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01 Dec 07 - 11:46 PM (#2206612) Subject: BS: Wrestling in the 50/60/early 70ties From: Beer I could not tell you one wrestler today. I do know that it is very popular. But age brings me back to names that I grew up with as television started to flow in our community. Some of which were: Sky Low Low Yukon Eric Whipper Billy Watson Dick the Bull Dog Bower Edouard Carpentier Gene Kiniski Little Beaver Killer Kowalski Mad Dog (Vachon) And all those other great heroes of wrestling. Who Do you remember? What a time it was. The time in believing and knowing there was a Santa Clause. Beer (adrien) |
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01 Dec 07 - 11:56 PM (#2206613) Subject: RE: BS: Wrestling in the 50/60/early 70ties From: bobad Sweet Daddy Siki Chief Don Eagle Johnny Rougeau |
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02 Dec 07 - 12:08 AM (#2206616) Subject: RE: BS: Wrestling in the 50/60/early 70ties From: John O'L Brute Bernard Fighting Harada Mark Lewelin Roy Heffernon Mario Milano Dominic Denuchi... Yeah, black & white TV, knowing it was BS, but believing it anyway. I think it must be very different today. |
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02 Dec 07 - 12:17 AM (#2206617) Subject: RE: BS: Wrestling in the 50/60/early 70ties From: Beer Sure was fun. And don't forget the moves we learned while wrestling with our buddies. The Boston Crab The Full Nelson The Sleeper The Foot Over Toe Hold The Abdominal Grip |
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02 Dec 07 - 12:18 AM (#2206618) Subject: RE: BS: Wrestling in the 50/60/early 70ties From: Beer Sweet Daddy Siki. Sure do remember how I wanted his ass kicked |
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02 Dec 07 - 12:22 AM (#2206620) Subject: RE: BS: Wrestling in the 50/60/early 70ties From: Beer John, I don't think that we knew that color would come into the picture. Black and white was great. I even remember staring at the test pattern waiting for the show to begin. |
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02 Dec 07 - 12:27 AM (#2206622) Subject: RE: BS: Wrestling in the 50/60/early 70ties From: John O'L What was that maneuver called where you hoist your opponent up onto your shoulder and then drop him so his coccyx lands on you knee? Always a crowd pleaser |
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02 Dec 07 - 12:36 AM (#2206624) Subject: RE: BS: Wrestling in the 50/60/early 70ties From: John O'L The Atomic Drop. I think that's what it was called. |
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02 Dec 07 - 12:37 AM (#2206625) Subject: RE: BS: Wrestling in the 50/60/early 70ties From: Beer Was that maybe the power driver? Not sure. |
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02 Dec 07 - 12:41 AM (#2206626) Subject: RE: BS: Wrestling in the 50/60/early 70ties From: Beer Your right John I do beleive it was calld that. |
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02 Dec 07 - 01:10 AM (#2206628) Subject: RE: BS: Wrestling in the 50/60/early 70ties From: mrdux Haystacks Calhoun Dick the Bruiser The Crusher Verne Gagne Gorilla Monsoon Bobo Brazil The Sheik |
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02 Dec 07 - 02:28 AM (#2206639) Subject: RE: BS: Wrestling in the 50/60/early 70ties From: Liz the Squeak Those names sure bring up better pictures than the UK wrestlers of the same era (well, OK, 1970's) Mick McManus - hated his ears being pulled. Jackie 'TV' Pallo Giant Haystacks - not so much a wrestler as a human crusher. Big Daddy - also known by his real name of Shirley Crabtree. His brother was a wrestling referee and a midget in comparison. Kendo Nagasaki was the closest we got to 'exotic' in the UK... never took his mask off, so every opponent tried to rip it off. One did and the nation collectively screamed at the TV to get him to put it back on! Wrestling was always the first item on 'World of Sport' which went out around Saturday lunchtime. Fish fingers and chips, to the accompaniment of little old ladies screaming vague obscenities and violent threats to men three times their size and in shorts. Ah... happy days! LTS |
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02 Dec 07 - 08:04 AM (#2206716) Subject: RE: BS: Wrestling in the 50/60/early 70ties From: gnu The Beast. The skinny... years ago... long hair, beard... speaking Russian or ?? the announcers would say... he was mad! out of control! to be feared!!! One Saturday night, we were invited for supper at my Uncle Gerry's. I was a young lad and you can imagine how taken aback I was when I entered the living room and he was sitting on the couch with an Alpine (beer) in his hand and speaking perfect French and English. He was a complete gentleman. My old man always told me it was "fake", but not quite like walking into my uncle's house. |
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02 Dec 07 - 08:18 AM (#2206723) Subject: RE: BS: Wrestling in the 50/60/early 70ties From: Beer I would think that this encounter would be both shocking and disappointing. As well as rewarding in some way. I recall our local priest taking a couple car loads of us alter boys to the Halifax Forum(No jokes here please as the priest was one hell of a great man.). I still can remember one particular old lady shouting at the bad guy in the ring. I think she was more entertaining than the wrestlers. |
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02 Dec 07 - 08:36 AM (#2206735) Subject: RE: BS: Wrestling in the 50/60/early 70ties From: Bob the Postman The Tolos Brothers, John and Chris--perenniel (sp?) tag-team champions or former champions, depending on whose turn it was to be current champion Abdullah the Butcher--ex-football player with a mad mullah act: "ME. LIKE. BLOOD. ME. LIKE. GO GO GO!!!" Eric Frohlich--built like a gymnast, fought barefoot, no histrionics, the guy who showed what wrestling would be like without the show business |
