The Morning News from Wilmington, Delaware • Page 74

H2 Sunday News Journal, Wilmington, March 3, 1985 pularity Exposure creates growing po and Brutus Beefcake are two infamous examples. There are suggestions of effeminacy. Orndorff is inevitably assaulted with chants of "Paula," which cause him to cover his ears. He is also "sneaky," ducking through the ropes to Safety when things get tough. Piper has ample opportunity to be a heel on his "Piper's Pit" interview show, accusing guests of faults ranging from cowardice to bad grammar.

He also has cultivated a macho slob image as women increasingly join the ranks of fans (the WWF says 40 percent of its viewers are female). He wears the legend "woman makerton the back of his shirt, and is notorious for kicking Lauper during a melee at a ceremony in which she received an award for charity work. Presenting the award was Dick Clark, who knows a (rend when he sees one. Gary MulHnax boss out there, man." Fans also like the nearly constant action. And they like the spectacle: The colors are bright, the noise loud, the participants flashy the same elements, in fact, that appeal to a rock 'n' roll crowd.

It's easy to figure out what's going on, too. You can see every move at a pro wrestling match, which is not true at less-popular amateur bouts. There is little subtlety in the symbolism, either. These characters act in satisfyingly obvious and predictable ways. There is never any doubt that the good guys are good and the bad guys known in the business as "heels" are bad.

"It compares to dramatic presentations of good vs. evil throughout history," says George M. O'Brien, co-author of a book called "Wrestling to Rasslin' due soon from the Popular Culture Press. "In Greek drama there was the same kind of accentuated portrayal: elevated shoes, the use of masks." The opportunity to cheer good and boo evil may be the best reason for the surge in wrestling's popularity. In this era of renewed conservatism, it's no surprise these qualities are depicted in Cold War terms: America against her enemies around the world.

Sgt. Slaughter was a heel until a year ago, disliked for his "drill sergeant" image. Then, hardly changing his style, he began to challenge Russia's Nikolai Volkoff and Iran's Iron Sheik and became a fan favorite. There are also a number of black heroes, which suggests that race relations might be looking up. Sort of.

The most popular blacks are decidedly unthreatening; one of them, the Junkyard Dog, is led to the ring in collar and chain. Another variety of heel is the pretty boy who seems stuck on himself. Orndorff in j. i inn mi hj mini mi hi a a aa aaa i tJhMM, 'YffmmiiiliiOBiMiitKiL- JL -i Continued from HI show whose guests brawl on the couch between discussions of world affairs as seen from a wrestler's unique perspective). "TNT" is the highest-rated show on the USA cable network.

"When I joined the WWF six months ago I got about five press requests a month for interviews and so forth, most of them in the New York area," says Rex Jones, the WWF's national promotion manager. "Now I get 20 a day, from all over the country." Wrestling has had its fans for years, but "respectable" people either wouldn't watch or wouldn't talk about it. Now, thanks to greater acceptance of its showmanship and the WWF's drive the past year to enter the consciousness of every living American, it is out of the closet. The appeal is easy to understand. Part of it lies in vicarious release.

"It relieves a lot of tension mine and theirs," says Burt Adcox, a 27-year-old Philadelphia dairy worker, between matches at The Spectrum. "It's like me fighting my Hulk Hogan thrilled by it all World Wrestling Federation photo Roddy Piper has cultivated a macho slob image among female fans. "This is my time, man. I get energy from the crowd." He eyes his interviewer with a smile on his face. "I wish you could be there in the ring with me before a match.

You'd want to rip that leather jacket right off." The 30-year-old Hogan, 6-foot-8, 303 pounds and tanned in midwinter, is one of the new breed of pro wrestlers. He's in shape; no pot belly for him. He lifts weights every chance he gets. "When I got -here today, the first thing I did was look through the Yellow Pages for a place to work out." Hogan sees a new breed of rock band as well, which is one reason he likes his connection to music. rjV' "Rock's new image is real healthy.

It's not-like Woodstock, when people sat around with their clolhes off and got wasted. Cyndi Lauper is into all that hqnej and spring water stuff." Hogan seems thrilled by all of it. "Lots of people have a dream. Mine was to be a wrestler and make a good living. But I didn't think it would snowball like this." Gary Mullinax Hulk Hogan says it's not enough to say his entrance into a wrestling ring gives him the same thrill a rock star feels when he takes the stage.

