Bob Luce Clubhouse Page

This page features various stories, articles and interviews pilfered from an array of sources that have some interest related to the Indiana wrestling scene or major players from the heyday.

I was surfing the web not too long ago and came upon the Wikipedia entry for the Indianapolis WWA and read this entry,” The World Wrestling Association (WWA) was established in 1964 by Dick Afflis and Wilbur Snyder. The duo purchased the Indianapolis NWA promotion in 1964 from its longtime owner Jim Barnett, who at that time was attempting to start up a promotion in Australia. The name of the promotion was taken from the former promotions in the Chicago and Los Angeles areas.” It wasn’t long after this I read a blog from my old acquaintance Jerry Wiseman where he stated “In 1964 Dick the Bruiser and Wilbur Snyder, two of the biggest names and draws in professional wrestling sat down with promoter Jim Barnett and held him up for a percentage of the Indianapolis, Indiana territory, threatening not to work the show that night unless he acquiesced. Barnett gave in and Bruiser and Snyder became the principle owners of the WWA that night.” One fanciful story that both Jerry and I had heard involved Wilbur and Dick holding Barnett outside a window of the Claypool Hotel 3^rd floor wrestling office, a story I first heard back in the early 70’s in colorful detail. All of these stories sound interesting, but what really happened?

First off, the Wiki article is wrong in the fact that Chicago was never a WWA office until Dick and Wilbur went in with Kohler in 1964. The name was from the L.A. promotion, except the L.A. office was Worldwide Wrestling Associates, and Dick and Wilbur could never quite decide if their promotion was Worldwide Wrestling Alliance, World Wrestling Alliance, or World Wrestling Association. Association tends to get the nod historically.

Second, there’s no evidence of any card where Dick and Wilbur might have done a “hold up” of Barnett and received principle share of the office. The truth is that Dick and Wilbur ran opposition to Barnett and Balk Estes, and who would run opposition to themselves? (See results 1963 and 1964 for comparison, as well as the clippings page for news ads of the time.) Yet, there are people associated with the business back then who insist that Dick and Wilbur bought Barnett out. Are they wrong?

One has to ask themselves, “What would Dick and Wilbur have gained in buying Barnett out”? A company? No, Dick and Wilbur had Championship Wrestling, Inc., so they didn’t need Barnett’s Indiana Wrestling, Inc. that Barnett purchased from Billy Thom. A license? No, Bruiser and Snyder’s license were in the names of their wives and on paper, they worked for the little women. Towns? No, they were running around the state as well as at the Southside Armory and Victory Field in opposition to Barnett, who had been running weekly on Tuesday nights at the Tyndall Armory. Once opposition started, Barnett’s output waned considerably. Some of the talent even worked for both offices, such as Bill Miller. No, other than eliminating the competition, the only thing Barnett had that Dick and Wilbur didn’t have would have been strong TV. Locally, WTTV Channel 4 was a stronger signal than some other stations, and they were an independent station, and as such, had more flexibility in their programming, not being tied to a network. Barnett had used WTTV off and on for years, both going on location and taping right in the Bluff Road studio. Covering local sports, WTTV had the facilities to tape remote, and with the Southside Armory (where Dick and Wilbur ran their Indianapolis cards) being very close to WTTV, it made doing business much easier.

My “guess” is that Dick and Wilbur “bought out” Barnett in a fire sale. Barnett and Doyle had sold Detroit to Sheik reportedly for $50,000, and were keen to go to Australia, where they promoted successfully for many years. Barnett had the TV contract and lease on the Tyndall Armory, a better location to run from for Bruiser and Snyder while still using until the early 70’s the Southside Armory for TV until it was sold. Plus, in buying Barnett out, Dick and Wilbur eliminated all competition until the late 70’s, when the State Athletic Commission no longer oversaw pro wrestling. As it was, the last Indianapolis Barnett card was on 9/18/64. On Dick and Wilbur’s next card, slated for 9/26/64, it was advertised as the 1^st Live TV Card. Oddly enough, that must have fallen through, as the October 3^rd card also carried the same legend in the adverts. (Prior to this, Dick had guested on the Don Melvoin show, a local talk/variety show, which was on WLWI Channel 13, an ABC affiliate at the time. Don also served as guest announcer at some of the early WWA shows in Indianapolis. Dick’s widow had told me of tapes from the L.A. promotion where Dick had been working at that time in her collection, and I’m guessing perhaps they were broadcasting these L.A. tapes with local promos on 13. WLWI was the weakest signal at that time, and very hard to get in with the rabbit ears.)

