Geno’s Short-Lived Career as a Pro Wrestling Ring Announcer

If you think I'm terrible at radio, you should've seen me as a pro wrestling ring announcer! Yes, back in the 90s, yours truly put on the tuxedo and introduced wrestlers like Jimmy "Superfly" Snuka, The Road Warriors, Triple H, George "The Animal" Steele, Matt & Jeff Hardy, and The Bushwackers.

I never worked for the WWF (or now WWE). I worked for little independent wrestling companies that would put on shows in high school gyms. All of those big name wrestlers I just mentioned either already had, or would later have their 15 minutes of fame. But when I announced for them, they were wrestling in front of 200 people... on a good night.

I wanted to actually BE one of the wrestlers when I was a kid. But at some point I realized with my love affair with cheeseburgers, being in my underwear in public wasn't for me. My high school buddy Scott stuck with it. He eventually made it to WWE as "Scotty Too Hottie." But before he made it, whenever he'd have a show at some high school gym or armory, I'd be the special guest ring announcer from whatever radio station I was working for at the time. I got doing it so much that I really started to think I might leave radio behind and "run away with the circus." It wasn't meant to be. I TOWERED over most of the wrestlers... and it looked awful in the ring and on TV when the 6'4" announcer made their monsters look pint size.

That first clip was my first (and last) night working for a cruddy little start up in Connecticut. They seemed like they'd be top notch on the phone. They had The British Bulldog Davey Boy Smith, Mr. Hughes, The Warlord and some other former WWF wrestlers. But when I got there, it was a nightmare. The show was at some fair. I just remember the heat was INSANE. And they set the ring up on the fairgrounds where they had ANIMAL EXHIBITIONS that day! The aroma was less than sweet.

Graceful Geno introduces "Hacksaw" Jim Duggan...

By the time the 90's came around, I wasn't really a big fan of pro wrestling anymore. But it was fun to be an announcer. My wrestling fan days were in the 80s. I found these photos from my Kodak Disc (remember those?) photos from the parking lot behind the Cumberland County Civic Center World Wrestling Federation events.