Loss Posted July 3, 2022 Report Share Posted July 3, 2022 History of Pro Wrestling #46 (04:40:12) Matches from April 1963-February 1964 KINTARO OKI vs KILLER X (04/11/1963; JWA; 00:01:20) HAYSTACKS CALHOUN vs FRED ATKINS (04/12/1963; JWA; 00:01:29) SHOHEI BABA vs PAT O’CONNOR (04/12/1963; JWA; 00:02:17) GORILLA MONSOON vs COWBOY BOB ELLIS (04/13/1963; JWA; 00:01:55) MICHIAKI YOSHIMURA & KILLER X vs MAMMOTH SUZUKI & FRED ATKINS (04/15/1963; JWA; 00:00:52) RIKIDOZAN vs HAYSTACKS CALHOUN (04/17/1963; JWA; 00:03:43) RIKIDOZAN & GREAT TOGO & MICHIAKI YOSHIMURA vs KILLER KOWALSKI & HAYSTACKS CALHOUN & KILLER X (04/23/1963; JWA; 00:04:55) SHOHEI BABA vs GORILLA MONSOON (04/23/1963; JWA; 00:05:12) RIKIDOZAN vs PAT O’CONNOR (04/24/1963; JWA; 00:08:24) GREAT TOGO & MICHIAKI YOSHIMURA vs KILLER KOWALSKI & GORILLA MONSOON (05/05/1963; JWA; 00:06:51) TOYONOBORI vs KILLER X (05/05/1963; JWA; 00:04:32) RIKIDOZAN & TOYONOBORI vs KILLER KOWALSKI & FRED ATKINS (05/06/1963; JWA; 00:10:02) HAYSTACKS CALHOUN vs KILLER X (05/07/1963; JWA; 00:06:31) LOU THESZ vs ANTONINO ROCCA (05/10/1963; NWA Upstate; Buffalo Memorial Auditorium; 00:30:51) Some interesting background on this match in this Wrestling Classics post from historian Steve Yohe. The entire post is worth clicking through to read. “Rocca left Capitol the 2nd week of January, 1963. [WWWF World Champion Buddy] Rogers didn't push him out, they worked alongside each other just fine for years, drawing big money together. Rogers had the NWA World title, and Rocca had the International title (NY). He also held the International tag belts. Neither of which he ever lost by the way. His contracted share of the purse was so large, negotiated years before through [promoter] Toots [Mondt], that when business took a huge dive the winter of '62 they wanted him to take a pay cut and he walked. Rogers dropped the strap a week later (another large payday the company couldn't afford any longer, which is why he was booked in so many tag matches, for which he took a smaller payday. And it not being a title match, meant they didn't have to send a cut to the NWA). They brought back Bruno [Sammartino], and built him up as a less expensive champ for the company. True, Rocca and Rogers were aging, but they were NYC's biggest draws, and they were thinking ahead. They built up [Gorilla] Monsoon and [Pedro] Morales and [Arnold] Skaaland during the same time as well. As far as the Buffalo match in '63 goes, from what I've been able to gather, Buffalo was ran out of Cleveland. But Vince [McMahon Sr.] was still co-running shows in Cleveland in '62 and '63. First, with the WWWA to test the waters for the Fed. And later under the WWWF name in late '63. So I'm not sure what was going on there with Thesz and Rocca. Rogers put over Thesz, in a one fall match, that I always assumed was a screwjob. He wasn't supposed to drop the belt until the rematch the week or so later, thus the 2/3 fall match in a town that didn't have 2/3 fall matches. Once it was done, had him do the job again to solidify the claim, and to prevent Buddy from remaining a title claimant. Rogers also put over Dory Dixon to create the WWWA title, muddying the title picture even more. He then 'defeated' Rocca in the fictional tournament to become WWWF champ, thus erasing Rocca's claim as undefeated champion, in the mind's of the fans, before he could start running opposition. The [promoter Jim Sr.] Crockett tv out of Queens, with Rocca on the name of the program, failed mostly due to the rest of the card being unknown to the local audience. The NWA allowed the opposition run, as Capitol had withdrawn a few months prior, but didn't back Crockett's play to the point of sending in names to help him succeed, instead taking a backseat to see who came out on top. They always seemed