Like Barnett before them, even though they weren’t under the NWA banner (Barnett’s office was the AWA), over time, both NWA champs Lou Thesz and Gene Kiniski made appearances for the WWA; in Indianapolis usually unification bouts that never had any resolution.

Check out the results sections for cards from that era, and the clippings page for adverts from the era.

New York Riot with Bruiser

MATMEN FINED FOR POST-MATCH RIOT (Associated Press, November 22, 1957) NEW YORK -- The New York State Athletic Commission threw the book at four wrestlers and a promoter today as the result of a riot after a tag-team match last Tuesday night at Madison Square Garden. Antonio Rocca of Argentina and Dr. Jerry Graham of Hollywood, Calif., each were fined $1,000. Dick Afflis of Chicago was assessed a $500 fine, and Edouard Carpentier of France $100. In addition, Chairman Julius Helfand of the Commission canceled a wrestling show booked for Nov. 30 at the Garden by promoter Walter Smallshaw. This was part of the general fine, for the promoter was held partly responsible for the conduct of the wrestlers. Approximately 500 of the 12,987 fans rioted soon after Rocca and Carpentier, the heroes, gained a two-of-three falls verdict over the villains, Graham and Afflis. Graham and Rocca tussled on the ring apron after the bout was ended, and two policemen were hurt when the crowd closed in and the fracas began. One officer was hit on the head by a bottle. Extra police were summoned to quell the disturbance. The Commission approved Smallshaw's application for a wrestling show at the White Plains County center, Nov. 29, but warned that in the future it would not tolerate any similar actions. Promoter Willie Gilzenberg of Newark, N.J., announced shortly after the Commission's action today that he had booked the four fined wrestlers for the Jersey City (N.J.) Armory, Saturday, Nov. 30. That's the date Smallshaw lost at the Garden.

