History of Pro Wrestling #04 (March-June 1950)

[Loss]

History of Pro Wrestling #4 (04:15:40)
Matches from March-June 1950

• WILBUR SNYDER vs WARREN BOCKWINKEL 03/04/1950; (NWA Chicago; 00:07:53)
  Yes, Warren is Nick’s dad. He’s not someone for whom we have a lot of footage.

• LOU THESZ vs RUFFY SILVERSTEIN (03/17/1950; NWA Chicago; 00:27:41)
  Look for Dick York (the original Darren from Bewitched) at ringside, with 1948 Republican nominee for President Thomas Dewey and actual President Lyndon B. Johnson sitting on either side of him. Silverstein was apparently a shooter and Thesz always felt like he needed to stay guarded with him, but was proud of their matches together. Excellent match! 4 1/4***

• BUDDY ROGERS vs ANTONINO ROCCA (03/27/1950; Cleveland, OH, 00:01:33)
  Brief clip of what was billed locally at the time as the “Match of the Century”, for an advertised $10,000 purse. This thread has more information on this match and rematch that probably happened but one where we are missing results.

• FRITZ SCHNABEL vs BENITO GARDINI (04/14/1950; NWA Chicago; 00:26:30)

• GORGEOUS GEORGE vs FRANKIE TALABAR (04/14/1950; NWA Chicago; 01:00:19)
  Talabar was a pretty big regional star in the Midwest. Gorgeous George looks great here, showing that even if you set aside the gaga around his act, he could wrestle.

• GREAT MOTO vs IVAN RASPUTIN (04/14/1950; NWA Chicago; 00:17:37)
  There is some good work worth seeing here, but this is on the slow side even by the standards of the time.

• CHIEF DON EAGLE vs WALTER PALMER (04/28/1950; NWA Chicago; 00:19:15)

• VERNE GAGNE & BOBBY BRUNS vs RUDY KAY & AL WILLIAMS (05/12/1950; NWA Chicago; 00:29:48)

• GORGEOUS GEORGE vs CYCLONE ANAYA (05/23/1950; NWA Chicago; 00:36:11)
  Starts slow but turns into a really good match. 3 1/4***

• GORGEOUS GEORGE vs CHIEF DON EAGLE (05/26/1950; NWA Chicago; 00:20:24)
  Some interesting information in this thread about how this match was to set up a George-Thesz match that ended up not happening.

• VERNE GAGNE vs BILLY GOELZ (06/21/1950; NWA Chicago; 00:18:29)
  Gagne looks fantastic here! An incredible technical wrestling clinic. 4 1/2***
  Thanks to Superstar Sleeze for the star ratings. His blog is highly recommended.