History Wrestling / FreddieBlassie

The Wise Men (Blassie, [[Wrestling/CaptainLouAlbano Captain Lou]], and [[Wrestling/TheGrandWizard Ernie "Grand Wizard" Roth]]) managed the {{heel}}s in the [=70s and early 80s.=] "Classy" Blasse was a [[WhenEldersAttack cane-wielding Man's Man]] who could beat up {{Yakuza}} members. If you were a heel and being managed by the triumverate, you were guaranteed to get booed out of every building, every night, in any town.

** He retired from active competition in '74 (as California State law required) and became one of the original top three heel managers there, along with Captan Lou (who had in fact previously managed Blassie). His biggest successes as a manager, though short-lived, both involved Wrestling/TheIronSheik. He retired from managing in 1986, but was kept on as an on-air personality until his passing.

* WrestlingMonster: He was notorious for his viciousness in the ring. When Blassie was wrestling in Japan, he utilized a particularly brutal style, particularly in his matches with Rikidozan. It was so barbaric (for the time) that, halfway through the rematch, more than one fan had a fatal heart attack when Blassie busted him open.

** Wrestling/{{Rikidozan}} or John Tolos. Fun Fact: Blassie also helped established Japanese pro wrestling by having high-profile matches with Rikidozen. Blassie, an American at a wrestling event in California, was such a hated heel that they still booed him and cheered Rikidozan. Yeah, Rikidozan is a cultural icon back home, but this is 1962 American fans we're talking about.

* TheTeetotaller: He never drank a drop of alcohol in his life. After seeing what it did to his father, who was an abusive alcoholic, he swore off of it for good.

With the exception of Roth, each wrestled before they became managers. Blassie in particular had a long, storied career, becoming the top heel in UsefulNotes/LosAngeles for a long time. Worked a lot of very bloody matches, and was considered one of the great brawlers of his day. He had so much [[CheapHeat heat]] that it was reported that he gave viewers heart attacks in Japan after a match in which he drew blood from Japanese wrestling icon Wrestling/{{Rikidozan}}. Yeah, that's right, [[TheFourthWallWillNotProtectYou people literally died]] from his heat. The man was stabbed a few times and even had acid thrown at him because of his heel work. He was so hated that at one point, fans torched his car. Someone from the Creator/RatPack nearly murdered him backstage for the stuff he said about Wrestling/BrunoSammartino. He is even a recurring villain in ''Manga/TigerMask''.

** His album, also featuring "Pencil Neck Geek," was called ''I Bite The Songs.''

** According to his biography, he one decked a pair of drunken Yakuza on a tour of Japan, not knowing who they were. ("I jumped up and zapped the other one with a real flying dropkick...") He was politely 'asked' to visit their ''oyabun''... just so he could meet the fearsome Freddie Blassie and tell him what a fan he was.

The Wise Men (Blassie, [[Wrestling/CaptainLouAlbano Captain Lou]], and Ernie "Grand Wizard" Roth) managed the {{heel}}s in the [=70s and early 80s.=] "Classy" Blasse was a [[WhenEldersAttack cane-wielding Man's Man]] who could beat up {{Yakuza}} members. If you were a heel and being managed by the triumverate, you were guaranteed to get booed out of every building, every night, in any town.

* ShoutOut: Music/{{REM}}'s "Man on the Moon", about Creator/AndyKaufman, referenced the movie they made together, ''My Breakfast with Blassie''.
-->"Mr. Fred Blassie and the ''Breakfast'' mess, yeah yeah yeah yeah"

* CatchPhrase: "Listen, you pencil-neck geeks...". It's even the title of his autobiography, the cover of which provides the page photo. While he was wrestling at carnivals, he noticed a [=geek=] performer with a neck which looked like a stack of dimes, which inspired the term.