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02 Dec 07 - 09:55 AM (#2206779) Subject: RE: BS: Wrestling in the 50/60/early 70ties From: gnu Beer! You hit the nail on the head! My old man used to watch the wrestling on TV only FOR the audience. People screaming and contorting as if THEY were in the ring (or out). Especially the women. I recall an incident specifically. A little old lady got a hold on The Beast's hair at ringside while he was down and she would not let go, screaming all the time in Shaque (a mix of Acadian French and Anglaise for the those who). He laughed about it for days. |
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02 Dec 07 - 10:17 AM (#2206790) Subject: RE: BS: Wrestling in the 50/60/early 70ties From: bankley "Nature Boy" Buddy Rodgers and his 'figure 4' leglock Don Leo Jonathan... Hans Schmitt, who was a Quebecois by the name of Lemay Billy Two Rivers.. the Mohawk, trained by Don Eagle's dad Don Eagle aka Donald Bell was champ for awhile in the 50's, popularized the Mohawk haircut. Later on he suffered severe injuries in the ring, but remarkably made a comeback. He died in the 60's from a gunshot. It was 'officially' a suicide but there were those who suspected that it was a mob hit. One of his two sons is John Kim Bell, a 'tuxedo' musician/composer who founded the "Aboriginal Achievement Awards" in Canada. He's still the CEO of that organization, I think. HQ in Ottawa.. They have their ceremonies yearly, usually broadcast nationally on CBC.... Big Stuff The reason that I know this is that..... I rented a house for a few years from Don Eagle's father, 'War Eagle' aka John Joseph Bell. He was an old wrestler, boxer, trainer and promoter whose ring prime was in the 1930's and 40's... so he got Don into the business. Mr. Joe Bell love to tell stories about as much as I liked to hear them. He had a twinkle in his eyes, disarming smile, scars, big ol cauliflower ears and a cane with a sword in it. He had a few tales to go with that walking stick, as well... the real deal..... like the time some robbers pulled a knife on him outside an arena in Frisco after a match. They wanted the cash made that night. Joe feigned a swing a them with his cane. He said. "One of them did just what I wanted and grabbed the end of it. So I pulled the sword out, saying, 'my knife is bigger than yours', and ran him through one of his arm muscles. Down he went. The others gathered him up fast and took off out of there. Joe kept the money, and their blade and waited a bit longer for Don to show up...... a day in the life.... |
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02 Dec 07 - 10:36 AM (#2206801) Subject: RE: BS: Wrestling in the 50/60/early 70ties From: bobad Don Eagle worked for a time at Dominion Bridge, the steel fabrication company in Lachine, where my father also worked and knew him from there. |
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02 Dec 07 - 10:53 AM (#2206806) Subject: RE: BS: Wrestling in the 50/60/early 70ties From: catspaw49 I dunno' how you can talk about the early days of "Big Time Wrestling" without mentioning Gorgeous George. Before there was Buddy Rogers or Ric Flair, leading the way for an entire crop of over-the-top characters, there was Gorgeous George. He perfected his act before there was TV and when TV came along he was ready. Oh gawd he was ready. The outrageous robes and tights, entrance music, rose petals spread at his feet, the bright blonde curly hair, his valets and attendants spraying down the ring, refs, and opponents with his Chanel "No.10".............he was totally outrageous and he heralded in the gimmick wrestlers unlike the many at the time who considered themselves "serious" wrestlers. A lot of pro football players wrestled back then as well. Pro ball didn't pay all that well and most players had off season jobs. Alex Karras for instance toured with Dick the Bruiser. There were a few tragic cases as well. After being re-tried, found not guilty, and released from prison after 10 years, Dr. Sam Sheppard had no success in trying to re-enter his former life as a Doctor. Already in his mid forties he got into pro wrestling. He was also strung out on drugs. He married the teenage daughter of his "manager" but died soon thereafter. Nothing in there for the State of Ohio to be proud of. I too watched back then for the entertainment, but I really got hooked on it in the early 80's, fascinated by the spectacle. I would have loved to write the scripts! Watching the crowds became my main focus. I have said here before that if I were going to write a masters thesis in Sociology I would do it on the lockstep rise and decline of Big Time TV wrestling and Big Time TV religion. I think they may have shared a sizable portion of the same audience. Spaw |
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02 Dec 07 - 10:58 AM (#2206811) Subject: RE: BS: Wrestling in the 50/60/early 70ties From: Riginslinger "The Great Baldini" He always used to get hit in the head and it made his eyes go crosswise. |
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02 Dec 07 - 11:11 AM (#2206822) Subject: RE: BS: Wrestling in the 50/60/early 70ties From: Beer Great story Bankley and Spaw. And your right Spaw, it would make for an interesting sociology thesis. Who was the Oriental fellow who would throw salt on the 4 sides of the ring then over his shoulders? |
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02 Dec 07 - 11:18 AM (#2206826) Subject: RE: BS: Wrestling in the 50/60/early 70ties From: bankley Tara Sakuro , I believe. |
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02 Dec 07 - 11:19 AM (#2206828) Subject: RE: BS: Wrestling in the 50/60/early 70ties From: GUEST,Shimrod I remember that my granny, Annie Belton (d. 1966) used to love watching the wrestling on UK telly. At moments of high excitement she used to abandon any pretence of lady-like decorum and shout, "bite his bum!" |
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02 Dec 07 - 11:28 AM (#2206834) Subject: RE: BS: Wrestling in the 50/60/early 70ties From: Little Hawk Here are 2 more from the 50s, early 60s: Chico Garcia - Mexican bad guy with mustache and HUGE stomach. Man Mountain Montana - Same general approach as Haystack Calhoun. Montana was enormous, dressed in farmer overalls, defeated opponents by simply falling on them. His body was so huge that it made his head look about the size of a grapefruit in comparison. There was some good guy wrestler that me and my friends always cheered for...nice handsome looking guy with a "good guy" short haircut...and I cannot recall his name at all now. Just goes to show, it's mostly the spectacular or weird bad guy wrestlers that people remember. |
