He was an unbelievable heel in his Stamped Wrestling days, and he was doomed to be hated mostly because of his appearance. He was a fat sloppy looking guy who played the comediatic heel to perfection.
I was at a Stampede Wrestling Card when he underwent his conversion to Makhan Singh where he teamed up with JR Foley, Gamma Singh, Acum (sp?) Singh (The late Gerry Albright) and went to war with the Harts.
I also remember that they used to tape a interview segment at the Red Deer Inn with Mike Shaw and Duke Myers blasted out of their minds interviewing the Honkey Tonk Man.
Ed Whalen labeled him the Toilet Bowl, fans chanted Paki whenever he entered the ring, he was showered with beer, and at one show in Red Deer when Shaw and Singh were beating up Bruce Hart a huge farmer came storming down from his seat and literally kicked the crap out of Shaw before security could save him.
I met Shaw once at the Town and Country when he was at the height of his career. I was on my way to the can and I saw him sitting on a bar stool drinking a beer. I had that internal debate about going up to talk to him, because some part of you knows that he doesn't want to talk to anyone. But I screwed up my courage and walked up to him and he turned around and gave me the baleful look and I said the most brilliant thing every.
"Holy Crap your Makhan Singh" He chuckled and replied "Holy Crap I am?" I did buy him a beer, and told him to keep beating on those stinking no good Harts (which got a laugh out of him) then I left.
A lot of the Stampede Wrestling guys that I met, the Kerry Browns, the Gerry Morrow's, Mike "Michelle" Hammer, and pre steroid Davey Boy Smith were all nice guys. Bruce and Keith both substitute teachered me at one time (Bruce was a ridiculous little goof who lived his gimmick, dressed with his jeans tucked into his cowboy boots and wore a bandanna and a pair of ridiculous sun glasses.
Back then we thought the Stampede Wrestling guys made tons of money and lived the rich life. But their later years were probably pretty lonely and painful.
Bad News Allen was a security guard when he died. Gamma Singh who's probably well past retirement age was a security guard as well. I remember him walking around Sunridge Mall dressed fairly poorly. JR Foley basically drank himself to death. Davey boy Smith spiraled out of control long before he died as well.
Kerry Brown died at 51 as well and he was a great guy when I talked to him at one Stampede Party.
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I remember M.S breaking Ed Whalens glasses and then watching the news a few days later seeing Ed's glasses unbroken and in perfect condtion, my introduction to wrestling not being real lol
So Mr. Whalen couldn't have gotten another pair a few days later? haha
I wonder what the average life expectancy is for pro wrestlers, speaking of long gone before there time. I wouldn't always say steroids is the major cause (but maybe a contributing factor) but the lifestyle is hard on a person, I don't see how it could not be, physically and mentally.
To Captain Crunch, I also met Davey Boy and most of the Hart's over the years, the were all swell when I spoke with them. Anvil was wicked, remember seeing him almost weekly one summer, kinda weird but neat at the same time.
Ed Whalen labeled him the Toilet Bowl, fans chanted Paki whenever he entered the ring, he was showered with beer, and at one show in Red Deer when Shaw and Singh were beating up Bruce Hart a huge farmer came storming down from his seat and literally kicked the crap out of Shaw before security could save him.
Hilarious. Completely un PC, but such was life back in the day.
Quote:
I met Shaw once at the Town and Country when he was at the height of his career. I was on my way to the can and I saw him sitting on a bar stool drinking a beer. I had that internal debate about going up to talk to him, because some part of you knows that he doesn't want to talk to anyone. But I screwed up my courage and walked up to him and he turned around and gave me the baleful look and I said the most brilliant thing every.
"Holy Crap your Makhan Singh" He chuckled and replied "Holy Crap I am?" I did buy him a beer, and told him to keep beating on those stinking no good Harts (which got a laugh out of him) then I left.
I am surprised you were able to single him out up at the T&C...his look is a fairly common one up there.
