LAS VEGAS—Lou Thesz would be proud.
The legendary world champion knew Kurt Angle was the real deal when he saw him named a future legend at the annual Cauliflower Alley Club reunion, which Thesz headed, more than two decades ago.
On Aug. 21, Angle received the Lou Thesz/Art Abrams Lifetime Achievement Award on the second of two nights of honors at the club’s 58th reunion.
As the finale to the banquet at the Plaza Hottel & Casino, Angle recalled the first time he met Thesz. “Our eyes locked and he said, ‘Finally,’” Angle said. “Two guys from different generations. That’s how he felt about me and how I felt about him.”
In case there was any doubt that the former Olympic and pro wrestling world champion followed in Thesz’s footsteps, John Bradshaw Layfield erased him when he introduced Angle at the banquet.
“There’s eight billion people on the planet. He was the best of eight billion people. That’s alien, it’s so good,” Layfield said.
More than 300 fans, wrestlers, referees, office personnel and devotees joined the festivities and emcee Debrah “Madusa” Miceli credited them with boosting the club and firming its place in the wrestling community. “You are now a part of the history that is rich, diverse and filled with unforgettable moments,” Miceli said.
The club handed out a bevy of awards covering just about every aspect of the business. Emotions were heaviest when Marcus “Buff” Bagwell took the stage to receive the Men’s Wrestling Award nearly two years into sobriety from severe drug addiction.
Bagwell recounted how he was on top of the world with World Championship Wrestling in the 1990s, only to have his life crash and burn when he was released following WWE’s purchase of the rival company.
“It opened up hell to me,” he said, as the restraints that existed on dependencies within WCW no longer existed. “Looking back at it, I can’t even believe it.”
Bagwell credited the assistance of Diamond Dallas Page, a lot of divine intervention, the love of a girlfriend and hard work with helping him to overcome his demons. “My life is a lot better because I rolled my sleeves up.”
“As soon as you get well enough, I’m ready to put you over in another match,” said Paul Lee, a longtime friend and occasional foe in WCW who presented Bagwell.
Negro Casas, a fixture in Mexico for 45 years, took home the club’s Lucha Libre Award. Accompanied by Psycho Clown, his son-in-law, and family members, Casas thanked the club, saying he considered devoted wrestling fans to be part of his family.
Referee Bill Alfonso didn’t have his omnipresent whistle at hand, but the man who called them “right down the middle” nonetheless received the Charlie Smith Referee Award. Lifelong buddy David Sierra, aka the Cuban Assassin, introduced Alfonso, who is marking his 45th year in the business.
“Fonzie has always been there for me and I have been there for him,” Sierra said as a grateful Alfonso acknowledged applause not always directed at the third man in the ring. For his part, Alfonso confessed to being nervous the day of his recognition despite years of working in front of huge crowds in WWE and ECW.
He went out of his way to compliment everyone who helped him along his journey, even Paul Heyman, who brought him into his fledgling promotion even though Alfonso asked, “What the hell is an ECW?”
“To be honored by my peers, the guys I’ve worked with for the last 45 years is pretty damn cool,” Alfonso said.
Gary “Night Train” Jackson got hooked on St. Louis wrestling, a craze that led to 40 years on the mat and the CAC Independent Wrestling Award. Promoter Herb Simmons of Southern Illinois Championship Wrestling, praised Jackson as one of the most respectful grapplers he has encountered.
“It’s not hello,” Simmons said. “It’s, ‘Yes, Mr. Promoter, what do you need?’”
Jackson said that attitude has helped him through years on the mat in territory wrestling, major federations and the independent circuit. “There’s a lot of guys and girls that we better than me but they were never ready to go,” he said in a fiery speech. “If you can’t take hard criticism, get out right now.”
Jason Presley, a wrestling historian specializing in the Alabama territory, received the James C. Melby Award, named for one of the founding fathers of wrestling research. Presley was drawn to wrestling in the late 1980s and launched his research career with The Great Pro Wrestling Venues Volume 3 Alabama: 1931-1935, available through Crowbar Press.
Past Melby honoree Greg Oliver of SLAM! Wrestling introduced Presley, saying he is part of the brotherhood and sisterhood of researchers flipping through microfilm and decaying newspapers to document wrestling’s history.
“Wrestling history is not just what happened 80 years ago, 50 years ago or 30 years ago,” Presley, who has brought to life wrestlers and promoters in Alabama during the Depression years, told the gathering of wrestlers, fans, referees and office personnel. “It’s also what happened yesterday and it’s what is happening right now. … You all are a part of it.”
Layfield and Lex Luger received recognition through the Infinite Wellness Award, started in 2023 to bring focus to health and wellness in the wrestling community. Currently in what he calls CrossFat training, Layfield joked, “This is about to be the biggest comeback since the resurrection.”
For the second night in a row, Ata Johnson, mother of Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson led the audience in a ukulele performance that had several dignitaries, including Layfield and Angle in a hula dance.
CAC Executive Vice President Rich Ingling said the 2025 reunion is set for Aug. 18-20 at the same downtown Las Vegas venue.
TOP PHOTO: Kurt Angle on the stage, receiving the Lou Thesz/Art Abrams Lifetime Achievement Award at the Cauliflower Alley Club reunion at the Plaza Hotel & Casino in Las Vegas on Wednesday, August 21, 2024. Photo by Scott Romer
2024 CAULIFLOWER ALLEY CLUB HONOREES
- Iron Mike Mazurki Award: Sting
- Lou Thesz/Art Abrams Award: Kurt Angle
- Karl Lauer Independent Promoters’ Award: David McLane
- Jim Ross Announcers’ Award: Jim Ross
- Women’s Wrestling Award: Allison Danger
- Tag Team Award: The Dudley Boyz
- Men’s Wrestling Award: Buff Bagwell
- Lucha Libre Award: Negro Casas
- Red Bastien Friendship Award: Lori McGee Hurst
- Independent Wrestling Award: “Night Train” Gary Jackson
- Charlie Smith Referee Award: Bill “Fonzie” Alfonso
- REEL Award: Todd Bridges
- James C. Melby Historian Award: Jason Presley
- Courage Award: Black Bart (Rick Harris)
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