Wrestlers can be a bit sensitive about their age.
Don Holbrook related a story to me about a fellow named Jim McNerney in Greenville who was writing and submitting articles to the wrestling magazines back in the day. He had done one on Wahoo McDaniel, and wanted to show it to Wahoo before submitting it. So one Monday night at the Greenville Memorial Auditorium, he handed it to him and asked him to look it over. Wahoo took it downstairs to the locker room.
A bit later he came back up and walked over to Don and asked him, "How long is a decade?" Don told him it was 10 years.
Wahoo paused for a moment, as if thinking about this and then said, "I thought it was 25 years." Don laughed and told him he was pretty sure it was 10 years, so Wahoo handed the paper with the article back to McNerney and told him he thought it was OK.
Turns out one of the first lines in the article read something like, "For more than a decade now Wahoo McDaniel has been a top star in professional wrestling."
After McNerney walked off happy that Wahoo had blessed his article, Wahoo came close to Don and said "I don't want people thinking I'm older than I already am! You better be right; that decade sh*t better mean 10 years and not 25!"
From the Mid-Atlantic Archive Series
Cokes & Popcorn
Cokes & Popcorn
Republished in April of 2022 on the mid-Atlantic Gateway.
"Cokes and Popcorn" are little stories of humor and respect that I come across along the way of putting this website together, and they are little stories I want to hang onto. Not sure where the name of the section comes from; I just find these little stories refreshing.
More Cokes & Popcorn: "Never Let 'em See You Sell, Kid."