Old School Fan
-
Posts
1,211 -
Joined
-
Last visited
-
Days Won
4
Content Type
Profiles
Forums
Blogs
Events
Articles
Downloads
Gallery
Store
Posts posted by Old School Fan
-
-
-
New ratings for the women are now out courtesy of Wrestling Revue magazine (note that champion listings in the ratings reflect who held which titles prior to the events of the September 24 AGWA TV tapings )
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
Wrestling Revue
December 1968 (cover date; went on sale in October)WOMEN
1 - Fabulous Moolah (NWA World Champion)
2 - Penny Banner
3 - Judy Arnold
4 - Joan Weston (NWA North American Champion)
5 - Ann Calvello (AGWA United States Champion)
6 - Françoise Hardy (Canadian Champion)
7 - Evelyn Stevens
8 - Renée Martel
9 - Toni Rose
10 - Sherri Lee
11 - Donna Christenello
12 - Margot Bouchard
13 - Barbara LaMarche
14 - Tammy Jones
15 - Kay Noble (AWA World Champion)
16 - Joyce Fowler (AGWA Television Champion)
17 - Judi McGuire*
18 - Mae Young (NWA United States Champion)
19 - Cora Combs
20 - Mae Weston
21 - Claire Lepage
22 - Shirley Hardman
23 - Lita Marez
24 - Barbara Galento
25 - Carmen Monge
26 - Bonnie Watson (NWA Southern Champion)
27 - Diane Syverson
28 - Georgia Hase
29 - Judy Sowinski
30 - Betty Niccoli (California Champion)* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
* Roller derby skater IRL.
-
1
-
-
Bam Bam Bigelow vs Sting
Rick Rude vs Ricky Steamboat (Rude will cheat his way to a win like he usually does when he faces superior talents like Steamboat)
Powerhouse Simmons vs Steve Williams
Kevin Sullivan vs Lex Luger
Ric Flair vs Brian Pillman
Larry Zbyzsko vs Big Van Vader
Scott Steiner vs Arn Anderson
Rick Steiner vs Nobuhiko Takada
-
As promised...
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
AGWA TV taping @ Anaheim Convention Center Arena
October 8, 1968 - Anaheim, California
Attendance - 7,380
Aired the weekend of October 12, 1968 on AGWA Women's Pro Wrestling:
Dark match
Lita Marez defeated Jen Scott by pinfall following a cross-bodyblock.
Panama Franco defeated Carrie Lloyd by pinfall following a knee drop.
Valerie Blackard used a snap suplex to defeat Jessie Willard by pinfall.Following that match, show host Dick Lane had AGWA United States Tag Team Champions Renée Martel and Claire Lepage with him at ringside for an interview, where Martel and Lepage began talking about their upcoming match against former champions Shirley Hardman and Diane Syverson, when Georgia Hase and Margot Bouchard ran in and ambushed the champions from behind, then threw them into the ring and followed them in and began brawling with Martel and Lepage, who soon turned the tide in their favor and took the advantage. The battle between archrivals Martel and Bouchard soon spilled out to ringside while the scrappy Lepage gave back what Hase had been giving her with some solid punches back in the ring, but moments later, Baby Rocco ran into the ring and Pearl Harbored Lepage, pummeling her down to the mat with several axhandle blows and a few well-aimed kicks. Martel saw what happened and tried to get back in the ring to save her tag partner, but Bouchard prevented her from getting back in by restraining her at the apron while Hase dragged Lepage to the middle of the ring and held on to her ankles as the rotund Rocco signaled to the hostile crowd what she intended to do - then she rebounded off the ropes and big-splashed Lepage, then got back up and taunted the crowd for a moment before she bounced off the ropes to deliver a second big splash to Lepage. Rocco got back up and sadistically taunted the fans again while mocking the fallen Lepage as she signaled her intent to deliver a third big splash while Martel continued to struggle to free herself from Bouchard's grip, but before Rocco could do so, the antics of the Queen's Court members soon came to a halt when the near-capacity crowd went ballistic with cheers as Joyce Fowler and big Earlene Brown ran out to the ring to chase Rocco and Hase out while Martel finally freed herself from Bouchard and scrambled into the ring to check on Lepage's condition while Fowler and Brown argued heatedly with the heel trio; soon after, as a result of the two big splashes inflicted by Rocco, Lepage had to be removed from the ring and taken back to the locker room area on a stretcher.
