Another one of those funny photos from the scan pile with a bunch of stuff going on! Jeff Warner (Big Juice) is next to the ring with a be-geused little fan. Scotty the Body seems to be in a stare-down with a toddler that someone is holding up. And the guy in the bottom right corner is looking at me like I'm a crazy person for taking a picture of all of this! April 23, 1990.
To me, "Mean" Mike Miller is Portland Wrestling. He was the first wrestler that I'd ever met in person. I was 8 years old and selling Camp Fire Girls candy outside of the Oak Grove Fred Meyer store. I'd been watching wrestling for a few years, but we hadn't gone to any matches yet. I was well aware of who "Mean" Mike was when he walked up to the table, but there was something strange. This big mean heel was smiling! He asked how much the candy was and looked at all of the flavors, and agreed to buy 5 boxes of the overpriced treats. My mom said, "Why don't you tell him how he's your favorite wrestler?" I said, "NO! He's a bad guy!" They both looked at each other and got a good laugh. I was confused. Why was this big meanie being so nice to me? He called me sweetheart, ruffled my hair, and said he hoped I would come out to the matches soon. I thought about it for a while and decided wrestling wasn't exactly what I thought it was. That was okay with me, though. I liked it more. As an 8-year-old, I liked the characters, but the violence and the blood weren't my favorite. There was a lot of blood in Portland Wrestling in those days. When I realized it wasn't "real," I decided that no one was getting hurt, the blood was all fake, and they were all friends, and that made me feel better about the whole thing! Of course they can and do get hurt; the blood isn't fake, but I guess at 8 everything is pretty black and white. "Mean" Mike ruined the illusion for me, but that just made me love it even more. I got more serious about it and watched every Saturday and even started writing down match results from the shows. I went to my first match in the summer of 1985 and brought along a sign that said, "Nice" Mike Miller. I could never boo him! I was so glad when he turned baby face.
Thanks to "Mean" Mike Miller for helping me discover the thing that brought me the most fun, joy, and fabulous childhood memories! I wish I had been at this match. I wasn't following local wrestling much during these years, and I totally missed out.
Apparently, I got home from the Sports Arena pretty late on December 1, 1990. I only recorded the last 8 minutes, and they went off the air before the battle royal was over!
This one is kind of crazy, starting with milk and cereal everywhere and then everyone slipping and sliding the rest of the match!
