In the beginning I remember watching my idol, the legendary world champion, Bruno Samartino do battle with bad guys like that nefarious prince of primp Gorgeous George. Bruno was the consummate gentleman (with an Italian accent to boot) and George was just plain pathetic, prancing around the ring with obviously dyed blonde hair and girly clothes on. He was easy to dislike, especially in the early 60's. As the years passed and my family moved to Florida I tuned in to “southern” style wrestling watching Jack Brisco as he defended his title against all comers. The most notable of these were people like Dusty Rhoades (whose son is now a professional wrestler) and Chief Jay Strongbow (who I met when I was 13). It was fun - entertainment at its best. I thought it very much like the mayhem seen on each and every episode of the Three Stooges. Yes, the wrestlers took it further than poking each other in the eye, twisting noses and the boinking each other in the gut or on the head, but it was great fun. The fact is, my friends and I would often get together and “wrestle” - trying moves on each other like the spinning drop kick, back breaker or the sleeper hold. As I think about it, I distinctly remember injuring my left knee on a cloudy day back in October of ‘67 when my buddy Cecil Summerfield put me into a figure 4 leg lock. Man that hurt!

I still find myself galvanized when I come across a wrestling show while channel surfing. If you haven't seen one lately you too might be surprised at how slick the productions are. There are huge arenas filled with upwards of 50,000 rabid fans all cheering or booing at these superhuman guys. The lights and the smoke and the music and the flash pots are on a par with the best performances I've ever seen at a rock concert. Given this, I guess it’s not so amazing that today's wrestlers have achieved a star status far beyond what was in years past, a cult following.

The popularity of “Professional Wrestling” and the status our society has given people like “The Rock”, “Stone Cold” Steve Austin and “Hulk” Hogan (who I met in Tampa just before boarding a plane to Belize) is the inspiration for the latest Fudpucker T-shirt. Our FWW (Fudpucker World Wrestling T-shirt features a beefed up (steroid free I might add) version of our very own Fud Bird choking the stew out of Fudpucker's namesake, the Triggerfish. Of course, it sports our new in your face slogan, “Fudpuck This!”.

So, wrestling fans, rejoice, now you have a reason to expand your wardrobe with a genuine Fudpucker World Wrestling T-shirt of your very own. I hope that you enjoy the shirt as much as I do.