Sylvia Hackney & Kathy Starr defeated Addie Trent & Yolanda Ruiz when Hackney pinned Ruiz following a dropkick.
AGWA Television Championship
Georgia Hase (with "The Queen" Mae Young) defeated Joyce Fowler (C) to regain the title when Hase took advantage of Fowler being distracted by arguing with Young at ringside and rolled her up from behind into a schoolgirl pin while grabbing a handful of Fowler's tights for illegal leverage. Post-match, as Hase was handed the TV title belt, she mocked Fowler and gloated to the booing fans while Young raised her client's arm in victory.
Aired the weekend of October 19, 1968 on AGWA Women's Pro Wrestling:
Dark Match
Tonette Kadrmas defeated Jill Gilbert* by pinfall following an overhead suplex.
Jan Vallow defeated the debuting Gwen Miller** by pinfall following a bodyslam and legdrop.
Handicap match
Margo Vincent & Samantha Sheridan scored what, on paper, could be considered an upset as they defeated Baby Rocco (with Mae Young) by disqualification when Rocco decided to get cocky and, after going for pin attempts on each of her opponents, pulled each of them up by their hair just before the referee reached three in his count just so she could inflict further punishment, leading the ref to deal Rocco the DQ for her unsportsmanlike conduct. An angry Rocco responded by slapping the referee down to the canvas, then continued beating on Vincent and Sheridan at Young's urging until Earlene Brown again appeared and chased the heels out.
As Brown argued with Young and Rocco while the latter two were standing at ringside, Margot Bouchard ran into the ring next and attacked the ex-Olympian from behind, leading into their scheduled match. With Rocco remaining at ringside with Young for distraction, they gave their Queen's Court stablemate Bouchard the opportunity to maintain the upper hand over the larger Brown with dirty tactics for several minutes until Brown, boosted to rally by the crowd's chants, battled back using her size and power, then whipped Bouchard to the ropes, hoisted her up on the rebound and gorilla-pressed her over her head while looking Young and Rocco's way, then sent Bouchard flying out of the ring onto her cohorts as the fans cheered, leading to Brown getting a countout win and a measure of revenge against Bouchard*** for her part in Rocco's attack on Brown on August 27.
AGWA United States Tag Team Championship
Shirley Hardman & Diane Syverson (who were not accompanied by Mae Young, who was busy getting ready for the TV main event and was also shaking out the cobwebs from the earlier match) were declared the winners via forfeit over champions Renée Martel & Claire Lepage when Lepage was announced as having been injured due to Baby Rocco's earlier attack on her and was thus unable to appear for the match*** - but as the referee was about to hand over the title belts to Hardman and Syverson, Mildred Burke came to ringside and put a stop to that as she took the arena microphone and declared that she was not going to allow Hardman and Syverson to benefit from the forfeit win due to their Queen's Court stablemates' earlier attack on Lepage and Martel; as a result, Burke declared that the United States Tag Team title was hereby vacant and would be put up in a future tournament, then she dealt $100 fines to Rocco, Georgia Hase and Margot Bouchard for their part in the attack, as well as a $200 fine to Young herself for masterminding the attack. Hardman and Syverson became irate upon hearing that they had been denied the title that night, making their manager's scheme to get the title back into the Queen's Court in vain, and they ripped verbally into Burke for her decision when moments later, Martel ran out to the ring to the fans' cheers and laced right into the heel duo with an attack. Hardman and Syverson quickly overwhelmed Renée, however, and started beating her down when suddenly, Ann Calvello, who was brandishing a baseball bat, came charging out to the ring, bringing the fans to their feet with loud cheers as she cleared out her ex-Queen's Court stablemates with her bat-swinging antics as she ended up saving Martel, signaling a full-fledged babyface turn for the controversial Calvello.
NWA United States Women's Championship
Judy Arnold defeated Mae Young (C) to win the title in the TV main event when, as Young had Arnold caught in a single-leg Boston crab, Ann Calvello showed back up at ringside and started arguing with her ex-manager to distract her, giving Arnold the chance to recover and then catch Young from behind with a rollup while Arnold bridged up to get the pinfall and the title. Young blew up at the referee after the match as she told him about Calvello showing up, but the ref pointed out that as Calvello did not physically interfere in the match, Arnold's pin and the title change would stand, getting the crowd cheering as Arnold was handed the title belt.
