Old School Fan

All Japan Women's Pro Wrestling @ Kawasaki Municipal Hall September 30, 1971 - Kawasaki, Japan Attendance - 5,000+ Maxie Murata & Jumbo Miyamoto defeated Paula Steele & Patty Stevens when Miyamoto pinned Stevens following an overhead suplex. NWA North American Women's Championship - Two Out of Three Falls Michèle Richard (C) defeated Miyuki Yanagi*, two falls to one. ⦁ First fall - Richard forced Yanagi to submit to an abdominal stretch. ⦁ Second fall - Richard was counted out after Yanagi beat her into the ring to beat the referee's count after brawling outside the ring. ⦁ Third fall - Richard pinned Yanagi following a spinebuster slam. NWA World Women's Tag Team Championship - Two Out of Three Falls Renée Martel & Claire Lepage (C) defeated Miyoko Hoshino & Hiroko Onishi, two falls to one. ⦁ First fall - Hoshino pinned Lepage following a springboard elbow off the ropes. ⦁ Second fall - Lepage forced Onishi to submit to a figure-four leglock. ⦁ Third fall - Martel got the submission from Hoshino with the Alligator Clutch. * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * Miyuki Yanagi also sometimes wrestled under a mask in AJW as the Masked Killer, billed as a "foreign" heel for her masked appearances when teaming with foreign wrestlers.

WCW World Television Title Match 10 Minute Time Limit Match Diamond Dallas Page (w/Diamond Doll and Maxx Muscle) defends vs. ??? Comments/Prediction On Mystery Opponent: Rick Steamboat, who wins via DQ when either Max Muscle or the Four Horsemen interfere Pretty Powerful vs. Ron Simmons and ??? Comments/Prediction On Mystery Partner: I'm thinking Ice Train, since those two also teamed IRL Semifinals Of Number One Contender Tag Team Tournament Road Warriors (w/Paul Ellering) vs. Miracle Violence Connection (w/Mike Rotunda) Comments: WCW World Tag Team Titles Match Luger & Windham defend vs. Christian & Hardcastle Comments: 'The Heartbreak Kid' Shawn Michaels vs. 'Iron' Mike Rotunda Comments: Well, you know what they say about curiosity and cats... 😆

It's a very interesting "what if..." alt-history concept, I'll admit - much like the premise in the diary I'm writing of Mildred Burke establishing her own active women's promotion in the 1960s to give her wrestling school trainees a place for them to wrestle, get established and get seen, as well as to counter (and give legitimate and serious competition to) the influence of Fabulous Moolah.

As promised in the previous BTS post, Renée Martel makes her return to Japan for another tour with All Japan Women, and she's bringing two of her friends and a couple of other AGWA colleagues with her this time around: * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * All Japan Women's Pro Wrestling @ Yashio* September 25, 1971 - Yashio, Japan Attendance - 2,250 Paula Steele & Patty Stevens defeated Miyoko Hoshino & Hiroko Onishi when Steele powerslammed and pinned Onishi. NWA World Women's Tag Team Championship - Two Out of Three Falls Renée Martel** & Claire Lepage (C) defeated Maxie Murata & Jumbo Miyamoto, two falls to one. First fall - Miyamoto pinned Lepage following an overhead suplex. Second fall - Lepage pinned Murata with a flying bodypress. Third fall - Martel forced Miyamoto to submit to the Alligator Clutch. WWWA World Championship - Two Out of Three Falls Aiko Kyo (C) battled Michèle Richard to a draw. First fall - Kyo pinned Richard following a top-rope dropkick. Second fall - Richard pinned Kyo following a spinebuster slam. Third fall - Kyo and Richard were both counted out while fighting outside the ring. * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * The venue in Yashio where an AJW card was held on this date IRL was not documented. ** As with her previous AJW tour, Renée chose to not wrestle as a heel, but maintained her "tweener" status in Japan by sticking to her scientific style, which Claire chose to follow by also wrestling a clean, yet rugged, style (in effect, defying the foreign heel stereotypes seen in other touring North American wrestlers by acting polite and respectful when coming to the ring and being introduced by the AJW ring announcers); on the other hand, Michèle chose to embrace her heel status, as did Paula Steele and Patty Stevens.

