I should not admit it, but I often get writing ideas while I’m at church on Sunday mornings. Our preacher, Doug Watt, always has interesting sermons and often says something that pushes a button in my brain that switches on a light in the small writer’s section of my pre-frontal cortex. Recently, I was inspired by his description of the wrestlers that were on TV in the 1950s and ‘60s.

Nick Gulas was both a wrestler and a promotor who made each match sound like it was the most important thing in the world at that moment. Two of my favorites were Fabulous Jackie Fargo and Tojo Yamamoto.

Fargo played the good guy who excited the crowds with his “Fargo Strut” before he demolished his opponent in the ring. He won countless individual championships and 45 tag team championships. Tag team matches had two or more wrestlers on each team with only one in the ring at a time.

Fargo is credited for starting the use of folding chairs to subdue his adversaries.

Tojo’s shtick was pretending to be an evil Japanese wrestler. World War II was still fresh in the minds of many fans and his name was derived from infamous Japanese men. His fearsome weapon was the “Japanese Claw” (he said “Craw”) where he turned his hands into claws to inflict intense pain on the midsection of his unfortunate foe. He was Hawaiian, not Japanese.

Brother Alan and I were entranced by a TV wrestling match one day when Papa Gill walked by. He stopped for a moment to see what we were watching and casually commented that wrestling was fake. He never knew it, but that was a devastating moment in my early life.

Think about it. There I was having a wonderful time watching big bruisers fighting almost to the death in every match. My 10-year-old self was completely enthralled and truly believed what I was watching was real. Then, a man whom I worshiped as a fount of integrity and knowledge proclaimed that professional wrestling was a sham. Ouch!

Of course, Papa Gill was correct but it did not stop me from watching wrestling. That’s the secret of professional TV wrestling. Real or not, it is exciting, entertaining and enthralling.

I thought I had outgrown TV wrestling but then along came Hulk Hogan. He was a man who was bigger than life who became a global icon. Everyone recognized his name. Still do, even though he passed away in 2025 at age 71.

The Hulkster made me rethink the sport of professional wrestling. I only saw him once, at the Knoxville airport, when he and a bunch of other wrestlers walked through the crowd. Even surrounded by other wrestlers, he was huge — supposedly 5 feet, six inches tall and 300 pounds. He was also terrifyingly ugly. His face was craggy and he looked strong enough to heft a bull.

There was nothing counterfeit about Hogan (except his real name was Terry Bollea). Come to find out he and all the other professional wrestlers are talented athletes who train intensively to put on as realistic a performance as possible. I proudly support pro wrestling although I feel sorry for the hapless referees.

— Gill, an Elk Valley Times columnist, is also an author. His books can be found on Amazon and other online book websites, as well as in stores in Fayetteville and Petersburg.