The WAWLI Papers No. 779...

(continued from WAWLI No. 778)

SOUTHWEST CHAMPIONSHIP WRESTLING 1983-1984 PART 2

By Chuck Merkich

A quick correction and an omission before we start Part 2. The team of Tully Blanchard & Gino Hernandez was called The Dynamic Duo. We incorrectly called them The Dream Team. Also, Blanchard was managed by Christopher Love during most of 1983. Love is better known today as NWA Worldwide promoter Bert Prentice. Results for the next couple of months are very hard to come by, and what I do have is mostly just title changes, but we’ll run through what I have quickly.

9/11/83 San Antonio: Scott Casey beat Tully Blanchard ... Danny Hodge beat Eric Embry by dq

9/19/83 San Antonio: Luke Williams beat Bobby Jaggers

9/26/83 San Antonio: Eric Embry & Ken Timbs beat Scott Casey & Buddy Moreno

10/1/83 San Antonio: Ralampago Leon beat Eric Embry

11/3/83 San Antonio: Ken Timbs & Eric Embry beat Scott Casey & Buddy Moreno ... Relampago Leon beat Dusty Woods ... Tully Blanchard beat Luke Williams in a scissors on a pole match ... Butch Miller beat Buddy Moreno

11/24/83 San Antonio: Relampago Leon beat Cesar Valentino by countout

12/3/83 San Antonio: Ken Timbs & Eric Embry beat The Rock & Roll Express

Scott Casey beat Tully Blanchard on 9/11 to win the Heavyweight title. Tully left the promotion at this point, although he came back later in the year as a babyface for a big match with Luke Williams. Williams had a match with Bobby Jaggers on 9/19 which saw him break Jaggers’ arm. So Jaggers was out for a while. Jaggers & Buddy Moreno were the Tag Team champions, so the following week Moreno teamed with Casey to lose them to Eric Embry & Timbs, The Fabulous Blonds. Those belts were held-up in late November following a match between The Blonds and The Rock & Roll Express, and then The Blonds beat Rock & Roll to win them again on 12/3. Aside from Blanchard, also leaving the territory were Moreno, Cocoa Samoa and Bob Sweetan. Coming in on the heel side was Butch Miller (who would of course team up with Williams as The Sheepherders), Adrian Street and Voodoo Mulumba. On the babyface side, coming in aside from Rock & Roll were Relampago Leon and Bruiser Brody. Legendary Junior Heavyweight wrestler Danny Hodge did a brief angle with Embry, who was the promotion’s U.S.A. Junior Heavyweight champion at the time. Embry lost that title to Leon on 10/1. The top feuds were Casey vs. Blanchard, Jaggers vs. Williams and Rock & Roll vs. Fabulous Blonds.

1/5/84 Beaumont: Adrian Street beat Relampago Leon

1/28/84 San Antonio: Bruiser Brody beat Voodoo Mulumba in a loser leaves town match ... Dick Murdoch & Manny Fernandez beat Sheepherders by dq ... Eric Embry & Ken Timbs beat Ricky Morton & Robert Gibson by dq ... Al Perez beat Killer Brooks by dq ... Adrian Street beat Scott Casey by dq

2/24/84 Wichita Falls: Bobby Jaggers & Manny Fernandez beat Eric Embry & Luke Williams in a barbed wire cage match

2/27/84 San Antonio: Killer Brooks beat Scott Casey

3/4/84 San Antonio: Sheepherders beat Fabulous Ones

3/7/84 Waco: Bobby Fulton beat Adrian Street ... Tony Falk beat Relampago Leon ... Bobby Jaggers & Al Perez beat Eric Embry & Ken Timbs ... Killer Brooks beat Scott Casey ... Butch Miller wrestled Manny Fernandez to a draw

In addition to the promotion’s Southwest Tag Team titles, at one point they had had World Tag Team champions as well. The last team to hold those titles were Bruiser Brody & Dick Slater, but both men left the territory in late 1982. They revived these titles in early 1984 when The Fabulous Ones came in. They announecd that The Fabs had won a tournament in Australia (fictitious). On March 4^th, The Sheepherders beat The Fabs to win the titles, touching off another legendary feud from the 80s. Killer Brooks came to the territory and quickly won the Heavyweight title from Scott Casey on 2/27. He replaced Voodoo Mulumba on the heel side. The Rock & Roll Express left the promotion as well, and coming in as babyfaces besides The Fabs were Manny Fernandez, Bobby Fulton and Tony Falk. Dick Murdoch also made one or two appearances. The top feuds were Casey vs. Brooks, The Fabs vs. The Sheepherders, Al Perez & Bobby Jaggers vs. The Fabulous Blonds and Relampago Leon vs. Adrian Street. Street beat Leon to win the U.S.A. Junior Heavyweight title on 1/5 in Beaumont, TX.

3/18/84 Weslaco: Bill Howard beat Tony Falk ... Adrian Street & Miss Linda beat Bobby Fulton in a handicap match ... Eric Embry & Ken Timbs beat Al Perez & Bobby Jaggers ... Manny Fernandez beat Butch Miller ... Scott Casey beat Killer Brooks

3/22/84 Wichita Falls: Bill Howard beat Tony Falk ... Bobby Fulton beat Adrian Street ... Bobby Jaggers & Al Perez beat Ken Timbs & Eric Embry ... Killer Brooks beat Scott Casey ... Butch Miller wrestled Manny Fernandez to a draw

3/25/84 San Antonio: Bobby Fulton beat Adrian Street in a loser leaves town match ... Bobby Fulton won a Texas Brawl battle royal ... Killer Brooks beat Scott Casey ... Mil Mascaras & Manny Fernandez beat Jos LeDuc & Butch Miller

4/1/84 Weslaco: Tony Falk beat Snake Brown ... Bill Howard beat Zar Rojo ... Scott Casey & Bobby Fulton beat Eric Embry & Ken Timbs by dq ... Manny Fernandez beat Killer Brooks ... Sheepherders beat Al Perez & Bobby Jaggers

4/19/84 Wichita Falls: Bill Howard beat Henry Garcia ... Ken Timbs beat Tony Falk ... Bobby Fulton beat Eric Embry ... Bobby Jaggers wrestled Killer Brooks to a draw ... Manny Fernandez & Al Perez beat The Sheepherders

4/25/84 Waco: Henry Garcia & Manny Villalobos beat Snake Brown & Juan Reynosa ... Bill Howard beat Tony Falk ... Bobby Fulton beat Eric Embry ... Mil Mascaras beat Killer Brooks by dq ... Manny Fernandez, Bobby Jaggers & Al Perez beat Ken Timbs & Sheepherders ... The Mummy won a Texas Brawl battle royal

Al Perez & Manny Fernandez beat Eric Embry & Ken Timbs in April to win the Tag Team titles. Perez & Jaggers had been feuding with Embry & Timbs, while Fernandez had been teaming with Mil Mascaras against The Sheepherders for most of this time period. Bobby Fulton won the U.S.A. Junior Heavyweight title from Adrian Street, who then left the territory. Embry then beat Fulton for the title. Bill Howard, Jos LeDuc and The Mummy came in as heels, while the only new babyface was the aforementioned Mascaras. The top feuds were Scott Casey vs. Killer Brooks, the two tag feuds mentioned above and Bobby Fulton vs. Adrian Street. By this point in time, the promotion had cut back on the number of house shows they were promoting. As opposed to wrestlers moving to San Antonio and working on the full-time circuit, this switch enabled wrestlers who primarily competed in other territories to come in for brief stays. A lot of big names would come to the promotion over the next few months, but the lack of continuity from a "traditional" territory would take its’ toll.

SOUTHWEST CHAMPIONSHIP WRESTLING 1983-1984 PART 3

The WAWLI Papers No. 780...

(ED. NOTE – As previously noted, wrestling nostalgia is beginning to abound in cyberspace. Another site, devoted to Quebec’s Legendary Superstars of Pro Wrestling, includes a fairly comprehensive history of the game in that Canadian province. Our congratulations to the authors and we invited WAWLI readers to visit the site for a variety of features: http://www.geocities.com/Colosseum/Ring/9301)

THE HISTORY OF WRESTLING IN QUEBEC

Part 1: From Humble Beginnings to 1940

Then it moved into venues such as parish halls, sports gyms and improvised outdoor venues, in which wooden stands were built in a squared form, hosted pro wrestling as well as variety shows, circuses and boxing matches. (These existed in Montréal-North and the Plateau Mont-Royal district in Montréal).

One of the first major venues in Montréal was the Mont-Royal Arena, which was located corner Mont-Royal and St-Urbain streets in the Plateau district. Many wrestlers did have success here, like Henri Dufresne (recognized as the first successful wrestler coming from Québec) and French champion Henri Deglane. However, on a certain night of 1932, a young and talentful kid from Verdun, out fresh from a famed wrestling camp in the Laurentians, would paved the path to Québec’s pro wrestling success : Yvon Robert.

The Montréal Forum didn’t have a good promotion, as Tommy Gorman had several responsibilities at the time, one as general manager of NHL Maroons and Canadiens (the first had success, the second was sinking and also mourning the lost of a superstar named Howie Morenz). In order to merge the two teams and bring back the Canadiens to success, Gorman sells the wrestling promotion rights to Quinn. It was the start of a beautiful friendship between Montréal and pro wrestling.

Part 2: The Roaring ‘40s

When Eddie Quinn took over, pro wrestling took a giant leap and drew thousands of fans into the old Forum. The reason was, of course, Yvon Robert. The crowds always came to see him battle the wrestling heroes of the time.

However, as the crowds packed up the Forum in the cold months, in the summertime, Quinn moved some of his shows to former Delorimier Stadium, where 35,000 people could watch Yvon Robert wrestle against any challenger.

Many Quebec wrestler, following Robert’s footsteps, were up and coming at the time. Larry Moquin was one of them (he came from the same wrestling school as Robert: the Maupas Camp) as well as Bob Langevin (who,later, would serve as bodyguard for several dignitaries), Omer Marchessault, who wrestled as one Masqued Marvel and six strongmen from outside Quebec City known as the Baillargeon brothers.

As the ‘50s came around the corner, Montreal was indeed the Mecca for Pro Wrestling in that era. Knowing that Yvon Robert would accept the challenge to put his belt on the line, many came and also discovered how Quebecquers at the time enjoyed the sport...

Part 3: The ‘50s, or The Golden Years

When World War II ended, everything started to change. Lifestyles would change dramatically and more people would access things that only rich people could afford before.

Wrestling was about to face those changes. From the basic moves taken from amateur wrestling to win a fight, the sport has taken a radical change: high flying kicks, punches and illegal moves were the standard for wrestlers to win a fight. Mostly the heels and most hated wrestlers used these moves.

In Quebec, Robert was still the star, Quinn held the promotion to its high standards and new wrestlers were constantly put on the roster. It also opened the doors for new characters who would revolutionize the look of pro wrestling.