$1,000 LEVIES; GARDEN SHOW CANCELED (New York Times, November 23, 1957) By Michael Strauss One of the most entertaining wrestling shows of the season took place before only a few dozen spectators yesterday. Directly involved were four wrestlers and a referee. No, this was no tag match. The session was conducted by members of the New York State Athletic Commission. The commission, headed by Julius Helfand, was eager to determine the cause of the riot at the conclusion of last Tuesday night's mat show at Madison Square Garden. One thing was certain. No one was prepared to accept the blame. Even Antonio Rocca and Jerry Graham, who emerged from the extracurricular fracas with bloodied faces, couldn't throw much light on the subject. When the hearing in the commission's offices was over, all four grapplers had taken the count -- a financial one. Rocca and Graham were fined $1,000 each. Dick Afflis of Chicago, who had paired with Graham in the team match, was hit for $500. Edouard Carpentier of France, who had paired with Rocca, was penalized only $100. A poor hand with this English, he testified through an interpreter. "See," said one of the observers with a snicker. "It pays to have a mouthpiece." To emphasize that he meant business, Helfand also canceled a wrestling show booked for next Saturday night at the Garden by Walter Smallshaw, the promoter. The commissioner said that "if the state's wrestling rules are not obeyed in the future, the commission may take action that will endanger the future of wrestling in New York State." Helfand, however, gave permission to Smallshaw to hold a program in White Plains next Friday night. Smallshaw can move as fast as some of his grapplers. He immediately booked Rocca and Graham for the Westchester show. They will not wrestle each other. Willie Gilzenberg, a New Jersey promoter, moved almost as quickly. With the Garden program canceled, he announced that Rocca, Graham and Carpentier would star at his program in Jersey City next Saturday. Those developments were anti-climactic to the testimony at the hearing. The wrestlers presented a study in contrasts. Rocca was apologetic. He said he was sorry there had been trouble. Graham, who appeared with a patch on his right temple, said he only recalled seeing onrushing spectators. Carpentier, despite the aid of his interpreter, was unable to shed any light on the affair. He testified that he didn't even know how the trouble had started. "How could I?" he asked. "My back was turned at the time." As for Afflis, he didn't even recall seeing a fight among the wrestlers. What he did remember was that at least one incensed fan had reached up through the ropes and tugged on his leg. "At that point I lost all interest in my rivals" he said. "I concentrated on the crowd." Evidence was furnished during the hearing that Rocca and Graham had begun fighting on the ring apron after Rocca and Carpentier received the victory on a disqualification. Before long, Carpentier and Afflis were lending helping hands. Within seconds spectators -- a crowd of 12,987 was present -- joined in the melee. Chairs were smashed as the fans -- most of them partial to Rocca -- stormed the ring in an attempt to reach the wrestlers. Two city policemen were injured and two arrests were made but not before the situation had become critical. At one point a chair was dropped from the third-deck balcony. It barely missed fans trying to get out of the Fiftieth Street exit. Helfand said that the commission no longer would sanction the staging of more than one tag match during any one program. The tag match -- it involves four wrestlers, only two of whom are supposed to grapple at any one time -- had been the repeated source of trouble, Helfand said. He recalled that Graham had been involved in a similar incident in a tag match at the Garden last month. Wrestling shows -- officially called exhibitions in New York -- usually provide a rousing and unexpected finish. Yesterday's hearing proved no exception. The concluding touch was provided by "a wrestling fan" who received permission to give his opinion at the end of the hearing. The fan did not pin the blame on Graham, Rocca, Carpentier or Afflis for the trouble. The culprit? It was, he said, the referee, Danny Bartfield, a former lightweight boxer. Bartfield, the fan insisted, had allowed the situation to get out of hand.

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Bruiser and Jarrett in the 1980's

On the Wrestling Classics message board I asked Jerry Jarrett a question about his involvement with Bruiser in the 80's and Dick and Wilbur's "ownership" of Louisville and Evansville, and got the interesting reply from him:
That is a great question and really goes to the heart of how the business was in the old territory days. I was an eager beaver and was running spot shows in and around Tennessee and southern Ky. My success increased my drive for bigger and better towns. I was venturing north and someone asked me why I did not go right up the road to Louisville. I asked Gulas/Welch the same question and they replied because to run a major town required television. I became a fixture at the television stations in Louisville. Finally John Dorkin felt sorry for me seeing me sit in the lobby for hours and allowed me a meeting. After many, many trips I talked him into giving me a chance. We began poorly, but after about 8 weeks we had a sell-out in Louisville. Things were rolling along good and I had the same success opening up Lexington, Ky. and Evansville, Ind. All of a sudden my little spot show company had major towns. Then one night Bruiser and Snyder showed up and told me that they owned Louisville and Evansville. I was full of **** and vinegar and told them that this was America and nobody owned any town. They left and called Nick Gulas and Roy Welch the next morning. Nick and Roy called me into the office and explained how the cookie crumbles. I was using Gulas/Welch television and talent and was informed that I could either work out a deal with Bruiser and Snyder or be out of business. At the time I did not realize the power of the NWA even though I had attended the Alliance meetings. I met with Bruiser and Snyder and paid them 10% for many many years on both Louisville and Evansville. After WWF began running everywhere and the NWA began folding, I called Bruiser and told him that this next check was the last check. He said he understood and that there were no hard feelings. Later, when Dick fell on very hard times he called and asked for my tape and talent. I sent him tapes from Memphis for about 8 weeks and then booked cards in the towns he suggested. The deal was that Dick did the local promotion, (newspaper, radio, etc.) and I would furnish the television and talent and we would split the money. Kamala was red hot then and I booked him on the first week of cards. When we arrived in town and began seeing window posters out, I was surprised to see that Kamala was wrestling Dick the Bruiser. LOL, he had changed our card and inserted his own interview in place of the interview slot I had booked. When I got to the area and asked Dick about the situation, he sheepishly answered that he thought we would draw more money with him on the card. Dick's style was to be very strong during his matches and he proceeded to kill in 10 minutes what we had built in 8 weeks. We finished the tour and it seems like we did one or two more after Dick assured me he would not change any more of my cards. Of course the temptation was just too great for Dick to have matches and not be the star of the show. Thus ended our business relationship. Somehow, I never was angry with Dick in spite of all this history. There are just some people who are bigger than life characters. Dick the Bruiser was one of these people.

