WWE And TNA: 7 Worst Moments Of The Week (Feb 19)
6. Goodbye Friends
Man, what a s****y week for professional wrestling. Within the span of a couple days, Ivan Koloff, George “The Animal” Steele and Nicole Bass all passed away. There are other longer, more in-depth pieces on their lives and their importance to the industry on the net, so I’ll just briefly touch on some memories here.
George seems to be one of those guys just outside of the huge mainstream stars in wrestling like a Hogan or Warrior. I’ve had multiple non-wrestling fans over the year be like “hey, who was that guy with the green tongue who used to bite the turnbuckle?” That was George. He was a major heel in the late '60s and '70s, then a beloved comedy act who had a crush on Miss Elizabeth during the Rock ‘n’ Wrestling Era (as most men in the '80s did) and he had one brief, strange run with The Oddities during The Attitude Era. Here's a recent video of him telling a loud fan to shut up. Even in his 70s the man still had it!
Along with Stan Stasiak, Koloff is the only WWWF Champion who isn’t in the WWE Hall of Fame (he is in the Wrestling Observer Hall of Fame). He was a top star who feuded with Bruno Sammartino in big grudge matches in the Northeast, and helped make the company a lot of money. After he left the promotion he tore it up in the NWA, and remained one of the biggest heels around during The Cold War due to his "Russian" heritage. It’s a bit strange that he seems largely left out of WWE history.
Nicole Bass had a far shorter run than Koloff and Steele, but she’s still remembered to this day for her run in ECW, and for a brief stay in the WWF during the height of the company’s popularity. She played a bodyguard for Sable, then briefly aligned with Ivory. However, the company never got around to a big Chyna/Bass feud, which seemed to be a given. After she left the WWF (she sued them for sexual harassment), she was never seen on the main stage again. Side note: the night after her debut, I had a friend at school who thought her name was “The Cold Bass.” Stupid Tim!
Rest in peace Bass, Koloff and Steele. After Chavo Classic's passing last week, let’s hope the next 7 days pass without any more bad news.