[Rise of a Star]

Mildred Burke Invitational Tournament - Night Four @ Los Angeles Memorial Sports Arena

February 16, 1967 - Los Angeles, California

Attendance - 15,790

 

 

 

12-woman Battle Royal for the AGWA Television Championship

Margot Bouchard last eliminated Penny Banner to win a battle royal to become the first AGWA Television Champion and earn a title shot against Joan Weston later on the card (other participants in the match, in order of elimination, were Panama Franco, Hatfield Hattie, Sally Vega, Diane Syverson, Claire Lepage, Georgia Hase, Kathy Starr, Shirley Hardman, Mae Weston and Jan Vallow).

 

 

Claire Lepage defeated Panama Franco by pinfall with a backslide pin after ducking an attempted clothesline by Franco.

 

 

Shirley Hardman, Diane Syverson & Jan Vallow defeated Mae Weston, Sally Vega & Kathy Starr when Vallow pinned Vega following a powerslam.

 

 

Penny Banner defeated Georgia Hase when Banner caught Hase in a sunset flip for the pinfall.

 

 

Mildred Burke Invitational Tournament, West Division - Semifinals

Judy Arnold defeated Mae Young by pinfall following a cross-bodyblock off the ropes.

 

 

Mildred Burke Invitational Tournament, East Division - Semifinals

Renée Martel defeated Ann Calvello by pinfall with a small package pin after rolling through to counter a bodyslam attempt by Calvello.

 

 

NWA North American Women's Championship

Joan Weston © defeated Margot Bouchard by disqualification when Bouchard elbowed the referee on the side of his head as he tried to stop her from choking Weston against the ropes.

 

 

Mildred Burke Invitational Tournament - Final

In the final of the tournament (also held to determine the first AGWA United States Champion), the fans were treated to a rare match between two popular scientific wrestlers as Judy Arnold took on Renée Martel. This was a brilliant scientific battle as both women thrilled the crowd with a series of sterling moves, countermoves and holds. After about 25 minutes of a hard-fought bout, however, when the referee was knocked down from a collision after getting caught between the two wrestlers and Martel fell from the ring to ringside, Ann Calvello and Margot Bouchard interfered and dropped Martel with a double suplex on the arena floor before Calvello and Bouchard retreated from ringside, leading to Arnold emerging victorious via countout to win the tournament.

 

Following the match, Mildred Burke, the AGWA President and former NWA World Women's Champion, got into the ring to present Arnold with the Mildred Burke Invitational Trophy and the AGWA United States title belt, but when Burke told Arnold what had happened and the latter saw a dazed Martel get to her feet at ringside, a displeased Arnold grabbed the arena microphone and, after saying this was not how she wanted to win the tournament, called out Calvello and Bouchard to confront them on their interference. The two heels came out and started arguing with Arnold, who, while distracted by the argument, fell victim to a blindside attack as Georgia Hase came out from the crowd and attacked Arnold from behind, leading to Calvello and Bouchard storming in to make it a three-on-one attack on Arnold. Martel managed to shake off the effects of the earlier attack on her and got into the ring to try to make the save for Arnold, but Mae Young came in next to turn the advantage four-on-two in favor of the heels for a few moments before Joan Weston and Penny Banner ran in to even the sides for the babyfaces as the near-capacity crowd rooted them on in the wild brawl, with the tide soon turning as Arnold, Weston, Banner and Martel cleared the heels out one by one. Heated words were exchanged and insults flew between the two sides as the villainous squad of Young, Calvello, Hase and Bouchard hurled threats toward the four babyfaces in the ring while backing slowly toward the locker rooms.

 

 

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

 

Prediction results: (Thanks to all who made their predictions for this card)

 

Herrbear - 4/6

Lord Byron - 3/6

 

All-time prediction results:

 

Herrbear - 47/67

Hitman74 - 10/12

Lord Byron - 8/13

Theheel - 7/10

Dalton - 6/6

auto45 - 5/6

Sco_xY2Jx - 2/6

 

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

[AWA 1989: A Financial Savior Is (Badly) Needed]

CLASSIC WRESTLING VIDEO OF THE WEEK!

 

From Mid-Atlantic 1983, Greg Valentine destroys Piper's left ear with the US Title.

 

Wonder if we'll ever see anything like this on RAW?:

 

 

I remember hearing about this match a lot and reading about it in the Apter mags, but I never saw it until just now when I checked the link. That was one brutal match, especially with the way Valentine repeatedly targeted the left side of Piper's head after the initial belt strike in order to damage his ear and his equilibrium. I could imagine his dad Johnny Valentine (being the hard hitter that he was) resorting to a similar tactic if the opportunity presented itself at the time.

[Rise of a Star]

Just before I post the results of the final night of the Mildred Burke Invitational Tournament, Mildred makes a discovery upon getting a particularly important letter...

 

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

 

Two days after the wrestling show at the Olympic Auditorium, over at the Mildred Burke Wrestling School, the facility's secretary was sorting through mail that had arrived at the front office after she returned from lunch when Mildred returned from her own lunch break. "Hi, Mrs. Burke, how was lunch?" the secretary asked as Mildred came through the front door.

 

"It went well, thanks," Mildred replied. "Ah, I see the mail came in," she added, noticing the stack of envelopes on the front counter.

 

"Just the usual stuff," the secretary said as she handed Mildred the mail. "Oh, and you also got an overnighted letter in the stack too."

 

"Okay, thanks," Mildred said before going into her own office. She dropped the stack of envelopes onto her desk and sat down, then looked for and found the overnighted letter. Before opening it, she looked at the front of the envelope - and recognized the return address in the top left corner, of the Capitol Wrestling Corporation in New York City.

 

"Wait a second, what would Vince McMahon be doing writing to me?" Mildred said to herself while raising an eyebrow, then she opened the envelope and took out the letter, which also had a newspaper clipping stapled to it, inside to read it, then read the clipping - and she soon realized who had actually sent the letter as she shook her head and chuckled quietly. "Why am I not surprised by this?" she then said with a smirk after she finished reading the clipping.

 

Moments later, a knock came on Mildred's office door. "Come in," she called to the knocker.

 

A second later, Renée Martel, Michèle Richard and Claire Lepage all came into the office. "Hi, Mildred, we came by to practice a bit in the gym," Renée said. "Is anyone else in there?"

 

"No, you're the first ones to come by today, go on in," Mildred said, looking somewhat distracted as she reread the clipping.

