Freddie Blassie (Dead)

Irish Davey O'Hannon - 2008-07-11 00:02:23
Freddie took me under his wing in 1971, soon after I broke in to the business. My first road trip in the New York territory was with Fred, Arnie Skaaland, Lou Albano, and Ernie Roth. Imagine what a thrill for a "new punk kid" it was to be with these guys for a couple of weeks!! Fred an I became close personal friends and we spoke every week until his death. I think about him often.

SS - 2008-12-20 12:16:38

Thanks for sharing that Irish Davey I'm sure you would have a few stories to tell Although I did not watch many of his matches while he was a wrestler but his role as manager was 2nd to none

Joe H. - 2009-07-25 00:05:55

A class act for sure, he also was on TV as himself when he still was an active wrestler, he did the old I love lucy show. He was himself he appeared for only 1 scene, most people didn't see it but I caught it when TVland had a lucy marathon a few years ago.

Dr. Jay - 2010-01-13 01:48:05

Are you sure you're not confusing his appearance with "The Dick Van Dyke Show"?

Ernie - 2010-02-19 01:21:37

There was an incident that ooccurred in early 1973 on the old WWWF tv program "All Star Wrestling" involving Freddie vs. Chief Jay Strongbow. The match was scheduled to be on last but was never shown (at least not in the Boston area on channel 38 where I grew up), but after an extended commercial break, all of a sudden there's Vince McMahon and Arnold Skaaland standing in an empty arena. Vince says something to the effect of "We're back with a progress report on Chief Jay Strongbow". Skaaland says "Yeah, Blassie chewed the Chief up pretty bad". I ran into someone a few years later who claimed they saw the match and it was only about a minute and a half to two minutes long. They said Blassie started biting Strongbow and even though the match was censored, you could see the Chief was almost spurting blood out of his head. (Could it be that Blassie opened up an artery on the Chief?) As I said, I never saw the match, and it's never turned up on YouTube. It may be that WWE no longer has the tape in its archives either (affiliated tv stations were into the habit of destroying tapes of wrestling back then). Still, I wondered if anyone can give me a clue as to what actually happened in that match because I was so disappointed I never got to see it.

Classic Fan - 2010-04-19 17:33:59

I remember see Classt Freddie coming through Reading Pa in he late 70/s.He'd be driving a Cadillac,or Chrysler New Yorker.He always looked outstanding.He was a genuine self made personality.His phrases were so funny, and he always had us everyone screaming with laughter as we watched his intrigueing interviews with a young 'Mr MacMahon."I want a tell you something MacMahan"he would yell.'DIAMONDS! DIAMONDS!CADILLACS!CADILLACS!Thats what I have,and you don't"S"RIGHT"RIGHT"He would back his 'protege up in a gruff voice.The AYATOLLAH BLASSIE bit was a scream too!And of cource the infamous:"YOU PENCIL NECK GEEKS!"A this designed to inflame the fans!Everythin is calculated and scripted today.Created by marketing.Blassie was really really unique.An unforgetable origenal.

Jason - 2010-06-21 17:09:31

Correct me if I am wrong, but Eric Bischoff was going to have 3 Minutes to destroy Blassie but The Dudley Boys saved him, he even did Ray famous Catchphase for D-Von to get the tables. That was shortly before Freddy Blassie's death if I as not mistaken.

BUTLER -A FRIEND - 2010-06-25 22:30:10

I FIRST MET FREDDIE WHEN I WAS 16 AND AT THE YMCA IN DOWNTOWN ATLANTA, GA ,HE HELPED ME GREATLY AND ALSO GAVE ME FREE TICKETS TO THE OLD ATLANTA AUDITORIUM TO WATCH HIM AND OTHERS WRESTLE.OUR FRIENDSHIP EXTENDED FOR MANY YEARS.HE WAS A VERY GIVING AND KIND PERSON, AND GREAT ACTOR AND LIKED TO PERFORM.

Bob Smith, former PWI editor - 2010-08-23 21:25:39

This is really late, but I did see the Strongbow/Blassie match when it originally aired. Yes, they used the "censored Blassie red X" on the screen when Blassie started biting Strongbow. The way they brought Blassie to the WWWF after Blassie left Los Angeles was classic. On his first appearance on All Star Wrestling, Blassie really gnawed up (if memory serves) Big Jim Lancaster. After that match, they'd censor Blassie whenever the blood flowed. The match you brought up was classic wrestling booking because it accomplished a whole bunch of stuff all at once. It set up a Blassie vs. Strongbow small arena feud; it established Blassie as a cruel monster; and it made Blassie feared as a contender for Pedro Morales' World title. The match you referred to was short, but unforgettable. The crowd went crazy; Strongbow, panting and wounded after the match, said in an interview that "the man is an animal"; and it was genuinely scary in an era when wrestling seemed ever-so-real at times. Blassie was an absolutely amazing ring villain, in my eyes, the greatest heel of all time. He truly acted like the cruelest, most vicious wrestler ever to don the boots - the toughest tough guy EVER.

Ernie - 2010-08-24 12:13:03

Thanks, Bob! You're one of only a couple of people who even remembered that match. As I stated before, Channel 38 in Boston broadcast "All Star Wrestling" back then and didn't even bother to air the match. I remember him against Jim Lancaster a couple weeks before that too. After his initial appearances on that show and also "Championship Wrestling" in '73, they censored every single incident of Freddie biting his opponents. His first opponent on "Championship Wrestling" in 1973 was Tom Reisman. He also bit Greg Lake (not the drummer) pretty badly too. Thanks again Bob!