May 19 in the Tunnel:
Happy Birthday to those who have passed on and to those great wrestlers still with us:
In Memoriam:
Andre The Giant 1946
Gene Petit\Cousin Luke 1949
Dick Slater 1951
Jeanne Marie Basone\Hollywood 1963
Happy Birthday:
Dionicio Torres\Psicosis (54)
Malakai Aleister Black (40)
Kip Sabian (33)
Sydney Zmrzel\Maxxine Dupri (28)
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.
(none today)
**Note to readers: I was in St Louis this past weekend for the St Louis Hall of Fame event, and I am hitting the road again this week for a business trip to see clients for my company, so my writing time will be limited to whatever time I get in the hotel room. That means I will be sharing some things in the daily newsletter, but my commentary and writing will be brief.
Territories Towns and Buildings Podcast
This Wednesday, I will drop a new episode of the Pro Wrestling Time Tunnel: Territories, Towns and Buildings podcast and my special guest will be Bobby Simmons, longtime Georgia referee and promotions office employee. We will be discussing the end of the Georgia Wrestling War in 1974 and his coming back over to the NWA office in 1975, Harley Race's departure as booker, Tom Renesto coming in and booking and much, much more. That drops this Wednesday into your email inbox and online!
Time Tunnel 60-Year Television Flashback to May 1965
5-6-1965: Cowboy Bill Watts defeated Tomas Marin at the Capitol Arena in Washington, DC.
*Tony Note: We are flashing back over a 20-year period in the Professional Wrestling business in our daily "This Day in History" newsletters from 1965 through 1985 and besides selective matches, we are also stopping the time tunnel on interesting events and trends in the business such as the effect of television.
In a couple of our previous issues, we mentioned that in April of 1975 (10 years from this event), Bill Watts, who had success in various offices and territories around the country such as San Francisco, Georgia, Florida and his home state of Oklahoma, is coming back home to Oklahoma for his second run with longtime owner LeRoy McGuirk. This time, Watts is coming back as a full partnership owner with McGuirk and immediately starts making changes to improve the territory. In the future, eventually Watts and McGuirk will split, with Watts forming his own company, Mid-South Wrestling based primarily in Louisiana and Mississippi.
In today's flashback, Watts is still in the early stages of his career. After his friend and fellow pro football player, Wahoo McDaniel mentioned to Watts how much money he was making in professional wrestling, Watts decided to get involved in the sport in 1962. Wrestling in Oklahoma for McGuirk, he gained the attention of Vince McMahon, Sr and his partners at Capitol Wrestling, based in Washington, DC, who offered Watts a chance to come to the WWWF. McMahon and company were looking for big, tough guys to be heel challengers to their new champion, Bruno Sammartino. Watts came in initially as the number two babyface right under Sammartino, feuding with mean, tough heel Gorilla Monsoon. In those days, one WWWF formula was to build up a guy over and over right under Bruno, then turn him and match them up.
Originally, Buddy Rogers made a pitch to be Watts' manager to try to get back in the picture with the WWWF, but McMahon shot that idea down and kept Watts as a single. This match today was taped in Washington, DC on May 6 (the day after Watts' 26th birthday) and aired on Sunday, May 9, 1965. Recency bias is not kind to professional wrestlers. Recency bias influences you to remember long-term the most recent data you receive short-term. So, the video tape era matches that are available on many of wrestling's biggest stars are from the very tail end of their careers, giving modern fans a misconception of how over they were or what great workers they were. Many fans are familiar with Watts' work with Jim Cornette and the Midnight Express in 1984 or the Russian coalition in UWF in 1986, where Watts is much older and of course, slower.
Having a chance to see Watts in his mid-twenties, when his star is just beginning to rise, gives you a new perspective on how this guy became such a huge star from the mid-1960s through the mid-1970s as he slowly began the transition to behind the scenes and an announcer's desk.
One Thing I Learned Today About Pro Wrestling History:
Tomas Marin passed away on November 23rd, 2018, after his battle with colorectal cancer.
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 my deep dive issue on the careers of the three wrestlers and their induction to the 2025 WWE Hall of Fame Legacy Wing. I'll be publishing 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 Vault of the Pro Wrestling Time Tunnel for Paid Subscribers.