Post-taping dark match
NWA North American Women's Championship
Joan Weston (C) defeated Betty Niccoli by disqualification when Niccoli decked the referee as he tried to stop her from using her foot to choke Weston on the bottom rope.* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
* Enhancement talent created for this diary.
** IRL, Gwen "Skinny Minnie" Miller was a roller derby skater, best remembered as one of the star skaters of the Los Angeles Thunderbirds during the 1970s and 1980s; she died on May 9, 2018. ITTL, she was trained by Mildred Burke and became a wrestler.
*** This would be the last appearances of Margot Bouchard and Claire Lepage in the AGWA for a while due to their heading back to Montreal for that planned angle by Johnny Rougeau (which will be part of the buildup toward the eventual rematch between Renée Martel and Françoise Hardy).
-
2
-
-
On 11/24/2022 at 9:48 PM, The Blonde Bomber said:
Happy Thanksgiving, like that roster page to give a clear picture of who's on the roster right now. Also interesting that Calvello is on the heel side still, I thought after the fallout with Mae she'd have switched.
Wait'll you see what's coming with the upcoming TV tapings... 😉
-
3
-
-
Time again for some bonus content:
This is something I'd been wanting to do for a while, but never really got around to until now (luckily, the image is clickable if you want to see it in better detail):
-
2
-
-
Meanwhile, earlier that day...
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
Back in Encino at her wrestling school, Mildred Burke was working on paperwork in her office when a knock came on her door. "Come on in," she said to the knocker, who she was expecting.
"Hey, Mildred, you look like you're pretty busy," Renée Martel said as she, Michèle Richard, Claire Lepage and Joyce Fowler came into Mildred's office. "Should we come back later?"
"Oh no, it's alright, come on in," Mildred replied as she beckoned the girls into her office. "I've just been going through some paperwork regarding the TV show." she added, referring to AGWA Women's Pro Wrestling.
"Oh, how's that going?" Michèle asked.
"I've been getting reports on ratings for the show from the stations that carry it," Mildred explained. "In the Los Angeles market alone, it's one of the highest-rated shows on local TV, alongside the LeBells' own show Wrestling at the Olympic - our show's even beaten out quite a few of the network shows airing here ratings-wise. I've also had similar reports of high ratings for the show in many other cities where's it's been packaged with other wrestling shows - San Diego, San Francisco, Portland, Seattle, Spokane, Boise, Vegas, Salt Lake City, Denver, Phoenix, Albuquerque - it's really on a roll right now. Thanks to the show, it's also getting your names out there, along with the other stars."
"And that's a good sign, right?" Claire then said.
"It sure is," Mildred confirmed. "Because of it, I'm getting offers now from other stations that want to pick up the show, at the suggestion of the wrestling promoters in those cities - Bob Geigel in Kansas City, Sam Muchnick in St. Louis, Jack Adkisson* in Dallas, Bill Afflis** in Indianapolis, Bob Luce in Chicago, even Verne Gagne himself, they all want our show as a supplement for their own TV shows in their territories. Even Jim Crockett over in the Carolinas has been asking about using match footage of Joyce from our show on the TV shows his company produces so he can get Joyce more familiar with the fans over there."
"I asked to have that done because I'll be spending more time out that way soon anyway," Joyce said.
"Really?" Renée wondered.
"Oh, did I forget to mention why? Check this out," Joyce said as she showed Mildred and the other girls what was on her left hand - a wedding ring.
"Wow, that looks gorgeous," Renée remarked as she saw the ring while Michèle and Claire also marveled over it. "When did the wedding happen, and to who?"
"It happened during the summer while I was out touring the Carolinas," Joyce explained. "I got married to a local wrestler out there, George Becker. He and I'd been seeing each other since I started wrestling for Crockett last year."
"Well, that's awesome," Renée said as she, Michèle and Claire congratulated Joyce on her recent marriage. Turning to Mildred, she then asked, "Mildred, did you know about this?"
"Joyce told me about it when she came back to L.A., some time before I booked you, Michèle and Claire to come here," said Mildred, confirming what Renée had guessed. "And speaking of the three of you, I asked you here since I've got some plans for you for the next TV taping tomorrow."
"Ah, okay - what's the plan?" Michèle asked.
"I heard from Johnny Rougeau a few days ago and he wants you and Claire back in Montreal next week for an angle he's doing," Mildred said. "So for that, I've got some angles in the works*** to write the two of you out of the current storylines to allow you to return to Montreal while Renée finishes up here solo with another house show tour before she goes back to Montreal the week after."
