Loss Posted July 3, 2022 Report Share Posted July 3, 2022 History of Pro Wrestling #43 (04:08:29) Matches from March-October 1962 All of the Toronto clips from Maple Leaf Gardens are brief 8mm clips that it’s extremely cool to have in color! They feature many wrestlers for whom I am not sure we’d have any footage at all otherwise. Credit to the Maple Leaf Wrestling Video Archives YouTube channel for making these available. I spliced up the longer videos they posted into individual short clips so we could work them into everything else chronologically. SWEET DADDY SIKI vs TIMOTHY GEOHAGEN (03/01/1962; Maple Leaf Gardens; 00:00:50) Geohagen was an Irish wrestler, strongman and hypnotist! He wasn’t really a headliner in Toronto aside from a couple of title challenges, but he was a regular in the 1950s and early 60s. Siki is remarkably colorful and charismatic, and you can spot his influence on wrestlers such as Randy Savage and Koko B. Ware in terms of his look and ring gear. WOODY STRODE vs ERIC POMEROY (03/02/1962; NWA Upstate; Buffalo Memorial Auditorium; 00:12:11) Woody Strode was a decathlete and one of the first Black NFL players in history who also had an accomplished career in film, winning a Golden Globe Award for his role in Spartacus. Pomeroy later wrestled as Stan Vachon. JOHNNY VALENTINE vs BILL FRAZIER (03/17/1962; St. Louis; 00:09:48) A rare look at an episode of Wrestling at the Chase from the 1960s! That’s famous St. Louis Cardinals announcer Joe Garagiola calling the match. EDDY WIECZ vs ROBERT DURANTON (03/24/1962; French Catch; 00:27:20) Wiecz is of course Edouard Carpentier. Segunda Caida review of the match. BULLDOG BROWER vs RAPHAEL HALPERN (03/28/1962; Maple Leaf Gardens; 00:00:36) Halpern was a wrestler and later academic scholar who was pushed hard in the NY area in the early 1950s. He also briefly promoted pro wrestling in Israel. RIKIDOZAN vs FRED BLASSIE (03/28/1962; WWA Los Angeles, CA; 00:39:23) Great extended look at two legends. Interesting to see Rikidozan work stateside, and Blassie in his strongest market. TIMOTHY GEOHAGEN vs TOM EMPEROR JONES (04/04/1962; Maple Leaf Gardens; 00:00:30) RIKIDOZAN vs FRED BLASSIE (04/23/1962; JWA 4th Annual World League; 00:12:17) Now we see the Rikidozan vs Blassie match on the other side of the Pacific a month later. JEAN FRYZIUK vs ROGER DELAPORTE (05/03/1962; French Catch; 00:44:24) Segunda Caida review of the match. BRUNO SAMMARTINO vs BULLDOG BROWER (05/17/1962; Maple Leaf Gardens; 00:01:52) Our earliest chronological look at BRUNO SAMMARTINO, one year to the date before he first won the WWWF title. BULLDOG BROWER vs SWEET DADDY SIKI (05/17/1962; Maple Leaf Gardens; 00:01:43) JOHN TOLOS & CHRIS TOLOS vs JIM HADY & RAY GORDON (05/24/1962; Maple Leaf Gardens; 00:00:36) Jim Hady was a top babyface in Hawaii in the 1960s. The Croatia-born Ray Gordon trained both Harley Race and The Assassin Jody Hamilton. BRUNO SAMMARTINO vs SWEET DADDY SIKI (06/07/1962; Maple Leaf Gardens; 00:00:55) HAYSTACKS MULDOON vs FRANK VALOIS (06/07/1962; Maple Leaf Gardens; 00:00:14) Muldoon was one of many Haystacks Calhoun knockoffs in wrestling at the time, apparently discovered by promoter Jack Pfefer while driving an ice cream truck. According to this thread at Wrestling Classics, he was also wanted in Miami in 1963 for passing $17,000 in hot checks! IVAN KALMIKOFF & NIKITA KALMIKOFF vs BILLY RED LYONS & BILL BRUTE SOLOWEYKO (06/07/1962; Maple Leaf Gardens; 00:00:27) WCW fans will know Soloweyko as famous ring crew member KLONDIKE BILL! BRUNO SAMMARTINO vs GREAT KUDO (06/14/1962; Maple Leaf Gardens; 00:00:37) BULLDOG BROWER vs WHIPPER WATSON (06/14/1962; Maple Leaf Gardens; 00:01:50) SWEET DADDY SIKI vs HAYSTACKS MULDOON (06/14/1962; Maple Leaf Gardens; 00:01:14) BRUNO SAMMARTINO vs GREAT KUDO (06/21/1962; Maple Leaf Gardens; 00:01:20) WHIPPER WATSON vs SWEET DADDY SIKI (06/21/1962; Maple Leaf Gardens; 00:01:31) BRUNO SAMMARTINO vs IVAN KALMIKOFF (06/28/1962; Maple Leaf Gardens; 00:01:06) MR. KLEEN vs STEVE STANLEE (06/28/1962; Maple Leaf Gardens; 00:00:46) Wrestling Classics has a thread with whatever information people can find about Mr. Kleen, with stories ranging from him becoming a mayor of an Israeli town to living a fairly quiet Protestant life in Indiana. Who knows? WHIPPER WATSON vs BULLDOG BROWER (06/28/1962; Maple Leaf Gardens; 00:01:51) RIKIDOZAN vs FRED BLASSIE (07/25/1962; WWA Los Angeles, CA; 00:02:21) ANTONIO ROCCA vs HANS SCHMIDT (07/27/1962; NWA Chicago; 00:12:32) BULLDOG BROWER & SWEET DADDY SIKI vs YUKON ERIC & WHIPPER WATSON (08/16/1962; Maple Leaf Gardens; 00:01:21) BUDDY ROGERS vs BRUNO SAMMARTINO (08/30/1962; Maple Leaf Gardens; 00:01:09) LITTLE BEAVER & TINY TIM vs SKY LOW LOW & PEE WEE JAMES (08/30/1962; Maple Leaf Gardens; 00:03:00) DAN AUBRIOT vs PIERRE BERNAERT (09/11/1962; French Catch; 00:29:24) BUDDY ROGERS vs HANS SCHMIDT (10/13/1962; NWA Upstate; Buffalo Memorial Auditorium; 00:02:58) GILBERT LEDUC vs GEOFF PORTZ (10/19/1962; French Catch; 00:32:20) Segunda Caida review of the match. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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