August 8th in the Time Tunnel:
Happy Birthday to those who have passed on and to those great wrestlers still with us:
In Memoriam:
Lord Alfred Hayes 1928
Frank Fuller 1929
Happy Birthday:
Rena Lesnar\Sable (57)
Scott D'Amore (51)
Shayna Baszler (45)
Joe Ruby\Joe gacy (38)
Rinku Singh\Veer Mahan (37)
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.
Ed "Strangler" Lewis 8-8-1966 at the age of 75
Ken Fenelon 8-8-1972 at the age of 63
Pro Wrestler Debuts:
"Exotic" Adrian Street 8-8-1957
Riki Choshu 8-8-1974
Chigusa Naguyo 8-8-1980
Lou Thesz Defends The Business
In the San Diego Times August 6th, 1975 edition 50 years ago this week, Lou Thesz remains a strong advocate for the legitimacy of the Pro Wrestling business. Lou says “Some fellas short on ability make spectacles of themselves with their histronics. Some use too much showmanship.” When asked if he was saying some of the matches were fake, Lou responded, “I didn’t say that. You’ve got competitive matches in many parts of the country. They are honest matches.” When asked how many matches Thesz had so far in his career, he responded with 6,400 and when asked if all of them were honest, Lou said, “One hundred per cent. That’s the only way I perform. My wrestling coach, George Tragos, was a three time Olympic champion, he won twice for Greece and once for the US.” When asked who was the best he ever saw, Thesz said, “Ed “Strangler” Lewis. He was the best of the bunch.”
Pictured: From the August 6th, 1975 edition of the San Diego Times, San Diego, California
Verne Gagne's Lucky Day was August 8th:
8-8-1961: Verne Gagne defeated Gene Kiniski (CH) to win the AWA World Heavyweight Championship in Minneapolis, Minnesota
According to our AWA Anaylist and Historian, George Schire's book "Minnesota's Golden Age of Wrestling", here's what he said about Kiniski and Gagne during this period: "In July 1961, Kiniski got the nod over Gagne and left the ring as world champion. Though he only held the belt for about a month, Kiniski had the distinction of being the only wrestler to hold both the AWA & NWA world titles, His AWA reign began on July 11th and ended on August 8th, when he lost the belt back to Gagne."
8-8-1963: Verne Gagne defeated Fritz Von Erich (CH) to win the AWA World Heavyweight Championship in Amarillo, Texas
At this time, Fritz held both the AWA World Title recognized by the AWA office in Minneapolis and also the Omaha version of the World Title, but only the Minneapolis version was at stake in this match, there fore he only lost it to Gagne, while retaining the Omaha Title. They would be re-matched for the Omaha Championship coming up on September 7th in Omaha, Nebraska.
50 Year Flashback:
Jack Brisco (CH) defeated Shohei "Giant" Baba to retain the NWA World Heavyweight Title 2 falls to 1 fall at the Kiel Auditorium in St. Louis, Missouri
Pictured: August 8th, 1975 St Louis Post Dispatch, St Louis, Missouri
Billed as the opening card of the Pro Wrestling "Season", Jack kicked off August with a win in St. Louis over Giant Baba, who had been on town for the NWA Member Convention. The Championship Committee had met and discussed successors to Jack Brisco, who was ready to give up the title, and they had a tense meeting that eventually swung, with the help of the Western US members, to Terry Funk as the next champion. They had also held an important meeting to elect a new President after Sam Muchnick absolutely refused to continue as NWA President. They elected Fritz Von Erich to fill Muchnick's seat.
Brisco took the first fall of the match in 8 minutes and 34 seconds while Baba came back to score the second fall in five minutes and Brisco won the third and deciding fall in four minutes and thirty two seconds.
One Thing I Learned Today About Pro Wrestling History
Verne Gagne began wrestling professionally in 1948 and won his first major title, the Texas Heavyweight Championship in December of 1949 and again in September of 1950. He won the AWA World Heavyweight Title an amazing 10 times for a combined period of 4,577 days.
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!
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