The presidential campaign is turning out to be a battle between very opposing philosophies. The same elements that fuel the heat in a Tag Team wrestling match — the contrasts between the opponents — also makes an election campaign interesting to watch.
As the time-limit approaches, both teams will no doubt pull out all the stops, desperate to be confirmed as the Alpha Males. They will look for any weakness in their opponents and focus their attacks on the vulnerable areas. We may even see one or both teams resort to some dirty tactics to win.
Tensions were also high between Conservatives and Liberals back in 1968 when the Love Brothers entered the Tag Team wars. They portrayed a pair of hippies with their long hair, shaggy beards, and psychedelic tights.
But don’t assume the “Love Brothers” were all about peace and love. They were actually dirty cheaters who attacked with no mercy, just the sort of irony that makes wrestling fun!
In the late-60’s and early 70’s, Viet Nam was in full swing, along with the Peace Movement and anti-War protests. Tensions were high between Liberals and Conservatives, possibly worse than today. American lads were fleeing to Canada to avoid the draft, which caused a backlash of disdain from the Conservative working class folks (aka pro wrestling fans.)
Another wrestling Blogger, Bodyslam Fan, described recently how his old coach felt about long-haired hippies:
“Hippies were lazy, smelly, un-American, communists, immoral, freeloving, pot smoking, cost us the war, doing all kinds of acts against God and creation.”
Simply by entering the arena with their long hair, love beads, and flamboyant tie-dyed tights, the Love Brothers could stir up a reaction of hatred from Canadian fans. They represented an invasion of drugs, cowardice, laziness, and possibly queer sexual practices into the pristine Great White North.
Then when they pulled out the dirty tactics, taking blatant short-cuts to punish the Baby-Face opponents, the fans grew more outraged. Even their names — “Reginald” and “Hartford” — sounded elite and sissified, which inspired greater hatred from the blue-collar, working-class audience. Who could stop these dirty Hippies and restore our beloved Conservative values?
The Good Guy tag team was Raymond Rougeau and Denis Gauthier. These clean-cut, athletic young heroes represented everything good about Conservatism, Patriotism, and Straight Sex. They were masculine and fit. They wore traditional trunks and boots. They had classic French-Canadian sounding names that allowed you to really roll your tongue and ignore consonants.
Could our handsome Boys-Next-Door defend the honest, drug-free, Conservative lifestyle that was revered in 1970’s Canada? Could they defeat the filthy Love Brothers and teach them some respect for the rules of society?
This magazine article from the time describes how the fans loved and supported the young heroes, which apparently surprised the cocky Love Brothers.
Dennis Gauthier is the father of Denis Gauthier Jr. a Canadian former professional ice hockey defenceman. A first round selection of the Calgary Flames at the 1995 NHL Entry Draft, Gauthier played for the Flames, Phoenix Coyotes, Philadelphia Flyers and Los Angeles Kings. At 6’3″ 225 maybe he might want to wrestle too????