May 13 in the Tunnel:
Happy Birthday to those who have passed on and to those great wrestlers still with us:
In Memoriam:
Sam Menacker 1914
Stan Kowalski 1926
Danny Hodge 1932
Killer Karl Krupp 1934
Happy Birthday:
Raymond Lloyd (61)
Jimmy Wang Yang (44)
Scarlett Bordeaux (34)
Drew Kasper\Brutus Creed (29)
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.
Jules Strongbow 5-13-1975 at the age of 69
Jumbo Tsuruta 5-13-2000 at the age of 49
50-Year Flashback to Mobile, Alabama:
This is our first mention of the Gulf Coast Championship Wrestling office. The office was located in Mobile, Alabama and was owned by Roy Welch's sister's son, Lee Fields (Hatfield), who had been in the area since the early 1960s. Lee was the oldest of Virgil & Bonnie Hatfield (Welch) three sons. The other two were also in the business and their names were Don and Booby. Virgil, their father was nicknamed "Speedy”, and he served as a referee in matches at times.
Since, Mobile was the booking office location for the territory, it was the home base town, and they ran it weekly on Tuesday nights. In a future deep dive issue, we'll dive into the Gulf Coast Territory history more thoroughly.
Two Title Changes on the Gulf Coast
5-13-1975: Dr. X defeated Ken Lucas (CH) to win the NWA Gulf Coast Heavyweight Championship
Dr. X was a masked wrestler who wrestled in both the United States and Japan through the 1960s and 1970s. Under the masked named Jim "Red" Osborn got his start in the Gulas-Welch Territory and the LeRoy McGuirk Oklahoma Territory in the early 60's. He traveled throughout the Western States working as "Red Osborn" and in 1968, he was one of the few wrestlers to ever get a pinfall on the legendary Mil Mascaras for the NWA Hollywood Territory in Los Angeles. One of the coolest angles Osborn was ever involved in was in 1970 during his run in the AWA as the tag team partner of Dick Beyer, who was wrestling as Dr. X in the AWA. Beyer, who is legendary as The Destroyer had agreed to come into the AWA for Verne Gagne who told Beyer in advance at the end of their feud, Beyer would need to unmask. Forced into a situation where "The Destroyer" mask being removed and hurting his future earning potential, Beyer suggested a new masked character called "Dr. X" that could be revealed at the end of the program to be Beyer. During the program, Beyer introduced another wrestler as his tag team partner to increase the heat on the program with the two masked wrestlers using their similar appearances to switch places during matches. Beyer was Dr. X and Osborn was "Double X".
After a tour of Japan in 1972 and the AWA unmasking angle ran its course, Beyer left the US to work for Giant Baba's new company, All Japan Pro Wrestling and Osborn left the Minnesota Territory to go to work for McGuirk in Oklahoma and Osborn adopted the "Dr. X" persona there. During a television taping, Osborn was introduced to the territory the same way Beyer was debuted in the AWA. HE was shown as a masked man sitting in a chair with fans at ringside with occasional camera shot and announcers noting, "Who is that masked man" in the audience? Over time, week after week, Dr. X would interfere subtly and secretly behind the referee's purview to help the other heels win matches. Osborn worked very hard to make the Dr. X persona his own, adding in his own touches beyond the Beyer version of the character. In my estimation, unless I'm forgetting someone major, Dr X became the most successful masked wrestler ever in the McGuirk Tri-State Territory. In December of that year, Dr X defeated Ramon Torres to win the area's NWA World Junior Heavyweight Championship, setting up a program with local hero and legend, Danny Hodge.
Following a short three month run in the Fall of 1974, Osborn was off for a bit before starting up here in May of 1975 in Gulf Coast. In classic old Southern-wrestling booking, the heel comes in and immediately beats the local, longstanding hero to win the title, sparking a feud giving the babyface a chance for retribution and revenge by ultimately defeating the heel, but not before lots of twists and turns and ticket sales.
The local, longtime fan favorite in this case was Ken Lucas. Lucas might be best known by some modern fans as the guy who took Ricky Morton under his wing in Tennessee in 1980, forming a tag team in Southwest Championship Wrestling and mentoring Morton to eventually become the often-beaten-up tag team member of the Rock and Roll Express. Lucas was a born babyface, mainly due to his amazing selling ability. Lucas was trained and debuted in the Tucson, Arizona office and as briefly noted in my upcoming book on Dory Funk, Sr, he spent two years honing his craft and learning from booker Doc Sarpolis and other veterans in the Amarillo Territory from 1963 through 1965. He mostly learned his "selling craft" here, as that was a hallmark of Funk, Sr, who was beaten and battered week after week before ultimately rising from the ashes and making a hero's comeback. No doubt, Lucas stood in the back of the buildings around West Texas watching this take place night after night.
As many wrestlers did in those days, Lucas left West Texas for Oklahoma to work for McGuirk. Lucas built his skill set and made good progress working for McGuirk, Eddie Graham's Florida office, the Gulas-Welch office in Nashville and Lee Fields' office here in Mobile. Lucas had held the Gulf Coast Title since March 4th having beaten veteran heel, Duke Myers after a couple weeks' program for the Championship. On this same night in Mobile, the fans got to witness something very rare as the area's tag team titles changed hands also. Rip Tyler & Big Bad John defeated The Mighty Yankees (CH) to win the NWA Gulf Coast Tag Team Championship in the semi-main event. I'm not one hundred percent certain, but it's likely that Rip Tyler was the booker during this period of time. It was most likely him or Cowboy Bob Kelly, who also was a long-time trusted associate of Fields in his office. Unfortunately, while the original two Mighty Yankees tag teams were southern tag team legends, first, Roger Mackay and Bobby Knox, then Eddie Sullivan and Frank Morrell, this is not either of them or we do not know the exact identities of the masked tag team in Gulf Coast during this time. More than likely different guys rotated around, based on who was available to work in scheduled matches, but likely suspects are Curtis Smith, who portrayed several masked wrestlers during this time and Mike McManus.
One Thing I Learned Today About Pro Wrestling History:
Danny Hodge was 22-0 as an amateur boxer and won the National Golden Gloves Heavyweight Title in 1959.
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!
Remember, paid subscribers get access to exclusive and special content such as to commemorate his induction to the WWE Hall of Fame, I'll be publishing some special issues including a multi-part flashback on the Georgia Championship Wrestling Territory in May 1975 including all the recorded cards for the month, some special audio and video interviews on territory pro wrestling and more.