O Captain! My Captain!

When I was nine or ten, I was a big fan of the WWF wrestling that aired on the local television station early on Saturday mornings. I always enjoyed watching the likes of Sgt. Slaughter, Roddy Piper, and George “The Animal” Steele grapple in the overly campy and impeccably choreographed fight sequences.

However, even at that young age, after a few viewings I could tell it wasn’t “real.” Sure, in the days before Hulk Hogan and the super-steroided behemoths took over the sport, there were the occasional athletes who did enter the squared circle. But there were also a string of overweight, out-of-shape losers and 98-pound weaklings who served as cannon fodder for the “superstars” of the so-called sport.

It doesn’t take a rocket scientist to know who would win in a battle between a young, sculpted high-flying Jimmy Snuka and the aging (even back then) fat slob himself, Captain Lou Albano… and yet, there were people who watched this battle at the time – held at Madison Square Garden in 1982 – who actually believed this match was on the up-and-up.

In fact, this may well be the worst match I’ve ever seen… right from the get-go as Snuka appears to wait and wait and wait for Albano to throw his punches so that he can “react” to them. But at the end, watch the comic genius of Captain Lou, as he improvises post-concussion schtick at a master class level.

Farewell, Captain Lou. We’ll miss you.