I went to Scott Teal's reunion on Friday and Saturday and saw people I had worked with 20, 30 and 40 years ago.  The memories that had been tucked in some deep corner of my mind came flooding back.  Your mind plays funny tricks in situations like this.  As I looked at the name tag of someone I didn't recognize, the name triggered a wonderful memory, and suddenly, 30 or 40 years were erased from the person standing in front of me.  I was then talking to the person that had been buried in my mind all those years.

Joe and Bill Sky [Joe Turner and Bill Bowman] were at the party.  Les Thatcher and Dennis Hall were there.  Only Ken Lucas was missing from the wonderful memory I had of an earlier time.  The memory was of late 1968.  I was a young kid who was truly wet behind the ears.  Roy Welch had put me into the position of booker.  Les Thatcher, Dennis Hall and Ken Lucas were the top men in the Tennessee territory.  They resented having to take orders from a kid who had not paid his dues in the wrestling business.  As a result, they decided to leave the territory, something I didn't understand at the time due to the fact that I hadn't paid my dues.  I went to Roy Welch and asked for his help.  Roy declined to intervene and told me I needed to decide right then and there if this job was for me.  I went to Joe and Bill Sky and asked if they would work with me.  They agreed.  The entire scene of the Memphis television studio on that Saturday morning is as fresh in my mind as if it were yesterday.  Joe and Bill went to the ring to wrestle Tojo Yamamoto and Johnny Long and they had the absolute greatest match I had ever seen.  After a really bad hardway with the blood flying, Joe and Bill pulled off their belts and, with every strike, raised huge welts on the backs and chest of Tojo and Johnny.  The intensity of the match was such that the welts on Johnny's back began to bleed.  Tojo and Johnny retreated to the dressing room and the Sky boys asked to finish the fight Monday night at the matches.  Roy Welch signed the match.  On Monday night, the building was packed.  We had the biggest box-office gate we had in the previous seven or eight years.  In all likelihood, if it had not been for Tojo, Johnny, Joe and Bill, my life would have not been the same.  Tojo and Johnny are gone.  I'm not sure I ever told them how much they meant to my life, but I'm grateful I got to see Joe and Bill Sky and have the opportunity to say "thank you."  Les, Dennis, and Ken all came back to the territory and worked for me later and had great careers.  I was able to tell all three of them that I understood their reasons for doing what they did and that I would have done the same thing had I been in their situation.

My longtime friend Al Greene was also at the reunion.  I have so many great memories of Al, but none stand out like the interview he made one Saturday morning at TV when Al was booked against Jackie Fargo.  During Al's interview with Lance Russell, he said Jackie came from a long line of cowards.  He told Lance that not only was Jackie a coward, but his daddy was a coward before him.  Lance admonished Al, saying Jackie's father was deceased and he shouldn't make disparaging remarks about him.  Al said, "Oh, excuse me, Lance.  I didn't know his daddy was dead.  Now that I know, I should have said, 'Jackie Fargo is a coward and his old dead daddy was a coward too.'"  The comment by Al stirred such emotion in Jackie that he broke down during the interview.  Memphis sold out the next five Monday nights in a row with Jackie versus Al as the main event.  When I looked at Al sitting in his wheelchair, I still saw him as the big bear of a man he had been 30 years previously.

Bill Dundee, my friend who had such a great run with me in the Tennessee territory, was at the reunion.  Bill still works out and looks almost like he did years ago when I first worked with him and his Australian partner, George Barnes.  Tony Falk was at the reunion and reminded me about how I talked him into becoming "Boy Tony" in the likeness of Boy George, who was hot at the time.  Cora Combs and Debbie Combs were there.  Cora is amazing and her mind is as sharp as ever.  Memories of her tough style in the ring came flooding back as I talked to her.  Unlike the rest of us, Debbie never seems to age.  The lovely Sylvia Hackney was there and looks great.  My cousins, Paul Neighbours and Paul Neighbours Jr. were there and we enjoyed great memories of being on the road together.  Buddy Wayne was there with countless stories about our days promoting towns together.  My father-in-law, Eddie Marlin, and his brother, Uncle Thomas, were there, and during the time we spent together talking about old times, we were all young men again.  Saul Weingeroff's three sons, George, Eric and Herbie, were there.  And then there was Len Rossi, who I not only wrestled with, but worked with in the office when we were booking with Nick Gulas.  When I saw George Gulas, so many good memories of my times with his dad came back.  Time and memories do really wonderful things to each other.  Time erases any unpleasant memories and allows only the good memories to survive.

There were so many people at the reunion that were a part of my life.  I was glad to see them all.  The only regret I have is that I was too busy to know at the time that I was making such wonderful memories.  I wish I had taken the time to tell the people at the time how much I appreciated them helping me make those great memories.