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02 Dec 07 - 11:30 AM (#2206836) Subject: RE: BS: Wrestling in the 50/60/early 70ties From: Beer That brings to mind when my Aunt Susan was visiting and it was here first time to watch T.V. She kept looking where the wrestler went when the camera man focused else where. She would get up and look behind the television. I don't think that was him Bankley. |
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02 Dec 07 - 11:34 AM (#2206839) Subject: RE: BS: Wrestling in the 50/60/early 70ties From: Beer Surprisingly there are a number of video clips from those days on You Tube. I remember the Montana man but the Mexican fails to me. |
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02 Dec 07 - 12:06 PM (#2206861) Subject: RE: BS: Wrestling in the 50/60/early 70ties From: Bee-dubya-ell I only flirted with watching wrestling for a couple of years around age 13 or so. A few names I recall are: Eddie Graham (good guy) The Great Malenko (bad guy) The Von Braun Brothers (bad guys) Hiro Matsudo (bad guy: used illegal judo chops while ref wan't looking) They may have been unknown outside of Florida, since I gather wrestling promotion in those days was a more regional than national affair. Looking back, it's hilarious the way some of the "bad guys" capitalized on Cold War propagana to enhance their evil images. The Great Malenko was supposedly Russian, and the Von Braun Brothers were supposedly from East Germany. I don't follow wrestling today, but I doubt there are any bad guy wrestlers who've adopted Islamic terrorist personae. |
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02 Dec 07 - 12:52 PM (#2206899) Subject: RE: BS: Wrestling in the 50/60/early 70ties From: bankley Beer, I remember the guy that you mean. Used to rub 'ceremonial' salt into his opponents eyes when the going got rough. I know it wasn't David Suzuki either.... |
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02 Dec 07 - 02:12 PM (#2206950) Subject: RE: BS: Wrestling in the 50/60/early 70ties From: Beer That's the guy. Are you still with the name of Tara Sakuro? |
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02 Dec 07 - 02:16 PM (#2206954) Subject: RE: BS: Wrestling in the 50/60/early 70ties From: Riginslinger I was hitch-hiking down Interstate-5 and got a ride from Haystack Calhoun one time. |
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02 Dec 07 - 02:24 PM (#2206963) Subject: RE: BS: Wrestling in the 50/60/early 70ties From: Rabbi-Sol The Fabulous Kangaroos (Roy Heffernan & ?) Dangerous Danny McShain Fritz Von Wallach Skull Murphy Cowboy Rocky Lee Pat O'Connor Antonino Rocco Miguel Perez Ludwig Von Krupp Jackie Nichols The Stevens Brothers (Ray & Don) Angelo Savoldi Arnold Skaaland The Great Scott SOL |
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02 Dec 07 - 02:37 PM (#2206981) Subject: RE: BS: Wrestling in the 50/60/early 70ties From: bobad Is Heigo "Animal" Hamaguchi the guy you're looking for Beer? There's an article on him here. |
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02 Dec 07 - 02:52 PM (#2206991) Subject: RE: BS: Wrestling in the 50/60/early 70ties From: Chip2447 Late 60's Midwest here; Bulldog Bob Brown Harley Race Rufus R Brown Danny Little Bear Baron Von Rafske (?) All Star wrestling was a Saturday night event, which was a lead in to Space 1999 and Star Trek |
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02 Dec 07 - 03:06 PM (#2207000) Subject: RE: BS: Wrestling in the 50/60/early 70ties From: Riginslinger That Dusty Rhodes guy wrestled forever. It seemed like he never changed and went on for 30 years. |
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02 Dec 07 - 03:10 PM (#2207003) Subject: RE: BS: Wrestling in the 50/60/early 70ties From: Beer Not him Bobad. |
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02 Dec 07 - 03:23 PM (#2207009) Subject: RE: BS: Wrestling in the 50/60/early 70ties From: catspaw49 Dusty Rhodes.............My brother-in-law (Bob) lives in Roswell, GA., a classy Atlanta 'burb........Well off family, went to Annapolis then Georgia Tech, is an aerospace engineer with Lockheed and works for what's left of their skunkworks, almost 30 years on the job, makes a ton of money........a smart guy (but a typical engineer that would spend three weeks organizing a two car motorcade). So the family is at dinner one evening in some restaurant and Dusty comes in. Bob is speechless and in awe. Karolyn is saying, "For God's sake Bob, he's a fat old wrestler!" But poor Bob is in a trance and all he can say is, "Gee, Dusty Rhodes." Actually, quite a few celebs and sports figures live close to them and they see many of them all the time, but Dusty was too much for poor Bob. Spaw |
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02 Dec 07 - 05:32 PM (#2207100) Subject: RE: BS: Wrestling in the 50/60/early 70ties From: GUEST,Mariner How about the original "Big O" Bob Orton ? |
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02 Dec 07 - 06:12 PM (#2207132) Subject: RE: BS: Wrestling in the 50/60/early 70ties From: Little Hawk AAAAARRRRGGGH! OOOMPH! SMACK!!! UGH!!!! Here's a video of a grudge match between Joe Leduc and Dusty Rhodes, with Haystack Calhoun as the Ref, and a bunch of other wrestlers running interference!!!! Catch the marvelously tacky staggering around the ring rubber-legged routine of Dusty Rhodes as he is supposedly pounded into near helplessness by the enraged Joe Leduc! AAAAARRRRGGGH! OOOMPH! SMACK!!! UGH!!!! |
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02 Dec 07 - 06:17 PM (#2207134) Subject: RE: BS: Wrestling in the 50/60/early 70ties From: Steve Latimer Lord Athol Layton. Pampiro Firpo. |
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02 Dec 07 - 06:34 PM (#2207143) Subject: RE: BS: Wrestling in the 50/60/early 70ties From: eddie1 When I was a kid, my dad took me a couple of times to see wrestling at "The Eldorado" in Leith, Edinburgh. This was in the days when pubs in Scotland closed at 10.00pm. I could never understand how, no matter how long the earlier bouts lasted, the last one always finished at 9.45! Eddie |
