Author: Robski McFadden

Hidden from the light of day are not where the darkest places lie. Among the memories and imagination, the mind houses both dreams and nightmares. The same soil that buries the coffin is the soil from which flowers and trees grow. For PCO to finally achieve glory, he turned himself into a monster. The pieces from which this Frankenstein was built were taken from the previous monsters Pierre Carl Oulette had made. Carl Ouellet was born in Sainte-Catherine, Quebec, on December 30, 1967. He had a normal childhood with one exception; he is blind in one eye. He lost the…

A part of every battle is psychological. If you can get into your opponent’s head, they become much easier to defeat. That is why fighters often try to cut an intimidating presence before the fight begins. La Parka was based on the one enemy that we all eventually succumb to. He struck fear into his opponents, but he captured the hearts of his fans. Contrary to pop culture myth, Halloween was created by the Catholic church in Europe. One of their core beliefs is that while death and evil may still exist within this life, they have both been ultimately…

When a wrestling fan hears the words “¡Viva la raza!”, they think of Eddie Guerrero. It is more than a catchphrase for him. It was the secret to his whole life. Eddie’s grandparents were migrant workers who started a new life in Arizona. Their first son Salvador was born in 1921 and named after his father. He was only nine-years-old when his mother died, and he dropped out of school. The remaining family returned to Mexico, where Salvador developed an interest in wrestling. He studied lucha libre and made his debut as “Joe Morgan” in 1937. He would change his…

Words like “excellence” have followed Bret Hart throughout his life. When he called himself “the best there is, the best there was, and the best there ever will be,” he wasn’t trying to brag. Instead, he was setting for himself a standard that he strived to live by. From the moment Bret was born on July 2, 1957, there was no escaping wrestling for him. He was the eighth child born to Canadian wrestling pioneer Stu Hart. Stu owned and ran the Stampede Wrestling promotion. All eight Hart brothers did various work for the company from a very early age.…

Wrestling has always presented an image of big men becoming big names by hurting each other. They would do anything to get on top of the industry. Brian Adams had the size and the ability to rise above everyone else. Yet there was one thing he refused to do to become the best; hurt someone else. Brian Adams was born in Kona, Hawaii, in 1964 but was raised in Kealakekua. He joined the United States Air Force after graduating from high school. He developed an interest in wrestling while he was stationed in Japan. Adams would be trained by the…

Art is the most subjective thing there is. Whether it appeals to you or repulses you, true art should illicit an emotion. What constitutes as art varies from person to person. While people may be fake, emotions are not. Prince Iaukea learned that art is better when you are the artist. Michael Hayner was born in Honolulu, Hawaii, in August 1964. He spent several years in the military after finishing his education. He was already a thirty-year-old family man when he decided to chase his childhood dream. He was trained as a wrestler by Dean Malenko. He helped Hayner to…

Rivers symbolize freedom. If you place a rock into a river, the water will flow around it. If you block a river, it will cause a flood, or the river will try to forge a new path. Given enough time, a river will wear away any barrier that tries to restrict it. The story of Michinoku Pro-Wrestling is about finding a way around limitations. It is a universal truth that promoters tend to prefer more prominent athletes with muscular physiques—modern-day giants who can attract fans with their feats of super-strength. Japan is a small island nation. Their potential talent pool…

Every nation has their cultures and traditions. The Siva Afi is an important ritual of Polynesian heritage. It requires skill, concentration, and courage. Those who doubt themselves risk being burned or extinguishing the flames. For Papali’itele Taogaga, he had to be consumed by the fire before he could learn to control it. Max Taogaga was born in Samoa. Unlike most of his countrymen that found their way into the World Wrestling Federation, he was not part of the Anoa’i-Maivia dynasty. His family had no connections to them or to wrestling until Max tried to break into the industry. They specialized…

The Biblical proverb tells us that the spirit is strong, but the flesh is weak. Paul Orndorff was the living definition of this adage. He dedicated so much of his life to making his body strong. He pushed it beyond its breaking point. Yet where his body may have failed, his spirit would not. Paul Orndorff, Jr. was born in Winchester, Virginia, in 1949. He was named after his father, who raised him in their trailer home alone. But if you asked, he would say he was raised by his neighborhood in Palm Beach, Florida. He had to learn how…

Much more goes into a wrestling show than many realize. For every dozen wrestlers who step into that ring, there are a few dozen more people responsible for putting that show together. You should not notice them if they do their job right. For the Nitro Girls, they had no choice but to get noticed. Every week they went up against the harshest opponents there are; wrestling fans. One of WCW Monday Nitro’s main marketing points was that it was broadcast live. Even when some episodes were pre-taped. While it was a wrestling show, it was still a television show.…