Ernie Ladd

Ernie Ladd, the former football star for Kansas City, became an instant hit in pro wretsling. Though he was cheered and could do no wrong in the Ohio area, he was hated every place else he went. Using a suspiciously taped thumb that was forever "healing" to jab into his oppoennt;s throat and wearing a crown to proclaim himself King Of Wrestling long before the WWF started official coronations, he became one of the sports; most detested men.

This is where things get odd.

In spite of successful runs at the Olympic Arena and other California venues, Ladd never came to the Phoenix area to wrestle, as far as my records show. I could be wrong, but nothing seems to pop up.

As far as I can tell, Ladd never showed up in Arizona until after his retirement. The first account of him in the area as far as I know, has him attending a Christian convention for various athletes in 1996 or so.

He was also back in Arizona as a WWF road agent who worked behind the scenes for various shows, which to me seems ironic. As big a star as he was in California and the world, he never started showing up in the Arizona area until after he was done as an active wrestler.

It just seems ironic.

One of Ladd's last hurrah's in the public eye as a whole came when he played himself on a wrestling episode of That 70s Show.

A few years later, he would lose the toughest battle of his life, when he succumbed to cancer.