I am saddened today of the news I received of the passing of Lou Albano, at the age of 76.

For those of you who weren't familiar with the man, here's a synopsis for you to read:

After being an in-ring competitor as one-half of the tag team known as The Sicilians throughout the 1960's, Albano opted to pursue a different route to career success.

Better known as Captain Lou, Albano gained prominence as a manager in the early 1970's in the then-World Wide Wrestling Federation. Although he was despised by the WWE Universe for the way he conducted his managerial business, it was under his guidance that Ivan Koloff was able to dethrone Bruno Sammartino for the World Wide Wrestling Federation Championship in 1971. That began a plethora of managerial successes for Albano. Throughout the 1970's and well into the mid-1980's, Albano managed a number of Intercontinental Champions, and captained 15 tag teams to championship gold.

As the 80's took shape, Captain Lou became professionally involved with rock star Cyndi Lauper, appearing in Lauper's worldwide hit music videos "Girls Just Want To Have Fun," "She Bop," "Time After Time" and "The Goonies 'R' Good Enough." As a result of their association, the Rock 'N' Wrestling Connection came into being, and played a significant role in the man known as the "Guiding Light" becoming a unique fan favorite. That, along with the phenomena known as Hulkamania catapulted World Wrestling Entertainment into a whole new arena: that of a global entity.

With his trademark rubber bands adorning his beard and face, Albano's quick wit, managerial exploits, and overall successful career paid off for him in grand style, when he was inducted in 1996 as a member of the WWE Hall of Fame.

And now, a remembrance:

When I got involved in this industry back in the mid 1970's, the good Captain was another individual who made me feel welcome. Punching his ticket as a manager back in the then World Wide Wrestling Federation was all good for Lou, and he loved to make the people hate him. And when that rare but special opportunity came about for him to don the tights, boy oh boy did the fans want to see him get his just desserts. And more times than not he did.  But to me, Lou was one of the first people who could not do enough to encourage me as a relative rookie in the organization that if you worked hard and had the energy and enthusiasm to succeed, you could.

One of the things that I enjoyed about Lou was his unique way that he conducted himself once the red light of the camera went on. You know, in today's WWE as we know it, the wrestling manager has become a lost art. And if there ever was a revival of it, it would never, ever rival the greatness of the managerial trio that accompanied their charges from the 70's until the early 80's. The Grand Wizard was brilliant, Classy Freddie Blassie was unique, but there was no one like Capt. Lou Albano. He had a unique way of not only getting those he was managing over, but he got himself over as well with his quick wit, perhaps at times more than his stable of talent. He was the master of "speaking" many languages, with him not being skilled in any of them. But the way in which he spoke them had you convinced that he was fluent in them all. Then came the rubber bands to adorn his facial features. He always made me smile with whatever he did, even if it was intended to generate crowd un-acceptance.

The one remembrance that sticks with me to this day as the best wrestler-manager break-up ever occurred back in 1982. Lou managed Jimmy "Superfly" Snuka. When Albano and Snuka hooked up, the intent was to have Jimmy become equally despised as his manager was. But something special happened here, because the fans took a liking to the Superfly because of what he did in the ring. You could sense something special was in the air, as the fans themselves spoke out in their love and admiration for someone who was supposed to incur their ire as Snuka was. Albano took matters into his own hands and laid Snuka out; the divorce happened. From there, Jimmy went on to become one of the most popular talents in our company's history. And he and Lou had a series of matches up and down the east coast, giving our fans what they wanted to see: Capt. Lou Albano paying dearly for his wrongs towards the Superfly. A star was born, and Albano proved his worth once again as a despised and despicable manager.

I was thrilled for Lou once our company began its pursuit of gaining worldwide acceptance. In the genre that was at one time known as sports entertainment, Capt. Lou was very much a part of that in its embryonic stages. And he capitalized quite nicely. From his association with Cyndi Lauper to his role in the movie Wise Guys, and everything else in between, Captain Lou seemed to be pressing all of the right buttons at the right time in that era. And personal satisfaction was mine in 1996 to see my friend Lou inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame. This was a "gimmee" in my eyes, and something that the Captain remained proud of in his later years.

Today will come and go, and tomorrow will arrive, but tomorrow will not bring Captain Lou Albano with us. But I sure believe that with his arrival in a better place, Captain Lou Albano is being embraced by a wrestling fraternity that preceded him there. I can only imagine the stories that are being told right now!!

I now invite you to share your thoughts and remembrances on the legendary Captain Lou Albano by commenting below.