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TEXAS
BOB GEIGEL TALKS ABOUT DEER HUNTING By Hearne Christopher Jr Things are calmer these days for former pro wrestler ``Texas'' Bob Geigel. Geigel's wrestling career ended a long time ago. These days he's a security guard for the financially fragile Woodlands racetrack in KCK. ``It's the first 'job' I ever had in my life,'' Geigel says. ``The first year it opened, we put out six or eight people every time there was a race. But we've eliminated all the drunks and now we've got a nice group of people, and we never have any trouble. What's Geigel's ``hobby'' now that he's no longer poking people in the eyes or jabbing his thumb in their throats? ``Deer hunting's my big thing. We went to Nebraska this year. It was terrible. We sat there and got five deer the first day -- we killed our limit -- so we went home. '' As for wrestling: ``Oh sure, I miss it. I had a lot of fun with a lot of guys. I started in 1950 and got out in 1975. '' Geigel says he's not impressed with modern-day pro wrestling. ``You watch it on TV today, and what it's telling the viewers is that everything they thought about wrestling being (fake) is true.'' WHILE IN THE KC
STAR FILES, HERE'S MR. RACE By Hearne Christopher Jr. An outbreak of pro wrestling in the Cowtown? Definitely. And smack in the middle is - who else? - KC's own ``Handsome'' Harley Race. Rumor has it Race was to be recognized for his record eight world championships and 39 years in the wrestling biz at last week's World Wrestling Federation show at Kemper Arena. But things changed after the tragic death of wrestler ``Flying'' Brian Pillman the night before. Instead, ``they did a live hookup with Pillman's wife,'' Race says, ``and showed it at the arena and on national TV. '' The night before, Race and other world champions such as Lou Thesz and Gene Kiniski were honored at the Kiel Center in St. Louis with a proclamation by Missouri Gov. Mel Carnahan. ``I got a five-minute standing ovation,'' Race says. ``I came out next to last and they were chanting 'Har-ley! ' when everyone left the ring.'' Race is still recuperating from being dropped while going through physical therapy after a auto accident in January 1995. But that didn't stop him and his wife, B.J., a banker with Fidelity Acceptance Corp., from giving a big chili feed. One highlight: When wrestler Owen Hart loaded the chili ladle with ``insanity hot sauce,'' B.J. says, ``thinking Dude Love would dump the whole thing in his bowl. '' The prank backfired when Love stirred the pot before dipping in, turning the remaining chili blazingly hot. ``Normal human beings couldn't have eaten it to begin with,'' B.J. says. ``That's why I had cold cuts for lightweights like me. '' Race extracted his revenge the next night before the Topeka show. ``I electrified him,'' Race says with a grin. ``with a 230,000- volt stun gun right between the cheeks. He didn't do anything for a few seconds, then he ran. ''
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