"It's better, man, it's better, said Hogan before a recent match at the Spectrum in Philadelphia. "A rock band is five or six guys, and they have all these lights and gimmicks. I only have myself, and all I can do is rip my shirt off. But in the Spectrum or Madison Square Garden, I can hold my hands out and 20,000 people stand up and cheer. It still gives me goose bumps." Hogan is the World Wrestling Federation's world champion, the organization's best-known star, the man whose image has benefited most from the "rock and wrestling" connection that has boosted pro wrestling attendance.

Hogan, who used to play bass in a Tampa rock band, enters the ring to the thumping rock music of "Eye of the Tiger." His mane of blond hair (thinning on top) flies as he punches his fists into the air. The crowd invariably goes wild. He circles the ring with his hand behind his ear, exhorting it for even more. the attitude today seems to be: So what? This might make a recent segment on ABC's "2020" somewhat beside the point. Consumer reporter John Stossel was irate to discover (through interviews with former wrestlers) that pro wrestling is fake, that matches are rigged.

(He wasn't as irate as wrestler "Doctor David Schultz, who slapped Stossel twice on the side of the head when the word "fake" came up.) The "2020" demonstration was persuasive. So is close attention to matches. You can see punches pulled and wrestlers falling into line for each other. Of course, you can also see that a wrestler would need considerable athletic ability to make it all look good without inflicting serious damage. "2020" also reported that the blood is real but derived from tiny self-inflicted nicks in the forehead.

A close look seems to verify this too. Most wrestlers have a ridge of scar tissue across their foreheads. The whole issue of authenticity doesn't seem to bother WWF national promotion manager Rex Jones. "The marketing position of our product is that it's sports entertainment as opposed to pure sport. We feel some people go who feel in their hearts that it's fixed.

Others think it's the most legitimate sport going. The position we finally had to take is that whatever motivates who has come out of retirement, said he "used to get very bitter when someone would dare to ask that question" if matches are fake. "I was always ready to say let's get on the mat and I'll break your leg." Blanchard, a former college football quarterback, said he wishes someone who called wrestling fake "could climb inside my body. If this was Hollywood, I wouldn't have these scars and bruises." Indeed, most wrestlers are quick to cite their physical ailments. Sammartino heads the list: a broken neck, a broken jaw, a broken back, cauliflower ears.

Some injuries appear to occur when any script the wrestlers may be following breaks down. Wahoo McDaniels, the NWA's U.S. champion, recently required 11 stitches after he held a metal chair up to protect himself from a kick by his opponent and found it slammed into his head. While denying that matches are rigged or punches pulled, wrestlers are quick to acknowledge the importance of showmanship. "I'm a commodity; I sell myself," said Blanchard before a Civic Center match.

He looked very much the businessman in his suit, tie and horn-rimmed glasses, his affability in direct contrast to the negative image he conveys in the ring. "Promoters look for wrestlers who can get people into the building." HWMMPKJVEMENT 5U PERM ART M7I0N UCs VyiMi Orndorff rams Dog's head against 'the steel post. 'He's split wide openf the announcer raves as blood runs down Dog's face. Mosaic Tile Floor Cerami i-. I I DO ftJC Carls -i .46 q.

M. theel Pern II i Htu. l.rs n.T fEA 1 IRE? Wrestling Continued from HI Brutus Beefcake, who wears leopard-skin pants, an earring and long gloves always called "controversial forearm gear," striking strong-man poses while the crowd yells "Fruitcake." Hulk Hogan himself, the World Wrestling Federation champion, the man responsible for the "Hulka-mania" said to be "runnin' wild," a blond body builder in yellow boots who enters the ring to the high-energy sounds of "Eye of the Tiger" and pumps his adoring crowd with all the manic supplication of a rock star. These characters and their cohorts are worked into scenarios that would shame the most deranged developer of soap operas. Almost any match reveals how.

It could be the recent WWF match between "Mr. Wonderful" Paul Orndorff and the Junkyard Dog. Bad-guy Orndorff enters the ring with a snarl on his face, preening and flexing his muscles, self- absorbed. The Junkyard Dog arrives bound by his chain, exhorting the adoring crowd to "get down." The TV announcers (who work for the promoters) practically drool over his crowd appeal. The match itself is mostly a series of slaps, body slams, bounc-', ing off ropes and flying across the ring.

