To expand on yesterday’s article about Ernie Ladd and his vicious taped thumb, here is a match from YouTube in which Ladd trounces a blond jobber named Terry Mecca (which the production crew misspells as “Meeka” when they flash his name on the screen. Jobbers get no respect!)
Actually Terry Mecca is a very young, very blond Terry Gordy who would later attain big fat ugly Heel status. Who knew he started his career as a moppy-haired jobber in snug blue wrestling trunks!
Ernie Ladd is spectacular standing 7 feet tall with a gorgeous gold crown on his head. He is announced as the “King of Wrestling” which had to be a stiff mind-fuck for the redneck fans in attendance who paid to watch this big cocky black man strip down to his trunks and dominate a cute young blond.
The Big Cat just “eats this guy up, no trouble at all” as his Heel manager, helping with the match commentary, colorfully describes for us. In the first minute alone, Ladd:
- Kicks Mecca in the gut and face
- Strangles Mecca (who kicks his gorgeous white boots around)
- Drags him up by the hair to hiptoss him back down again
- Kneels across his throat
- Slaps him loudly across the upper chest – SMACK!
- Drives his face into the turnbuckle
- Hoists him up for a stiff Bodyslam
It’s a classic one-sided squash. Mecca is soon helpless and I love it.
Cowering in the corner, Ladd slips his hand down in his trunks for a moment, which somehow converts the thumb into a deadly weapon. Then he turns and DRIVES the point of the thumb into the jobber’s throat like a knife. Why did Ladd need to stick his hand in his pants before using the thumb as a weapon?
Was this action intended to associate Ladd’s poking thumb with the poker in his pants — to ensure the fans view the big stiff thumb as a phallic symbol?
Ladd continues to plunge his tool repeatedly into Mecca’s throat, as his dishonest manager denies that any wrong-doing is taking place: “He’s using the flat of his hand, I tell ya!”
Our attention is repeatedly drawn to that indecent, tawdry thumb and it’s potential to inflict punishment. Ladd struts around the ring sticking it out proudly, blatantly showing it to the audience before driving it, yet again, into the jobber’s soft flesh. Mecca sells the power of the thumb by flopping down helpless and exhausted after each thrust.
When Ladd rests his hand on the rope, the camera zooms in for a closer look at the tape on the thumb while the commentators repeatedly comment on it. They seem to be obsessed with it, which makes sense considering that, psychologically, Ladd’s thumb is a stand-in for his big punishing cock.
The Big Cat covers his jobber for a Count of Two, only to arrogantly pick the blondie up by the hair for more thumb abuse. The audience is angry and frustrated by this big show-off, by his domination over the white guy who has no chance of hurting Ladd in return, by his blatant cheating which the ref never seems to notice. The injustice of the situation is a recipe for a hard-on.
The “Big Cat” was given that nickname because of his surprising agility for a man his size. Watching this match, I see what they’re talking about. Here Ladd stuns Mecca (and the audience) by leaping up to dropkick him in the chest.
Later the 300+ pound behemoth climbs to the top rope to splash his massive weight down across Mecca’s body, a move which many smaller wrestlers would later copy. The impact seems so deadly and authentic when delivered by a monster like Ladd!
Obviously Ladd is the winner after that rib-crushing maneuver, which is verified by the all-capital letters spelling “WINNER” across the screen. The ref raises his arm and he sticks up his thumb, the symbol of his sexual prowess that enabled him to dominate the other man.
The defeated Terry Mecca learned a valuable lesson as he stares up at that stiff thumb looming over him. Later in his career as one of the nasty Fabulous Freebirds, Terry Gordy would torture all the young pretty-boys with his “Oriental Spike”, driving his thumb into their necks to put them to sleep. Perhaps he wanted revenge for the thumb jabs he received from Ladd in this match, or perhaps he learned the significance of using the thumb as a weapon, the sexuality of it and the fan’s obsession with penetrating attacks.
You can check out my old Wrestling Arsenal gallery #640 written back in 2005 if you want to see images of Gordy using his dreaded Oriental Spike to put some moppy-haired jobber to sleep in a Tag Team squash match.