 

A puzzled Renée raised an eyebrow as she watched Mildred read the clipping. "Uh, you look like something's on your mind," she said to her mentor. "Did we come at a bad time?"

 

"What? Oh, no, it's okay," Mildred said as she looked up from the clipping, then showed it and the letter it came with to the girls. "I just got this overnighted letter in the mail from New York - and guess who sent it?"

 

After taking the letter and the clipping to look at, Renée began reading the items while Michèle and Claire, who were flanking her on each side, also took a look. The letter itself simply read:

 

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

 

So how does this grab you, Mildred?

 

Moolah

 

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

 

The girls then read the accompanying clipping, which turned out to be an article about Fabulous Moolah's tournament at the Boston Garden two nights earlier, complete with results and the attendance number for that show. Upon finishing reading the article, a displeased Michèle started cursing in French.

 

"Wait, what'd she say?" Mildred, who did not speak French, addressed the girls.

 

"Trust me, you don't want to hear the translation," Michèle said with an embarrassed laugh.

 

"But I think I know why Michèle reacted like she did," Renée then said, "and I've clued in on this letter from Moolah and why it was sent."

 

"It looks and sounds like something Moolah would do, too," Mildred said. "And I may be thinking what you're thinking too - she found out about our tournament somehow and her staging of her own tournament to take place at the same time ours is going on was intended as a 'Take that!' to us."

 

"And would it be any surprise if Moolah was also behind that protest at the arena in Anaheim two weeks ago as a way of sticking it to us while it bought her time to set up her tournament?" Renée pointed out. "Even though she's on the other side of the country right now, I wouldn't put it past her to have a local contact in L.A. who's been spying on us and reporting back to her, and who helped her plan and organize that protest - with Moolah, being as well-off as she is financially, even funding the protest."

 

"That thought crossed my mind too, that's why I reacted the way I did after I read the letter and the clipping," Michèle said in agreement.

 

"After the events of the last two weeks, I put nothing past Moolah," Mildred said matter-of-factly.

 

"That article even claims that Moolah's tournament was the 'greatest women's tournament in wrestling history'," Claire then said.

 

"They said that too about the tournament Moolah won to get her title back in 1956 while most of the NWA still recognized June Byers as the champion," Mildred pointed out. "All it means is that Moolah has the wrestling press wrapped around her finger and she manipulates them to make her look and sound like the second coming of me."

 

"That reminds me of something Ann said to me once about her dealings with Moolah," Renée said of Ann Calvello. "She said as a wrestler, Moolah makes a much better politician - that she has to be because she's a poor wrestler otherwise."

 

"Yep, that's Moolah alright," Mildred said while nodding in agreement. "I wrestled her a few times early in her career and even then, she wasn't that good. She hasn't changed her style or improved all that much in nearly two decades. Ann's right about her - the only way she can be successful is to fight dirty, manipulate promoters and the press and to limit herself mainly to wrestling her trainees because she'd get shown up and look bad against legitimately talented wrestlers."

 

"So, all that said, how do we counter what Moolah did to try to sabotage and upstage our tournament?" Renée asked.

 

"We just keep doing what we've been doing since last week," Mildred said. "We continue the media blitz, we call on the wrestling press to cover the last night of the tournament and we also get posters put up everywhere we can - stores, community centers, restaurants - you name it. We'll prove that Moolah hasn't got us licked, no matter how hard she tries."

[WCW 1992: A Dangerous Alliance]

Bam Bam Bigelow vs. Ricky Steamboat

WCW TV Title: Steve Austin © vs. Marcus Alexander Bagwell

WCW Light Heavyweight Title: Brian Pillman © vs. Jushin Thunder Liger

Shane Douglas vs. Bobby Eaton

Ron Simmons vs. Mr. Hughes

Jimmy Garvin vs. Vinnie Vegas

[NJPW America: A Growing Presence]

Lance Archer VS. Malakai Black [c]

(IWGP US title)

Josh Alexander [c] VS. Karl Fredericks (#2)

(STRONG Openweight)

Claudio Castagnoli, Chris Hero & TJP VS. Fred Yehi, Wheeler YUTA & Jonathan Gresham

Chris Dickinson VS. El Generico

Team Filthy (Lawlor & Gainz) VS. Misterioso & Clearwater

Alex Coughlin, Clark Connors & Warhorse VS. Matt Adams & UNIsettle (Bateman & Manders)

Brody King (#7) VS. Hikuleo (#8)

[Rise of a Star]

This is something I should've thought to release prior to the turn of the year to 1967, but here is a listing of the top women wrestlers in the world as ranked by The Ring Wrestling magazine for its January 1967 issue ITTL, published in late-1966:

 

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

 

The Ring Wrestling

January 1967

 

WOMEN

 

1 - Penny Banner

2 - Cora Combs

3 - Rita Cortez

4 - Jessica Rogers

5 - Joan Weston (NWA North American Champion)

6 - Mae Young

7 - Judy Grable

8 - Ann Calvello

9 - Ethel Johnson

10 - Kathy O'Brien

11 - Fabulous Moolah (NWA World Champion)

12 - Maria DeLeon

13 - Judy Arnold

14 - Barbara Galento

15 - Sylvia Torres

16 - Kay Noble (AWA World Champion)

17 - Sherrie Lee

18 - Georgia Hase

19 - Margot Bouchard

20 - Renée Martel (first appearance in the women's world rankings)

[AEW + RoH]

Bandido vs. Blake Christian vs. Alex Zayne vs. Dragon Lee vs. Flamita vs. Rey Horus

Minoru Suzuki vs. Rhett Titus

Sydal Brothers vs. OGK

Brian Cage vs. Cheeseburger

Deonna Purrazzo vs. Mercedes Martinez

[AEW + RoH]

Any critique is welcomed, as time goes on, im hoping this thread will improve in quality, but any comments will be taken on board this card was alot like the real AEW stuff, but from this Dynamite, im hoping to take AEW in my own direction with the odd influence from real life but hopefully not much at all

 

Gonna spend some time tomorrow filling out the initial few posts, with rosters, tag teams/stables, champions etc

 

Don't mind if I do - how would doing predictions for events sound (as some of us already do with our diaries)?

