August 11th in the Time Tunnel:
Happy Birthday to those who have passed on and to those great wrestlers still with us:
In Memoriam:
Charlie Shironuhi\Mr. Moto 1915
Shag Thomas 1924
Penny Banner 1934
Terry Bollea\Hulk Hogan 1953
Frederick Seawright\Brickhouse Brown 1960
Happy Birthday:
Bill Alfonso (68)
Kayleigh Kerr\Alba Fyre (33)
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.
Mike Sharpe, Sr 8-11-1988 at the age of 66
Bronko Lubich 8-11-2007 at the age of 81
Red Bastien 8-11-2010 at the age of 81
60-Year Flashback
A Time Capsule Review of the Pro Wrestling Cards on This Day in Pro Wrestling History in 1965
**Tony Notes: As a semi-regular Monday feature, I like to look back at the wrestling cards in the various decades to see the top matches in the towns and arenas to see where wrestlers are working, what types of matches are being booked and so on. One of the things to remember about the decades before the 1970s is that the average card in the 60s had four matches and the average card before that had three matches or less. Also, two out of three falls matches were very standard with fewer matches on the card. The show would be anywhere from two to two and a half hours long and with three to four matches going two out three falls, the total show length would be the same.
August 11th in 1965 was a Wednesday.
Championship Wrestling from Florida
8-11-1965: Miami Beach Auditorium in Miami Beach, Florida
Eddie Graham & Sam Steamboat defeated Rip Hawk & Swede Hanson by DQ
Hiro Matsuda defeated Rocky Hamilton by DQ
Duke Keomuka defeated Tony Ballargeon
Lester Welch defeated Johnny King
8-11-1965: American Legion Arena in Sarasota, Florida:
The Great Malenko defeated Danny Miller by 2 falls to 1 fall
John Heath defeated Bill Dromo by DQ by 2 falls to 1 fall
Pat O'Hara defeated Jack Bence
Georgia Championship Wrestling
8-11-1965: Municipal Auditorium in Columbus, Georgia
Nick Kozak defeated Mario Galento by DQ 2 falls to 1 fall
Chief Little Eagle defeated Dutch Savage by DQ 2 falls to 1 fall
Bob Beyer & Benny Matta defeated The Corsicans (Joe & Jean)
Greg Peterson vs The Mongolian ended as a time limit draw
Jim Crockett Promotions in North, South Carolina, Virginia
8-11-1965: McCormick Field in Asheville, North Carolina
Bob Orton, Sr (CH) defeated Abe Jacobs 2 falls to 1 fall to retain the NWA Southern Heavyweight Title
Haystacks Calhoun & Johnny Weaver defeated Mike Gallagher & The Viking
Penny Banner defeated Peggy Allen (on Penny's 31st birthday)
George & Sandy Scott defeated Red Roberts & Mike Padousis
Wednesdays were also television days for JCP
WBTV-TV Studios in Charlotte, North Carolina
Aldo Bogni & Bronko Lubich vs Gory Guerrero & Omar Atlas
Felix Lambain vs George Becker
George "Two Ton" Harris vs Ron Reed (Buddy Colt)
WRAL-TV in Raleigh, North Carolina
Aldo Bogni, Bronko Lubich & Homer O'Dell vs Johnny Weaver, George Becker & Haystacks Calhoun ended as a DCO
Gulas-Welch Office, Nashville, Tennessee
8-11-1965: Municipal Auditorium in Birmingham, Alabama (Birmingham was usually a Monday night town)
Jackie Fargo & Mario Milano defeated The Masked Medics by 2 falls to 1 fall
Saul Weingeroff & Eric Von Brauner defeated Frankie Cain & Tom Drake by 2 falls to 1
Rita Cortez defeated Chi Chi Paris
Bowling Green High School in Bowling Green, Kentucky
Chief Little Bear vs Karl Von Brauner
Al Martinez & Alex Perez vs The Scufflin Hillbillies (Collins\Conley)
The Masked Terror vs Phil Breeden
J. Fred Johnson Stadium in Kingsport, Tennessee
Rocky Smith vs Tojo Yamamoto