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
* Real name of wrestler/promoter Fritz Von Erich.
** AKA William Afflis, the real name of wrestler/promoter Dick the Bruiser.
*** What those angles are will be revealed in an upcoming post.
-
3
-
-
WCW World Heavyweight Championship:
The Giant vs Randy Savage (c) (unlike last time out, The Giant will overwhelm Savage and take the title)
Cage Match:
Ricky Steamboat vs Ric Flair
Lex Luger vs Brian Pillman
WCW Television Title:
Brad Armstrong vs Lord Steven Regal (c)
Faces of Fear vs American Males
Steve Austin vs Sting
WCW Tag Team Titles - Street Fight:
Steiner Brothers vs Harlem Heat (c)
-
Later that night...
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
All-Star Wrestling @ Paul Sauvé Arena
October 7, 1968 - Montreal, Quebec
Jos & Paul LeDuc defeated Antonio Baillargeon & Larry Moquin when Jos LeDuc forced Moquin's submission with a bearhug.
In a non-title match, Canadian Women's Champion Françoise Hardy defeated Rosalie Paiement by pinfall with a schoolgirl pin. Post-match, Hardy got the arena microphone and denounced Paiement as another unworthy opponent, then seized the opportunity to verbally run down Renée Martel again while demanding to face better competition as the fans in the arena booed.
Carlos Colon battled Abdullah the Butcher to a bloody no-contest when both wrestlers, after busting each other's heads open, were disqualified for excessive brawling.
Dutch Momberg battled ASW World Tag Team co-champion Waldo Von Erich to a time-limit draw.
Jacques Rougeau & Gino Brito defeated Matt Gilmore & Doug Kent when Brito made Gilmore submit to the figure-four leglock.
Two out of Three Falls
Johnny Rougeau defeated Tony Angelo, two falls to one.⦁ First fall - Angelo pinned Rougeau following a powerslam.
⦁ Second fall - Angelo was disqualified when he was caught using a foreign object on Rougeau.
⦁ Third fall - Rougeau subdued Angelo with the sleeperhold for the win.-
1
-
-
October 1968
Back in Montreal, the latest edition of the All-Star Wrestling arena program is now out and details new developments in the World Heavyweight title feud between Johnny Rougeau and champion Ivan Koloff:
And on Page Two, Françoise Hardy sounds off about a claimed "lack of competition" while getting in another dig against Renée Martel and making a threat about the Canadian Women's title to generate heat:
-
1
-
-
Bonus content time again:
While I'm working on a new chapter, here's a render of what the title card and opening montage for the AGWA's TV show would've looked like way back in 1968 (complete, of course, with the scan lines common in the CRT TV sets of the day):
And since this is 1968, what would a TV wrestling show be without theme music that captures the show's spirit to go with it, like this:
-
3
-
-
On 11/13/2022 at 7:39 PM, piperrulz said:
I might be wrong here, but didn't Ann Calvello also make a name for herself in roller derby?
She did, in fact - mentioned on Page One (at the bottom of the post) and here.
On 11/13/2022 at 7:39 PM, piperrulz said:Francoise just has a smoldering sexy heel presence in her pic. 😺
It does kind of look that way, though my intention was to depict her as the arrogant heel she currently portrays while she's wrestling in Canada. 😉
-
14 hours ago, Fleisch said:
The title belts are CRUSH World, CRUSH World Tag Team and my secondary belt I decided to call the CRUSH California Dream title - don't ask me why - I just liked the sound of it, being unique to most other titles.
My thought there is that it harkens back to the song "California Dreamin'" by the Mamas and the Papas from 1965 (later famously covered by the Beach Boys in 1986). 😉
-
1
-
-
13 hours ago, piperrulz said:
P.S. - OSF, thanks for the 'Team Blondie' name! 😁
Well, personally, I can't take credit for the name myself, since... 😏
On 11/4/2022 at 4:27 PM, piperrulz said:Verne: Right. I don't forsee another offer coming. So, it would be down to Team Blondie and Tribune Media.