With the exception of Roth, each wrestled before they became managers. Blassie in particular had a long, storied career, becoming the top heel in UsefulNotes/LosAngeles for a long time. Worked a lot of very bloody matches, and was considered one of the great brawlers of his day. People today talk about "[[CheapHeat heat]]" like they know about heat. Fred Blassie had so much heat that he gave viewers heart attacks in Japan. [[TheFourthWallWillNotProtectYou People literally died]] from his heat. The man was stabbed a few times and even had acid thrown at him because of his heel work. He was so hated that at one point, fans torched his car. Someone from the Creator/RatPack nearly murdered him backstage for the stuff he said about [[Wrestling/BrunoSammartino Sammartino.]] He is even a recurring villain in ''Manga/TigerMask''.

Fred is the subject of ''My Breakfast with Blassie'', a low-budget parody of ''My Dinner with Andre'' (co-starring Creator/AndyKaufman as his wrestling persona). Apart from his wrestling career, he recorded a novelty song called "Pencil Neck Geek", which was popular on ''[[Creator/DrDemento The Dr. Demento Show]]''.

* BorrowedCatchphrase His last-recorded words on television were "'''[[Wrestling/TheDudleyBoys D'VON! GET THE TABLES!]]'''"
* TheCameo:
** He passed not too terribly long after the [=InVasion=]. There were a few great moments sprinkled throughout this dud of a storyline. Blasse's locker room pep-talk was one.

* {{Catchphrase}}:
** "Listen, you pencil-neck geeks...". It's even the title of his autobiography, the cover of which provides the page photo.*
** While he was wrestling at carnivals, he noticed a [=geek=] performer with a neck which looked like a stack of dimes, which inspired the term.
** He became a manager because California law prohibited anyone over 55 from getting or having a wrestling license.
* TheDandy:One of his early nicknames was "The Hollywood Fashion Plate"

* PassingTheTorch: The poem he composed for ''Wrestling/WrestleMania XVI''. In the late [=90s=] the WWF was all about saying the stars from the 80s had their time but it was over and this new breed of star was the future of wrestling. (Pretty ironic that the business fell over in the early [=2000s=], and now it's all about the nostalgia acts beating up the younger stars.)

* TheRival: Wrestling/{{Rikidozan}} or John Tolos. Fun Fact: Blassie also helped established Japanese pro wrestling by having high-profile matches with Rikidozen.
** Blassie, an American at a wrestling event in California, was such a hated heel that they still booed him and cheered Rikidozan. Yeah, Rikidozan is a cultural icon back home, but this is 1962 American fans we're talking about.

* RetiredBadass:
** He had a funny comeback for Bischoff in a backstage segment preceding that promo. Eric tells Blassie that he has a great idea for him inside the arena. Blassie's reply? "What are you gonna do, hang yourself?" Just perfect.
** It was really unsettling when [[Wrestling/StephanieMcMahon Stephanie]] and Wrestling/ShaneMcMahon cornered him after the show and said that, like the WWF, he'd soon be dead. He wrote about it in his book. Fred knew it was to further the angle, but he was put off by it. Mostly because he couldn't wrap his head around it being the same two kids he used to see around the WWF offices.
* RousingSpeech: Blassie standing up from his wheelchair. Watch as Kurt Angle goes nuts.

** Freddie Blassie sings [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N89PtR8DZds "Blassie, King Of Men"]]

Frederick Kenneth "Freddie" Blassie (February 8, 1918 – June 2, 2003) was an American {{professional wrestl|ing}}er and manager best known for his work in the World Wide Wrestling Federation, later known as {{Wrestling/WWE}}. Blassie was inducted into the WWF Hall of Fame in '94.

With the exception of Roth, each wrestled before they became managers. Blassie in particular had a long, storied career, becoming the top heel in UsefulNotes/LosAngeles for a long time. Worked a lot of very bloody matches, and was considered one of the great brawlers of his day. People today talk about "heat" like they know about heat. Fred Blassie had so much heat that he gave viewers heart attacks in Japan. [[TheFourthWallWillNotProtectYou People literally died]] from his heat. The man was stabbed a few times and even had acid thrown at him because of his heel work. He was so hated that at one point, fans torched his car. Someone from the Creator/RatPack nearly murdered him backstage for the stuff he said about [[Wrestling/BrunoSammartino Sammartino.]] He is even a recurring villain in ''Manga/TigerMask''.

