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Post by noobeast on Apr 22, 2022 9:09:18 GMT -5
Back in the day, the Apter Mags always seemed to have guys that made it into every issue in one way or another, despite being...less than famous, we'll say.
I saw these guys all the time, starting in the mid-90s until around 2005 or so. Yet despite seeing their names and faces, I know almost nothing about them.
So, who do you remember being heavily featured, yet know very little about?
Adam Windsor- Reading about his passing is what inspired this thread. He had interviews and pictorials, and was featured every month in the ad for the Funkin' Conservatory, but I never saw a single second of his work until about an hour ago. It did absolutely nothing to solve the mystery as to why the guy was featured so much.
Reckless Youth- I know absolutely nothing about this dude, but he was in PWI and such constantly. I always thought he would be a star somewhere, but then he just...disappeared.
Cheetah Master- Another gut I have seen a million pictures of, always saw ranked in the back somewhere, but never, ever saw a single move. No idea what ever happened to him.
Metal Maniac- I have actually seen 1 match of his, but it wasn't until LONG after I had stopped reading the mags. In fact, it was probably only about 5 years ago, on the first $5 Wrestling live against Jimmy Snuka. The match is mainly notable for Snuka taking an ass bump on a table, and a little kid running over and throwing a chair at Metal Maniac. Oh, and Dawn Marie was there for some reason. Outside of that, I believe I once heard he was a friend (relative?) of Jimmy Snuka, and they basically traveled together for years, putting on hundreds of matches putting Snuka over.
So, who you guys got? Other people or more info on those above, love to hear about it.
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Post by jason1980s on Apr 22, 2022 9:39:57 GMT -5
I never knew who Metal Maniac was until 2013 or so when I saw a picture on a Snuka related facebook page.
My first autograph show, 1998, he was walking around in full costume and my grandfather pushed me into a picture with him. I didn't even know the guy but that was my grandfather-as long as someone looked famous, he wanted me to meet him.
I know Metal and Jimmy were tight. They were New Jersey guys and Dawn Marie is from Jersey too. I am friends with a guy who was Snuka's non wrestler travel buddy until his death, so I will ask him about Metal.
Also, that's one of things I always loved about the Apter Mags, you read about people you may never see on WWF or WCW TV but it gave them exposure.
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Post by saneiac on Apr 22, 2022 16:02:52 GMT -5
It was pre-Apter, but wrestling magazines throughout the 1970s and early 1980s hyped up how dangerous Ox Baker was so much that I never actually wanted to see him in promotions I watched.
Twice in the 1970s, a wrestler that faced Ox Baker literally died within a few days or weeks of their match. Baker made their deaths part of his character, claiming that his finisher, The Heart Punch, contributed directly to their deaths. Tasteless? Absolutely! But the wrestling mags rolled with it and the readers believed it. At a 1974 show in Cleveland, when Baker did a sneak attack run in during an Ernie Ladd match and Heart Punched Ladd repeatedly, it started a full scale riot, with thousands of dollars in damage to the arena and an enraged knife wielding mob chasing Baker through the backstage hallways.
Anyway, if you have a wrestling magazine from the 1970s, there's a picture of Ox Baker in it somewhere.
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Post by noobeast on Apr 22, 2022 18:42:07 GMT -5
It was pre-Apter, but wrestling magazines throughout the 1970s and early 1980s hyped up how dangerous Ox Baker was so much that I never actually wanted to see him in promotions I watched. Twice in the 1970s, a wrestler that faced Ox Baker literally died within a few days or weeks of their match. Baker made their deaths part of his character, claiming that his finisher, The Heart Punch, contributed directly to their deaths. Tasteless? Absolutely! But the wrestling mags rolled with it and the readers believed it. At a 1974 show in Cleveland, when Baker did a sneak attack run in during an Ernie Ladd match and Heart Punched Ladd repeatedly, it started a full scale riot, with thousands of dollars in damage to the arena and an enraged knife wielding mob chasing Baker through the backstage hallways. Anyway, if you have a wrestling magazine from the 1970s, there's a picture of Ox Baker in it somewhere. Baker doesn't really fit here, though. He was a pretty well known guy, was in a lot of territories, lots of dudes tell stories about him, he had minor acting roles...he was a known entity that was easy to find. The guys I'm talking about are more the guys who were seemingly ONLY known for being featured in these magazines. I actually thought of another one: The Colorado Kid, Mike Rapada. He was in those mags CONSTANTLY, but never heard or saw a single thing about him outside of that. |
