September 8th in the Time Tunnel:
Happy Birthday to those who have passed on and to those great wrestlers still with us:
In Memoriam:
Charlie Carr 1909
Mike Doggendorf 1950
Happy Birthday:
Tio Tuufuli\The Great Tio (87)
Akahisa Mera\The Great Kabuki (77)
Timothy Well\Rex King (56)
Scott Levy\Raven (61)
Bradley Cain\Lodi (55)
Tonea Brooks\Rebel (47)
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.
Duncan Ross 9-8-1919 at the age of 65
Brian Hildebrand\Mark Curtis 9-8-1999 at the age of 37
Sean O'Haire 9-8-2014 at the age of 43
Brett Woyan\Brett Sawyer 9-9-2023 at the age of 63
70 Year Flashback
A Time Capsule Review of the Pro Wrestling Cards in the Territories on This Day in Pro Wrestling History
As a regular Monday feature of The Pro Wrestling Time Tunnel's Daily Chronicle, we do a survey of the cards, matches and performers of the decades of territory pro wrestling.
There are some outstanding performers in this week's slice of wrestling history. The NWA World Champions are out in the western portion of the United States this week. Ed Francis, NWA World Junior Champion is in Amarillo, Texas battling a star performer of the times, Dizzy Davis in a hard-fought match, while Lou Thesz, the NWA World Champion is in Tucson, Arizona. Just as a side not, we are going to have some cool Arizona wrestling history coming for you soon. The Arizona territory is not talked about much in the territory era, but we have some good stuff coming for our pro wrestling historical enthusiasts.
Ohio was a real hotbed for pro wrestling during this time with Pat O'Connor and Big Bill Miller going at it in Columbus and Verne Gagne taking on Dick the Bruiser in Toledo. Fritz Von Erich is currently making the rounds in Maple Leaf Gardens in Toronto. Browse through the cards and matches, lots of history in this time capsule review.
Thursday, September 8th, 1955
United States of America
Championship Wrestling from Florida, Tampa, Florida
Main & Beaver Streets Arena in Jacksonville, Florida
Billy Raborn vs Dave Jons ended after 25 minutes as a no contest
Dave Jons defeated Eddie Gossett (Graham) by DQ by 2 falls to 1
Art Nelson defeated Pedro Godoy by 2 falls to 1
Louisiana Wrestling Enterprises, Lafayette, Louisiana
Coliseum Arena in New Orleans, Louisiana
Bates Ford defeated Ted McGinnis
Tony Cash defeated Leon Cabalier
Chief Apache defeated Walter Sirois
Georgia Championship Wrestling, Atlanta, Georgia
The Arena in Columbus, Georgia
Professor Roy Shire vs Tom Drake
Farmer Jones vs Whitey Whittier
Tokyo Joe vs Wild Red Berry
Wild Red Berry, Tom Drake & Farmer Jones vs Professor Roy Shire, Whitey Whittier & Tokyo Joe
Jim Crockett Promotions, Charlotte, North Carolina
County Hall in Charleston, South Carolina
Dick Steinborn defeated Don Martin
Frenchy Roy vs Harry Smith ended as a 30-minute time limit draw
Millie Stafford defeated Ethel Brown in 2 falls out of 3
Mr. XX defeated Chris Belkas
Shepard Field Stadium in Colonel Heights, Virginia
Jack O'Reilly vs Jack Witzig
Gloria Barattini vs Mae Young 2 out of 3 falls
George Becker vs Walter Kameroff 2 out of 3 falls
Al Haft Sports, Columbus, Ohio
Columbus, Ohio
Chief Big Heart vs The Great Malenko ended as a time limit draw
Bobo Brazil & Frankie Talaber defeated Dick Hutton & Dr. Jerry Graham
Big Bill Miller vs Pat O'Connor ended as a time limit draw
Cloverleaf Sports Arena in Valley View, Ohio
Dot Dotson & Olga Zapata defeated Belle Starr & Lana Lamarr, Patty Neff & Vicki Lynn in a 3-Team Battle Royal
Lana Lamar defeated Belle Starr
Vicki Lynn defeated Patty Neff
Olga Zapata defeated Dot Dotson
Terminal Athletic Club Office, Toledo, Ohio
Sports Arena in Toledo, Ohio
Billy Red Lyons defeated Jim LaRock
Ray Stevens & Don Kalt (Fargo) defeated Bill Savage & Bull Montana by 2 falls to 1 fall
Verne Gagne defeated Dick Afflis, The Bruiser by 2 falls to 1 fall
Fred Kohler Enterprises, Chicago, Illinois
