Old School Fan

I quit watching WWE back in 2005 and haven't gone back since (I only follow what goes on in WWE now via websites like WrestleView.com). Since then, I periodically check what's going on with TNA, AEW and the NWA (either on TV or online) and I watched ROH TV in syndication for awhile until I drifted out of the habit shortly before its syndicated run ended in 2022 (shortly before the Khans bought ROH), now I record Women of Wrestling to watch when the mood strikes me.

In the wake of Sting's retirement ten days ago in AEW... Ric Flair vs. Sting, Great American Bash 1990:

1950s/1960s-style generic Texas Heavyweight Championship (update of a previous post)

AWA WORLD TITLE: Wahoo McDaniel (WC) vs. Greg Valentine (PWHC) FALLS COUNT ANYWHERE: Cactus Jack vs. Jerry Lawler AWA WORLD TAG TEAM TITLES: Destruction Crew (WTTC) vs. Billy Jack Haynes & Scott Norton (via DQ) HAIR VS. MASK: The Trooper vs. Masked Mystery Man THIS IS WAR! Nikita Koloff vs. Col. DeBeers (no contest) AWA WOMEN'S WORLD TITLE: Magnificent MImi (WC - w/ Valerie) vs. Madusa Miceli BATTLE OF SECOND GENERATION WRESTLERS: Barry Windham vs. Bob Orton AWA DEBUT MATCH: Tully Blanchard (w/ Valerie) vs. Brad Rheingans

All-Star Wrestling @ Palais des Sports August 14, 1971 - Sherbrooke, Quebec Attendance - 5,750 Paul LeDuc defeated The Boston Strangler by pinfall. Raymond Rougeau defeated Chin Lee by submission with a sleeperhold. Antonio Baillargeon defeated Sugi Sito by pinfall following a flying dropkick. Jacques Rougeau defeated Abdullah the Butcher when Abdullah was counted out after Jacques beat him back into the ring during a wild ringside brawl. Chain match Killer Kilroy* (with Eddie "The Brain" Creatchman) defeated Jos LeDuc in a bloody contest when Kilroy pinned LeDuc after knocking him out with the chain. NWA North American Women's Championship Michèle Richard** (C), although technically still a heel, was cheered wildly by the Sherbrooke fans as she made her hometown debut to defend her title against Fabulous Moolah protégée Paula Kaye, who drew the ire of the fans as she made her way to the ring to their boos and jeers. Kaye further drew the fans' wrath via stalling by refusing to enter the ring to face Richard at first before finally getting in to start the match. Richard, the hometown heroine on this night, dominated the match in the early going, wearing the Oklahoma rulebreaker down with chinlocks and headlocks. Frustrated, Kaye rolled back out onto the arena floor. Richard followed her and slammed Kaye's head into the timekeeper’s bell. Back in the ring, Kaye surprised Richard with a spinecrusher, and then whipped her into the ropes. Richard rebounded into a Kaye abdominal stretch, but she managed to power out. Kaye then began giving Richard problems by throwing her out of the ring repeatedly. When Richard did get back through the ring ropes, she fell victim to a knee to the midsection by Kaye, who then attempted to do the same thing to Richard that she and fellow Moolah minion Kitty Adams did to Renée Martel at the Montreal Forum on August 2 as she grabbed the winded Richard's left arm and drove her right knee into Michèle's ribs, but Richard was having none of it as she grabbed one of Kaye's wrists with her right hand, then swept her legs and tripped her down to the mat. Richard then picked Kaye up, whipped her into the ropes and floored her with the spinebuster slam. Rather than go for the pin, however, Richard then began hammering Kaye with stiff punches to the overwhelming approval of the fans, but Kaye broke free from her grasp, rolled out of the ring and, as she was seen with a bit of blood trickling from the corner of her left eyebrow, ran back to the dressing room. Richard retained her North American Women's title as she was awarded the match by countout and was handed her title belt by the referee while the Sherbrooke fans roared their approval. ASW World Heavyweight Championship Gino Brito defeated Mr. X (C) (with Eddie Creatchman) by disqualification when Killer Kilroy ran in and attacked Brito as he had the figure-four leglock locked on X (who retained his title due to the DQ); a three-on-one against Brito then ensued until Jos and Paul LeDuc ran in for the save and chased Creatchman and his men out of the ring. * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * Killer Kilroy (real name Les Roberts) wrestled in other territories under the ring name Dingo the Sundowner while also competing under his own name in his native Australia. ** So with this match, does it look like Michèle Richard will now be drifting toward tweener status? Only time will tell...

