On-Topic RIP

[Olly1984]

@BomberPat I've heard a lot about Black Terry, mainly just through the years of reading the forum but any particular stand out matches/feuds I should be looking out for? 

[BomberPat]

10 minutes ago, Olly1984 said:

@BomberPat I've heard a lot about Black Terry, mainly just through the years of reading the forum but any particular stand out matches/feuds I should be looking out for? 

I would go with something like this for the technical/maestro side of him:

Or this:

 

 

And for wild brawling, here's him in Zona 23:

 

There are some great clips of a match between him and Rush. When I'm at home I'll have to check my external hard drive to see what matches of his I have on there, as I'm sure there's plenty that aren't on Youtube. 

 

[Olly1984]

1 hour ago, BomberPat said:

I would go with something like this for the technical/maestro side of him:

Or this:

 

 

And for wild brawling, here's him in Zona 23:

 

There are some great clips of a match between him and Rush. When I'm at home I'll have to check my external hard drive to see what matches of his I have on there, as I'm sure there's plenty that aren't on Youtube. 

 

Cheers Bomber, will check them out later. 

[TheBurningRed]

Steve McMichael has passed away after his battle with ALS. 

[WyattSheepMask]

That’s sad to hear, but glad that he is finally at peace. It look ed like he was going to pass a long time ago but he kept fighting.

I always had a soft spot for Mongo. His NFL career had finished before I even knew who he was so I only saw after I had a couple of years off the WWF in the mid 90s and the first show I watched to get back into it was Wrestlemania XI. Not a good show by any stretch of the imagination, but Mongo appeared part way through the show and seemed a very charismatic, charming guy. Had the WWF not been in such a poor financial state at the time you’d bet that Vince would’ve definitely signed him to a deal. 
That ultimately did happen with WCW later in 1995. Now granted, Mongo was at best a poor wrestler. Kevin Greene took to it better for sure, but Mongo had the slightest of edges when it came to talking on the mic.

[tiger_rick]

What a dreadful shame that is. To see anyone reduced to a shell of a person by a degenerative disease is utterly devastating but when it's someone who was so athletic, so dedicated and so brilliant that they were a professional sportsperson who made it to the very top of their game then it's somehow even worse.

Mongo was obviously an incredible footballer. Won a Superbowl with the incredible Bears team, all-pro twice, one of the greatest Bears of all-time. To be honest though, if he hadn't been part of LT's squad at Mania 11, I doubt I'd ever have heard of him! 

I love Mongo as a commentator on Nitro. He's rubbish, there's no doubt about that, but he's a genius choice because of who he was. He talked OK and he spoke with some authority. The little dog in fancy dress was a brilliant gimmick for such a massive guy. He brings a warm energy to those shows. Not an obnoxious, OTT performance like his modern-day equivalent.

Then he became a pro-wrestler. And man, he's one of my favourite terrible pro-wrestlers of all the times. He looked great. He was a defensive tackle, he's a huge man. He was in great shape and could shift but he didn't have the mind or the co-ordination to be a wrestler. I can see why they thought he might improve with time given his build and background but he probably got worse and I suspect being on the piss for 300 days a year was a big factor. He did always look like he was having the time of his life though, getting paid to perform this shit, and he did have a few basic moves that filled most short TV matches. I'll stick one of the worst Mongo PPV matches on at least once every few months just for the hilarity of it all. 

I really miss wrestlers who were built like Mongo. Half the WCW roster was built like the models from the N64 games. There just aren't many guys these days who look like they were chiselled out of a fucking oak tree. They're all crossfit lads or the over 45s desperate steroid club these days. Give me a Mongo, a Scott Norton or an Ice Train any day of the week.

RIP Steve. People will remember this guy.

  

[Chili]

One of the nicest finishes you'll ever see and it's not just Eddie Guerrero smooth at work.

So long Mongo, they genuinely don't make people with that hint of utter madness about them that he had going anymore. Another lad in the never had a bad entrance music club as well. 

 

[Lion_of_the_Midlands]

Mongo was a crazy man that stood out on the team full of crazy men that was the '85 Bears. I have nothing to add other than that as Rick has so excellently summed up Mongo. RIP you crazy man. 

[gmoney]

Mongo is in the division of fun to watch guys because their matches could go off the rails at any moment, along with Ahmed and Goldberg. I didn't like him as a commentator to start with, but he really grew on me. Super enthusiastic and genuine. What a man, what a life. 

[wandshogun09]

Great post by Rick there.