At a Denny's restaurant in Anaheim not long after the end of the night's AGWA TV tapings, Renée Martel and Claire Lepage were enjoying a late dinner while talking about the night's events with Joyce Grable and Jan Sheridan, who had joined them for dinner as their guests. "So after spending your first week out here, how're you two enjoying California so far?" Renée asked Jan and Joyce while the girls awaited their dinner orders (three of which were Denny's burger combos, ordered by Renée, Claire and Jan, while Joyce ordered fried chicken). "It's all been good so far," Jan answered with a grin. "Joyce and I had a great time over at Disneyland yesterday when we got here after our trip through Colorado and New Mexico." "I'd always wanted to visit Disneyland ever since seein' it sometimes while watchin' Walt Disney on TV while I was growin' up," Joyce joined in. "This trip out here to wrestle's the first time I've ever had the chance to visit Disneyland." "But judgin' on the reaction by some of the park visitors to you and Claire, I think it's safe to say you two aren't strangers to Disneyland," Jan then quipped to Renée, referring to moments when a number of Disneyland visitors, who recognized Renée and Claire from seeing them on AGWA Women's Pro Wrestling, approached them for autographs and to take pictures with them during the girls' visit to the theme park. "And you'd be right," Renée admitted with her own grin, "but visiting there was easier to do back when Claire and I first came here as unknowns back in '67, like you'd be with the fans here now." "And once you start getting seen on TV out here," Claire then added, "you won't be so unknown anymore after that. The TV exposure from appearing on Mildred's show is a real career boost for any girl who gets on." "That's great," Joyce then said, "but I worry what Moolah's gonna think when she sees us appearing on Mrs. Burke's TV show. Before we came this way, Jan and I heard from Vince McMahon that he'd contacted Mrs. Burke about getting her show to air back East alongside the WWWF's own TV." "Yep, Mildred was happy to hear that news when she got it," Renée said. "But why worry about that? Moolah sent you out here, didn't she?" "Nope, Moolah had nothin' to do with sendin' us out here," Jan said. "It was McMahon who booked us himself to send us here, Moolah had no part in it - he even knew Moolah would object 'cause she's been steadfast about refusin' to allow any of her girls to go wrestle in the AGWA." "And Moolah has ways of dealin' with those of her girls who defy her or get her mad," Joyce added. "She ain't nobody that you'd want to cross." "Believe me, I know it all too well - and I've never been a Moolah girl myself," Renée said. "She also goes out of her way to sabotage anyone who's not part of her camp who she think's a threat to her and her spot in women's wrestling." "You mean, you've had it happen to you?" Jan asked, at which Renée nodded. "It's not really something Renée likes to talk about other than with those she knows," Claire explained, "but she's had some bad experiences dealing with Moolah, either directly or indirectly." "Such as?" Joyce then asked, at which Claire then told her and Jan about when Moolah tried to break Renée's nose with a palm strike during their match for Moolah's NWA World Women's title back in 1969, along with the more recent incident where Paula Kaye and Kitty Adams hospitalized Renée with their vicious shoot attack on her. "There were other incidents against Renée that we found out Moolah had a hand in - just ask Mildred and Joyce Becker about them, they'll verify them for you," Claire added. "Well... I think I gotta confess something then," a sheepish-looking Joyce then spoke up. "One time during a trainin' session with Paula and Kitty back at Moolah's compound after they got back from Quebec, Paula got to talkin' about that incident they were involved in against Renée up in Montreal - and she was actually braggin' about it, almost like it was somethin' for her to be proud of. I asked her how she could be proud of sendin' an opponent to the hospital like she did and we had an argument over it before Moolah stepped in and broke it up. I asked Moolah about it after that and she told me to drop the subject." "So, you suspected Moolah knew about what happened, at the very least?" Renée then wondered. "That's what I thought," Joyce said, "and I would've liked to dig more into it, but I didn't want to push the issue with Moolah and risk her givin' me hell over it after how she reacted to my question." "Ah, incroyable," a stunned Renée muttered in French as she shook her head in disbelief. "Well, just for the record, I think Moolah comes off as kind of a jerk myself, and that's just from my dealings with her," Jan said. "We just do what she tells us, but that don't mean we all agree with what she does or says. Some of Moolah's girls have the same kind of attitude Paula and Kitty do, like Toni Rose and Dottie Downs or that new kid, Ashley Sinclair, who used to wrestle here before she went to join Moolah - but not all of us do because we don't buy into Moolah's BS or brainwashin'." "I know what you mean," Renée said. "I first worked with Joyce Becker back when we toured the Canadian Maritimes in 1965, back when she was the original Joyce Grable. She told me she was a Moolah girl then - and this was before Moolah first tried to get me to join her camp by going through Vince McMahon, but Joyce and I got to be friends during the tour, then we reconnected after she quit Moolah to join the AGWA in 1968 and we've been friends since. I also got along with Donna Christanello when we teamed up in Vancouver back in 1967." "That's good," Joyce said. "That shows that not all of us are like Paula Kaye or Kitty Adams, or even like Moolah herself. They might buy what Moolah's been sayin' about you, but we don't - especially not after hangin' out with you these last few days." On hearing what Joyce said, Renée smiled, realizing that she had gained two more allies in Joyce and Jan. "Hey, I think that's our dinners coming," Claire said next as she pointed out one of the Denny's waitresses, who was coming toward the girls' booth with their dinner orders. After thanking the waitress, Renée, Claire, Joyce and Jan started into their meals. "Anyway, enough about Moolah tonight," Jan said as she picked up a french fry on her plate after smothering the fries with ketchup. "Let's talk about happier stuff." "I agree," Renée said. "Getting together for dinner's supposed to be a good time, so let's do that." "So what's ahead for you two after your latest tour of duty for Mrs. Burke?" Joyce then asked Renée and Claire after she swallowed a bite from a chicken drumstick. "Well, Mildred brought us down to tour with her at the end of last month because she had some plans for us, as she told us when we first arrived," Claire said after swallowing a bite from her cheeseburger. "Cool," Jan said. "What kind of plans?" "When we first got here," Renée said while taking a forkful of lettuce from the side salad that came with her burger plate, "Mildred asked us if we had our passports updated*..." * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * On the basis of what Renée just said, you can guess what's coming next for her and Claire... 😏 ⛩️

Brian Pillman vs Ric Flair United States Title: Francine is on the line if Malenko loses! Dean Malenko w/ Francine vs Scott Steiner (c) Eddie Guerrero vs Astro Rey Jr. Television Title: Fit Finlay vs Lord Steven Regal (c) Cage Match: Faces of Fear vs Hostile Intent Tag Team Titles: Harlem Heat vs The Outsiders (c)

