Sunday, February 26, 2006

Retro pic of the week - Captain Lou Albano


From WrestlingMuseum.com:
For the nearly forty years that Capt. Lou Albano was involved in professional wrestling, be it as a wrestler or manager, he created controversy, excitement, and in many cases, genuine hatred from the audiences he performed for. For a man who, by his own admission, was not a tremendous wrestler Albano certainly made a huge impact in the "sport" and was, for many years, one of the most well-known cross over celebrities that wrestling had to offer. His vaudevillian style approach to cutting interviews, combined with his over-the-top personality and ring persona made Albano one of the most hated managers of all time. Later in his career, Albano transformed that intense hatred into babyface popularity, and became one of the most beloved figures in wrestling. In either case, the rowdy Captain made the fans care about him, which, in the wrestling business, is all that really matters.

Who could forget Captain Lou's famous feud with Cyndi Lauper when Captain Lou was claiming to be her manager. He really played a large part in helping wrestling gain mainstream popularity. I don't think any other wrestling personality could have pulled that whole thing off as well as Captain Lou did.