* MeanCharacterNiceActor:
** To the degree that his young Japanese wife had to ''defend'' him as being this to her mother, according to his book.
** Teetotaler, too, if you can believe it. He was a dirty man of clean living. (His father was an abusive drunk, that is until a teenage Freddie threatened his father with a baseball bat. It's why Blassie never touched alcohol.)
** According to the book, Joey Bishop of The Rat Pack was backstage hanging out with Sammartino. Blassie, in-character, began insulting Sammartino for fun. Bishop took offense and looked like he was about to pull a gun from his jacket. Bruno and Blassie made quick eye contact, and Bruno (keeping {{kayfabe}}) calmed Bishop down by saying he'd deal with Blassie in the ring.

The Wise Men (Blassie, [[Wrestling/CaptainLouAlbano Captain Lou]], and Ernie "Grand Wizard" Roth) managed the {{heel}}s in the [=70s and early 80s.=] "Classy" Blasse was a [[WhenEldersAttack cane-wielding Man's Man]] who could beat up {{Yakuza}} members. If you were a {{heel}} and being managed by the triumverate, you were guaranteed to get booed out of every building, every night, in any town.

Fred is the subject of ''My Breakfast with Blassie'', a low-budget parody of ''My Dinner with Andre'' (co-starring Creator/AndyKaufman as his wrestling persona). Apart from his wrestling career, he recorded a novelty song called "Pencil Neck Geek", which was popular ''[[Creator/DrDemento The Dr. Demento Show]]''.

->''"Pencil neck geek, grit eatin' freak\\
scum suckin', pea head with a lousy physique\\

* BadassBaritone: In his book, he claimed to have a "leather lung voice."

* {{Catchphrase}}: "Listen, you pencil-neck geeks...". It's even the title of his autobiography, the cover of which provides the page photo.

* EvilVsEvil:
** He had a funny comeback for Bischoff in a backstage segment preceding that promo. Eric tells Blassie that he has a great idea for him inside the arena. Blassie's reply? "What are you gonna do, hang yourself?" Just perfect.
** It was really unsettling when [[Wrestling/StephanieMcMahon Stephanie]] and Wrestling/ShaneMcMahon cornered him after the show and said that, like the WWF, he'd soon be dead. He wrote about it in his book. Fred knew it was to further the angle, but he was put off by it. Mostly because he couldn't wrap his head around it being the same two kids he used to see around the WWF offices.

* RealLifeWritesThePlot: While he was wrestling at carnivals, he saw a [=geek=] performer with a neck that looked like a stack of dimes, leading to his "Pencil-Neck Geek" [=catchphrase=].
** He became a manager because California law prohibited anyone over 55 from getting or having a wrestling license.
* RedBaron: "Classy"
* RetiredBadass[=/=]ScrewPolitenessImASenior: As a manager.

* TheRival: Wrestling/{{Rikidozan}} or John Tolos.

The Wise Men (Blassie, [[Wrestling/CaptainLouAlbano Captain Lou]], and Ernie "Grand Wizard" Roth) managed the {{heel}}s in the [=70s and early 80s.=] "Classy" Blasse was a [[WhenEldersAttack cane-wielding Man's Man]] who could beat up {{Yakuza}} members. If you were a {{heel}} and being managed by the Triumverate, you were guaranteed to get booed out of every building, every night, in any town.

* RatedMForManly:
** Freddie Blassie sings [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N89PtR8DZds "Blassie, King Of Men"]]
** According to his biography, he one decked a pair of drunken Yakuza on a tour of Japan, not knowing who they were. ("I jumped up and zapped the other one with a real flying dropkick...") He was politely 'asked' to visit their ''oyabun''... just so he could meet the fearsome Freddie Blassie and tell him what a fan he was.