( Note: Ye Olde Ed here left for Texas in September or October of that year, working my last date in for Bruiser in Peoria in August of 82, and I have no idea when Jerry and Bruiser started running together. They hadn't up to the point I left. Dick's last Market Square Arena card was 7/10/82, with Dick headlining against Harley Race. My earliest Indianapolis date for the joint venture in Indianapolis is 11/25/82, with Kamala against Terry Taylor, and Dick is not featured on the card. Dick wasn't back until 1/15/83, after Jarrett and Bruiser had ceased to do business. While I'm not disputing Jerry in any way, what I'm looking for is anyone having the results/town(s)/clippings/recollections to go along with Jerry's story.) Addendum 9/17/09: Here it is. It was Ft. Wayne In. It also appears Kamala did the honors for Terry Taylor the night before in Indianapolis, so.......? As it was, the partnership was very short lived.

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Bob Luce's Emergence as Chicago "Promoter".

(From the Kayfabe Memories message board from some time back.)

From Flying Vic:

First Card Promoted by Bob Luce

I ran across this article in the June 1966 issue of The Ring boxing magazine. I've retyped as it was originally written:

Chicagoland Wrestling by Ken Ames

        The king bowed out in December, and the new king was sworn in several weeks ago. Fred Kohler who has promoted wrestling of every kind here in Chicago, has signed over the wrestling promotion business to the new Chicago Wrestling Club. Kohler will now devote all his time to the electrical engineer business he runs with his son. The CWC, is being headed up by one of wrestling’s most exciting personalities, Bob Luce, with famed Buddy Lee acting as matchmaker. Their first card proved successful before a crowd of 7000. A triple main event was presented on this first card, and featured stars from all over the world.
        The featured main event had NWA World Heavyweight Champion, Gene “Big Thunder” Kiniski in a Congo Death Match against the meanest man in wrestling, Dick The Bruiser. It was a non-title match and the rules stipulated no pin falls, no disqualification, and no time limit. The match lasted 49 minutes before the referee stopped it and awarded the match to the champion Kiniski. Believe it or not the fans were behind the Bruiser in this bout. The second main event brought together Wilbur Snyder and Johnny Valentine in another of their wild and bloody matches. This one was declared a no contest.
        In an unprecedented move, the CWC brought back the one big star Chicago fans had pestered Kohler for several times in the past. This was Verne Gagne, who is the greatest star wrestling has ever produced. Verne’s opponent was the Great Chris Markoff, who had racked up great victories since coming to America. The bout went down to the wire with Gagne picking up a sensational victory. In a tag team event, World Tag Team Championship claimants The Assassins wasted no time in disposing of Huey Long and George Drake. The match lasted only about ten minutes. Other matches: The Crusher drew with Prince Pullins and Jose Betancourt defeated Boris Volkoff.

        Mat Notes
        The long and loud standing ovation given to Verne Gagne proved to Verne that Chicago hadn’t forgotten him. Gagne had his doubts about his popularity in Chi, since he hadn’t appeared in seven years. He hasn’t now.
        Pretty Boy Henning and Harley Race are making their Chicago debut.
        Dale Lewis has been waiting a long time to appear in the Windy City and Chicago fans have waited long to see him. It took the CWC to get him here.

Some questions begs to be asked: 1) date of the show? 2) who's (was) Buddy Lee? 3) by chance, was Gagne AWA champion on this date and maybe he wasn't billed as such with Kiniski there? And was this Kiniski's only appearance in Chicago as champ before somehow Gagne took over with his AWA? 4) Pullins drew with The Crusher??? 5) Anyone have the results from the second Luce card?
6) Again, I ask, did Bob Luce really have anything to do with booking cards?

