[NOTE – The following essay appeared in the Summer 2011 edition of the ‘Fair to Flair Quarterly’. The entire edition is available here: http://www.fairtoflair.com/]
I grew up 30 minutes away from the “candy capital of the world”, Hershey, Pennsylvania, and to this day going to see the WWF at Hershey Park Arena remains my favorite childhood memory. My buddy Jamie and I had a great game plan – rollercoasters and bumper cars during the day, body slams and headlocks at night. It was perfect.
I went to Hershey Park many times growing up, and the amusement park itself was great. I enjoyed walking through Chocolate World, splashing down the water flume, and telling my friends “I survived the Super Duper Looper”. But everything changed on October 31, 1985, the night I attended my first live WWF event at the neighboring Hershey Park Arena. I didn’t know much about the WWF, I’d only seen it on television a few times. But my friend had an extra ticket so I tagged along. From the moment S.D. Jones came out for the opening contest I was hooked. I was mesmerized by everything, the spectacle, the athleticism, the lights, the crowd, the music…everything. The WWF was taping a special “Halloween” episode of ‘Saturday Night’s Main Event’ headlined by Hulk Hogan and Andre the Giant, so the arena was sold out and full of energy.
As much as the crowd cheered for Hulk Hogan, the Junkyard Dog stole the show when he “pantsed” Jimmy Hart and branded him with Terry Funks’ iron. People absolutely loved the JYD. I remember laughing about Jimmy Hart’s red underwear on the ride home, mostly oblivious to what…or rather who…I really should have noticed that night, the “Macho Man” Randy Savage and Miss Elizabeth. The “Macho Man” failed to capture Tito Santana’s Intercontinental title (the match ended in a double count out) but looking back…wow, there was something so…different…about him. And about Miss Elizabeth.
I didn’t know enough about pro wrestling yet to fully appreciate Randy Savage but that was certainly about to change.