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When I was a kid, I was a huge pro wrestling fan. Rowdy Roddy Piper was my hero even though he was one of the bad guys the crowd hated. Being the spoiled brat only child I was, my mother bent over backwards to give me the chance to see Roddy in person. For some reason, he would never come to the World Wrestling Federation events in Portland, Maine. So when it was announced Roddy would be on the card at something called "King of the Ring" near Boston, mom dug out her AAA travel guide and we were off.
It was June 28, 1986. We stayed at a dingy motel near Sullivan Stadium in Foxboro where the event was being held. It's where the New England Patriots play about halfway between Boston and Providence. I wore my Hot Rod t-shirt my grandfather bought for Christmas a few years earlier and had plenty of film for my super fancy state-of-the-art Kodak Disc camera I think I got for my birthday that year.
One of my Twitter friends asked me to put these back up. I had them on my old site sometime back. Apparently WWE is bringing King of the Ring back in 2019.
These were 2 local radio DJs who kicked off the event. Crazy thing... I ended up working with the woman on the left, Karen Blake, 30 years later!
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The Junkyard Dog and Ernie The Cat Ladd I believe. On the Jumbotron “Luscious Johnny V” was cutting a promo.
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The iconic George "The Animal" Steele, who is sadly no longer with us. I'll never forget walking into the locker room about 10 years later and sitting across the table from George. I was the ring announcer that night so I had to get the endings to the matches. It was jarring hearing him speak full sentences! His wrestling persona limited his vocabulary to about 3 words... "Hey!" "You!" and "Nice!"
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The legendary Junkyard Dog, who passed many years ago
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One of the main event guys at WrestleMania 1: Paul Orndorff, a Tampa guy. Brandon actually I think.
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Roddy Piper vs Magnificent Muraco with his manager Mr Fuji. I'm pretty sure that referee is Fred Sparta, who about 10 years later I would end up doing ring announcing for his live events!
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My hero, "Rowdy" Roddy Piper
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Muraco Hits Piper With Steel Chair
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Get him Roddy!
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Nikolai Volkoff vs Pedro Morales
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Billy Jack Haynes exits... in fact it wasn't long after this he exited wrestling for good. He became a bitter guy always tearing down Vince McMahon.
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Billy Jack Haynes vs Harley Race... Harley just passed away last week.
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The big bad Russian Nikolai Volkoff. Sadly he is no longer with us. I got to work a few shows with him in the 90s when I was a ring announcer.
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Nikolai Volkoff ready to go...
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Nikolai Volkoff vs Dan Spivey
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Hall of Famer Pedro Morales
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The WWF ring crew putting up the cage!
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Beefcake Climbing Cage
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Beefcake and Valentine... Greg all bloodied out
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Bruno Sammartinto vs. The DH
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Tag Team Steel Cage Match: The British Bulldogs vs Brutus Beefcake and Greg Valentine
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Greg Valentine and Brutus Beefcake leave the cage
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Beefcake and Valentine head back to the locker room.
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Billy Jack Haynes - I'm the nerd in the "I'm going to be a serial killer someday" glasses.
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