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02 Dec 07 - 07:24 PM (#2207188) Subject: RE: BS: Wrestling in the 50/60/early 70ties From: Rabbi-Sol I regularly attended wrestling matches in Madison Square Garden during the Antonino Rocco era. I also went to the St. Nicholas Arena in Manhattan and the Eastern Parkway Area in Brooklyn. The crowd was 90% Hispanic and the promoters played the racial card to the hilt. When Rocco and Miguel Perez teamed up against some of the bad guys like Dick The Bruiser and Buddy Rogers, they would sell out the old Madison Square Garden with 21,000 plus (standing room only). There was also an obviously gay wrestler, Ricky Starr who wore ballet slippers as part of his act. When he fought Rocco (who wrestled barefoot), they sold out RFK Stadium (at that time Griffiths Stadium) with close to 50,000 people. SOL |
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02 Dec 07 - 07:25 PM (#2207191) Subject: RE: BS: Wrestling in the 50/60/early 70ties From: Riginslinger And then there's Jesse "The Body" Ventura. |
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02 Dec 07 - 07:46 PM (#2207201) Subject: RE: BS: Wrestling in the 50/60/early 70ties From: Bill D I never trusted any of 'em after Lou Thesz & Strangler Lewis. Georgeous George didn't fool me a bit....and it's been all downhill from there. (and I think it was Man Mountain Dean) |
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02 Dec 07 - 08:31 PM (#2207211) Subject: RE: BS: Wrestling in the 50/60/early 70ties From: Peter Kasin I loved big time rtestling, and between '64-'66, I was glued to the TV every friday night for what in the SF Bay Area was called "National All-Star Wrestling," broadcast live on a local station, KTVU. The announcer was Walt Harris. I went a couple of times to be in the studio audience, when I was 11, 12. During a commercial break, one of the studio men had to tell me and a friend to stop yelling so much. however, there were these regulars, these elderly women in the front row, who were calling out the most vicious stuff: "Break his arm!" was typical. There's an excuse for a kid to take it so seriously, but, man, these older folks.... The heroes and villains were often, but not always, divided by race. Japanese wrestlers were villains, most Mexicans were heroes. My personal heroes were Pepper Gomez and, second to him, Bearcat Wright. Chief villains were Kinji Shibuya, Ray Stevens, and Stevens's tag team partner, Pat Patterson. Stevens and Patterson were bleach blonde, pot-bellied, and Stevens had a running feud with Pepper Gomez. Then there was the designated loser to the villains, who was there to build up the "championship" match to be held later at SF's "Cow Palace." Larry Williams took in that role. Then there was the "ringside doctor." His only role was to stand up from his table when a villain smashed a hero's head into it. No matter where these matches were held, it was always the same basic script: the tag team villian distracts the referee while his partner "cheats." Everyone is screaming at the ref to turn around, but of course he is oblivious. The villain takes over the mike from the announcer during the "interviews." Then there was midget wrestling: little Beaver (with a Mohawk haircut)...can't remember the other midget wrestlers. These days there's hardly a distinction between heroes and voillians, it seems. Gone are the days of the pot-bellies, the local broadcasts, the shows at the Cow Palace. It was great show business, but it was obvious that these underpaid wrestlers, in a dangerous business, were very good athletes. Chanteyranger |
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02 Dec 07 - 08:35 PM (#2207215) Subject: RE: BS: Wrestling in the 50/60/early 70ties From: Bill D and I'd love to see ANY of those TV piles of steroids & swagger get in the rings with one of the Olympic Greco-Roman champions. |
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02 Dec 07 - 08:49 PM (#2207222) Subject: RE: BS: Wrestling in the 50/60/early 70ties From: Beer Chanteyranger, sure do remember Bearcat Wright. Perrer Gomez not sure. I don't imagine they made much money but they sure could entertain us. |
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02 Dec 07 - 09:31 PM (#2207238) Subject: RE: BS: Wrestling in the 50/60/early 70ties From: Nick E I am at the 70's end of the timeline for this thread, but I lived in NYC as a 10year old and hooked up a coat hanger to the UHF antenae so I could watch "Luche Libre" from a spanish language station in Paterson New Jersy. 47 or Quatente & siete...There was also "Championship Wrestiling From Geogia hosted with by Gordon Soeli. I did see something real once though.... Superfly Snooka, held in the suplex by Colonel De Beers who is standing on the top rope, dropped superfly to the gym floor on his head. Never heard from DeBeers Again, Snooka was out for a year. Steroid rage I guess. |
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02 Dec 07 - 10:43 PM (#2207260) Subject: RE: BS: Wrestling in the 50/60/early 70ties From: Little Hawk There definitely was a Man Mountain Dean, Bill, but I never saw him. The guy I saw in action was Man Mountain Montana. "Montana", by the way, means "mountain" in Spanish, so he had a kind of redundant name. The most bizarre thing that ever happened in wrestling, I'd say, was Andy Kaufman's wrestling career, during which he did everything possible to infuriate the wrestling audience, and succeeded beyond his wildest dreams. He wanted to be the greatest "bad guy" wrestler ever. So first he started by wrestling only women...and insulting them outrageously to boot...that got a lot of people mad. Then he morphed that into insulting the entire population of the Deep South. That got people so mad that his life was in danger. He had a lot of help (secretly) from his chief opponent, Jerry Lawler, the "King of Memphis Wrestling". Lawler and Kaufmann had planned the entire soap opera from start to finish (as always seems to be the case in professional wrestling) and they certainly succeeded in raising a lot of hell and selling a lot of tickets. What a hoot! Here's the whole crazy story: Andy Kaufman vs the world! |
