Ladies and gentlemen…Ta-Gar.
Ta-Gar is admittedly one of my favorite gimmicks from the CWA era of Memphis wrestling. Not because of any talent he showed, of course, but because he was probably the coolest looking gimmick that Jerry Lawler and his good friend Mary Jane thought up. I mean, look at him! He’s friggin’ Dr. Doom without the baggage of having to get his face bashed in by the ever-lovin’ Thing!
Instead, he got his face bashed in by Jerry Lawler, admittedly still not a fun thing to have happen, but at least he looked damned cool doing it.
Okay, granted, the outfit looked like it could have been rounded up from the local Dollar General (and probably was), but to add to the effect, Ta-Gar had glowing eyes! Freaky-deaky green glowing eyes! Spooky!
And on top of that, he could shoot flame from his gloves, apparently (at least from some promo shots he did, though he could have just as easily just lit his hand up like a California forest). Kane, eat your heart out!!!
Now we get to the point where we have to ask ourselves: Exactly what is a “volcano master”? Did he command giant, fiery mountains to do his bidding? Did he have virgins thrown into a volcano as sacrifices? Well, that I kinda doubt, given the massive amount of ring-rat stories that have emanated from Memphis over the years. Maybe he just built one of those little school-project type volcanoes kids make for Science Day, and proclaimed himself king of it. Who knows?
Sadly, no one seems to remember who actually portrayed this particular gimmick. I’ve asked around, and it’s a no-go. Even Tony Myers, who wrestled for years in the Memphis area and knows who EVERYONE is doesn’t remember.
It’s just as well, I guess. I prefer to let Ta-Gar remain in my memories as some evil ruler of a small Pacific island, lobbing animals and Britney Spears CDs into his fiery pit.