Chin Lee vs Whitey Caldwell
Chris Belkas vs Ron Wright
LeRoy McGuirk Tri-States Wrestling Office, Tulsa Oklahoma
The Shrine Mosque in Springfield, Missouri
Argentina Zuma defeated Don Kent by 2 falls to 1 fall
Antone Leone defeated Don Soto by 2 falls to 1 fall
Jack Brisco defeated Ken Hill by 2 falls to 0
Big Time Wrestling Office in Dallas, Texas
Wrestlethon in San Antonio, Texas
Fritz Von Erich defeated Kenji Inoki by CO by 2 falls to 1 (Antonio Inoki's first US exposure tour)
Mark Lewin defeated The Blue Avenger
Don McClarity defeated Nikita Kalmikoff
Ken Hollis defeated Swede Karlsson by DQ
Victor Rivera defeated Ken Yates
Western States Sports Office in Amarillo, Texas
Fair Park Coliseum in Lubbock, Texas
Dory Funk, Jr & Ricky Romero (CH) defeated The Mighty Yankees (Merrill\Evans) by 2 falls to 1 to retain the NWA Southwest States Tag Team Titles
Klondike Bill defeated Tarzan Tyler
Dory Funk, Sr & Jim Dandy vs Iron Mike DiBiase & Pee Wee Lopez
Jose Lothario vs Bronco Kelly
Joe Como vs Tim Woods ended as a Time Limit Draw
NWA Hollywood Booking Office in Los Angeles, California
Pedro Morales defeated Luke Graham by DQ
Red Orell defeated Billy Tipton in a Judo Match
The Assassins (Renesto\Hamilton) defeated Luis Hernandez & Chief White Eagle
The Kentuckians (Smith\Brown) defeated The Butcher & Art Michalik
Big Time Wrestling Booking Office in San Francisco, California
8-11-1965: The Civic Auditorium in San Jose, California
Pepper Gomez defeated Pat Patterson
Al Costello & Luis Hernandez defeated Mitsu Arakawa & Charley Kalani
Eric Froelich defeated Juan Sebastian
Alex Medina vs Chuck Karbo ended as a time limit draw
50th State Wrestling Booking Office in Honolulu, Hawaii
8-11-1965: Honolulu, Hawaii
Hard Boiled Haggerty vs Kenji Shibuya ended as a time limit draw
Ray Stevens defeated Bearcat Wright
King Curtis Iaukea defeated Blackjack Lanza
The Torres Brothers (Enrique\Alberto) defeated The Spoiler & Ripper Collins
Pepper Martin defeated The Russian Wildman
Big Time Wrestling Booking Office in Detroit, Michigan
8-11-1965: The Civic Auditorium in Grand Rapids, Michigan
The Sheik defeated Kurt Von Stroheim by 2 falls to 1
Gino Brito defeated The Student (Jim Myers) by 2 falls to 1 fall
Zelis Amara defeated Pete Budwick
Tim Hampton defeated Bill Norris
Paul DeGalles vs Tony Nero ended as a time limit draw
8-11-1965: The Sports Arena in Toledo, Ohio
Bobo Brazil & Mr. Kleen defeated The Sheik & The Student by 2 falls to 1 fall
Man, Mountain Cannon defeated Carl McGatas
Vittorio Gonzales defeated Billy the Kid
Fred Curry defeated Tony Nero
Championship Wrestling of Indiana, Inc Booking Office in Indianapolis, Indiana
8-11-1965: Roberts Park in Connersville, Indiana
Dick The Bruiser (ch) bs Johnny Valentine for the WWA World Heavyweight Title
Wilbur Snyder (ch) vs Gene Kiniski for the AWA United States Heavyweight Title
CXora Combs vs Kathy O'Brien
Assassin #1 (unknown) vs Guy Mitchell
One Thing I Learned Today About Pro Wrestling History
At this point in August of 1965, the bitter wrestling war in Hawaii between Ed Francis and Roy Shire was over. Shire's Aloha Promotions folded with their last card on February 25th. 1965. The war lasted less than a year and with Shire pulling out, it left Ed Francis' 50th State Big Time Wrestling as the only promotion to be able to bid on the new Honolulu International Center building which had been built in 1964.
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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