April 22nd in the Tunnel:
Happy Birthday to those who have passed on and to those great wrestlers still with us:
In Memoriam:
Terry Gordy 1961
Happy Birthday:
Tony Atlas (71)
John Cena (48)
Moose (41)
Jesse Godderz (39)
Dominik Dijakovic (38)
Dr. Britt Baker (34)
Jamie Hayter (30)
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.
Frank Williams 4-23--1991 at the age of 51
Time Tunnel Pro Wrestling Match Flashbacks:
60-Year Flashback 4-23-1965: Danny Hodge defeated Angelo Savoldi at the Stockyards Coliseum in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma
*Tony Note: There was an amazing 3-way feud that took place over the NWA World Junior Heavyweight Title from the late 1950's through the early 1960's between Dory Funk Sr of Amarillo, Texas and Hodge and Savoldi, both based in Oklahoma City. Each man had a run with the title during this time period. In fact, one match between Savoldi and Hodge was so intense with heat that a fan jumped in the ring and and cut Savoldi with a knife, that angry fan later turned out to be Hodge's own father. They were a consistent ticket-selling draw, especially here at the Stockyards in the heart of LeRoy McGuirk's Territory. McGuirk, in fact, was given control over the World Junior Title but the NWA and he booked the champion. Hodge held the NWA World Junior Heavyweight Title for an amazing 1,450 days from 1960 to 1964, before losing it to a new entrant into the feud between the previously mentioned three men, Hiro Matsuda from Japan, who was the current titleholder, so this match, I'm sure was part of a program to see who would get to be Matsuda's next challenger for the belt.
60-Year Flashback 4-23-1965: Luther Lindsey defeated King Curtis Iuakea (CH) by DQ for the NWA Hawaiian Heavyweight Championship in Honolulu, Hawaii
*Tony Note: Luther Lindsey, for younger readers, was one of the biggest African-American stars in Professional Wrestling in the 1960s. King Curtis was a much younger version of himself, wrestling here in his home state of Haawaii. This was aa short match, as most of Curtis' matches were, but like Dusty Rhodes, Curtis drew money and sold tickets due to his interviews. He "talked them into the building. Actually, Rhodes' said, he took much of his interview style from Curtis. Even though this match was just over 3 minutes, it was all action and a bloody affair most likely.
50-Year Championship Change Flashback 4-23-1975: Harley Race & Roger Kirby defeated Johnny Weaver & Dick Slater (CH) to win the NWA Florida Tag Team Championship at the Auditorium in Miami, Florida
*Tony Note: As many bookers who also were working the territory would do, Race put one of the championships on himself, because he knew how to get himself over, and Kirby was an amazing, quality worker throughout the Southern territories. Johnny Weaver was only working the florida territory for a short, working vacation as he would soon be leaving to go back to the Carolinas, where he had lived and homesteaded since the mid-1960s. Slater, who was from Florida, and had broken into the business with Kevin Sullivan, Mike Graham and Austin Idol, would work Florida, Georgia and the Carolinas for all of the 70s and most of the 80s until leaving for Mid-South in 1985.
49-Year Historical Flashback 4-23-1976: Bob Backlund won the Missouri State Championship by beating Harley Race at the Kiel Auditorium in St Louis, Missouri
*Tony Note: It was always believed due to Sam Muchnick being the President of the National Wrestling Alliance and a member of the Championship Committee as well as the promoter in St Louis, that the person who held the NWA Missouri Title was just one step away from the World's Title.. Of course, that was the NWA World's Title. Backlund would be in line for a World's Championship, but it wasn't the "Ten Pounds of Gold", it was the WWF World Title in just a couple of years. This was due to a bet made between Eddie Graham and Vince McMahon, Sr. Graham had suggested Steve Keirn for McMahon to use, but McMahon insisted he wanted Backlund instead. Graham then mad aa bet with McMaahon he couldn’t Backlund over to that extent. Obviously, McMahon won the wager.
Backlund had cut his teeth in the Amarillo/West Texas Territory in 1974, holding thier top singles championship, the Western States Heavyweight Title, had moved to Florida to sit under the Eddie Graham and Harley Race learning tree, and now, here in St Louis, they put the Missouri Belt on him to further his education and to see how he could draw in the Mecca of Professional Wrestling at the time, Kiel Auditorium in St. Louis. Besides that, he beat Race, who was already a former NWA World Champ and was established as a Missouri legend but 1976, so this was quite a notch in Backlund's belt, so to speak as he moved forward with a legendary career.
40-Year Flashback 4-23-1985: Jerry Lawler vs Randy Savage at the Gardens in Louisville, Kentucky
*Tony Note: After years of taunting the Jarrett wrestlers with challenges on television and printed materials, then claiming they were too "chicken" to show up, the ICW Kentucky Promotion owned and operated by Angelo Poffo, his sons, Randy and Lanny and thier partner, Rip Rogers, finally gave up and folded. This prompted Randy and Jerry Jarrett to have a phone conversation that totally caught Savage by surprise. Jarrett was actually interested, now that they were no longer competitors of giving the fans what they believed would never happen, a series of matches between Randy and the territory's legendary top babyface, Jerry Lawler. This would be Savage's last major program before leaving for the WWF, but gave the fans in Tennessee, Kentucky, Indiana, Arkansas and Mississippi some great matches before he moved northward.
One Thing I Learned Today About Pro Wrestling History:
Ed Mclemore, who ran the wrestling booking office in Dallas, Texas for decades before becoming partners with Fritz Von Erich in the mid-1960s, had a local promoter for Fort Worth in the 1950s named Ken Moore. Moore had also been an employee of the Elvis Presley organization from the late 1950s through 1960. He was responsible for the security of Elvis during his shows of that period. Ken had the lease at the Northside Coliseum to promote wrestling, while McLemore provided the talent from the nearby Dallas office. The management of the Northside Coliseum and the concessions at the Heart O' Texas Coliseum in Waco were run by a man named R.G McElyea, who booked and promoted several of Elvis' shows in 1956. Ken Moore was married to McEnyea's daughter, Elizabeth. Pro Wrestling has always been a family business!
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 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 career retrospective on Dory Funk, Sr, a multi-part flashback on the Tennessee Territory in April 1975 including all the recorded cards for the month, some special audio and video interviews and more.