Welcome Gorgeous George, an American who was a sensation every time he passed by. Tagged as a heel, he drew attention by coming into the ring with style: dressed with a satin robe, blond and walking Hollywood style, with a lady valet on its side. Though we thought this guy was doing this for showing off, George could really wrestle and gave a hard time to every dazzled wrestler who faced him. Then came Nature Boy Buddy Rogers, a spectacular high-flying wrestler and master of the figure-four leglock.

And the heel of heels himself, a brutal wrestler which would set the standard for the genre: Wladek Kowalski.

The latter would mark the history of pro wrestling in Montreal in one crucial date in 1953. Wrestling against Yukon Eric, a crowd favorite, Kowalski went on the top rope to execute a move on Eric, who was lying down. In his drop, Kowalski’s leg came so close to Eric’s left ear it ripped off easily. The referee, thinking it was a thing thrown from the crowd, put it in his pocket. But when he saw Yukon Eric bleeding so fiercely on the head’s left side and reaching his pocket to discover the damaged ear, the official rang the bell. From that night, two lives would change: Yukon Eric, with a missing left ear, would see his career go down due to several mental breakdowns before his suicide in 1964. Kowaski however lived with the nickname "Killer" until the end of his career.

To prepare for an eventual departure of Yvon Robert, who was close to his 40s, many Quebec wrestlers were ready to take his place. Among them an international amateur wrestling champion named Maurice Vachon. After gaining the gold in the British Empire Games in 1950, Vachon then went on to pro wrestling with a unique style of brutality (he said in his autobiography that he was born to brawl) but also of wrestling wits taught by an old pro called Jim Cowley. And of course, Johnny Rougeau, who already organised a few bouts in a sandlot at the Villeray district of Montreal where he grew up. Though he was due a career in the Coca-Cola Company, his uncle Eddie Auger invited him in 1953 to wrestle in Detroit one night. And that’s when Rougeau’s career broke off. His brother Jacques, father of the second generation wrestlers that are Raymond and Jacques Jr., followed in 1955. With his handsome looks and a style taught by none other than the Champ, Yvon Robert himself, Johnny Rougeau got success everywhere he went. Others Quebec wrestlers that went rather for a career in the U.S .are Guy Larose, who wrestled as the German heel known as Hans Schmidt and Camille Tourville, who wrestled mostly as Tarzan Tyler in later years.

February 1953 will pass as a landmark in the history of Pro Wrestling: the French CBC TV network started to broadcast live wrestling matches from the Montreal Forum on wednesday nights. It was indeed one of the most popular programs ever to be scheduled. These were hosted by the late legendary sports announcer Michel Normandin, and were sponsored by the Dow Breweries (who became later Molson-O’Keefe Breweries).

Finally, the inevitable happened: Yvon Robert retired after a tag team match with Johnny Rougeau in 1957 at Quebec City. After officiating matches for two years in the Quinn promotion, he becomes the manager of Johnny Rougeau itself and brings him to the path of a championship belt in 1961.

Part 4: The ‘60s, or Decline and Renaissance

With Yvon Robert’s retirement, it was clear that pro wrestling in Québec would go into a hiatus: new wrestlers had to find new gimmicks to bring the fans into the arena. Two more events would affect the success that pro wrestling had in the past 25 years. In 1961, shortly after winning the championship belt, Johnny Rougeau went into semi-retirement to run a nightclub in Montreal with his brother Jacques. Then in 1963, promoter Eddie Quinn died. Since his death, pro wrestling was going almost nowhere. Local talents would go elsewhere, like Mad Dog Vachon who went to Minnesota and win the AWA title in 1964 and Edouard Carpentier, who went to Japan and Alberta to gain more success. With this kind of degradation, the wrestling business was nothing but back to the drawing board.

In the meanwhile, Johnny Rougeau had success with his nightclub, the Mocambo, in east end Montreal. However, TV and expensive salary demands by some artists forced Rougeau to sell the business, and analysing what had happened in the local wrestling business lately, he would don the tights again and bring back the crowds.

He created a company called "Eastern Sports Entreprises," to whom he gave promotion rights to wrestling buddy Bob "Legs" Langevin under the name "All-Star Wrestling." He established an office in a less expensive venue, the Paul-Sauve Arena, in Rosemont district northeast of Montreal. Remembering the impact TV gave to Quinn’s promotion, he contacted Roland Giguère from Télé-Métropole (today the national TVA French network) to produce a weekly pro wrestling show called SUR LE MATELAS (will be presented later at CTV’s affiliate CFCF 12 as Superstars of the Mat). This show was extremely popular on Saturday afternoons.

The Paul Sauvé Arena would become the main venue for regular shows, but the Forum would be used for special events during holidays like Easter, Thanksgiving and Christmas...

With this new boom, new faces would come around, like Gino Brito, Gilles Poisson, Neil Guay, Tony Parisi, Johnny War Eagle, and heels like The Sheik, The Cuban Assassins and Abdullah the Butcher. Sooner or later, the vets of the former promotion came back: Maurice Vachon, Wladek Kowalski, Don Leo Johnathan, Edouard Carpentier and Tony Baillargeon. As well, a new breed of wrestlers has become popular: midget wrestlers, introducted by Gino Brito’s father Jack Britton. Among the pint-sized athletes were Little Beaver, Sky Low Low and Little Brutus...

In the ‘60s, a new kind of character came into the scene: unlike the masked men of the ‘50s, mobster-like men roamed around the ring to interfere in the match so their protégé would win: the wrestling manager. Most of the time a manager of heels, he is the person in charge of the talking, while the employee does the hard work. One of the most successful managers would be Eddie Creatchman, alias The Brain or The Boss. A referee who had his ways with wrestlers (he’s the one lifting Johnny Rougeau’s arm in victory over Hans Schmidt in a championship bout), Creatchman decided to put his mouth where the money is. He hired the most brutal heels ever to come into a ring (The Sheik and Abdullah the Butcher) and once a week, delivered one of his devastating speeches to the public. With a mobster-like voice, no matter he attracted lots of people in the arena, as well as his illegal actions like bearing an electric cattle rod on the opponents and a whistle to tell the protégé to go at it.

If wrestling came back from the ashes, Johnny Rougeau did save it from total indifference.

Part 5: The Controversial 1970s

In the ‘70s, pro wrestling in Quebec was on cruise control, well almost. In 1971, unsatisfied with some booking procedures inside ALL-STAR WRESTLING, several wrestlers including Gino Brito have left the promotion to create GRAND PRIX WRESTLING with Lucien Gregoire as promoter. This created a rivalry paralleled by MLB’s American and National Leagues in the World Series. And they had a TV show in both languages...

Beside the separation, wrestling was up and coming with the arrival of the Leduc Brothers, Andre the Giant, Dino Bravo, Rick Martel, Sailor White, Michel Dubois, Ivan Koloff and others.

As well as the first member of the second generation of the Rougeau family : Raymond, older son of Jacques Sr., who started in 1971.

However, wrestling was stirring controversy at times. Due to a misconduct of several wrestlers and fans (see next paragraph about Dick Taylor) on July 30, 1974 at the Montreal Forum, the Montreal Athletic Commission suspended a scheduled gala on August 13 and put the blame on the promoters. On the night the show was supposed to be presented at the Paul-Sauve Arena, thousands of people with Creatchman in front protested against the canceled show.

On July 30, 1974, wrestlers Jacques Rougeau, brother Johnny and the Leduc Brothers were accused of brutality against Dick Taylor (due to that assault, he would refuse to participate in a show). The trial was controversial: many members of the wrestling community defended the accused explaining that it was a stupid misfortune and Taylor exaggerated his charges. The foursome was acquitted.

Wrestling became more and more controversial at these times. Several wrestlers were using dangerous articles and illegal weapons (not guns) to cheat and win matches. The Sheik threw fire, Abdullah the Butcher used a fork to cut other wrestlers’ forehead, heel Japanese wrestlers throw salt in faces, etc. It was also the era of special matches : battle royals, cage matches, strap matches, dog collar matches, Russian chain matches, lumberjack matches, no-disqualification matches, and so on.

The Quebec government judged that wrestling has gone too far on these practices, so it proposed a law project restricting the sport itself, to the great dislike of the fans and the wrestlers itself. In a resume, Quebec wanted to ban wrestling indefinitely, to let it come back to a purer form of sport, avoiding the notion of extreme violence it was associated with.

But, by popular demand, the law proposal backed off. It was unrealistic. However, the Montreal Athletic Commission will impose strict rules such as forbidding a wrestler to be thrown over the third rope, jumping from the top corner, special stipulations matches involving cages, collars, straps and any foreign objects, women’s matches and any manager from other associations than the one recognized by the Commission. The Commission also has the right to name the referees to apply those rules.

In the mid-‘70s, wrestling was at the peak of its popularity. On July 17, 1972, more than 29,000 fans filled Jarry Park (now the DuMaurier Tennis Stadium) to see the Rougeaus beat the Arab connection of The Sheik and Abdullah the Butcher (individually). One year later, Grand Prix used the same ball park venue for a show which the main event matched Mad Dog Vachon and Killer Kowalski. Quebec had its first woman wrestler to break through: Vivianne Vachon, sister of Maurice and Paul Vachon, who came so close to winning a women’s championship against the Fabulous Moolah. The same year, Johnny Rougeau hosted a radio show on talk radio station CKVL for one year (Creatchman was the first guest). Then Grand Prix was in troubled waters.

To help regain popularity, the promotion held several joint shows with All-Star Wrestling. Then it continued to present shows in the Verdun Auditorium until it folded in 1975. CFTM retired its All Star Wrestling TV show as well. With that matter causing low attendances in the Paul Sauvé Arena, Bob Langevin closes the promotion in 1975. Johnny Rougeau retired from wrestling to take care of his hockey team. And more wrestlers were lured by the American dollar and the Japanese yen.

Many attempts to recreate a wrestling promotion in Québec passed by, but with no luck. CELEBRITY WRESTLING was one of them. Then Jack Britton created OLYMPIA PRO SPORTS, without success, as well as SUPER CATCH, created by Paul-Émile DesMarais. Gino Brito held somewhat the boat by organizing some shows in the summer with several former stars of Grand Prix and All-Star around parks and festivals in Québec and Ontario...

This is how INTERNATIONAL WRESTLING will be born...

Part 6: Wrestling Goes International

In the beginning of 1980, Québec Wrestling was about to get another second wind. Grand Prix veteran Gino Brito, along with Frank Valois, former wrestler turned promoter and André the Giant, creates International Wrestling (the company name was Promotions Varoussac, which stands for VAlois, ROUSSimoff, and ACcocella, the first letters of their family names.). He puts under contract many of the wrestlers which have made prime time in both All Star Wrestling and Grand Prix Wrestling. Due to the popularity of a late night wrestling show on a nearby American channel affiliated with the ABC network, he also invites wrestlers from the Wide World Wrestling Federation.