AGWA TV taping @ Anaheim Convention Center Arena September 14, 1971 - Anaheim, California Attendance - 7,835 Aired the weekend of September 18, 1971 on AGWA Women's Pro Wrestling: Dark match Evelyn Stevens defeated Carmen Thompson by pinfall following a running knee smash. Cuddles Anderson defeated Yolanda Ruiz by pinfall following an airplane spin. Joyce Grable & Jan Sheridan made their AGWA TV debuts as they defeated Jen Scott & Addie Trent when Grable pinned Trent following a clothesline. Paula Steele (with "The Queen" Mae Young) used a full-Nelson on Terri Grayson to get the submission win. At Young's urging post-match, Steele kept the full-Nelson on Grayson and refused to let it go, but when the referee threatened to reverse the decision and disqualify Steele unless she let go by the count of five, the powerhouse rulebreaker eventually let go at the count of four and dropped Grayson to the mat, after which Young raised her client's arm in victory to the fans' boos. California Women's Championship Vivian Vachon, in the wake of her non-title win over Jane O'Brien (C) two weeks earlier, challenged her for her California title and emerged triumphant as she defeated O'Brien to win the title in a hard-fought match after pinning O'Brien following an overhead suplex. AGWA Television Championship Vicki Steppe defeated Joyce Becker (C) to win the title in the TV main event when Steppe, taking advantage of a referee distraction when her cohort Beverly Shade showed up at ringside to argue with the ref, knocked Becker out with a foreign object obtained from one of her boots to obtain the ill-earned pinfall. Aired the weekend of September 25, 1971 on AGWA Women's Pro Wrestling: Dark match Patti Cavin* defeated Texas Red in a one-sided squash when Cavin hit Red with an avalanche in the corner before getting the pin. Ella Waldek defeated Samantha Sheridan by pinfall following a dropkick. Marie Laverne (in her first AGWA appearance) used a bulldog to pin and defeat Casey Andrews. Tanya West got the pinfall win over Lois Decker* following a backbreaker. AGWA Shooting Star Championship Barbara Jacobs (C) (with Mae Young) battled Tonette Kadrmas to a no-contest when the referee lost control of the match and was forced to disqualify both girls for excessive brawling. NWA World Women's Tag Team Championship - Two Out of Three Falls Renée Martel & Claire Lepage (C) defeated Michèle Richard & Patty Stevens (with Mae Young), two falls to one, in the TV main event (joined in progress during the second fall) when Richard and Stevens were disqualified in the third fall as Paula Steele ran in and attacked Martel as she had Richard tied up with the Alligator Clutch. Post-match, Steele, Stevens and Richard (who quickly recovered from Martel's submission hold thanks to Steele's early intervention) continued their three-on-two gangup on Martel and Lepage until Vivian Vachon, Joyce Becker, Cuddles Anderson and Marie Laverne ran in for the save and chased out the Queen's Court. Post-taping dark match NWA United States Women's Championship Judy Arnold (C) defeated Beverly "The Hammer" Shade by submission with a stepover toehold. * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * Roller derby skater IRL.

Quarterfinals Of Number One Contender Tag Team Tournament The Funks vs. The Rock 'N' Roll Express Comments: The Dungeon Of Doom (Kamala and The Shark) (w/The Taskmaster) vs. The Armstrong Boys Comments: 'Flyin' Brian Pillman vs. Sting Comments: Quarterfinals Of Number One Contender Tag Team Tournament Harlem Heat vs. Steiner Brothers Comments: 'The Nature Boy' Ric Flair (w/Arn Anderson) vs. Ricky 'The Dragon' Steamboat Comments:

NWA World Heavyweight Championship Match: Matt Cardona (C) vs Drew Galloway Comments: Galloway wins by DQ, so Cardona retains his belt to build up their feud Genie's Lamp Ladder Match: Jacob Fatu vs Nic Nemeth vs Matt Riddle vs Mustafa Ali vs Bryan Keith vs Alex Hammerstone Comments: NWA World Women's Championship Match: Mercedes Mone (C) vs Giulia Comments: NWA Global Invitational 4-Way Match (Winner receives a NWA Contract): Steve Maclin (USA) vs Flamita (Mexico) vs Trent Seven (UK) vs SHO (Japan) Comments: NWA World Tag Team Championship Match: MxM (C) vs The Von Erichs Comments:

American Girls' Wrestling Association @ Colorado State Auditorium-Gymnasium* September 8, 1971 - Fort Collins, Colorado Attendance - 8,650 Cuddles Anderson defeated Evelyn Stevens by pinfall following an airplane spin. Beverly "The Hammer" Shade & Vicki Steppe defeated Joyce Grable & Jan Sheridan when Shade took Grable down for the pinfall following a top-rope axhandle. Jan Vallow got the pinfall over Irma Acevedo with a bodyslam and legdrop. Renée Martel conquered Panama Franco by forcing Franco's submission with the Alligator Clutch. In a non-title match, Claire Lepage defeated AGWA Shooting Star Champion Barbara Jacobs (with "The Queen" Mae Young) by pinfall with a flying bodypress off the middle turnbuckle. NWA North American Women's Championship Michèle Richard (C) (with Mae Young) fought to a double-countout with former North American titleholder Joan Weston. * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * The Colorado State Auditorium-Gymnasium, the main indoor sports venue at Colorado State University in Fort Collins since that arena's opening in 1966, has been known as the Moby Arena since the late 1980s (though it still retains the Auditorium-Gymnasium as its official name).