Now as promised, the TV interview post stemming from the match where Paula Kaye and Kitty Adams sent Renée Martel to the hospital due to their vicious shoot attack as Michèle Richard speaks her mind on the incident and other things on the August 7 edition of Sur le Matelas (translated from the original French): * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * INTERVIEWER: Coming up next Saturday, August 14, wrestling action returns to the Palais des Sports in Sherbrooke with a bell time of 8 PM. In the main event, the masked man of mystery, Mr. X, defends his World Heavyweight Championship against the challenge of Gino Brito; Jos LeDuc will square off against Killer Kilroy in a chain match; Jacques Rougeau and Abdullah the Butcher will also collide in another featured match; and my guest at this time will be making her first wrestling appearance in her hometown of Sherbrooke as she defends her North American Women's Championship - here is Michèle Richard. (Richard walks into the scene) Well, Michèle, you've got a big event ahead of you as you make your hometown debut after being involved in wrestling the past few years. MICHÈLE RICHARD: That's right, ______, I will be, but before I get to that, I wanna bring up my match from this past Monday night at the Montreal Forum, and my opponent that night, Ann Calvello. Calvello, you gave me one hell of a match that night, and with good reason - you made a name for yourself over the years as being one of the toughest and most unpredictable wrestlers there is in women's wrestling, and you wouldn't have become the North American Women's Champion if not for that. But this past June, my time to shine came when I beat you for this title in Los Angeles... (Holds up the title belt) ...and then I beat you again to retain this belt at the Forum. You had a good run with your career and as the North American Women's Champion, Calvello, but now there's one thing you need to do - ride off into the sunset and retire, because this is my time now and I'm the champion. INTERVIEWER: Now, getting to your match in Sherbrooke next Saturday, your opponent that night is somebody who also wrestled at the Forum last Monday and went out of her way to try to deliberately injure one-half of the World Women's Tag Team Champions, Renée Martel, during a match for that title - and that opponent is Paula Kaye. RICHARD: Exactly, ______. Everyone who's followed the sport over the past few years knows that there's no love lost between me and Martel. I'm no fan of hers and I know she feels the same way about me because of the many times we've clashed in the ring, but what happened to Martel that night against Paula Kaye, where Martel got sent to the hospital, that was a travesty - and I'm saying it because I know that Kaye is a stooge of the Fabulous Moolah. Martel and I might not like each other, but there's one thing that we have in common - neither of us likes Moolah, just like the fans in Quebec don't like Moolah because of all the trash-talking she does about Quebec. I said it before about Moolah and I'll say it again - she's a disgrace to that World Women's Championship that she holds because she's afraid to defend her belt against real wrestlers, the ones who'd show her up in the ring and make her look like the glorified bum that she is and always has been. Since I won the North American title, that now makes me second on the women's wrestling totem pole, below only Moolah, which makes me the top contender to Moolah's belt - and I've even challenged her for her belt, but I got no reply from her, so what's that say about her? It says she's a gutless coward, that's what. INTERVIEWER: And because of her association with Moolah, that now makes Kaye a target for you. RICHARD: Right again, and I'm not gonna let what Kaye tried to do to Martel stop me from putting the boots to Kaye in my hometown, Sherbrooke, next Saturday night. I wanted that match against her in my hometown and I got it, and I'm even putting my North American belt on the line against Moolah's stooge to give her an incentive to get in the ring and face me - if she's got the guts to do so! INTERVIEWER: And there you have it, Michèle Richard lays it on the line as she'll defend her North American Women's Championship against one of the Fabulous Moolah's girls, Paula Kaye, as one of the featured matches next Saturday night, August 14, at the Palais des Sports in Sherbrooke. Tickets for this event will be on sale at the Palais des Sports box office and at selected retail outlets in Sherbrooke, so get your tickets today!

That BTS post with Renée ending up in the hospital due to Moolah's goons does make it sound kinda like a soap opera, doesn't it (though I'm not personally a fan of the "wrestling as soap opera" approach Vince McMahon and his then-head writer Vince Russo first took with the WWF during the Attitude Era)? As for Moolah, as seen in my most recent BTS post, she already got a bit of blowback for her masterminding the attack on Renée, but we'll see just how much bigger of a bill Moolah racks up against her before that bill comes due...

