I know he worked early on as a baby before he stopped playing football all together but the Big Cat was meant to be a heel.bwith his size and voice and delivery and ability to talk shit just made him a good bad guy. Also unlike most big guys he had the ability to appear like he was getting his ass kicked by a much smaller guy. There is a match on here from midsouth in 84 with Rick Morton where it looks believable Morton was getting the best of him
I did'nt know he died. He was my next door neighbor in Tampa in the late 70's when he was wrestling there. Went to the beach with his family many times there. His whole family was very good friends with ours. It was very cool to know them.
The late, great Ernie "Big Cat" Ladd knew how to provoke during a promo, and was very vicious verbally and in the ring. Outside the wrestling business, he was a true gentleman and a scholar. R.I.P. Ernie Ladd.
LOL,'The General Public"LOL .Andre the Dummy.Hey,classic stuff.I remember the Big Cat way to well.From the Mid South to GCW to the Carolinas,oh yes.One of my all time favorites a true legend.God Bless you Mr Ladd.
patrick veljanovich he was never underrated. Made lots of money anywhere he went. He often said he preferred the freedom of not having a title belt and he made just as much money without one.
Hardly underrated. Ladd would often be headlining in two or more territories simultaneously. If he was battling Andre in Mid South, he might be battling Bobo or Bruno or Tony Atlas someplace else on other nights during the same time frame. Busy fellow who was on top of the business for years.
What a talent! Ernie, arguably one of the first marketable black wrestlers, won us over with a combination of southern-influenced, ethnic droll! He was one of the best!
I agree on that Ernie Ladd was one off the true Black wrestling heels in his day in my opiniion the greatest heel ever he paved the way for the Butch Reeds to even the Bobby Lashley and even Moose because off that Lashley and Moose are the dominant Black heels now in this era off Wrestling. Lol,
The late Mr. Ladd was also an All-Pro football player for the San Diego Chargers back in the 60s. He was All-AFL and has a world championship ring with Chargers (1963).
Joe Namath had a great story about Ernie Ladd. Ladd was with Kansas City and sacked Namath particularly hard. Namath said his helmet got turned around and he was looking out of the ear hole when Ladd helped up Broadway Joe and said "Don't worry Broadway, I won't go for your knees, I'll hitcha high!"
The ultimate heel. Whenever he came to Detroit my brother and I made sure we were present at Cobo or the Olympic. He used to kill me with that injured thumb! It was wrapped in some sort of steel exoskeleton of a cast that he would use to injure his opponents. He would never allow it to be examined. The ultimate "foreign object" is the one you can open carry into the ring. Shut up out there!
I was there back in the 70s in New Orleans @ the Municipal Auditorium at one of the battle royals Ernie took from the Giant. I have to give it to the Big Cat as soon as the battle royal started he roll out of the ring and hide by the poll the and watch everyone get eliminated. Andre thought he won. Ernie rolled in from behind and drop kicked Andre from behind. First time I saw Andre go over the top rope. I was the only one cheering when Ernie won!!
Those were the days. Ernie Ladd saying, "All he(whichever opponent he had) does is go 'yick, yick, yick, and yack, yack, yack' out the side of his neck."
There was one time Erine won a battle royal against the Giant n New Orleans. Ernie ease out of the ring early in the battle royal. He hung by the ring post hiding. Andre thought he won Ernie slide in and drop kicked the Gaint from behind. Classc Ernie Ladd! "Two things I hate, cats chasing dogs and broken down wrestlers chasing me".
rip big cat. he was my all time favorite. watching this brings me back many years to when i loved wrestling. i remember watching ernie on channel 41 and 47 in the new york area. i smile when i see this video. "I'LL SLAP YOUR FACE REAL GOOD IN THE GENERAL PUBLIC". he did the best interviews.he was one of the true greats in a period of wrestling that had so many colorful characters. IF ANYONE HAS MORE INTERVIEW FOOTAGE OF ERNIE CAN YOU PLEASE POST IT? thanks again.
im consider myself lucky to have been a wrestling fan in the late 60s and 70s and saw so many great characters of the wrestling world. Ernie Ladd was my favorite. He was great in interviews and a great heel in the ring. He was awesome. Please post more of The Big Cat. Thanks , these are great videos.
Bill Watts & Mid-South Wrestling was a Non-member official member of the N.W.A., McGuirk & Welch were the actual owners of the N.W.A. membership. Watts continued the recognization and even attended N.W.A. BOD Meetings.
Ernie Ladd was before my time, but this promo was funny! This still holds up today! I don't watch wrestling now, but I am sure this promo is way better than promos of today.