American Girls' Wrestling Association @ Denver Coliseum September 7, 1971 - Denver, Colorado Attendance - 10,120 Evelyn Stevens used a running knee smash to put Colleen Murrell down for the pinfall win. Joyce Grable & Jan Sheridan made their AGWA debuts as they defeated Irma Acevedo & Panama Franco when Sheridan used a cross-bodyblock to pin Franco. Patty Stevens (with "The Queen" Mae Young) made short work of Cuddles Anderson* with a powerslam for the pinfall win. Joan Weston, making her AGWA return, put away Peggy Allen with a shoulderbreaker for the pinfall victory. In a non-title match, Tonette Kadrmas defeated AGWA Shooting Star Champion Barbara Jacobs (with Mae Young) by pinfall with a belly-to-belly suplex. NWA World Women's Tag Team Championship - Two Out of Three Falls Renée Martel & Claire Lepage (C) defeated Beverly "The Hammer" Shade & Vicki Steppe by disqualification in the third fall when Steppe reversed an Irish whip to the ropes by Lepage and whipped Claire into the referee. NWA North American Women's Championship Jan Vallow (who became the designated hometown heroine for this match in her native Denver) did battle with Michèle Richard (C) (with Mae Young) in the main event. Vallow began dominating moments after the opening bell, using a series of clotheslines and closed-fist punches to stagger the North American champ. Richard was nearly pinned following two reverse atomic drops and a massive bodyslam. Vallow continued to devastate Richard with a vicious assault as Young looked on in disbelief and the Denver Coliseum crowd roared its approval, but Richard gained the advantage with an eyerake and got a near-fall after a clothesline and an elbow drop. Richard continued to rock the challenger with some closed-fist punches of her own, then tried to wear down Vallow with a reverse chinlock, but Vallow, energized by the chanting hometown fans, powered out and regained the advantage. Richard blocked Vallow's bodyslam attempt by rolling into a small package, but Vallow broke out of the pin attempt, came back and set up the champion for a successful bodyslam. But before she could follow up by executing a legdrop off the ropes, Richard rolled out of the ring. Vallow followed Richard out and they started brawling around ringside. When Young attempted to interfere, Vallow chased her into the ring, unwittingly beating the 20-count and winning by countout (though Richard would retain her title due to NWA rules forbidding titles to change hands on countouts). * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * IRL, Cuddles Anderson (real name Marilu Walker) was a female midget wrestler; since midget wrestling never existed in this diary, Anderson has been made into a normal-sized wrestler ITTL, standing a full foot taller than her billed real-life height of 4'6".

Yep, pretty much the norm back in the territory days... 😏 And speaking of which, we'll see exactly what Moolah didn't want Jan and Joyce getting up to in an upcoming post... 🤔

Edge & Alexandr ‘Vertigo’ Klapstov vs Sting & Darby Allin The Arrows Of Russia (Dover & Icarus) vs Villain Enterprises (Brody King & Flip Gordon) - Semi Final Of The RFW Tag Team Title Tournament. Kris ‘The Falcon’ Jokic vs Ivan ‘The Body’ Markov - For The RFW National Title The Dark Church Of Satan vs The Viking Raiders (I still think of that team by its original ROH name of War Machine, though 😏 )

Meanwhile, across the country on the night before the AGWA Fresno card (and incidentally, this marks my 100th behind-the-scenes post in this diary)... * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * At a WWWF event in Asbury Park, New Jersey, Vince McMahon Sr. was going over the night's card list on his clipboard near the staging area leading to the aisle to the ring, marking off the result of the night's first match, a time-limit draw between Karl Gotch and Mike Monroe*, when Fabulous Moolah came along and went up beside him. "So, Lillian, all set to go in a few minutes?" Vince asked as he noticed Moolah. "Like I always am, Vince," Moolah said with a grin. "Good, are Paula, Donna and Vicki ready too?" Vince said, speaking of Paula Kaye, Moolah's partner for an upcoming tag team match, and Donna Christanello and Vicki WIlliams, their opponents that night. "Well, I sure hope they all are," Moolah quipped. "Otherwise all that time spent practicin' would be all for nothin'." "Good, I hope so too," Vince said, "especially after that little misadventure I'd heard Paula had with Kitty Adams against Renée Martel up in the Montreal territory last month, after I got told about it in that letter I got from Johnny Rougeau - I just hope Paula learned her lesson after she got dealt with up there for it." "Well, Paula wasn't happy 'bout it for awhile after she came back to Columbia," Moolah pointed out regarding the retaliatory "potatoing" Paula got from Michèle Richard in Sherbrooke not long after the Moolah-orchestrated incident against Renée at the Montreal Forum supercard, "but it's water under the bridge now." "Alright, because the last thing I need is to be getting a phone call from Sam Muchnick regarding that," Vince said. "Oh, and I wanted to mention, I'd like to have Donna and Vicki as well for the upcoming tapings in Hamburg on the 29th for that new syndicated show of ours, All-Star Wrestling, that'll be replacing Heavyweight Wrestling in a few weeks - I want to book them against Toni Rose and Patti Neilson for that night." "Sure, not a problem," Moolah said. "I'll jot that down in my notebook to remind me - hey, and I also heard y'all have a TV taping coming up the day before that for Philadelphia, right?" "I do," Vince confirmed. "In that case, I got Jan and Joyce available to use for that night if y'all wanna use 'em," Moolah pointed out, referring to Jan Sheridan and Joyce Grable. "Yeah, well, about that..." Vince then said before trailing off. "I wanted to talk to you about them, actually." "Okay, what about?" Moolah said. "I talked with Jan and Joyce about a week ago," Vince explained, "and they said they wanted to expand their horizons wrestling-wise, to 'stretch their wings', so to speak." "Well, I could do that for 'em easily by booking 'em out for more dates to other promoters," Moolah said. "So what's your point?" "My point is, I told them there was a way they could do that," Vince said, "so I made a phone call to Mildred Burke..." "You...did...what?!" Moolah then said tersely, both shocked and displeased at what she had heard. "I booked Jan and Joyce for an excursion to Los Angeles for Burke," Vince said, "to give them more experience against a wider variety of opponents." "You can't do that, Vince!" Moolah told him point-blank. "I'll cancel that 'excursion' you sent 'em on by booking 'em elsewhere!" "Too late, Lillian," Vince said. "Jan and Joyce already left for L.A. a few days ago. They got booked to start with Burke this week and they'll be there through a couple of TV tapings over there into late this month." "I don't believe this," an incredulous Moolah said as she briefly paced the floor. "How could y'all do this to me, Vince? You know full well that Jan and Joyce are my girls and that I do the booking for them - what gives you the right to undermine me by sending my girls out to a rival promoter, especially knowin' that that rival promoter is Mildred Burke, and y'all know how I feel 'bout her and her girls - especially that Martel girl!" "Look, Lillian, I did this because Burke's an NWA member, just like I am now and have been since the convention last month where I rejoined the Alliance," Vince pointed out. "I did it to help her out a little and to help Jan and Joyce get some training in different styles of wrestling as well, to elevate their game." "That only makes it worse!" Moolah then snapped. "By them trainin' under Burke, that's gonna make them..." she added before pausing and hestiating. "Go ahead, say it - it'll make them into better wrestlers than you and turn them into legitimate threats against you and your spot on top of women's wrestling, right?" Vince said, deadpanning. "Like Renée Martel, like Michèle Richard, Joan Weston, Penny Banner, Ann Casey, Judy Arnold, Ann Calvello - should I go on?" Moolah let out a frustrated groan over what she was hearing. "How can this possibly get worse than that now?" she grumbled out loud. "Well, if you thought that bit of news you got was bad, listen to this," Vince then said. "Remember when I was contemplating talking to Burke about getting her TV show to air as a companion show for our TV in our markets out here in the Northeast, and you talked me out of it, even though there was growing demand for her show from the fans out here to station managers that I talked to?" "What about it?" Moolah said curtly, both knowing and worrying what she would hear next. "I decided not to fight it anymore and I gave the green light to the stations airing our TV in New York, Boston, Hartford, Philadelphia, Baltimore and DC to add Burke's show to their schedules," Vince announced. "They start carrying her show later this month - and even Pittsburgh will be adding it as a companion show for Studio Wrestling at the station it's on over there** thanks to Bruno Sammartino's clout." Moolah was utterly dumbfounded by what she had heard regarding the stations carrying Vince's WWWF TV picking up AGWA Women's Pro Wrestling to run alongside his own shows, fearing that by being exposed to Mildred's product, the fans in the Northeast who had, up until that point, only been familiar with women's wrestling through Moolah would view the AGWA and its stars in a more favorable light and support them over Moolah and her girls and view the AGWA as the superior product over Moolah's style of women's wrestling, and would then begin demanding to see the AGWA stars in person in WWWF rings instead of Moolah and her girls. "Sorry, Lillian," Vince said with a shrug of his shoulders, "but the fans won out and they got what they asked for. Now if you'll excuse me, I have to go see Pedro and Bob*** about their main event match later on tonight," he finished, referring to Pedro Morales and Gorilla Monsoon, before leaving to head down the hallway. After Vince left, Moolah was simply seething over the pieces of news she got (both tied to her trainer and former mentor Mildred), the news she had least wanted to hear at that point, as she turned to head back to her personal dressing room. Later that evening, although she and Paula would still win their match against Donna and Vicki as booked, having those bits of news on her mind preoccupied her and ended up affecting her performance in the ring, which did not escape the fans' notice as they razzed her even more than they usually did when she appeared in the ring or on TV for interviews. Dissatisfied with her performance that night, Moolah contemplated what her next move would be in the wake of what she had learned from Vince... * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * AKA Moose Morowski/Stan Mykietovich. ** The station in question carrying Studio Wrestling was Pittsburgh NBC affiliate WIIC-TV (now WPXI). *** Bob Marella, the real name of Gorilla Monsoon.

