Happy Birthday to those who have passed on and to those great wrestlers still with us:
In Memoriam:
Emil Dusek 1909
Tex Hager 1915
Gordon Solie 1929
Raul Mata 1947
Mike Hegstrand\Road Warrior Hawk 1957
Darrell Gower\Steve Lawler 1965
Happy Birthday:
Taylor Wilde (40)
Mercedes Vernardo\Mercedes Mone’\Sasha Banks (34)
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.
Tony Manousos 1-26-2018 at the age of 85
Significant Debuts:
January 25th. 1937: Joe Padanzak (22) went to a time limit draw with Al Loser at the Auditorium in Minneapolis, Minnesota
40 Year Flashback
1-25-1986: Jerry Lawler defeated Lars Anderson (ch) to win the NWA Pacific Polynesian Heavyweight Championship at the Blaisdell Center in Honolulu, Hawaii
This victory occurred while Lawler was on a working vacation in Hawaii, where the promotion—Polynesian Pro Wrestling, run by Lia Maivia—was based. Although some historical records list the match location as Singapore, this appears to be an inconsistency or error, as the title was primarily defended in Hawaii and Lawler’s involvement is consistently tied to a Hawaiian trip in contemporary accounts and promos
Lawler held the title for 60 days before dropping it to Super Fly Tui Selinga (also known as Tui Selinga) on March 26, 1986, in Honolulu, Hawaii. This was Lars Anderson’s fourth or fifth reign as champion (depending on the source), having won it back on August 3, 1985. The NWA Polynesian Pacific Heavyweight Title was a regional championship recognized in the Hawaii territory under the National Wrestling Alliance, active from the early 1980s until around 1988, and often featured talent from various promotions crossing over.
The Pacific Polynesian Title was established asin 1980, with Siva Afi as the inaugural champion after defeating Don Muraco on June 25, 1980, in Honolulu. Notable champions included Don Muraco (early 1980s), Ripper Collins, Lars Anderson (who held it five times, the most reigns), Bad News Allen and Super Fly Tui Selinga (four reigns in the mid-to-late 1980s).
A Time Capsule Review of the Pro Wrestling Cards In the North American Wrestling Territories On This Day In Pro Wrestling History
As a regular Monday feature of The Pro Wrestling Time Tunnel’s Daily Chronicle, we crack open the Wrestling Time Capsule to do a survey of the cards, matches and performers of the decades of territory pro wrestling. This week we flashback to this Day in Pro Wrestling History, Saturday, January 25th, 1986 and a couple more dates to include the other existing territories during this time period in 1986..
AWA Office in Minneapolis, Minnesota
MECCA Auditorium in Milwaukee, Wisconsin
Buck Zumhoffe beat Doug Somers
Nord The Barbarian & The Mongolian Stomper defeated Curt Hennig & Scott Hall
Nick Bockwinkel defeated Larry Zbyszko by CO
Crusher Jerry Blackwell defeated Boris Zhukov