Grand Prix Wrestling, before its folding, had a TV show made in the CHLT TV studios in Sherbrooke, Québec, in the ‘70s. The same studio is used again to broadcast the flagship show, called LES ÉTOILES DE LA LUTTE (Superstars of Wrestling, which was broadcast also in English on the CTV’s CFCF 12 station with George Cannon at the anchor desk). It was a very popular show from 1980 to 1985, shown on Sundays at a time when everyone was supposed to go to church.

Many wrestlers were participating in that promotion. Among the vets were Brito itself, Michel Dubois, Raymond Rougeau, Tony Parisi, Neil Guay (the Hangman), Sailor White, Gilles Poisson, Maurice Vachon, Rick Martel, Frenchy Martin, etc. as well as new faces like Pierre Lebfèvre, Mike Vachon, Richard Charland, Louis Laurence, Alain Vigneault, Ludger Proulx, Armand Rougeau, Jacques Rougeau, etc. Even the midgets Little Beaver and Sky Low Low were there once in a while.

But mainly, it was Dino Bravo who was the focus in that promotion. Billed as the Canadian Strongman in the U.S., Bravo would become the champ and keep the belt for more than five years overall. However, he would be the main target for several heels, many headed by the notorious Eddie Creatchman (back with his speeches) and later by the late Tarzan Tyler.

The main venue was again the Paul-Sauvé Arena. It was the most appropriate place for wrestling shows, especially that most of the shows will average at least 3,000 persons per night. The shows were mostly presented on Monday nights, 48 nights per year.

The TV show and the dynamic organisation that was INTERNATIONAL WRESTLING brought wrestling to new heights. In the newspapers, everyone was talking about the comeback of a controversial, but entertaining sport. And affordable as well... Fans fill arenas in every venue the federation passed in the province of Québec.

American wrestlers were also in demand due to that late night TV show. Wrestlers like Sargeant Slaughter, Hulk Hogan, Bob Backlund, Big John Studd, Stan Hansen, The Destroyer, Ken Patera ,were invited to the federation’s shows. Another one, who started his career in Montréal, came back for several shows and fill out each time the Paul-Sauvé Arena: André the Giant !

Everything went so well that Frank Valois had big plans for the promotion, especially to bring some shows in the Montréal Forum, where many legendary wrestlers fought. It happened in April 1983, in a sold-out show which featured in the main event, Jimmy Snuka vs.Ray Stevens as well as the awaited battle between Dino Bravo and the Masked Superstar.

The federation created a pro wrestling school to train future wrestling hopes. Directed by Édouard Carpentier, the school was located at the Paul Sauvé Arena, assistant teachers were Gino Brito and Dino Bravo. One of the first graduates was Gino Brito Jr, son of Gino.

With the association of Verne Gagné’s AWA promotion, some wrestlers from Minnesota came into Montréal to challenge our wrestlers : Curt Hennig, Billy Robinson, Ric Flair, Greg Gagné, Jim Brunzell, Tom Zenk, Nick Bockwinkel, the Road Warriors and the Garvins came to challenge our wrestlers. Thus not forgetting that in 1983, Rick Martel won the coveted AWA championship belt against Jumbo Tsuruta.

However, pro wrestling was about to be strongly popular in the U.S. Vince McMahon Jr buys his ailing father’s WWWF to create the World Wrestling Federation. Its goal is to internationalize wrestling by many phases. The first was to get a popular wrestler to promote and bring the fans all over. Fresh from his ROCKY III success, Terry Bullea, alias Hulk Hogan, would fit into the picture. Having won the championship in January 1984 against Iron Sheik, Hogan and wrestling would go into higher levels. Then, McMahon would tape the matches from a single venue (first, the former Felt Forum in New York, then a studio in Glens Falls, NY), then sell the tapes to TV channels across America and Canada. Then get into the lucrative promotional products. Even a cartoon was made. Finally, one by one, the WWF would buy major regional promotions to reunite under one federation and present several shows throughout the year. It also presented the first wrestling match in a video clip channel (MTV) and the first wrestling pay-per-view: WRESTLEMANIA in April 1985.

In Canada, Maple Leaf Wrestling was the first step to the WWF’s quest to conquer the Canadian wrestling market. And INTERNATIONAL WRESTLING was about to be next. First, it purchased the rights to a WWF-TV French version (with Edouard Carpentier as host), and then co-host some shows with the promotion at the Montreal Forum in 1986.

With the WWF’s strong influence, Quebec wrestling foundations were starting to crumble despite its success. In a certain point, the fans prefer seeing American wrestlers getting at it in a spectacular way each week rather than seeing two locals wrestling each other again and again. However, INTERNATIONAL WRESTLING hired new guns such as the Long Riders, Steve Strong, the Great Samu, Alofa the Polynesian Prince, the HeadHunters, Kamala the Ougandan Giant, and others. Summer 1985 was marked by one of the most popular rivalries ever done as the Rougeau Brothers and the Garvin Brothers took on each other at two memorable dates at the Montreal Forum. But on Christmas Eve 1985, Quebec Wrestling lose three of its main players in a car accident near Chicoutimi, Qc. Tarzan Tyler, his protégé Pierre Lebfèvre and referee Adrien DesBlois lose their lives during a severe snowstorm while coming back from a show in the latter city. Then, with the co-hosted shows with the WWF in 1986, some Québec wrestlers were about to be lured in the big leagues.

Soon, Dino Bravo, the Rougeaus: Raymond and Jacques Jr, Rick Martel, Frenchy Martin, Louis Laurence, King Tonga and Tom Zenk would be signing contracts with the help of former member Pat Patterson. With these major INTERNATIONAL WRESTLING players leaving the Québec federation, it finally fell into forgetfulness.

It folded in 1987. Gino Brito reunited the rest of those who wanted to carry the torch and created Super Pro Wrestling (SPW), a small promotion touring during the summer months around Québec.

The Quebec wrestlers fared pretty well on wrestling shows. However, they were given the heavy roles of heels. But they didn’t mind, because the majority of the WWF venues were American, European and even Australian... But when they came at the Forum for the occasional show, they were booed : quite a contrast for local heroes. We remember that Mad Dog Vachon did retire from the sport on a WWF show in 1987.

The ‘80s saw veterans come and go. Besides the death of Tyler, Lebfèvre and DesBlois cited above, wrestling great Johnny Rougeau passed away in May 1983 from cancer. Rougeau’s story was at least special : in order to accept his fate, he wrote an excellent biography (edited by Québecor). Mad Dog Vachon retired in 1986 after a short shift at the WWF, but bad luck struck him in 1987 when he was victim of a hit-and-run while doing his jogging at his home town of Iowa City. Vachon lost his left leg due to this misfortune. A member of the Rougeau Family, Armand, saw his career broken when he was victim of a severe back injury in 1986 and was forced to retire from the sport.

With the influence of free TV, no one dared started another wrestling federation before 1989, when Ludger Proulx, Frank Blues and others would start independent federations that would keep alive the flame of Quebec Pro Wrestling...

Part 7: The ‘90s: Indies and a New Hope

While Quebec wrestling fans were in majority seeing WWF programs on French networks, new federations were about to be created.

Though Gino Brito’s SPW had a certain success in regions, back in Montreal, in 1989,former INTERNATIONAL WRESTLING member, Ludger Proulx, along with Carl Ninja Langlois, created a small but strong promotion called INTER CHAMPIONSHIP WRESTLING. The promotion does shows in a small parish hall in east Montreal. Many wrestling hopes were trained here, like the 2 Prisoners. It also stars many others wrestlers with names like Mobster, Screw, Mr. USA, Dark Purple, Dynasty, Spoiler, Serge Saumon, Mad Dog Cloutier and members of Ludger’s family: brother Serge (the promoter, almost as hated as Vince McMahon today), Paul, nephew Francis and niece Francesca. Other superstars from the former federations, like Gino Brito, Jos Leduc and Georges Guimond passed by sometimes to challenge the ICW members. And they follow the flow of the clans: Boys in Black (faces), SWAT (heels) and Nasty Freaks always feud to the satisfaction of more than 250 people each Saturday night.

In 1986, in a Joliette high school project, Francois Poirier and some friends take their amateur wrestling skills to work and put on a wrestling show between four badminton poles rounded by elastic poles and gymnasic mats. In 1991, Pelletier changed his name to Frank Blues and joined with his high school friends along with Phil Belanger to create the NORTHERN CHAMPIONSHIP WRESTLING. The promotion started small though; in a little Joliette reception hall and a ring purchased from ICW’s Ludger Proulx, fights were held each week. The federation had a goal and a motto: UNFORGETTABLE. And unforgettable were each show. From traditional to hardcore, NCW grew out a legion of fans in the Joliette region with Bertrand Hebert as promoter (Joliette is in the same region where the second generation Rougeau brothers and Pierre Lebfevre were raised). Then they produce a monthly TV show in the Lanaudiere community channel, where they showed highlights of the Joliette shows as well as promoting the future galas. Even with a tight budget, NCW has a way to put on a show on the road. The shows were becoming more and more important, attendance-wise. At one point, they organised their major shows like CHALLENGEMANIA at the Marcel-Bonin Arena in Joliette. And other venues wanted the NCW to perform locally. Especially from the Montreal South Shore area of Beauharnois and Valleyfield. Recently, the NCW gave a succesful shot at the Quebec City market.

Others promotions came and pass, however only the strong survived... To the late Royal Wrestling Ring of Verdun, came the W.I.T. of Pointe St-Charles district of Montreal, still alive and well (the promotion is in a middle of a poor neighborhood).

But still the American promotions present their occasionnal shows in Montreal. Though Dino Bravo has retired (to his unlucky fate in March 1993), the Rougeaus were still the talk of the town in wrestling. Jacques Rougeau Jr wrestled in solo and happened to win a WWF belt under the name of Mountie (yes the RCMP mountie !). However, he kept the Intercontinental belt for a week, until he was beated by one Bret Hart...Afterwards, Jacques took a young buck named Pierre-Karl Ouellet, a wrestler who wrestled with an eye-patch due to a childhood accident (he had a caracter of a pirate). Along with manager Johnny Polo (who later will become the Raven...), they won the WWF tag team belt in 1993 against the Steiners...

However, efforts were still made for bringing back a major local wrestling federation in Quebec. Who will be the saviour? With all the agressive marketing of the American promotions such as the WWF and WCW (headed by TV tycoon Ted Turner, who started his career producing wrestling shows). Besides the independent promotions, a major star would come and endorse a delicate but worthy initiative.