He didn't say 'in public'; he said 'in the general public!' LMBO. The Big Cat was one of those dudes that made pro wrestling worth tuning in for. Respect and RIP.
The old school wrestlers gave such good promos. It is truly a lost art. They were also a lot tougher back then. They spent more time in the gym and less time in the salon.
Ernie Ladd. Called Andre The Giant, Andre The Dummy numerous times. Amusing heel promo and one of the best heel promos from the past. I got a kick out of what he said. Sorry I missed out on this classic wrestling villain.
I probably knew her. They used to live next door to me in Tampa in or around 1979. He was wrestling there. He and my family went to the beach there quite a few times together. It was funny how many people came over to us to visit him. Wrestling in Tampa was really big there at the time. He was a VERY nice person and his family was too. I have alot of great memories with them. I was a skinny 13 year old white boy hanging with this huge black family and they treated me like their own.
what a great clip. Ernie Ladd and Reeser Bowden. Ernie was the best on the mic. I'd love to see a Boyd Pierce clip with him wearing his white suit with the big roses on it. That's great stuff.
Now that,s the way interviews are supposed to sound like no hell yes no candy asses true wrestlers can still give great heel interviews with out talk like that.
Ernie Ladd. the first blackman to set it off as a heel in wrestling. i never got to see him do his thing but i read about him in the magazines sho'nuff.Thanx to youtube i can see what i missed.bigup rolochosu.R.I.P.BIG CAT.
I remember Ernie Ladd had a match on TV one time, he threw the guy into the ropes and then put his foot out to catch the guy in the chest, but the guy was too short so he caught the foot in the top of the head, bent his neck back all the way.
They probably didn't archive a lot of their matches and other footage. They probably recorded over many of their tapes. Just like when it became Mid South,there's not too much footage from the promotion from 1979 or 1980 around as far as I know. At least I haven't seen any on this site.
"Andre the Dumby" lol. It would take a big big man to talk shit about Andre the Giant so publicly like that. Enrie Ladd would have been one of the few to get away with that.
To yimpka:Ernie Ladd graduated from Grambling State University,and I KNOW THAT 2 B A FACT because my mom n dad had classes with him at that college.My father still has the yearbooks 2 prove it.I'm not tryin 2 b mean,but only speak WHAT U KNOW!!
This just seemed more real than all the storylines and promos. Maybe it’s not as entertainment in an instant pleasure kind of way but it’s raw and more real.
Ernie Ladd rocks man he inducted the JunkYard Dog into the WWE Hall Of Fame in 2004. He was entered in 1st in 1995. These inductions + Mr Perfect's and The Iron Sheiks brought be back to the WWE/WWF.
This is a NwA TriState , Leroy McGuirks pro otion before Bill Watts took over . This rare considering no one is k own to be in possesion of the original tapes
Ladd was like no one Sad Sac ,,,,Rock is more like Pebbles next to the Big Cat ....6'9 well over 320 plus legit not hyped ...like Vince's side show attraction billed at 7'4 ,
Ernie was one of the best talkers in the industry. Especially his heel era was awesome.
Yes! His interviews should be mandatory learning modules for all up and coming wrestlers and managers!!!!!
I know he worked early on as a baby before he stopped playing football all together but the Big Cat was meant to be a heel.bwith his size and voice and delivery and ability to talk shit just made him a good bad guy. Also unlike most big guys he had the ability to appear like he was getting his ass kicked by a much smaller guy. There is a match on here from midsouth in 84 with Rick Morton where it looks believable Morton was getting the best of him
@@med1965
English professors need to add his material to their classes. Ladd was like a modern day Milton or Shakespeare.
@@LoganSewell83
Then the professors can say, "your just an English Student and don't you forget it"!
Ernie Ladd is by far one of the greatest mic workers ever. This is what a promo is all about
Bbnbbbb
Psycho Machinery . True, he is up there with Dusty Rhodes.
"I'll slap your face in the general public !!"
Never heard that one😳🤣
Seen Ernie Ladd wrestle at The Olympic Auditorium with my Dad In the 70's, I told him hi, and Ernie acknowledged me smiled and headed to the ring. RIP
There would've never been a Rock if there was no Ernie Ladd.
facts I'm sure he looked up to him because his dad was really good friends with Ernie Ladd back in the day
Ernie was better than the rock
Yes, there would have because Rocky Johnson taught the Rock first hand
I did'nt know he died. He was my next door neighbor in Tampa in the late 70's when he was wrestling there. Went to the beach with his family many times there. His whole family was very good friends with ours. It was very cool to know them.
