Krusher Karlssen

I will start off with one of my favorite heel gimmicks: The aviator's helmet that
Krusher Karlssen used.

Karlssen also would go by the name of Swede. He was tall with a barrel chest and long, skinny arms. He wrestled in the preliminary matches and usually lost. I guess he was considered a "jobber." However, his matches were entertaining. He would use the helmet to rub in someone's eyes or hide a foreign object for a head butt.

That night, he wrestled against the Blue Avenger. Before the introduction, kids would go up and get autographs from the babyfaces. I had just gotten mine and was standing there watching before I went back to my seat. All of the sudden, Karlssen ran up and kicked the bottom rope while hollering. His goal was to make the kids scatter. I certainly got back to my seat quicker than I had planned. It was my 11th birthday that night and I guess that was his way of wishing me a happy birthday.

The match started and Karlssen beat down the Avenger. Then he climbed to the top rope to do a knee drop. Every time you would see a heel do this, the babyface would move and the heel would miss. It held true this time. The crowd came alive as the Avenger asked them for permission to punish Karlssen. The wrestlers back then knew how to work a crowd. That is one of the things missing in today's wrestling.

The match ended up being a 15 minute draw. When the ring announcer said "ten minutes" during a 15 minute time limit match, it was probably going to be a draw. When the announcer said "only two minutes time remaining," it was definitely going to be a draw.