Today, though, I want to tell you about how Lou was a mainstay in the hotline scene. I’ll always think of the time he was in that weird Goonies video where Nikolai Volkoff was milking a plastic cow. While some will recall Lou as being “The Guiding Light” of tag team champions, others may hear his name and remember his stint as one of the first live action versions of Super Mario ( “Do the Mario!”). He had a pretty diverse career to say the very least. Hopefully I’ve made my point about the importance of these silly things. He met his partner in crime, Dave Meltzer, courtesy of DAVE’S hotline. Here’s a fun fact for you too: you know, arguably the biggest wrestling site in the world? It’s run by my co-author of The Death of WCW, my friend Bryan Alvarez. By golly, I’ll never forget that old hag Vera leaving me this one (and even though I’ve bleeped it out, trust me, this is in no way suitable for work!). And get this, people could actually leave us messages too. Once upon forever ago, a young heel RD was one of the options you could choose, just by pushing a digit on your touch tone phone. Heck, even local folks would have their phone lines…including this one, that still is in existence to this very day! I guarantee you that when I start typing 1-900-909…anyone over the age of 35 will immediately be screaming out “9900!” Yep, that was the old WCW hotline, and that thing had to have paid off Gene Okerlund’s mortgage ten times over. Seriously, look at that one – Hulk Hogan is waiting for your call, brother! And at just $1.99 per minute, you’d almost be a Benedict Arnold of a Hulkamaniac at not risk the wrath of your parents by giving him a ring! Not just like one here and there, but all over the magazines, specifically in the prime locations like the back cover. There were ads for them in the aforementioned magazines certainly. Hotlines on the other hand…they were everywhere. And while the Observer and other newsletters existed, you had to be somewhat of what I would classify as an insider to even know how you could get them.
#CAPTAIN LOU ALBANO YOU GOT TO HELL BEFORE YOU DIE PRO#
Sure, you could hit the local Super-X and grab a copy of Pro Wrestling Illustrated (and heaven knows how many of those mags I purchased back in the day), but despite my love for them, even I will admit that they were more storyline and fantasy than anything that could tell you what was really happening behind the scenes in professional wrestling. In the days before the world wide webs, getting wrestling news wasn’t very easy. Unless you were a fan in the mid 1980’s to the turn of the century, I don’t think you can fully grasp just how prevalent hotlines were in the world of professional wrestling.
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