[Rise of a Star]

The updated tournament bracket for the final night of the Mildred Burke Invitational Tournament:

 

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

 

 

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

 

It's prediction time once again:

 

Battle Royal for the AGWA Television Championship

Penny Banner • Mae Weston • Sally Vega • Claire Lepage • Hatfield Hattie • Kathy Starr • Margot Bouchard • Georgia Hase • Jan Vallow • Shirley Hardman • Diane Syverson • Panama Franco

 

Claire Lepage vs. Panama Franco

 

Mae Weston, Sally Vega & Kathy Starr vs. Shirley Hardman, Diane Syverson & Jan Vallow

 

Penny Banner vs. Georgia Hase

 

NWA North American Women's Championship

Joan Weston © vs. Battle Royal winner

 

Plus - who will win the Mildred Burke Invitational Tournament?

 

Judy Arnold • Mae Young • Renée Martel • Ann Calvello

 

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

 

Thanks to the media blitz undertaken by Mildred Burke involving several of her wrestlers, ticket demand for the final night of the tournament soared to the point where it was decided to hold the event at the larger Los Angeles Memorial Sports Arena (which could hold 16,740 for wrestling and boxing events) and move the event to February 16 to allow for extra time to build up the event.

[Rise of a Star]

Meanwhile on the other side of the country, on the same night as Fabulous Moolah's women's tournament in Boston, the four semifinalists in the Mildred Burke Invitational Tournament took part in an event prior to the final night of the tournament that would give a preview showcase of their skills...

 

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

 

Worldwide Wrestling Associates @ Olympic Auditorium

February 8, 1967 - Los Angeles, California

 

 

 

Killer Karl Kox defeated Ramón Ortega by pinfall following a brainbuster.

 

 

Ricky Romero defeated Don Chuy by pinfall following a series of dropkicks.

 

 

Pedro Morales defeated Big Jim Vallen* by submission with a Boston crab.

 

 

Judy Arnold & Renée Martel battled Mae Young & Ann Calvello to a time-limit draw.

 

 

Bobo Brazil, Édouard Carpentier & Mark Lewin defeated Hard Boiled Haggerty, El Shereef** & The Mad Russian*** when Brazil pinned Shereef following a headbutt.

 

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

 

* Big Jim Vallen was an early ring name used by "Boogie Woogie Man" Jimmy Valiant.

 

** Ring name used by wrestler Jerry Woods as part of an Arab gimmick.

 

*** Ring name used by Canadian wrestler Igor Kalmikoff (real name Eric Pomeroy).

[Rise of a Star]

Confident that she had succeeded in throwing the Mildred Burke Invitational Tournament into disarray with her sabotage job, Fabulous Moolah set the final part of her scheme to upstage Mildred and her tournament with her own rival tournament, to which she had invited the local media in Boston, along with a sports reporter from the New York Times and reporters from the major wrestling magazines, to give the event glowing coverage:

 

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

 

Women's Classic Tournament @ Boston Garden

February 8, 1967 - Boston, Massachussetts

Attendance - 13,700

 

 

 

Women's Classic Tournament - Quarterfinals

Ella Waldek defeated Joyce Grable by pinfall following a kneedrop.

 

 

Women's Classic Tournament - Quarterfinals

Hometown heroine Bette Boucher defeated Donna Christanello by pinfall following a cross-bodyblock off the ropes.

 

 

Women's Classic Tournament - Quarterfinals

Toni Rose defeated Princess Little Cloud by pinfall following a double-foot stomp to the chest.

 

 

Women's Classic Tournament - Quarterfinals

Ann Casey defeated Barbara Owens by pinfall following a dropkick.

 

 

WWWF United States Tag Team Championship

Spiros Arion & Antonio Pugliese © defeated The Sicilians (Lou Albano & Tony Altimore) when Arion pinned Albano following an atomic drop.

 

 

Women's Classic Tournament - Semifinals

Bette Boucher defeated Ella Waldek when Waldek was disqualified for throwing Boucher over the top rope.

 

 

Women's Classic Tournament - Semifinals

Toni Rose upset Ann Casey by pinfall with a schoolgirl rollup, with Rose putting her feet on the middle rope for illegal leverage to secure the pin.

 

 

WWWF World Heavyweight Championship

Bruno Sammartino © defeated Bull Ortega* by submission with a full-Nelson.

 

 

Women's Classic Tournament - Final

Bette Boucher defeated Toni Rose to win the tournament when Boucher pinned Rose with a small package pin. By virtue of her tournament win, Boucher earned a title shot against Moolah, the NWA World Women's Champion, at the next Boston Garden card.

 

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

 

* AKA Mighty Ursus.

[All Elite Wrestling]

The Butcher & The Blade vs. Le Sex Gods

Daniel Garcia vs. Cody Rhodes

Britt Baker & Chelsea Green vs. Riho & Yuka Sakazaki

AEW WORLD TAG TEAM CHAMPIONSHIP: FTR © vs. Santana & Ortiz

AEW WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP: Hangman Adam Page © vs. Ricky Starks

[Rise of a Star]

February 1967

 

Following the main event between AWA World Women's Champion Kay Noble and Penny Banner on the third night of the Mildred Burke Invitational Tournament, as the crowd was leaving the Anaheim Convention Center Arena to head home, Mildred had gathered her roster lineup that night backstage for a post-show meeting. "Alright, girls, another night, another high-quality event," the AGWA owner said to the gathered wrestlers in one of the locker rooms as they were either standing or seated on benches. "You all did good out there again tonight."

 

"Yeah, we did good alright, considerin' we lost over a third of the crowd we had two weeks ago because of the blockade by those Berkeley wackjobs last week that scuttled the event then," Mae Young spoke up next as most of the other wrestlers present simultaneously grumbled along in agreement, regarding the protest staged that night by the University of California—Berkeley Women's Studies students.

 

"I know, I wasn't happy about it either," Mildred agreed. "But I was lucky that Mayor Krein allowed me to rebook the arena for tonight without charge to make up for last week because of him being there to see the protest happen, otherwise the promotion could've ended up short on funds for tonight's show, and I didn't want that to happen."

 

"One thing's sure, though," Shirley Hardman then joined in. "Me, Mae, Ann and Michèle made those pinkos pay for their protest with a few busted noses and black eyes."

 

"And a fat lip and a couple of loosened teeth, in the case of the protester who spit in my face after I called her out," added Mae, whose reputation for toughness in and out of the ring was well-known in wrestling circles. "Givin' those young punks the thumpin' they deserved sure made up for not gettin' to wrestle that night."

 

"Well, good, I'm glad you all won because I was prepared to fire anyone on the roster who lost their fights out there that night*," Mildred joked, drawing nervous laughter from some of the wrestlers. "But getting back to tonight's crowd size, I agree it was a bit disappointing after the good crowds we got the first two weeks. And unfortunately, with the smaller crowd tonight combined with having to pay for the extra security following last week's events, that's going to mean your pay's going to be a little bit less tonight than it was in the previous weeks." All the wrestlers present groaned collectively when they heard the news, but realized that was part of the business as each of them accepted their night's pay.

