Things I Miss: Fat Pro Wrestlers

You turn on WWE programming today, and you're sure to find plenty of guys that are ripped and look like they've stepped straight off the pages of Muscle and Fitness. What you won't find however, are guys wrestling who look like you're dad, or the tough guy down the street who works on cars.

Back in the days when wrestlers earned their checks by how many tickets they sold, the emphasis wasn't so much on looks. It was a combination of their actual skill in the ring, along with their charisma out of it. If they could use their words to rile the fans up to the point that they would buy a ticket to see him get his butt kicked, that was enough. If he was good enough in the ring to make the fans believe what they were seeing, that was enough. Looks were just a bonus. Some of my favorite wrestlers would never be offered a cover spot on a men's magazine, but they sure could make you believe they would whip whoever did appear on the cover.

The loss of the average looking, but tough son of a gun, in favor of hiring muscle bound freaks who can't wrestle, hurt the suspension of disbelief of wrestling. I want to see a guy who looks like my uncle fighting a guy who looks like your uncle. 

I submit for your consideration:  Phil Hickerson.  He was a bad man.