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02 Dec 07 - 11:04 PM (#2207271) Subject: RE: BS: Wrestling in the 50/60/early 70ties From: Beer That is one hell of a find Little Hawk. Thanks. |
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02 Dec 07 - 11:16 PM (#2207278) Subject: RE: BS: Wrestling in the 50/60/early 70ties From: bankley I have a buddy that used to do some ring promoting in Ontario.... he hung out from time to time with a lot of characters including Andre the Giant.... he asked Andre if he ever took a drink... Andre said 'Sure', 'well, how much does it take for you to get a good buzz?' Andre answered "Usually 96 beers"..... didn't quite hit the 100, but who would argue ..... |
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02 Dec 07 - 11:35 PM (#2207282) Subject: RE: BS: Wrestling in the 50/60/early 70ties From: Little Hawk Here is the extraordinary story of George Wagner aka "Gorgeous George", the most successful wrestler of the 1950s at the art of self-promotion, and the man who singlehandedly put televised wrestling on the map and turned it into a national phenomenon. The bizarre theatrical nature of modern wrestling is largely due to the groundwork laid by Gorgeous George in the 50s: Gorgeous George |
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03 Dec 07 - 08:36 AM (#2207452) Subject: RE: BS: Wrestling in the 50/60/early 70ties From: Bob the Postman I read somewhere that Mohammed Ali claimed to have learned the art of self-promotion from Gorgeous George. |
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03 Dec 07 - 09:53 AM (#2207499) Subject: RE: BS: Wrestling in the 50/60/early 70ties From: Beer Great story Bankley. |
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03 Dec 07 - 10:08 AM (#2207510) Subject: RE: BS: Wrestling in the 50/60/early 70ties From: clueless don From the indicated era, I remember a wrestler who called himself "Nature Boy" Luke Graham, but whom the audience all called "Crazy Luke". Part of his shtick was becoming infuriated at the crowd for this. I believe he was the brother of "Doctor" Jerry Graham. I'm quite surprised that no one has mentioned (unless I missed it) Bruno Samartino. Don |
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03 Dec 07 - 10:13 AM (#2207520) Subject: RE: BS: Wrestling in the 50/60/early 70ties From: Beer Remember both Don. And your right, who could we forget Bruno. |
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03 Dec 07 - 12:20 PM (#2207615) Subject: RE: BS: Wrestling in the 50/60/early 70ties From: MARINER I worked on the Belfast / Heysham freey in the late 60s/early 70s and, like the Edinburgh situation mentioned above, the wrestlers who came in on the morning ferry (and shared cabins ) always managed to fight each other and get back in time for the night ferry !. |
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03 Dec 07 - 12:39 PM (#2207625) Subject: RE: BS: Wrestling in the 50/60/early 70ties From: Rog Peek In the UK, the presenter was Kent Walton of Discs-a-Go-Go fame. Obit here: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2003/08/28/db2802.xml Rog |
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03 Dec 07 - 12:42 PM (#2207630) Subject: RE: BS: Wrestling in the 50/60/early 70ties From: Rabbi-Sol Dr. Jerry Graham's brother was Eddie Graham. They wrestled tag team as the Graham Brothers and made some news in Madison Square Garden in a match against Antonino Rocco and Miguel Perez. Somehow during the bout things turned a little too real and deviated from the script. Rocco smashed Jerry Graham's head into the turnbuckle and gashed his forehead open. The resulting blood was not vegetable dye but real. The cops were called in to restore order as many of the largely Puerto Rican crowd was ready to riot. SOL |
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03 Dec 07 - 01:04 PM (#2207661) Subject: RE: BS: Wrestling in the 50/60/early 70ties From: GUEST,Sminky Billy Two Rivers.. the Mohawk, trained by Don Eagle's dad I assume that's the same gentleman who wrestled in the UK for a while (I believe he was British heavyweight champion). Lived a couple of doors down from my Aunt and Uncle in Morecambe. Father of Wayne Hemingway, the designer. Ran off with Viv Nicholson, the 'spend, spend, spend' pools winner. |
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03 Dec 07 - 08:44 PM (#2207957) Subject: RE: BS: Wrestling in the 50/60/early 70ties From: john f weldon Ricki Starr. The only one actually fun to watch. Late at night at Ben's deli, the wrestlers would all wander in at 2 am for a post-battle snack. Guys who'd just been tossing each other around would sit at the same table and munch smoked meat and fries. Mad Dog, Killer Kowalski, etc. They were bigger than the other late-night patrons, (mainly McGill students) but they ate the same stuff. |
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03 Dec 07 - 08:53 PM (#2207959) Subject: RE: BS: Wrestling in the 50/60/early 70ties From: john f weldon Oh, another memory. Rassler Len "Kojak" Shelley lived near a friend, so I discovered that he had two active identities; as a "good guy", no mask, and "bad guy" with a mask. He really did pretend to be two different people, sometimes rassling twice in the same evening. Luckily he was never matched against himself. Everyone wanted to be a bad guy; the villains were the real draw and got paid more! |
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03 Dec 07 - 09:14 PM (#2207963) Subject: RE: BS: Wrestling in the 50/60/early 70ties From: Little Hawk It's sort of sad...think of the career Saddam Hussein could have had if he'd gone into wrestling! He would have been incredible. He'd have made a fortune as one of the most notorious bad guys of all time, and when he got old he could've retired and signed autographs at the local deli in Montreal. What a tragic waste of potential. |
