By Wally Donaldson
The Oshawa Express

During the days of writing for a daily newspaper in this city, I was also kept busy interviewing and writing for a magazine, which at the time was put out by the World Wrestling Federation (WWF). And part and parcel to performing my duties to color-up the pages somewhat, I had Brutus “The Barber” Beefcake put me in a headlock, I was slammed against the ropes by Jim “The Anvil” Neidhart and I was roughed up (well, not really) in the corner ring by Sensational
Sherry Martel. Guess which I enjoyed the best?

It was a time when professional wrestling wasn’t quite ready to come out of the closet, so to speak, about the emphasis on entertainment, as opposed to their profession being a true sport.

Wrestling fans, and there were many, enjoyed a myriad of cards at the Civic Auditorium through the years organized by Oshawa’s Pat Milosh and Frank Tunney, former president of the WWF. The WWF is now known as World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE). Any attempt to add up the number of wrestlers who performed at the Civic is fruitless.

Most are out of the business and it is very unfortunate that too many have passed on. In particular Martel, Miss Elizabeth, Chris Benoit and Junkyard Dog, to mention a handful. But there are a few WWF grapplers who still want to put on a show for the crowd. Most recently, Koko B. Ware headlined a card for the Great Canadian Wrestling (GCW) at the Oshawa Legion Hall. And Beefcake will be the headliner for Sunday night’s card, also at the Legion Hall, in what is touted to be a full day of exciting wrestling action.

Full as in the Wrestling Independent Ladies Division (WILD) competing at 2 in the afternoon with the men taking centre stage, starting at 6 o’clock. Now, you need to know this. Having been familiar with the big show of WWE over the years, I admit to approaching the GCW card a week ago with little regard. Strictly a secondary show for wannabees, is what I thought, with the exception of Koko, of course, who with his macaw Frankie were very popular at one time.
I gotta fess up. I truly enjoyed this card.

Sure, the lesser names of Crazzy Steve and Otis and Asylum were not the household names of wrestling. But they truly did put on an entertaining show for the diehard fans. And we should expect nothing less on Sunday, beginning in the afternoon when the original wrestling diva, “Sunny” Tammy Sytch, formerly with WWE, Extreme Championship Wrestling (ECW) and World Championship Wrestling (WCW) makes her GCW debut.

The women’s lineup also features current WILD champion Miss Danyah, Jennifer Blake, Cat Powers, Mary Lollypop and the first lady of hardcore, LuFisto. Beefcake, a trainer on Hulk Hogan’s Celebrity Championship Wrestling, will be at the top of his game and if only a handful of the grapplers who were on the Koko card are on hand, you will be impressed.

It’s a lot of wrestling for one day, but you can put the money in the bank – it will be entertaining.