Notes From the Nose Bleeds #1
February 14, 2009
By: Matt O’Brien of WrestleView.com
Cigarettes, Rock?n Roll, and Orange Juice
They said a storm was coming. Any reasonable adult would take precautions when a blizzard is supposed to hit Minnesota on a Saturday night, but when I was seventeen I felt things there were things more important than my fatality, particularly going to a bar to watch a wrestling show. February 25th, 2001 was a great day to be a wrestling fan. It was the date of No Way Out. Every year when this pppv comes around I think about the 2001 show and not because of my fond memories of that event, but the night before, when my dad took me, my brother Dave, and my good friend Brian to see Rock?n Roll Buck Zumhoffe.
The wrestling event was scheduled to take place at a local bar. While Dave, Brian and I were planning to go anyway, my dad was hesitant to let us go with the blizzard coming. With my mom out of town and his sons about to risk their lives to watch a 50 year old man wrestle in front of a group of drunken fisherman, I guess he felt you only live once. My dad said he would drive us, so we jumped in his 88 Acclaim and off we went.
While this column is entitled Notes from the Nosebleeds, this night I got a pretty close seat. We watched Rock?n Roll wrestle to a draw with Gentleman Jimmy Jordan in the opening bout. It was a good match and I was able to see Jordan wrestle a couple other times in person. At one point Jordan took Buck down in a headlock takeover bringing Buck’s legs toward our side of the crowd, bouncing his feet off the mat, forcing his legs to spread and the crowd to see his…you know. Dave shouted out ?Oh God, I just saw Buck’s bean!? Rock?n Roll was an interesting character. At another bar show a few months prior, we went to introduce ourselves but he blew us off yet expected us to help him take down the ring. In all fairness we wanted him to let us jump in the ring. He told us we needed to ?bulk up first.? My brother Dave would later end up buying a great piece of merchandise from Buck, a pair of boxer shorts that said ?Feel the Power? on the ass.
Later in the night the only woman wrestler on Buck’s show, Heather Lightfoot wrestled another ?woman.? It was actually Buck dressed up in robes and an ugly old lady mask. It was great watching these guys in the crowd whistle at Buck as he came out. One guy even got up and danced with the pretty lady as she made her entrance, beer in hand. It was about this time of the show my dad insisted we get on the road since the weather was getting really bad.
While not a long drive from out house, the bar was right off the freeway so we hopped on to take the fast track back to our house. There was only one problem; the freeway was closed. Somehow we wound up on a closed freeway in an awful blizzard at 9pm. My dad is a rural mail carrier so after years of experience he can handle the weather very well. As we headed down the freeway we came upon a minivan in the ditch. My dad being the standup guy he is, offered to give them a ride to a hotel. So there were, my dad, Dave, Brian and I in the front seat of my dad’s acclaim with five total strangers in the backseat. How we fit nine people in that car is nothing short of a miracle. Some elderly lady kept on saying to my dad ?bless you, you are so kind.? When we reached a hotel one of the passengers offered my dad some money, he refused. They man requested my dad at least take one thing, a business card. The man was a juice salesman. I have to say, if my dad ever wanted a hell of a deal on orange juice he would have receive crates from that guy. We hit the road again. The snow was piling up and the car wasn?t going to make it. Dave and Brian pulled out some smokes and lit up. My dad shouted, ?Dammit give Matt a cigarette too!? So here we were, four guys who just risked their lives to watch Rock?n Roll unveil his bean, smoking Marbs and Camels only to finally get stuck in our driveway?
The next day Brian couldn?t leave because he know way to get out on the road since the snowplows hadn?t come by yet. It was well past 5pm before they did, but by that time we had asked my dad if we could order No Way Out that night. My dad somehow agreed, and when my mom returned from her trip that night, she was quite confused to see that Brian was still at our place.
No Way Out 2001 featured a 2 of 3 falls match between Triple H and Steve Austin, and The Rock vs. Kurt Angle. Many people remember this show because it hosted two of the best matches of 2001. I remember this show because of what my dad, my brother, and my friend had just gone through the night before. It was so strange, the night before we had risked our lives for a wrestling show, but sitting in my living room in a warm house meant little to me in comparison to the night before. It was a night that a family risked a lot just to have a little fun with each other. I will always be grateful to my dad for taking care of us that night. Dave and I are still close with Brian and we often joke to my dad about taking another trip together sometime! Here’s to you Rock?n Roll.
In closing I want to send a thank you to the WrestleView staff for bringing me on board. My experience thus far has been great and I look forward to writing more for this site. I also need to send a big thank you to my friend Shane Andreasen for introducing me to this website. It has by far been my favorite wrestling news source for the last five years.
If you have any crazy road stories yourself, or want to send some feedback (positive or negative), please email me at obrien.matt@live.com.