wrestlers to get his eyes checked because Kendo blew that mysterious green mist in one of their eyes

 

[DMoriarty]

Tony Atlas and Kevin Sullivan as a tag team duo. Later Sullivan went bad and made an excellent heal.

 

[MIKE_G]

Rick Martel.

 

[tolkien1]

The Brisco Brothers
Joe Le Duc

SeaPA, are you from Tampa? I used to run into the Brisco brothers and Joe Le Duc (The Canadian Freight Train) frequently when I lived in that neck of the woods. Both the Briscos and Le Duc were among my favorites growing up.

 

[Nole Daddy]

Tony Atlas and Kevin Sullivan as a tag team duo. Later Sullivan went bad and made an excellent heal.

I loved that tag team and like Sullivan better in that role than as the heal devil worshiper