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04 Dec 07 - 05:48 AM (#2208134) Subject: RE: BS: Wrestling in the 50/60/early 70ties From: GUEST, Sminky UK grappling fans will find this site a treat - "all the matches aired by ITV between its first airing in 1955, and 1988 when Greg Dyke cancelled British wrestling broadcasts." |
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04 Dec 07 - 06:56 AM (#2208154) Subject: RE: BS: Wrestling in the 50/60/early 70ties From: bankley yeah, beer, apparently when Andre held a 'pint', the bottle couldn't be seen anymore.....his hands were that big.... he'd down it like a shooter.... 7'4", 500 lbs on 4 cases of 24.... I'm glad that I didn't have to put him to bed ! Apparently he was gentle natured and loved playing gags esp. on unsuspecting motel owners. and yes Sminky, that's the same Mr. Two Rivers....wrestled in England for a few years... also had an acting part in the movie 'Black Robe', a period piece set in Huronia circa 1650 or so.. really fine visuals, somewhat brutal.... those were the days!! |
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04 Dec 07 - 07:38 AM (#2208177) Subject: RE: BS: Wrestling in the 50/60/early 70ties From: GUEST, Sminky Thanks bankley (didn't think there could be two Two Rivers!). His son is even more famous (I remember him as a young kid). |
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04 Dec 07 - 09:30 AM (#2208260) Subject: RE: BS: Wrestling in the 50/60/early 70ties From: clueless don I found the following link through google: passing of "Crazy Luke" Apparently, "Crazy Luke" passed away in 2006. Rabbi-Sol, I may have indeed been mistaken about "Crazy Luke" being Doctor Jerry's brother. I may have gotten the notion from the fact that they wrestled together and had the same last name (last stage name, at any rate.) Don |
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04 Dec 07 - 01:43 PM (#2208465) Subject: RE: BS: Wrestling in the 50/60/early 70ties From: GUEST,Big Bad John The Fabulous Kangaroos (Roy Heffernan & ?) ? = Al Costello I always knew folk music people were wrestling fans. |
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04 Dec 07 - 02:24 PM (#2208491) Subject: RE: BS: Wrestling in the 50/60/early 70ties From: Metchosin Ah! memories from my childhood! Haven't seen Whipper Billy Watson mentioned yet or Kinji Shabuya sp? I wrestled with the rabbit ears as a kid to watch this stuff. The rabbit ears worked better than our antenna did, after my father tried unsucessfully, to rid of the thing of a flock pigeons. They were twisting it out of shape, but didn't impair the reception. Unfortunately, he figured they would eventually break it and managed to blast all the lead in wires to smithereens with a shot gun. |
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04 Dec 07 - 02:30 PM (#2208493) Subject: RE: BS: Wrestling in the 50/60/early 70ties From: Little Hawk LOL! The sledgehammer for the gnats solution, eh? |
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04 Dec 07 - 02:50 PM (#2208506) Subject: RE: BS: Wrestling in the 50/60/early 70ties From: Metchosin It was a way of life for him Little Hawk, usually accompanied with the rider just for watching in awe, "See what you made me do!" LOL |
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04 Dec 07 - 03:11 PM (#2208519) Subject: RE: BS: Wrestling in the 50/60/early 70ties From: John on the Sunset Coast Here are some I remember from the Sunset Coast: Lou Thesz Argentine Rocca Gorgeous George Baron Leone Sandor Szabo Jules Strongbow (not to be confused with one of that name much later) Lord Blears Dr. Lee Grable (he was a hypnotist) Mr. Moto From a slightly earlier era: Mike Mazurki Henry Kulki Buddy Baer All of whom became character actors. |
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04 Dec 07 - 09:45 PM (#2208784) Subject: RE: BS: Wrestling in the 50/60/early 70ties From: Riginslinger I remember when it was "Wrestling from Hollywood," but the only player I can remember is The Great Baldini. |
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10 Dec 07 - 04:21 AM (#2212328) Subject: RE: BS: Wrestling in the 50/60/early 70ties From: Peter Kasin John, was this Buddy Baer the same as Max Baer's boxing brother? Beer, Pepper Gomez was known for his iron stomach muscles. You could punch him in the stomach as hard as possible, and it wouldn't faze him. Apparently that was for real. Anyone remember the goose-stepping "German" tag team? In SF they were known as the Von Stroheim brothers. I believe they went by other names in other localities. Chanteyranger |
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10 Dec 07 - 10:22 AM (#2212474) Subject: RE: BS: Wrestling in the 50/60/early 70ties From: Mr Happy Lots info on UK stars here:http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Professional_wrestling_in_the_United_Kingdom |
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10 Dec 07 - 10:50 AM (#2212491) Subject: RE: BS: Wrestling in the 50/60/early 70ties From: John on the Sunset Coast Yes, Chantyranger, he was Max Baer's brother. |
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10 Dec 07 - 07:39 PM (#2212781) Subject: RE: BS: Wrestling in the 50/60/early 70ties From: gnu Metchosin... shotgun... seems logical to me. Cheaper than buying a ladder. |
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11 Dec 07 - 04:49 PM (#2213360) Subject: RE: BS: Wrestling in the 50/60/early 70ties From: Herga Kitty LTS pretty well summed it up for the UK. Tag wrestling was fun, though. The lighter weights were pretty nippy and athletic. Watching them bouncing off the ropes and into the audience... Kitty |
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12 Dec 07 - 02:14 PM (#2213974) Subject: RE: BS: Wrestling in the 50/60/early 70ties From: Mark Ross Does anyone remember the Argentine Apollo? We used to watch with my grandparents, Grandma loved Gorgeous George. Mark Ross |
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12 Dec 07 - 03:16 PM (#2214002) Subject: RE: BS: Wrestling in the 50/60/early 70ties From: John on the Sunset Coast I remember Argentine Rocca (as noted above) but not Argentine Apollo. What area of the country did he rassle in? |