Well, now this is going to be intriguing to follow - Mick McManus heading to "the colonies" to wrestle before new audiences and to pave the way for the later arrivals of Billy Robinson, Les Thornton, Adrian Street, Dynamite Kid, etc. (just as IRL)... 🤔 Consider me subscribed.

Be careful what you ask for, Bischoff, because you and Hogan just might get it (as I recall happened IRL when Bischoff was stripped of his presidency of WCW by Turner via Turner Sports head Harvey Schiller, while we know what happened when Hogan fired off his mouth one time too many and Sting stepped up)...

American Girls' Wrestling Association @ Selland Arena September 4, 1971 - Fresno, California Attendance - 7,280 Evelyn Stevens* defeated Gwen Miller by pinfall following a running knee smash. In a non-title match, NWA World Women's Lightweight Champion Julie Patrick used a flying dropkick on Lorna Dale to get the pinfall win. Tonette Kadrmas fought Tanya West to a double-countout. NWA North American Women's Championship Michèle Richard (C) (with "The Queen" Mae Young) defeated Sister Lavender by pinfall following a spinebuster slam. NWA World Women's Tag Team Championship - Two Out of Three Falls Renée Martel & Claire Lepage (C) defeated Georgia Hase & Judy Sowinski (with Mae Young) when Hase and Sowinski were disqualified in the third fall due to Michèle Richard running in to attack Lepage as she had Sowinski trapped in a figure-four leglock. Hase ran into the ring post-match to prevent Martel from making the save for Lepage by attacking Martel as well, leading to a three-on-two by the Queen's Court against Martel and Lepage after Sowinski recovered from the figure-four and went to join her teammates in the attack under Young's direction, until Sister Lavender ran in to even the sides and helped Renée and Claire fight the heel trio off and run them out to ringside. * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * Yep, the same Evelyn Stevens who defeated Fabulous Moolah to win the NWA World Women's title in 1978 IRL for what amounted to a cup of coffee. And speaking of Moolah, I've got a behind-the-scenes post coming up featuring her that's going to tie in to an upcoming AGWA event (no, she won't be appearing at that event, but wait 'til you see what her reaction to it is when she learns how it, among other things, ends up affecting her)...

