The big white guy in the crowd at the Vegas Nitro with the weird hat and beard definitely was Buffalo Jim. He seems like an interesting guy. In addition to the indy fed he promotes here in Vegas, he also runs a wrestling training school (at least he used to) and an auto repair shop. Of course, you can get all of that info on his website. He always does local commercials for his shows with the Godfather from WWF.I'm sure this is obvious, but does anyone else find it ironic that WCW's biggest musical headliner was KISS? I was going to do a comparison chart of KISS and the current WCW headliners, but I don't have that much time. Both are:
Sadly, the list could go on. . .
- Past their prime
- Still using the same gimmicks from the 70's & 80's
- In their late 40s or early 50s
- Probably going to be used in dumb angles to keep down younger talent
- Putting out a stale, old product that isn't cutting edge anymore
- Can't make a dent in RAW's ratings
September 7, 1999
The State, Columbia SCWild Dog Meets Match In Wrestler
By Pat Robertson - Staff WriterThere was no arena packed with impassioned, screaming fans, but if there had been, the ring announcer would have said something like this: "Ladies and Gentlemen. In this corner, Mike Nova, one of the good guys in World Championship Wrestling. And in this corner, the evil, the sinister, the fiendish -- Cujo the Dog!"
Instead, the match took place in a bucolic setting, one so peaceful that the violence that occurred was at the same time incredible and unnatural.
Nova was bowhunting last Wednesday when he came face to face with a local version of Cujo, the devil-dog from the Stephen King novel of the same name.
"A pack of dogs ran a doe by my tree, but for some reason, they broke off the chase and hung around my stand," said Nova, a.k.a. Brady Nimmons of Irmo.
Nimmons -- or Nova -- is a WCW wrestler, "mainly on the Saturday morning show. They let me do a Saturday night show once in a blue moon."
Once a starting defensive tackle for the Irmo Yellow Jackets, he got into wrestling on a whim after trying boxing and kick-boxing.
"I had graduated from Midlands Tech and was thinking about going pro as a kick-boxer when I decided to go down to Atlanta and try out at the (WCW) Power Plant."
He signed up and began appearing in WCW matches and also wrestling occasionally on the independent circuit. His professional training came into good use when he found himself face to face with a snarling wild dog.
"I figured the dogs had ruined my hunting, so I climbed down from the tree," he said. "All of them ran off except this one that looked like a black Labrador retriever."
Nimmons swung his hand out to signal the dog to move away, but it had the opposite effect. The big, black dog lunged at him and sank his teeth into Nimmons' right hand.
At 6-foot-4 and 230 pounds, the wrestler should have had the advantage, but the dog startled him by attacking.
That's when Nimmons' wrestling instincts kicked in. He grabbed the dog in a bear hug and as the impact knocked him back, he employed a wrestling move called the German suplex.
In this move, he said: "You take your opponent backward and try to flip him over your back so he lands on his head. I was going down anyway so I took him with me."
Nimmons, who grew up hunting and fishing with his father, Mac Nimmons, knew he was in a desperate struggle with an animal that was following some perverse instinct and would not back off.
They wrestled on the ground until Nimmons was able to use his free hand to grab an arrow from his quiver.
"I pulled an arrow out and jabbed it into the dog. We were both laying on the ground and I didn't want to let go because I knew he would attack me again."
Finally, he decided he had to get his bow, so he let the dog go. The animal stood up and backed up snarling.
Nimmons, his right hand dripping blood, shot another arrow and dispatched the dog.
Doctors put a dozen stitches in his hand at the Lexington Medical Center in Irmo. A necropsy of the dog determined it did not have rabies.
Wild or feral dogs occasionally threaten or attack hunters. They also have a definite impact on wildlife and livestock, according to the S.C. Department of Natural Resources.
"We all see feral dogs while we are hunting," said Derrell Shipes, assistant chief of game. "Often these dogs feed on goats, sheep and pigs."
Shipes said wild dogs eat the same prey animals as foxes and coyotes. He said another big problem is with neighborhood pet dogs that are allowed to run free, often joining in packs to hunt.
Nimmons said that although the dog was not wearing a collar, he did not expect it to attack because it looked like a black Labrador retriever.
"I always thought Labs were supposed to be gentle," he said.
The injury won't curtail his wrestling, however.
"It should not have me out of commission but a week or two."
Then he'll be ready for his next opponent. Just nobody named Cujo, please.
Seriously, though, I had a good time. The short version of "What I did on my vacation" is that if you are a casual to fairly serious bicyclist, I highly recommend taking a trip with Backroads. They're very good at what they do and make for a great bicycling vacation. If you are ever in Whitefish, Montana, I highly recommend checking out the Great Northern Brewing Company, specifically their Black Star Beer. If you had checked out their live WebCams on Saturday at around 12:15 p.m. Mountain Daylight Time, you would have seen me sitting at the bar.