A junior high teacher we had at the time claimed to know him and a few other wrestlers. Not sure at the time if he was bs'ing us or not, because yeah, he said then, if you weren't in with the Hart's, the rest of the crew like Dynamite, the Cuban Assasain etc all hung out together. He said apparently "Champagne" Jerry Morrow's family/acquaintence had some interest in a Mohawk gas station on Mcleod, so those guys would hang out there. Hard to believe that, when we were that age. But probably true...with really nothing else to do but wait for the next show, or next roadtip to Flatass Saskatchewan where they pile 7 guys into a van.
This guy was 100% flab. I'll bet this has a whole heck of a lot more to do with congested heart and high cholesterol than it does with steroid abuse. This guy's character was that he was a big, angry fat guy. Nothing to do with being strong or fit. Just fat.
You gotta love a pseudo-sport where the best alternative explanation to a premature death in a sport rife with early corpses from steroid abuse is the subject was well-known to be morbidly obese through his career.
Cowperson
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When I was in high school, I ran into "Makhan Singh" at a 7-11 on a Friday night after the matches. The boys piled out of a huge Lincoln - Gamma, Makhan and a few others. I mustered the courage to approach him in line.. asking "How'd the match go tonight?"... Without even looking at me, he replied "Buy a ticket next time, little puke, and find out for yourself"...
It startled me for a second, but my friends and I thought that was awesome! Completely in character... but I realized their lifestyle was not as glamorous as I may have thought - with Limo's, custom buses with hookers and blow etc etc.. - and they probably did rely a lot on gate revenues.
I never missed another local show until I moved to Calgary... cheering for Makhan every time.
custom buses with hookers and blow would be considered glamorous? A little insight into the mind of a wrestling fan
You may want to read Bret Hart's autobiograph, or Pain And Passion by Heath McCoy before making a comment like that. I'm sure your idea of transportation happens in the WWE... maybe, but more guys have almost died from the transportation they've taken from venue to venue, with 5-7 guys stuffed in a car/van/POS than from any form of drug abuse.
I guess I just don't know where the comment came from. I'm going to have to read the whole thread again, just to make sure it wasn't just a random statement.
custom buses with hookers and blow would be considered glamorous? A little insight into the mind of a wrestling fan
It may have been to a small town teenager in the 80's.
Now that I ride a custom Star Wars Van with a licorice dispenser, hand's free coke chopper and hookers spread in the back on the waterbed to work every day... it's lost it's lustre...
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Not sure if I've mentioned that I worked alongside the Cuban Assassin for a few years from 2001 on. While in school I worked for a painting company and he was on the prep crew, even with all the dust and fumes he never wore a mask due to his beard. Worked very hard everyday and drove an old VW Rabbit.
Great guy to work with, was friendly enough and told jokes all day. Had to listen very closely though, his accent was tough to decipher.
When I was in high school, I ran into "Makhan Singh" at a 7-11 on a Friday night after the matches. The boys piled out of a huge Lincoln - Gamma, Makhan and a few others. I mustered the courage to approach him in line.. asking "How'd the match go tonight?"... Without even looking at me, he replied "Buy a ticket next time, little puke, and find out for yourself"...
It startled me for a second, but my friends and I thought that was awesome! Completely in character... but I realized their lifestyle was not as glamorous as I may have thought - with Limo's, custom buses with hookers and blow etc etc.. - and they probably did rely a lot on gate revenues.
I never missed another local show until I moved to Calgary... cheering for Makhan every time.
Stu fully believed in the concept of Kayfabe and passed it onto his suns. In the old days, Heels and Faces didn't mix outside of the show, and Heels had to be complete jerks in public while faces had to be the nice guys.
Bret even carries the concept of Kayfabe to today, during the weeks leading up to his match against McMahon he wore a cast in public to sell a broken leg. It was almost too awesome for words.
Reading Bret's book and McCoys book gave you a really intimate look into Stampede Wrestling, these guys were living from show to show, didn't save a lot of money and partied incredibly hard.
The story about the Anvil threatening to tackle Vince McMahon out of the 20th floor window of their hotel because he saw it happen in Die hard was hilarious and lead to one of the first firings of the Anvil.
In my experience the heel wrestlers that I met were great guys while the faces were the biggest jerks I've ever met.
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