-
WCW World Heavyweight Title:
The Giant vs Macho Man Randy Savage (c) (via DQ)
Scott Norton vs Hacksaw Jim Duggan
20 Minute Time Limit
Ricky Steamboat vs Ric Flair
Diamond Dallas Page vs Johnny B. Badd
Tag Team Titles:
The Steiner Brothers vs Harlem Heat (c)
The Nasty Boys vs Faces of Fear
Television Title:
Lord Steven Regal vs Eddie Guerrero (c)
Lex Luger & Sting vs Brian Pillman & Steve Austin
Perry Saturn vs Arn Anderson
-
American Girls' Wrestling Association @ Spokane Coliseum
October 5, 1968 - Spokane, Washington
Attendance - 5,960NOTE: This event was done in collaboration with Vancouver NWA promoter Sandor Kovacs, whose NWA All-Star Wrestling had taken over running Spokane after Pacific Northwest Wrestling pulled out two years earlier.
Valerie Blackard defeated Ashley Sinclair by pinfall following a belly-to-belly suplex.
Jane Sherill & Patty O'Hara defeated Kathy Starr & Lita Marez when Sherill pinned Starr with a sunset flip.
Margot Bouchard (with "The Queen" Mae Young) defeated Sally Vega by pinfall following a spinebuster slam.
AGWA Television Championship
Joyce Fowler (C) defeated Baby Rocco (with Margot Bouchard - subbing for Mae Young, who was prepping for her main event match later that night) by disqualification when Bouchard ran in and attacked Fowler from behind as she had Rocco caught in a sleeperhold. Bouchard and Rocco double-teamed on Fowler post-match until Renée Martel, Claire Lepage and Judy Arnold ran in for the save. Prior to the start of the match, when the referee told Bouchard to return to the locker rooms, Bouchard refused, then produced a paper indicating that she was licensed to be a second for Mae Young's wrestlers in Young's absence and thus was legally able to be present for the match.
AGWA United States Tag Team Championship - Two out of Three Falls
Renée Martel & Claire Lepage (C) defeated Shirley Hardman & Diane Syverson (with Margot Bouchard) in two straight falls.⦁ First fall - Lepage pinned Syverson following an overhead suplex.
⦁ Second fall - Bouchard ran in to attack Martel as she had Hardman tied up in the Alligator Clutch, resulting in Hardman and Syverson's disqualification. Syverson ran in after the bell rang to help Bouchard double-team Martel, but Lepage quickly came in to even the sides as the champions cleared the ring of the heels.
NWA United States Women's Championship - Two out of Three Falls
Mae Young (C) drew with Judy Arnold after each wrestler had scored one fall.⦁ First fall - Young pinned Arnold following an elbow drop.
⦁ Second fall - Arnold floored Young with a cross-bodyblock for the pinfall to even the match.
⦁ Third fall - Young and Arnold were both counted out while brawling outside the ring.-
1
-
-
Ha-haaa, take that, Vince! 😆
Verne made the right choice in not selling the AWA to him. Now it comes down to Tribune and "Team Blondie"... 🏆
(Oh, and as an added bonus, some background music for the shootdown of Vince's offer, just because... The Price Is Right losing horns ) 😁
-
2
-
-
Back in Montreal two days later...
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
All-Star Wrestling @ Paul Sauvé Arena
September 30, 1968 - Montreal, Quebec
Carlos Colon defeated Gerard Dugas by pinfall following a running powerslam.
Buster Lloyd & Chin Lee defeated Dale Roberts & Antonio Baillargeon when Lloyd pinned Roberts following a headbutt.
Jos & Paul LeDuc defeated Matt Gilmore & Doug Kent when Paul LeDuc pinned Gilmore following a flying axhandle.
Canadian Women's Championship
Françoise Hardy (C) defeated France Gall by pinfall when Hardy used a three-quarter nelson hold to maneuver Gall into a pin. Post-match, Hardy took the arena microphone and declared that while Gall gave her a good match, she still wasn't good enough to beat her, then Hardy proceeded to verbally run down Renée Martel once again, with the fans booing Hardy as she proclaimed Renée as "inferior" in comparison to her.
ASW World Tag Team Championship
Gino Brito & Bob Nandor* defeated Baron Von Raschke & Waldo Von Erich (C) by disqualification when Von Raschke threw Brito over the top rope (Von Raschke & Von Erich retain their title due to the DQ).
Two out of Three Falls
In a non-title match, Jacques Rougeau defeated ASW World Heavyweight Champion Ivan Koloff, two falls to one.⦁ First fall - Rougeau pinned Koloff following a powerslam.
⦁ Second fall - Koloff used the Russian bearhug to force Rougeau to submit.