 

"You know, I wasn't going to say anything about last week until now," Ann Calvello then spoke up, "but there's something about it that just doesn't pass the smell test with me. The first week of the tournament, we drew a good crowd, almost 5,800 fans. The next week, we drew an even bigger crowd for the second night, more than 6,400. Because of the success of the first two nights, it's likely we could've drawn an even bigger crowd for the third night had it taken place last week."

 

"So what're you getting at?" Michèle Richard then asked.

 

"That protest happening at the arena just before the show that night might seem coincidental, but its timing just seems too convenient for that," Ann pointed out. "I think the protest may have been timed for last week to sabotage and delay the third night of the tournament, and it didn't have so much to do with them protesting for women's rights as it did to target and sabotage the show that night."

 

"Ann, you know how much like a conspiracy theory your story sounds right now?" Kay then said in reply. "Even if it were the case - and I'm not saying it is - why wouldn't the protesters wait until the final night of the tournament to hit the arena with their protest for maximum effect?"

 

"Hey, take it for what it's worth, but I don't believe in coincidences when stuff like this happens," Ann said. "Mildred, who do you know in the biz who'd want to target this event for sabotage by organizing and staging that protest to happen last week? I mean, I doubt that the protesters themselves had brains enough between 'em all to think it up on their own, so they would've had to have outside help to organize and bring 'em down here from Berkeley."

 

"Well, there is one person I can think of who'd be jealous enough of Mildred and dirty enough to try and sabotage the tournament," Penny then speculated. "And that'd be Fabulous Moolah. From my dealings with her, I've never trusted her any further than I could throw one of Elvis Presley's pink Cadillacs."

 

"Exactly - and bonus points for name-dropping the man you used to date," Ann remarked to Penny before turning back to Mildred. "But seriously, I don't think much of Moolah either and it wouldn't surprise me that she set up the protest to throw a monkey wrench into the tournament last week after she found out about it."

 

"And if she learned about me being involved in the tournament from the news, she might have also acted out of spite in response to my never answering Vince McMahon's letter to me to invite me to join Moolah's stable and get trained by her so I could wrestle for him," Renée Martel then weighed in. "So it'd be as much a shot at me by Moolah as at Mildred."

 

"That could be, but even if we could come right out and prove it, Moolah would just try to deny it and make it her word against ours," Mildred then said. "Then she'd try to spin it in the press to make us look like we come off as 'bitter' and 'jealous' of her after she claims that the protest happening last week before the show was just sheer coincidence while she weasels her way out of responsibility for setting it up, if that were the case. She's got the wrestling press wrapped around her finger at this point because of her status and she's pulled similar tricks with the press before against her rivals in women's wrestling, so she'd come off looking good while we end up looking bad. Much as I hate to say it, girls, Moolah struck the first blow and got us over a barrel this time around."

 

"So what can we do to fix this, then?" Renée asked.

 

"I think I know what we can do," Mildred said. "If we're going to finish this tournament as it should be, we need to get out to the public and promote the heck out of the final night of the event to draw more fans in - and to do that, we need to go on a media blitz, go hit up the newspapers and the radio and TV stations and spread the word about us and about the tournament's final night."

 

"Then I could help with that," Renée offered. "I did a media blitz up in Winnipeg when I first wrestled there last year and it helped sell out the Winnipeg Arena."

 

"Good, that helps a lot," Mildred said. "Michèle, how good are you with promos and interviews?"

 

"I've done TV interviews back up in Montreal," Michèle replied. "And I'm as fluent in English as I am in French, if you're wondering."

 

"Great, sounds good to me," Mildred said. "So then, Judy, Ann, Renée, Michèle and Mae, I'll get the five of you to do the interview rounds with the Times, radio and TV in town after I get in touch with them and set up interviews. Since Kay's heading back to Minnesota after tonight and Joan Weston's coming back for the final night of the tournament, I'll get her to join you five on the media blitz. Regardless of what happened last week and what it caused to happen tonight, we're going to rebound from this and make the final night of the tournament a success," she added, eliciting some enthusiastic cheering from the wrestlers present.

 

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

 

Two days later at a WWWF event in New York City, even though she was not scheduled to wrestle at Madison Square Garden due to the ban on women's wrestling in New York, Fabulous Moolah was backstage at MSG, reading through another overnighted letter to her from Los Angeles that she had picked up at Vince McMahon Sr.'s office. The letter directed her to take a look at an accompanying clipping from the Los Angeles Times, so she took a look - and read about the third night of the Mildred Burke tournament, which the article mentioned took a hit in attendance from the previous two nights of the tournament, falling to only about 3,900 on the third night vs. the over 6,400 the second night had drawn.

 

Figuring that the event's attendance had fallen because of the student protest/blockade of the Anaheim Convention Center Arena she had gotten her Los Angeles contact to organize, Moolah chuckled to herself with delight after she finished reading the article. "Oh, but what a tangled web we weave," she said to herself, pleased at the damage she had inflicted against the tournament. "Now you know it doesn't pay to mess with Moolah, Mildred."

 

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

 

Unknown to Moolah, however, the wrestlers Mildred had assigned to take part in the planned media blitz over in Los Angeles to publicize the final night of the tournament were already hard at work. Working in three pairs of two - Renée and Ann, Mae and Judy Arnold, and Michèle and Joan Weston - the wrestlers did interviews with the Los Angeles Times, several local radio stations (including Top 40 powerhouse KHJ), the Big Three network TV stations and local independent stations KTLA, KHJ-TV**, KTTV and KCOP-TV to promote the event. While the ladies did their part, Mildred also ended up getting some unexpected help from Worldwide Wrestling Associates owner/promoter Mike LeBell, who had been booking some of her girls to appear on some of his shows at the Olympic Auditorium in the past and had heard about the incident with the Berkeley protesters, when he offered to book the four semifinalists in the tournament - Renée, Judy, Ann and Mae - for a special appearance at an upcoming card of his at the Olympic...

 

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

 

* Mildred's locker room joke to the girls is a reference to what Bill Watts, as owner of Mid-South Wrestling/the UWF in the 1980s IRL, was said to have warned his wrestlers about - warning them not to get into fights at bars after wrestling shows, adding that if they did get into fights, they had better win or they would be fired from his promotion if they lost.