LMAO at him calling him "Andre the Dummy" throughout the whole interview.
Ernie was hilarious, he once said that Ivan Putski was so dumb, that he stayed up all night studying for a blood test ...
alBart lmao 😂
Lol..
Priceless lol
I never saw that, wish I would of! Ladd was awesome!
Correction: Ivan Pus-kay
Damn. I could listen to Ernie Ladd all day.
A 6'9", 326 lb Fred Sanford. Ernie was the man
I loved Ernie Ladd. One of the top five talkers in the industry. I saw him in person when I was a kid. He was huge.
"I would slap yo' face in the presence of yo' parents!" = PRICELESS.
Ernie was one of the AFL's greatest characters AND players. Member of the Chargers 1963 World Championship team.
No kidding. Like you are the only one to know that big dummy like Ernie Ladd would say
The late, great Ernie "Big Cat" Ladd knew how to provoke during a promo, and was very vicious verbally and in the ring. Outside the wrestling business, he was a true gentleman and a scholar. R.I.P. Ernie Ladd.
Great promo. Andre the dummy. I think he had Redd Foxx writing for him.. lol
Ernie had great nicknames for wrestlers. Andre the Dummy, the Masked Varmint or the Criminal (Mr. Wrestling II), The Drunken Indian (Jay Strongbow).
I thought that Wahoo McDaniel was the drunk that Ladd spoke of.
Also how does this Redd Foxx comment not get more likes.
In another territory, it might have been Wahoo, but in Georgia, Ernie used the phrase about Strongbow
🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣
How but dirty Rhodes
I love this!!! Ernie Ladd was one of the all time greatest.
Ernie Ladd was a classic heel!
His work on the mike was outstanding.
LOL,'The General Public"LOL .Andre the Dummy.Hey,classic stuff.I remember the Big Cat way to well.From the Mid South to GCW to the Carolinas,oh yes.One of my all time favorites a true legend.God Bless you Mr Ladd.
A woefully underrated heel!!!!!
patrick veljanovich he was never underrated. Made lots of money anywhere he went. He often said he preferred the freedom of not having a title belt and he made just as much money without one.
Hardly underrated. Ladd would often be headlining in two or more territories simultaneously. If he was battling Andre in Mid South, he might be battling Bobo or Bruno or Tony Atlas someplace else on other nights during the same time frame. Busy fellow who was on top of the business for years.
I DO currently watch wrestling and I think this guy could hold his own against any of the best today.
"I rather go to my mama's funeral than go to my own funeral" RIP Big Cat
"Give me somebody!" I remember Ernie yelling this when they stopped giving him contenders to fight. LOVE this man! Rest In Peace, brother.
Ernie ladd one of the great, hall of fame villians!
I miss Mid-south wrestling!! Glad I can still watch it on UA-cam...
What a talent! Ernie, arguably one of the first marketable black wrestlers, won us over with a combination of southern-influenced, ethnic droll!
He was one of the best!
Thunderbolt Paterson
I agree on that Ernie Ladd was one off the true Black wrestling heels in his day in my opiniion the greatest heel ever he paved the way for the Butch Reeds to even the Bobby Lashley and even Moose because off that Lashley and Moose are the dominant Black heels now in this era off Wrestling. Lol,
"Andre the Dummy".....I love Ernie Ladd.
The late Mr. Ladd was also an All-Pro football player for the San Diego Chargers back in the 60s. He was All-AFL and has a world championship ring with Chargers (1963).
Chiefs & I believe the Oilers too.
Joe Namath had a great story about Ernie Ladd. Ladd was with Kansas City and sacked Namath particularly hard. Namath said his helmet got turned around and he was looking out of the ear hole when Ladd helped up Broadway Joe and said "Don't worry Broadway, I won't go for your knees, I'll hitcha high!"
Dietpepsivanilla that's a great stoey.
The Big Cat was The Man RIP
LMAO!👏👍
Uh...there is no one like 6'9 Ernie "Big Cat" Ladd ! He'll slap Andre The Giant's face in the general public !!
Cruise Control slap your face in front of the General Public classic
That's Andre the Dummy!
If slapped Andre, he would've paid for it.
Andre would take a huge dump on him
The ultimate heel. Whenever he came to Detroit my brother and I made sure we were present at Cobo or the Olympic. He used to kill me with that injured thumb! It was wrapped in some sort of steel exoskeleton of a cast that he would use to injure his opponents. He would never allow it to be examined. The ultimate "foreign object" is the one you can open carry into the ring. Shut up out there!
"That ref is blind in one eye and can't see out of the other" E.L.