Stan Hansen (ch) vs Sgt Slaughter for the AWA World Heavyweight Title ended in a No Contest
Championship Wrestling From Florida Office in Tampa, Florida
The Stadium in Nassau, Bahamas
Hector Guerrero vs Maya Singh (Bob Roop)
Cocoa Samoa vs The Cuban Assassin
Jesse Barr vs Lex Luger
Kevin Sullivan & The Purple Haze (Lewin) vs Wahoo McDaniel & Tyree Pride in a Lights Out Match
Jim Crockett Promotions Office in Charlotte, North Carolina
Municipal Auditorium in Columbus, Georgia
Rocky King vs Tony Zane
The Italian Stallion vs Vernon Deaton
Pat Tanaka vs Thunderfoot
Baron Von Raschke vs Manny Fernandez
The Barbarian vs Ronnie Garvin
The Rock & Roll Express (ch) defeated The Midnight Express to retain the NWA World Tag Team Titles
The Coliseum in Greensboro, North Carolina
Nelson Royal defeated Jim Jeffers
Denny Brown defeated Mac Heffers
Black Bart vs Sam Houston ended without a winner
Don Kernodle & Ron Bass defeated Ivan & Nikita Koloff
Jimmy Valiant defeated Tully Blanchard in a Taped Fist Match
Magnum TA (ch) defeated Arn Anderson to retain the NWA US Title
Ric Flair (ch) beat Dusty Rhodes to retain the NWA World Heavyweight Title
Mid-South Wrestling Office in Tulsa, Oklahoma
The Coliseum in Jackson, Mississippi
Joe Malcom vs Tommy Wright
Brett Sawyer vs Rob Rechsteiner (Rick Steiner)
The Sheepherders (Miller\Williams) vs Sean O’Reilly & Steve Doll
Eddie Gilbert, Gustavo Mendoza & Sir Oliver Humperdink vs The Bruise Brothers (Cash\Boyd) in a 3 on 2 Handicap Match
The Masked Superstar vs Ricky Gibson
The Nightmare vs Terry Taylor
Dick Slater (ch) vs Jake Roberts for the MSWA North American Heavyweight Title
Buzz Sawyer & Dick Murdoch vs Ted DiBiase & Steve Williams
Championship Wrestling USA Office in Portland, Oregon
The Sports Arena in Portland, Oregon
Tom Zenk defeated Karl Steiner
Jerry Sampson vs Moondog Moretti ended as a draw
Gary Royal vs Scott Doring ended as a draw
Billy Two Eagles defeated Chris Colt by DQ
Brady Boone defeated Timothy Flowers
Bobby Jaggers vs Nick Kiniski ended as a draw
Rip Oliver defeated Steve Pardee
Stampede Wrestling Office in Calgary, Alberta, Canada
The Northlands Agricom in Edmonton, Alberta
Black Mephisto defeated Rpbbie Stewart
Butch Moffat vs Gerry Morrow ended as a draw
The Cuban Assassin defeated Rick Patterson
Karachi Vice (Singh\DiSalvo) defeated Ben Bassarab & Chris Benoit by DQ
Leo Burke & Ron Ritchie defeated Honkytonk Wayne & Ron Starr
Bad News Allan defeated Angel of Death by DQ
World Wrestling Federation Office in Stamford, Connecticut
Kiel Auditorium in St. Louis, Missouri
Danny Spivery defeated Steve Lombardi
Jim Brunzell defeated Barry O
Junkyard Dog defeated Moondog Spot
Terry Funk beat Ivan Putski
Corporal Kirchner & George The Animal Steele defeated The Iron Sheik & Nikolai Volkoff
Paul Orndorff beat Bob Orton, Jr.