Now, picking up where the previous chapter left off... * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * The following day in her home office at her Columbia estate, Fabulous Moolah was (as she usually did when at her desk) going through some business papers she had taken from a filing cabinet near her desk when her desk phone began ringing. She let it ring twice before picking up the handset to answer, "Hello, Girl Wrestling Enterprises..." "Hey Lillian, it's Paula," the voice of Paula Kaye came from the other end of the line. "Oh hey, darlin'," Moolah replied. "How'd things go last night in Montreal?" "Exactly as you planned - Kitty and I gave Martel the business like you planned out," Paula said of her and Kitty Adams' shoot attack on Renée Martel during the third fall of their match at the Montreal Forum. "Good, good," Moolah said with a grin. "And how'd that turn out?" "It was kind of a 'good news, bad news' situation," Paula said. "You want the bad news first?" Oh, good grief, Moolah thought to herself as she rolled her eyes and shook her head. "Lay it on me, darlin'," she then said. "We didn't get to finish what we started 'cause we got chased out with a hockey stick by Ann Calvello," Paula explained. "That nut?" Moolah said of one of her old in-ring and out-of-ring foes. "She was up in Montreal for your card, wasn't she?" "She was, but that's not the half of it," Paula added. "Kitty and I would've tried goin' back in by one of us sneakin' around the ring to jump Calvello from behind so we could take her out too and then go back after Martel, but she had the hockey stick and we didn't want to risk getting whacked with it - plus, some other guy showed up in the ring after that, probably Martel's father, and there was no way we wanted to mess with him." "Better that you didn't anyway," Moolah said. "So what about that Martel girl?" "We didn't stick around the ring 'cause security got us back to our locker room after a few rubes at ringside tried to start somethin' with me and Kitty," Paula continued, "but from what we heard, Martel got taken backstage on a stretcher and she went to the hospital after that. That's still not the end of it, though - not long after Kitty and I got back to our locker room, some other girl busted in, charged at me and attacked me before other wrestlers came in and got her out." Moolah cursed silently under her breath at what she heard. "So what all did this girl look like, anyway?" she resumed, starting to get a suspicion. "Tall girl with long, straight black hair, strong, real hard hitter and she was cussin' me out in French as she was whompin' on me," Paula said. "One of the wrestlers who got her outta there called her 'Michelle' or somethin' like that." "I figured as much - Martel's 'pit bull'," Moolah said, immediately recognizing Paula's attacker as Michèle Richard - who Moolah had crossed paths with backstage on a few occasions in the past - based on the description Paula gave her. "Okay, you and Kitty did what you had to do, now y'all need to get back here quick to avoid retribution from that bunch - you two are lucky as it is that y'all didn't get lynched by them ringsiders last night for what happened." "Kitty's already on her way back, but I figured I'd stick around for a few more days and stir things up over here," Paula said, sounding almost like she was gloating about her actions that night. "Alright, darlin', it's your neck, but don't do nothin' foolish while y'all are up that way," Moolah warned Paula before saying goodbye and hanging up, then returning to her papers. * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * A few minutes after the previous call finished, however, Moolah's phone began ringing again and she answered it. "Hello, Girl Wrestling Enterprises..." "Moolah, it's Johnny Rougeau here," Johnny's voice came over the line. "Ah, hi darlin'," Moolah greeted Johnny, attempting to put on a sincere front. "So how's things goin' up your way?" "Look, let's cut the small talk and get down to business, okay?" Johnny replied. "I think you know why I'm calling you right now." "Why, whatever do you mean?" Moolah said, feigning innocence. "I'm not happy with you right now because your girls, Paula Kaye and Kitty Adams, tried to intentionally injure Renée Martel on your orders last night and they put her in the hospital," Johnny stated point-blank. "I have no idea what you're talkin' about," Moolah lied, denying any involvement in her girls' actions. "If my girls did anything to Martel, that was of their own accord - I had nothing to do with it." "Do you need a reminder of what you did to Renée two years ago when you met in the ring in Montreal?" Johnny retorted. "Between that and all the things Renée and others I talked to told me you tried doing to her or having done to her by hired guns, you got the track record, so you're not fooling me and you're not fooling anyone else, no matter how much you try to deny it." "Likely story, Rougeau," Moolah said. "I told you, I had nothin' to do with what happened to that Martel girl - so who're you gonna believe, me or someone with an axe to grind against me because they're bitter and jealous that I'm a bigger success than any of my critics?" "I don't care about your self-serving spiel, Moolah," Johnny said. "What I do care about, though, is the trouble your girls caused for me last night." "Oh? How so?" Moolah said with a self-satisfied smirk. "Thanks to Kaye and Adams' antics - which included them fighting with some ringside fans and almost starting a fan riot because of it after their attack on Renée - I ran into trouble with the Montreal Athletic Commission when a representative came backstage at the Forum while I was on my way to talk to your girls after their match," Johnny said. "I got hit with a fine by the Commission because of what your girls instigated." "So what's it to me?" Moolah then said dismissively, still unwilling to take responsibility for the actions she had Paula and Kitty take. "Why pin the blame on me 'cause you can't keep your events under control?" "I'll tell you what it is to you, Moolah - I paid for the fine by taking it out of Kaye and Adams' match purses that night," Johnny stated matter-of-factly. "I withheld their match purses from last night's show as punishment for what they did to Renée - so that means not only did they not get paid that night, neither did you because you didn't get your so-called 'booker's fee'." "WHAT?!" Moolah then snapped, angered to hear what Johnny did to pay her and her girls back for the events of the previous night. "You can't do that!" "Actually, I can and did," Johnny pointed out, "and that's what happens when you get your girls to act like hired hitwomen against one of mine." "Oh, and what about one of your other girls, the one who attacked Paula in her locker room after that match?", a disgruntled Moolah retorted, referring to Michèle as she started resorting to whataboutism to try to shift the blame. "Why do y'all let your girls go maverick when it suits 'em, huh?" "She already got a talking to about that, and that was before I found out about the extent of Renée's injury thanks to your girl Kaye putting a weapon-loaded kneepad to her ribs with knee strikes," Johnny said, "and Michèle wouldn't do what she did without just cause, so you and your girls got no ground to stand on and no case. Also, luckily for both you and your girls, Renée wasn't hurt as badly as you attempted to have Kaye and Adams do to her because I found out earlier she came out of it with only bruised ribs and she'll only be out for about a couple of weeks. As for your girls, Adams hightailed it out of town after last night because I'm betting she wasn't willing to face the consequences for her part in what they did, but Kaye's still here for a few more matches and she's going to be on a short leash for as long as she's here." What Johnny implied by his "short leash" statement was that he asked some of his wrestlers, including his brother Jacques, Gino Brito and Abdullah the Butcher, as well as his referees, to keep watch on Paula and make sure she did not get out of line during the remainder of her stay in the Montreal territory. "Y'all are gonna pay for that," a seething Moolah then ominously warned Johnny. "Mark my words, Rougeau - you're gonna pay and so will any of your girls who cross paths with mine." "You should be careful about who you make threats against, Moolah," Johnny countered, "given your history with the NWA Board of Directors. As for your girls, the ones like Kaye and Adams, here's a bit of free advice - if you want to continue getting them booked for shows, rein them in and get them to behave themselves." Before Moolah could say anything in reply, a click was heard on the line as Johnny hung up at his end. "Rougeau? ROUGEAU! I'm talkin' to you, boy!" she snapped over the phone, but only got a dial tone in response as the tone kicked in a moment later. She then grumbled in frustration as she hung up her phone and returned to her papers. * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * The next day afterward, the desk phone began ringing again while Moolah was out of her office, but Donna Christanello, who was in Moolah's kitchen at the time, was within earshot of the phone and went to answer it. "Hello, Girl Wrestling Enterprises..." she answered upon picking up the handset. "Hi, is this Donna?" a Quebec French-accented voice replied at the other end. "This is," Donna confirmed. "Is this Vivian?" she added, recognizing the voice at the other end as that of Vivian Vachon. "Yep, c'est moi," Vivian replied. "How're you doing?" "Pretty good here, how 'bout yourself?" Donna said. "Enjoying being back home in Montreal?" "Sure am, it's great being back seeing family and friends," Vivian said. "But I was calling to see if Lillian's in right now - is she there?" Just then, Moolah came into her office and saw Donna on the phone. "Someone calling?" she asked. "It's Vivian Vachon, she wants to talk to you," Donna said before handing off the handset to Moolah and leaving the office. "Hello Vivian, how y'all doin', darlin'?" Moolah replied after taking the phone as she sat down at her desk. "There's something I need to talk to you about, Lillian," Vivian said. "Well, that's what I'm here for, darlin' - shoot," Moolah said. "I was over at a show at the Forum here in Montreal two nights ago," Vivian began, "and I saw that match you had set up for Paula and Kitty against Renée Martel and Claire Lepage." "I know, Paula told me about it yesterday and I also caught some flack over it from Johnny Rougeau," Moolah said. "What about it? You didn't wrestle on that card too, did you? I'd hate to think what your brothers would think about that, considerin' they run competiton to Rougeau." "No, I didn't wrestle that night, but I was in the audience to see the show," Vivian pointed out, "and I saw the attack on Renée by Paula and Kitty during the match and I watched Renée get taken out on a stretcher afterward." "Yeah, and?" Moolah said. "Yesterday, I went to see Renée at the hospital," Vivian said. "She was doing alright, even with the beating she got put on her that night. She even showed me the bruises she got on her left side from what Paula did to her." "And what were you doin' goin' to see her at the hospital anyway?" Moolah then said, becoming displeased over what she heard. "What're y'all thinkin', fraternizin' with the enemy?" "Believe it or not, Lillian, Renée's not my enemy," Vivian told Moolah. "I got to know her when we both wrestled in the AGWA and I consider her a friend, even though we're in different promotions now. And anyway, what were you thinking by having Paula and Kitty attack Renée? What did she ever do to you to make you hate her that much?" "Does it matter?" Moolah said, unwilling to answer Vivian's question. "Well, yeah, I think it does matter," Vivian said. "I talked with some of Renée's other friends while I was in the AGWA and they all shared a common story - you tried sabotaging AGWA events and you staged attacks against her using mercenaries to get back at her because she wouldn't join your camp and because you consider her a threat to you and your position in women's wrestling." "What, and you're gonna believe them over me?" Moolah said incredulously. "What about loyalty, Vivian?" "From what I've experienced in the short time I've wrestled for you, Lillian, the only loyalties you really have are to yourself and your bank account," Vivian stated. "I was making more money with the AGWA than I have been since I started wrestling for you - and I found out that besides what you get paid when you wrestle, you're also taking more than your share from your girls' pay to add to your own - no wonder you can afford to own a mansion and an estate while the other girls have to make do with what you give them while you control their finances." "That's a crock, Vivian!" Moolah said indignantly over Vivian's accusation. "Where'd y'all get what you're claimin' anyway?" "I talked with a couple of your ex-clients, Joyce Fowler and Ann Casey, each at different times while I was in the AGWA," Vivian said, "and they confirmed what I suspected about you clipping us on our pay." "You're makin' a big mistake by believin' people with axes to grind against me for what they all claim I did," Moolah said. "You're right, Lillian, I made a mistake alright - but not the kind of mistake you think," Vivian said. "And that's a mistake I'm about to fix by saying what I'm about to say next - I quit." "No, Vivian, that's a bigger mistake you're about to make," Moolah retorted. "If you quit my group, not only do you lose your chance to become a star under me, your brothers will also no longer get the services of my girls for women's matches and you'll have no opponents to face up there - what do y'all think of that now?" "I'll tell you what I think - right now, I'm calling you from Maurice's house and I talked with him and Paul after I came from seeing Renée," Vivian then said, "and I discussed how I felt about continuing to work for you and the deal with my brothers that goes with it. Maurice and Paul said they'd be alright with whatever I decided - and after I told them, they're going to make other arrangements to find opponents for me. Au revoir, Moolah," she finished before hanging up at her end of the line. Back in Moolah's kitchen in the meantime, Donna was finishing making lunch for herself and cleaning up the kitchen counter when she heard Moolah start to curse up a storm in her office over losing both Vivian from her roster and the deal with the Vachons' Grand Prix Wrestling that went with it. Oh boy, here we go again, Donna thought to herself while listening to Moolah ranting from down the hallway. Better grab my lunch and get scarce...