Clawmaster responded with:

Re: First Card Promoted by Bob Luce

Great article Flying Vic. The questions you raised have been ones we have all been trying to figure out for a long time.

Here's the card referred to in the article.

01/08/66 Chicago, IL International Amphitheatre

Gene Kiniski beat Dick the Bruiser- Kiniski had won the NWA title from Lou Thesz the night before in St Louis, Missouri. Bruiser had defeated Kiniski for the WWA title on 12/25/65 in Indianapolis, Indiana. So in essence this was the NWA champion defeating the WWA champion. Kiniski and Bruiser had been feuding over the WWA title throughout the second half of 1965. This was Kiniski's last Chicago appearance as Chicago became an AWA city later in 1966 and Kiniski was on the road defending the NWA belt in NWA cities.

Johnny Valentine and Wilbur Snyder battled to a no decision.

Verne Gagne downed Chris Markoff

The Assassins (Guy Mitchell and Joe Tomasso) defeated Dennis Hall and Huey Long.

The Crusher beat Prince Pullins

Jose Bentancourt downed Boris Volkoff

Fred Kohler was the promoter in Chicago since the early 50s. Sometime around the summer of 1963, Jack Pfefer began promoting in Chicago. It's not clear whether Kohler gave Chicago to Pfefer or if Pfefer bought the territory from Kohler or there was some type of power play. Instead of booking great wrestlers like the Fabulous Kangaroos and Buddy Rogers, Pfefer began booking sound a like famous wrestlers such as Bummy Rogers, Hobo Brazil and Bruno Nassartino. Pfefer killed the Chicago territory with his promotional shenanigans.

Dick the Bruiser bought an interest in the Chicago promotion sometime in the middle of 1964. Pfefer's band of freaks were ushered out and the territory had to be rebuilt. For several months, Bruiser used his Indianapolis crew on the Amphitheatre cards in Chicago. In late 1965 or early 1966, Verne Gagne struck a deal with Bruiser and the two became partners in Chicago. The first time AWA wrestlers appeared alongside WWA wrestlers on an Amphitheatre card is the January 8th 1966 card listed above.

Bob Luce was the publicist for the Chicago promotion and worked in the office. Bruiser and Gagne were in charge but since Bruiser lived in Indiana and Gagne in Minnesota and Illinois law required a state resident be the promoter of the cards, Luce was listed as the promoter.

Hope I've answered some of your questions Vic. Chi Town Rich or M DuPree can probably add more.

Jim

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Dick the Bruiser Chicago Record 1955-1971

(List from Motor City Wrestling mag, believed to be compiled by Ron Dobratz.)