** According to his biography, he one decked a pair of drunken Yakuza on a tour of Japan, not knowing who they were. (""I jumped up and zapped the other one with a real flying dropkick..." He was politely 'asked' to visit their ''oyabun''... just so he could meet the fearsome Freddie Blassie and tell him what a fan he was.

Frederick Kenneth "Freddie" Blassie (February 8, 1918 – June 2, 2003) was an American {{professional wrestl|ing}}er and manager from UsefulNotes/StLouis, MO. He debuted in 1935 working the carnival circuit and went from there to work in the St. Louis and Kansas City promotions, since this was before there were technically even ''territories.'' He served in UsefulNotes/WorldWarII and came back with a "Sailor" Fred Blassie gimmick that didn't get over. His first proper territory was UsefulNotes/LosAngeles, and he fell in love with the city. He also worked heavily in Georgia and in Japan. He arrived in Wrestling/{{WWE}}, then the WWWF, where he feuded with Wrestling/BrunoSammartino over the [[http://www.wrestling-titles.com/wwe/wwe-h.html WWE World Heavyweight Title]]. He retired from active competition in 1974 and became one of the original top three heel managers there, along with Wrestling/CaptainLouAlbano (who had in fact previously managed Blassie) and the Grand Wizard. His biggest successes as a manager, though short-lived, both involved Wrestling/TheIronSheik. On December 26, 1983, he was in the Iron Sheik's corner when he defeated Wrestling/BobBacklund for the [[http://www.wrestling-titles.com/wwe/wwe-h.html WWE World Heavyweight Title]]. Blassie was there when the Iron Sheik and Wrestling/NikolaiVolkoff defeated the U.S. Express (Wrestling/BarryWindham and Wrestling/MikeRotunda) (w[=/=]Albano) for the [[http://www.wrestling-titles.com/wwe/wwe-world-t.html WWE World Tag Team Titles]] at the first ''Wrestling/{{WrestleMania}}'', March 31, 1985. He retired from managing in 1986, originally giving half of control of his stable (Sheiky, Volkoff and Hercules) to the debuting Slick, though Hercules was switched to [[Wrestling/BobbyHeenan the Heenan Family]]. He remained employed as a personality all the way to his passing in 2003. His last TV appearance came on the May 12th ''Raw.'' ''Raw'' [[CorruptCorporateExecutive General Manager]] Wrestling/EricBischoff was about to send 3 Minute Warning (Wrestling/{{Rico|Constantino}}, Rosey and [[Wrestling/{{Umaga}} Jamal]]) to attack the wheelchair-bound Blassie when Wrestling/StoneColdSteveAustin, then the [[ReasonableAuthorityFigure co-General Manager]] and "Sheriff" of ''Raw'', confronted Bischoff and told him that he had just un-suspended Wrestling/TheDudleyBoys, who made the save. The Dudleys gave Jamal the "[=Whazzup=]" headbutt and Blassie said, [[BorrowedCatchphrase "D-VON, GET THE TABLES!"]] The Dudleys obliged, putting Rico through the table with the Dudley Death Drop. Blassie passed away on June 2. Among his in-ring achievements, he was a '''17x''' [[http://www.wrestling-titles.com/us/ga/nwa/ga-south-h.html NWA Southern (Georgia) Heavyweight Champion]] and a 4x [[http://www.wrestling-titles.com/us/ca/s/wwa/wwa-h.html WWA (Los Angeles) World Heavyweight Champion]]. He was inducted into the ''[[Wrestling/TheWrestlingObserverNewsletter Wrestling Observer Newsletter]]'' Hall of Fame in 1996. Along with his wrestling career, he recorded a novelty song called "Pencil Neck Geek" that was popular on radio's ''[[Creator/DrDemento The Dr. Demento Show]]'', and was a recurring character in ''Manga/TigerMask''.