⦁ Third fall - Rougeau took the win after pinning Koloff following a knockout punch.* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
* Bob Nandor (real name Czaya Nandor) was the nephew of Hungarian-born superheavyweight wrestler King Kong Czaya, who gained his greatest fame wrestling in India and was also the first co-holder of the Japan Pro Wrestling Alliance's All-Asia Tag Team Championship with Tiger Joginder Singh in 1955. As a wrestler in his own right, Nandor was a three-time holder of the Calgary version of the NWA Canadian Heavyweight Championship during 1962 in Big Time Wrestling (as Stampede Wrestling was then known).
-
1
-
-
Ric Flair & Brian Pillman vs Sting & Randy Savage
Hulk Hogan vs Dean Malenko
Lex Luger vs Dave Taylor
(Pre Show):
Paul Orndorff vs Ricky Steamboat
-
American Girls' Wrestling Association @ Denver Coliseum*
September 28, 1968 - Denver, Colorado
Attendance - 9,750
Valerie Blackard battled Judy Sowinski to a time-limit draw.
Baby Rocco (with "The Queen" Mae Young) defeated Lita Marez in a one-sided squash when she big-splashed and pinned Marez.
Judy Arnold defeated Tonette Kadrmas by countout when Kadrmas took a walk back to the locker rooms after the rookie rulebreaker decided she had enough of getting dominated by Arnold after the latter made a comeback during the match.
Earlene Brown defeated Margot Bouchard (with Mae Young) by disqualification when Young was caught interfering by grabbing at Brown's legs from ringside for a tripping attempt as she tried to bounce off the ropes in preparation to big-splash Bouchard, who soon joined Young for a double-team attack on Brown after Bouchard got up off the mat; as Brown rallied and began fighting back against her heel rivals, however, Baby Rocco ran in and jumped the ex-Olympic athlete to make it a 3-on-1 before Judy Arnold, Renée Martel and Claire Lepage all ran in to even the sides and help Brown run the Queen's Court off to prevent a repeat of the August 27 attack by Rocco that sidelined Brown.
AGWA Television Championship
Joyce Fowler (C) defeated Shirley Hardman (with Mae Young) by pinfall after Fowler hit Hardman with a high knee on the rebound off the ropes.
AGWA United States Tag Team Championship - Two out of Three Falls
Renée Martel & Claire Lepage (C) defeated Jane Sherill & Patty O'Hara, two falls to one.⦁ First fall - Lepage pinned Sherill following a flying clothesline off the second rope.
⦁ Second fall - O'Hara evened the match by pinning Lepage following a clothesline to the back of the head.
⦁ Third fall - Martel caught O'Hara in the Alligator Clutch for the submission win. Right after the match, Mae Young showed up at ringside and began ripping verbally into Martel and Lepage, warning them that their time as tag team champions would not be for much longer as the Queen's Court would reclaim the title, but Renée and Lepage replied simply by telling Young and her goon squad to bring it on as the crowd rooted the champions on.* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
* As Denver has traditionally been part of the American Wrestling Association's territory since at least the mid-1960s, this event was promoted in collaboration with local AWA promoter Gene Reed with Verne Gagne's blessing.
-
1
-
-
California Women's Championship (for use in Rise of a Star)
This is an actual championship defended in California between 1965 (the year women's wrestling was legalized in that state) and 1986, but the belt shown here representing the championship was created from scratch due to there being no available photos of the actual title belt online. The image shown within the center plate's picture window is that of Betty Niccoli, who held the title IRL and was also the titleholder in my diary at this point (September 1968). Below is a bigger image with just the plates and no photo in the picture window:
-
1
-
-
For everyone wondering about what's been brewing recently between Mae Young and Ann Calvello, here comes the payoff...
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
AGWA TV taping @ Anaheim Convention Center Arena
September 24, 1968 - Anaheim, California
Attendance - 6,960
Aired the weekend of September 28, 1968 on AGWA Women's Pro Wrestling:
Dark match
Valerie Blackard* defeated Panama Franco by pinfall following a snap suplex.
Judy Sowinski defeated Dixie Grant by pinfall following a kneedrop.
Highlights of the Yukiko Tomoe vs. Ann Calvello match and the Mae Young vs. Ann Casey NWA United States Women's title match from September 10 (in which Calvello showed up at ringside to blast Young verbally for showing up with her own version of a United States title) were shown. Following the highlights, Mildred Burke appeared with show host Dick Lane at ringside and announced that as a result of the events from those matches, Calvello would be defending her AGWA United States title against Tomoe in the TV main event that night.
