Trying to figure out why I will never forget Jose Luis Rivera

Don’t ask me why, but I’ve had my mind on Jose Luis Rivera recently. Rivera was a jobber in the WWF in the 1980s, and even though he rarely won a match, he is easily one of the most remembered prelim wrestlers ever.

Why? I’m not entirely sure. I mean, he wrestled all of the time on Saturday morning wrestling back when

Muhammad Ali turns 70 — he was a special guest ref for the first WrestleMania

Happy birthday to boxing legend Muhammad Ali, who turns 70 today.

It’s easy to forget that Ali was a big part of the promotional machine behind the first WrestleMania in 1985. He served as a special guest referee for the Hulk Hogan and Mr. T. vs. Rowdy Roddy Piper and “Mr. Wonderful” Paul Orndorff main event.

I don’t know if the WWF’s intent was to ever allow Ali to actually be in the ring officiating the match; what I do know is that Ali stood outside the ring for most of the bout, with WWF official Pat Patterson serving

Big angle in 1981: Greg Valentine suplexes Pedro Morales on the concrete floor

Man, 30 years ago is didn’t take a lot to get an angle over with the audience compared to today. There may be no greater example of that than when Greg “The Hammer” Valentine taunted Intercontinental Champion Pedro Morales into match on TV.

To set the stage, in late 1981 Morales had just regained the Intercontinental belt from the Magnificent Muraco, whom the Grand Wizard managed. The Wizard also tutored Valentine, and after a squash match on Championship Wrestling, Valentine issued a challenge to Morales, including calling the Puerto Rican star a “greaseball.” Yes, those of us who were fans back then occasionally have reasons to hang our heads in shame for real.

Anyway, Morales came out to the accept the challenge as long as he could fight Valentine on free TV so that everyone could see “when I kick your butt, baby!”  To this day, I so distinctly remember Valentine’s reaction

Killer Khan fought Andre, challenged Hogan in the 1980s

Ask most fans from the 1980s what they remember about Killer Khan, and they’ll probably recall his 1980s WWF feud with Andre the Giant.

Khan was a big, thick Japanese guy whose gimmick was that of a savage, out-of-control Mongolian. His facial expressions usually consisted of an exaggerated, lip-curling grimace, and he was bald except for a short, braided pony tail. During his offense, he let out these high-pitched shrieks.

He had two runs in the WWF, first in 1981 and then in 1987. The initial run was far more memorable, as he was portrayed as a vicious wrestler who broke Andre’s leg and then tried to take out

Jay and Jules Strongbow refused to leave the ring until they got their tag title rematch

I was a little embarrassed when I recently realized that this blog had virtually no mention of the Strongbow Brothers, Jay and Jules.

Well, they weren’t really brothers, and Jay wasn’t really an American Indian (I’m not sure about Jules). But as a tandem, these guys were quite popular when they defeated

Piper breaks a gold record over Captain Lou’s head

It was 27 years ago this week that the WWF shot one of the early angles leading to the original WrestleMania, when Rowdy Roddy Piper smashed a gold record over the head of Captain Lou Albano.

The incident took place in 1984 at Madison Square Garden. Pop star Cyndi Lauper

Lanny Poffo remembers Macho Man this holiday season

“The Genius” Lanny Poffo — the brother of the late Randy “Macho Man” Savage — released a video poem in tribute to Savage on TMZ this week.

Tony Garea sticks his neck out for Jesse “The Body”

So my boss at work mentioned that he recently checked out an episode of Conspiracy Theory with Jesse Ventura. After a few minutes, he became unimpressed with Ventura’s strange choice of people to interview.

” ‘The Body’s’ Conspiracy Theory show had about as much credibility as he did when he beat Tony Garea in 1985,” my boss wrote to me by email.

Wow. That single line sent me back in time, because while a teen, I can vividly recall watching Ventura and Garea fight on Prime Time Wrestling in June 1985.

The part of the match I remember the most is

Stand back, it’s another crappy WWE Slammy Awards show

The WWF Slammy Awards were silly when they started back in 1986, and the modern WWE version is just as bad.

Yet there was the Slammy Awards show on Monday Night Raw this week – it just doesn’t seem like the best gimmick to fall back on when so many fans are clamoring for change.

I remember the 1987 Slammy Awards well. The show was notable because Vince McMahon gave a beyond arrogant, and fully embarrassing, performance singing his tune, “Stand Back.” When I see McMahon dancing in this clip, I’m amazed at what is allowed on TV:

Brutus Beefcake tells TMZ he and Hogan will sue Hulk’s ex-wife, Linda

Brutus “The Barber” Beefcake, of all people, got mentioned on TMZ this week after Hulk Hogan’s ex-wife, Linda, claimed Beefcake and Hogan had a homosexual affair at one point.

Beefcake told TMZ that wasn’t true, and both he and Hogan have indicated they will sue Linda. Unless she has proof of the alleged gay love affair, I don’t see how she can defend her claim because it seems absurd.

This goes to show you once again that where Hogan treads, so does Beefcake. Brutus made a career out of