As usual, you can find the basics at [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Freddie_Blassie The Other Wiki]].

!! "Read my tropes, you pencil neck geeks!":
* ArchEnemy: Wrestling/{{Rikidozan}} or John Tolos. Outside of the ring, he is on the list of wrestlers, along with Wrestling/MickFoley and Wrestling/ChrisJericho generations later, who had negative opinions about Mil Mascaras. He didn't think too highly of Wrestling/AntonioInoki either, and even supported UsefulNotes/MuhammadAli in his infamous "match" with Inoki.

** Don't forget his appearance with AndyKaufman in ''Film/MyBreakfastWithBlassie''.
* AwesomeMomentOfCrowning: Inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame in 1994.
* BloodKnight: He was notorious for his viciousness in the ring.
* CaneFu: His WeaponOfChoice

* {{CatchPhrase}}: "Listen, You Pencil-Neck Geeks". It doubles as the title of his [[{{Biography}} autobiography]].
* CheapHeat: So, so much, and he'd adjust it to fit whatever audience he was in front of at the time. The cover of his autobiography even provides the ''page photo.''
* DomesticAbuse: Not him, but his father to his mother, until [[CallingTheOldManOut he threatened to hit his father]] [[BatterUp with a baseball bat]] when he was 13. It's why Blassie never touched alcohol.

* {{Heel}}: Almost always a constant. May be one of the reasons why his [[AllAmericanFace "Sailor" Freddie Blassie]] gimmick didn't work.
** ForeignWrestlingHeel: In Japan. He also managed several (Sheiky, Volkoff, Wrestling/{{Kamala}}, Wrestling/KillerKhan...) ''Was'' sort of one during his stint managing the IronSheik, when he was dubbed Ayatollah Blassie.
* InkSuitActor: In ''Manga/TigerMask''.
* ManBitesMan: A staple of his offense. One of his nicknames during his in-ring career was "The Vampire." His album, featuring "Pencil Neck Geek," was called ''I Bite The Songs.''
* MeanCharacterNiceActor: To the degree that his young Japanese wife had to ''defend'' him as being this to her mother, according to his book.
* MyNameIsNotDurwood: Some sources list his name as Fred ''[=Blassman=].''
* NoIndoorVoice: In his book, he claimed to have a "leather lung voice."
* NoSell: In Blassie's book, Killer Khan talks about growing up watching Blassie's matches with Rikidozan and seeing Blassie do this.
* PowerTrio: Was part of the unofficial Evil Trio of heel managers in the 70s and early 80s with CaptainLouAlbano and TheGrandWizard.

* RoyalsWhoActuallyDoSomething: One of his nicknames was [[TheXOfY "The King of Men"]].
* SharpDressedMan: One of his early nicknames was "The Hollywood Fashion Plate"

* SignatureMove: [[PressurePoint The Stomach Clawhold]].
* TheTeetotaler: If you can believe it, dirty man of clean living
* UnrelatedBrothers: As Fred [=McDaniel=] with Billy [=McDaniel=] as the [=McDaniel=] Brothers.
* UsefulNotes/YanksWithTanks: Served as a Naval Officer in World War II
* {{Yakuza}}: According to his biography, he one decked a pair of drunken Yakuza on a tour of Japan, not knowing who they were. He was 'asked' to visit their ''oyabun''... simply so he could meet the fearsome Freddie Blassie and tell him what a fan he was.

-->''"Pencil neck geek, grit eatin' freak\\

-->"''Pencil neck geek, grit eatin' freak\\

Nothin' but a pencil neck geek.''"


