McRonald Kamaka, 70, aka, Tor Kamata, professional wrestler
Hoodude
John Gormley, The StarPhoenix
Published: Friday, July 27, 2007
http://www.canada.com/saskatoonstarphoenix/news/story.html
In a simpler time, there were good guys and bad guys. Good guys
ultimately won. Evil didn't triumph -- at least not for too long.
When we were young, nothing painted virtue and evil more vividly than
Stampede Wrestling. Come to think of it, I can't remember many of the
good guys.
But oh how the bad guys remain. Long before White House speechwriters
coined the term "axis of evil," there was an axis of evil all right.
And it happened every week on TV.
Names like Abdullah the Butcher, The Sheik, Killer Karl Krupp, the
Great Mephisto and Tweet Tweet Tomasso -- they were all mean, all
heels and we couldn't stop watching.
But there was the one bad guy we all mimicked -- Tor Kamata.
A 350-pound giant, Kamata -- supposedly Japanese but actually Hawaiian
-- would often promise ring announcer Ed Whalen exotic gifts and silks
from Japan and the Orient.
But being a heel, Kamata would weasel out of his promises with the
memorable words "no chancee Mis-tah Whalen." This became his trademark.
And, for a time, everyone from kids to teachers and even parents would
often prefer the "no chancee" retort to just saying no.
Most engaging about Kamata was that he seemed to be in on the joke.
Although he'd be gouging opponents with foreign objects or roughing up
Whalen, there was always a twinkle in his eye like he was secretly
letting you in on the possibility that just maybe this stuff wasn't
real or that he might have been putting on an act.
Named for Torquemada, the grand inquisitor of the Spanish Inquisition,
Kamata's barefoot persona and famous signature quote lives to this day.
So imagine my surprise at what happened after reading an unobtrusive
obituary in The StarPhoenix for 70-year-old McRonald Kamaka.
According to his friends, Kamaka was a quiet and dignified man who was
also a faithful and dedicated Jehovah's Witness. A large, gentle
Hawaiian by birth, Kamaka had lived for years in Saskatoon.
And, according to one of his friends, he had "some kind of past in
wrestling." So, after a bit of checking around, the light finally came on.
It turns out that the easy going, good-natured retiree who was also
renowned for his warmth, compassion and love of people (not to mention
cooking) was actually none other than wrestling bad guy Tor Kamata.
Who'd have thought -- all these years the guy lived literally just up
the street from where I work.
This man will not be forgotten, not by me. No chancee.
--
A Las Vegas "8" is a Cincinnati "11"
~~ Artie Lange
Hoodude
http://slam.canoe.ca/Slam/Wrestling/Microgalleries/TorKamata/
related article:
Tor Kamata dead at 70 -
http://slam.canoe.ca/Slam/Wrestling/2007/07/26/4370780.html
--
A recent study found the average American walks about 900 miles per year.
Another study found Americans drink, on average, 22 gallons of beer a
year.
That means, on average, Americans get about 41 miles to the gallon.
Kind Of Makes You Proud To Be American.
Charlene
> Evil Kamata's dignified exit
>
> John Gormley, The StarPhoenix
>
> In a simpler time, there were good guys and bad guys. Good guys
> ultimately won. Evil didn't triumph -- at least not for too long.
>
> When we were young, nothing painted virtue and evil more vividly than
> Stampede Wrestling. Come to think of it, I can't remember many of the
> good guys.
That's because the good guys were the bad guys. They put on the
costume and makeup and became Abdullah the Butcher (whom I believe was
the Jewish wrestler from the Bronx who gave my mother a pet cat) and
The Sheik. Without the makeup they were the nobodies who came to
contest the bad guys, and who always lost.
I still remember J.R. Foley, a 'manager' who dressed on various
occasions as Hirohito and Hitler before changing his image for a few
weeks to clean-cut cowboy - just before he ran for mayor.
wd43