Greetings.
One of my favorite events on the wrestling calendar is the annual Cauliflower Alley Club (CAC) convention, which is held every May in Las Vegas. This year marked the 53rd anniversary of the club, which was started by iconic west coast wrestler Iron Mike Mazurki initially as a social gathering for wrestlers, promoters and fans to get together to share a few laughs and memories.
While it remains a fun filled, light hearted event, it has also grown exponentially, becoming an invaluable link to old school wrestling – which had, unfortunately, become forgotten by the WWE. One of the most popular aspects of the annual CAC convention is the awards gala, in which wrestlers, past and present, are honored.
The CAC’s penultimate award is the prestigious Iron Mike Award (named after Mazurki), which is presented to wrestlers who have not only made a profound impact in the wrestling ring, but also in the community as well. This year’s recipient was legendary former AWA star, the enigmatic but resolute, Baron von Raschke, who, I might add, I had as a guest on my Hart Beat Radio show a few weeks back. Even though von Raschke was one of the most feared and reviled villains in the business in his heyday, in actuality he was a nice guy – respected and admired within the industry for not only being a great wrestler, but a consummate team player.
I might add that over the years, he spent countless hours visiting schools, hospitals and doing community service, which speaks volumes about his character. Congratulations to the Baron on the award, he’s a most deserving recipient.
Another major award – the Lou Thesz Lifetime Achievement award went to Shawn Michaels. I had the pleasure of working with the Heartbreak Kid at Survivor Series back in the 90’s and found him to be a consummate professional and a great guy. I’m pleased to see that he and my brother Bret have, at long last, buried the hatchet after the Montreal Screw Job debacle and would like to congratulate him on the Thesz award.
There were a number of other notable award winners at CAC, including: Greg “the Hammer” Valentine (retired men’s award);Princess Victoria (retired women’s award); Harlem Heat (retired tag team award); Santana Garret (indy women’s award); Tony Storm(indy men’s award); Kevin Kross (men’s rising star award); Mickey Henson (referee’s award); and Steve “Skinner” Keirn (trainer’s award). All are most worthy recipients and I’d like to congratulate them for their awards and to thank them for their contributions to our business.
I’d also like to extend a shout out to my old friend – Killer Bee B. Brian Blair – the president of the Cauliflower Alley Club, not only for all the work he’s done in perpetuating the old school legacy of our sport, but also for having raised, on behalf of the CAC, thousands of dollars for former wrestlers who have fallen on hard times. Keep up the great work, Brian and props to your fellow CAC members for all the great work they do.
Until next time.
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