Real World Rise of a Star by @Old School Fan AWA 1989: A Financial Savior Is (Badly) Needed by @Captain Kremmen WCW 1995 by @Henderson NWA: Reclaiming the Glory by @Uncrewed Showcase [New Diary], [shock Signing], [shock Push], [shock Title Win], [shock Turn], [Worker], [Face Worker], [Heel Worker], [Tag Team], [stable], [Champion], [Angle], [storyline], [Rocky Maivia], [Graphics] Storyline - Renée Martel's hospitalization in Rise of a Star by @Old School Fan Storyline - Drew Galloway confronts Matt Cardona at NWA Philly Special in NWA: Reclaiming the Glory by @Uncrewed Match Renée Martel & Claire Lepage vs. Paula Kaye & Kitty Adams @ Montreal Forum - August 2, 1971 in Rise of a Star by @Old School Fan Wahoo McDaniel vs. Greg Valentine @ AWA Super Clash 5 in AWA 1989: A Financial Savior Is (Badly) Needed by @Captain Kremmen Matt Cardona vs. Mustafa Ali @ NWA Philly Special in NWA: Reclaiming the Glory by @Uncrewed Event All-Star Wrestling @ Montreal Forum - August 2, 1971 in Rise of a Star by @Old School Fan AWA Super Clash 5 in AWA 1989: A Financial Savior Is (Badly) Needed by @Captain Kremmen NWA Philly Special - April 5, 2024 in NWA: Reclaiming the Glory by @Uncrewed

AGWA TV taping @ Anaheim Convention Center Arena August 31, 1971 - Anaheim, California Attendance - 8,120 Aired the weekend of September 4, 1971 on AGWA Women's Pro Wrestling: Dark match Perla Nieto* defeated Shae Driscoll by pinfall following a bodyslam. Irma Acevedo defeated Jackie Long by submission with a Boston crab. Following the match, show host DIck Lane appeared at ringside as he introduced a familiar face beside him: DICK LANE: Joining me here now, starting with the next match and going forward, is my new broadcast partner, the former AGWA Television Champion and former co-holder of the United States Women's Tag Team Championship herself, the one and only Shirley Hardman - welcome back to the show, Shirley. SHIRLEY HARDMAN: Thanks, Dick, it's sure good to be back and the fans will be hearing a lot more from me on the mic starting today. LANE: Now with your past experience in the ring, including all the championships you've held, as the new color commentator for the show, you'll be bringing an insider's view to the broadcast desk. HARDMAN: That's right, and as someone who's faced a variety of opponents with a variety of styles during my career, I can analyze their strengths and weaknesses and what they need to do while also making those observations from a female viewpoint. LANE: Now, how's your back been doing since you were forced out of action about six months ago? HARDMAN: My lower back's doing a lot better now since it's had the chance to heal up over the past few months, especially with the physiotherapy I did to help with the healing. It was because of that injury back in March that the doctors who examined me over time following the injury advised me to hang up my boots and call it a career from the ring or else risk ending up in a wheelchair, so I took their advice, but that doesn't mean I don't get the itch from time to time to put the boots back on and get back in the ring again - and the one opponent I'd do that against would be the opponent who put me out of action to begin with, Ashley Sinclair. If Sinclair ever gets the guts to come back to the AGWA, I'd be willing to take my chances and get back in the ring - even if just for one night - and give her the tail-whipping she deserves for what she did to me then. LANE: And on that note, we'll call the action with the next match starting right after a few words from our sponsors. Sister Lavender defeated Elise Dorsett by pinfall following a facebuster. Vivian Vachon (formerly Vivian Vance), making her return to the AGWA after quitting the Fabulous Moolah camp earlier in the month, defeated California Women's and AGWA Interstate Champion Jane O'Brien in a non-title match when, after overcoming O'Brien's brawling tactics with some brawling of her own, Vachon used a shoulderbreaker on O'Brien to take her down for the pin. AGWA Television Championship Joyce Becker (C) defeated Tanya West by pinfall following a high knee off the ropes. Following the match, Vicki Steppe ran in and attacked Becker from behind as she was being handed the TV title belt, then whipped Becker to the ropes and clotheslined her on the rebound before grabbing the TV belt and striking Becker across the back with it to knock her back down to the mat as she attempted to get back up, then Steppe grabbed the arena mic and demanded a title shot against Becker as the crowd booed Steppe. AGWA Interstate Tag Team Championship - Two Out of Three Falls Sally Vega & Lita Marez upset Paula Steele & Patty Stevens (C) (with "The Queen" Mae Young) to end the Queen's Court duo's year-long reign with the belts as they defeated Steele and Stevens, two falls to one, to regain the title in the TV main event (joined in progress during the second fall due to time constraints). ⦁ First fall - Steele powerslammed and pinned Marez. ⦁ Second fall - Marez used the Boston crab to force Stevens to submit. ⦁ Third fall - Vega floored Steele with a flying bodypress to get the title-winning pinfall. Aired the weekend of September 11, 1971 on AGWA Women's Pro Wrestling: Dark match Ella Waldek defeated Sandra Hale by pinfall following a dropkick. Tonette Kadrmas & Marie Vagnone defeated Yolanda Ruiz & Jessie Willard when Kadrmas pinned Willard following an exploder suplex. Vicki Steppe used the elevated hammerlock to force Carrie Lloyd to submit. After getting her hand raised in victory, Steppe picked Lloyd up and again put the elevated hammerlock on her in a sadistic attempt to further abuse her, but Joyce Becker ran in and nailed Steppe from behind with a forearm smash to make the save, then whipped Steppe to the ropes and dropkicked her out of the ring. In a non-title match, NWA World Women's Tag Team Champions Renée Martel & Claire Lepage defeated Lorna Dale & Janet Russ when Lepage forced Russ to submit to the figure-four leglock. AGWA Shooting Star Championship Barbara Jacobs (with Mae Young) defeated Lynn Congleton** (C) to win the title when Jacobs pinned Congleton following a Lou Thesz press. NWA United States Women's Championship Judy Arnold (C) defeated Beverly "The Hammer" Shade by disqualification in the TV main event when Vicki Steppe ran in and attacked Arnold as she had Shade in the spinning toehold; Steppe and Shade double-teamed on Arnold post-match until Joyce Becker ran in moments later and helped Arnold fight the heels off and run them out of the ring. Post-taping dark match NWA North American Women's Championship Michèle Richard (C) (with Mae Young) battled Mary Jane Mull to a 30-minute time-limit draw. * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * Perla Nieto was best known IRL for being a two-time holder of All Japan Women's WWWA World Tag Team Championship (while competing under the misspelled ring name Paula Niet). ** Lynn Congleton won the AGWA Shooting Star title (which had been left vacant following previous champion Ashley Sinclair's departure from the AGWA to join Fabulous Moolah's group) by winning a battle royal at an AGWA TV taping on April 6, 1971 in Anaheim, last eliminating Vicki Steppe.

