Think Bill Alfonso is the only guy who can blow a whistle and be annoying? Think again. Not only was Alfonso not the first guy to run around like an idiot blowing a whistle at ringside, he wasn’t even the most annoying.
No, that honor would go to John Tolos, who was the WWF’s “Coach” for a cup of coffee during the early 1990’s.
He wore a hat with “Coach” embroidered on it. He had a shirt with “Coach” embroidered on it. He probably had underwear with “Coach” embroidered on them. His name was “Coach”, get it?
Coach was paired up with perennial losers like the Beverly Brothers, as well as Intercontinental Champ “Mr. Perfect”, Curt Hennig. He’d hang out at ringside, barking out orders and blowing a whistle. Sometimes, if we were all really unlucky, he’d give us crappy interviews like this one. Even color commentator Roddy Piper wouldn’t give the guy any props.
It’s a shame that most fans will only remember Tolos as Coach. He apparently had some real bloodbaths with “Classy” Freddie Blassy in the Los Angeles area in the 60’s and 70’s.
After watching Tolos make a fool of himself, I know I couldn’t have been the only one hoping “The Fashion Plate” would come down to ringside and once again wrap his cane around this pencil neck geek.