 

** KHJ-TV, one of the four main independent TV stations in Los Angeles at the time when it was under the ownership of RKO General, was sold to Disney in 1989 and was recalled as KCAL-TV; that station is now a sister station to CBS-owned KCBS-TV under parent company Paramount Global.

[Rise of a Star]

It was obvious from the beginning that he wanted to rule (or is it ruin?) pro wrestling.

 

Back when he first started his expansion in '84/'85, a friend of mine who was an AWA loyalist said VM was wrecking wrestling. I didn't really grasp it at the time. But looking back almost 40 years later damned if he wasn't right.

 

Yep, especially after Vince ultimately succeeded in his quest to control wrestling on the big-league level when he "bought" WCW (well, selected WCW assets and contracts anyway, though not the promotion itself).

 

Everything now seems too contrived, too scripted, so that not even the slightest bit of oxygen can escape from doing things the 'WWE way'. Remember that time Randy Orton had to ask Sheamus hat his next line was?

 

I wouldn't really know because I gave up watching WWE programming in 2005 and have only followed news about it at sites like WrestleView.com since then.

 

The fun and ability to suspend the disbelief and get lost in the action has largely been drained from 'sports entertainment'. Even the fans at the shows seem largely bored by what they're watching. They pop for a guy's music and then sit on their hands for the match and make very little noise.

 

Can't say I've hated everything they've done over the years, but WWE has largely been meh imho.

 

Funny thing about that, whenever I watched WWF shows in the pre-Attitude era, the crowd largely seemed dead anyway and the only reactions heard on those shows were the canned crowd reactions being piped into our living rooms. About the only times when the crowd reactions seemed genuine were when they'd pop for the more over guys like Hogan, Piper, Steamboat and Savage. On the other hand when I watch YouTube clips of old Crockett arena shows from the '70s and '80s, the crowd reactions there appeared genuine throughout, from start to finish (especially with Flair, pre-WWF Piper, Magnum, the LOD, the Russians, the Rock-n-Rolls, the Midnights, etc.).

 

That match you had between Blassie and Carpentier, the stretcher match, mark my words, most of the fans there would have been older fans who would have been abhorred at what the business has turned into. The crowd would have really been into that match, living and dying with everything that happened.

 

Had I been alive back then to see such a match, I'm pretty sure I would've been too.

[AWA 1989: A Financial Savior Is (Badly) Needed]

Brad Rheingans won a squash match Larry Hagman via pinfall with a bridging cradle suplex

 

So now, the question isn't "Who shot J.R.?", it's "Who pinned J.R.?"

 

Magnificent Mimi won a squash match over Belinda Carlisle via pinfall with her missle dropkick finisher

 

And Belinda "

" when Mimi took her down.

 

Sam Houston won a squash match over Charlie Harper via pinfall with his bulldog finisher to remain undefeated

 

Seems

Houston was tonight. Love those pop culture references transplanted into this alternate history.

[NJPW America: A Growing Presence]

Fred Yehi & Wheeler YUTA VS. Lance Archer & Rocky Romero

The DKC (#19) VS. ZERO (#20)

Adrian Quest (#13) VS. Fred Rosser (#11)

[Old School Fan renders]

AGWA Television Championship (for use in Rise of a Star)

[Rise of a Star]

Mildred Burke Invitational Tournament - Night Three @ Anaheim Convention Center Arena

February 2*, 1967 - Anaheim, California

Attendance - 3,946

 

 

 

Jan Vallow used her size and strength advantage to overpower Claire Lepage and pin her following a bodyslam and legdrop.

 

 

Mildred Burke Invitational Tournament, West Division - Quarterfinals

Judy Arnold defeated Margot Bouchard by pinfall after reversing a rollup into a bridge pin.

 

 

Mildred Burke Invitational Tournament, West Division - Quarterfinals

Mae Young defeated Lita Marez by pinfall follwing an elbow drop.

 

 

Shirley Hardman & Diane Syverson defeated Sally Vega & Hatfield Hattie when Hardman pinned Hattie following an elbow drop.

 

 

Mildred Burke Invitational Tournament, East Division - Quarterfinals

Ann Calvello defeated Mae Weston by pinfall following a springboard elbow off the ropes.

 

 

Mildred Burke Invitational Tournament, East Division - Quarterfinals

Renée Martel used the Alligator Clutch to force Georgia Hase to submit.

 

 

AWA World Women's Championship

Kay Noble © narrowly retained her title when Penny Banner was counted out; the two wrestlers had been fighting outside the ring when Noble got back in as the referee reached 19 on his count, while Banner was still halfway between the ropes when the 20-count was reached and the ref called it for Noble.

 

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

 

Prediction results: (Thanks to all who made their predictions for this card)

 

Lord Byron - 5/7

Herrbear - 4/7

 

All-time prediction results:

 

Herrbear - 43/61

Hitman74 - 10/12

Theheel - 7/10

Dalton - 6/6

Lord Byron - 5/7

auto45 - 5/6

Sco_xY2Jx - 2/6

 

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

 

* This is the card that was originally scheduled for January 26, but was postponed to this date due to the Fabulous Moolah-orchestrated student protest/blockade of the Anaheim Convention Center Arena described in the previous chapter. Attendance for this card was down significantly from the previous two cards because of the controversy caused by the staged protest, thanks to Moolah's willingness to play dirty against her competition and affect them negatively.

[Rise of a Star]

Maybe I'm in the minority here, but I never thought the SS concept was really all that great.

 

A bunch of elimination tag matches... Seriously??? The only one I ever bought on PPV was '91 because Flair was in it.

 

Vince could be a real d-bag at times. Overall, I believe he's done way more harm than good to this business.

 

Just wait until a company like Disney buys WWE. The death of pro wrestling will be complete.

 

Coincidentally enough, Vince once called himself the "Walt Disney of Wrestling" in an Apter mag interview from 1986 - ironic, considering how ruthless he was (and still is) in his business practices as a wrestling promoter.

[Rise of a Star]

Before I post the results for the upcoming card, we learn just exactly what Fabulous Moolah had in mind as part of her plot to sabotage the Mildred Burke Invitational Tournament:

 

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

 

About half an hour before the third night of the Mildred Burke Invitational Tournament was to start, Renée Martel came out from the dressing room area to check inside the seating area of the Anaheim Convention Center Arena to see what the size of the crowd was like - and was surprised to notice that the arena was virtually empty, not like it was during the first two nights of the tournament in the previous weeks.

