Sometimes when you meet your childhood heroes, your are disappointed. Sometimes they meet expectations. And sometimes, just like this past week-end at the 14th annual Hall of Fame induction ceremony, they exceed them. My top 3 favourite wrestlers growing up, and to this day actually, were Hulk Hogan, Masked Superstar and Rick Martel. Amazingly, I had the chance to witness Superstar’s induction last year, and no more than a year later, here I am with Rick Martel.

Rick Martel, 59, was "the main event'' this year in Amsterdam, NY. It was likely the final accomplishment of a long and illustrious career, during which he was always commended for being reliable, professional and talented. Known as a very good worker by his peers, he also had a great reputation for his outside the ring behaviour, a rarity in this business.

I had the privilege of spending some time around him this weekend, and I could see that all those things were true, through the testimony of fans, fellow wrestlers and promoters from his era. 

But for me and most of the fans, this yearly appointment with wrestling started with a live event held on Friday night, this year once again provided by 2CW. It was held in the same building as last year, and was sold out. 2CW clearly has his die-hard fans, as I saw many people wearing their merchandise. 

The first match was a 4-way match, and I wonder why they put it in first, because it was by far the best match until the main events. That was non stop action, with good psychology, and Rich Swan and JT Dunn were particularly impressive. The following good match was Nick Busick, whom I had heard about, against Chris Hero, who stole the show last year. They had a very good outing, even though not at last year's level of the Hero-Delaney bout. The Main event saw X-Pac in a good tag-team match also involving Cheech and Jason Axe. X-Pac did a meet and greet with the fans, being his usual gracious and extra-polite self. Ross and Bruce Hart were in attendance so I had the chance to chat with them a little. It was really exciting for me to meet Bruce, who is a legendary Canadian wrestler and booker as most of you know.

Saturday morning was convention day. The sellers were pretty much the same as last year, but a lot more people attended. Some wrestlers had their own table too, like The Destroyer, JJ Dillon and Paul Vachon. I want to mention illustrator Franklin O'Neal, who was there with amazing pieces of arts. He does caricatures of wrestlers from all era, from Kowalski to Finn Balor.

The meet & greet in the afternoon was a bit of a letdown however. For someone like me who’ been going for years now, it was disappointing to find out that Bruce and Ross Hart weren’t there (unless they got in late, it’s possible since I was first in line) ,Larry Henning was sick at home, and Michael Hayse wasn’t there, either. I can only guess that many people were upset with this last one, as he and Martel were the big draw this year. He’s the reason I had bought my M&G ticket to begin with. On top of it, one of the men in charge told me we were allowed only one autograph per person, and a second one would cost 25$ each. I thought it was pushing the envelope, with all those wrestlers missing for a second year in a row. But I have to say Brian Blair, among others, really was nice to fans and happy to be there.

We used the rest of the afternoon for a visit of the museum, which is always the highlight of the week-end for me. I’ve said it in the past, but anyone who calls himself a wrestling fan has to visit this awesome place at least once. Even if I’ve been there often, there is always new stuff to see. But this time were in for a huge surprise, as when I headed downstairs I saw the museum administrator Tony Vellano showing the place to…Curtis Axel ! We then found out that Larry Henning being injured, someone was able to get him on behalf of Mr.Perfect’s induction. Even tough I was looking forward to meet with Larry Henning, his grandson’s presence really made up for it. Curtis was humble and easygoing the whole time.

This year’s raffle grand prize to raise funds for the hall was a 1998 King of the Ring chair, autographed by Mick Foley. That was the night of his infamous Hell in a cell match against Undertaker. Foley recently has done a lot of charity work for the Hall. John Soto, the new man in charge of the Museum, told me that at the latest signing, Mick had to leave for 1 o’clock. But there was so many people in line that he left past 3, as he wanted to make sure every person got the photos and autographs they needed. Typical hardcore legend !

The final event of that week end was the banquet for the actual induction ceremonies. I find the 7’oclock starting time is a bit late, but at least it started right on time, and on top of it I had great seating right in front of the podium, and sitting across the table was Bruce Hart! After the usual greeting speeches and national anthem, we were treated with a delicious meal, and then the actual ceremony begun.

From the pioneer era (1800-1946) , Joe Manlcewicz, by his grandson, and Great Gama (by writer/historian Greg Oliver) were first inducted. Both were good to highlight their accomplishments and contributions to the sport.

In the colleague category, Carolina’s promoter JJ Dillon inducted Big Jim Crockett  Sr. You could sense that Dillon had a lot of respect for his former boss, and recounted a story where he had the opportunity to be booked in the Maritimes for the Cormier brothers, where he would get a push for the first time of his young career. But he didn’t have enough money to fly up there. He then went to explain this to Crockett, who lent him the money on the spot, and the rest, as they say, is history. Dillon said he is grateful to the big man to this day.

In the International category, the winner was Jumbo Tsuruta from Japan. The Destroyer Dick Beyer spoke on his behalf, and we could watch a video of those two legend getting it on in the ring. Mr. Beyer is talking slower as years go by, but is still entertaining. He mentioned that Tsuruta never went to preliminary matches and was wrestling in feature matches right off the bat.