I was there back in the 70s in New Orleans @ the Municipal Auditorium at one of the battle royals Ernie took from the Giant. I have to give it to the Big Cat as soon as the battle royal started he roll out of the ring and hide by the poll the and watch everyone get eliminated. Andre thought he won. Ernie rolled in from behind and drop kicked Andre from behind. First time I saw Andre go over the top rope. I was the only one cheering when Ernie won!!
He sounds like Morgan Freeman.
Imagine Ernie Ladd as your drill sargent, or your teacher. Or even your boss.
I couldn't imagine, I got Ernies humor I could never hold a straight face w/ him as my DI.
Those were the days. Ernie Ladd saying, "All he(whichever opponent he had) does is go 'yick, yick, yick, and yack, yack, yack' out the side of his neck."
loved his voice and promos
There was one time Erine won a battle royal against the Giant n New Orleans. Ernie ease out of the ring early in the battle royal. He hung by the ring post hiding. Andre thought he won Ernie slide in and drop kicked the Gaint from behind. Classc Ernie Ladd!
"Two things I hate, cats chasing dogs and broken down wrestlers chasing me".
I could picture that!
Ernie knew how to sell it and once in the ring how to put on the show. Thanks big guy.
rip big cat. he was my all time favorite. watching this brings me back many years to when i loved wrestling. i remember watching ernie on channel 41 and 47 in the new york area. i smile when i see this video. "I'LL SLAP YOUR FACE REAL GOOD IN THE GENERAL PUBLIC". he did the best interviews.he was one of the true greats in a period of wrestling that had so many colorful characters. IF ANYONE HAS MORE INTERVIEW FOOTAGE OF ERNIE CAN YOU PLEASE POST IT? thanks again.
I remember watching this when it originally aired. I didn't realize it was all the way back to '78. Ladd was a class act.
im consider myself lucky to have been a wrestling fan in the late 60s and 70s and saw so many great characters of the wrestling world. Ernie Ladd was my favorite. He was great in interviews and a great heel in the ring. He was awesome. Please post more of The Big Cat. Thanks , these are great videos.
LMAO . . . my god these guys were so much funnier and entertaining than the stuff today.
"I'll slap yo' face in the presence of your parents."
Bill Watts & Mid-South Wrestling was a Non-member official member of the N.W.A., McGuirk & Welch were the actual owners of the N.W.A. membership. Watts continued the recognization and even attended N.W.A. BOD Meetings.
The one and only BIG CAT E. LADD MY FAVORITE BAD GUY MOUTH PIECE LIKE NO OTHER R.I.P.BIG FELLA.
Ernie freakin rocked used to watch him all the time
I saw this interview as it happened. On TV, that is. Ernie Ladd cut some of the greatest promos of all time. I'll always miss him.
Reeser was the best, his look while peeps were screaming was epic
HAHAHAHA Big Cat was one of the best trash talkers ever in wrestling... his perpetual scowl could turn grapes to raisins in seconds...
Ernie Ladd was before my time, but this promo was funny! This still holds up today! I don't watch wrestling now, but I am sure this promo is way better than promos of today.
"And you stand in my face and call me a liar, I'll slap your face real good in the general public!"
My dad use to take me to Shreveport to see this man! Before there was the Rock it was Big Cat Ernie Ladd!
"I'll slap yo' face real good in the general public."
matthewmayhem Greatest line in the history of pro wrestling!!
He didn't say 'in public'; he said 'in the general public!' LMBO. The Big Cat was one of those dudes that made pro wrestling worth tuning in for. Respect and RIP.
The old school wrestlers gave such good promos. It is truly a lost art. They were also a lot tougher back then. They spent more time in the gym and less time in the salon.
GET ON THE PHONE AND CALL SOMEBODY! SOMEBODY'S GONNA GET HURT!
Someone please post some more Ernie Ladd interviews, he's hilarious.
The quote was "Two things I hate, dogs chasing cars and broken down wrestlers chasing me."
Ernie Ladd. Called Andre The Giant, Andre The Dummy numerous times. Amusing heel promo and one of the best heel promos from the past. I got a kick out of what he said. Sorry I missed out on this classic wrestling villain.
Whenever I watch more Ernie Ladd I feel like he's somehow underrated. As a talker and his overall charisma he was top notch
I probably knew her. They used to live next door to me in Tampa in or around 1979. He was wrestling there. He and my family went to the beach there quite a few times together. It was funny how many people came over to us to visit him. Wrestling in Tampa was really big there at the time. He was a VERY nice person and his family was too. I have alot of great memories with them. I was a skinny 13 year old white boy hanging with this huge black family and they treated me like their own.