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Post by XaviersSS2015hair on Apr 22, 2022 19:17:46 GMT -5
It was pre-Apter, but wrestling magazines throughout the 1970s and early 1980s hyped up how dangerous Ox Baker was so much that I never actually wanted to see him in promotions I watched. Twice in the 1970s, a wrestler that faced Ox Baker literally died within a few days or weeks of their match. Baker made their deaths part of his character, claiming that his finisher, The Heart Punch, contributed directly to their deaths. Tasteless? Absolutely! But the wrestling mags rolled with it and the readers believed it. At a 1974 show in Cleveland, when Baker did a sneak attack run in during an Ernie Ladd match and Heart Punched Ladd repeatedly, it started a full scale riot, with thousands of dollars in damage to the arena and an enraged knife wielding mob chasing Baker through the backstage hallways. Anyway, if you have a wrestling magazine from the 1970s, there's a picture of Ox Baker in it somewhere. Baker doesn't really fit here, though. He was a pretty well known guy, was in a lot of territories, lots of dudes tell stories about him, he had minor acting roles...he was a known entity that was easy to find. The guys I'm talking about are more the guys who were seemingly ONLY known for being featured in these magazines. I actually thought of another one: The Colorado Kid, Mike Rapada. He was in those mags CONSTANTLY, but never heard or saw a single thing about him outside of that. I think Colorado Kid won the NWA title at some point the 90's or 2000's. Not saying it was a huge accomplishment then but that's all I know him for. |
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Post by noobeast on Apr 22, 2022 19:30:24 GMT -5
Baker doesn't really fit here, though. He was a pretty well known guy, was in a lot of territories, lots of dudes tell stories about him, he had minor acting roles...he was a known entity that was easy to find. The guys I'm talking about are more the guys who were seemingly ONLY known for being featured in these magazines. I actually thought of another one: The Colorado Kid, Mike Rapada. He was in those mags CONSTANTLY, but never heard or saw a single thing about him outside of that. I think Colorado Kid won the NWA title at some point the 90's or 2000's. Not saying it was a huge accomplishment then but that's all I know him for. Is he the one who is said to have basically bought a title reign? I remember him being champion now, but I also seem to remember hearing he had paid off some debts in exchange or something, or maybe it was a straight bribe. I could also easily be thinking of someone else. Kahagas, maybe? |
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Post by "Playboy" Don Douglas on Apr 22, 2022 19:51:44 GMT -5
I think Colorado Kid won the NWA title at some point the 90's or 2000's. Not saying it was a huge accomplishment then but that's all I know him for. Is he the one who is said to have basically bought a title reign? I remember him being champion now, but I also seem to remember hearing he had paid off some debts in exchange or something, or maybe it was a straight bribe. I could also easily be thinking of someone else. Kahagas, maybe? The story Rapada was that he bought a reign, yeah. That was also the story about the fake Sheik if Iām remembering correctly. It seems like Kahagas worked for an airline and got cheap flights. Another like Ox Baker would be Mil Mascaras, because apparently Apter liked his outfits. Going with the original theme, I always saw the team of Cruel Connection II and Flaming Youth in the tag team rankings. |
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Post by Celexa Bliss 54 on Apr 22, 2022 20:06:07 GMT -5
He's been around for ages, but Mr. Ooh La La.
Madd Maxxine (not the WWF jobber, but a woman who exclusively wrestled men in the PWF)
Italian Stallion and George South were jobbers on the main stage, but I remember reading a lot of their exploits from PWF in the Apter Mags.
They gave a lot of coverage to ECWA around the time of the first Super 8 tournament, and there was also a hostile takeover angle involving "The Master". Was this the WCW guy, Curtis Iaukea? Or a different worker?
Other ECWA guys who got a lot of mentions (some became more famous than others): Lance (Simon) Diamond, Devon "Crowbar" Storm, Ace Darling, Cheetah Master, Reckless Youth, Mike Kruel, John Walters, Scoot Andrews, Billy Fives, Glenn Osbourne, Japanese Pool Boy, The Haas Brothers, JJ The Ring Crew Guy, Jeff Peterson (the nephew of company owner James Kettner, who was diagnosed with cancer, attempted a comeback, but sadly passed away), and Chance Beckett, are all names I remember reading about quite frequently.
For a while, Mike Quackenbush had his own column in one of the magazines, when he was starting up Chikara.
In general, I learned about Smokey Mountain, ECW and USWA from the Apter Mags, so I was a "smart" fan way ahead of my time lol
I remember them giving Balls Mahoney (then known as Abudah Singh) a mention in a couple of issues, because he threw fire at Abdullah the Butcher in his debut match.
