For those who are interested in reading past pro wrestling history where I live in the San Francisco Bay Area, I have a surprise.
The SF Bay Area Wrestling blog has just launched. It will be about pro wrestling past and present in the Bay Area. This blogger will have stories and more on every promotion that has hit the area.
It is in its very early stages. Here is the link for those that are interested. I have a link on the side of this blog as well.
The other day, when I saw The Rock in the Wrestlemania 40 segment on WWE Smackdown, I couldn't help but thinking of the past. The "Soulman" Rocky Johnson, The Rock's dad, was one of my favorite wrestlers growing up.
During the Territory Era, Rocky was a huge draw in Northern California. He was part of the huge names such as Ray Stevens, Pat Patterson, Pepper Gomez, Peter Maivia, Kenji Shibuya and Mr. Saito. It was a great time for this blogger as a wrestling fan.
Rocky Johnson could certainly wrestle. It didn't matter if it was singles competition or tag team wrestling. He, and a couple of partners in Pepper Gomez and Pat Patterson, held the San Francisco version of the NWA Tag Team belts. Johnson was not only athletic, but he had one of the best drop kicks ever (then and now). The timing of every one of the dropkicks was perfect!
Rocky didn't have to say a lot in the interviews we saw. He let his wrestling do the talking for him.
I remembered when the NWA and later, the AWA left out area. By then, Rocky Johnson along with Pat Patterson hooked on with the WWF (WWE today). I still enjoyed both wrestlers, but the feeling was different than before. They were in a different company than what the NWA did for me.
His son, The Rock (Dwayne Johnson) is definitely an icon in the business. Certainly, there's been a lot of attention with him and the upcoming Wrestlemania 40 show in Philadelphia. I'm actually excited to see his latest project in the United Football League turns out.