Prior to an era wherein "Stone Cold" Steve Austin calling Vince McMahon an "asshole" was easily the most hurtful put-down in the WWF, wrestler-turned-manager Freddie Blassie calling ringside fans "pencil-necked geeks" easily took the cake. Starting his career as a manager in 1974, Blassie's character of basically being an irascible old man who wanted not just the kids - but everyone, crowd, good guys and ring announcer included - off of his lawn, was an instant heat magnet. Waving his trademark walking cane (plus sometimes using it as a well-placed weapon to swing the tide towards his charges) and wearing gaudy, sequined outfits worthy of him being called the "Hollywood Fashion Plate," in many ways the one-time Los Angeles-based wrestling legend Blassie became the ultimate embodiment of the managerial character that he portrayed. From being associated with "The Incredible" Hulk Hogan during his 1980 run in the company that led to an infamous bout at New York City's Shea Stadium with Andre the Giant to being a tag team manager for Adrian Adonis and Dick Murdoch's "North South Connection" and the perrennial American jingoist bad guy tandem of Russan brute Nikolai Volkoff and charismatic, barrel-chested Iranian the Iron Sheik. Along the way, he worked with a veritable who's who of legendary WWF talent including George "The Animal" Steele, and Asian grapplers Killer Khan, Toru Tanaka and Mr. Fuji (playing off of his groundbreaking work as the first American booked to wrestle in Japan). In exceeding the expectation of basically being a legendary wrestler in repose, Fred Blassie is easily one of the WWF's best wrestlers of all time.
Besides having been an independent professional wrestling manager for a decade, Marcus Dowling is a Washington, DC-based writer who has contributed to a plethora of online and print magazines and newspapers writing about music and popular culture over the past 15 years.