 

"What the...?" Renée exclaimed as she looked into the all-but-deserted arena. Turning around to head back to the locker rooms, she went to get the attention of the other wrestlers who were there, getting ready for the event; when she went back out into the seating area, Michèle Richard, Claire Lepage, Judy Arnold, Ann Calvello, Mae Young and Shirley Hardman all followed her out there to take a look and were taken aback by what they saw, as not so much as a single arena seat was occupied.

 

"What, is this a joke or something?" Shirley said as she scanned around the seating area.

 

"I wish it was," Renée said. "The show starts in less than half an hour and there's no one here yet."

 

"Then we better get to the bottom of this and find out what's goin' on," Mae said as she, Renée and the other girls went off in search of Mildred Burke.

 

Upon arriving in the arena lobby, the wrestlers did not have far to go before they encountered Mildred, Jan Vallow and Penny Banner, who were headed in the opposite direction. "Mildred, what's going on? I just saw the arena was empty," Renée asked as she caught up to her mentor.

 

"Have you seen the East Entrance? That's the reason," Mildred replied as she pointed toward that entrance to the arena, which the wrestlers noticed was being blocked by a group of sign-waving protesters denying access into the arena to a larger group of increasingly frustrated fans who had arrived for a night of wrestling action. "It's the same thing over at the North Entrance and at the loading dock on the west side- those sign-carrying yahoos won't let anyone in. Kay Noble tipped me off about it earlier when she called me from her hotel room and said she couldn't get into the arena because of them."

 

"You try talking to them?" Ann then spoke up.

 

"I tried earlier, but they refuse to listen," Mildred said. "They were spouting off all kinds of gobbledygook about the 'patriarchy' and 'male chauvinist pigs' and what have you. After I left them outside, I went back to the office to call the police and report a disturbance."

 

"Oh, brother, if that's what I think it is..." Judy then remarked, figuring that the protesters outside that were blocking all entrances to the arena were radical feminists, based on Mildred's description.

 

"It is," Mildred confirmed with a nod.

 

"You'd think that bunch would've been satisfied when women's wrestling was finally legalized in California two years ago, but from the looks of it, they sound like they're still not happy," Ann said as she observed the goings-on at the East Entrance.

 

"Well, I think we need to do something about that bunch - we could go out and talk to them," Michèle joined in.

 

"I wouldn't suggest going out to confront them without arena security," Mildred advised the wrestlers before calling several security guards over. "If you can defuse those protesters with a little diplomacy, that's fine. If not, then leave them for the police to deal with."

 

"No problem, I'll take Ann, Shirley and Michèle with me and deal with them," Mae agreed as that group of four went, with some of the security guards accompanying them, to the East Entrance.

 

"Then I'll go to the North Entrance with Judy, Jan and Renée," Penny said next as she and the other three ladies went off with the other guards, leaving Claire with Mildred.

 

"I hope Renée and the others know what they're getting into," Claire said as she watched Renée, Penny, Judy and Jan head to the arena's North Entrance.

 

"So do I, Claire, so do I," Mildred agreed just before Claire went off to join Renée and her group.

 

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

 

Unknown to the wrestlers at that point, the feminist protesters blockading the entrances to the arena and impeding the wrestling fans' ability to enter had been brought down to Anaheim from the University of California—Berkeley, near Oakland and San Francisco, contacted and hired by the Fabulous Moolah's Los Angeles contact to show up and disrupt the wrestling event at the arena that night with a protest/blockade, as engineered by Moolah herself to sabotage Mildred's tournament. The protesters did not know who was really behind their hiring to disrupt the wrestling show, but they did not care so long as they had something to protest - and they also did not care that, in their attempt to block male wrestling fans from entering the arena for a night of fun and excitement, they were also blocking women and children who had come for the event, and some of the younger children were becoming upset over not being able to get in to see the wrestlers. Many of the fans present, of both sexes, were becoming increasingly impatient with the protesters, and some of the fans at the East Entrance started up a "Go home, pinkos!" chant against the Berkeley protesters, which soon began catching on with the larger crowd of fans in that area.

 

The group of protesters who were blocking the East Entrance doors while engaging in their slogan chants were bumped forward when the doors opened and Michèle, Mae, Ann and Shirley came outside, accompanied by the security guards who had joined them. The moment they turned around and saw the guards, the protesters began booing and started a "Down with pigs!" chant. Perplexed by the protesters' behavior, Mae was the first to speak up. "Okay, what gives? What's all the ruckus?"

 

"If you must know, we're protesting the patriarchy and male chauvinism," one of the protesters, the self-appointed spokeswoman of her group, replied haughtily. "We're protesting the males who come here to objectify women by keeping those pigs from seeing them!"

 

"And you're doing that how, by blocking women and children as well as men from seeing us wrestle?" Shirley spoke next. "I don't know if you got the memo, missy, but this is a free country and everyone who's here has the right to come in and see us as long as they pay for a ticket to get in."

 

"And what you call 'objectification', me and the other girls here call our right to get in the ring and wrestle like the men do," Ann added matter-of-factly, "and we earned that right thanks to women's wrestling being made legal here back in '65. You should be thankful that women have the same right to wrestle in California now as the male wrestlers."

 

"And that same free country gives us the right to protest and air our grievances where, when and how we see fit!" the lead protester retorted, attempting to justify her and her comrades' actions.

 

"But not when you deny everyone their right to see a sports event by blocking their way in," Michèle said, "or when you deny me and my sister wrestlers the right to earn a paycheck from that event."

 

"We don't care!" the lead protester then snapped. "Your capitalist exploitation of women for the sake of gratifying male chauvinist pigs is what matters to us, and you're traitors to your gender for supporting that exploitation!" The lead protester then started a loud chant of "Gender traitors!", which her fellow feminists quickly joined in on, directed at the lady wrestlers.

 

"Hold on, hold on, wait a second!" Mae then said, needing to yell to be heard above the protesters in order to get their attention. "So if me and the other girls here are 'traitors' to our sex, then how come you're also blocking other women - as well as children, some of which happen to be girls themselves - from getting into the wrestling show while you block paying male customers? No, if anyone here's really a traitor to their own sex, missy, it's you and your fellow loudmouth pinkos!" Mae's comment to the feminist protesters drew cheers from the crowd of fans close by; the lead protester, stung and offended by getting hit with Mae's truth bomb, responded vindictively by spitting in the veteran wrestler's face.

 

Mae wiped at her cheek where the lead protester spat at her, then looked right at her. "Girlie, you just gave me an excuse," she said to the protester with a devilish grin.