to keep a hands-off approach to the NYC wars, not wanting to choose the wrong side and make an enemy out of a powerhouse in such a major city. I don't think Crockett signed him quite so early, but without a Rocca record book at my disposal, it's difficult to track his movements post-Capitol between mid-jan and september. I've read that Toots had reached out to Rocca to corner the returning Bruno to give him a rub in his matches with Rogers, but Buddy struck it down, not wanting to split the purse with him, and said he'd get Bruno over on his own, thus the squash. If anything, the Rocca-Thesz loss was the NWA's way to diminish the claim of the WWWF title. If Thesz beats Rocca and beats Rogers twice, it makes the belt look weak. He wouldn't put him over the year before, it was probably the deal to get Crockett's backing to have his own show. It probably gives Thesz a claim to have unified the titles they both held, even if it wasn't announced as such, it was still a pinfall win over the champ, in the state where the title was legitimate, but as far from NYC as possible to protect Rocca.” MOOSE CHOLAK vs LARRY CHENE (05/15/1963; IWA Chicago; 00:27:35) This was Segunda Caida’s 1963 Match of the Year. The match was also featured in Phil Schneider’s excellent book Way of the Blade: 100 of the Greatest Bloody Matches In Wrestling History, and covered on an episode of his podcast of the same name. GREAT TOGO & TOYONOBORI vs FRED ATKINS & KILLER X (05/17/1963; JWA; 00:06:56) RIKIDOZAN vs KILLER KOWALSKI (05/17/1963; JWA; 00:11:44) This and most of the previous JWA matches are from the 1963 World League. BUDDY ROGERS vs BRUNO SAMMARTINO (05/17/1963; WWWF MSG; New York, NY; 00:00:35) Historic match sees Bruno win the WWWF title! Bruno would of course become a beloved hero in New York and one of wrestling’s all-time greatest stars. BOBO BRAZIL vs JOHNNY BAREND (06/08/1963; WWWF Philadelphia, PA; 00:03:12) ANGELO POFFO vs PEPPER MARTIN (07/06/1963; St. Louis Wrestling at the Chase; 00:13:59) Pepper Martin was a wrestler and actor who lived a storied and fascinating life. SLAM Wrestling has written some great articles on him over the years, all of which I’ve linked below: - Pepper Martin: The Wrestling Years - Mat Matters: A short take on the loquacious Pepper Martin, dead at 85 - Pepper Martin’s book decidedly old school - Pepper Martin: The Acting Years EL SANTO vs ESPANTO I (10/25/1963; 00:04:03) This is likely part actual wrestling match in front of a paying crowd mixed with staged wrestling scene with paid spectators, as aired in the movie El Espectro del Estrangulador. I included it anyway because we don’t really have any footage of the legendary El Santo otherwise. GENE LEBELL vs MILO SAVAGE (12/02/1963; Salt Lake City, UT; 00:01:20) This was one of the earliest MMA matches promoted on a pro wrestling show. This article at MMA History provides some important context. RIKIDOZAN vs THE DESTROYER (12/02/1963; JWA International Championship Series; 00:35:25) This is a rematch of their match earlier in the year was viewed on television by an astonishing 70 million people! DOC GALLAGHER & MIKE GALLAGHER vs JOHNNY BAREND & BILLY RED LYONS (12/27/1963; NWA Upstate; Buffalo Memorial Auditorium; 00:18:21) BRUNO SAMMARTINO vs MAGNIFICENT MAURICE (1963; 00:02:45) FRED BLASSIE vs FELIPE MENDOZA (1963; 00:13:46) DANNY FERRERA vs THE MONGOL (1963; IWA Chicago; 00:07:11) SWEET DADDY SIKI & SAILOR ART THOMAS vs LOU ALBANO & JACK OWENS (1963; IWA Chicago; 00:16:12) HANS SCHMIDT vs SHOHEI BABA (02/14/1964; NWA Upstate; Buffalo Memorial Auditorium; 00:10:35) FRITZ VON ERICH vs MAGNIFICENT MAURICE (02/28/1964; NWA Upstate; Buffalo Memorial Auditorium; 00:19:52) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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