Wrestlemania

My daughter was born on April 1st, and undoubtedly I'd like to think of that as the happiest day of my life.

But long before I had a daughter, April 1st was very special to me because it was the day my dad took me to Wrestlemania VI in Toronto to see The Ultimate Warrior do battle with Hulk Hogan for the WWF Championship.

In 1990 I was a huge WWF fan.  I mean, I ate, slept, and breathed wrestling.  My favorites were The Ultimate Warrior, Bret "Hitman" Hart, and Macho Man (even though he was a villain at this time known as the Macho King).

The morning of April 1st, my dad woke me up early to let me know that Wrestlemania had been cancelled.  I only fell for it for a second or two and then realized it was April Fool's Day.  Nice try dad.

I'm actually surprised by how much I remember about being at Wrestlemania VI.  It was over twenty-five years ago.  I was only nine years old.

Me at the mall with my mother; notice my awesome Ultimate Warrior shirt?  Please don't notice my awful track pants.

 Down the road from the Skydome was a large wrestling ring built by Campbell's soup, and they had some wrestlers doing their thing while free cans of Campbell's soup were being given out.  I declined the free can of soup, mostly because I didn't want to have to carry it around Toronto with me all day.

While waiting outside the Skydome to get in, some pervy old man was talking about Miss Elizabeth and how if he had the chance he would tongue paint her.  I'd like to think that's when and where I learned what cunningulus is.  Thank you, creepy pervy guy outside the Skydome.

Inside, we sat in front of this crazy wrestling fan.  She was old, missing some teeth, and had one of those large foam Hulk Hogan fingers.  When she found out I was cheering for The Ultimate Warrior to defeat the Hulkster, the fucking crazy bitch actually hit me with her foam finger. 

I remember being very excited to see Robert Goulet sing "O Canada".  I had seen Beetlejuice a few times by this point in my life, and Robert Goulet was pretty cool in it.  Before he sang the anthem, and the event began there was something called a "Dark Match", which is basically a wrestling match to warm the crowd up a bit before the televised event begins.  I was surprised and disappointed when I got a VHS tape of Wrestlemania VI months later that the match between Paul Roma and the Brooklyn Brawler wasn't on it.

I was very excited when Andre The Giant smacked around Bobby "The Brain" Heenan.  I really only knew Andre as a heel in the world of wrestling, having only been a fan since WM3, and everyone knew he wouldn't be around much longer, so it was really awesome to be able to say I was there to see his redemption in front of his fans.

I still have my ticket stub from Wrestlemania VI

From where we were sitting, the ring looked pretty small.  Our $75 tickets had us about halfway up.  Apparently ringside seats were in the $150 range.  Luckily, we had a great view of the large screen in the Skydome.  So we were able to see everything being broadcast over pay-per-view, even if we couldn't hear the incredible Jesse "The Body" Ventura speak.  So we were able to see some of the important details.  I was ecstatic to see Miss Elizabeth, and half wondered if that guy from outside the Skydome would get his chance to tongue paint her.  Unfortunately she was there for Dusty Rhodes, and not the Macho King.

But let's face it.  Everyone was there to see the Hogan/Warrior match.  And as soon as the Warrior pinned Hogan for both the WWF Championship and the Intercontinental belt, we were out of our seats and on our way out of the building.  My dad wanted to beat the traffic and not get stuck in any kind of mob.  He was always like that, even at hockey games we went to locally.  So I never got the opportunity to tell that crazy bitch with the foam finger that she could suck a male camel's dick.

As we went back to catch our bus home, I saw a man make fun of a midget.  That was sad and uncomfortable.  She was a midget.  Big deal.  And he was all like, "Hey everyone!  Look at the midget!"  Then we passed by a homeless guy asking for change, and I kind of wish I would have taken that free can of Campbell's soup.  I could have given it to him.  And he could have traded it for crack.  Not much crack, but probably a little fix.  I'm not really an expert in crack value.

Wow, I'm way off topic.

This was pretty much my view.

Wrestlemania VI had a lasting impression on me.  I must have watched the VHS a hundred times.  I proudly wore my Ultimate Challenge shirt and ball cap everywhere.  I even made friends at the mall with an older man because of it.  No, this is nothing weird, he saw me with my mom and I was wearing my shirt and he was getting his photos from Wrestlemania VI developed there.  So we hung out with him so I could see his pictures.

To this day, I still get excited to talk about being there.  Whenever I get talking about wrestling with someone they look at me in awe when I say I was at Wrestlemania VI.  It's fondly remembered by everyone.

Sadly, Miss Elizabeth passed away a few years back.  I wonder if that pervy guy ever got to tongue paint her.  I mean, it's always nice to hear of people's dreams coming true.

Thanks for reading!
- ryan

Me, in 1990 wearing my Bret The Hitman tank top and trying to do the Ravishing Rick Rude hip swing.