Good morning!
I will be heading out and up Highway 63 from here in Columbia, Missouri and headed north to Waterloo, Iowa for the annual George Tragos/Lou Thesz Hall of Fame Weekend.
I will be updating you on all the happenings I experience there daily in the Chronicle.
Just as a reminder, if you are a subscriber and you are attending, please come up and introduce yourself, I would love to meet you there.
Now, let’s do our daily wrestler tributes.
July 16th in the Time Tunnel:
Happy Birthday to those who have passed on and to those great wrestlers still with us:
In Memoriam:
Leo Burke 1911
William Cobb\Happy Humphrey 1926
Mighty Igor Vodik 1931
Happy Birthday:
Luis Rabadan, Jr\Blue Demon, Jr (59)
Chris Chetti (51)
Bobby Lashley (49)
Marc Letzmann\Excalibur (45)
Marshall Cuellari\QT Marshall (40)
Emile Charles Ballargeon-Laberge\"Speedball" Mike Bailey (35)
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.
Terry Gordy 7-16-2001 at the age of 40
Miguel Perez 7-16-2005 at the age of 68
Bob Orton, Sr 7-16-2006 at the age of 76
Important Debut:
Dr. Wagner made his professional wrestling debut on 7-16-1961
One of the top heels of the 1960s and 1970s in Mexico, Manuel Rivera was the father of Dr Wagner, Jr and Black Tiger. Originally an idea to make him the tag team partner of the original medical heel doctor character in Mexico, El Medico, the death of that wrestler put him then as a singles performer. Salvador Luetteroth, when thinking about the new character was reading a book about the composer, Wagner, and so he put the names together, Dr. Wagner, and the rest is history.
Pro Wrestling Time Tunnel Community Update:
Since Wednesdays are the days I release a "Personalities, Territories, Towns and Buildings" Podcast Episode for your daily Wrestling History content fix, I want to start providing a weekly update on our growing community of pro wrestling history enthusiasts.
This week in the update, I would like to speak a bit to you, our subscribers and investors about our Pro Wrestling Time Tunnel Facebook Group. As a subscriber of The Pro Wrestling Time Tunnel Substack, you may or may not be a member of the Facebook Group, so I want to mention some things to you about it in case you may be interested.
The first community I started as an extension of the Time Tunnel was our Facebook Group in September 2024. It's a Private Group on Facebook that can be joined by application only. While that sounds exclusive, it's a really simple process. We ask 3 or 4 questions that help us understand the primary interests of the person asking to join. This is important because it helps me understand how much this person is going to enjoy or not enjoy out group. As you know by now, the Time Tunnel only covers Pro Wrestling History to 1990. In my mind, this is the year the "territory system" was basically gone. I typically look at the professional wrestling business in 5-year time frames and 1995 was just a bridge too far to carry the territory system forward.
There are so many groups and individuals who cover and analyze the 1990s, the Monday Night Wars, the Attitude Era and so forth, that I don't feel I would have anything more to add than what is bring said. I do, however, feel that I have a lot as far as the previous eras are concerned, especially the 1970s, which to me, is a totally forgotten era. There is a lot of focus on the 1970s in the Facebook Group and I understand it is not for everyone because in a lot of cases it’s just too far back to a younger demographic, but there are some who are into pro wrestling history that enjoy it and those are the people who I want to serve.
The second thing we ask is for applicants to agree to our group rules. There are two reasons for this. One, I have been involved with several pro wrestling groups in the past as a member. In some cases, I was disgusted at the posts at times and others, I was highly offended. Sometimes, people just don’t know when they are being jerks or when they are being offensive. In one case I remember, this guy thought it was his role to be the biggest "Facebook wrestling group heel of all time" and he just tried offending everyone and he pretty much succeeded. The moderators and owners did nothing. I contacted them once or twice and I told them if nothing was done, I would have to leave. They didn't seem to care so I left. A couple of years later when I started my own group, I decided I would not let that happen to anyone who was a member of my group. There would be good, respectful dialogue and conversation. I realize this really limits the interaction and membership at times because of where social media has gone the last few years because many feel it’s their right to say whatever they want to say and they can do that, just not in the Time Tunnel Group.
The other reason I ask for the agreement commitment to the rules and the questions to be answered is because the bots and scammers can't do that. The programs they set up to duplicate profiles and deceive people by friending them also try to infiltrate groups that they pick up by friending others. Once inside a group, they spam it with all kinds of messages to try to hook more people in or they try to pick up more friends by connecting to people in the group. I do not want scammers and spammers in the group, so answering the questions and agreeing to the rules helps keep those to a minimum. I decline many more people every day than I accept into the group because they don’t answer the questions or agree to the rules. I write them a nice note explaining why we have these requirements and telling them if they simply do these things, I'd be happy to accept them.
Even though the pride in me would like to have a big group, I would rather have a great group. And we have that. We have great members, they are knowledgeable and interactive and more importantly, they are respectful. I post 7 to 8 posts a day there, some are duplicates of my X feed and some are not. Sometimes, I do exclusive posts for Facebook that are not posted anywhere else, although I have come to learn there is very little crossover between Facebook and X.
We have over 1,600 great members in the Facebook group. If you are a subscriber to the Daily Chronicle and a Facebook user, and you would like to be part of a great pro wrestling group, please come and apply to join The Pro Wrestling Time Tunnel Facebook Group, you are welcome there and we would love to have you.
Pro Wrestling Time Tunnel Presents: Personalities, Territories, Towns & Buildings Episode 14: Steve Verrier, Richard Vicek, Frank Culbertson, Mike Rodgers
Today on Episode 14 of my podcast I will have my first show with FOUR guests at the Richards Ranch for great conversation about Pro Wrestling History!
First, Steve Verrier and Richard Vicek will be here to discuss the career of Wilbur Snyder. We will look at Snyder's life from growing up in the LA area, outstanding High School and College careers, his debut in pro wrestling and eventual partnership with Dick the Bruiser.
Then, we head to the Pacific Northwest, as my guests will be Frank Culbertson and Mike Rodgers as we discuss the history of Don Owen, the Portland Sports Arena, and the year of 1975 in Portland Wrestling!
The new episode 14 should be in your inbox this morning as a subscriber. I hope you catch this show, and I always appreciate your investment in my work!
One Thing I Learned Today About Pro Wrestling History
Once known as the "world's heaviest wrestler", his most active period was from the 1950s through the 1960s, he averaged around 750 pounds and several times he weighed in at over 800 pounds and on one occasion, he weighed 900 pounds. He was famously driven around and cared for by Harley Race early in Race's career.
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!
Paid subscriptions are only $5.00 per month and save $10.00 per year with a $50.00 annual subscription.
Remember, paid subscribers 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 Paid Subscribers.