[[quoteright:200:http://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/freddieblassie_2765.jpg]]


Freddie Blassie (1918-2003) was an American {{Professional Wrestl|ing}}er and manager from UsefulNotes/StLouis, MO. He debuted in 1935 working the carnival circuit and went from there to work in the St. Louis and Kansas City promotions, since this was before there were technically even ''territories.'' He served in UsefulNotes/WorldWarII and came back with a "Sailor" Fred Blassie gimmick that didn't get over. His first proper territory was UsefulNotes/LosAngeles, and he fell in love with the city. He also worked heavily in Georgia and in Japan. He arrived in Wrestling/{{WWE}}, then the WWWF, where he feuded with Wrestling/BrunoSammartino over the [[http://www.wrestling-titles.com/wwe/wwe-h.html WWE World Heavyweight Title]]. He retired from active competition in 1974 and became one of the original top three heel managers there, along with Wrestling/CaptainLouAlbano (who had in fact previously managed Blassie) and the Grand Wizard. His biggest successes as a manager, though short-lived, both involved Wrestling/TheIronSheik. On December 26, 1983, he was in the Iron Sheik's corner when he defeated Wrestling/BobBacklund for the [[http://www.wrestling-titles.com/wwe/wwe-h.html WWE World Heavyweight Title]]. Blassie was there when the Iron Sheik and Wrestling/NikolaiVolkoff defeated the U.S. Express (Wrestling/BarryWindham and Wrestling/MikeRotunda) (w[=/=]Albano) for the [[http://www.wrestling-titles.com/wwe/wwe-world-t.html WWE World Tag Team Titles]] at the first ''Wrestling/{{WrestleMania}}'', March 31, 1985. He retired from managing in 1986, originally giving half of control of his stable (Sheiky, Volkoff and Hercules) to the debuting Slick, though Hercules was switched to [[Wrestling/BobbyHeenan the Heenan Family]]. He remained employed as a personality all the way to his passing in 2003. His last TV appearance came on the May 12th ''Raw.'' ''Raw'' [[CorruptCorporateExecutive General Manager]] Wrestling/EricBischoff was about to send 3 Minute Warning (Wrestling/{{Rico|Constantino}}, Rosey and [[Wrestling/{{Umaga}} Jamal]]) to attack the wheelchair-bound Blassie when Wrestling/StoneColdSteveAustin, then the [[ReasonableAuthorityFigure co-General Manager]] and "Sheriff" of ''Raw'', confronted Bischoff and told him that he had just un-suspended Wrestling/TheDudleyBoys, who made the save. The Dudleys gave Jamal the "[=Whazzup=]" headbutt and Blassie said, [[BorrowedCatchphrase "D-VON, GET THE TABLES!"]] The Dudleys obliged, putting Rico through the table with the Dudley Death Drop. Blassie passed away on June 2. Among his in-ring achievements, he was a '''17x''' [[http://www.wrestling-titles.com/us/ga/nwa/ga-south-h.html NWA Southern (Georgia) Heavyweight Champion]] and a 4x [[http://www.wrestling-titles.com/us/ca/s/wwa/wwa-h.html WWA (Los Angeles) World Heavyweight Champion]]. He was inducted into the ''[[Wrestling/TheWrestlingObserverNewsletter Wrestling Observer Newsletter]]'' Hall of Fame in 1996. Along with his wrestling career, he recorded a novelty song called "Pencil Neck Geek" that was popular on radio's ''[[Creator/DrDemento The Dr. Demento Show]]'', and was a recurring character in ''Manga/TigerMask''.

!!! "Read my tropes, you pencil neck geeks!":

* AsHimself: On the 1962 ''Series/TheDickVanDykeShow'' ProWrestlingEpisode "The Twizzle."

* {{Yakuza}}: According to his biography, he one decked a pair of drunken Yakuza on a tour of Japan, not knowing who they were. He was 'asked' to visit ther ''oyabun''... simply so he could meet the fearsome Freddie Blassie and tell him what a fan he was.

* {{Yakuza}}: According to his biography, he one decked a pair of drunken Yakuza on a tour of Japan, not knowing who they were. He was 'asked' to visit ther ''oyabun''... simply so he could meet thre fearsome Freddie Blassie and tell him what a fan he was.