Also hoping for a speedy recovery for you @angeldelayette With a brand split happening in WCW (albeit along different lines from IRL), here's what I was thinking of for brand-specific belts (like in WWE IRL): Saturday Night - since that show is a descendant of the original Georgia Championship Wrestling show, bring back the old National Heavyweight and National Tag Team titles from Georgia and put them there Nitro - put the US Heavyweight title there and revive the US Tag Team title to join it

1. Diamond Mine (Diamond Studd & Vinnie Vegas) vs. Marcus Alexander Bagwell & Scott Armstrong 2. The Italian Stallion vs. ?? 3. WCW WORLD TELEVISION: Steve Austin © vs. Junkyard Dog 4. WCW WORLD HEAVYWEIGHT: Lex Luger © vs. Sting BONUS: Which former top champion of a Japanese promotion debuts (technically returns) against The Italian Stallion? The Great Muta

Arn Anderson vs Stan Hansen Big Van Vader vs Dustin Rhodes Haku vs Terry Taylor Johnny B Badd vs Eddie Gilbert Samoan Swat Team vs The Steiner Brothers PS Lucha vs True Grit

Backstage in the staging area at the Montreal Forum, Michèle Richard was watching the NWA World Women's Tag Team title match between champions Renée Martel and Claire Lepage and their opponents Paula Kaye and Kitty Adams, who had been sent up to Montreal by the Fabulous Moolah to challenge for the title (the reign of which by Renée and Claire, despite being recognized by the NWA itself as well as by the AWA, All-Star Wrestling and several other non-NWA promotions, was refused recognition by Moolah, who publicly continued to claim her team of Toni Rose and Patti Neilson as the "champions" despite being stripped of recognition by the NWA for their refusal to defend the title against wrestlers from outside of Moolah's camp and despite the NWA's warning to Moolah back in April to cease referring to her girls as the NWA champions). When she first heard about Paula and Kitty coming up to Montreal to appear for All-Star to challenge Renée and Claire (even though Moolah's girls had recently begun appearing for some events with the Vachon brothers' new rival promotion Grand Prix Wrestling), a suspicious Michèle (who shared with Renée her dislike and mistrust of Moolah due to experience) had her doubts about the Moolah duo and consulted shortly before the match with Julie Painchaud, who had faced Paula when she came to town to appear for All-Star in 1969; Julie mentioned that while she had no real problems with Paula behind the scenes, she noticed that Paula seemed to be a bit full of herself as she was starting out in the business. But now as she continued watching the match late into it, the doubts Michèle had about Paula and Kitty proved well-founded as she saw the heel duo start viciously attacking Renée in the ring. Technically unable to do anything about it herself due to her current status as a heel, Michèle ran back to the women's dressing room, where Ann Calvello, her opponent two matches earlier, was finishing getting dressed after getting out of the shower and toweling off. "Ann, you better get out here quick - there's something you gotta see," she said. "So what's up, kid - what's going on?" Ann said as she got up from the bench she was sitting on and followed Michèle out the door. "While you're at it, grab a hockey stick too - you might need it," Michèle said, which Ann did as she turned back and grabbed a hockey stick from a rack on the hallway wall, then followed Michèle to the curtain separating the staging area from the main arena, where Ann looked from behind as she saw the attack on Renée by Paula and Kitty. "Go deal with those two, I'll go get Marcel," Michèle then said as she took off to get Marcel Martel. After watching the attack for another moment, Ann, having seen all she needed to and figuring that the attack by Moolah's girls on Renée had developed into a legitimate shoot, then burst through the curtain and charged to the ring, hockey stick in hand, as the boos of the fans in the arena soon changed to cheers. * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * A while later, several arena security guards came through the curtain into the staging area, escorting Paula and Kitty to protect them against retaliation from hostile fans following the incident where the heels began fighting several ringside fans, bypassing Michèle as she had watched what went down in the ring. A few minutes after that, Marcel and the first aid attendant who had gone out to the ring, now joined by an assistant, returned with Renée, with Ann and Claire following behind - and Renée, who was breathing with some difficulty thanks to Kitty's knee strikes to her midsection, was on a stretcher that had been brought out for her, as the attendant did not want to chance allowing her to return to the locker room area under her own power because of Paula's targeted attack on her ribs. Johnny Rougeau, who had just emerged from his locker room to get ready for his later match with Mr. X, saw Renée being taken on the stretcher to the first aid room for medical attention. "Hold on, Claire, what happened out there?" he asked Claire as he stopped her for a moment to find out what happened to Renée. "That's what I'd like to know too," a curious Michèle joined in. "Kaye and Adams happened," a displeased Claire said of the incident. "They went into business for themselves and shot on Renée out there, they tried to hurt her on purpose - and it was Kaye who did most of the hurting with those knee strikes on her ribs - and they kept me from helping her. They also got into some scrapes with some of the fans at ringside after Ann chased them out of the ring. As we were coming back here, I even saw a few kids at ringside with their parents and those kids were crying as they saw Renée taken out on the stretcher." Having heard all she needed to, a grim-faced and enraged Michèle turned around and ran toward the junction to the hallway, turning to head to the locker room she knew Paula and Kitty were using. "Wait, kid, where're you going?" Ann, who was also there to hear Claire tell Johnny what happened, called to Michèle as she saw her leave. A few seconds later, Michèle arrived at the Moolah girls' locker room, kicked the door in and ran inside, beelining straight for Paula and attacking her as she tackled her to the locker room floor and started raining punches down on her. A moment later, Kitty came and quickly pounced on Michèle to try to get her off of Paula, but Claire and Ann ran in and intercepted Kitty, followed by Johnny, his brother Jacques Rougeau, Gino Brito, Abdullah the Butcher and several of the other wrestlers on the roster running in to break up the one-sided beatdown Michèle had delivered on Paula. "Go on, get her outta here! That girl's crazy!" Kitty snapped at the other wrestlers as they restrained an angry Michèle while escorting her out of the locker room as she checked on a shaken Paula, who likewise had to be restrained to keep her from lunging at Michèle. "You messed with the wrong girl, b*tch!" a still-livid Michèle snapped at Paula as she was taken back outside by Johnny and the other wrestlers. "You go off on Renée like that again and you're gonna get your ass kicked and so will Moolah!" "Okay, come on Michèle, that's enough," Johnny said as he and the other wrestlers managed to get her far enough away from Paula and Kitty's locker room. "I'm not happy about what those two did to Renée either, but reacting as you did against Kaye isn't gonna help matters." "Really?" an incredulous Michèle said in response. "Take me to the first aid room, I wanna see Renée." Doing as asked, Johnny led her, along with Claire and Ann, to the first aid room, where Renée was being tended to by the first aid attendants while her father Marcel stood beside her to comfort her. "How's she doing?" Michèle asked as she saw Renée, who was still in discomfort on the stretcher. "She took some hard hits to her left side," one of the first aid attendants replied. "I have concerns about her ribs on that side, so I called for an ambulance for her. She'll need to be checked out at the hospital to see whether her ribs were broken or not, but she's definitely hurting right now." Exiting the first