More subtle moves are dis-; dained; in Philadelphia, and prob-lably elsewhere, they are greeted with the chant, "Bor-ing." Orndorff dominates the early going. He throws the Dog out of the ring, onto what is inevitably referred to as "the concrete floor." 'Orndorff pursues, ramming the Dog's head against what is always called "the steel post" at a corner of the ring. "He's split wide open," the i announcer raves as blood begins to run down the Dog's face. But as Orndorff returns to the ring, flicking sweat toward the crowd in disdain, the Dog suddenly 'recovers, joins Orndorff and quickly pins him when he's not look-Ling. Orndorff is outraged.

The Dog is groggy. The crowd is delighted. The WWF is ecstatic. Once again it seems to have found a way for two of its stars to keep their image intact in head-to-head combat. Orn-i dprff has lost but has dominated.

The Dog has won, thanks to what Time announcer calls, so help me, his Similar dramas are enacted in Jhe National Wrestling Alliance, -which recently began monthly "'bouts at Philadelphia's Civic Center and features wrestlers long known to fans here from their appearance on "Wrestling From Georgia" on Atlanta's WTBS-TV (17). It could be Tully Blanchard, the NWA's "National Television jChampion" (there's a title for almost everybody) begging for mercy from Dusty Rhodes, the puffy blue-collar hero with blond curls and a thick Southern drawl, before sneaking up on him when he isn't looking. Blanchard is likely to take encouragement from his blond i "valet" Baby Doll, the "Perfect 10" who assists him at ringside. At a recent match he took more than that from her a bracelet and before long Blanchard was "nearly rippin' my ear off at the lobe," according to Rhodes, speaking excitedly into a TV microphone a few days later. "Babe," he said, "there's gonna be some heavy dues paid.

Miss Baby Doll's gotta meet and greet me on my own turf." Did he mean it? Do any wres-; tiers mean what they say in their ubiquitous TV interviews or what they do inside the ring? Or does it matter? The big reason for wres- tling's unsavory image was strong public suspicion that it is fake, that wrestlers don't really hurt each other, that outcomes are fixed. But ClP M07J SHEET Many Patterns On Sale! 1 I mMT rh.ck tags' I 1 On III tAhllhWMn am mi irriTrf ii I 1111 ilk Economy Tile rVnalltu 4ruharL tilal Anatlna Aaatine No-Wax Vinyl 1 12" 12" REG. 32C vmyi roil with nO-WBI (InioKI 1 Alt J-T. Rovell nl.l f. These headliners are said to make between $200,000 and almost $1 million a year.

But at the lowest level the pay is as little as $50 to $100 a night, according to Rhodes, who has been in the business nearly two decades. "By the time they eat and buy a six-pack," he said, "they don't have much left." Critics attack pro wrestling for its ill treatment of such wrestlers, who like the headliners receive no health insurance or other benefits. The top wrestlers, point out that they are all "independent contractors" who, like others of their sort, should not be surprised that they must pay for such things out of their earnings. Certainly, wrestlers seem to enjoy their work, especially the superstars. Self-promotion is one of the things they like most.

"I'm proud of what I am and not shy about telling anybody," said NWA world champion Flair, a flashy, arrogant bleached-blond shown in promotional spots emerging from a limousine, dressed for a night on the town. "If you're not out there trying to sell yourself and portraying what you believe, the people won't believe it either." Dusty Rhodes agreed. "I like being a star of the media," he said. "It's something I wanted to do as a kid. I don't see me sittin' behind a desk somewhere." you to go to a match is sufficient for you.

The individual perspective is reality. Is it fixed? It doesn't seem to make any difference." George M. O'Brien, co-author of "Wrestling to Rasslin'," agreed. "Wrestling fans have known for years it's fixed," he said, expressing an opinion borne out by interviews with fans at Philadelphia matches. "They recognize it as entertainment, sense the rhythm of the performance.

Asking if it's real is like being naive enough to see a movie and complain because it's a lie. Stossel knows it's not a proper question. It's asking someone to give up his public persona." Not that any active wrestler would. Certainly not the dozen or so interviewed for this story. Some were shocked that the question was even asked, others shook their heads sadly at the foolishness of the accusation.

But none reacted with actual violence or even real anger. Brutus Beefcake was a partial exception to the rule of mild-mannered wrestlers. He slouched in his chair, glared out of the corner of his eye, answered questions in few words as though resenting the intrusion, snapped gum as though daring somebody to make something of it. Or maybe his act was better than everybody else's. Before a Spectrum match, former champion Bruno Sammartino, SAIE "EG.

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