“I'd slap your face in the presence of your parents” 🤣
what a great clip. Ernie Ladd and Reeser Bowden. Ernie was the best on the mic.
I'd love to see a Boyd Pierce clip with him wearing his white suit with the big roses on it. That's great stuff.
I knew it! Boyd Pierce thought that he was part of The Grand Ole Opry! God Rest His Stylish Soul.B.W.
"Andre the Dummie", gotta love the Big Cat.
Ernie Ladd giving yet again a CLASSIC performance. R.I.P
You better call the hospital and get a room ready. You better call somebody.... loved this man dearly.....
Chris Willis lol why doese t he get more props for interview and ring smarts. But you cant teach somebody to be him.
Ernie was a hell uv man,a conservative republican who was on the front line for civil rights movement,a great man and a great talker
The King of Professional Rasslin'
RIP Big Cat
Sure miss wrestling & wrestling promos like this.
Always loved Ernie Ladd. He once wrestled in a squash match while smoking a cigar and wearing a derby!
Big Cat was a creative genius when it came to talking smack and he backed it up in the ring. The king of ALL wrestling......
Now that,s the way interviews are supposed to sound like no hell yes no candy asses true wrestlers can still give great heel interviews with out talk like that.
Ernie Ladd. the first blackman to set it off as a heel in wrestling. i never got to see him do his thing but i read about him in the magazines sho'nuff.Thanx to youtube i can see what i missed.bigup rolochosu.R.I.P.BIG CAT.
1 of the greatest heels ever
I remember Ernie Ladd had a match on TV one time, he threw the guy into the ropes and then put his foot out to catch the guy in the chest, but the guy was too short so he caught the foot in the top of the head, bent his neck back all the way.
Ernie was a great bad guy in wrestling. Saw him many times in Utica N.Y. In the early 1970s. Great times with friends.
Monster in the ring. Sounded like a professor outside the ring.
I guess Ladd was a Redd Foxx fan.
They probably didn't archive a lot of their matches and other footage. They probably recorded over many of their tapes. Just like when it became Mid South,there's not too much footage from the promotion from 1979 or 1980 around as far as I know. At least I haven't seen any on this site.
The greatest of all time when working the mic!!!
"Andre the Dumby" lol. It would take a big big man to talk shit about Andre the Giant so publicly like that. Enrie Ladd would have been one of the few to get away with that.
Ernie Rules especially when he hit the Dummy with his "Taped Thumb" lol
To yimpka:Ernie Ladd graduated from Grambling State University,and I KNOW THAT 2 B A FACT because my mom n dad had classes with him at that college.My father still has the yearbooks 2 prove it.I'm not tryin 2 b mean,but only speak WHAT U KNOW!!
This just seemed more real than all the storylines and promos. Maybe it’s not as entertainment in an instant pleasure kind of way but it’s raw and more real.
Dudes, that is one of the best promos ever. Ladd will slap your face in the general public, lol
Ernie Ladd was and still is one of the few wrestlers who legitimately scares the hell out of me.
A year or so later , Watts would break away from the McGuirk territory and form Mid South Wrestling
That North American Championship Belt is Classic! Love The Big Cat....."YAK YAK YAK YONK YONK YONK" Ernie Ladd is a Rasslin Treasure!
Ande The Dummy lol
CZARFACE "When Gods Go Mad" got me here.
You were right, classic Sanford and son lines
Every time I saw those fight it was Andre would get the 1...2...3! Ladd was a lying dummy! RIP to both legends.
Ernie,Bobby Heenan & Macho Man are my 3 favorite charactors w/ an honorable mention to the Bad Guy Razor Ramone.
Ernie Ladd rocks man he inducted the JunkYard Dog into the WWE Hall Of Fame in 2004. He was entered in 1st in 1995. These inductions + Mr Perfect's and The Iron Sheiks brought be back to the WWE/WWF.
Reeser was a ball of personality in those days
My man Ernie Ladd! lol
Ernie was incredible on the mic
Andre the dummy! That's some funny stuff there
Promo Class 101 taught by Professor Ladd
This is a NwA TriState , Leroy McGuirks pro otion before Bill Watts took over . This rare considering no one is k own to be in possesion of the original tapes
Ladd was really like the Rock back in his day,or should i say the rock was alot like him..
Ladd was like no one Sad Sac ,,,,Rock is more like Pebbles next to the Big Cat ....6'9 well over 320 plus legit not hyped ...like Vince's side show attraction billed at 7'4 ,
Andre the Dummy! lmao