aid room with Johnny and Ann while Claire remained behind to join Marcel in trying to comfort Renée, Michèle turned to look at Johnny. "Still think I did the wrong thing by going after Kaye?" she said to the All-Star Wrestling owner. "She's a Moolah girl and we all know how Moolah feels about Renée, and if she and Adams would attack Renée the way they did, then Moolah put them up to it - try to convince me otherwise." Johnny turned his head to look down the hallway where Paula and Kitty's locker room was, then turned back to Michèle. "No bet," he said, convinced about what she told him point-blank. "I'm going to go talk to them and settle this," he then added as he turned to walk down the hallway while Michèle and Ann watched him go. * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * Renée was later taken by ambulance to Montreal General Hospital, where she was examined and got her ribs X-rayed to check for any damage. Shortly after her arrival there, Marcel arrived at the hospital and brought Claire with him to wait at the emergency department waiting room for word about Renée's condition. Michèle, due to the necessity of keeping kayfabe, could not accompany Marcel and Claire to the hospital, but asked them to let her know about Renée as soon as they got word. Not long afterward, Ann arrived at the hospital and met Marcel and Claire in the waiting room. "Any word on Renée yet?" she asked Claire as she sat down beside her. "Nothing yet," Claire said, "but I've been praying for her to be alright. We've been hoping that the damage isn't that bad." A few minutes later, a doctor came into the waiting room from the emergency room. "Mr. Martel?" the doctor asked as he approached the trio at their seats. "Yes?" Marcel said as he stood up. "We did an exam on your daughter and took some X-rays of her chest as well," the doctor said. "There was quite a bit of bruising around where she was struck, but by some miracle, her ribs didn't get broken or even cracked, though from what I heard described, she came close to it happening. In any event, we'll have to keep her overnight for observation to make sure there aren't any complications, and she'll have to stay out of the ring and rest for at least two or three weeks." "Would we be able to go see her?" Claire asked. "Well, we usually only allow patients to have visits from immediate family outside of visiting hours," the doctor explained, "but...I think I can make an exception here. Follow me," he then added as he led Claire, Ann and Marcel to the second-floor room where Renée would be staying overnight. When Marcel, Claire and Ann went into the room, they saw Renée in her hospital bed, which had been propped up to a semi-reclining position. "Hi there, dear," Marcel said to his daughter as he came to the left side of the bed and kissed her on her left cheek. "How're you feeling?" "Still hurting a little," Renée said with a sigh, then she smiled. "But I feel...better knowing you're here." "Hi, honey," Claire said next as she came to the right side of Renée's bed and took her friend's right hand into both of hers. "I'm glad you didn't get hurt worse than you were back there." "Ohh, I'd rather not...think about that, Claire," Renée said, needing to pause periodically to breathe because of her bruised ribs. "I don't remember much about...the attack after I fell to...my knees in the ring. With the beating I...took in there, I was on the verge of...blacking out then and I don't...remember much after that until just after...I came into the hospital." "I'm sorry I couldn't do more to help you back there," Claire then said, "but it was almost like Kaye and Adams were like two women possessed and determined when they attacked you." "I know," Renée said with a nod. "But I'm...glad you're here now," she added, which pleased Claire. "Hey, kiddo," Ann then said to Renée with a wave of her right hand as she sat next to Claire. "Michèle said to say hi for her too, and you should hear what she did after she found out what Kaye and Adams did to you - she went into their dressing room and laid a real whompin' on Kaye to pay her back for shooting on you, and Claire and I were there to see it 'cause we were there to make sure Adams didn't try to interfere." Renée started to laugh upon hearing that bit of news, only to cringe a moment later when she felt a twinge of pain on her left side from her ribs. "Ooh, sorry 'bout that," Ann apologized when she saw Renée's reaction to the pain in her ribs. "That's okay, Ann," Renée said as she caught her breath. "I needed to...hear that. I'll have to...thank Michèle for that later." "Ann and Marcel did their part too in saving you from Kaye and Adams," Claire said next. "She came charging in with a hockey stick to chase them out and your dad came in after that to check on you while he and Ann made sure they couldn't try to go back in after you again," she added, finishing with the incident between the Moolah girls and several ringside fans. "Knowing what I know now, I'd have laid some lumber on 'em myself given the chance," Ann added. "Then after that scrap in their locker room, Johnny went over and read Kaye and Adams the riot act for what they did." "Well...thanks for that, Ann," a relieved Renée said, "and I'll have to...thank Johnny when I see or...talk to him next." Just then, a nurse came in, carrying a small paper cup with her. "Hi there, Miss Martel, just wanted to bring in a pill for the pain in your ribs," the nurse said about the cup's contents. "Oh, and you also have one more visitor waiting outside for you that you can have tonight, so your current visitors will have to step outside." "Oh, okay," Marcel said as he got up from his chair. Turning to Renée, he added, "Well, I'll be sure to see you when I get back to town in a few days, Renée," then he kissed her on her cheek again. "Good night, dear." "I'll see you again next time you pop over in L.A., kiddo," Ann said next as she said goodbye to Renée. "And you've got a lot of folks who've got your back - including me." "And as soon as you get to go home, I can stay with you at your place for a couple of days or so if you need me to," Claire then offered as she got up, then, while giving a gentle squeeze to Renée's right hand, she leaned over and kissed her on her right cheek. "Je t'aime, Renée," Claire then said softly to her friend. "Je t'aime aussi," Renée responded with a smile, touched by Claire's heartfelt words as she returned the squeeze she gave her hand before Claire became the last of the visitors to leave. When the visitors stepped back out into the hallway, they found out who the other visitor was the nurse had talked about - Jean Malo, the All-Star Wrestling ring announcer and Renée's boyfriend. "Oh, hi Jean," Marcel said when he and the girls met him outside. "We're surprised you stopped by to see her." "After what Renée got put through earlier, I figured she'd welcome a friendly face," Jean said with a grin, "but I see you already beat me to the punch," he added with a chuckle. "Well, after what happened back at the Forum," Marcel said, "I'll have to talk to the doctor about making sure Renée is guarded. I don't think Kaye or Adams would be foolish enough to try to find out which hospital she was taken to, but I don't put anything past this Fabulous Moolah to try to get what she wants." "Excuse me a moment, I'm going to go to the chapel for a bit," Claire, starting to feel emotional, then said before turning around to head for the hospital's chapel, where she could have some privacy to cry quietly for Renée out of concern over her friend being intentionally targeted and attacked by thugs sent by Moolah to try to disable her and take her out of wrestling permanently. "What's wrong with Claire?" a puzzled Jean asked as he watched Claire go down the hallway toward the chapel. "It's a bit of a story," Marcel explained. "We'll tell you about it later while we wait for you in the lobby," he added before letting Jean go to visit Renée while Marcel and Ann headed toward the hospital's main lobby. TO BE CONTINUED... * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * Up next, Moolah deals with the fallout from sending her goons after Renée...