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12 Dec 07 - 06:12 PM (#2214122) Subject: RE: BS: Wrestling in the 50/60/early 70ties From: Rabbi-Sol Some more from the Capitol Arena in Washington DC. Karl Von Hess Fritz Seigfried Mr. America Gene Stanley his brother Steve Stanley The Mighty Managoff Fritz Von Wallach Jackie Nichols Yukon Eric Miguel Torres (The Mexican Bull) Skull Murphy Cowboy Rocky Lee Chief Big Heart Johnny Valentine SOL |
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13 Dec 07 - 10:25 AM (#2214520) Subject: RE: BS: Wrestling in the 50/60/early 70ties From: Mark Ross We used to see Argentine Apollo in NYC onSaturday night wrestling. I believe there was also a wrestler named Antonio Rocca. Mark Ross |
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13 Dec 07 - 11:38 AM (#2214575) Subject: RE: BS: Wrestling in the 50/60/early 70ties From: GUEST Red Bastien Gentleman Jim Hady Stu Hart Dave Ruhl |
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13 Dec 07 - 01:01 PM (#2214627) Subject: RE: BS: Wrestling in the 50/60/early 70ties From: Rabbi-Sol Hungarian wrestle - Sandor Szabo Japanese wrestler - Bolo Hakawa SOL |
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13 Dec 07 - 06:15 PM (#2214851) Subject: RE: BS: Wrestling in the 50/60/early 70ties From: Rabbi-Sol And of course there was always the famous manager, Bobby Davis who looked like Elvis Presley and managed the Graham Brothers. He would escort them into the ring wearing a business suit and during a tag team match he would hit one of the oponents with his cane while the referee was looking the other way. SOL |
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13 Dec 07 - 10:50 PM (#2214991) Subject: RE: BS: Wrestling in the 50/60/early 70ties From: Beer Now folks, I've been reading all these responses with great pleasure. I have to ask a question though. Are you still following the world of wrestling or was this a part of your life that you left behind as I did. I truly loved the matches of the 50,60 and 70ties but then dropped out. Yet, as much as I'm disinterested in today's "SHOW", I can't help think that if I was 8-14yrs., again I would be right into what is happening. beer (adrien) |
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13 Dec 07 - 11:19 PM (#2215001) Subject: RE: BS: Wrestling in the 50/60/early 70ties From: Rabbi-Sol That is a part of my life that ended when I entered college at the age of 16. Up until that time I was a devoted wrestling fanatic. Once in college I no longer had the time to keep following it and have never gone back to it at all. SOL |
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14 Dec 07 - 09:38 PM (#2215652) Subject: RE: BS: Wrestling in the 50/60/early 70ties From: Riginslinger I'm not sure. It seems to me like the whole thing now is so incredibly phoney, and the steroid enhanced participants are so unbelievable, I can't see getting into it. Of course, things look different when you're 14 years old. |
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15 Dec 07 - 12:53 AM (#2215757) Subject: RE: BS: Wrestling in the 50/60/early 70ties From: Beer How true Riginslinger. I look at my nephews while they watch the WWF or whatever it is called and as much as i think of all the crap that they are projecting, I think that if I was 13-14 I would also get off on it. |
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15 Dec 07 - 03:04 AM (#2215777) Subject: RE: BS: Wrestling in the 50/60/early 70ties From: Peter Kasin Same reaction here, Rigs. I dropped off from watching it in when around 14. In the 80's, I watched it a few times for comic relief (George "the animal" and all that) but found the modern stuff from the 90's boring. All steroidish looking, no clear-cut heroes/villains, and I had far outgrown really enjoying it anyway. Those were magical times for a kid, in the earlier eras. BTW, on YouTube there's a clip of the first professional wrestling match ever fimed, around 1929, if I remember that right. it was strange, because it looked like they were actually WRESTLING :-). Chanteyranger |
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15 Dec 07 - 12:14 PM (#2215971) Subject: RE: BS: Wrestling in the 50/60/early 70ties From: bankley we were also young, agile and foolish enough to learn some of the holds and try them out on each other. Drop kicks were fun but not as much as when you didn't connect. I also enjoyed going to see smaller events and cheering for the bad guys. That almost got me into trouble with some die-hard little ol' lady fans, who could hurt you just about as much as the wrestlers themselves. When I got serious about music, my 'rasslin' days were numbered. Besides 'Wildwood Flower' didn't hurt as much as the 'pile driver'... |
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16 Dec 07 - 11:55 AM (#2216507) Subject: RE: BS: Wrestling in the 50/60/early 70ties From: Beer I use to practice the sleeper and the judo chop on my younger brother Norman. Damn near killed him. Then I ordered one of those hypnosis disc and turned his eyes red but I never did get it to work. |
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16 Dec 07 - 06:53 PM (#2216771) Subject: RE: BS: Wrestling in the 50/60/early 70ties From: Riginslinger How is Norman doing today? Did he recover? |
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16 Dec 07 - 07:01 PM (#2216782) Subject: RE: BS: Wrestling in the 50/60/early 70ties From: bobad "How is Norman doing today? Did he recover?" Not quite - he became a folksinger. |
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16 Dec 07 - 07:30 PM (#2216803) Subject: RE: BS: Wrestling in the 50/60/early 70ties From: Beer LoL Bobad. In fact he just started a coffee house with the help of a local church in or near Picton Ontario. No drifting I promise. |
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17 Dec 07 - 12:42 AM (#2216941) Subject: RE: BS: Wrestling in the 50/60/early 70ties From: Riginslinger Well, maybe wrestling is good for you! |
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17 Dec 07 - 01:31 PM (#2217357) Subject: RE: BS: Wrestling in the 50/60/early 70ties From: bankley I'm trying to visualize a red-eyed, cape wearing, guy in tights, jumping into the ring over the top rope and smashing his opponent over the head with a cheap guitar, El Kabong style, while Beer is in the corner yelling, "Okay Stormy, now pin him".... |
