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Old pro wrestlers converge on Mobile for reunion and wrestling

Posted: Feb 28th 2016 By: www.al.com

For decades, the wrestlers who once grappled in the old Gulf Coast Championship Wrestling Federation have gathered for a reunion among themselves.

It's typically a private affair, and that's part of the weekend's appeal: No promos or chair shots, but just the wrestlers reminiscing about old times while catching up on each another's lives.

But for the first time this year, the old wrestlers are getting together with the grapplers of today for a one-night show in Mobile celebrating a wrestling territory that saw its heyday in the 1970s under the guidance of Lee Fields and booker/wrestler "Cowboy" Bob Kelly.

"We're a brotherhood, so this is kind of a legends night," said Richard Bailey, who wrestles as "Mountain Man" in independent promotions around the region and who also
operates Suncoast Championship Wrestling, which is sponsoring Thursday night's event.

Bailey said adding a wrestling show was a way to give the old timers ? some who have been retired from wrestling since the 70s and 80s; others who still sparingly compete ?
something to do when they arrive for the reunion.

"Some of the guys who come to town, they don't have anything to do," Bailey said. "So we put this together to try and get the folks out."

The show on Thursday starts at 7 p.m. at the Fred Delchamps Center, 2401 Gordon Smith Drive, in Mobile. Tickets are $15 for ringside seats and $10 for general admission.

"March Madness, Night of Legends"
When: Thursday, March 3
Where: Fred Delchamps Center, 2401 Gordon Smith Drive,
Mobile
Time: 7 p.m.
Costs: Ringside seats, $15. General admission $10.
Reservations: Call 251-214-1275, 251-802-6256 or 251-610-2477
Featuring: "Bullet" Bob Armstrong, Don Bass, Susan Green, Queen Destiny, Mountain Man, The Bass Brothers, Rainbow Warrior, Tiffany Black, Steve Armstrong, Tiffany James and more.
Proceeds are to benefit the Mobile ARC program
The event kicks off the reunion, which includes an annual "Hall of Fame" induction. Bailey said 600 to 700 former wrestlers visit Mobile for the annual gathering.

Some of them are likely to stop by Thursday's event and will be available for autographs.

The evening's "Main Event" features Bailey teaming with Cousin Elmer as the "Giant Hillbillies" to go against the "Bass Brothers," who will be managed by former Gulf Coast
wrestling standout Don Bass.

'It's in your blood'

Bass wrestled in the territory ? which included cities like Mobile, Pensacola, Dothan and Gulfport, Miss. ? during the mid-1970s. He was a heel, which is professional terminology
for "bad guy," as a member of a tag team with his brother, Ron Bass. They were managed by "Maw Maw" Bass, who was known for whacking an unsuspecting opponent with her "loaded" purse allowing her team to steal a victory.

"Lee Fields was one of the greatest promoters, and I loved working that territory," said Don Bass, who wrestled throughout the world when he was in his prime. He also
notably battled professional wrestling legend Jerry "The King" Lawler while in Memphis.

"I've been in the business for 48 to 50 years," said Bass. "Once it's in your blood, you can't put it down. I've quit 50 million times and have always come back."

Bass, who is about 70 years old, isn't booked to step into the ring on Thursday. But he wants to make sure his team has a good showing during the legend's show.

"If they listen to me, we'll kick (Mountain Man) back to the mountains," said Bass, in full wrestling gimmick mode. "It will be rough and tumbling in there."

Aside from the tag-team match, the reunion show will feature what is perhaps one of the more unique matches someone can book: An over-the-top blindfolded all-female battle royale.

"It's very seldom you see a battle royale for just women," Bailey said. "And they are all blindfolded."

'I never really retired'

Among the possible participants is Susan Green, the 62-year-old veteran of wrestling wars with famous female grapplers like the Fabulous Moolah.

Green said she isn't sure she'll be a participant. She's recovering from a recent shoulder replacement. "It's almost a bittersweet blessing," Green said. "Almost after the
reunion, there will be two or three of us who will die. We're mostly in our 70s and 80s, and had good lives."

Green's career started at the very young age of 14. At the time in the late 1960s, her parents had to get permission from then-Texas Gov. John B. Connally to allow Green to
wrestle on weekends. She had her first professional wrestling match on her 15th birthday.

"My parents had to go to the governor to prove it wasn't a child labor (violation)," Green said. "There were many times when (my parents) traveled to see me wrestle that it cost
them more than I made."

Green's heyday in the 1970s coincided with the rise of the Gulf Coast promotion that featured regular competitors like Kelly, "Hippie" Mike Boyette, Don Fargo, Bobby Fields, Blue Yankee, Wrestling Pro, Ken Lucas and others.

She said she enjoyed her occasional visits to Mobile, Dothan and Pensacola. And Fields and Kelly always made her feel comfortable.

"Lee Fields and Bob ... if they didn't have a dressing room for us gals, they'd rent a motel room for us to change in," Green said. "They went out of their way to make sure the
females had a dressing room."

Green likens the Gulf Coast wrestling group as "family" where many competitors at the time traveled together to and from the wrestling territory.

But that familial relationship didn't always extend to her toughest nemesis, Moolah. In fact, Green holds a distinction that was never considered official: She defeated Moolah in
1975 in Texas to win the NWA World Woman's Championship.

"She reached up and slapped me for no reason," Green recalls. "I said, 'beat me if you can.' In the process, I ended up getting her in a hold she could not get out of and
she said, 'I quit.'"

The victory established Green as a top woman's wrestler during the 70s. She continued wrestling on a regular basis until suffering a broken neck and back in 1979. She stepped
back into the ring in 1981 and has continued wrestling ever since.

"I never really retired," said Green, who current resides in West Columbia, S.C., and operates a wrestling school.

But the reunion trip to Mobile is among the things she looks forward to the most every year. She said it's unlike any other professional wrestling reunion event in the U.S.,
including the more high-profile Cauliflower Alley Club reunion held in April in Las Vegas.

"The Cauliflower Alley Club, there are more fans than there are wrestlers," Green said. "Stone Cold (Steve Austin) you couldn't get to see him ... he had barricades all around
him. In Mobile, they don't expect you to dress up. They give out awards and everything but you don't have to be the wrestler. You can be yourself."