JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – The Jacksonville Jaguars game brought some stars from the squared circle to the gridiron Sunday to generate interest in the game against the Minnesota Vikings.
The organization Legends of Wrestling brought in six legendary professional wrestling personalities to the game, including names like Ric Flair and the Mouth of the South, Jimmy Hart.
News4Jax resident wrestling fan, Scott Johnson, was on hand to see the hundreds of fans who showed up to see the muscle-bound stars.
This was a big moment for me, as well as hundreds of lifelong fans showed up to the stadium to see the wrestlers, and, frankly, the crowd to see the pre-game wasn’t expected to be that big, but when word started spreading that some of these wrestlers were here, the Assure Club at EverBank Field filled up quickly.
I was there to greet the wrestlers as they arrived. Household name Ric Flair came along with others like Hacksaw Jim Duggan, the Nasty Boys and the Mouth of the South, Jimmy Hart.
This Legends of Wrestling organization sends famous, usually older wrestlers, who are either retired or close to it, to professional sporting events to generate fan interest.
Personally, as a fan, my career peaked when, at the gates to EverBank Field, the Nature Boy Ric Flair gave me his signature open-handed chop to the chest. I told him to go full tilt. He obliged. It hurt -- and this was after he said he had a rough night in Jacksonville -- which usually involves a party.
“I’m honored to be here, so thanks for having us,” Flair said. “(It was a) rough night last night in Jacksonville.”
Brian Knobs from the Nasty Boys said he came to watch a Jaguars victory.
"The legends of wrestling are in Jacksonville to watch the jaguars beat up on the Minnesota Vikings and we got the best in the business,” Knobs said. “We got my partner, we got the Nature Boy (and) we got Hacksaw Jim Duggan.”
While the guys may be getting older, they have not lost any of their charisma on the microphone. As soon as our cameras were on, so were their personas -- like they hadn’t lost a step.
“The first thing hacksaw Jim Duggan has to do, brother, is give a big ‘hoooo!’ Kind of fires me up. Gets the blood flowing,” Hacksaw said. “Old Hacksaw’s getting ready for the game tonight. I might have to strap on a helmet.”