SPORT

After a round of golf last week , my group of hackers and whackers shared a few (?) drinks and as usual this gets around to us reminiscing about the past which usually turns to great sporting teams and sportsmen and women .

When I was finally allowed to get in my two-bob ’ s worth , I recounted the last time

I went to a wrestling match . It was at the Old Tin Shed – Sydney Stadium - down at Rushcutters Bay , and it would have been in early 1969 .

Back in those days , World Championships Wrestling was one of the most popular shows on the Idiot box , with a host of world-renowned wrestlers coming to Australia to entertain an always packed house and hundreds of thousands watching at home in their living rooms . It truly was a Golden Age of the sport in this country – pure entertainment provided by a host of outstanding wrestlers including Bulldog Brower , Brute

Stompin ’ at Maroubra it ain ’ t ! Killer Kowalski about to do a bit of tap dancing on an opponent . His signature method of defeating a rival was by his terrifying “ claw hold ”.

Bernard , Killer Karl Kox , Cowboy Bob

BODYGUARD indicated he has come back better than ever in blitzing his rivals in a 1030m trial at Rosehill on September 9 . He led throughout and just bolted away down the running .

COCO JAMBOO is a former Irish galloper which didn ’ t fire in two runs during first Australian prep . But she indicated she is on track for a solid campaign in strong 3rd in Rosehill 1030m trial on September 16 when not knocked about .

INOUE is an unraced 3YO out of

the Snowden yard . Showed plenty of toe and then just cruised to the line in winning 1030m trial at Rosehill on September 16 .

OVERPASS ( first ) PASSEGGIATA ( 2nd ) and GREBENI ( 4th ) all showed they were set for successful Springs with excellent performances in 900m trial at Rosehill on September 16 .

IKNOWASTAR ( first ) and FURIOUS ( 3rd ) handed in strong pointers for their upcoming campaigns in fast run 900m trial at Rosehill on September 16 .

Ellis , Mark Lewis , Haystacks Calhoun , Skull Murphy etc .

But the most exiting of the lot were , Walter “ Killer ” Kowalski and Mario Milano .

Killer was always the villain , and Mario , the hero .

Well , each Thursday afternoon , Sydney Stadium ’ s promoter , Harry Miller - not Harry M . Miller – would come into the Daily Mirror office where I was still working as a copyboy , handing out free tickets to the Friday night wresting .

I never took up any of the tickets until old Harry came in this particular Thursday , distributing freebie tickets and espousing the following night ’ s feature bout on the wrestling program .

“ It ’ s a no-hold-barred , no-time-limit encounter between Killer Karl and Mario - good versus evil – Killer ’ s claw hold against Mario ’ s sleep-maker headlock ,” Harry said .

I snaffled up two tickets and once back home in Riverstone showed them to my best mate , Robert Shea , and we worked out our plan of attack for the following night .

I told mum all about the big night Shea and I had in front of us and informed her that the main event could go on until the early hours of the Saturday morning , and hence we would miss the final 11.32pm train back to Rivo .

So , the following afternoon , I caught a train back to Riverstone , changed clothing , had a quick bite to eat , and was just about to exit stage right to grab Shea and head back to the railway station to catch the 6.02pm a train back to Central .

Mum handed me a large paper bag and explained there were six thick devon and tomato sauce sandwiches inside “ so we wouldn ’ t be hungry ” if we missed the 11.32pm .

OK , so , via train and bus , we get to the stadium , find our front row seats and settle down to watch the support bouts ,

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all the time eagerly anticipating the Kowalski-Milano battle to the death .

Around 9.30pm , the giants of wrestling enter the ring and the crowd erupted in expectation of a prolonged battle royal .

The bell rings and they come charging out of their corners .

They grappled , moved part , grappled again , moved apart and then grappled once again . Finally , some action ! Mario grabs Killer by an arm , swings him around sending him sliding out of the ring .

Killer grabs a well-padded chair ( beats me what it was doing there ), takes it back into the ring and when Mario races towards him , Killer brings it down on his noggin ’.

We wait for Mario to jump to his feet and provide us with many more hours of thrills , but to our utter dismay , the referee ’ s count reaches 10 .

You could have heard a pin drop before the place erupted .

Shea and I , still being pretty quick on our feet , raced to the exits and caught the 10.32pm train back to Riverstone .

Needless to say , that was the last time I went to the Old Tin Shed to see a wrestling match . The sandwiches ? We ate ‘ em on the way back to the city !

SAD MARKS 1 : Too many of these bobbing up nowadays ! But about everyone I know has been shattered by the passing earlier last month of multimedia personality , Graeme “ Shadow ” McNeice . A close mate throughout my 56 years in journalism .

Team

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