August 7th in the Time Tunnel:
Happy Birthday to those who have passed on and to those great wrestlers still with us:
In Memoriam:
Lou Plummer 1907
Dr. Jerry Watson 1943
Happy Birthday:
Kris Statlander (30)
RIP Memorial: We stop & remember those who have passed on this day and gave themselves to the business for us, the fans. We salute you and thank you.
Lord Jonathan Boyd 8-7-1999 at the age of 54
Theresa Theis 8-7-1999 at the age of 68
More August 5th, 1965, WWWF US Tag Team Championship Title Change Match Notes:
Thank you to one of our subscribers Michael Chirichella who dropped me a note about this match, which we covered in Issue 112 (August 5th, 2025). I mentioned the difficult time I had tracking down any details of the match and I finally found a re-cap which was published in one of the Washington, DC newspapers the next day.
Here's what Michael said in his note to me: "I remember watching the Watts & Monsoon vs the Millers match as it was televised and shown on the WWWF Saturday night show on Channel 5 in New York City." Michael gave me details on the finish of the match: "The Millers won the deciding fall and the titles when Watts cracked Monsoon over the head with a chair and then left the ring area. What is significant as well in addition to giving the belts to the Millers, it started a face turn for Monsoon who after years of being portrayed as someone who spoke no English suddenly was able to speak quite articulately. Go figure?"
Pretty cool. Thank you so much to Micheal for contacting me to give us more details about this match from someone who was watching these events play out 60 years ago on live television.
Remember, friend of the Time Tunnel community, Brian R. Solomon will have his book coming out soon about the life of Gorilla Monsoon. Brian also just got word that he will also be the narrator of the audio book. I know that was something that was important to him, so I'm glad he got it worked out with the publisher.
More on Rudy Dusek
**I mentioned Rudy Dusek of the famed Dusek Brothers in Issue 111 (August 4th, 2025) as the owner of the booking office, Eastern Sports Enterprises in New York City, who was booking talent for the new show in 1955 on the DuMont Network. I remembered this short piece my friend Mark Hewitt wrote about Rudy and the demostration of one of his infamous shoot holds and thought I’d include it here since I’d gotten some subscriber questions about Dusek.
Written by Historian Mark Hewitt on Rudy Dusek's "Rocking Chair" Hold
Rudy Dusek demonstrates his “rocking chair hold” on Jim McNamara in Baltimore, MD in 1931. The following explanation was given: “Note how Dusek’s legs grip McNamara’s left leg in a double leg lock. The right leg is held in chancery by the full power of Dusek’s both arms. Dusek exerts his full strength to hold his opponent in this position, causing the leg muscles to cramp. The opponent either gives up or is pinned.” Dusek was appearing on John Contos’ Baltimore cards and Joe Turner’s DC cards. McNamara was a DC coach and trainer associated with Turner. He would fill in on mat programs whenever needed.
60-Year Flashback:
8-7-1965: Larry Hennig & Harley Race defeated Verne Gagne & The Crusher (CH) to win the AWA World Tag Team Championship in Minneapolis, Minnesota
Henning and Race were having quite a year in 1965 performing as one of the top heel tag teams in the country. Early in the year on January 30th, they defeated the legendary team of Bruiser and Crusher, then they were beaten by Gagne and Crusher on July 24th, but they quickly bounced back here to reclaim the titles in Minneapolis.
Pictured: Larry Hennig & Harley Race, AWA World Tag Team Champions
Besides tag matches, they had been programmed in singles bouts as well with Hennig taking on Gagne in a Texas Death Match on August 3rd in Davenport, Iowa and Race taking on Crusher inside a steel cage on that same card on top. The Crusher who was figured in on top t this time by Gagne and Wally Karbo in their booking, had him headed for a crash course for the AWA World Champion, Mad Dog Vachon in a couple weeks on the St. Paul card.
According to George Schire, our AWA Analyst & Historian at the Time Tunnel, 1965 was a super-hot year for the AWA.
Schire says that over sixty cards were presented in the State of Minnesota alone with an average attendance of approximately 5,000 fans and Hennig, Race and Vachon were all at the center of it.
50-Year Flashback:
8-7-1975: Larry Lane defeated King Curtis Iaukea (CH) to win the Stampede North American Heavyweight Championship at Exhibition Auditorium in Regina, Saskatchewan, Canada
My guest on next week's podcast show in which we focus in on Canada in 1975, Larry Lane regained the top singles belt in Stampede Wrestling, capping off the year-long program he had been having with King Curtis.
You need to check out next week's show as Larry will share his. memories of this amazing feud with me and his thoughts about working for Stu Hart during this time. We will cover the first half the year of 1975 on next week's Episode 18 of Personalities, Territories, Towns and Buildings.
50-Year Flashback:
Masked Heel Teams Battle It Out in Amarillo
8-7-1975: The Masked Interns w/Dr. Ken Ramey defeated The Infernos w/JC Dykes at the Sports Arena in Amarillo, Texas
Pictured: The Masked Interns with Dr Ken Ramey and The Infernos with JC Dykes
Longtime Lubbock promoter Nick Roberts was the special referee for this match that was unusual for three reasons. Heel versus heel tag team matches were not the norm during this era, especially not two top teams like these two. The Interns were the new team to the territory, having come in at the start of July and the Infernos had been in and out doing great business since the late 1960s. Since the Infernos were the visiting team and not booked to return for the foreseeable future, it only made sense for them to do the honors.
Second, having two masked teams opposing each other was very novel. Fans had seen two masked team on cards before but not facing each other and not in the main event. The third unusual thing was to have to two most despised, heat-getting managers of the late 60s and through the 70s on opposite sides of the ring trying to figure how to use every dirty trick in the book on each other rather than a baby face team was not something you might have ever seen before.
Both evil managers went after each other the entire match, which by the time it was time for the finish, confusion benefitted the Interns. Inferno #1, which was well known as Clubfoot and had the deadly "loaded boot", jumped off the top rope but missed Intern #1 and landed instead on Inferno #2. Intern #2 made the cover on Inferno #2 for the easy pin and the match in 16 minutes and 10 seconds. In the aftermath a melee ensued which saw the Interns slug J.C. Dykes and knock him silly.
One Thing I Learned Today About Pro Wrestling History
Theresa Theis was the wife of Ray Stevens, and she was trained by Bronko Nagurski. She started wrestling in 1948.
Thank You for Reading
I'm Tony Richards, Pro Wrestling Historian, Author and Storyteller. I share pro wrestling historical items in each issue of the Time Tunnel Pro Wrestling History Newsletter. Thanks for reading! If you enjoy my information on select events, matches and insights, please share it with folks you think might like to be a subscriber!
Remember, paid subscribers get access to exclusive and special content such as some special issues including a multi-part deep dives on wrestling territories, wrestler bios and championship title histories, special audio and video interviews on territory pro wrestling and more available in the Pro Wrestling Time Tunnel for Paid Subscribers.