From back when he was doing time with Continental down Alabama way in the mid-'80s... 😎

Well, that's a way of invoking memories of the era of such stars as Dara Singh, the (original) Great Gama and King Kong Czaya... 😎

NWA World Heavyweight Championship Match: Matt Cardona (C) vs Mustafa Ali Comments: Philly Street Fight: The Bro Squad (Matt Riddle, Alex Hammerstone, & Timothy Thatcher) vs The Samoan Dynasty (Jacob Fatu, Lance Anoa'i, & Zilla Fatu) Comments: Grudge Match: Nic Nemeth vs Shota Umino Comments: NWA World Women's Championship Match: Mercedes Mone (C) vs Megan Bayne vs Steph de Lander Comments: NWA World Tag Team Championship Match: MxM (C) vs The Dreadlock Demolition Machines Comments: Grudge Match: The Von Erichs vs Violence is Forever Comments:

Y'know, for a little added emphasis on the "Dark Church of Satan" part, I would've added a pair of glowing red eyes (à la the Terminator) to that black hood, much like something out of this quote: "For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this age, against spiritual hosts of wickedness..." Something like that, anyway (which would be a step or two above the gimmick Kevin Sullivan used in Florida back in the day)... 😏

While I'm still working on that behind-the-scenes post coming up, here's a video clip from All-Star Wrestling in Vancouver from 1983, when "Dr. D" David Schultz popped over from Stampede for what amounted to a cup of coffee during his feud with ex-tag team partner the Honky Tonk Man and spoke his mind during this TV interview...

