Heard the sad news today that Ox Baker passed away. When we were kids, Matthew Bentley and I got to meet a lot of professional wrestlers. My dad was coaching at Clinch Valley, and during the summers, he handled events at the gym, which included a lot of visits from Jim Crockett Promotions, which was the precursor to everything pro wrestling is today. We got to play football with Jimmy Snuka and Ric Flair, Black Jack Mulligan, and the Junkyard Dog. We carried robes for Roddy Piper and watched Leapin Lanny Poffo dunk on Kevin Sullivan in a pick-up game (he really could jump). We thought they were the coolest guys in the world, but none was cooler than Ox Baker. He hugged everybody he saw and made you feel like an old friend immediately upon meeting, drove to the matches in a yellow Chevy Chevette that barely held him inside, and made us all want to grow an epic beard. He was a movie star of the highest order (Escape from New York was, and is, a true classic), and a really neat cat. Sad and sorry to see him go. Here he is hangin with Bob...
Posted on: Mon, 20 Oct 2014 18:17:41 +0000
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