September 4th in the Time Tunnel:
Happy Birthday to those who have passed on and to those great wrestlers still with us:
In Memoriam:
Billy Sandow 1884
Jerry Kozak 1934
Pat Barrett 1941
Jerry Jarrett 1942
Happy Birthday:
Kia Stevens\Awesome Kong (48)
Austin Watson\Xavier Woods (39)
Cory Weston\Westin Blake (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.
Maurice Tillet\The French Angel 9-4-1954 at the age of 50
Jess Westergaard 9-4-1956 at the age of 74
80-Year Flashback
9-4-1945: Herb Welch (ch) defeated Don Cortez (ch) to win the Mexican Junior Heavyweight Championship in a title vs title Match with the World Junior Heavyweight Championship also on the line at the Hippodrome in Nashville, Tennessee.
At the beginning of the southern dominance of the Welch wrestling empire, which would have its epicenter in Nashville, this card marked the five year and one month timeframe of Roy Welch and Nick Gulas presenting cards in Nashville, which began in August of 1940. Roy and Herb Welch were a magnificent tag team who were drawing money all over the South and Herb Welch was being set up to be one of the most dominant singles champions in Southern wrestling for the next 20 years. This flashback match was set up the previous week on the August 28th Hippodrome show, where in the main event Herb and Roy were defeated in the 3rd and final fall when Don Cortez pinned Herb to the mat with Nick Elitch, another popular grappler as his partner.
After the match, Herb challenged and needled Cortez, who was the Mexican Junior Champion to put his title on the line on the next week’s card against Herb’s World Junior title. Newspaper accounts report an “overflow” crowd at The Hippodrome for the cards during this time period. According to the reports, Welch won the won the first fall with his “crab hold” and then Cortez started a near riot tangling with fans on his way to the dressing room for the rest period between falls. Cortez squared the match with a reverse crab in the second fall. Herb Welch pinned Cortez in the third fall after the Mexican star “blew up” with Welch throwing a series of monkey-flips and slams.
This was another way of putting over Herb Welch and his World Junior Heavyweight Title and even though newspapers would tout Welch as a double-champion, the Mexican belt was only defended twice in the history of Nashville professional wrestling.
45 Year Flashback
9-4-1980: Shohei "Giant" Baba defeated Harley Race to win the NWA World Heavyweight Championship for the 3rd time in Saga, Japan
Ginat Baba was a towering figure in Japanese professional wrestling by the time 1980 rolled around, both figuratively and literally. He stood 6 feet and 10 inches tall and weighed around 300 pounds. He was a national hero in Japan having been trained by the legendary Rikidozan and establishing All Japan Pro Wrestling in 1972 after leaving the Japan Pro Wrestling Alliance. Harley Race, besides being the NWA World Champion, was known as "Mr. Pro Wrestling" in Japan and was a frequent visitor on All Japan Pro Wrestling tours, where he was treated like royalty with great pay, flights, hotels and even, personal assistants.
The NWA World Heavyweight Championship was the. most prestigious title in the territory era, defended across all the territories worldwide by that point. Having been an NWA member since 1973, Baba had exclusive rights to book the NWA Champion in Japan, giving him an advantage over Antonio Inoki's New Japan Pro Wrestling.
Baba had previously won the NWA World Title twice for short reigns before, once from Jack Brisco on December 2nd, 1974, for 7 days and second, from Race on October 31, 1979, also for 7 days. Harley Race had been champion since November 7th, 1979, a total of 302 days by the date of this Baba match.
The match took place as part of All Japan's Summer Action Series II tour, a multi-week event featuring a mix of Japanese stars, international talent and high-profile title defenses. The show was held at the Saga Sports Center in Saga, Japan, drawing a sellout crowd of 4,500 fans. The undercard built excitement with American wrestlers such as Austin Idol and Ray Candy, Mexican stars like Mil Mascaras and Dos Caras, which was typical of All Japan's international style and flavor.
The match was a one fall contest with the 42-year-old Baba challenging the 37-year-old Race. Race was 6 feet and 1 inch tall and 245 pounds and wrestled a tough, rugged brawling style with headbutts, suplexes and knee drops. Baba usually relied on chops, kicks and strikes to battle opponents.
The match lasted 14 minutes and 5 seconds, with Baba dominating through his height and leverage. The finish was set up through Baba delivering a powerful clothesline that knocked Race off his feet, followed by a pin to secure the win. This victory made Baba the 21st NWA World Champion and his 3rd reign with the title. The NWA Title had begun its transition in its booking to allow short title reigns for huge babyfaces who needed wins to secure their credibility to draw fans and sell tickets. Massive babyfaces like Baba, Dusty Rhodes and Tommy Rich were given short title runs to keep fans believing in their credibility, so that future challenges to the Champions would continue to sell tickets persuading fans they could possibly see a title change and the hero to prevail.
Video: Harley Race (ch) vs Giant Baba for the NWA World Heavyweight Title, September 4th, 1980, Saga, Japan
One Thing I Learned Today About Pro Wrestling History
The 2006 Top 100 Historical Persons in Japan survey ranked Giant Baba the 93rd greatest person in the history of Japan, as voted for by the general public. He won the Champion Carnival 7 times, the PWF World Heavyweight Title 3 times, the NWA International Title 3 times and the NWA World Heavyweight Title 3 times.
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!