No holds barred here

Pro wrestler, ‘The Animal,’ is coming to town.

By: Steve Feitl
   Among the creeps and ghouls roaming the grounds of the Dardani’s Haunted Trail and Bizarre at Woodlot Park on New Road this Friday will be a giant of a man known for his bald head, hairy body and green tongue.
   But this "animal" is not there to scare the visitors at the annual Halloween festival, but rather to meet his fans.
   The guest of honor is professional wrestler George "The Animal" Steele, who will be appearing from 7 to 9 p.m. Friday.
   According to organizer Carolyn Dardani, the decision to bring in the former World Wrestling Federation superstar came from Mike Carlucci, who manages the sound and lighting for the haunted attraction.
   "Mike is a big wrestling fan and he wanted to get a wrestler here for the event," Ms. Dardani said. "Since ‘The Animal’ is the green-tongue kind of guy, he’s a perfect fit for our Halloween theme."
   Mr. Carlucci explained that he originally had tried to bring in current WWF grappler Kane — a near 7-foot masked man who enters the ring with towers of flames shooting from the ring posts. Unfortunately, the WWF is on tour on weekends and not in the area, so "The Big Red Machine" was unable to attend.
   But Mr. Carlucci got word from a local entertainment promotion, Jonathan Gold Entertainment, that "The Animal" would be available to fly in from Florida.
   Mr. Carlucci agreed that this was a good match for the Halloween event and added that they will be giving out green candy to children so they can match the wrestler’s characteristic tongue.
   "He’s great with kids," Mr. Carlucci said. "He interacts with everybody and he’s really just like a big bear."
   It didn’t take much convincing for Ms. Dardani to agree to book "The Animal." Six years ago, the WWF’s Sunny (more recently known as Tammy Sytch in Extreme Championship Wrestling) had come to the event for an autograph signing and had great success. Ms. Dardani was more than happy to bring in another grappler.
   "A couple years back, we had Sunny and she did really well," she said. "So this year, he told me we had George Steele, and I just said OK."
   Mr. Steele has been a huge star in the world of professional wrestling for four decades. He was a featured star during the WWF’s boom period in the mid-1980s, including appearances at three WrestleManias.
   But he also made a name for himself outside of wrestling when he made his feature film debut in 1994 when he played Tor Johnson in Tim Burton’s "Ed Wood," which also starred Johnny Depp, Martin Landau, Sarah Jessica Parker and Patricia Arquette.
   "The Animal" will be signing 8-by-10 photos of himself for $10, or for the same price visitors can have a Poloroid picture taken with the wrestler. For $18, a package of both items is available. Mr. Carlucci said that Mr. Steele will also sign personal items such as magazine covers or posters if the package is purchased.
   Profits from the autograph and photo session will be donated to World Trade Center relief funds, according to Mr. Carlucci.
   "The more we can bring in, the more we can put back out to the relief funds," he said.
   And Mr. Carlucci hopes that people come out in force to meet the wrestling legend.
   "It’s been a lifelong dream of mine to get a wrestler here," Mr. Carlucci said. "We couldn’t get the Undertaker. We couldn’t get Kane. But we did get George ‘The Animal’ Steele."