August 18th in the Time Tunnel:
Happy Birthday to those who have passed on and to those great wrestlers still with us:
In Memoriam:
Chick Garibaldi 1915
Gypsy Joe Dorsetti 1915
Lee Fields 1930
Betty Joe Hawkins 1930
Happy Birthday:
Dr. Tom Prichard (66)
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.
Terrence Joyal\Terry Garvin 8-18-1998 at the age of 61
70 Year Flashback
Dumont Telecaster Studio 5, New York City, New York
8-18-1955: Lou Thesz (ch) vs Pat O'Connor ends in a 60-minute time limit draw
Through much of the end of 1954 and up to this point in 1955, Sam Muchnick had been fielding calls from NWA members who were both tiring of Thesz as champion and were also complaining about his dissatisfaction of working the smaller markets. Muchnick had tried once already in 1955 to satisfy at least the offices in the West with a split championship with Leo Nomellini. It went okay for a while but really didn't work. That story is being released to Premium Subscribers this coming weekend in my Evolution of Pro Wrestling series.
In 1955, the National Wrestling Alliance was totally intact. There was not yet the forthcoming AWA or WWWF. There was only the powerful NWA covering the entirety of the United States, including New York City.
Now it was time to start building a new crop of performers who could potentially carry the world championship. One of those was Pat O'Connor and to establish him even more as being able to fulfill the requirements of the belt was to go sixty minutes with the phenomenal Thesz, and what better way to showcase his abilities than to do it on television in the biggest market on the continent. The local booking offices had confidence in Thesz vs O’Connor as a match that would draw, so they booked it as the main event for Madison Square Garden coming in October. Going the distance with Thesz on television should also convince the fans in NYC they could possibly see a title change with the veteran and the young contender from New Zealand.
O'Connor was only in his 5th year as a pro in 1955, but he had already proven his talents on the mat in St. Louis and other cities like Chicago, Denver, Toronto, Montreal and other markets run by powerful NWA members. In St. Louis, He had been put into some tag matches with wily veterans like Bobby Managoff and Wild Bill Longson. In other cities he had been put over one of the biggest heels of the early 1950's, Hans Schmidt.
Much like would happen years later in 1988, when NWA World Champion, Ric Flair would do likewise with a young Sting on WTBS, on this night, on the DuMont Network, millions of wrestling fans, many NWA booker members and town promoters would see Pat O'Connor go the distance with the great NWA world champion. O'Connor would eventually get the NWA World Title in 1959, tonight was the beginning of the story for his championship run.
One Thing I Learned Today About Pro Wrestling History
At the time of the DuMont time limit draw match with Lou Thesz, Pat O'Connor was one half of the NWA World Tag Team Champions with Roy McClarity. They held the Fred Kohler Chicago version of the titles from March 1955 through February 1956.
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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