Bam Bam Bigelow vs Marc Mero Barry Windham vs Elijah - The Alliance vs Nation of Domination Best of 9 Series Tag Titles - British Bulldog & Owen Hart (C) vs The Headbangers Intercontinental Title - Ultimate Warrior (C) vs Roddy Piper Rocky Maivia vs Hunter Hearst Helmsley - #1 Contender Match for Intercontinental Title Bret Hart vs Goldust Vader vs Steve Austin

All-Star Wrestling @ Montreal Forum August 2, 1971 - Montreal, Quebec Attendance - 17,930 Luigi Macera & Lionel Robert battled The Kelly Twins to a time-limit draw. Eddie Auger defeated Ben Sharkey by pinfall. Antonio Baillargeon defeated Del Skinner by pinfall following a flying dropkick. Raymond Rougeau defeated Gerry Gosselin by submission with a sleeperhold. Gino Brito and Michel "Le Justice" Dubois (with Eddie "The Brain" Creatchman) were both counted out while brawling outside the ring. NWA North American Women's Championship Michèle Richard (C) left her title defence against challenger and former champion Ann Calvello with the belt still around her waist, even though Calvello gave the champion all she could ask for and more, when Calvello was disqualified for accidentally clotheslining the referee after Richard, the intended target of the clothesline, ducked down. Despite the controversial ending, Richard and Calvello were nowhere near done with each other as they continued brawling around ringside and back up the aisle toward the locker room area while arena security and other referees tried in vain to separate them. ASW Canadian Heavyweight Championship Marcel Martel (C) fended off attempted interference by Fidel Castillo's manager Eddie Creatchman late in the match after battling back against Castillo before putting the figure-four leglock on the Cuban grappler, who held on for a few moments before eventually giving up, giving Martel the title-retaining win by submission. As Martel was getting the Canadian title belt handed to him by the referee, however, Michel Dubois ran out to the ring and attacked the champion, leading to a two-on-one when Creatchman joined in the attack until Gino Brito came from the locker rooms and ran in to go after Dubois, enabling Martel to fight off Creatchman as the fan favorites ran Creatchman and his men out of the ring. NWA World Women's Tag Team Championship - Two Out of Three Falls Renée Martel & Claire Lepage (C) were set to take on the rulebreaking Fabulous Moolah-trained duo of Paula Kaye & Kitty Adams, and would retain their belts as they won the match, two falls to one, when Kaye and Adams were disqualified. ⦁ First fall - Both teams came into the ring confident, but it was the scientific team of Martel and Lepage which excelled in the first stanza when Lepage scored the pin on Adams after flattening her with a flying bodypress. ⦁ Second fall - Kaye and Adams, who each made reputations for their illegal tactics (as taught to them by Moolah), poured them onto Renée and Claire during the fall with doubleteaming, kicking and punching, but the way the sly challengers evened things up was when Kaye, taking advantage of a referee distraction by Adams, made use of an illegal foreign object to knock Lepage loopy and pin her, putting the heels only one fall away from winning the coveted title. ⦁ Third fall - Martel surprised everyone in the third fall by recovering immediately from a vicious doubleteaming attack by Kaye and Adams and rallied against the heel duo before catching Adams in a sleeper - but while the referee was occupied monitoring the hold, Kaye, over in her team's corner, inserted another foreign object into the kneepad on her right knee, then waited for her moment. Back in the ring, just as Adams was going into dreamland thanks to Martel's sleeperhold, Kaye then struck as she ran into the ring and drove her right knee with the foreign object-loaded kneepad hard into Renée's left side, targeting the ribs and forcing Renée to release the sleeperhold. Lepage, who saw Kaye stuff the object into her kneepad moments earlier, ran in and went after Kaye, but Kaye, who was prepared for any attempted intervention, drilled Claire with a punch and knocked her to the mat before turning her attention back to Martel while Adams, who managed to shake off the effects of the sleeperhold, stomped on Lepage, then picked her up and threw her through the ropes and out of the ring before joining Kaye in double-teaming on Martel again. As Kaye and Adams each grabbed an arm on Martel to keep her from escaping, Kaye repeatedly drove her right knee into Renée's left side while Adams drove her right knee twice into Renée's abdomen to knock the wind out of her, making it harder for Renée to scream in pain as she kept getting hit by Kaye's weapon-aided hard knee strikes to her ribs, forcing her down to her knees. As the fans began reacting negatively to the heels' vicious attack on Martel with loud boos and jeering, the referee quickly disqualified Kaye and Adams when they ignored his five-count on them, then he tried to force Adams to let go, only for Kaye to run over and kick the referee in the stomach with the point of her boot, then clobbered him and sent him to the mat as well before she went back to attacking Renée's ribs with more knee strikes. When Lepage tried to get back into the ring, Adams, who saw her coming, ran over and knocked Claire back out to ringside before she returned to helping Kaye to double-team Martel, who was clearly in distress by this point as the fans began to get agitated over the attack and were almost on the verge of rioting - but help soon came when Ann Calvello, armed with a hockey stick obtained from the locker rooms, ran out to the ring and cleared Kaye and Adams out, sending the heels (who were forced to drop Renée to the mat when they say Calvello coming) running out to ringside as Calvello swung the stick at them. Moments later, Marcel Martel, Renée's father, also ran out to the ring to check on his daughter and her condition while Calvello, still armed with the hockey stick, kept a sharp eye on Kaye and Adams while daring them to come back in; trouble soon broke out at ringside as several angry fans began pelting Kaye and Adams with crumpled-up popcorn bags and drink cups, causing the heels to turn on the ringside fans nearby and attack them as well as fights broke out at ringside before arena security were forced to intervene and break up the fights between the heel duo and the angry fans, some of which cursed out Kaye and Adams as they were escorted back to the locker room area by several security guards. Soon after, a first aid technician came to the ring to check on Renée, who was still down on the mat and appeared to be injured, while Lepage also came back into the ring to check on her friend and tag team partner out of concern*. Winner to get Canadian Heavyweight title shot Following a brief intermission to allow the fans to cool down in the wake of the previous match, Jacques Rougeau and Abdullah the Butcher fought to a no-contest when a brawl between both wrestlers got out of control, forcing the referee to disqualify both Jacques and Abdullah; as a result, no top contender for the Canadian title was decided. ASW World Heavyweight Championship Johnny Rougeau used a sleeperhold on Mr. X (C) (with Eddie Creatchman) while a substitute referee checked on X after the original match referee was knocked down in a collision at one point after X whipped Rougeau into him; when X's arm fell three times during the check, the substitute ref called for the bell and declared Rougeau the winner and new champion, then got the World title belt to hand over to him as the crowd cheered in celebration. Moments later, however, the original ref came to and overruled the decision, declaring that while Rougeau had indeed won the match, it was only by disqualification due to X whipping Rougeau into him; as a result, X retained the title on the technicality as a gloating Creatchman snatched the belt away and handed it back to the revived X, who raised it above his head to the chagrin of the fans. * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * Prediction results: (Thanks to all who made their predictions for this card) @StanMiguel - 7/10 @Lord Byron - 5/10 @Captain Kremmen - 4/10 All-time prediction results: Lord Byron - 137/202 The Blonde Bomber - 119/160 Herrbear - 78/107 Captain Krennem (FKA piperrulz) - 74/120 Hitman74 - 10/12 kinnikuniverse - 9/10 Theheel - 7/10 StanMiguel - 7/10 Dalton - 6/6 DexterXSR - 5/7 auto45 - 5/6 Sco_xY2Jx - 2/6 * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * A couple of followup posts (one a behind-the-scenes post, the other a TV interview post), dealing with the ramifications from the outcome of the Renée/Claire vs. Kaye/Adams match (in what basically amounted to a shoot attack by Kaye and Adams on Renée), will be posted in the next little while - and the Fabulous Moolah will be involved.