Terry 'The Rhino' Richards vs. Warrior Comments: Road Warriors vs. American Males Comments: The Blue Bloods vs. Johnny B. Badd and The Hardy Boys Comments: Greg 'The Hammer' Valentine vs. ??? Comments/Predictions On Mystery Man: My guess will be Dick Slater as the mystery opponent, looking to renew a rivalry between the two (going back to their mid-'80s US title feud) while trying to prove he's still got some gas left in the tank 'The Iceman' Dean Malenko vs. Mr. JL Comments: Christian and Hardcastle vs. Miracle Violence Connection Comments: 'Rowdy' Roddy Piper and 'The Heartbreak Kid' Shawn Michaels vs. 'The Immortal' Hulk Hogan and 'The Macho Man' Randy Savage Comments:

Here's the event which Mildred Burke, acting on behalf of Los Angeles promoter Mike LeBell, invited Renée Martel and her friends to take part in - the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum Supershow. Unlike the IRL version (in which Fabulous Moolah was a participant), however, ITTL, Moolah was never asked to take part in this supercard, which saw a couple of lineup changes as a result: * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * NWA Hollywood Wrestling @ Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum August 27, 1971 - Los Angeles, California Attendance - 38,847* (Memorial Coliseum; also seen via closed-circuit TV within the territory) Sicodelico defeated Fidel Castillo by disqualification. El Gran Markus defeated Suni War Cloud** by pinfall following a powerslam. Bobo Brazil battled The Sheik to a double-countout as the brawl between both wrestlers spilled out to ringside. Cowboy Frankie Laine defeated Paul DeMarco by pinfall. NWA United States Heavyweight Championship (San Francisco) Peter Maivia (C) defeated Dutch Savage by disqualification when Savage was caught using a thumb to the throat on Maivia. José Lothario defeated Ripper Collins by pinfall. NWA North American Women's Championship Michèle Richard (C) (with "The Queen" Mae Young) defeated Joyce Becker by pinfall following a spinebuster slam. NWA Americas Tag Team Championship Black Gordman & The Great Goliath defeated Kinji Shibuya & Mr. Saito (C) to win the title when Gordman pinned Saito. NWA World Women's Tag Team Championship Renée Martel & Claire Lepage (C) defeated Paula Steele & Patty Stevens (with Mae Young) when Martel forced Stevens to submit to the Alligator Clutch. As Martel and Lepage were handed their belts post-match, Michèle Richard ran in and clotheslined Martel from behind, then went on the attack against her while Steele came in and also attacked Lepage until Joyce Becker ran to the ring, climbed to the top turnbuckle and knocked Steele to the mat with a flying bodypress, then tangled briefly with Richard before Martel got back to her feet and joined Becker to whip Richard to the ropes and also knock her to the canvas with a double-dropkick as the fan favorites cleared the Queen's Court members out of the ring. NWA World Light Heavyweight Championship El Solitario (C) defeated Raul Mata by pinfall in a contest filled with technical and acrobatic moves when Solitario executed a huracanrana-like move on Mata and rolled through to hook both of Mata's legs to get the pin. Two Out of Three Falls In a non-title match, Fred Blassie defeated NWA Americas Heavyweight Champion John Tolos, two falls to one, when the match was stopped in the third fall when Tolos was ruled to be bleeding too heavily to continue. * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * The actual attendance figure for this event IRL was 25,847; the increased figure ITTL was due, in addition to the Blassie-Tolos main event, to the increased presence of the ladies and the popularity of the AGWA, which contributed some of the supercard's participants, at this point. ** Not the original Suni War Cloud (who also wrestled as Chief War Cloud), but a luchador whose real name was Pedro Valdez Cordero.

