May 21 in the Tunnel:
Happy Birthday to those who have passed on and to those great wrestlers still with us:
In Memoriam:
Warren Bockwinkel 1911
Ivan Kalmikoff 1918
Chris Benoit 1967
Happy Birthday:
Mr T (73)
Sean Mooney (66)
Bruce Buffer (66)
Josef Samael (51)
Kota Ibushi (43)
Leva Bates (42)
Elton Prince (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.
Tex Riley 5-21-1964 at the age of 48
Select Time Tunnel Pro Wrestling Match Flashbacks
5-21-1952: NWA World Heavyweight Champion Lou Thesz defeated the California World Heavyweight Champion, Baron Michele Leone by 2 falls to 1 fall to unify the two world titles at Gilmore Field in Los Angeles, California.
*Tony Note: Featuring a fabulous undercard with both the NWA World Tag Team Champions, Mike and Ben Sharpe and the NWA World Junior Heavyweight Champion, Danny McShane, defending their titles on this card, promoted by Cal Eaton, it drew the largest professional wrestling gate of the decade of the 1950s. They drew an attendance of 25, 256 people paying a gate of $103,277, which is believed to be the first 100k gate in pro wrestling history.
50-Year Championship Change Flashback:
5-21-1975: Bob Armstrong defeated The Assassin (CH) to win the NWA Columbus Heavyweight Championship at the Municipal Auditorium in Columbus, Georgia
*Tony Note: In the mid-1970s in a several towns, they had a specific town heavyweight champion as a holdover from several decades ago. In Georgia in 1975, they still had one in Columbus and in Macon. Macon still also had city tag team champions. The NWA Columbus Heavyweight Title would last until 1979, Angelo Mosca being the final champion in Columbus. This will be Armstrong's 5th run with the Championship.
One Thing I Learned Today About Pro Wrestling History:
Verne Gagne's farm in Chanhassen, Minnesota off of Lake Riley contained the barn Gagne used to train future pro wrestlers like Ric Flair, Ricky Steamboat and Sergeant Slaughter. The farm was next door to the rock star Prince's family home, who were big pro wrestling fans.
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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