UPDATED 4/18/05

Well, Killer Kowalski tried to strangle me and The Destroyer tried to break my arm ... and I wouldn't have had it any other way!

The 40th Cauliflower Alley Club Reunion at the Riviera Hotel in Las Vegas has surpassed the 1994-95 SMW FanWeeks as the greatest time of my life in professional wrestling, outside of working on shows. My friend and the man whose website I have handled for the last several years, Percival A. Friend, has invited me to come for the last three years, and this year, I finally took him up on it. Am I glad I did!

I need to point out that this was my first trip to Las Vegas. I saw slot machines right there in the airport as I got off the plane, and I realized what the chief industry in that town was. They say that "what happens in Las Vegas stays in Las Vegas"; well, some of my money stayed in Vegas!

I roomed with Percival at the Riviera. We had a great view of the pool (and those folks in and around the pool), but, of course, we wouldn't spend much time ogling the gathered swimmers and sunbathers. Most of our time was spend downstairs, either in the casino or at CAC events.

There was the nostalgia fair, where wrestlers and vendors laid their wares out on tables and invited passersby to purchase some unique memorabilia, be they books, T-shirts, autographed photos, VHS tapes & DVD's, bobblehead dolls, or whatever else. I came out with the Terry Funk and Harley Race books, both personally autographed by the authors, plus the Dynamite Kid book and the Wrestling Observer books Tributes II and Top 100 Pro Wrestlers of All Time. I also got a T-shirt and autographed photo from Ox Baker (who is certifiable, no doubt about that), and a personally autographed photo of Malia Hosaka, as well as a "shoot interview" DVD with Don Fargo (autographed by the man himself, whom I remember watching so many years ago on black-and-white TV) and a DVD of some great Jack Brisco vs. Dory Funk Jr. matches from Mark Nulty's WrestlingClassics.com.

There was also the Wrestling Seminar, led by, among others, Les Thatcher, Harley Race and Scott Casey. Young wrestlers from all over the world gathered in the ballroom to learn at the feet of the legends. Some of the youngsters were selected to wrestle on a show on Saturday afternoon. What made this special for me was that two wrestlers I know from Texas, Russell Simpson and Venus, were selected to be on the show, Venus in a ladies tag-team match including last year's CAC Future Legend Award winner, Cheerleader Melissa Anderson, and Russell in the tag-team main event. I thought both did a fine job and represented themselves and Texas very well. I spoke with Thatcher later about them, and he told me that Russell had come up to him after the show and apologized for his performance, but Les was impressed with Russell's performance and attitude. There were plenty of fine performances on the card, and I know they all benefited from the experience of the legends.

There was the Baloney Blowout on Friday, an homage to the early days of the CAC in which dinner consisted of cold cut sandwiches, potato salad, cookies and other goodies. It was an informal gathering that allowed people to circulate and get to know one another or renew old acquaintances. Hosted by MC Mark Nulty and CAC VP Nick Bockwinkel, the evening's highlight came when Exotic Adrian Street, in long blonde wig and shimmering gold blouse, proposed to his longtime companion, Miss Linda, citing 35 years together and surprising those of us who were under the impression that the pair had been married already. Linda accepted, and the wedding was set for Saturday night at the Banquet. The remainder of the night was devoted to a reading of the list of member wrestlers and personalities and "roving reporter" interviews with the stars at their tables. During picture taking, I got a picture of Killer Kowalski choking me. And, after the pic with The Destroyer, Don Leo Jonathan and Kenny Jay, Destroyer hooked my left arm, which was under his in the picture, and leaned back. My left humerus felt like it was going to snap! Fortunately, he let me go before I experienced my first broken arm at the age of 43. All in all, the Blowout was great, but the best was yet to come.

The Banquet was outstanding. Joey Boesch, son of the late promoter Paul Boesch, provided background piano music as Club members dined. We had assigned seating with 10 to a table. Percival and I had at our table, among others, Reginald Love of the Love Brothers tag team, Beautiful Bruce Swayze, and Mickey Jay. Looking in front of me, at the next table over sat Harley Race. At a 45 degree angle toward my right sat Sir Oliver Humperdink and Playboy Gary Hart at their table. Directly to my right sat Percy Pringle III, some 225 pounds lighter than a year and a half ago thanks to gastric bypass surgery (more details can be found on Percy's website). I marveled at all of the assembled talent in the room and all of the experience gathered in one place. In fact, CAC VP Karl Lauer said that, with 289 wrestlers present, it was the largest gathering of wrestlers in one place at one time ever. The Adrian Street-Miss Linda wedding, a first for the CAC, was officiated by Father Jason Sanderson. Street's Best Man was Don Leo Jonathan. We enjoyed our meals, and then the honorees were honored. It was great to see my friend Percival, along with Pringle, introducing Humperdink for his honor. The Future Legend Award was presented to new WWE signee Frankie Kazarian. "Sodbuster" Kenny Jay, Les Thatcher, Ernie Ladd (who is as huge as ever), Paul Christy & Bunny Love, Jack Brisco and, finally, the hilarious Terry Funk, all received their honors with great humor and dignity. Mil Mascaras showed up (in mask, of course). When Mascaras went over to chat with his old friend Ladd, photographers swarmed upon them, myself included. Afterwards, Larry "The Axe" Hennig presided over an auction of memorabilia to raise money for the Club's charitable activities and scholarships, with The Destroyer handling a raffle, while everybody mingled one more time before the party broke up. The Japanese contingent spent most of their time with Funk, Destroyer and Mascaras, all of whom are icons in their country. Speaking of Japan, I saw Simon Inoki, Antonio's son-in-law, there.

Mixed in amongst the CAC activities was a tour of the Las Vegas Strip, with Percival acting as my personal tour guide and picture-taker (and THANK YOU again, Percival, for putting up with my photo ops!) We must have put in at least eight or nine miles walking, including the inside of the hotels like Caesar's Palace, the Luxor, the MGM Grand and the Mirage. As I mentioned earlier, this was my first trip to Vegas, and it won't be my last, especially since it was announced that the CAC will return to the Riviera next year.

I only got to stay in Vegas for less than 48 hours, but it feels like a second home. I'll tell you why. People say that professional wrestling is a fraternity. After this past weekend, I say professional wrestling is a family, complete with the crazy uncle (Ox Baker). People I used to watch on TV 20 or 30 years ago are now like old friends. I can't wait for the 41st CAC Reunion!

(Photos of me with the legends can be found on my "Photos With The Stars" page)

(For more CAC 2005 memories, check out those of Percival A. Friend and Percy Pringle as well as that on the CAC website itself.)