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17 Dec 07 - 02:58 PM (#2217428) Subject: RE: BS: Wrestling in the 50/60/early 70ties From: GUEST My aunt and uncle used to take me to watch wrestling at the Municipal Pool in Hamilton, Ontario in the late forties. A ring was erected right over the pool. My uncle knew Whipper Billy Watson and the Sharp Brothers personally so we always had to go when these local heros were on the card. We also saw Nanjo Singh, (Sky)Hy Lee, Lee Henning, Yukon Eric, Mike Mazurki (movie star), Lou Thesz, Lord Athol Layton and a whole array of midget and other novelty acts. It was always a highlight when someone got thrown out of the ring into the water. Once the entire structure collapsed into the pool. |
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17 Dec 07 - 03:29 PM (#2217454) Subject: RE: BS: Wrestling in the 50/60/early 70ties From: Beer Ha! ha! ha!, thanks for the laugh Bankley. I saw Whipper Billy Watson against his nemesis Gene Kiniski in Halifax N.S. later 50ies or early 60ties. |
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17 Dec 07 - 10:56 PM (#2217779) Subject: RE: BS: Wrestling in the 50/60/early 70ties From: GUEST,meself Lord Layton used to host a wrestling TV show - "Big Time Wrestling" - out of Detroit - or possibly Windsor. He used to express considerable indignation at the antics of The Sheikh ... Big part of my childhood ... |
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17 Dec 07 - 11:05 PM (#2217781) Subject: RE: BS: Wrestling in the 50/60/early 70ties From: Beer meself!!, how in the hell are you?? Missed you (Guy or Gal?). The Sheikh, sure do remember this character. |
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17 Dec 07 - 11:19 PM (#2217788) Subject: RE: BS: Wrestling in the 50/60/early 70ties From: GUEST,meself Hey Beer, I'm fine - but I've had a hectic last few months - and I'm back on dial-up, so I haven't had the time to participate here. But I have been lurking from time to time. I couldn't resist jumping over the ropes and into the ring on this one, though ... (Guy, by the way - I know it's hard to tell with this villainous mask ... ) |
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26 May 09 - 07:06 PM (#2641492) Subject: RE: BS: Wrestling in the 50/60/early 70ties From: GUEST,thomas CAN ANYBODY LET ME KNOW HOW I CAN BUY OLD VIDEOS OF DON LEO JONATHAN WRESTLING,I WOULD BE VERY GREATFUL FOR ANY HELP I CAN GET..THOMAS |
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27 May 09 - 08:50 AM (#2641857) Subject: RE: BS: Wrestling in the 50/60/early 70ties From: Riginslinger This is all wrestling before steroids, right? |
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20 Sep 09 - 11:39 PM (#2727791) Subject: RE: BS: Wrestling in the 50/60/early 70ties From: GUEST,Baron I remember:Johnny Powers, Hans Schimt, Bobo Barzil, Tony Marino, Larry Zabisco, The Shiek, Haystcks Calhoon & many more. |
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21 Sep 09 - 10:53 AM (#2728036) Subject: RE: BS: Wrestling in the 50/60/early 70ties From: meself Bobo Brazil vs The Sheik - the ultimate battle of good vs evil. Of course, through some vile trickery, The Sheik was declared winner, but you knew that Bobo would be back ... |
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21 Sep 09 - 01:41 PM (#2728150) Subject: RE: BS: Wrestling in the 50/60/early 70ties From: Little Hawk Has there ever been a "heel" wrestler who defeated his foes (or at least deterred them) by having overwhelmingly bad body odor? I should think that would be quite a marketable way of annoying the fans and creating controversy. |
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21 Sep 09 - 03:10 PM (#2728227) Subject: RE: BS: Wrestling in the 50/60/early 70ties From: frogprince My brother-in-law worked at a small town tv station when Vern Gagne was sponsoring their wrestling with nutritional supplements that he was marketing. Gagne would show up sometimes and direct the "wrestling" action from off camera. |
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21 Sep 09 - 03:14 PM (#2728229) Subject: RE: BS: Wrestling in the 50/60/early 70ties From: SINSULL Fond memories of Nana Sullivan screaming "Kill 'em!" at the B&W with the tiny screen and the huge cabinet. I loved Gorgeous George complete with mirror. Who was the small (by comparison) Hispanic wrestler who jumped and flipped and out-manouvered all the others? He was usually a good guy. I don't think he was BoBo Brazil, but maybe. I even remember Midget Wrestling. And Roller Derby on TV. |
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21 Sep 09 - 03:28 PM (#2728250) Subject: RE: BS: Wrestling in the 50/60/early 70ties From: SINSULL Maybe Argentine Apollo - 5'10; 175# sounds about right. |
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30 Nov 09 - 09:22 AM (#2776713) Subject: RE: BS: Wrestling in the 50/60/early 70ties From: GUEST,"THE BARON" Who can forget BARON GATTONI!!! He was impossibly POWERFULL spoke 5 languages and I understand taught in the Univercity of Argentina. I remember him doing commercials on TV and was seen doing appeareances for sick kids all the time. Baron and Yukon Eric! Great Black and White stuff! Baron Gattoni was Buffalo's only Champion who lived in Buffalo, NY while he was a Champion. AWA Tag Team in 59! Those were the days. His son ran for Mayor of Buffalo in 09. |
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30 Nov 09 - 12:50 PM (#2776859) Subject: RE: BS: Wrestling in the 50/60/early 70ties From: GUEST Today's Guardian carries an Obit for 'Captain' Lou Albano, wrestler, manager and actor. |
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30 Nov 09 - 12:57 PM (#2776866) Subject: RE: BS: Wrestling in the 50/60/early 70ties From: Tug the Cox Oops, lost me cookie, mine was last message. |
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01 Dec 09 - 12:46 PM (#2777670) Subject: RE: BS: Wrestling in the 50/60/early 70ties From: Nick E Gorilla Monsoon Bruno San Martino Chief J. Strongbow Pedro Morales Dory Funk Jr. Ivan Putski George The Animal Steele Baron Von Ratski Who had the HEART PUNCH? |