“I was working in a foundry in Kutztown, Pa., and lost my left arm after it got stuck in a machine,” Carson said. However, an accident in 1996 changed his life forever. Juggling a variety of odd jobs including roof truss construction, Carson adjusted his priorities, switching his passion to mere hobby in order to raise his family. Dominic DeNucci referred me to Ron Shaw, who taught me a few things, but then wrestling had to take a backseat so I could provide for my family.” “I trained for a couple years in the early ‘80s while I was in the Marines, performing on small shows at flea markets and tiny gymnasiums. “My dreams were to become a professional wrestler and have my own baseball card store,” Carson said. The only question I couldn’t answer was, “Who is this Blackbeard of Wrasslin’, and how has he gathered all of these treasures?” I almost pulled a muscle whipping my wallet out to buy Gordon Solie’s Championship Wrestling Trivia Game, a true collector’s item and surefire secret weapon for the next round of suplex quizzo. The time machine never stops as you turn left into Carson’s store, bumping into mountains of autobiographies, VHS tapes, magazines, DVDs and toys. Sandman’s Singapore cane, Dusty Rhodes’ polka dot onesie, Rikishi’s thong strap, cowboy hats, original championships, ring boots – you name it. Stretching across the top floor of the Merchant’s Square Mall, Bud Carson’s Pro Wrestling World displays 50 years’ worth of gimmicks splashed against the walls. Ouch’s Bizarre Bazaar selling vintage wrestling merchandise, I doubted Pro Wrestling World offered anything more than a Mordecai action figure. With numerous shops in the Northeast such as George’s Cards and Collectibles and Prof. Cruising past tumbleweeds and Sheetz gas stations, I cursed Bill Apter, the famous wrestling journalist, for convincing me to spend a rare Saturday off in Allentown, Pa.Īpter claimed I wasn’t a real fan unless I had toured the “only legitimate professional wrestling museum in the world,” which happens to be Bud Carson’s Pro Wrestling World.Īs one of only seven people in North America who possesses “WWE Crush Hour,” I scoffed at “Wonderful Willie’s” challenge and vowed to cement my fandom by strolling past pillars of framed autographs for an hour.įorgive my skepticism, but after squinting at dozens of “Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle” figurines at Pizza Brain, the supposed largest collection of pizza memorabilia on Earth, I learned that “museum” is a relative term.

Scott keith wrestlemania 22