Thanks for checking out my posts. I was born in 1979 so it is a lot of fun to go back in time from an era I didn't get to see when wrestling mattered. A neighbor's parents were in town this week and they saw some of my collection on the wall and went nuts. They are from upstate New York and said that wrestling was just huge in the 1970's there and loved seeing so many of the wrestlers they saw perform. I love the nostalgia of these cards and what they mean to wrestling history.

I have quite a few wrestling DVD's and was watching a match last night between Backlund and Harley Race from the Garden. Man Backlund was strong. It was amazing seeing two real pro's go at it. They did such a great job of making it believable. The moves, the ring psychology all told a story and the crowd reactions from the Garden are just awesome. I love seeing those old matches.

When I looked at that card sheet I said damn that card was stacked. No wonder people turned out in huge numbers to see it.

I was born in 1972, and I may have written on here before but I grew up going to WW(W)F television tapings every third Wednesday at the Hamburg (Pa.) Fieldhouse and occasionally every third Tuesday at Allentown's Ag Hall when I could talk my father into making the 45-minute drive to Allentown on a work night.

One of my most vivid childhood memories is of my father bitterly complaining when the general admission tickets went from $3 to $4 at Hamburg. :D

I was a huge wrestling fan when I was in elementary school and used to pore over the various mags detailing far-off territories every month. I would get so excited when a guy like Mil Mascaras, who was hyped to the moon in the "Apter mags," would make an occasional appearance at Hamburg. It was only decades later that I read online how difficult he could be to work with at times and how he often refused to allow his opponent any offense. It is amazing to read online now and in some of the better wrestling autobiographies the back story of various title changes/angles and what various guys from that era were really like. When I was a kid, I had no idea what a drunkard Andre was. ;) As a kid of 8-9, I was legit terrified that George Steele would attack my father or me when he would leave the ring and come into the stands at Hamburg. I would have never imagined that he has a master's degree and was actually a phys. ed. teacher in real life.

It always seemed crazy to me when I would look at old MSG cards and see that Dusty occasionally traveled in for a five-minute squash match (in addition to the '77 WWWF title match against Superstar Graham). But I have read that Rhodes loved New York City and wrestling at the Garden.

I have not yet read Backlund's book, but from everything I have seen online and in reviews, it is supposedly an amazing read -- right up there with Mick Foley's first book, Dynamite Kid's book and Bret Hart's book.

Even as a kid, I knew the atmosphere and how emotionally invested fans were in what they were seeing was amazing -- and Hamburg/Allentown were certainly no MSG or Philadelphia Spectrum. Just the sight of Vince McMahon and Pat Patterson walking out of the dressing room and toward the broadcast table to signify that each hour was about to begin would be met with a huge pop from the crowd.

I was a kid in the 70's and grew up in Minnesota where the AWA was headquartered. I love watching the shows on the weekend mornings. A number of the AWA guys were from Minnesota. It was king in its day. It's funny you mention being afraid of the wrestlers because the wrestlers used to be afraid of the crowds. Those cards are great.

Glad to see other die hard old school wrestling fans. I grew up in NY too with the wwwf/wwf. I too love watching the shoot interviews. Can you imagine a fan coming to the ring and stabbing blackjack mulligan while he wrestled Pedro morales in Boston garden. Talk about a time when wrestling was "real".

When I was a kid attending television tapings in Hamburg and Allentown, no one terrified me like George Steele coming into stands and "attacking" fans. But I wasn't real comfortable when Blackjack Mulligan would wrestle some hapless jobber like a Frankie Williams or Steve King, either.

The WWF of the time did a fabulous job building up Mulligan as fearsome heel by using a huge, red "X' across the television screen every time Mulligan would apply the claw so that viewers at home would not be traumatized by the sight of gushing blood. I can remember my friends coming over to my house and we would sit about one inch from the television screen and try to see around the "X" for any signs of blood when Mulligan would apply the claw. ;)

Like I said, I was a voracious reader of wrestling magazines as a kid. My friends and I would seemingly take turns reacting with righteous indignation if any of us would express even the slightest unfamiliarity with wrestlers or territories from other parts of the country or the world.

I can remember how furious I would get as a kid when valuable time on the weekly television broadcasts would be wasted by showing a women's match. ;) Little did I know at the time the reason why Moolah was the women's champion for decades. The occasional midget match with the inevitable spot where one (or more) of the combatants would bite the ref in the ass was only slightly more palatable.

I started watching wresting when I was in diapers and probably realized what I was watching at four or five. Growing up in Orlando my dad went to a lot of the matches in the 70's at the Orlando Sports Stadium later named the Eddie Graham Sports Stadium. Once he had a few kids his days of attending the matches were over. My favorite story growing up that he told countless times was the night that Buddy Colt broke the arm of Johnny Walker. He and his friends loved the action but naturally questioned its authenticity but on this night there was nothing fake about it. Sitting ring side and witnessing Colt hurl Walker into the ring post and seeing his arm break severely right in front of them left them feeling it was real! I bought him a signed Buddy Colt photo and Johnny Walker and gave him a graded Mr. Wrestling II which was Walker's latter gimmick. He loved it.

We didn't have cable so we got to watch wrestling on Sunday's and many times our mom forced us to turn it off when Kevin Sullivan and his Army of Darkness would come out with the satanic story lines. I can remember my dad quoting the late great Gordon Solie and saying he turned his face into a crimson mask. When church was over at noon we did our best to get home as quick as possible and only miss the first few minutes of the show.

Once Hulkamania hit I was beyond hooked and never stopped watching. What great memories so many have from wrestling.

If there are any cards you want to see just ask and I will post them. I made fresh scans not too long ago of all 108 cards front and back.

You can also check out my little show and tell website that has tons of the programs and images from them at www.1982wrestlingallstars.com

I'm not really even a fan of wrestling, but these cards are just awesome!

Thanks for taking the time to check them out. I realize a lot of people aren't big wrestling fans but they are super cool cards and have a very unique story behind them. I love the simplicity of the design and they did a nice job on the bio's on the back. The photos used date as far back as 1973 so there are a few cards like the Bruiser Brody where in 1982 he didn't look anything like the picture that was used for the card but it is neat to find the magazines or programs that date back much further then when the cards were distributed.

break out the "blanked back giant" for 'em....

(usually don't covet much fellas, but this is a cool one)