Definitely echo what others said about him having that wild man aura which, despite him being really limited and uncoordinated in the ring, made his matches something you couldn’t turn away from. Definite hints of Ahmed Johnson about him, although you could actually understand what Mongo was saying and, to my knowledge and I might be wrong, I don’t recall any stories of him actually hurting anyone in the ring like Ahmed and Goldberg did.

I think it’s quite telling that he was in WCW at probably its craziest time in terms of the company’s success and with a locker room full of big stars, fragile egos and politics. Yet you never hear a bad thing said about Mongo from any side of the fence or any clique or group. Everyone seemed to love him. That must make what he went through at the end even more painful for his family. To watch someone who was the life and soul of any place they were at and so full of life end up stuck in a bed unable to even really communicate must’ve been heartbreaking. I remember seeing the pictures of him years ago and thinking he probably had a few months. The fact he fought so long says a lot about him but it’s no life, is it? Obviously it’s sad that he’s gone but at least his suffering is over. Hopefully the big man’s at peace now.

He’ll be reunited with Pepe and winding up the Brain in no time. 

Edited April 24, 2025 by wandshogun09

[air_raid]

FUCK. I loved Mongo when I started watching WCW right when he was in the Horseys with Flair, Benoit at (for me) his peak, and Double J filling in for Arn. He stood out a mile among the three wrestlers as a tough nut and having watched his entire WCW career eventually, he's the face I see whenever I hear Arn say "They send one of yours to the hospital, they send one of yours to the morgue." Yes, his wrestling was a bit wonky and his selling could be suspect (comedy dead sell when he needed to be bonked on the head with the briefcase especially) but he was a menacing presence and he was good at making you give a shit ; him losing the US title to Curt Hennig on Nitro the night after Curt betrayed the Horsemen and sent Flair to hospital, I found genuinely heartbreaking at the time, daft as that may sound.

Rest in peace, number 76.

[Chili]

https://www.wwe.com/videos/kama-and-steve-mcmichael-brawl-raw-march-20-1995

Tell you what's a bit of alright. His one WWF comms appearance where he has that pull apart with Kama. Even better because he's never done any of this proper before so he gets right into the fight bit. Good old Mongo.

[garynysmon]

Mongo was a staple of the glory days of WCW on Cartoon Network/TNT and while my only previous exposure to him was that brief LT/WM 11 run (what’s American Football?), my most vivid memory of him will always be his cracking theme.

The technical side of wrestling has never been my forté so a match has to either be really good or really bad for me to usually notice the difference, but there was always an “ooooph” factor to watching his matches. He looked meandering and clumsy and you always had that slight fear that someone might actually get hurt here.

How fucking hilarious was it to have him in the Horsemen of all stables? Although I understand he was able to fit in fabulously in the social side.

His ring work was rough and he couldn’t act for shit. You could tell that Double J was frustrated all through that Debra feud.

Yet, you couldn’t help but like him. He always had a grin on his face and genuinely looked like he was loving every minute.

I don’t think, wrestling-wise, he would have been allowed to last longer than a few special appearances in any other era or company due to his aforementioned lack of natural ability.

The fact that it translated into a regular spot in the midcard says more about WCW and how Mongo just hit that late 90’s weird and wacky sweet spot.

Motor Neurone Disease is a total bastard. RIP big man.

 

Edited April 26, 2025 by garynysmon

[wandshogun09]

12 minutes ago, garynysmon said:

How fucking hilarious was it to have him in the Horsemen of all stables? Although I understand he was able to fit in fabulously in the social side.

True but when you think about it, it was was probably the best thing for him in that he’d often be teaming with Arn, Flair and/or mostly Benoit and I guess the idea to some degree was that he’d learn on the job from those guys and they’d be able to cover for some of his limitations in tag team situations. But of course, WCW being WCW, I’m probably giving them too much credit because he was also thrown out there in loads of single matches fairly early into his transition into pro wrestling.

It’s mad really to think he even had an actual run as a regular wrestler. Usually a guy like that who’s already an established big name in another sport would be used as a one-off attraction like a Lawrence Taylor or Floyd Mayweather. Mongo was around a good two years or so, wasn’t he? Although I suspect he mostly stuck around because he was having a blast going on the piss with the boys after Nitro every week more than anything.

What was the story actually with him eventually leaving WCW? I could swear I remember hearing on a shoot interview that he flew home and literally just stopped coming at some point but I can’t remember who even said it. 

[davertfnewman]

His ticket into the Horsemen was that Flair loved him and I'd guess he's probably Flair's favourite Horseman ever because of how long he kept the relationship with him. I think when Mongo was on Flair's podcast he said the story Arn told in his book about them losing him in a nightclub was inaccurate - I think he had a pulmonary embolism or something of that nature that put him in hospital and he just never came back after that.