This behind-the-scenes post takes place prior to the August 14 All-Star Wrestling card in Sherbrooke: * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * On a Saturday afternoon, a few days after the Montreal Forum supercard and two days after Renée Martel's release from Montreal General Hospital, she was back at home at her apartment, joined by Michèle Richard and Claire Lepage on a day off from the ring as they were in the middle of watching a Bugs Bunny cartoon on Renée's TV set. All three girls broke out in fits of laughter as they saw Bugs empty his garbage into a robot from outer space (who had been spying on Bugs before it went to hide among a group of garbage cans to avoid being discovered, only for Bugs to mistake the robot for a new garbage can), followed by the robot emerging from hiding as it coughed the garbage back out after Bugs left*. "Stupid robot!" Michèle quipped in between laughter. "That's what it gets for hiding among the garbage cans." "Sure, but Yosemite Sam sent it out and he's not the sharpest knife in the drawer either," Claire added. "Hey, you're not having problems with your ribs from all that laughter, are you?" she then asked Renée. "Only a little, but I'll survive," Renée said with a grin. "Well, I'm glad you won't be spending any more time out of the ring than that doctor at the hospital recommended," Michèle said. "Only about two or three weeks," Renée said. "At least it'll allow me some time to heal up and take it easy, but I can still keep myself toned up with weights over at Johnny's gym." "You can, as long as you go easy with it at first until the bruises heal," Claire pointed out. "Yeah, that lousy Paula Kaye," Renée remarked with a hint of resentment. "No thanks to her, I'll be spending all that time out of the ring, not being able to defend the World Women's Tag Team belts with you, or even being able to practice my moves in the ring." "Well, Johnny did get in touch with Mildred Burke and told her about what happened to you," Claire said. "From what I heard, she wasn't pleased about that news and she was going to send off a letter to Moolah about it." "And I bet I know how Moolah's gonna react to such a letter," Michèle said. "She's gonna make the usual denials, excuses, justifications, comebacks, retorts and a little bit of condescension - all in the same reply." "Sounds like Moolah, alright," Renée agreed with a nod. "Well, if you watch Sur le Matelas tonight at six," Michèle then said, "I've got a comeback of my own for Moolah and for Kaye in an interview - I fire off a few zingers at Moolah and I challenged Kaye to face me in a match in Sherbrooke next Saturday night. I told Johnny I wanted that match and he set it up for me." "Hey, that's great!" Renée said with a grin. "That's going to be the first time you've ever wrestled in your hometown, isn't it?" "It is," Michèle said. "In seven years in the ring - going right back to my Margot Bouchard days - I never once set foot in the ring back at home because of me wrestling as a heel. Me going up against another heel next Saturday, right in my hometown ring - especially when they hear it was one who sent you to the hospital with that shoot attack she and Kitty Adams did on you - ought to be enough to get the fans behind me." "Sounds great and all, but do you think Kaye's going to take the bait?" Claire wondered. "After you pounded her in her locker room last Monday, she's probably going to be gunshy about going up against you, especially on your home turf." "Oh, she will if I offer a shot at my North American belt as the bait," Michèle said with her own grin. "And if you're worried she might try any funny business against me in the ring to try to steal my belt and run off with it back to Moolah - if she accepts the match - don't worry, I'll be ready for her. I don't trust Moolah or any of her hired goons any further than I could throw Terrible Ted, so if she does accept the match, I'm gonna be on my guard against her." "Good call," Renée said. "Any of Moolah's girls who still pledges loyalty to her and does her bidding, I wouldn't trust either." "But now with the next couple of weeks or so off, Renée, what're you going to do to keep busy?" Claire then asked. "Well, now that you mention it," Renée said with a sly grin, "Jean's taking me out on a movie date on Tuesday night - we're going to see Love Story over at Westmount Square." "Ahh, nice," Claire said with a grin, while Michèle went "Ooooohh!" with her eyebrows raised before breaking out in a fresh round of laughter. "Okay, what's the joke?" Renée said to Michèle with a smirk. "You and Jean gonna sit in the back row and smooch all during the movie?" a grinning Michèle said in a playful tease. "No, of course not... Well, only during the dull parts of the movie," Renée admitted with a coy grin, making Michèle laugh again. Just then, the buzzer on Renée's apartment intercom began buzzing and she went to answer it. "Hello?" she said as she pushed her intercom's talk button. "It's Vivian," the voice of Vivian Vachon came over the intercom in reply. "Just came by to see how you're doing." "Okay, come on up," Renée said before buzzing Vivian in and opening the front door for her. About a minute later, Vivian arrived and stepped through the front door. "Hey, Renée, good to see you," Vivian said with a smile as she greeted Renée with a hug, taking care not to accidentally hurt her because of Renée's bruises on her left side still being tender. "And good to see you're doing a little better too after you got out of the hospital." "Yeah, the next couple of weeks I got off from the doctor should do me some good," Renée said as Vivian took her shoes off at the front door. "So, what brings you by?" "I got some news I wanted to tell you about, and it's better to tell you in person rather than over the phone," Vivian said. "You probably know by now that I joined Moolah's group a few months ago as part of a deal my brothers made to get Moolah's girls to come wrestle for them, right?" "Yep, we heard," Renée said with a nod. "We weren't happy about it because it was a proverbial 'deal with the devil', but it was your choice," Michèle added, "even though it meant losing you from the AGWA because of Moolah refusing to allow her girls to appear there." "You'd be right about that 'deal with the devil' part of it, Michèle," agreed Vivian, who then went on to tell the girls about the phone call she had made to Moolah the day after Vivian visited Renée in the hospital, including how the call ended. "Wow, so you really up and quit on Moolah?" a surprised Claire said. "I bet she wasn't happy about that at all because of the paydays she loses out on with the loss of her deal with your brothers." "And that's just part of why I quit," Vivian said. "While I was training down at Moolah's gym in South Carolina, I found out a few other interesting things about how Moolah runs her compound and what she's been doing down there..." Before Vivian could continue, however, Renée's phone began ringing, prompting Renée to get up and answer it. "Hello? Ah, hi Johnny," she said as she heard Johnny Rougeau at the other end. "Yeah, I'm feeling a bit better since I got out of the hospital two days ago, but the bruises on my left side are still a bit sore and tender. Yep, Claire's here too, she's been staying with me to help out while I'm on the mend. The doctor recommended I stay out of the ring for the next two weeks to allow the bruises to heal." She then paused as she listened to Johnny at the other end for a moment. "Really?" she continued, surprised by a bit of news she got from Johnny. "Oh, that's awesome! I should be healed up by then, so we can be there by then for sure. Okay Johnny, talk to you later." "So what did Johnny say?" Claire then asked. "Must be big news for you to get excited about." "It is," Renée said with a grin. "Mildred wants me, you and Michèle down in Los Angeles starting on the week of the 27th - and Mike LeBell's involved for that date**..." * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * Here's the specific scene from the cartoon which the girls were laughing about: ** That specific event will be detailed in an upcoming event post (and it'll be evident which event that is based on the date and location mentioned)...

I'm working on a behind-the-scenes post right now that's going to have exactly that, so stay tuned... 😎

Bam Bam Bigelow vs Hulk Hogan Sting vs Powerhouse Simmons The Great Muta vs Barry Windham Scotty Flamingo vs Kevin Sullivan The Fantastics vs The Terrors Thunder Dragon vs The Young Pistols

At least until now - at present, two TEW 2020 diaries, my own Rise of a Star and @Captain Kremmen's AWA 1989: A Financial Savior Is (Badly) Needed, have both surpassed the 40-page mark recently.