The Ultimate Forum Experience

I was born Richard Cameron Clark in August of 1951 in Urbana, Illinois. I migrated to San Francisco, California, at the ripe old age of 5. We lived in the Tenderloin section of the city for a few years and then moved to Daly City, a suburb of San Francisco. I used to love to watch the fog literally roll over the mountains. In the summer it was so thick, you couldn't see your hand in front of your face.

At the age of 9, my family moved to Sacramento. Now, living in San Francisco for several years made the blood rather thick, because it is cold there year round. Sacramento, 100 miles away, is another story all together. The summer days are usually in the low 100s. I though I was going to die from the heat. Well I spent most of the next 23 years there.

I met and married my high school sweatheart at Foothill High School. She was a cute little red-head. We were married in the summer of 1970. I thought the world of her. I broke my back in a car accident and then things started to come apart. I started law school, but realized that it wasn't for me. We were happy for a while, but as many young marriages go, we ended up divorcing.

I started training to become a pro wrestler in the summer of 1973. I was also racing sprint cars at the time. Well, let's just say the sprint cars won or I lost. I hit a wall at 110 mph sideways and broke my neck the first time. It was not a major break and I was just told that wrestling was completely out and racing was out for a year.

I went to work for a shoe retail chain. I did it all. I sold shoes. I stocked shoes. I drove truck. I was the bodyguard for the president of the company. On weekends I would race for another two years.
I was not racing sprint cars any more, but their smaller cousins the modified midgets. I was having a blast. Unfortunately, my injuries were making it difficult for me to walk without assistance. If I got real tired I would have to use a wheelchair. This went on for about two years.

In October of 1977 I married my second wife. We've been married for 25 years and we have no children. Since we've been married I've held down the following jobs: Worked for the shoe business until 1983; took a year off; moved to Idaho and opened a video store; sold that; opened a detective agency; sold that; bountyhunted in my spare time for almost nine years; did litigation support for my wife; bought a home detention company and sold it; took six years off to heal up from a multitude of health problems; opened a cutlery store and sold it four years later and retired.

Since retiring, I've written and published an Encyclopedia of Pro Wrestling. It is a 2000 page book that covers almost 6000 wrestlers from 1880 to now. I just sent my software developer the 2nd edition on November 7, 2002. It should be out around the first of the year. For information on the book check out www.PWBook.com.

On Memorial Day weekend 2002, I fell down a flight of stairs in my home and broke my neck for a second time. Most of the injuries I have recovered from rather nicely. My left leg was paralized and that has recovered nicely. I've got about 80% of its use back. My left arm is permanently partially paralized. I have between 25 and 40% use of the arm and hand. As you can see I can still type. Unfortunately, my speed is somewhat slower than the 70 words a minute I used to type.

On Labor Day weekend of 2002, I got another rude awakening. I had a heart attack. I was taken to Sacred Heart Hospital in Spokane, Washington, where I had four stents put in my coronary arteries. For thos of you that don't know what a stent is, it is like a little metal cage that they insert through a tube in your groin (I know. Ouch.).

It is run up on a wire to one of the five coronary arteries and expanded with a tiny balloon. The fun part of this procedure is that the patient is wide awake and watching it on a video monitor. I am currently in Cardio Rehab at the hospital for the next 3 months. I should graduate that in January of 2003.

I have started a second book on wrestling. This will be the Top 100 Wrestlers of All Time. That book will be followed by a book on surviving a heart attack.

My interests in life are quite varied. I like wrestling; movies; hunting; guns; knives; criminal history; history in general; medicine; alternative medicine; cars and many many other subjects.

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