October 18th in the Time Tunnel:
Happy Birthday to those who have passed on and to those great wrestlers still with us:
In Memoriam:
(none)
Happy Birthday:
James “Baron Von” Raschke (85)
Cien Caras (76)
John Nord (66)
Carlos Cabrera (66)
Simon Gotch (43)
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.
Dirty Dick Raines 10-18-1979 at the age of 68
Doc Gallagher 10-18-1994 at the age of 78
Dick Slater 10-18-2018 at the age of 67
40 Year Flashback
10-17-1985: Sherri Martel defeated Candi Divine (ch) to win the AWA World Women’s Title at the Arena in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada
The AWA World Women’s Championship was introduced in 1961 (initially as the NWA United States Women’s Championship before becoming the AWA’s own title) and saw sporadic activity until the promotion’s decline in the late 1980s. By the mid-1980s, the title was primarily contested by a small group of female wrestlers, including Candi Devine and Sherri Martel, who developed a notable rivalry.
The two women had a heated rivalry in the AWA, trading the title multiple times between 1985 and 1986. Their matches were typically hard-hitting, with brawling, hair-pulling, and high-impact moves, reflecting the era’s style of women’s wrestling that emphasized toughness over glamour.
Candi Devine (real name Candace Maria Rummel, born January 1, 1959 - February 9th, 2022) began her wrestling career in 1980 after training under promoters like Bill Ash and Prince Pullins. She gained prominence in independent promotions and joined the AWA, where she became a multi-time champion. Devine was known for her athleticism and feuds with top women like Sherri Martel and later Madusa Miceli. She held the AWA Women’s title four times in total, with her reigns often short due to hot shot booking (quick title changes to build drama).
Sherri Martel (born Sherri Schrull, February 8, 1958 – June 15, 2007), also known as “Sensational” Sherri, started wrestling in 1980 after training with The Fabulous Moolah and Butch Moore. She worked in Japan and various U.S. territories before joining the AWA in 1985. Martel was celebrated for her in-ring skills, charisma, and heel (villain) persona, which later made her a star in the WWF (now WWE) as a manager and wrestler. Her feud with Devine was a key part of her early AWA run, marked by intense matches and frequent title swaps that highlighted the division.
The AWA Women’s Championship had been unstable in 1985. Candi Devine held the title for her first reign starting in November 1984 (won via battle royal in Minneapolis, MN), lasting around 302–331 days. On September 28, 1985, at AWA Super Clash in Chicago, IL, Sherri Martel defeated Devine to win the title for the first time in a high-profile match. However, the championship was vacated just five days later on October 3, 1985, for undocumented reasons. On October 14, 1985, at a house show in Memphis, TN, Devine was awarded the vacant title without a match, beginning her second reign. This short-lived award set the stage for a quick rematch, as Martel challenged Devine to regain the belt.
The title change occurred on October 17, 1985, at an AWA house show held at the Winnipeg Arena in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada during a non-televised event, typical for AWA house shows, which were live events aimed at local audiences rather than broadcast. Winnipeg was a regular stop for the AWA, with a history of hosting title matches (e.g., earlier women’s title changes in the 1970s also occurred there). The event’s partial card included other matches like Mad Dog Vachon & Nick Bockwinkel defeating Chris Markoff & Boris Zhukov, Jimmy Garvin defeating Stan Lane, and Scott Hall defeating Steve Regal, drawing a crowd of 3,528 attendance with the women’s title match being the match on top of the card match order.
Martel held the title for 91 days before losing it back to Devine on January 16, 1986, again in Winnipeg. The two traded the belt once more, with Martel winning her third and final AWA reign on June 28, 1986, at Battle by the Bay in Oakland, CA. Martel vacated the title in July 1987 upon leaving for the WWF, where she achieved greater fame. Devine went on to a fourth reign in 1989 before the AWA folded in 1991.
One Thing I Learned Today About Pro Wrestling History
Dick Raines started wrestling in the late 1930s winning his first major title in Hawaii, capturing the Hawaiian Title in 1939.
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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