It has "been a minute" since I last wrote a new blog entry. I know I have fans who enjoy my writings and hope that some day I may write a book. I have not dismissed that as a possibility. But I bring to you my latest personal tale and hope that you enjoy it.
Many of you know of my past history of being at certain places at certain times. More than one person has referred to me as "the sports Forrest Gump". I get that reference even though I have never actually seen that movie. (Totally true. I've also never seen "Titanic". Why? I'm a history buff. I know how it ends! But this is an event which took place over 35 years ago and has been told to virtually no one. But now I am going to share it with you, given recent events.
WWE, an organization headquartered in my hometown of Stamford, Connecticut awarded its Wrestlemania for 2025 to T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas. The Twin Cities had hoped to host at U.S. Bank Stadium in downtown Minneapolis. But instead they will host SummerSlam 2026. And now you know the impetus for what triggered me to write my latest blog entry.
When I first arrived in Minneapolis in 1988 I started a full-time job at Dayton's Southdale selling home electronics. Southdale Mall, for those of you who may not know, was the first indoor mall in the United States. (My time there could serve as the background for another new blog entry). But I also found part-time employment for Sims Security based out of St. Paul. Sims did ushering at many different venues such as the Metrodome, Mariucci Arena, Williams Arena, State Theatre, Orpheum Theatre and the St. Paul Civic Center. I had seen WHA hockey games on tv from the Civic Center when I lived in Stamford. I always remembered they had clear boards on the rink which I years later I discovered to be because the seats on the sides did not come up to the boards, thus fans seated in the seats set back 4-6 feet from the ice would totally lose track of the puck unless the boards were transparent.
I signed up for the minimum number of events required each month in order to maintain my employ with Sims. On one of my first Civic Center assignments I chose to work WWF (now known as WWE) professional wrestling. The date was June 23, 1989.
I showed up ready for the night's events in my grey pants, white shirt and obligatory red sportcoat with black tie which we all wore unless we were working a rock concert or something like that. I checked in at the usher's room and got my assignment from my supervisor, whom I think may have been one Angela Lillie, who is a great lady and my longest-tenured Minnesota friend.
I was going to be on the floor for most of the evening which was cool, considering I would be standing out like the proverbial sore thumb. The undercard matches involved names like Mr. Perfect (real name Curt Henning, a Minneapolis native), Jimmy "Superfly" Snuka and Koko B. Ware. The final match of the night pitted arch rivals Randy "Macho Man" Savage (who was born Randy Poffo and was a former catcher in the St. Louis Cardinals minor league system) versus Hulk Hogan (born Terry Bollea).
Somehow I was chosen to escort Mr. Hogan to the ring from the staging area some 100 feet or so from the ring to ringside before the match began and then walk him back out at the match's conclusion.
When the time arrived I made my way to the area just in front of the curtain which shielded the fans from seeing the evenings participants before they made their way to the ring. Moments later Hulk emerged from behind the curtain and looked up and around the arena to get a sense of the raucous crowd inside. At 6'7" he towered above me by six inches and even though I didn't follow wrestling I was amazed at the physical specimen this dude was.
Just before the p.a. announcer started his introduction, I looked up at Hulk and said, meekly I'm sure, "You ready?" He looked down at me, grinned and said, "Let's do this, brother!" as only Hulk Hogan could. I walked him to the ring making sure that no one breached the stanchions which kept the fans away from making contact with the wrestlers. I got him all the way to the ring and then I took a route away from the ring as to stay out of the way of Randy Savage and Miss Elizabeth and their ushering escort.
At the conclusion of the match I followed Hulk to the curtained area where after his loss he turned right and headed toward one of the locker rooms. I was still behind the curtain when Randy and Elizabeth came through the curtain. They turned left instead and shortly after they did Randy stopped and yelled back to Hulk, in that familiar voice which for years told us to "Snap into a Slim Jim". "Well, see ya on the bus!" And that was the moment my long-suspected theory about pro wrestling crystalized to become the truth as I'd imagined always to be. It was all a show. A show that would become incredibly lucrative to its participants for the next 3 1/2 decades to this day.
The St. Paul Civic Center was demolished a few years later and in its same location sits the Xcel Energy Center, home of the National Hockey League's Minnesota Wild. I frequent this building some 20-30 times a season because I still have season tickets to the primary tenants. There's a good chance that "The X" will be known as the Grand Casino Arena come September, but the echoes of the story which I just told you are just loud enough for me to recall it by a different name in a different time.
RIP, big guy.
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