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Wrestling returns to Chevy
YOUNGSTOWN — Jimmy Davis has seen more than his share of pro wrestling shows.
The Austintown resident estimates he’s seen more than 50 live shows over the years, mostly in Youngstown, but also a few in Canton and Wheeling, W.Va.
He’s looking forward to the WWE Summerslam Tour, which comes to Chevrolet Centre on Friday.
Davis has seen wrestling shows literally dozens of times at Beeghly Center and other Youngstown sites before the WWE began coming to Chevy Centre two years ago. The atmosphere remains the same, Davis said, although he admits his interest in the sport has waned.
He remains a fan, and still keeps up with it on television, but he preferred the Hulk Hogan era, when whom to root for was a clearer choice.
“Today, one day they’re a good guy, and the next day they’re a villain,” he said.
The storylines that the wrestlers followed back then was also more to his tastes. “It’s geared to a younger generation now,” he said, citing the scantily clad women as another departure from the old days.
Davis recalled seeing Hulk Hogan appear at Beeghly years ago. “I remember 8,000 screaming people when Hulk made his entrance,” he said. “There were goosebumps on my arms. You couldn’t beat the electricity in that building that night.”
On another night in the Wheeling Civic Center, Davis and his friends brought a giant bed-sheet sign they made that said “Hulkamania will live forever” and held it up from their front-row seats. “After his match, Hulk motioned for a ring girl to get the sign and bring it to him, and he walked around the ring holding it up,” said Davis. “I still have that sign, with Hulk’s sweat on it, hanging up in my basement.”
Of the current crop of wrestlers, Davis said John Cena — who is on the card at Friday’s show — is his favorite.
For Mike Martin of Boardman, wrestling is just something he’s always watched. He’s been to both prior WWE shows at Chevy Centre and will be there Friday.
The WWE’s appearance at Chevy Centre last year was televised nationally, and Martin said the pyrotechnics stood out in his mind. “It was unexpected, so loud and in-your-face,” he said.
Martin said he has been watching wrestling for as long as he can remember. “It’s one of those things that your parents watch, and then you do, too,” he said.