I recently updated my b5 profile with the intention of explaining how www.jabandgrapple.com could cover both the scripted fun of pro wrestling entertainment and the unexpected life-threating tension of professional boxing. My answer wasn’t that they both take place in rings and involve some sort of combat.

No, my explanation was that they are bookends of the sporting world with everything else existing in between their emotional bounds. Friday night was evidence of this evocative breadth. WWE’s SmackDown and ESPN’s Friday Night Fights were broadcast simultaneously and my Motorola DVR only allowed me to watch one at a time while taping both. I was forced to delve into both without distraction.

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In case you missed it, this Baltimore Sun Ring Posts blog interview with all-time pro wrestling great Bruno Sammartino is essential reading, especially for the young fans who might not remember the historic wrestling greats.

Sammartino is Mickey Mantle, he’s Willie Mays, he’s Al Kaline. He’s a throwback to the golden age of a sport before it became a money making extravaganza. Personally, I never enjoyed his 1980’s matches because I was always told about how great he was and he just seemed like a grumpy old man whose time had left him behind and who should have left ages ago. Sort of like how Ric Flair looked a few months ago.

Nevertheless, that doesn’t take away the importance of his historic role. So read up kids, the wrestling world didn’t begin with Shawn Michaels and the Undertaker.