* UsefulNotes/YanksWithTanks: Served as a Naval Officer in World War II

'''Freddie Blassie''' (1918-2003) was an American {{Professional Wrestl|ing}}er and manager from UsefulNotes/StLouis, MO. He debuted in 1935 working the carnival circuit and went from there to work in the St. Louis and Kansas City promotions, since this was before there were technically even ''territories.'' He served in UsefulNotes/WorldWarII and came back with a "Sailor" Fred Blassie gimmick that didn't get over. His first proper territory was UsefulNotes/LosAngeles, and he fell in love with the city. He also worked heavily in Georgia and in Japan. He arrived in Wrestling/{{WWE}}, then the WWWF, where he feuded with Wrestling/BrunoSammartino over the [[http://www.wrestling-titles.com/wwe/wwe-h.html WWE World Heavyweight Title]]. He retired from active competition in 1974 and became one of the original top three heel managers there, along with Wrestling/CaptainLouAlbano (who had in fact previously managed Blassie) and the Grand Wizard. His biggest successes as a manager, though short-lived, both involved Wrestling/TheIronSheik. On December 26, 1983, he was in the Iron Sheik's corner when he defeated Wrestling/BobBacklund for the [[http://www.wrestling-titles.com/wwe/wwe-h.html WWE World Heavyweight Title]]. Blassie was there when the Iron Sheik and Wrestling/NikolaiVolkoff defeated the U.S. Express (Wrestling/BarryWindham and Wrestling/MikeRotunda) (w[=/=]Albano) for the [[http://www.wrestling-titles.com/wwe/wwe-world-t.html WWE World Tag Team Titles]] at the first ''Wrestling/{{WrestleMania}}'', March 31, 1985. He retired from managing in 1986, originally giving half of control of his stable (Sheiky, Volkoff and Hercules) to the debuting Slick, though Hercules was switched to [[Wrestling/BobbyHeenan the Heenan Family]]. He remained employed as a personality all the way to his passing in 2003. His last TV appearance came on the May 12th ''Raw.'' ''Raw'' [[CorruptCorporateExecutive General Manager]] Wrestling/EricBischoff was about to send 3 Minute Warning (Wrestling/{{Rico|Constantino}}, Rosey and [[Wrestling/{{Umaga}} Jamal]]) to attack the wheelchair-bound Blassie when Wrestling/StoneColdSteveAustin, then the [[ReasonableAuthorityFigure co-General Manager]] and "Sheriff" of ''Raw'', confronted Bischoff and told him that he had just un-suspended Wrestling/TheDudleyBoys, who made the save. The Dudleys gave Jamal the "[=Whazzup=]" headbutt and Blassie said, [[BorrowedCatchphrase "D-VON, GET THE TABLES!"]] The Dudleys obliged, putting Rico through the table with the Dudley Death Drop. Blassie passed away on June 2. Among his in-ring achievements, he was a '''17x''' [[http://www.wrestling-titles.com/us/ga/nwa/ga-south-h.html NWA Southern (Georgia) Heavyweight Champion]] and a 4x [[http://www.wrestling-titles.com/us/ca/s/wwa/wwa-h.html WWA (Los Angeles) World Heavyweight Champion]]. He was inducted into the ''[[Wrestling/TheWrestlingObserverNewsletter Wrestling Observer Newsletter]]'' Hall of Fame in 1996. Along with his wrestling career, he recorded a novelty song called "Pencil Neck Geek" that was popular on radio's ''[[Creator/DrDemento The Dr. Demento Show]]'', and was a recurring character in ''Manga/TigerMask''.

* ViewersAreMorons: Well, at least, viewers probably weren't up on current events. This was his reasoning why he felt it would be more powerful for him to wear a ''keffiyeh'' and call himself "Ayatollah" Freddie Blassie when he was managing the Iron Sheik than if Sheiky had had the actual Ayatollah Khomeini, at the time the ruler of Iran, in the ring with him.