Friend Encounters: One Man Gang, Slick and John

Friend Encounters is a weekly series featuring friends meeting celebrities.

Now there is the makings of a great wrestling faction. Akeem (formerly known as The One Man Gang), my buddy John D. and "The Doctor of Style" Slick maybe just need one more to round out the group.

At one point, Akeem was The One Man Gang, a violent big man from Chicago. This was such a great character. Unfortunately, the WWE in the 80s loved cartoony characters. OMG was said to have discovered his roots. It was neither funny nor politically correct. It wasn't even good wrestling.

Nobody wanted to see this brute as Akeem. OMG could have been so much bigger and better in a feud with Hulk Hogan. This is not a knock at all on George Gray, the man who portrayed both. He is a nice guy, capable wrestler and obviously a company man. He did his best to make it work.

While as Akeem, he was under the onscreen management of Slick. Slick himself probably wasn't the most politically correct character either. Wrestling is always behind the times on that stuff. Like Gray, Slick did his best with the gimmick and actually made it likable.

As for John, he's himself. Like the late Chris Candido, no gimmick needed. He's a nice guy who I always enjoy seeing at wrestling conventions. John gets around. He probably meets more celebs than I do. 

Back to the idea of a faction. OMG and Dean are the big tag team, like the Natural Disaters. They just need a singles champion to round out the group.

One Man Gang, John and Slick in Indianapolis, IN-April 2025.