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Post by Ronny Rayguns Is All Elite on Apr 22, 2022 21:39:07 GMT -5
D'oh!
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Post by Ronny Rayguns Is All Elite on Apr 22, 2022 21:45:51 GMT -5
Damnit wrong thread
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Rave
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Post by Rave on Apr 22, 2022 22:42:57 GMT -5
Is he the one who is said to have basically bought a title reign? I remember him being champion now, but I also seem to remember hearing he had paid off some debts in exchange or something, or maybe it was a straight bribe. I could also easily be thinking of someone else. Kahagas, maybe? The story Rapada was that he bought a reign, yeah. That was also the story about the fake Sheik if Iām remembering correctly. It seems like Kahagas worked for an airline and got cheap flights. Story I heard about the fake Sheik/Josef Samael was the same as Kahagas: worked for an airline so his flights were covered. |
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Post by Deleted on Apr 22, 2022 23:19:35 GMT -5
Is he the one who is said to have basically bought a title reign? I remember him being champion now, but I also seem to remember hearing he had paid off some debts in exchange or something, or maybe it was a straight bribe. I could also easily be thinking of someone else. Kahagas, maybe? The story Rapada was that he bought a reign, yeah. That was also the story about the fake Sheik if Iām remembering correctly. It seems like Kahagas worked for an airline and got cheap flights. Another like Ox Baker would be Mil Mascaras, because apparently Apter liked his outfits. Going with the original theme, I always saw the team of Cruel Connection II and Flaming Youth in the tag team rankings. Fake sheik bought them a new nwa belt, I think that how he got a title run. Funny thing is when they strip him of the title, he took the belt and keep it for himself since it was technically his. |
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Post by KAMALARAMBO: BOOMSHAKALAKA!!! on Apr 23, 2022 6:06:54 GMT -5
The story Rapada was that he bought a reign, yeah. That was also the story about the fake Sheik if Iām remembering correctly. It seems like Kahagas worked for an airline and got cheap flights. Story I heard about the fake Sheik/Josef Samael was the same as Kahagas: worked for an airline so his flights were covered. Iām just going to post my unanswered question from an old thread verbatim. |
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Post by Deleted on Apr 23, 2022 8:38:55 GMT -5
Here a video where the sheik talk about his nwa title run. To be honest, this era of the NWA sound like a shitshow from what I seen and read.
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Post by James Fabiano on Apr 23, 2022 9:38:17 GMT -5
Wildcat Wendell Cooley.
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Post by oxbaker on Apr 23, 2022 16:33:51 GMT -5
Iām from an earlier generation than most of this discussion, but I recall getting Apter mags when I was coming up in the territory days.
Here are some guys who would show up in those who I longed to see but mostly never showed up in any place where theyād be on my TV who seemed like big deals:
Superstar Graham
Nick Bockwinkel (eventually made a very brief run through Georgia Championship Wrestling I think to hype a champ vs. champ match with Flair)
Mil Mascaras (Apter freaking loved that guy)
Lanny Poffo (was pretty disappointed when he showed up in WWF in the role he did as he was hyped as this great high-flyer, but I loved the Genius character)
Masked Superstar (eventually had a big run in Georgia so got to see him on TBS ā¦ and he was all that he was built up to be and more)
Those are the ones who come quickly to mind.
EDIT: Forgot the always-popular Masked Super Destroyer (which, I presume, distinguished him from any masked regular destroyers out there).
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Post by Brandon Walsh is Insane. on Apr 23, 2022 23:36:34 GMT -5
Vic Steamboat I thought would be a huge star.
The Cheetah (?) I remember a blurb, āwhat would you expect from a cheetah?!ā Not sure if it was the Cheetah or Cheetah Kid.
DC Drake I always wanted to see.
Tugboat Taylor & Chazā¦ got to see them on GWF daily.
Flash Flanagan was cool to see him in the WWF lightweight division but he didnāt live up to my PWI hype. Same as Devon Storm.
Did Rockin Rebel ever show up in a major promotion?
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Post by SmashTV on Apr 24, 2022 1:04:57 GMT -5
He of the late 80s/early 90s mullet and bearded jobber look. |
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Post by Ozman on Apr 24, 2022 10:10:52 GMT -5
Probably the only reason that WWE signed Duke āThe Dumpsterā Droese was because he was ranked 500 in the āPWI 500ā as The Garbage Man.
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Post by Deleted on Apr 25, 2022 11:30:51 GMT -5
I remember seeing a lot of the Mongolian Mauler, and the all-black eyes scared me as a kid.
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