In the spirit of his legendary uncle in the ‘60s, a fed-up Jacques Rougeau, screwed by both American federations, tries the impossible. Rougeau and his then-buddy Pierre-Karl Ouellet joined the WCW in 1996 in order to have a match against Hulk Hogan. In April 1997, his dream was fullfilled (he even beat him) but Eric Bischoff, the president, fearing that Rougeau would spoil Hogan’s stardom and the structure of his NEW WORLD ORDER, fired Rougeau and Ouellet. A short stint in the WWF as mid-carders gave the answer to Rougeau to start thinking about the future of local wrestling. After parting ways with Ouellette, Jacques reconciled with his brother Raymond and announced that they were creating INTERNATIONAL WRESTLING 2000 in a press conference in January 1999. With young superstars like Carl Leduc, Nelson Veilleux, Ron Trottier, Iceman and veterans like Sunny War Cloud, Richard Charland, Michel Dubois (who wrestled in the U.S. and Japan as Mad Russian Alexis Smirnoff), the Garvins (by the way, they are both from Quebec origin) and the Rougeaus themselves. Women’s wrestling has a young hope as well in the footsteps of the late Vivianne Vachon: Precious Lucy. They held shows in the Pierre-Charbonneau Center near the Olympic Stadium in Montreal three times in 1999, improving at each time.

If future legends are yet to be born, others have to leave as well. Vivianne Vachon was victim of a car accident with her daughter in 1992 (she retired from the mat in 1976). Dino Bravo got shot in a result of some payback by the Montreal Mob in March 1993.

Andre the Giant, who first gained North American fame in Montreal, died almost one month before Bravo. But the biggest wrestling seller of all times in Quebec, the original manager Eddie Creatchman, died in March 1994. So did Omer Marchessault, the Montreal Fireman cum Masked Marvel and timekeeper, midget greats Little Beaver and Sky Low Low, native Johnny War Eagle, and last but not least, Frank Valois, in December 1998, the man who resuscitated and brought back wrestling in the ‘80s.

Part 8: Into the 2000s

As we enter the 20^th century, the fate of Quebec pro wrestling is quite challenging. With a couple of Indy promotions like the NCW and the ICW in Montreal as well as new-born INTERNATIONAL WRESTLING 2000, seems that our pro wrestling is getting back on the track. But the American Menace stills looms as wrestling fans of today roots for the heroes of WWF or WCW they learned to watch when they grew up. With TV appealing and merchandising aplenty, how can we forget that the American product of pro wrestling has practically killed the show here. Well almost. It took the brains of one Ludger Proulx, some kids from Joliette and a veteran wrestler screwed up by both major american promotions to revive the flame that was once held by Yvon Robert, Maurice Vachon, Johnny Rougeau, Eddie Creatchman, Dino Bravo, Rick Martel and others.

What the local scene needs, is more exposure from the media. Already, the LUTTE.COM site (and now QuébecLutte, since LUTTE.COM has closed its site), does a good job of trying to promote the local promotions, sometimes by participating directly in them. But let’s not forget that only TV is the sole great promotion organ that can make a pro wrestling promotion works.

Stampede Wrestling, the legendary promotion that was once purchased by the World Wrestling Federation, has just launched a TV weekly show.

Recently, Paul Leduc has talked about evolution in pro wrestling. Obviously, there is something evolving when we’re talking about alternative ways to attract fans today: more stunts, more falls, more illegal tactics, more illicit weapons, more hardcore matches. Without forgetting that once pro wrestling was more scientific, this kind of combat would become today less than a bore. People want action, characters that they would recognize in themselves and then excellent rivalries to keep the storyline moving.

Going into the twenty-first century, wrestling will come back to a way where it used to be before. The young athletes and the veterans would mingle in minor Indy promotions while the top brass would still hold on to the major national wrestling promotions. However, with the power of TV (public, commercial and private) and the way communications are today, it would be doubtful that mega-leagues like WWF, WCW and the ECW would disappear one of these days.

What about the fate of Quebec in pro wrestling? Right now, Jacques Rougeau is building slowly a major pro wrestling promotion in the province. The route will be long of course, due to the habits of the fans watching the WWF (and now WCW) for more than a decade, but he knows that talent roams into Quebec and others are trying desperately to make it to the big leagues. With big league experience, Rougeau with its INTERNATIONAL WRESTLING 2000, will surely create something stable and worthy for the fans. Another one, the NCW, now tours Quebec with its brand of hardcore and spectacular bouts. And finally, the ICW, staying in Montreal, and having its legion of fans, offering an off-the-wall product similar to the American wrestling shows (and fans are near the action).

And our wrestlers. For the moment, they’re polishing their moves. However, one of them will come out of the pack and one day will become the stuff that legends are made off, like Yvon Robert, Johnny Rougeau, Maurice Vachon, Dino Bravo, Rick Martel, Jacques Rougeau Jr and others. And keep the flame burning so no other major federation would barge in and gobble all the glory that our local pro wrestling scene has accumulated in the past 70 years.
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The WAWLI Papers No. 781...

ILIO DIPAOLO IN THE BUFFALO HALL OF FAME

(Buffao Sports Hall of Fame, http://www.buffalosportshallfame.com/1996/Ilio_DiPaolo/ilio_dipaolo.html)

The Greater Buffalo Sports Hall of Fame has honored many individuals who forged a reputation not only as athletes but also as civic leaders and beacons of the Buffalo community. Ilio DiPaolo made his mark as a standout professional wrestler during the heyday of the sport. However, the gentle giant is noteworthy not only for that reason, but as an athlete who gave more back to his community than perhaps any other in the long history of sports in Buffalo. The 1995 accident which claimed DiPaolo’s life robbed Western New York of not only a legendary sports figure, but a familiar restaurateur whose legend later grew to mythic proportions as he willingly and actively embraced his role as a community benefactor.

DiPaolo left his native Italy for South America in 1949, and arrived in the United States in the early 1950s. He overcame a childhood bout with polio, and a subsequent difficulty with an enlarged heart, to become a professional wrestler.

DiPaolo’s career blossomed in this country. He was one of the "good guys" in the high-profile world of professional wrestling in the 1950’s and early ‘60s, engaging in battle with such notables as Killer Kowalski, Fritz Von Eric, the Masked Marvel and Gorgeous George. However, DiPaolo’s wrestling skill produced more than entertainment, as evidenced by two Tag Team titles, an All-Asian Championship in Japan, and competition in World Championship bouts in Toronto and Winnipeg. DiPaolo’s peers acknowledged his contributions to wrestling in 1994 by inducting him into the prestigious and exclusive Cauliflower Alley Club Wrestling Hall of Fame in Springfield, Massachusetts.

When an ankle injury ended his wrestling career in 1965, DiPaolo the world traveler chose Buffalo as home and opened his famous Blasdell restaurant. The restaurant became a favorite with Buffalo Bills players and countless other Western New Yorkers. Many Bills and their families were welcomed to Buffalo with dinner at DiPaolo’s, where they were nourished with fine food, friendship and inspiration from the gracious owner.

Although DiPaolo’s restaurant became a gathering place for Buffalo celebrities, the owner’s generosity extended equally to the less famous and less fortunate. He campaigned vigorously for a variety of causes including the Leukemia Society, Cystic Fibrosis, People Incorporated, and Camp Good Days and Special Times. DiPaolo’s community involvement was recognized by Outstanding Citizens awards from many community-minded organizations, including Hilbert College, the Rotarians, the Lions Club of Blasdell, Boys Town of Italy, St. Francis High School and the Western New York Italian-American Association.
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STRANGLER LEWIS DEFEATS SARPOLIS IN PORTLAND

(Associated Press, February 12, 1930)

PORTLAND, Ore. – Ed "Strangler" Lewis, former world’s heavyweight champion, defeated Dr. Karl Sarpolis, Cleveland mat man, two out of three falls in the main event of a wrestling card here tonight.

Lewis took the first fall in 3 minutes 40 seconds with a toe hold and the third in 6 minutes with his famous headlock.

The second fall went to Sarpolis in 17 minutes 39 seconds.
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CHARLEY HANSON WINS MAT MEET

(Seattle Post-Intelligencer, April 10, 1930)

OLYMPIA, Wash. – Charley Hanson, Seattle’s favorite heavyweight, again proved himself master of the body slam when, groggy from a series of punishing headlocks, he picked Martin Zikov, powerful Russian, up for a paralyzing slam and fall in 44 minutes 55 seconds at Legion Hall last night and then took the second fall in less than ten seconds the same way.

Bud Anderson, Seattle, proved too foxy for the tough Emil Firpo of Argentina, taking the first fall in 26:03 with a short arm scissors and second in 8:50 with body scissors and arm bar.

Tommy Kilonis, of San Francisco, took the one-fall preliminaary from Jack Durant, Seattle, in 14:32 with an arm bar.

(ED. NOTE – The following pieces are from the NWA Midwest Wrestling site, located at http://www.midwestwrestling.com/Nastalgia.htm)
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2000 CAC REUNION

By Harry White

In conjunction with the new millenium an old club breaks out a new image. What place better than Las Vegas to break out a new image for the Cauliflower Alley Club. The venerable, history-filled Sportman’s Lodge in Studio City, CA, had done a great job of filling the needs of the CAC. The club got larger and like wrestling today the club became more well known and mainstream publicized.

A new venue for meetings moved past the discussion stage. A few successful East Coast Reunions for those jet laggers who could not make the traditional West Coast meetings and a 1999 stop at the Newton Iowa Hall Of Fame showed that reunions could be viable outside Calilfornia. If I can quote the Batman TV show, the club chose a location with "zip," "pow," "bam," and pizazz—Las Vegas, NV.

As in Newton, a Friday night social and cocktail get together was added to the weekend. The location for both Friday and Saturday night was the top floor of one of the Riviera Hotel towers. FINALLY, a location as TALL as those great stories we all love to hear. Except for the California Sportsman Lodge heated pool (where we could swim laps with Penny Banner) the Riviera Hotel had it all.

The Riviera also had it all in terms of wrestling personalities past and present. One thing at the hotel regarding scheduling was a bit odd. The Board Of Directors meeting was held next to an Alzheimer’s symposium. I’ll bet if some old wrestlers ever do succumb to that problem, it will not affect their recall of memories about wrestling places and events.

Unfortunately Harley Race could not make it due to recent surgery but Chris Owens who runs Harley’s web site filled in nicely. Chris was selling and is still selling old star wrestler autographed ring bells. So if anyone has not had the pleasure of being hit over the head with a genuine ring bell, contact Chris. A percentage of the funds goes to CAC. At the other end of the room Mark Nulty’s on-line radio show interviewed wrestlers. No word if expert yodeler Ida Mae Martinez overtaxed the warranty on Mark’s equipment.

The audience was treated to a variety of on stage entertainment. It was good to know that in Johnny Merced’s wrestling career that any to-the-throat knee drops did not damage his dynamic singing voice. Paul Boesch’s son Joey’s talent on the piano always entertains. Gene Stanlee’s wife also played the piano.

I hope I don’t forget mentioning who all was there. Stan Kowalski broke into a stand up routine. As mean and villainous as the attending Killer Kowalski was in his ring career, Stan Kowalski is as funny with his stream of consciousness jokes. Wrestlers past and present socialized in all corners of the room.

