A former pro wrestler named Eddie Sharkey was bartending at Gramma B's in Northeast Minneapolis in the early 1980s when a few of the young bouncers caught his eye. Just to give you an example of the big men keeping an eye on the place, Richard Rood, even at 6'3" and 235 lbs, was still outsized by several others including Joe Laurinaitis, Michael Hegstrand, Barry Darsow and John Nord. Laurinaitis, would later recall that Gramma B's, frequented by bikers, wasn't your friendly neighborhood bar.

Sharkey, who had wrestled for the AWA in the 60s, decided to start a wrestling promotion in 1982 called Pro Wrestling America. He plucked the bouncers from Gramma B's as talent, opened a school in the basement of a church and trained Rood, Laurinaitis, Hegstrand and Darsow to become pro wrestlers.

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Laurinaitis (aka Animal) and Hegstrand (aka Hawk) would go on to form the Road Warriors tag team. Rood would become "Ravishing" Rick Rude, John Nord would wrestle as the Berzerker in WWF and Darsow would gain fame as Smash, one half of the tag team Demolition.

A few of the many other wrestlers later trained by Sharkey include Scott Steiner, Sean Waltman and Jerry Lynn.

Gramma B's was eventually closed in 1984 for failure to pay taxes. This spot is currently occupied by the tiki bar Psycho Suzi's Motor Lounge.

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The Minneapolis suburb of Robbinsdale was at one time a breeding ground for future professional wrestlers.

AWA founder Verne Gagne attended Robbinsdale High School in the 1930s and Larry "The Axe" Hennig attended in the '50s.

Later graduates of the high school include:
Rick Rood (aka "Ravishing" Rick Rude) - class of '76
"Mr. Perfect" Curt Hennig - class of '76
Tom Zenk (½ of the Can-Am Connection) - class of '76
Dean Peters - class of '76
Scott Simpson (aka Nikita Koloff) - class of '77
John "The Barbarian" Nord - class of '77
and Barry Darsow (best known as Smash from Demolition and probably worst known as the Repo Man) - class of '78

Robbinsdale High School closed in 1982. This location is currently the Robbinsdale Middle School.

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Nobel laureate and president of South Africa, Nelson Rolihlahla Mandela (July 18, 1918-Dec 5, 2013), served 18 years of his 27 years in prison for sabotage against the apartheid government on Robben Island off the coast of South Africa.

21 years in captivity
Shoes too small to fit his feet
His body abused, but his mind is still free
You're so blind that you cannot see-
"Nelson Mandela", The Specials

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On April 4, 1993, Wrestlemania IX was held outdoors at the Las Vegas casino Caesars Palace. The title match featured Yokozuna defeating Bret Hart, and then Hulk Hogan defeating Yokozuna.

The ninth installment of the Wrestlemania franchise saw a reduction of attendance to a third of the audience in Wrestlemania 8. Pay-per-view numbers were down as well. The matches were held outside for the first time in Wrestlemania history, and there was a recurring Roman theme.

Due to the poor broadcast and uninteresting matches, many see Wrestlemania 9 as the worst of the franchise. However, it's worth noting that Bobby Heenan entered riding a camel backwards...

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