Daily Dirt: Who would win a steel-cage match between ‘The American Dream’ and ‘Big Poppa Pump’?

Today we examine the Atomic Elbow, Dogface Gremlin, Big Poppa Pump and a host of other heroes from the squared circle … Welcome to today’s three thoughts and Vol. 236 of The Daily Dirt.

1. Part of the appeal of professional wrestling — and, yes, I know the term “wrestling” is used loosely — is the projected persona of the athlete in question.

And an important part of that persona is the wrestler’s name, or nickname.After all, “Hulk Hogan” would never have had the same kind of effect on the American psyche as Terry Bollea. Yes, that’s Hulk’s real name.Using that logic, here are some of my favorite names/nicknames tied to pro wrestlers over the past 40 or so years:

• Dusty Rhodes, a.k.a “The American Dream”: Duty left this world in 2015 at age 69, and there will never be a more colorful character inside the ring — or a better bleeder — than the man born Virgil Riley Runnels. Another of Rhodes’ better in-ring names was the Midnight Rider. Throughout much of his career, his go-to-move was the Atomic Elbow.
• Rick Steiner, a.k.a. “The Dogface Gremlin”: That’s gold, pure gold.
• Scott Steiner, a.k.a “Big Poppa Pump”: And this wasn’t bad name for his brother.
• Chris Jericho, a.k.a “The Ayatollah of Rock and Rollah”: He’s still going strong in the relatively new AEW promotion. He also went by “Lionheart” at one point in his career. Hard to believe this guy is now 51 years old.
• Sid Vicious: The man needed no moniker.
• Ric Flair, a.k.a “The Nature Boy”: Flair was actually the second Nature Boy, following the legendary Buddy Rogers.
• “Stone Cold” Steve Austin: He was also known in some regions as the Bionic Redneck.
• Mick Foley, a.k.a “Dude Love”: He’s one of about a dozen of the better pro wrestlers I have been fortunate enough to interview, and Foley is a genuinely nice guy who has always loved what he does. He’s also been known as Mankind, Cactus Jack and the Hardcore Legend.
• Bobby Heenan, a.ka. “The Brain” and/or “The Weasel”: It was always a classic moment when the crowd began chanting “Wee-ZUL!!,” “Wee-ZUL!!”

2. Food for thought: St. Louis remains one of the the most dangerous cities in the nation, as far as getting killed is concerned.

The Lou averaged 64.3 murders per 100,000 residents in 2021, according to ABC News.Here are the top 10 among major U.S. cities:

• 1. Louisville, Ky., 76 murders per 100,000 residents.
• 2. Birmingham, Ala., 65.8 murders per 100,000 residents.
• 3. St. Louis, 64.3 murders per 100,000 residents.
• 4. Baltimore, 57.5 murders per 100,000 residents.
• 5. New Orleans, 56.8 murders per 100,000 residents.

Dishonorable mention: Memphis, 54 murders per 100,000 residents; Baton Rouge, 53.8 murders per 100,000 residents; Cleveland, 45.6 murders per 100,000 residents.

3. The Great Plate Debate continues.

We have a few more new entries in our 2022 top 10 personal license plates spotted across West-Central Illinois and Northeast Missouri:

1. (1.) YADI LUV: The top five Puerto Rican catchers, in no particular order: Ivan Rodriguez, Javy Lopez, Benito Santiago, Jorge Posada and Yadier Molina.

2. (2.) GOLD D LOX: Just a thought here, but if the James Bond people ever produce a “Goldfinger” sequel, wouldn’t this be a great name for the villain’s daughter? 

3. (-) OO MAY 00: Sometimes a plate just looks great. This is one of those cases.

4. (3) MEANCAT: Siamese cats are known to be the meanest and most territorial of all the cats.

5. (5) QUINCY: .

6. (3.) HOWDYDO: “Howdy” was the 13,456th most popular name in the U.S. in 2021, according to babycenter.com.

7. (4.) PINK:  According to toptens.com, pink is No. 11 among our favorite colors.

8. (6.) CAL GAL: There are 19.9 women in California.

9. (-) MY NANA 3: Is this Nana’s car, or one of her grandkids’ vehicles?

10-tie. (-) RACEY 8: Dale Earnhardt Jr. fan?

10-tie. (9) OH DEER 4: I’m having a tough time saying good-bye to this plate.

No. 1 Rankings: YADI LUV (5 weeks), GOL D LOX (2 weeks).

Steve Thought O’ The Day — Around the Muddy River office complex, Steve has often been referred to as Little Poppa Pump.

Steve Eighinger writes daily for Muddy River News. Kathy is the one who first called him Little Poppa Pump.