The inductee in the Ladies category was fellow Quebecers Vivian Vachon. Her brother Paul, along with her son Ian Carnegie, who is a strong man and arm-wrestling champion, received this award for her. Ian was great here, talking about going to the matches as a very young boy, and watching in horror as his cousin, a young Luna, was beating the crap out of his mother. ‘’How could that be’’, he said, ‘’since both were chatting and laughing on the couch no later that this afternoon ?’’  He said he was crying the whole match, with uncle Paul preventing him to go to the ring by holding onto his suspenders. And when all of a sudden after his mom slammed and pinned Luna, ‘’the sun suddenly shined through the clouds and I was glad it was over’’. Ian was moved by it all and thanked everyone associated with PWHF.

There were two recipients in the Television Era (1943-1984). First Whipper Billy Watson, inducted by the Hart brothers, Ross and Bruce. They sais even though they haven’t met him in the ring, everybody in Canada was aware of his reputation and star power. The late Watson mainly wrestled in the Toronto area. The other was former WWWF champion Pedro Morales. I was surprised to learn from Davey O’Hannon, that Pedro was hospitalized, and in serious condition. That explained why he wasn’t in attendance. O’Hannon recalled he was a huge star in New York and California, and said if you agreed to go out with him after the matches, you better not be booked the following night because you wouldn’t make it in time. He said Pedro was a hero to him growing up, always laid back in funny, and what a huge honour it was for him to in induct the Puerto-Rican star. He concluded by asking every fan to pray for his friend.

In the modern era category (1985-present)  the first recipient was Mr.Perfect, Curt Hennig. Curtis Axel, Joe Hennig, himself a former intercontinental champion, went onstage to accept the award. Joe was humble and moved, and had great delivery. He said as long as he can remember, his dad always said the being a pro wrestler was the greatest life a man could ever live. Joe sais his father was right about that, and that he now lives through him, and through all the members of his family. He then proceeded to read the eulogy that Larry Henning read at Curt’s funeral. That was a amazing moment and a touching ending to his acceptance speech.

The winners for the Tag-Team category were the Fabulous Freebird, Buddy Roberts, Terry Gordy and Michael Hayse. They were called onstage by former World Class star, Cowboy Johnny Mantel. Roberts’ son, Brandon Hey, who is an indy wrestler himself, spoke first, saying he had a great father and wished him a happy birthday. Connie Gordy, Terry’s widow, was clearly overwhelmed by it all, already shedding a few tears even before coming on stage. She thanked everyone for honouring the memory of his husband. Michael was up next, stealing the sow as expected. He was colourfully dressed, sporting a bright red outfit with a hat to match. He told a few hilarious Freebirds wild stories, among them being shot at outside a strip club in Texas by a drunk biker. After all six sots were fired, a terrorized Hayse asked Gordy why he was laughing. ‘’Bam Bam’’ answered, Well, because he missed!’’ But his most meaningful declaration was that he was glad he could relive these days gone by tonight, but he wouldn’t go back in time. He said wrestling has to go forward, and that it’s impossible to go back to the good old days. But he concluded by saying that today’s generation of superstars would not be here without the former generation, and we shall never forget it.

The Genius, Lanny Poffo, then presented Rick Martel. We had a chance to chat with him Friday, and he took the time to recount us a story from when he was given the Genius name. He asked Martel how to say ‘’Genius’’ in French, to impress French-speaking agent René Goulet. But to rib him, Martel told Poffo that the translation was ‘’sans-génie’’. Problem is, that means the exact opposite, if you see what I mean. Goulet and Martel then had a good laugh at his expense, and Sans–Génie became the one-liner of the weekend among us.

Being the last inductee of this year's class, ''The Model'' took the time to thank everyone associated with the Hall & Museum, including the volunteers, as well as the fans without whom there would be no business at all. But when he really put things into perspective is when he thanked his wife, who shared the last 16 years of his wrestling career, along with his young daughter, who he emotionally called the ''sunshine of his life''. Because at the end of the day, when it's all over and the spotlights are turned off, it's all that matters.

After the ceremony, as everybody gathered around to snap pictures and mingled with the fans, Martel told us he was really impressed with Joe Henning, having known him since he was a toddler. He sais he had the same attitude then Curt about life, and was respectful and passionate about wrestling. Hayse was really sooth after by fans, especially since he had skipped the meet and greet. He took the time to sign autographs and pose for pictures, but was the first to leave the hall. It was a real thrill for me to meet him, as he looks just like it’s 1985 again. (almost)

All in all another great week end in upstate New York, with the actual banquet and after party pretty much saving what would otherwise have been an average trip. But In closing I’d like to share a story that Rick Martel told us, when the subject of having bad matches came around:

One night in Australia, promoter Steve Rickard was chewing out King Curtis Iaukea after a particularly subpar performance. After a few moments of silence, Iaukea, who was past his prime but never at a loss for words, slowly raised his head, dripping with blood, and responded ‘’for 300$ a week, what do you expect ? Harley Race ?’’

Thanks for reading and see you at the matches!

Frank

Included photos are of Ian Carnegie (Vivian Vachon's son, Curtis Axel, Brandon Hey(Buddy Roberts son), Michael Hayes, Connie Gordy, Bruce Hart, Rick Martel, Lanny Poffo and more.