 

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

 

A few days later at a WWWF event in Scranton, Pennsylvania, Moolah was reading another letter which had been overnighted from Los Angeles to her in care of Vince McMahon Sr.'s office and brought by him to her. She was reading the letter when she was advised to check out the accompanying newspaper clipping from the Los Angeles Times:

 

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

 

Night of the Iron Women

(Or, girl grapplers vs. Berkeley protesters - and the grapplers won!)

 

What was planned to be a night of professional wrestling action last night at the Anaheim Convention Center Arena instead ended up being ruined by the presence of a group of protesters who came to spoil the event - only to get more than they bargained for.

 

The protesters, reportedly a group of students from the Women's Studies program at the University of California—Berkeley, came down to Anaheim and showed up at the arena where the wrestling event, the third night of a four-night tournament presented by promoter and former World Women's Wrestling Champion Mildred Burke and her American Girls' Wrestling Association promotion, was to take place for the purpose of disrupting the event with a feminist protest, where the overall group split into smaller groups to physically blockade each of the entrances to the arena to prevent male wrestling fans from getting into the arena. In doing so, however, the protesters also ended up hampering the women they claimed to be speaking for when they also prevented female wrestling fans, and even children who had been brought to the arena by their parents for the event, from getting inside.

 

Burke, who reigned as World Women's Champion until her 1956 retirement before becoming a trainer of girl wrestlers and was instrumental in getting women's wrestling legalized in California in 1965, condemned the Berkeley protesters as hypocrites for their actions for also blocking women and children from attending the wrestling event in the protesters' efforts to keep the men from getting into the arena. "I tried talking to them when I first went out to meet them, but they had no interest in listening to anything I had to say, and it was the same when some of the girls on my roster went out to deal with them," Burke said afterward. "For women who claim to be about women's rights and claim to speak for all women, those protesters didn't practice what they preached when they both kept female fans from getting into the arena and kept the girls on my roster from trying to earn a paycheck by wrestling and entertaining fans of both sexes."

 

Another high-profile figure who denounced the protesters' actions was Mayor Fred Krein, who had also come to attend the event. "While the right to protest peacefully is part of the First Amendment in the Constitution, that same Amendment and our laws do not give protesters the right to interfere with the transaction of public business or the right to declare their intention to do same," Krein pointed out. "By physically blockading the arena entrances and impeding the public from entering the arena to attend the wrestling event, those protesters broke the law and they're asking to do jail time for their actions." When Anaheim Police arrived to deal with the protesters, Krein declared an unlawful assembly against the protesters and ordered them to disperse, but they refused to do so.

 

As a result, a number of the protesters were arrested and charged with trespassing, disorderly conduct, assault and interference with the conduct of public business and taken into custody. Some of the protesters were not so lucky; as noted above, several of the wrestlers on the AGWA roster went out to confront the protesters at each of the arena entrances on their actions. One group of wrestlers, led by Mae Young, were accompanied by security guards as they went out to meet one of the groups of disruptive protesters. Young later reported that one of the protesters spat in her face and led her fellow protesters to attempt to start a riot - but despite outnumbering the wrestlers by about five to one, tangling with the wrestlers turned out to be the protesters' biggest mistake that night as Young and the other wrestlers in her group, all trained professionals skilled in fighting, sent the Berkeley radicals running for cover after leaving several of the protesters with bloody noses and other bumps, bruises and minor injuries, leading to them being initially taken to nearby hospitals for treatment before being taken to jail. Young and the other wrestlers with her - Ann Calvello, Shirley Hardman and Margot Bouchard - were initially detained by police at the scene as well, but were let go without charge after a few minutes when eyewitness reports from some of the fans present for the event, as well as Burke herself, confirmed that the wrestlers had acted in self-defense against the aggressions of the protesters.

 

Unfortunately, due to the melee that resulted thanks to the protesters, Burke, after consulting with Mayor Krein, announced that the wrestling event would have to be postponed to next week, on February 2, much to the disappointment of the fans present. Burke has promised to honor advance tickets bought for last night at the rescheduled show next week, along with additional security to prevent a repeat of last night's protest antics.

 

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

 

After she finished reading the article, Moolah chuckled quietly to herself at what she had read. "And Round One goes to me," she said with an amused smirk, pleased at what she had orchestrated and pleased that she had drawn first blood against her former mentor-turned-rival Mildred Burke in her quest to stay on top in women's wrestling.

[NJPW America: A Growing Presence]

Chris Hero (#6) VS. Matt Adams (#4)

Violence Squad (Miller & Schaff) VS. Kevin Knight & Richie Slade

Alex Coughlin (#14) VS. PACO (#12)

[Old School Fan renders]

WFWA Canadian Heavyweight Championship

 

This is an approximate recreation of the championship belt used by Winnipeg independent promotion the West Four Wrestling Alliance, from about the mid-1980s to 1994; its design is based on that of the Canadian Heavyweight Championship belt used by All-Star Wrestling in Vancouver in the 1980s, but the center plate was cast in bronze with the WFWA initials added in the middle. The reference for that title belt is here.

[Old School Fan renders]

WWWF United States Tag Team Championship (mid-1960s)

 

This is an approximate recreation of one of the versions of the WWWF United States Tag Team Championship belts, circa the mid-1960s (the center plate on this championship, dating back to when it originated as the Capitol Wrestling version of the NWA United States Tag Team Championship, was replaced with each new year, with the specific year [e.g. 1960] being stamped on that plate at that point). The reference for that title belt is here.

[Rise of a Star]

While waiting to post the results of the upcoming card (and for any further predictions), this presents an opportunity to introduce someone else who will factor into this diary, coming in as a jealous antagonist in opposition to Mildred Burke (and later, to Renée Martel):

 

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

 

 

At a WWWF event in Philadelphia two nights after the second night of the Mildred Burke tournament in Anaheim, Fabulous Moolah, who was waiting for her upcoming defence of her NWA World Women's Championship, was still poring over an overnighted letter addressed to her in care of Vince McMahon Sr.'s head office in New York City, which Vince had brought with him when he arrived in Philadelphia as he knew Moolah would be wrestling there* that night, when Vince came by and noticed her still reading the letter. "Lillian**, you've been obsessing over that letter ever since I first brought it to you, but you haven't said a word about it," the WWWF head said. "Is it anything I need to know about?"

 

Moolah let out a low frustrated groan before turning to Vince. "Can we talk in your office?" she then asked.

