Louis Frlan

I’ve been enjoying going through boxes of old memorabilia and came across something that brought back one of my favorite childhood memories, my very first live wrestling match. I was 10 years old when my father took my brother Joel and me to the Peace Bridge Exhibition Center in Buffalo, New York. It was our first time seeing professional wrestling in person, and we were beyond excited. Our favorite wrestler was Chief White Owl. During the match, Chief White Owl took a serious beating, but then came an unforgettable comeback. He started doing his Indian dance, circling the ring, delivering knee lifts to his opponent Waldo Von Erich, and finally finishing him off with a tomahawk chop. We were on our feet cheering. We were also thrilled to see other favorites like Luis Martinez, Johnny Powers, and Lil Abner. And of course, we loved booing the bad guys, Tiger Jeet Singh, The Executioner, and Von Erich. During intermission, Joel and I ran toward the locker room area and waited for the wrestlers to come out to sign autographs. We managed to get signatures from several of our heroes, which I’ve included here. Then I noticed The Executioner standing outside another locker room. No one else dared to approach him. For some reason, I worked up the courage, walked over, and said, “Mr. Executioner, may I please have your autograph?” I handed him my autograph book. He looked at me, paused for a moment, and then signed it. I was absolutely thrilled. Getting an autograph from the infamous Executioner made that night even more unforgettable.