I caught Mr. Perfect Curt Hennig in a rare admission of humility when I asked him if he was the best golfer in the room. He actually gave a rare "no" and said his father Larry was. I am only 50 but don’t know if I could ever keep up with the non-stop energy and enthusiasm that Penny Banner, Ida Mae Martinez and Ella Waldek display at these reunions.

 

Reggie Parks looked in shape enough to win an old timers battle royal or at the least a best abs contest. An often asked question is the whereabouts of former wildman Pampero Firpo. Ask no more as he was at the Riviera looking good. A minor disappointment was Pampero no longer sporting the wild hair.

 

Sputnick Monroe’s eyebrows more than made up for Pampero’s missing wild hair. A member of Bull Curry’s family (son Fred) was in attendance. A great pose down would be an eyebrow posedown between Sputnick, Bull Curry, and Ox Baker (this event needs an appearance by Ox). Sputnik with his great stories, could out filibuster Senator Strom Thurmond.

 

A story gabfest between Dick Steinborn and Sputnick could fill some hours. If you like talking to articulate, interesting gentlemen then sit down for a while with Lord Al Hayes. Frankie Cain AKA the Great Mephisto, among others, has a list of stories as big as the displayed cast of Andre’s foot and hand. Frankie also does a great job in giving brides away as he did at my wedding that afternoon.

 

A man just as home in a commercial or movie role as he was in the ring is Hard Boiled Haggerty. He told my new wife that when I lose the rest of my hair that I will really be sexy. On the other hand, the always non stop always affable Destroyer told my wife that in a few years she will be wanting me to wear a mask.

 

The Crusher with his omnipresent cigar told my wife that since she married me she is going to need a lot of beer and cigars. The only other guy in the entire hotel that is more long winded and hot aired than the minister that just married my bride and I was Jim Cornette. Another great manager, Percival A. Friend, was there but I did not see anyone walking around in a strange knit cap with a ball on top, so I missed seeing the Central States star.

 

Verne Gagne could not make it but Greg filled in nicely. Tex McKenzie may have even gotten taller over the years. Too bad the Sheik was not there for just one more brawl between the two. If any old feuds did erupt, referee Charlie Smith was there to mediate. A big wrestling upset would be if Danny Hodge ever missed a get-together.

 

Stan Pulaski enjoyed his well deserved award. Super trainer of the superstars not only got an award but also a few shots from his introducer, Jim Cornette. The man who deserves an award for straight shooting outspokeness, Ole Anderson, always had an audience. How anyone could have ever booed Kinji Shibuya years ago is beyond my comprehension. What a great gentleman.

 

I was kind of hoping that there would be a submission hold contest between Johnny Power’s "powerlock" and the Destroyer’s leg hold but maybe next year. Paul Diamond looks like he could still wrestle and play hockey.

Johnny Rodz looked good and maybe even a little predictable in his middle years. Speaking of looking good, few had a better in the ring body than Gene (Mr. America) Stanlee. Gene and Steve would now have no challengers for tag team champs over-80 age division.

 

Pat Patterson represented the WWF well. Last year in Newton, amateur great Dan Gable showed up and this year amateur great Kurt Angle showed up. Speaking of tough guys, middleweight boxing champ Gene Fullmer got an award. I remember Fullmer’s brawling boxing style serving up as many head butts as the late Rufus R Jones.

 

Speaking of late ones, board of directors members Sheldon Goldberg and Tom Burke read the long list of recently passed away wrestlers, boxers and martial artists. That was sad but hosts Bockwinkel and Garibaldi kept things moving along. Quite a few of Red Bastien’s family saw the intro of the new president. Marla made a scrap book of Red’s career.

 

Lou Thesz retired as prez but that does not at all mean that he is slowing down any as that afternoon he was looking for the hotel gym. If you would like to know the in the ring records of the old stars then there is a good chance that Jim Melby of MN has done a record book on them. If you ever need an indy wrestler, a swim coach or a best man at a wedding, you couldn’t do any better than Ken Taylor.

 

Other reunion organizers were respresented in Jason (Wolfman) Sanderson and Tom Burke planning a New England, Mike and Bev Chapman from the Pro Wrestling Hall Of Fame annual inductions, Dean and Ruth Silverstone from the Seattle reunions, Mr. and Mrs. Bill Bowman from the Gulf Coast reunions.

 

One of the highlights for most of the wrestlers and fans was meeting Scott Teal who does the CAC web site. If one is not able to make it to a CAC or other reunion or get together, then the next best way to keep up with goings on is with Scott Teal’s Whatever Happened To books. I don’t really know if a convention of wrestlers, boxers, and stunt men is the ideal place for nuptials, as several happened to remark if I’m not nice to my new bride, I’ll learn first hand the definition of getting stretched.

THE WEDDING

So I actually did get married on Cauliflower Alley weekend in Las Vegas. If anyone needed a definitive answer to any obscure wrestling trivia they would have had to come to the chapel because premiere old time mat history mavens Tom Burke,Jim Melby,and Scott Teal were in attendance.

The omnipresent Mike Lano with his surgically attached camera was there fighting with the chapel photographer for best shooting position. (I’m darn lucky I was able to keep Mike and his camera out of the honeymoon suite.) It was kind of a lumber jack thing because if I tried to sneak off the altar, then wrestlers attending would have thrown me back.

Ken Taylor, a one time indy wrestler and a swimming coach in L.A., did a fine job of not dropping the rings so we both would not bang heads picking them up. Mary (the new Mrs. White) does not swim well so it was important that a swim coach stand up for me in case I started sweating buckets. Turned out I was not nervous, but if I was, I had saved the air sickness bag from the plane flght out to Vegas.

The minister though, almost needed sweat goggles when he looked up and saw the bride being escorted by The Great Mephisto. For those not familiar with the wild and crazy Great One, he makes the Unpredictable Johnny Rodz as predictable as one of those lame Magic Eight Balls. My mind is half on my lovely bride and half trying to calculate the monetary damage to the chapel’s carpet from a patented Mephisto fireball. I was considering having the much calmer (????) Sputnick Monroe escort the bride but the man’s eyebrows are just too wide to fit through the door.

On a nostalgic note, as a 10-year-old, when St Louis’ Wrestling At The Chase started in 1959, the first villain I saw was the salt throwing Kinji Shibuya. Forty years later that same villain was at my wedding. I’m lucky he did not throw any salt in my eyes as I might have kissed the wrong girl.

The minister urged us to "love, honor, and obey." I wanted to amend that to "love, honor and obey EXCEPT for PPV Sundays." My bride is beginning to enjoy wrestling but if I see any problems in the future they would be "stop reading WHT at the breakfast table," or "I wish you would read the financial papers as much as you read J Michael Kenyon’s WAWLI papers." Later that night after the CAC banquet, my bride says to me "dear don’t ever worry if some nights you can’t get me all that excited, I’ll just think about some of those old wrestlers and that should do the trick."
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The WAWLI Papers No. 783...

THE READERS ALWAYS WRITE

Date: Sunday, August 13, 2000 11:41 AM
Subject: Dick Lane info please

Mr. Kenyon,

My grandmother recently passed away and left my wife and I a house in San Diego. While cleaning out an old desk, I found an autographed copy of "Dick Lane’s Wrestling Book" with the title "Whoa Nellie!"

The autograph on the front is in blue ink, and the book features info on several wrestlers, and a section on techniques.

Would you be able to provide any info on who Dick Lane was, and if there is any collectors or museums of sports items that may be interested in it. I have a digital camera if a picture is needed.

Thank you for your time.

Brian
__________________________________

Dear Sir,

Dick Lane was one of the first television announcers who gained lasting fame, at least on a regional basis, by doing professional wrestling. He began right after World War II and became a living legend by blurting out things like, "Whoa, Nellie!!"

He was generally aired over a Hollywood, Calif., TV station and his career lasted nearly 30 years.

In later life, he added to his notoriety by doing telecasts of the Roller Games in Los Angeles.

The book you describe should be of significant interest on the part of collectors should you put it up for bid on some site like E-Bay.

Here’s an excerpt from a letter that has more detail about Lane:
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From: "Richard Alcott"
Subject: The Modest Life
Date: Thu, 16 Mar 2000

Dear McSweeney’s,

Many people want to live a modest life, and some people are able to achieve a kind of simplicity in the midst of this busy, cosmopolitan, getting and spending world. Even people like you, who either live surrounded by luxuriant rural verdure, have one or two potted plants to console you, or use red masonry bricks for a pillow—even you struggle with the realities of accumulation.

Just the other evening, as I relaxed in a hot, scented bathtub following a long and challenging yet satisfying day’s work educating the eager young students of this quaint seaside village as to the intricacies of definite and indefinite English article usage, I was reminded yet again that searching after truth is a rutted highway, full of twists and turns and the occasional roadkill.

My wife, who is an astute and insightful observer of the human scene, and has raised the question before, called my attention to the Dalai Lama, a presumably immaculate, devout individual who has been forced by circumstances to live a life of exile. Do you think he lives a modest life? my wife asked me. Look at those glasses he wears, she suggested. Those must be Renoma frames. What kind of a modest man wears Renoma frames? What kind of a Buddhist does he think he is?

This was not an easy question, not one I could dismiss with a glib, ironic answer. First of all, I would not recognize Renoma eyeglass frames even if I were wearing them myself, and I settled back into the steamy, fragrant waters of my tub, my tightly knotted muscles relaxing uneasily, the stresses of the day slowly melting away, certain that my wife would herself soon straighten me out with answers of her own, if not, more questions which would illuminate the subject like a bank of kleig lights.

Was Fred Blassie a modest man? Blassie’s major claim to his fame derives from the night he took the right to wear the world’s pro-wrestling championship belt back from Rikidozan of Japan. Rikidozan had been yokozuna, the highest rank in the Japanese national sport,sumo,before becoming a professional wrestler and world champion, himself taking the title from Blassie, from America. Before that night, Blassie was no more than a bad guy blowhard with long platinum bleached hair who took the televised locker room interview from filler at the end of the evening’s matches to a level of high art.

Defeating Rikidozan and winning back the championship redeemed Fred Blassie, who grew up as Freddie Blassman and was known as a professional variously as "Classy" Freddie Blassie, Fred McDaniel, and even, God knows why, "Sailor" Blassie. He is now retired from professional wrestling, and lives in Los Angeles.

It was Fred Blassie who introduced the expression "pencil-necked geek" into the popular vocabulary as a typical excoriation of his many colorful opponents.

Fred Blassie was a great showman, who often took a metal file to his front teeth in order to make them sharper and more menacing to his many worthy and colorful opponents like the Super Swedish Angel Tor Johnson, or Szandor Szabo, or Mr. Moto, or the Frenchman, Edouard Carpentier, or that masked guy, The Destroyer, or Lou Thesz.

One balmy Southern California evening, in that locker room at the venerable Olympic Auditorium in downtown Los Angeles, Fred Blassie dangled the pencil-necked geek ringside announcer Dick Lane by his ankles out an upper-story window. Live. On the air. Dick Lane, professional that he always was, did not drop his microphone, and continued broadcasting his interview with Blassie, though in an understandably somewhat more strangled and excited tone.