 

"Sure, let's do that," Vince agreed as he and Moolah headed to his office in the Philadelphia Arena. Once they went inside and sat down at his desk, Vince then asked, "Okay, Lillian, what's got you troubled?"

 

"Check this out," Moolah said as she handed the letter to Vince, who then began reading it. In the letter, written by a local contact of Moolah's in the Los Angeles area, he saw the mention of Mildred's tournament and the crowds it had drawn at its residence at the Anaheim Convention Center Arena over its first two weeks, noting that the attendance, already sizable for the venue at over 5,700, had gone up by several hundred fans as announced on the second night of the tournament and had included several action-packed matches on both nights, including championship bouts involving titleholders Joan Weston and Kay Noble. Accompanying the letter was a clipping about the first night of the tournament from the Los Angeles Times, which Vince also looked over - and in both the letter and the clipping, he noticed mentions of Renée Martel, the promising young then-rookie whom he and Moolah had tried to recruit via his letter to her back in December 1965 but had never heard back from her.

 

"So, this letter and the clipping's what's got you all wound up?" Vince inquired.

 

"It's what they both mention in them," a mildly-annoyed Moolah said. "The tournament in Anaheim they talk about and how successful it's been without me involved, for starters. Then they mention the one wrestler we tried to get but never heard from, the one that got away from us - that Quebec girl, Renée Martel, and how well she's done in the tournament so far." Ever since the fall from prominence of Billy Wolfe in women's wrestling and her own subsequent rise, Moolah relished the attention she got as the dominant figure in the women's side of the sport - a position once long occupied by her trainer Mildred - and, as NWA World Women's Champion and the pre-eminent promoter of women's wrestling in North America, Moolah jealously guarded that position against anyone she perceived as a potential threat to that prominence.

 

"Well, there's not much I can do about that regarding her," Vince pointed out about Renée. "In all likelihood, she probably just wasn't interested. That happens sometimes and you just have to take that as part of the business."

 

"Well, I still don't like it," Moolah then said sullenly. "But there is somethin' you can do to help fix this."

 

"Oh, and what do you suggest?" Vince said.

 

"I have an idea that just might steal the thunder of Mildred Burke's tournament," Moolah said. "I want you to set up a one-night women's tournament of your own, usin' my girls and putting all your promotional power behind it. Promote it by sayin' that the tournament winner will get a future title shot against me."

 

"That's all well and good, but there are issues with that," Vince noted. "First, it's pretty short notice*** to put such a tournament on if you're planning on holding it around the same time as the final night of Mildred Burke's tournament. Second, if you're thinking of doing the tournament at MSG, forget about it because there's still that ban on women's wrestling in New York and several other states in our territory have bans on the girls as well."

 

"True - but there's Boston," Moolah then said with a grin. "You have an event comin' up there at the Garden in early February, and last I checked, women are allowed to wrestle in Massachusetts."

 

"I could scrub the lineup for most of the card I currently have lined up to make room for your tournament, but I have to keep Bruno Sammartino and the tag team champs on," Vince said of the Boston card he had been promoting in an attempt to combat popular local promotion Big Time Wrestling. "The fans in Boston wouldn't take too kindly to Bruno getting yanked when he's already been advertised for the show there. Plus, the WWWF got run out of Boston twice already thanks to events with no-shows and poor attendance - if this event you have in mind bombs as well, we lose Boston to the Santos family for good."

 

"Whatever, as long as the tournament gets done," Moolah said. "You set it up and I'll pick which ones from my girls to appear that night."

 

"Consider it done," Vince said with a grin. "Now, if you'll excuse me, I got to go talk with Bruno, Spiros and Antonio about their matches."

 

"Oh, while I'm here, you mind if I use your office phone to make a long-distance call?" Moolah then asked. "Whatever the charge is, I'll cover it."

 

"Sure, go ahead," Vince said as he left the office.

 

After Vince left, Moolah, who conveniently decided not to tell him what else she had planned, then picked up the handset on the desk phone and started dialing a number, then waited as the ringtone sounded a few times before the other end answered. "Hello, ______, it's Moolah," she said to the party at the other end, her Los Angeles contact. "Good, and yourself? Good to hear, darlin'. Listen, I got the letter you overnighted to me a few minutes ago. Yeah, I'm in Philadelphia right now, it was brought to me from New York by my boss. Yeah, I read through the letter and the newspaper clippin' you sent with it. No, I wasn't too happy with what I read in both of 'em. Okay, so the third night of that Mildred Burke tournament goes next Thursday, right? Good, 'cause I have an idea. First thing, I'm gonna wire you some money on Monday, alright? When you get the money, after that, I want you to drive up to Berkeley the next day..."

 

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

 

* IRL, women's wrestling was not legalized in Pennsylvania until 1969. For storyline purposes ITTL, women's wrestling was legalized by that state's athletic commission a few years prior to this chapter.

 

** Fabulous Moolah's real name, Lillian Ellison.

 

*** Moolah's scheme in this chapter to hold a rival women's tournament makes a future reference to what Vince McMahon Jr. would do to sabotage Jim Crockett Jr.'s announced Starrcade pay-per-view debut on Thanksgiving night 1987 when he quickly set up the inaugural Survivor Series at short notice and scheduled it on PPV directly against Starrcade that night, then coerced those PPV systems carrying Starrcade to drop it for the Survivor Series instead by not allowing them to carry WrestleMania or other future WWF PPV events if they aired Starrcade.

[Rise of a Star]

The updated tournament bracket for Night Three of the Mildred Burke Invitational Tournament on January 26:

 

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

 

 

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

 

Now for the predictions, so let's see who you think will win:

 

Mildred Burke Invitational Tournament - Quarterfinals

West Division bracket:

Judy Arnold vs. Margot Bouchard

Mae Young vs. Lita Marez

 

East Division bracket:

Mae Weston vs. Ann Calvello

Renée Martel vs. Georgia Hase

 

Non-tournament matches:

 

Claire Lepage vs. Jan Vallow

 

Sally Vega & Hatfield Hattie vs. Shirley Hardman & Diane Syverson

 

AWA World Women's Championship

Kay Noble © vs. Penny Banner

 

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

 

The success of the first two nights of the Mildred Burke Invitational Tournament had made waves among wrestling fans in the Greater Los Angeles area and around southern California (as well as in the wrestling world, when it got press coverage in the Los Angeles Times newspaper and later got some mention in wrestling magazines The Wrestler and The Ring Wrestling), but because of that success, it did not escape the notice of a certain prominent female wrestler back East...