Get it here!

SAVE MONEY
ON EVERYTHING!

RIP: Ernie Ladd. He died on March 10th 2006 from a long bout with cancer. He was 68 years old.

The legends of TV Wrestling!

All Star Wrestling

Harley Race

Wahoo McDaniel

Ernie Ladd

Johnny Weaver

Four Horsemen

Dusty Rhodes

Magnum TA

George 'Two Ton' Harris

Tim Woods

Jimmy Garvin

Brute Bernard

Johnny Valentine

Nature Boy

Arn Anderson

The New Breed

Johnny Hunter

Terry Funk

Diamond Dan and Hoss

Rick Link

Bingham Brothers

... and more in John Hitchcock's
decades spanning look at
Mid-Atlantic Wrestling!

The Big Cat Ernie Ladd

Ernie Ladd without a doubt gave the funniest interview I watched week after week. And even now if I want to get a few laughs with my friends, I will slip into my Ernie Ladd impression and just go nuts yelling at everybody in sight.

Yes, I know this gets old after awhile but then again, what would Ernie the Big Cat do? I think that Ernie Ladd once watched a Tex Avery cartoon in the fifties. The cartoon had a big old loud mouth bear wanting to hire a watchdog so he could get some sleep.

Of course any sound would wake him up and the bear would scream, "SHUT UP! QUIET! SHUT UP! WHAT IS WRONG WITH YOU! ARE YOU DEEF OR SOMETHING?" etc.

That was Ernie Ladd in a nutshell. And his interviews were always the same rant. Here are my favorites all combined into one for your entertainment.

"Yes, mister TV announcer! I am Ernie the Big Cat Ladd! I am six foot nine, three hundred pounds, and size 17 shoe! And I am tired of all these wrestlers walking around talking out the side of their necks! Staying, YAK, yak, yak. YIP, yip yip, I do this, I do that! You ain't doing nothing to the Big Cat Ernie Ladd! Do you smell whiskey Gordon Solie?"

"Aaaaahh, no Mister Ladd, I do not."

"It must be that drunken Indian Wahoo McDaniel! I hate Wahoo McDaniel! I hate him! He is nothing! Wahoo is nothing but a drug store Indian with a cigar stuck in his mouth! Nothing worse than a drunken Indian! He needs to be sent back to his reservation and I am just the man to do it! Shut Up! I am tried of it!"

"I am Ernie the Cat Ladd! I am six foot ten, three hundred and ten pounds, size 18 shoe! I here tell that there is a fat man walking around saying that he is the American Dream? He is nothing! American Nightmare is more like it! Dusty Rhodes! Dirty Roads is more like it! He ain't nothing to the Big Cat Ernie Ladd! Shut up Rhodes and tell the truth! You have been running from me for years! I chased you in Florida. I chased you out of Texas! You are nothing but a coward Dirty Roads!"

"I am Ernie The Big Cat Ladd! I am six foot eleven, three hundred and twenty pounds, size 19 shoe! I am a man to be feared and respected! I was an All American in football at Grambling College and I have a Super bowl ring with the Kansas City Chiefs! And I am unbeatable in the squares circle! Isn't that right Gordon Solie?"

"Aaaahhh, that remains to be seen Mister Ladd."

"Shut Up! You donít know nothing about the big man, Ernie Ladd! Where is that puppy dog Buzz Sawyer? There should be a leash law in this town! Mad Dog Buzz Sawyer! He ainít nothing! I will beat him! I will destroy him!"

"Because, I am The Big Cat Ernie Ladd! I am seven feet tall, three hundred and thirty pounds and size 20 shoe! Rufus R Jones! Where he at? He ain't nothing to Ernie Ladd! I beat his cousin Burrhead to with in an inch of his life! And the only reason I didn't kill him was because I like beatin' him!"

"That is the truth! I tell the truth! Rufus R Jones is an Uncle Tom and I hate Uncle Toms! The Freight train is no trouble for The Big Cat Ernie Ladd! If I beat up his family then maybe he will get some guts and face The Big Cat. I have no respect for Rufus! He step and fetch too much for me!"

Next Time
Johnny Weaver

Return to Front Row Section D