It was Dick Lane who coined the expression, "Whoa, Nellie!" to lend color to particularly exciting pro-wrestling moves. Dick Lane did not cry "Whoa, Nellie!" while being dangled by his ankles in the strong but tenuous grip of Fred "Sailor" Blassie out the window of the locker room of the venerable Olympic Auditorium in downtown Los Angeles that balmy Southern California evening. He had other things on his mind that evening. Dick Lane had his entire life flashing before his eyes that evening, and survival was suddenly much more important to him than shouting "Whoa, Nellie!"

That night, the line between art and life was blurred considerably, and for Dick Lane, the more important line between life and death yawned before him like a chasm. He held on tightly to that microphone like a lifeline.

Dick Lane was the model of a modest man. His suits were not expensive, and his glasses were not mounted in designer frames. He was just a skinny little guy with dentures and thinning hair who smelled funny—which is not to say his body produced odors so powerful that driving through the streets of Los Angeles, home from work each night, packs of dogs, their glistening snouts high in the desert air, and coyotes drawn down from the hills, swollen tongues lolling and dripping, would chase, howling, after his black, round-topped Ford coupe and mill around all night outside the brick apartment building making it a nightly peril for Dick Lane, who kicked around Hollywood during the late ‘30s and 1940s and played a few bit parts in pictures while more worthy talents were fighting the Fascist menace abroad before he landed the announcing job he held all those years at KTLA, Channel 5, to negotiate the walk from his parking spot in front of the building to the elevator inside the first floor lobby.

Dick Lane was not a Buddhist, but then he didn’t wear a Rolex watch, either, if you know what I mean. After finishing up his job that night, long ago, the night Fred Blassie dangled him high above the downtown Los Angeles urban pavement, still alive, Dick Lane went back to his skanky Hollywood apartment where he lived during the years after his wife, fed up, for reasons of her own, left him, fixed himself a cup of hot cocoa which he liked to drink with those little mini-marshmallows floating in it, put the cat out on the fire escape, relaxed in front of the tube for awhile, until after midnight when the test pattern with the little picture in the middle of an Indian chief wearing an eagle feather war bonnet came on, then opened up the couch and went to bed. What Dick Lane dreamed about as he slept is his own private business.

Just chillin',

Rich Alcott
http://www.mcsweeneys.net/letters/midmar00.html
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WWF DRAGS GOP INTO THE CUTTER

(New York Post, Sunday, August 13, 2000)

By Phil Mushnick

The worst forces of popular culture now are more powerful than mainstream, two-party American presidential politics.

To sleep, perchance to dream - even a bad one - has become a welcomed alternative to the nightmarish reality of witnessing the free fall of common decency and common sense at the highest levels of media, commerce and politics. Anything for a buck, anything for a vote.

Two weeks ago in Philadelphia, in nominating George W. Bush as its presidential candidate, the Republican Party reached a new low in expeditious, Machiavellian pandering.

While the Republican Party ostensibly stands for good, old-fashioned family values, its special guests during its presidential convention were none other than the leading action figures of the World Wrestling Federation, an organization practiced at wearing its sweet, civic-minded mask when needed, but that’s long been in the business of popularizing degenerate acts.

That the Republican Party was able to escape widespread and lasting ridicule for embracing the WWF during a presidential convention is evidence of a news media that is either sorrowfully blind to the WWF’s content or, in the case of television news, co-opted by their networks’ investments in pro wrestling.

Two Mondays ago, as the Republican National Convention began in Philly, Vince McMahon’s WWF staged a nationally televised show in Atlanta. It featured its usual pornographic, hateful and violent performances that have made it so attractive to children, young adults and now, three months before a presidential election, to the Republican Party.

At one point, a group of barely clothed, large-breasted WWF women paraded outside the Georgia Dome in a mock demonstration. They encouraged onlookers to chant, "Save the Ho’s!"

"Ho’s" is street for whores. Little boys now reflexively refer to little girls as bitches and ho’s in large part thanks to McMahon and his national TV enablers, which now, incredibly, include NBC and CBS.

As a WWF camera panned the crowd, children, some no older than 8, chanted, "Save the Ho’s!"

During the in-house, scripted prime-time TV show, McMahon’s latest top star, The Rock, slammed a shapely female wrestler to the mat. She was left stretched out, "unconscious," on her back.

The Rock then grabbed a folding chair and hit a male nemesis over the head with it. He staggered, then fell, also "unconscious." He landed with his face in her crotch and her face in his crotch. And there they stayed as The Rock sauntered around the ring, grinning broadly and knowingly. The live audience, comprised of thousands of children, was delighted.

Two nights later, this same guy, "The Rock," sat on the podium, among the Bush family, including the ex-President of the United States and his wife, Barbara. The Rock was an honored guest of the Republican Party and a featured speaker at the Republican National Presidential Convention in Philadelphia. This is the state of our nation.

In fact, Vince McMahon and his WWF were bestowed fully credentialed, VIP treatment at the convention. Within the same WWF show that included 8-year-olds chanting "Save the ho’s" and The Rock’s latest vile performance, came remote video reports from a WWF announcer working the floor from the Republican National Convention.

If only The Rock had brought along the tape from that show, two nights earlier, to demonstrate to the delegates and to national TV audiences what makes him so popular among younger folks that he was worthy of featured speaker status at the Republican Presidential Convention. And just how badly the Republicans were being had.

If only he had brought along tapes of some of his celebrated TV acts, like the one where he demands sex by hollering a profane expression for the female genitalia. That one was popular enough to inspire McMahon to sell merchandise carrying The Rock’s visage along with the unprintable expression.

Why didn’t The Rock and McMahon demonstrate to the assembled exactly why they’re so popular that they were worthy of invites as honored guests and speakers? Why so circumspect before this audience?

Linda McMahon, Vince’s wife, addressed a Republican Convention symposium entitled "The American Dream." Why didn’t she distribute some of those oversized, foam rubber hands - the ones with the raised middle finger - that the WWF sells to kids at shows and features on TV?

Why didn’t she explain to her Republican Convention audience how one of the WWF’s most popular acts features wrestlers pointing to their crotches and hollering "Suck it"? Why didn’t she provide full disclosure to her audience, especially to the uninitiated, as to how she and her husband have fulfilled their American Dream?

"Ladies and gentlemen" she might have begun, "I stand before you today to tell you that we’ve grown fabulously wealthy by selling violence, homophobia, misogyny, twisted sex, negative ethnic stereotyping and senseless hate to American children!

"We have grown rich, famous and powerful by doing dirt to society, but especially to your children. That’s the realization of our American Dream. Oh, and God knows how many of our wrestlers are juiced to the max on steroids. Good day."

The Republican Party is one that largely embraces the sanctity of the Bible. Why didn’t Mrs. McMahon or The Rock or Vince, while working the convention, tell their audiences how Stone Cold Steve Austin, another WWF American Dream money-maker, draws approval among young audiences by making lewd gestures and mocking the New Testament?

Why didn’t Vince, or Linda, or The Rock speak of the modern, ongoing history of the WWF - and all of pro wrestling, for that matter - that includes rampant and systematic drug abuse? Why not a roll call of the wrestlers who have died closeted deaths from drug overdoses in order to "get big" for the likes of the McMahons?

Why not talk about the ring announcer/ring boss in the McMahons’ employ who was widely known to use his position to sexually prey on under-aged boys? He operated with Vince’s knowledge and to his amusement. McMahon cracked jokes about his deviance.

Why not show the tape of the transvestite oral sex scene that the WWF staged and aired in primetime? McMahon claimed to have loved that one, so why not share it with those delegates who might have missed it?

Why not a moment of silence for Owen Hart, who died last year performing a pay-per-view stunt for McMahon? Why not note for the assembled that after Hart was killed the show not only continued, but the next night, McMahon, rather than allow his wrestlers to mourn, gathered them for a national TV show to exploit Hart’s death for bigger-than-usual ratings?

Or why not tell the Republican National Convention how the WWF’s physician did a stretch in federal prison for distributing drugs to McMahon and his wrestlers?

Why not tell the Republican Party about how major TV advertisers, including the U.S. Armed Forces, pulled out of WWF shows because their content has become so vile?

Of all the "works" McMahon has pulled, this one’s tops. The Republican National Committee provided the WWF with a starring role during its presidential convention. Staggering.

The WWF is extremely hot among the young, so the Republicans wanted a piece of the feel. They may not know why it’s hot. They may not even care. Look what pro wrestling did for Jesse Ventura.

McMahon lately has talked big about how 14 million eligible voters watch the WWF every week. Bigshots within the Republican Party must’ve bought that.

While the WWF is enormously popular, on a good night it attracts roughly 7 million viewers, nearly 40 percent of whom are minors. How does that translate into 14 million voters?

But that’s McMahon. One day he says the WWF is adult entertainment, the next day he brags about the increased number of kids who watch. One day he says it’s up to parents to monitor what their kids watch, the next day he grows solemn and speaks of how his father was never around when he was growing up.

One day he says that there’s no drug problem within the WWF, the next day he admits that there’s a big drug problem within the WWF. One day he holds a news conference to declare that he has instituted rigid drug testing, the next day he says there’s no drug testing because no one cares if his wrestlers are on drugs.

And just a few days ago, he and his charges took time out from producing another disgusting, kid-desensitizing national TV show to be the honored guests and speakers at the Republican National Presidential Convention. And the WWF, we’re told, will be embraced by the Democrats this week in Los Angeles. God help us.
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The WAWLI Papers No. 784...

FADED GLORY: THE VON ERICH STORY

 

A Video by Rusty Baker

http://www.fadedglorythevonerichstory.com/bio.html

Wrestling, it is an athletic art form that dates as far back as mankind. From the first Greek Olympiad competitors to the sumos of the ancient orient. Gladiators grappled to the delight of crowded stadiums, auditoriums, or coliseums for the right to live, or as civilization came along, to be called champions.

Today professional wrestling is a multi-million dollar industry. Thanks in great part to a family that paved the way for wrestling’s stardom. They captured the world’s heart with the Iron Claw hold. They rocketed to fame and success and then touched our hearts as well when the family’s tragedy struck.

They were a Texas sized wrestling family. They were warriors, Greek heroes, the all American boys. They were... the Von Erichs.

Millions of people around the globe heard the name, witnessed the energy first-hand, and followed the family on television. Yet the Von Erich brothers’ untimely deaths remained an enigma to outsiders. Now, for the first time, the truth is revealed.

Here is the story of a father bent on preventing his sons from following in his footsteps in the "squared circle," yet forced to watch them eclipse his own glory. Here is the story of five brothers rising to fame and glory, only to be snuffed out at the peak of their popularity. Never has fate wrought so much pain on a single family in the sporting world.

