Legend

[Chicopee John]

WWE wrestling great, former NRBQ manager Lou Albano dies at 76

By Staff and wire reports October 14, 2009, 1:57PM

STAMFORD, Conn. -- The WWE is reporting that Captain Lou Albano has died at the age of 76.

Louis Vincent Albano is best known to fans of professional wrestling, where he was both a wrestler and manager in the 1980s.

He also served as one-time manager of the rock band NRBQ. They recorded the song "Captain Lou."

Some say the man's not wrapped too tight,

Captain Lou, Captain Lou, Captain Lou

But when he's on the scene, everything's alright,

Captain Lou, Captain Lou Albano.

Albano crossed over into other areas of entertainment, including a partnership with singer Cyndi Lauper, and was one of the reasons the initial Wrestlemania in 1985 was such a success.

Albano played Lauper's father in a handful of music videos, the most famous being "Girls Just Wanna Have Fun."

In the video for "Good Enough" from the film, "The Goonies," Albano appears with wrestlers the Iron Sheik, Rowdy Roddy Piper and Classy Freddie Blassie, among others. It also involved the cast of the movie and cameo by Steven Spielberg.

[Kosar_For_President]

He's not dead yet? And with disrespect, wrestling is a joke and so are the people who watch it. If you are over 8 years old and still watching wrestling, you got problems.

[Chicopee John]

Clearly you two guys are way too young to truly appreciate such an iconic figure.

[Kosar_For_President]

@chicopee-john said:

Clearly you two guys are way too young to truly appreciate such an iconic figure.

You use Iconic very lose here John. I remember him and his greasy rubber banded beard. I sort of grew out of idolizing actors when I turned 10. Don't make me pull a 2 x 4 out and go Hacksaw Duggan on you.

[Masters]

@inspecta said:

Guys guys guys......I get where John's coming from. Yeah we know how ridiculous wrestling is now that we are grown up. But when you were a kid wrestling was the shit. I remember back i the 80's before there was RAW on every monday night, they would have PRIMETIME wrestling events on NBC, and it was usually Hulk Hogan and his crew vs Rowdy Roddy Piper and his heels. It was good stuff back in the day.

Wasn't Lou in a Cindy Lauper video?

It's nostalgic fellas, nothing more.....and yet another sign we're all getting old...

Yes that was Lou in Cindy Laupers girls just wanna have fun video.

Wrestling may be rediculous, but it still manages to be one of the highest rated programs on cable each week. Its a soap opera with men in tights.

I'll also say, if you have ever gone and seen it live, you'll understand the entertainment factor, and the physical ability. Heck, the UFC champion was a WWE wrestler.

[c-dawg]

Stan "The Man" Stasiak

Johnny Rodriquez

The Iron Sheik

Captain Lou

Peter Maivia

George 'The Animal" Steele

Mr Wrestling

Bruno Samartino

Damn, wasted some serious time as a child.

RIP Captain Lou, you were one strange dude.

[razor1414]

[beefjerky]

@kosar_for_president said:

He's not dead yet? And with disrespect, wrestling is a joke and so are the people who watch it. If you are over 8 years old and still watching wrestling, you got problems.

there's a difference between WWE and olympic/college wrestling, so clarify it next time.

[Kosar_For_President]

@beefjerky said:

there's a difference between WWE and olympic/college wrestling, so clarify it next time.

I concur.

[Brownshirt]

c-dawg said:

Stan "The Man" Stasiak

Johnny Rodriquez

The Iron Sheik

Captain Lou

Peter Maivia

George 'The Animal" Steele

Mr Wrestling

Bruno Samartino

Damn, wasted some serious time as a child.

RIP Captain Lou, you were one strange dude.

Gorgeous George

BoBo Brazil

Hans Schmidt

Lord Layton

Wow thanks for the memories, I had forgetten.

[ballpeen]

@danamal said:

Half naked hillbilly dudes

Hillbillies are what will save this country, just as they did in the beginning..."Over Mountainmen" if you need a example, so i just wanted to register my exception as a guy who considers himself a Tennessean.

That said, I agree, pro wresting is pretty lame.

[dencyguy]

@beefjerky said:

>>He's not dead yet? And with disrespect, wrestling is a joke and so are the people who watch it. If you are over 8 years old and still watching wrestling, you got problems.<<

there's a difference between WWE and olympic/college wrestling, so clarify it next time.

Very true. WWE is for the people who prefer to mask their homoerotic leanings.

In seriousness, though, I haven't watched wrestling in years, but Captain Lou was one of my favorites as a kid. I always liked the older guys (Albano, Freddie Blassie, Gorilla Monsoon, etc.), from the old days where wrestling was just a bunch of pretty out-of-shape guys whaling on each other for our amusement rather than today's hyper-steroided physical freaks who end up either killing their families, racking up DUIs and then wrestling for Jesus, or writing memoirs about how wrestling helped them to learn the core values that will help re-shape the American political landscape.

Also, wrestling might be choreographed, but it's not close to fake. If you go see "Hamlet" and then see the actor playing the role the next day, do you go to the theatre and demand your money back? It's a performance, and a lot of the people involved wreck their bodies pulling it off. Rent "The Wrestler" sometime. Not just because it shows the behind-the-scenes stuff, but also because it's just a really good movie.

Dennis

RIP, Captain.

[dencyguy]

It's just as real as every other kind of performance; it just suffers from the fact that one portion of the population thinks that the outcomes of the matches aren't pre-determined and a larger portion scoffs at how anyone could be so dense as to not understand that.

It's not a sport, but it isn't fake either. It's a real performance, just like other kinds of acting, writing, and all sorts of other performances. If it were fake, then the guys who do it for a couple of decades wouldn't be getting around on walkers. Okay, it's probably irrelevant to the discussion at hand, but I feel obligated to throw in one of my favorite videos, of Dr. Death going all Tom Cable on John Stossel. Sure it's an assault that should probably be condemned, but just like the video of Buzz Aldrin nailing the Moon Landing Hoax guy, there's just something viscerally pleasing about John Stossel getting slapped:

Dennis

[Next Year]

Legend, I though this thread was about Quinn for a second