91Ô­´´

Headlocks, figure four leg locks, suplexes, flying off the top rope — my childhood fascination with wrestling all came rushing back.

I was sitting in the living room of a wrestling legend, last Thursday afternoon.

Heaton — who wrestled under the names Don Leo Jonathan and the Mormon Giant — was a veteran of more than 3,000 professional bouts, capturing numerous championship titles and carving out quite a career for himself.

Heaton — who is profiled in the July 22  issue of the 91Ô­´´ Times — moved to 91Ô­´´ in the late 1990s, long after his wrestling days were done. He was forced to retire in 1980, at the age of 49, with a back injury he originally sustained body-slamming Andre the Giant, once known as the Eighth Wonder of the World, for his massive size.

Heaton was inducted into the Pro Wrestling Hall of Fame back in 2006 and this Friday, the 84-year-old will be honoured at the Cloverdale Fairgrounds by All Star Wrestling.

But sitting there, listening to his stories — and there were many in the hour-long interview — brought back so many of my own wrestling memories, albeit as a fan, not as a participant.

I don’t remember how I got into the sport, but I do recall watching Saturday Night’s Main Event with my dad and my brothers.

My dad used to work a lot — he did shift work at a sawmill as well as berry farming — so he wasn’t always around.

When he was, it was a treat to hang out with him.

We would watch all the colourful characters of the World Wrestling Federation — now known as the WWE — whether it was Hulk Hogan vs. the Iron Sheik, in a battle of the U.S. against Iran, or Ricky ‘The Dragon Steamboat’, leaping off the top turnbuckle, displaying his acrobatic moves.

One of my favourite wrestlers was George ‘The Animal’ Steele, who was known for devouring a turnbuckle. I guess I just liked the site of a bald, round man who didn’t speak (only grunted), ripping apart the padded turnbuckle, its insides flying in every direction.

My dad was a fan of Jake ‘The Snake’ Roberts, and his signature move, the DDT.

I still remember my collection of wrestling action figures — not dolls, action figures — of all my favourite characters, and the wrestling ring, where I staged countless matches of my own.

There were actual wrestling matches with my cousins, each of us creating our own character and on one occasion me pinning my much younger and smaller cousin in less than 10 seconds.

To this day, he still pines for a rematch and since he frequents a gym to work out and I do not, I politely decline his invitations.

In my latter teenage years, my devotion to wresting slowly faded as work, school and sports began to take over. But wrestling is still hugely popular — when I need a fix my teenage nephews can fill me in — and it’s showing no signs of slowing down.

Who knows, perhaps in a few years, my kids will be ready to sit down and watch a bout or two with me.