Baby Rocco (with "The Queen" Mae Young) quickly squashed Kathy Starr when she big-splashed and pinned Starr. Post-match, Rocco grabbed the arena microphone and called out Earlene Brown, demanding that she show up to face her, then continued abusing Starr at Young's direction when suddenly, the crowd went wild with cheers as Brown, making her first appearance in a month, ran in and chased out Rocco and Young to make the save, then took the mic and verbally ripped into Rocco for trying to sideline her and for her assaults on other wrestlers while she was gone, then demanded that a match be signed between them.
Judy Arnold defeated Mary Jane Mull by pinfall with a sunset flip.
AGWA United States Championship
Yukiko Tomoe** defeated Ann Calvello (C) (with Mae Young) by pinfall to win the title when, late in the bout after the referee had accidentally been knocked down, Young's attempt to interfere on Calvello's behalf backfired when Tomoe reversed an Irish whip attempt to the ropes by the champion, resulting in Calvello getting belted by Young with a foreign object intended for Tomoe, who then pinned Calvello with a schoolgirl rollup. Post-match, as Tomoe was awarded the AGWA United States title belt, an enraged Calvello started arguing with Young about the mixup, leading to Young slapping Calvello in the face; Calvello responded by drilling Young with a punch that knocked the manager to the mat to the cheers of the fans, then she continued trash-talking Young before Queen's Court members Georgia Hase, Margot Bouchard and Diane Syverson all ran in and attacked Calvello, beating her down to the canvas. As Hase and Bouchard picked Calvello up off the mat, Young, after being helped up by Syverson, began berating a half-out-of-it Calvello (still being held up by Hase and Bouchard) while delivering paintbrush slaps to her face, calling her a screwup for the bungled interference that led to Calvello losing the United States title to Tomoe, then she unceremoniously fired Calvello from the Queen's Court and slugged her one more time before Young and her clients left the ring to the fans' boos and left the now-beltless Calvello in a heap on the mat.
Aired the weekend of October 5, 1968 on AGWA Women's Pro Wrestling:
Dark match
In a non-title match, California Women's Champion Betty Niccoli (who first arrived with the belt in the AGWA in May) defeated Margo Vincent by pinfall following a leg sweep.
Georgia Hase & Margot Bouchard (with Mae Young) defeated Serena Harris & Jane Travis when Bouchard pinned Harris following a spinebuster slam.
Handicap match
Earlene Brown, in her first match back since the attack on her by Baby Rocco on August 27, was cheered on by the crowd as she defeated Kim Blanchard & Ashley Sinclair when Brown big-splashed and pinned Sinclair.
AGWA Television Championship
Joyce Fowler (C) defeated Diane Syverson (with Mae Young) when Fowler scored the pinfall after nailing Syverson with a high knee off the ropes.
AGWA United States Tag Team Championship - Two out of Three Falls
In the TV main event, Renée Martel & Claire Lepage (C) retained their title by defeating Jane Sherill & Patty O'Hara in two straight falls.⦁ First fall - Lepage pinned Sherill following a flying clothesline off the second rope.
⦁ Second fall - Martel made O'Hara submit to the Alligator Clutch.
NWA United States Women's Championship
Mae Young (C) defeated Sally Vega by disqualification when a revenge-seeking Ann Calvello ran in and attacked Young; Georgia Hase, Margot Bouchard and Diane Syverson ran out to again go after Calvello moments later, but the wily veteran foiled their attempt by bailing out as she saw them coming and escaped through the crowd (this match was not aired as part of the October 5 episode, but was held for airing in a future episode).* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
* Roller derby skater IRL.
** This is Yukiko Tomoe's last appearance with the AGWA, as she subsequently returned to Japan with the AGWA United States title to defend it in All Japan Women's Pro Wrestling; from this point forward, the NWA United States Women's title held by Mae Young becomes the main singles title in the AGWA as the NWA Board of Directors gave control of that title to the AGWA.
-
WCW World Heavyweight Title:
Dean Malenko vs Randy Savage (c)
Sting & Lex Luger vs Faces of Fear
Ricky Steamboat vs Steve Austin
-
Over the course of the previous year, AGWA live events in Albuquerque (which Bugs Bunny should've remembered to take that "left toin" in 😆 ) had been held at the mid-sized Albuquerque Civic Auditorium (which could seat about 6,500 for wrestling events), but because of a recent spike in demand for AGWA event tickets (thanks in part to the exposure given the promotion by AGWA Women's Pro Wrestling on the city's NBC affiliate KOB-TV), it was decided to move the latest Albuquerque house show to a larger venue...