6/10/55 W/Ivan Rasputin,10/28/55 L/Verne Gagne,11/18/55 L/Reggie Lisowski,12/9/55 W/Reggie Lisowski,1/27/56 L/Verne Gagne, 3/2/56 DQ'D/Brian Clary, 4/6/56 W/Bill Melby, 5/4/56 W/Stan Lisowski, 6/1/56 W/Bob Orton, 7/6/56 with Hans Schmidt DQ'd/Lisowskis, 9/14/56 with Lisowskis L/Antonio Rocca/Verne Gagne/Wilbur Snyder, 10/19/56 DQ'd/Rocca, 11/9/56 Drew/Angelo Poffo, 4/26/57 L/DQ Wilbur Snyder, 8/15/57 W/Larry Chene, 12/13/57 W/US title Wilbur Snyder, 1/31/58 NC/Wilbur Snyder, 3/7/58 with Hans Schmidt W/Wilbur Snyder/Verne Gagne, 4/11/58 L/Verne Gagne, 6/6/58 W/Roy McClarity, 7/11/58 W/Gorgeous George, 8/8/58 L/Verne Gagne, 9/5/58 with Hans Schmidt/Killer Kowalski L/Verne Gagne/Edouard Carpentier/Roy McClarity, 10/17/58 W/Yukon Eric, 11/7/58 with Hans Schmidt L/Volkoffs, 1/8/60 L/Yukon Eric, 5/15/64 NC/Pat O'Connor, 9/12/64 W/Pat O'Connor, 10/17/64 L/DQ Johnny Valentine, 11/7/64 W/Pat O'Connor, 12/12/64 W/Art Thomas, 1/23/65 NC Johnny Valentine, 2/27/65 W/Johnny Valentine, 3/27/65 with Moose Cholak W/Wilbur Snyder/Johnny Valentine, 5/1/65 with Moose Cholak NC/Pat O'Connor/Bobby Managoff, 5/29/65 with Moose Cholak L/Volkoffs, 10/23/65 W/Pat O'Connor, 11/6/65 W/Moose Cholak, 12/11/65 L/Gene Kiniski, 1/8/66 L/Gene Kiniski death match, 1/22/66 NC/Johnny Valentine, 2/5/66 W/Johnny Valentine, 2/26/66 L/DQ Mad Dog Vachon WWA vs. AWA title bout, 3/26/66 L/Mad Dog Vachon lost WWA title; Chicago version, 4/16/66 with Pat O'Connor NC Larry Hennig/Harley Race, 5/21/66 W/Mad Dog Vachon no title Death Match, 6/24/66 with the Crusher NC Assassins, 7/15/66 with the Crusher W/Assassins, 9/16/66 with Crusher W/The Big K/The Alaskan, 10/21/66 W/Alaskan, 7/28/67 with the Crusher W/Chris Markoff/Angelo Poffo, 8/11/67 W/Johnny Valentine, 9/2/67 with the Crusher W/Poffo/Markoff, 9/16/67 with the Crusher L/Hennig/Race, 12/2/67 NC Dr. X, 12/30/67 NC Dr. X, 3/5/68 with Crusher NC Mitsu Arakawa/Dr.Moto, 5/4/68 with Crusher W/Mitsu Arakawa/Dr. Moto, 6/1/68 with Crusher L/Mitsu Arakawa/Dr.Moto, 9/7/68 with Crusher W/Angelo Poffo/Chris Markoff, 9/28/68 with Wee Willie Wilson L/Harley Race/Larry Hennig, 11/2/68 with Crusher DQ'd/Harley Race/Larry Hennig, 11/23/68 with Crusher W/Harley Race/Larry Hennig, 12/28/68 with Crusher W/Mitsu Arakawa/Dr.Moto won AWA tag team title, 1/21/69 with Crusher W/Chain Gang, 3/1/69 with Crusher W/Chain Gang, 5/17/69 with Crusher W/Vachon Brothers, 7/5/69 with Crusher NC/Chain Gang, 7/26/69 with Crusher W/Chain Gang, 8/30/69 with Crusher L/Vachon Brothers lost AWA tag team title, 9/13/69 W/Dr. X Hall Of Fame bout, 12/16/69 with Moose Cholak L/Jack/Jim Dillinger, 2/27/70 W/Baron von Raschke, 3/16/70 with Moose Cholak L/Jack/Jim Dillinger, 5/5/70 NC/Baron von Raschke, 5/18/70 with Crusher L/Jack/Jim Dillinger, 6/2/70 with Crusher W/Jack/Jim Dillinger, 6/30/70 with Crusher, Ernie Ladd W/ Blackjack Lanza/Vachons, 8/14/70 with Crusher L/Vachons, 10/20/70 L/Lanza/Heenan handicap bout, 12/12/70 with Bobob Brazil NC/Fabulous Kangaroos, 1/23/71 with Crusher, Bull Bullinski L/Kangaroos/Blackjack Lanza, 2/13/71 NC/Blackjack Lanza, 3/6/71 W/Blackjack Lanza, then Bobby Heenan, 3/20/71 L/Baron von Raschke, 4/24/71 DQ'd/ Shozo Kobayashi, 6/4/71 W/Shozo Kobayashi loser leaves the country bout, 8/7/71 NC/Nick Bockwinkel, 8/28/71 DQ'd/Nick Bockwinkel, 10/30/71 L/Blackjack Lanza, 11/20/71 NC/Blackjack Mulligan, 12/11/71 with Dr. X DQ'd the Blackjacks.