South Side Armory in Milwaukee, Wisconsin
Mario DeSousa defeated Carl Engstrom
Jack Allen & Jerry Woods defeated Mitsu Arakawa & Zack Malkov
Reggie Lisowski (Crusher) defeated Rudy Kay
Gulf Athletic Club Office, Houston, Texas
Town Hall Arena in Corpus Christi, Texas
Leo Garibaldi defeated Bozo Brown by DQ
Al Lovelock defeated Dick Raines
Pepper Gomez vs Stu Gibson ended as a 20 min time limit draw
Duke Keomuka defeated Wilbur Snyder by DQ by 2 falls to 1 fall
City Auditorium in Galveston, Texas
Jim Dobie defeated Johnny James
Roy Hefferman defeated Lou Newman
Ray Gunkel defeated George Bollas by DQ
George Bollas & Lou Newman defeated Ray Gunkel & Roy Hefferman
The Mongol (ch) defeated Rito Romero by 2 falls to fall to retain the NWA Texas Junior Heavyweight Title
Western States Sports, Amarillo, Texas
Sports Arena in Amarillo, Texas
Jack Bence defeated Jim Austeri
Bob Geigel defeated Roger MacKay
Mike Gallagher defeated George Overhuls
Ed Francis (ch) defeated Dizzy Davis by 2 falls to 1 to retain the NWA World Junior Heavyweight Title
Vets Baseball Field in Alamogordo, New Mexico
Bonnie Bartlett vs Laura Martin in a Mud Wrestling Match
Champ Thomas vs Millard Campbell in a Mud Wrestling Match
Champ Thomas & Bonnie Bartlett vs Sandy Martin & Pricilla Gallegos in a Mud Wrestling Match
National Guard Armory in Las Cruces, New Mexico
Francis D'Artagnan vs Tony Barbetto
Frank Jares vs Frank Salas in a 2 out of 3 falls match
Chief Kit Fox vs Keon Kirilenko in a 2 out of 3 falls match
Wrestling Promotions, Inc Office, Tucson, Arizona
Sports Center in Tucson, Arizona
Black Panther (Jim Mitchell) vs Karl Gray ended as a time limit draw
Dr. Lee Grable vs Ricky Waldo ended as a time limit draw
Danno McDonald defeated Tommy Martindale
Lou Thesz (ch) vs Lu Kim ended as a time limit draw for the NWA World Heavyweight Title
NWA Hollywood Office, Los Angeles, California
Municipal Auditorium in Long Beach, California
Hard Boiled Haggerty defeated Skippy Johnson
Bob McCane defeated George Dusette
Ray Stern vs Sandor Szabo ended as a no contest after 20 minutes
Rocky Valentine (Johnny) defeated Vincent Lopez by 2 falls to 1
San Francisco Booking Office, San Francisco, California
Memorial Civic Auditorium in Stockton, California
Tom Rice & Lee Hennig defeated Johnny Barend & Clyde Steeves by 2 falls to 1 fall
Enrique Torres vs Mike Sharpe ended as a 45 min time limit draw with 1 fall each
Cyclone Anaya defeated Ben Sharpe by DFQ by 2 falls to o
Tri-State Sports,
Interstate Fairgrounds in Spokane, Washington
Don Moore defeated Dale Haddock
Henry Lenz defeated Jack Clayborne by 2 falls to 1 fall
Cal Roberts defeated Gory Guerrero by 2 falls to 1 fall
Bill Fletcher defeated Kurt Von Poppenheim by 2 falls to 1 fall
Eastern Sports Enterprises, Inc, New York City, New York
DuMont Telecenter Studio Five in New York City, New York
Al Kashey defeated Harry Lewis
Manuel Cortez defeated Man Mountain Dean, Jr
George Babich vs John Melas ended as a time limit draw
Hans Hermann defeated Soldier Barry
Argentina Rocca defeated Joe Christie
Canada
Maple Leaf Wrestling Office, Toronto, Canada
Maple Leaf Gardens in Toronto, Canada
Ivan & Karol Kalmikoff defeated Pat Flanagan & Mickey Gold
Doug Hepburn & Whipper Billy Watson vs Karl Von Schober & Fritz Von Erich ended in a time limit draw
Northland Wrestling Enterprises Office
Memorial Gardens Arena in North Bay, Ontario, Canada
The Golden Terror defeated Buddy Freeman
Sonny Boy Cassidy & Little Eagle defeated Vincent Garibaldi & Farmer Pete by 2 falls to 1 fall
Tony Morelli defeated Dinty (Bill) Parks by CO by 2 falls to 1 fall
Stampede Wrestling Office, Calgary, Alberta, Canada
Exhibition Auditorium in Regina, Saskatchewan, Canada
Prince Maivia & Suni War Cloud defeated Jack Dillon & Jack Hader by DQ
John Foti vs Lou Plummer
Shag Thomas vs Vern Taft
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!