See the Von Erich’s unbelievable saga from the inside in the form of never-before-seen 8mm home movies, vintage wrestling footage, and personal photographs provided by the family. Narration by Bill Mercer with commentary by Kevin and the last taped interview of the late Fritz Von Erich.

Baker, a native of Dallas, Texas, graduated from University of North Texas in 1999, with a Bachelor of Arts and Sciences: Radio, TV, Film. He spent eight years in the US Marine Corps, based out of Dallas and Fort Worth as a F-4 and F/A-18 Plane Captain. He started the piece about the Von Erichs in 1997 as a summer documentary workshop project.

To say that Faded Glory is Rusty Baker’s directing debut is an understatement. Aside from a little help from his friends, Baker wrote, directed, produced, DPed, CGed, and edited the entire piece. It took this "One Man Band" a total of three years to complete what was once just a 20 minute summer documentary workshop video entitled: Von Erich, The Legend Lives On (1997). Shortly after the premier of that piece, Fritz Von Erich died from the combination of a stroke and a battle with cancer. Rusty Baker felt compeled to re-shoot and create a tribute to Fritz. And now, amidst the delays, death threats, and deceased heroes; Baker shows us what most said couldn’t be done.
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(ED.NOTE – Among the more dedicated sports historians plying their trade today is Joseph Svinth of Edmonds,WA. His web site is a treasure trove for those who follow the martial and combat arts, boxing or wrestling. In this, and the next few issues of the WAWLI Papers, we will reprint some of the materials Svinth has so paintstakingly gathered in his researches. The site is www.ejmas.com, "ejmas" representing the Electronic Journals of Martial Arts and Sciences.)

READING RANJIT SINGH aka BHU PINDER’S MAIL

(InYo: Journal of Alternative Perspectives, http://ejmas.com/jalt/, June 2000)

Ed. note: Thanks are owed to Balbir Singh Kanwal, curator of the International Punjab Heritage Museum in Ilford, Essex, England, both for sharing the letter and for providing much of the material found in the footnotes. As for why Ranjit Singh is worth remarking, well, one of his pseudonyms was Bhu Pinder, and while wrestling under that name in Seattle in 1937, he was apparently involved in the first mud-wrestling match ever held in the United States. According to a story promoter Paul Boesch later told Sports Illustrated writer Joe Jares, what happened is that the crew used too much water on the dirt used for a "Hindu match" between "Prince Bhu Pinder" and Gus Sonnenberg, and the rest, as they say, is history. This letter was to British historian Balbir Singh Kanwal, dated April 8, 1981.

My dear Kanwal,

Yours of March 10, 1981 to hand, it is the old age that has brought slowness in my actions, not that I ignored you. And now you are being so persistent about getting an answer from me, so after putting it off till tomorrow for many times, I am compelled to answer your letter. V. Farbahi is in Distt. Sangrur near Barnala. [EN1] As far as I know, Gora Partapa was the best wrestler of his time in Malwa, [EN2] as after beating him Gama at once gained popularity and became Rustam-e-Hind. [EN3]

My bio-data runs thus. I was born 16^th August 1912. My parents were very healthy and strong, especially my mother. I was very quarrelsome and rowdy in the childhood, always challenging and wrestling with boys older in age and strength. When I was in the ?th class in Sangrur I used to make 1500 dands [EN4] and 1500 baithaks [EN5] and in the whole school only three boys of the 10^th class were stronger than me. After passing matric [e.g., graduating from high school] I joined Mahindra college in Patiala and became the pupil of Great Gama in 1930-1931. In 1934-1935 I fought for the championship of the Punjab University. No wrestler could stand more than one and a half minutes and I was declared champion Punjab University heavyweight wrestler. I beat Sardar Khan, the champion of Jullandhar [a city in Punjab] in Allahabad, and Press Dangal and Bara Sohan Singh, who was second to Goonga, in Tata Nagar, in Dhotian. [EN6] This is the same year I beat Chotta and Bara Pooran Singh in Calcutta. [EN7} Then in 1935-36 I left college as a graduate and beat Raj Bansi Singh, champ of Calcutta. Then via Burma, Malaya, Hong Kong, Shanghai, where I beat Arjan Singh Dhoti [EN8] and Ganda Singh Johal [EN9] on my way to Canada. In Tokyo I very foolishly accepted a challenge from the champion of Japan, Kimon Killa Kudo, who had an easy victory over me in jiu-jitsu (30 minutes). [EN10] I stayed in Japan for a fortnight and learnt the tactics and again fought Kudo, the match was drawn and it was a good show. First time I was a novice in the jiu-jitsu in Canada I fought my first fight with Bronko Nagurski, champ of the Pacific Coast, and beat him very easily, though he had a massive build and I looked insignificant before him. He was a body builder and a football player, he lacked the real wrestler’s skill and strength. I wasn’t on the program that night but his opponent failed to appear, so the management put me a new face against him and I at once became champion of the Pacific Coast in 1936. After that I had win after win. [EN11]

In 1936-37, I beat Louis Thesz, former world champion [sic; in 1936, Thesz was a future world champion], Lefty Bloomfield, champ New Zealand, Vincent Lopez, the Mexican champ, and drew with Leo Savage, champ Texas. Beat Crusher Casey, the champ of world. I beat Jim Londos the world champion in 1937 in Chicago. In 1941 I beat Chota Gama [EN12] in Calcutta and drew with Goonga in the same year at Lahore. The match lasted for one hour and fifteen minutes. In all I have fought over six hundred wrestlers. In London I fought in ring [at] Blackfriars, [in] Brighton with Tiger Daula, in Manchester with Dick Shikat champion of Europe and drew with him. In Germany I fought with Willi Mueller, the champion of Germany for 7 years, and beat him after 2 hours 30 minutes in Berlin. In London I fought in the management of William Bankier, who knew Urdu and was very skilled man. [EN13] So Sir, this is all the outlines of my wrestling career which I have given up to now. I am living a retired but healthy and peaceful life in my village Dhilwan [in the Punjab]. I still take light exercise daily. My knees have gone little stiff and I can not sit properly. Otherwise I think I am still good for great many wrestling matches. I am sending you some of my photographs also.

In case you are able to include me in your new print, then do not forget to send me a copy of the addition. My friend Bhajan Singh Pahelwan [EN14] is somewhere in London, you can trace him among the Aldgate, where the Indians are plenty.

Rest is O.K., with lots of kindest regards,

Yours sincerely,

/s/ Ranjit Singh alias Prince Ranji alias Rajah Ranji, ex-champion wrestler of the world.

There were five hundred good wrestlers in my time, all have gone except me.

Editor’s notes

EN1. Barnala is a town in the northwest Indian state of Punjab. A distt. is a political entity roughly equivalent to an English county.

EN2. During the late 1880s and early 1890s, Kala Partapa and Gora Partapa were two well-known but unrelated heavyweight wrestlers from the Malwa region of the Punjab. During the 1940s, the famous wrestling writer S. Muzumdar frequently misspelled these names as Kala Pertaba and Gora Pertaba. See, for example, S. Muzumdar, Strongmen Over the Years: A Chronicle of Athletes (Lucknow: Oudh Printing Works, 1942).

EN3. Gama (real name: Ghulam Muhammad) became Rustam-e-Hind, or champion of pre-Partition India, in 1898. In 1910, he attained significant international reputation by defeating Ben Roller and Stanley Zbyzsko in London.

EN4. Dipping push-ups. A traditional exercise of North Indian wrestlers, the dand may owe its origin to the Zoroastrian practice of genuflecting to the sun, the supreme flame. The best work available in English on North Indian wrestling is Joseph Alter, The Wrestler’s Body: Identity and Ideology in North India (Berkeley, CA: University of California Press, 1992); see also http://www-ucpress.berkeley.edu:3030/dynaweb/public/books/south_asia/alter

EN5. Deep knee bends. The modern Indian record stands at about 3,200 per hour.

EN6. In 1918, a 19-year old wrestler called Goonga Pahelwan (literally, "Dumb Wrestler;" his given name was Ferozuddin, but disease had ruined his voice) shocked India by defeating the Great Gama’s nephew Gama Kalloo. By the mid-1930s Goonga was past his prime, and in 1936, he even lost a match to an unknown German upstart named Edmond Kraemar.

EN7. Although Chota means "Junior" and Bara means "Senior," these were two unrelated heavyweight wrestlers.

EN8. Dhotian is a village near Amritsar in the Punjab. Arjan Singh was better known in North America as Arjan Dass, and he usually traveled with Tiger Joginder Singh. Although billed as Hindu wrestlers, both were actually Sikhs. (For what it’s worth, most so-called "Hindu" wrestlers are actually Muslim or Sikh.)

EN9. As Ganda Singh Johal was a huge man as well as an excellent wrestler, it is possible that this victory was arranged.

EN10. Although born in Japan, Kaimon Kudo was raised in Seattle and lived his entire adult life in the United States and Hawaii. He was a legitimate judo black belt, and so far as I know he never lost a jacketed match to any professional wrestler.

EN11. In the New Yorker (November 13, 1954), A.J. Liebling wrote: "A Foreign Menace, in most cases a real wrestler, would be imported. He would meet all the challengers for the title whom [reigning champion Jim] Londos had defeated in any city larger than New Haven, and beat them. After that, he and Londos would wrestle for the world’s championship in Madison Square Garden. The Foreign Menace would oppress Londos unmercifully for about forty minutes, and then Londos... would whirl the current Menace around his head and dash him to the mat three times, no more and no less, and… after the bout, the Menace would either return to Europe or remain here to become part of the buildup for the next Menace."

EN12. Although billed as "Gama Junior," this was actually Gama Kalloo, whom Goonga had beaten years earlier.

EN13. William Bankier, who was better known by his stage name of Apollo, had been a very competent music hall wrestler during the 1890s. He turned to promoting during the early 1900s, and by the 1930s he was among Britain’s leading promoters of what was then known as physical culture.

EN14. Pahelwan is an Indian title meaning "wrestler."
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FRANK GOTCH REMEMBERS ALASKA

(The Yukon World, Dawson City, Mar. 24, 1907)

(reprinted in the Journal of Combative Sport, November 1999, www.ejmas.com)

Now that Frank Gotch is a top-notcher in the world of sport as a champion wrestler, he is given to talking of the glories of his past and the victories he scored. In one of these reminiscent moods he told a reporter the story of what he calls his first match, which was when he ran against Frank Slavin in the Klondike. This is how Gotch describes it:

"After I had won at wrestling, the miners up there thought I must be invincible in any sport, so they matched me with Frank Slavin, the Australian heavyweight, who was there at that time. Well, Slavin was never much of a slouch at boxing, and no matter what any one tells you, he was better that night than he ever was in his life—at least, I think so. He must have hit at me fully 300 times in that scrap, and I didn’t let one of the blows get by me. I stopped them all with my head or my body. The fight went seven rounds—or at least, that is what they told men the next day when I came to."

