TIME was, kids dreamed about running away with the circus. These days, kids have those same dreams, only the circus has changed. Instead of Tom Thumb and Chang and Eng, they worship manimals like the 7-foot-3 Great Khali and 500-pound Big Daddy V, stars in the singular production known as World Wrestling Entertainment, which hosted it’s “Royal Rumble” event at Madison Square Garden Sunday. The Post got a behind-the-scenes look.
To say the least, the WWE road show is like no other. Seven nights a week a crew of 24 traveling staffers and about 60 local stagehands load up 14 semis of equipment that travel 300 miles, for a 14-hour setup, a two to three hour show, a 21/2-hour take down – and off they go again.
Sure people go crazy for this stuff in Alabama and Mississippi. But, it turns out, not as much as we do in New York, where WWE takes about two hours to sell out the Garden’s 20,798 seats.
“I love the East Coast fans,” says Kentucky-born wrestling legend “Hillbilly Jim,” saying it’s a misconception that East-Coasters are more subdued than Southerners. “They’re a bit more rabid.”
Eight-year-old Elizabeth, NJ, resident Matt Vigil and his 12-year-old brother, Alex, couldn’t contain their excitement as they wandered through MSG sporting Rey Mysterio lucha libre masks. “I can’t believe we’re actually here!” Matt said to no one in particular.
Brooklynite and Homeland Security worker Michael Arato brought his wife and 7-year-old son to the big event, which triggered memories from 1985, when – at 14 years old – he bought his own ticket to the first WrestleMania and took the F train to the A to see Hulk Hogan and Mr. T team up and kick butt.
Lenny Palminteri from Ronkonkoma, LI, came with his wife, Roberta, and 21/2-year-old son, Anthony, who cites John Cena as a favorite among his 50 pro wrestling figurines – all of whom he knows by name, with back-story. (Cena went on to win the grand finale where 30 men enter the ring, but only one walks out.)
Not everyone in wrestling is loved, however. Take my mentor, for instance.
“I am the most hated – and the smartest – man in wrestling,” says Matt Striker, a former New York City public schoolteacher-turned-grappler who regularly appears on USA Network’s “Monday Night Raw.”
Like many wrestlers, Striker cut his teeth on a smaller, independent wrestling circuit, where he’d drive all night to wrestle for $15 to $25 then return to his day job – from which he resigned after getting caught playing hooky to participate in a tournament in Japan. Striker now makes a living as a wrestling villain who also manages and cultivates new talent of the “heel” variety and has even had two action figures made in his likeness. (In WWE lingo, “heels” are antagonists, “baby faces” are heroes.)
But could Striker transform a scrappy 155-pound reporter into a big-league wrestling talent over the weekend?
We started at the South Street Seaport “entrance simulator,” where, throughout the weekend, kids like me got to practice entering a ring complete with our own theme music, just like the pros. Unlike the rest of the kids, though, I got to make my grand entrance at MSG before the Royal Rumble itself.
“I like to find something a person has and crank it up to 11,” says Striker, who often plays up his “bad teacher” angle, calling rivals and critics “dumb” – even correcting their grammar. For me, he envisioned a sleazy, paparazzi know-it-all.
“Just sitting here, already you strike me as this wishy-washy, kind of creepy … I feel like I need to take a shower after talking to you.” Striker more or less nailed it.
Thus, “The Pulse” was born – my alter ego who enters matches to the tune of the Rolling Stones’ “Sympathy for the Devil” and subdues his opponents with a basic, old-school clothesline move called “The Deadline.” My kuniform: short red tights under a sleeveless dress shirt and a fedora with a press card in the brim.
After several rehearsals at the simulator, we got the entry down. Condescending? Duh. Cocky? You bet. And it was decided I should enter yelling, “I’ll tell you what to think!” while carrying around a newspaper front page forecasting my inevitable victories.
Two nights later, I made my Garden debut, just before the pay-per-view event went worldwide. The response was a combination of boos, “Who’s that?” and answers of “Nobody” and “Some wank.”
For liability reasons, I wasn’t allowed to enter the ring, but for all its fakery, making that one-minute walk was quite a rush – which perhaps helps explain wrestling’s popularity, predetermination notwithstanding. When this collection of lights, sound and crazy fans come together – “real” or not – it’s an exciting, surreal production somewhere between Ozzfest and Broadway on crack.
While my fantasy camp ended, Striker’s fantasy was just getting started. In addition to thinking Mike Tyson has a future in wrestling, he says he’d be happy to “help” Britney Spears find a home among his pumped-up freak show.
“If you have an intangible, there’s a place for you in WWE.”
Restless about wrestling
Maybe you fancy yourself too sophisticated to dig WWE action? Guess who disagrees:
1. A formidable presence in his own right, Shaquille O’Neal (inset top)climbed into the ring to hit wrestler Carlito with a chair a year ago.
2. Former “Jackass” Steve-O started trouble with grappler Ron Simmons and was literally tossed out of the building.
3. Proving he can fail at anything, Kevin Federline stepped into the ring with John Cena in late 2006 – and was rewarded with a crowd pleasing body slam.
4. Just wanting to have fun, Cyndi Lauper (inset bottom) had Capt. Lou Albano star in one of her videos, and in return, appeared as the manager/partner for grappler Wendi Richter on an MTV wrestling event.
5. Pity the fool who gets in the ring with Mr. T, who participated in the first WrestleMania.
6. The Donald threw his toupee into the ring last year when he and WWE president Vince McMahon agreed to be represented by a wrestler of their choosing; the losing sponsor had to shave his head. They both lost: McMahon shaved his hair, Trump kept his.
7. William Shatner once went where few men have gone by putting the hurt on Jerry “The King” Lawlor.
8. Jay Leno once formed a tag team with Diamond Dallas Page in defeating Hulk Hogan and his partner, Eric Bischoff.