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10/30/65:(from the Indianapolis Star) "Several hundred boiling mad wrestling fans milled around the hallway in front of the dressing room at the Coliseum for better than an hour last night after Dick the Bruiser was declared unfit to continue in a Texas "death match." Dr. L. J. Holliday of Lafayette, state athletic commissioner who also is team physician for Jeff's Bronchos, stopped Bruiser's match with Gene Kiniski because of blood flowing from a cut in Bruiser's forehead. The cut was inflicted, according to ringside reports, before the match began when Kiniski clouted Bruiser with the championship belt. Six stitches were required, and official said. The crowd became enraged because Kiniski purportedly was out on the mat, while Bruiser, with blood streaming down his face, still was ready to fight. Bruiser had thrown Kiniski 5 times prior to the stopping of the bout. Police were unable to move the crowd out. Shouts of "fake" and demands for money returns were made, but eventually the fans dispersed. They were calling and visiting The Star with bitter complaints. More than 6,000 attended the match."

"WWA Superstars", formerly known as Bruiser Bedlam, make it's return to Toledo on March 12 with Jerry Graham Jr. and Don Kent defeating Chris Carter and Tommy "Wildfire" Rich for the tag team championship in the main event.

They are taping new TV programs during March in Windsor, Ontario. They will determine the new WWA world champion on April 16 between Calypso Jim and the Golden Lion. The title was vacated when the Great Wojo retired last year. Speaking of Wojo, his retirement was only a brief one as he will be returning to the ring against Tommy Rich on the next Toledo card.

Appearing now for the WWA include: Chris Carter, El Bracero, Tim Dixon, Monster Murdoch, Mahamaad Saad, Taras Bulba, Kurt von Steiger along with ones listed above.

No mention was made if Dick the Bruiser is still affiliated with this group or not.

Their new TV show airs Saturday night at 11:30 on WNWO-TV channel 24 with Terry Sullivan and Jerry Graham Jr. with Hal Sullivan doing the ring introductions and Ox Baker helped with commentating at the last Windsor tapings.

Quite a big happening lately in the WWA. First, the Golden Lion won the vacant WWA world title over Calypso Jim with the help of outside interference of Kurt von Schnieder.

Also on the April card in Toledo, the Sensationals (Mickey Doyle and Al Snow) defeated Jerry Graham Jr. and Bulldog Don Kent with the help from the outside by a vengeful Tommy "Wildfire" Rich.

Dick the Bruiser appeared at the May card handcuffed to Jerry Graham Jr. to prevent Graham's interference during the Rich-Great Wojo event,

After struggling with poor attendance with the first three return appearances in Toledo, they drew about 500 fans to see the Great Wojo defeat boxer Leon Spinks by count out with he help of outside interference by Graham Jr. A post match comedy routine ensued with Spinks wife flooring both Graham and the referee with her purse.

Right now the group is on summer hiatus offering to do shows for the non profit organizations. For those groups interested, they may be reached at: P.O. Box 6883, Toledo, Ohio 43612.

On recent programs, they've been going through the WWA archives retracing the Graham-Carter feud. Also showing some great bouts with Scott Rexsteiner (now Scott Steiner with the NWA) taking on Carter when he was a heel during 1987. Also, they've been forming an allegiance between Carter and Wojo-Graham against Kurt von Schnieder (supposedly the son of a Nazi General in hiding) Taras Bulba, and Muhamaad "Jihad" Saad. Carter, Graham and Wojo are "defending the honor of America" against the three "pinkos". In the long run, I haven't really been able to figure out if Carter will turn heel or stay as a babyface or if Graham and Wojo will become faces.

I think and pretty sure that Tommy Rich has left since the NWA have been giving him try-outs in preliminary matches on cards in the south. The NWA has also demanded that Rich lose some weight before considering him to join them full-time.

Also appearing on WWA cards with the ones listed earlier: El Bracero, The Kansas Outlaws, Sweet Daddy Malcolm Monroe, Denny Kass (now doubling as a play by play announcer), Monster Murdoch, George Fulton, Bulldog Don Kent, and various jobbers who drift in and out.