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
American Girls' Wrestling Association @ University Arena*
September 21, 1968 - Albuquerque, New Mexico
Attendance - 14,000+
Judy Sowinski defeated Sally Vega by pinfall following a kneedrop.
Handicap match
Baby Rocco (with "The Queen" Mae Young) squashed Carmen Thompson & Linda Moody when she big-splashed each girl and pinned them both simultaneously. Post-match, Rocco got on the arena microphone and demanded to know where Earlene Brown was, calling out the big ex-Olympian and demanding that she get in the ring and face her (even though she knew that Brown, who was still on the mend from getting big-splashed three consecutive times by Rocco on August 27, was not at the arena that night).
Jane Sherill & Patty O'Hara defeated Sylvia Hackney & Kathy Starr when O'Hara pinned Hackney following a clothesline to the back of the head.
Judy Arnold used the spinning toehold to get the submission win from Tonette Kadrmas.
In a non-title bout, Yukiko Tomoe defeated AGWA United States Champion Ann Calvello (with Mae Young) by pinfall after attempted interference by Young backfired when Young, who was aiming for Tomoe with a foreign object while she was being held by Calvello, hit Calvello by mistake when Tomoe escaped. Post-match, another argument between Young and Calvello erupted, requiring the rest of the Queen's Court to break up.
AGWA Television Championship
Joyce Fowler (C) defeated Shirley Hardman (with Mae Young) when Hardman was disqualified for striking the referee as he tried to stop her from choking Fowler.
AGWA United States Tag Team Championship - Two out of Three Falls
Renée Martel & Claire Lepage (C) retained their title by defeating Georgia Hase & Margot Bouchard (with Mae Young) when Martel used the Alligator Clutch to get the submission from Hase in the third fall after each team had won a fall.* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
* The University Arena is one of the University of New Mexico's main sports venues (as it is for Albuquerque in general); opened in 1966 and seating nearly 15,000 for basketball at this point (and possibly more for wrestling), this arena earned the nickname "The Pit" because its playing floor was built 37 feet below street level.
-
1
-
Rise of a Star
in Total Extreme Wrestling 2020 Dynasties
Posted · Edited by Old School Fan
Links added
The debacle that stemmed from the controversial ending to the women's tournament staged by the Fabulous Moolah in San Diego on the same night as the final night of the AGWA's Mildred Burke Invitational Tournament II in Los Angeles in February, along with the confusion caused when a number of fans who attended Moolah's event thought it was an AGWA event (as the AGWA had held events in San Diego prior to Moolah's event), ended up negatively impacting the AGWA in its immediate aftermath attendance-wise for its next few San Diego cards, forcing Mildred to try to rebuild goodwill with local fans there (even though what had happened that night was Moolah's fault, not Mildred's, due to Moolah staging her event in a deliberate sabotage attempt against Mildred's event). Only in recent months has Mildred been able to rebuild respectable crowds for her events in San Diego in the wake of Moolah's chicanery, such as this recent card:
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
American Girls' Wrestling Association @ San Diego International Sports Center
October 12, 1968 - San Diego, California
Attendance - 12,350
Panama Franco defeated Lita Marez by pinfall following a knee drop.
Valerie Blackard battled Tonette Kadrmas to a time-limit draw.
Shirley Hardman & Diane Syverson (with "The Queen" Mae Young) defeated Sylvia Hackney & Kathy Starr when Hardman pinned Hackney following a double-facebuster by Hardman and Syverson.
In an anticipated clash of the AGWA titans, 250-pound Earlene Brown defeated 220-pound Baby Rocco (with Mae Young) by countout when Rocco could not get back in the ring in time to beat the referee's count after she tumbled through the ropes to ringside when Brown clotheslined her out.
California Women's Championship
Betty Niccoli (C) defeated Sally Vega by pinfall following a powerslam.
AGWA Television Championship
Renée Martel defeated Georgia Hase (C) (with Mae Young) by disqualification when Young ran in and attacked Martel as she had Hase trapped in the Alligator Clutch (Hase retained her title due to the DQ). Young and Hase continued attacking Martel after the bell until Earlene Brown ran out to make the save for Renée and chased out the heel duo.