I saw Gorilla Monsoon and Professor Toru Tanaka from ringside in the convention center at Atlantic City in the mid-60's. Tanaka was truly a scary individual up close. The crowd was booing him as he was climbing into the ring, and I remember he stomped his foot onto the wooden steps and it sounded like a cannon shot(maybe rigged with a mic for sound?).
Gorilla was a huge human being, and also played the bad guy. Some kid was taunting him with one of those big red horns next to the ring. Afer several warnings, Gorilla leaped over the ropes, and raced the kid up the aisle out of the arena. He could move very fast.
Later on, Gorilla played golf at my bro-in-laws CC at North Hills in Phily. He said he was a very nice guy, and told him some horror stories about all the injuries he'd suffered rasslin. My BIL was the club pro there for 40 years, and said Gorilla was a pretty good golfer.
I don't know about the Golden Age, the crowd that night wouldn't have filled a small HS gym.
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