August 22nd in the Time Tunnel:
Happy Birthday to those who have passed on and to those great wrestlers still with us:
In Memoriam:
Sam Muchnick 1905
Pat O'Connor 1924
Dean Peters\Brady Boone 1958
Happy Birthday:
Paul Ellering (72)
Stevie Ray (67)
Jimmy Uso (40)
Jey Uso (40)
Apollo Crews (38)
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.
Bert Deuer\Original Leo Burke 8-22-1980 at the age of 69
Professor Toru Tanaka 8-22-2000 at the age of 70
Duke Meyers 8-22-2015 at the age of ?
Chris Champion 8-22-2018 at the age of 57
Norman Frederick Charles III 8-22-2019 at the age of 78
Abe Jacobs 8-22-2023 at the age of 95
61-Year Flashback
8-22-1964: Bruno Sammartino vs Waldo Von Erich wrestled to an 81-minute draw at Madison Square Garden in New York City, New York drawing 16,958 in attendance. The match was stopped due to the city's curfew. It is the longest singles match in WWE History.
Pictured: Bruno Sammartino holding the head of Waldo Von Erich in Madison Square Garden in New York City, New York in 1964.
The match built and built the excitement as the crowd in the Garden started noticing the length of the match and that it was still going. As the time kept ticking by, it became evident that this was not going to be a Bruno match that was going to end decisively the way they had started becoming used to seeing.
As the match approached the time limit curfew set by the arena, the referee began to get nervous, knowing a difficult decision was going to be made by him or by officials at ringside. As neither wrestling was gaining a significant advantage or moving toward a decisive ending, the referee called for a curfew draw, as the time limit of the arena had been reached and the official ended the match.
In 2018, a gauntlet match on Raw went one hour and 47 minutes breaking the time record of Sammartino and Von Erich. Even though this match is no longer the longest match in WWE history, it is still the longest singles match in WWE history.
One Thing I Learned Today About Pro Wrestling History
The tag team of Toru Tanaka and Mr. Fuji won three WWWF World Tag Team Championships from 1972 to 1978. The manager for the first two reigns was The Grand Wizard and the manager for the last reign was Freddie Blassie.
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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