Indeed, though "Das Wunderkind" didn't win this time around. 😏

The Arrows of Russia vs. FTR Edge, Vertigo & Markov vs. The Style Squad Vladimir Kulakov vs. Marty Scurll (just for the yuks and the LOLz, what creative new ways are we going to see Scurll get bamboozled with in this match?)

Ric Flair vs Hulk Hogan Sting vs Cactus Jack Bam Bam Bigelow vs Barry Windham Rock N Roll Express vs The Young Pistols Scotty Flamingo vs Johnny B Badd Larry Zbyzsko vs Michael Hayes

Yep, those were the days of Saturday Night, Main Event and Power Hour on TBS and World Wide Wrestling and WCW Pro in syndication, a real boon time for WCW fans IRL. Of course, how you're doing your shows in this diary (with the big shows, i.e. the PPVs, going more in-depth with the blow-by-blow descriptions) is just like what I'm doing with most of my pre-PPV era supercards in my diary (and other posters' diaries), and that works out great. I'll be following this now on that account. 😁

Before the Forum supercard results get posted (and to allow time for any further predictions to be made), Renée Martel and Claire Lepage get interviewed on the July 31 edition of Superstars of the Mat regarding their upcoming match against Paula Kaye and Kitty Adams (they also did a similar interview in French for Sur le Matelas when that show aired that same weekend): * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * INTERVIEWER: This coming Monday night, August 2, All-Star Wrestling returns to the Montreal Forum for a star-studded night of wrestling action, with a bell time of 7:30 PM. In the main event, Johnny Rougeau will challenge for the World Heavyweight Championship held by the mysterious masked Mr. X; in the co-main event, Jacques Rougeau will take on the notorious Abdullah the Butcher in a match to determine a number-one contender for the Canadian Heavyweight Championship; the Canadian Champion himself, Marcel Martel, will defend his title against the Cuban revolutionary, Fidel Castillo, who will be accompanied by his manager, Eddie "The Brain" Creatchman; Michèle Richard will defend her North American Women's title against former champion Ann Calvello; and the team of Paula Kaye and Kitty Adams will challenge for the World Women's Tag Team Championship held by my guests at this time, Renée Martel and Claire Lepage. (Martel and Lepage come into the scene) Claire, you and Renée have a strong challenge ahead of you from two ladies with notorious reputations in the sport. CLAIRE LEPAGE: You're right, ______, Paula Kaye and Kitty Adams have reputations in wrestling, for being two of the dirtiest fighters in this sport. Neither of us have ever faced either of them in the ring, but we've talked with those who've faced them and they told us what kind of wrestlers Kaye and Adams really are in the ring - and a friend of ours, Julie Painchaud, once fought Kaye in Montreal a couple of years ago. Julie won that match, but it didn't come easy for her because Kaye had to cheat her way through that match and she even used a weapon again Julie a couple of times in the match, so she knows from experience what Kaye's all about and we'll know what to expect from her when we get her and Adams in the ring. INTERVIEWER: And Renée, you and Claire also found out something else of interest about those two. RENÉE MARTEL: We sure did - we found out that Kaye and Adams are both trainees of the Fabulous Moolah. It's bad enough that those two are dirty fighters like Claire said, but knowing that Moolah taught them what they know about fighting dirty in the ring, that makes it a whole lot worse. Because of that, Claire and I are going to have to be on our guards when we step in the ring against them on Monday night, because when we face them, it'll be almost like facing Moolah herself - and Claire and I both know it from experience from each of us facing Moolah in the past. INTERVIEWER: We also learned from a previous pre-taped interview sent by Kaye and Adams that aired here last week that they're determined to not only win the World Women's Tag Team belts from you, they intend to take the belts and bring them back to Moolah for her to claim. MARTEL: That's right, they said it themselves - and the reason they said it is because of something we found out, that Moolah's been going around for the last while claiming that her other girls, Toni Rose and Patti Neilson, are the "real" champions, not me and Claire. Well, if that's so, Moolah, then why were you and your girls stripped of that recognition as the champions by the National Wrestling Alliance - and why did the NWA put on a tournament for the belts, hosted by Mildred Burke and which Claire and I won? Ah, that's right, Moolah - it's because you wouldn't allow anyone from outside of your circle to challenge for the belts! You were basically holding the title hostage, Moolah, while your girls were acting as closet champions and defending the belts only against whoever Moolah felt like allowing to make challenges, and the NWA saw that and told you to start allowing other teams to challenge for the title, but you refused to listen and you ignored their warning, so you paid the price when the NWA stripped you and your girls of the belts. LEPAGE: And unlike you and your girls, Moolah, ever since Renée and I won the title, we've been fighting champions and we defend our belts against any team looking for a shot against our title - and that includes any team under Moolah's control. If Kaye and Adams want a crack at our belts, they're welcome to try, but they're going to be in for a fight against us on Monday night at the Forum and Renée and I are going to send them back to Moolah empty-handed because we don't intend for our title to get taken hostage by Moolah like it was when she controlled the title before - and Moolah, you and your girls can take that to the bank! INTERVIEWER: Alright, thank you both, Renée and Claire - so fans, mark that date on your calendars if you haven't done so already, it's this Monday night, August 2 at the Forum in Montreal as Renée Martel and Claire Lepage defend their World Women's Tag Team title against Paula Kaye and Kitty Adams! Tickets are on sale at the Forum and Paul Sauvé Arena box offices and at selected retail outlets around the Montreal area, so make sure to get yours while they're still available! More action coming your way right after these messages!

Thanks for your predictions and welcome to the board. 😎