CM Punk Newest Shooting Star
By Mike Mooneyham Dec. 3, 2006 WWE is rolling into town Monday night fully loaded with a nationally televised Raw and star power galore. The event, which begins at 7:30 p.m. at the North Charleston Coliseum, will feature performers from both the Raw and ECW brands. Among the many stars on the show is an [...]
The Amazing Story Of Jimmy Valiant
By Mike Mooneyham Oct. 8, 2006 Woo … Mercy Daddy! The Boogie Woogie Man’s coming to town. Jimmy Valiant, one of pro wrestling’s true originals, will make a rare Lowcountry appearance as part of a church-sponsored event next Saturday at New Beginnings Community Church, 849 Fort Johnson Road, James Island. And he’s bringing some books [...]
‘Big O’ Was Wrestler’s Wrestler
By Mike Mooneyham July 23, 2006 They didn’t call him “The Big O” for nothing. Bob Orton Sr. stood six foot three inches tall and packed 250 solid pounds in his prime. Breaking into the business in 1950 and not officially retiring until July 2000, Orton devoted nearly half a century to the profession. Serious, [...]
Local Legend Bound For Big Apple
By Mike Mooneyham July 16, 2006 He’s affectionately known as “The Local Legend.” Anyone who’s ever met him will never forget him. And, like he’s said in countless interviews over the years, “There’ll never be a cotton-pickin’ other.” So goes Melvin Nelson, much better known in and out of wrestling circles as the inimitable Burrhead [...]
Kind-Hearted Ramos A Great Heel
By Mike Mooneyham June 18, 2006 Nearly 40 years have passed, but I can still remember the man peering over his shoulder, looking into the crowd. To a youngster not even into his teens, he looked like a giant, weighing well over 300 pounds, with cold, piercing eyes and a long, shaggy mane. And he [...]
Mask Means Everything to Mil Mascaras
By Mike Mooneyham June 4, 2006 There once was a time when masked wrestlers sold out arenas from New York City to Tokyo. It was a time in the profession when everything was either black or white, long before anti-heroes such as Stone Cold Steve Austin blurred the line. Most masked men from that bygone [...]
Pursuing The Difficult Road To Peace
By Mike Mooneyham Dec. 12, 2005 It didn’t take a journey over the rainbow for Ashley Souther to realize he wasn’t in Kansas anymore. Harsh reality set in somewhere between wrestling rings in the unlikely locales of Palestine and Japan. But in the midst of strife and turmoil, the Kansas State grad found the inspiration [...]
Atlas’ Rise And Fall (Part 6)
By Mike Mooneyham Nov. 6, 2005 Final in a series Tony Atlas spends much of his time talking to youngsters, mostly middle school students, about important principles in life and real role models. He hammers home what constitutes a true hero and what true power really is. He asks if there any tough guys in [...]
Atlas’ Rise And Fall (Part 5)
By Mike Mooneyham Oct. 30, 2005 Fifth in a series Tony Atlas has many wonderful memories of the wrestling business. He enjoyed matches with some of the greatest performers in the profession and traveled the world many times over. Mention the name Bruiser Brody, though, and Atlas’ normally jovial demeanor turns somber. “I try not [...]
Atlas’ Rise And Fall (Part 4)
By Mike Mooneyham Oct. 23, 2005 Fourth in a series The wrestling business was a close-knit fraternity when Tony Atlas began mastering the craft in the mid-’70s. The “boys,” as they were known in the wrestling trade, knew which highways and back roads to take, which restaurants to stop in and the names of ring [...]