In the early 60s when we got married, our major form of entertainment was watching TV on our black and white Viking set. Aside from hockey and Ed Sullivan, one of the programs we enjoyed was Saturday Night Wrestling. “Razzling” was pure theatre - it was all pre-arranged. There were defined “Good Guys” and “Bad Guys” and everyone had their favourite.

Live wrestling was a regular feature at the old Winnipeg Arena. So as a present for my wife’s 25th birthday, I decided to blow the budget. I cashed in all the beer bottles, dug deep in the chesterfield and walked to work for a month. With my new-found wealth I booked ring-side seats for both of us.

The seats were great. The crowd was noisy. The enthusiasm for the warm-up matches was genuine. The main event was to be Killer Kowalski versus Mr. Good Guy. One of Killer’s trademarks was to play dirty tricks on his opponent. Of course, this was all arranged in advance with the referee. On his signal, the referee would look away while Killer grabbed his opponent’s trunks and yanked them upward. The opponent would wince in pain. The crowd would go into a frenzy screaming at the referee. Many seated at ringside would jump to their feet trying to get the referee’s attention. Of course, as soon as the referee checked to see what was causing the commotion, Killer quit.

An angelic-looking Killer would gaze at the crowd claiming innocence. Soon after, the signal was given again to the referee and Killer resumed his dirty tricks on Mr. Good Guy. This brought even more screaming from the audience. My wife could take it no more. She leapt from her seat, approached the ring and in a loud voice admonished Killer for his antics. The crowd went wild. Killer still with his opponents’ trunks firmly in his hand looked me in the eye and said, “Where did you get her?”

After the match we were fortunate to meet Killer. He was a true gentleman. He apologized to my Wife if he had embarrassed her. From that moment on my Wife resolved to watch “Razzling” on television.

Ken Kristjanson

January 2012