Hulk Hogan (ch) defeated Roddy Piper by CO to retain the WWF World Heavyweight Title
Athletic & Convocation Center in Notre Dame, Indiana
Lanny Poffo defeated Rene Goulet
Hercules defeated SD jones
Pedro Morales defeated Tiger Chung Lee
Big John Studd defeated Tony Atlas
Don Muraco defeated Ricky Steamboat by DQ
Tito Santana (ch) defeated Randy Machi man Savage to retain the WWF intercontinental Title
Thomas Dunn Sports Center in Elizabeth, New Jersey
King Tonga vs Mike Sharpe
Ron Shaw vs Ted Arcidi
George Skaaland vs Jose Luis Rivera
Brutus Beefcake vs Cousin Luke
B. Brian Blair vs Greg Valentine
Hillbilly Jim vs Jesse Ventura
These cards took place on Sunday, January 26th, 1986 in remaining territories not mentioned in the above analysis:
Jarrett Championship Wrestling Office in Nashville, Tennessee
Mid-South Coliseum in Memphis, Tennessee
Pat Rose defeated Tojo Yamamoto
Phil Hickerson & Frank Morrell defeated Buddy Wayne & Jim Hellwig
Billy Travis defeated Tony Falk
Rick Casey & Dirty Rhodes defeated Dutch Mantell & Pat Rose
Bill Dundee (ch) defeated Koko Ware to retain the AWA Southern Heavyweight Title
The Fantastics (Fulton\Rogers) defeated The Sheepherders (Morgan\Boyd) in a Loser Leaves Town Match
Texas All-Star Wrestling Office in San Antonio, Texas
HemisFair Arena in San Antonio, Texas
Texas Cup Tournament
Round #1:
Bruiser Brody beat Buddy Moreno
Wahoo McDaniel defeated Mighty Zulu
The Tonga Kid defeated Austin Idol
Angel Blanco Jr defeated Al Madril by DQ
Chris Adams defeated El Fantasma
Blackjack Mulligan defeated Hercules Ayala
Kareem Muhammad defeated Sika
The Calypso Kid defeated Elijah Akeem
Big Bubba defeated Nike Golden
Round #2:
Paul Diamond defeated Killer Tim Brooks by DQ
Wahoo McDaniel defeated Angel Blanco, Jr.
Chris Adams defeated Paul Diamond
Bruiser Brody defeated Big Bubba
Quarter Finals:
Chris Adams defeated Wahoo McDaniel
Kareem Muhammad defeated The Tonga Kid
Semi-Finals:
Chris Adams defeated Kareem Muhammad
Finals:
Bruiser Brody defeated Chris Adams to win the Texas Cup
These cards took place on Monday, January 27th, 1986 in remaining territories not mentioned in the above analysis:
Continental Wrestling Office in Pensacola, Florida
Boutwell Auditorium in Birmingham, Alabama
Norvell Austin defeated boomer Lynch
Robert Fuller defeated Bill Wilkins
Denny Brown (ch) vs Tim Horner ended as a No Contest for the NWA World Junior Heavyweight Title
The Bullet & Steve Armstrong defeated Robert Fuller & Mr. Olympia
Adrian Street defeated Lady Maxine
Steve Armstrong won a Battle Royal
Tommy & Johnny Rich defeated The Nightmares
World Class Championship Wrestling Office in Dallas, Texas
Tarrant County Convention Center in Fort Worth, Texas (att 8,100)
Jerry Allen defeated Tommy Montana
Chris Adams defeated Gino Hernandez in a Hair vs Hair Match by DQ
Mark youngblood defeated Jack Victory
John Tatum defeated Brian Adias
Bruiser Brody defeated The One Man Gang in a Cage Match
Sunshine defeated Missy Hyatt by countout
Kerry Von Erich, Lance Von Erich & Bruiser Brody defeated The Fabulous Freebirds (Hayes\Gordy\Roberts) by DQ
Heart of America Sports Attractions Office in Kansas City, Kansas
Century II Auditorium in Wichita, Kansas
Dusty Wolfe vs Edcar Thomas
Gary Jackson vs Kevin The Magnificent
The Batten Twins vs Mr. Pogo & Tarzan Goto
Rufus R. Jones vs Sheik Abdullah
Bulldog Bob Brown vs Rocky Johnson
The “On This Date” (OTD) Cards Analysis Feature is a way for our readers to look back through the Pro Wrestling Time Tunnel to see the way cards were constructed, the finishes, the amount of cards that were presented and some idea of how many wrestlers were working in the various territories North America during the time period.
One Thing I Learned About Emil Dusek
After Emil was seriously injured in a car accident ending his wrestling career, he was replaced in the Dusek Riot Squad by Wally Dusek, not actually having any blood relation to the wrestling brothers.
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, premium investors get access to exclusive and special content such as some special issues including a multi-part deep dives on wrestling territories, wrestler bios and championship title histories, special audio and video interviews on territory pro wrestling and more available in the Pro Wrestling Time Tunnel for Premium Investors.