DERRY — For 25 years, Jerry "The Candyman" Seavey made his living in the ring, dressed like a giant candy cane, flying from the top rope and tackling his opponents to the mat.
He was the kid who built a wrestling ring in the back yard of his Haverhill home and went on to professional wrestling school.
He spent years wrestling some of the sport's biggest stars in the World Wrestling Federation.
Even now, his eyes light up when he puts on his red-and-white striped pants and red jacket with white fringe.
But now that he's approaching 50, his body can't take a pounding slam to the mat as well as it used to. Still, Seavey's not ready to give up the thrill of the ring and the excitement of the crowd chanting his name when he's delivering his trademark finishing move, the Tootsie Roll.
For some former wrestlers, that rush may come from governing a Midwestern state, but Seavey said he's drawn to reality television.
Next month, he will appear on national TV as a contestant on "Deal or No Deal."
He can't say whether he won big on the game show, but his wrestling moves did help get him on the show. He performed the Tootsie Roll as part of his audition.
He was all set to wear his red-and-white costume on the show, but, at the last minute, the producers changed their minds and the nation did not get a look at the true Candyman.
"It was like being in the ring with all the people cheering me on," Seavey said from the kitchen of his Derry home, decorated with M&M candy memorabilia.
When Seavey was 17, he ripped plywood from a boarded-up home down the street and covered it with leftover carpet to build his own wrestling ring. The ropes were made with rope from swing sets and clothesline taped together.
The ring may have been crude, but it was Seavey's first venue for his wrestling show.
On Friday nights, Seavey and his friends would borrow chairs from a nearby funeral home and hold wrestling matches for the neighborhood.
The backyard ring won the teen Inside Wrestling magazine's wrestling fan of the month in 1977. He mailed a photograph to the magazine and months later that same picture landed in the magazine.
"I just learned (wrestling) from watching it on TV," Seavey said.
A few years later, Seavey saw a commercial for Killer Kowolski's Pro Wrestling School on TV and quickly signed up. At the time, the school was on the third floor of a YMCA in Boston and there was no real ring for Seavey to practice his moves.
"When I started, they just had mats on the floor and we had to bounce off the walls," Seavey said.
After two years of training, Seavey joined Vince McMahon's WWF in 1985.
At first, Seavey said, he was discouraged with his status in the nation's premier wrestling league. He wanted to be a star, but the promoters always wanted him to be the fall guy. He never got a chance to hear the crowd cheer his name after a win.
"They told me I had to come up with a gimmick if I wanted to make it," Seavey said.
Driving down the street one night, he heard Sammy Davis Jr.'s "The Candyman" on the radio and immediately knew his baby face would be perfect for the role.
Dressed in red tights and a jacket with white fringe hanging from his arms, Seavey would throw candy to children on his way to ring to wrestle.
After a match, he would sell candy canes and take pictures with his fans with a Polaroid camera. Sometimes, he'd take so many photos he would have to turn some fans away because he ran out of film.
For the next 20 years, Seavey was known everywhere he went as the Candyman, even after he left the WWF in the early 1990s and moved on to independent wrestling promoters.
But although he loves the thrill of the ring, it came with a price.
He suffered a broken nose, broken sternum and cracked ribs during his 25-year career.
"The wresting is all staged, but the blood is all real," he said.
It's that abuse that finally pushed Seavey into calling it quits in 2002. His last match was at Salisbury Beach against Nicolai "The Russian" Volkoff.
"I didn't want to stop, believe me," he said.
Even now, people still recognize Seavey from his wrestling days.
A couple of weeks ago, he was grocery shopping in Salem when a fan rushed up to him to shake his hand.
"I don't want to be forgotten," Seavey said.
To keep his name out there, Seavey said he spends his days trying to get on reality TV shows.
So far, "Deal or No Deal" has been the only one to bite, but he's still holding out hope. The show will air either Oct. 26 or Nov. 2, Seavey said.
He still works out every day, hoping he may be able to get back in the ring. He said he would even be willing to step into the ring for the World Wrestling Entertainment.
"If Vince (McMahon) called me tomorrow, I'd go back," Seavey said.
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Did you know?
As an actor, Jerry 'Candyman' Seavey played a part in "Urban Relics," released in 1998.