There are evidently a great many things that Gotch has forgotten, or would like to forget. The match he refers to did not last seven rounds. It was in the fourth round, when Slavin was undoubtedly getting the best of it, that Gotch lost his head and started to wrestle. He took Slavin by the middle and upended him. Judgment was then given against him for fouling.

At that time Gotch’s name was Frank Kennedy. He was brought here by Ole Marsh, having for some time before been traveling with Farmer Burns. Not only had a different name but he posed as a United States soldier, just in from the Philippines.

Ed. Note: Frank Gotch was arguably the most technically proficient U.S. professional wrestler of the 20^th century; Farmer Burns was his mentor. Frank Slavin was a competent heavyweight boxer of the period. And Ole Marsh was a pseudonym of Joe Carroll, a man convicted in Council Bluffs, Iowa, on March 9, 1910 of using the U.S. mails to fix horse races, foot races, and (say it ain’t so!) wrestling matches.- -Joseph Svinth, www.ejmas.com
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THE GREAT ENABLERS: MUHAMMAD ALI VS. ANTONIO INOKI

(Journal of Combative Sports, January 2000, www.ejmas.com)

By Donn F. Draeger

(Extracts from letters written by Donn F. Draeger to Robert W. Smith. Letters in the Joseph R. Svinth collection, reprinted courtesy of Robert W. Smith and Joseph R. Svinth. Copyright © 2000. All rights reserved.)

(Editor’s note: On June 25, 1976, boxer Muhammad Ali and professional wrestler Antonio Inoki worked a 15-round draw at the Budokan in Tokyo. The match aired live on closed-circuit TV and drew 32,000 spectators to Shea Stadium in New York. The Shea Stadium card also featured boxer Chuck Wepner versus wrestler Andre the Giant, a match that reportedly inspired scenes in Sylvester Stallone’s Rocky films.)

(May 25, 1976)

If the Ali-Inoki thing comes off, it will be a fix. You know that of course. No decision yet for pride gets in the way of he who has to dive. Inoki is a protégé of Riki Dozan, [EN1—SEE EDITOR’S NOTES AT END] who found him in Brazil farm fields. [EN2] Inoki can’t wrestle, but looked fierce and could be taught to roll around. A powerful chap, something like Maurice Tillet, the French Angel, who drew on looks. [EN3] Inoki learned his craft here with Riki, never did sumo formally, though he has learned a bit to spice up his performance. He is a leader of different wrestling organization than the one that lists Giant Baba (another glandular freak who can’t wrestle) as world champion. [EN4] Inoki, like Baba, is not world champ except in his own billing.

Inoki’s recent "defeat" of [former Olympic judo champion] Willem Ruska was a farce. Ruska could murtilize him if he was allowed to do so; so could [former Olympic judo champion] Anton Geesink. The whole thing with Ali is a promotion gimmick.

There is a rumor that Inoki will take on a karate style fighter [Willie Williams] later in the year, also crap as to the outcome.

Of course Ali will win the match; he can’t be allowed to lose. But do you think Ali, or at least his handlers, are unaware of the fact that a good wrestler is advantaged over a boxer? [Former boxing champion Jack] Dempsey and others can attest to that as you well know. [EN5] Frankly, if Ali sticks to boxing, I feel that I could get him: if I could avoid his blow and make a clinch I am sure that I could win on the ground, just like any other good grappler. (Hell, I’d try it for less money, too!)

If this were a real go, I think that it would scare Ali away, and that if Inoki insists on it, the thing will never take place. (Inoki is 6’4", 245 pounds, and an ex-shotput, discus, and javelin man.)

(June 19, 1976)

Yesterday at the Budokan, the site for the coming Ali-Inoki farce, all was busy in preparation for what almost everybody knows to be a yaocho (fix). It is funny that people realize that this is a phony yet will still pay US $1,000 per ringside seat. At the wrestling association it is no secret that the fix is on. Many wrestlers and judoka are eager to have a chance and for less money.

The best man in the ring that night will be Gene LeBell, who will referee. He could defeat both the headliners in one night. I will try to see him soon.

LeBell apparently has no objections to being the referee for this phony event; it’s said that he will gross fifty grand for his efforts.[EN6]

Inokuma Isao [a former Olympic judo champion] tells me that he would love to tackle Ali, and predicts that he could dump Ali within the first minute. Surely he can.

By the way, in Japanese the word "Ali" is pronounced "ah-ree", and echoes a word meaning "ant." Guess what friction this word has produced? The Ant versus the Pelican. Wow! There must be two Shaolin styles like this somewhere, eh?

The rules have been so seriously modified that the contest is no longer boxing versus wrestling. Unless this were done there would be no way to choreograph the match and make it look convincing. Ali can grapple or punch the man down; Inoki is not allowed to leg-dive or tackle. That latter restriction is the same as prohibiting Ali from jabbing. What a farce!

At the Budokan, Watanabe Kisaburo, the former Chuo University [judo] flash, explains that the event will bring money to the now low coffers of the Budokan, which must now make its money not on the [martial arts] events for which it was structured but on Rolling Stones and Beatles concerts and farces such as the Ali-Inoki thing. [EN7] Sad. Watanabe also believes he could cream Ali inside of one minute. I believe he could.

(July 11, 1976)

The Ali fiasco was carefully staged. The main concern was to not injure Ali, causing Inoki to complain that by the rules and this concern there was damn little that he could do to make it look good. The clumsy Ali [EN8] could not even avoid the baby-like kicks of Inoki, [EN9] and the fact that he still suffered some minor injuries is evidence of Ali’s relative lack of combative skill. Anyway, the upshot is that Ali is laughing at the public for he made some money by doing nothing, though not as much as he hoped. I think he should be barred from boxing for participating in such a vast con job. Inoki is probably finished here in Japan for the obvious fix and there is a lot of static still being heard. [EN10]

By the way, the Budokan (venue) janitorial people took almost a full day to clean up the garbage that was hurled at the two "combatants" as the result of their lousy performance. The whole thing was disgusting! [EN11]

EDITOR’S NOTES:

EN1 – Originally from Pyongyang, Korea, Rikidozan’s birth name was Kim Sin Nak. He moved to Japan before World War II to become a professional sumotori. In 1951 he took up American professional wrestling under the tutelage of Tetsuro "Rubberman" Higami. In December 1954 Rikidozan defeated Kimura Masahiko for the Japanese professional wrestling title, in October 1957 he drew with Lou Thesz in the first-ever "title match" held in Tokyo, and in March 1962 he became the first Asian to win a World Wrestling Association (WWA) heavyweight belt. He died from a knife wound in December 1963.

EN2 -- Although born in Yokohama in 1943 Inoki Kanji was always billed as a Brazilian Nisei. Thus his ring name Antonio. Inoki started wrestling in Tokyo in September 1960. After making a US debut in Honolulu in March 1964, he returned to Japan. His participation in a National Wrestling Alliance (NWA) "world title match" with Dory Funk, Jr., in December 1969 elevated him to star status, a position he retained for the next thirty years. (Literally—his last match was in Tokyo in April 1998.) He was affiliated with New Japan Pro Wrestling.

EN3 -- Tillet suffered from a disease that caused facial deformity. He died of heart disease in Chicago in August 1954. He was 51.

EN4 -- Born in Niigata, Japan in 1938 Baba Shohei started wrestling professionally in September 1960. (It was on the same card as Inoki, actually.) During the Rikidozan era, it was arranged that Baba would lose to visiting Americans that Rikidozan would then defeat in the finals, but after Rikidozan died then Baba got to win the finals. In fact, he still holds the record for the most Japan Wrestling Association world league championships. (Six, if it matters.) This being professional wrestling, of course those wins were prearranged; for Walter "Killer" Kowalski’s description of a Japanese title bout that Antonio Inoki "won" while unconscious, see Jeff Archer, Theater in a Squared Circle: The mystique of professional wrestling (Lafayette, CO: White-Boucke Publishing, 1999), 304-305. In 1972 Baba helped establish a Japanese wrestling association called All-Japan Pro Wrestling, and a year later he was declared All-Japan Pro Wrestling’s heavyweight champion. Professionally he and Inoki were bitter rivals.

EN5 -- Dempsey had done some professional wrestling in his youth and throughout his life he regularly refereed bouts. For a precise listing of the advantages the grappler has over the striker during one-on-one combat, see Charles B. Roth, "The Muscle Head Always Wins," Esquire, June 1949, 101-102.

EN6 -- A three-time US AAU judo wrestling champion, LeBell later took up professional wrestling (his mother was a Los Angeles promoter) and Hollywood stunt work. In the latter role, he’s remembered as the man who gave Bruce Lee "noogies" (e.g., held Lee under one arm and rubbed the top of Lee’s head with the other). Persistent but unconfirmed stories also report LeBell easily manhandling film star Steven Seagal after the latter started boasting that he was as good a fighter in real life as he was on the screen.

EN7 -- For an online photograph of the interior of the Budokan during the Beatles’ 1966 visit, see http://www.bekkoame.or.jp/~garp/japan66.htm. For a similar photograph of the Ali-Inoki match of 1976, see http://www.albany.net/~hit/puroresu/newjapan/ali1.jpg.

EN8 -- Although Ali was the classiest American heavyweight boxer of the 1960s and continued fighting until 1981, he was never the same following the 1975 Thrilla in Manila. I wish he had retired sooner.

EN9 -- Like most professional wrestling techniques, Inoki’s kicks were thrown in such a way as to be easily seen by the crowd and safely handled by the opponent.

EN10 -- Draeger was wrong and both Ali and Inoki quickly recovered the favor of their fans.

EN11 -- Disgusting it may have been but the promoters still ran with it to the bank: in 1977 Inoki started using a tune from Ali’s film, "The Greatest," as his theme song and in 1986 he attempted to reprise the evening by pinning boxer Leon Spinks, who had once beaten a completely over-the-hill Ali.

(http://ejmas.com/cgi-bin/guestbook.cgi?type=form )
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The WAWLI Papers No. 785...

B.F. ROLLER, MASTER OF ANGLES AND FEUDS

(InYo: The Journal of Alternative Perspectives on the Martial Arts and Sciences, July 2000, www.ejmas.com)

By Joseph R. Svinth

(Svinth’s editor’s notes: A version of this article appeared in Wrestling Then & Now 1998 annual, and it is reprinted here as a continuation of the story begun in "The Discipline Necessary for Attaining the Highest Rewards: Amateur Wrestling at the University of Washington, 1905-1942," http://ejmas.com/jcs/jcsframe.htm, volume II. For the additions, the assistance of Mark Hewitt, Graham Noble, and Steve Yohe is gratefully acknowledged. The theme of this piece is that the professional wrestling of great-grandpa’s day was as much a circus act as the professional wrestling of today, and that the athletes and promoters simply used different methods to work (e.g., arouse) the crowd. Because this is a contentious argument—if you believe some wrestling writers, turn-of-the-century wrestling was honest competition rather than muscular theater, and Frank Gotch was the finest (if dirtiest) wre