Pictures from WWE & Chikara Pro |
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I've gotten a fairly positive response when I tie together wrestling and pop culture, so I'm going to do it again today with the opening of the new Planet of the Apes movie. Today we'll look at a few primates to make their way to the squared circle.
Probably the most famous is Gorilla Monsoon. By the time I started watching wrestling, Gorilla had been long retired, but was the voice of the WWF. Always wearing an interesting blazer with those tinted glasses, Gorilla kept fans informed of the action in the ring. He and Bobby Heenan or Jessie Ventura usually handed the announcing duties together. With Heenan, he co hosted Primetime Wrestling. The two were comedy gold. Jessie and Gorilla were the voices behind the first six Wrestlemanias.
Jessie & Gorilla (from WWE) |
Gorilla of course had a life inside the ring too. A big, burly heel. A strong man. Almost Gorilla like. Now it all makes sense. He made such an impact on the business that the area just between the backstage curtain and the entrance way has been dubbed "the Gorilla Position."
In his later years, Gorilla served as WWF when Jack Tunney left the company. One of the most memorable moments during his reign was when Vader attacked him. It wasn't long after that Gorilla's health declined and in 1999, we lost Monsoon. Sadly five years before that, Gorilla's son, referee Joey Morella was killed in a car accident. No doubt Gorilla made a huge impact on the world of professional wrestling.
UApe does a monkey flip (from Chikara Pro) |
Because I like to do this lists in 3's or 5's, I'm adding King Kong Bundy to the list. I really couldn't think of another wrestler with a primate gimmick, but Bundy's King Kong monikor earned him a spot here. Although I don't know with 100% certainty, but I'm guessing Bundy picked up the name in honor of the big screen ape.
King Kong Bundy vs. Hogan (from WWE) |
A similar argument could be made for this category with "King Kong" Bruiser Brody. I recently wrote a post about him. You can read more here.
So there you have it, it's a bit cheesy, but this was a fun post to come up with. Go ape over our Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube pages. Subscribe to all 3 please!
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