(Effganic) The Watcher speaks..

[SirFozzie]

Greetings. Many of you know be as Uatu, the Watcher. I stand in all places, and span all times. I have seen galaxies explode into existence, age, wither, and collapse. I have seen races pull themselves out of the primordial ooze, grow, and then die. So you can imagine my boredom. Imagine being exposed eternally to reruns, as an example your minds can comprehend. However, there is a spark. I have found the sport that the Tranjin Empire calls, Zakplata. I believe the Earthlings who originally founded the sport called it, professional wrestling. It started from humble beginnings, from the Pankration in Greece, to traveling carnivals that would offer anyone a small fortune if they could go 10 minutes with the reigning champion. And the spark has begun, in June 1920, in Orlando Florida. It sprang from the mind of Don Loomis. I will sit back and watch, and report. To interfere is forbidden, to watch my duty, to report, my goal.

[SirFozzie]

Let it be known: The first Wrestling Card of the modern era took place June 1st, 1920, at Stuckey's, a bar in Orlando, Florida. It was called To The Death, although no one died. 43 people attended this new showing. The "wrestling" was just one step above barroom brawling, but as far as the Watcher knows.. there were no dirtsheets (and no dirtsheet writers, just muckracking reporters) back then to give it a bad rating. The first champion of this sport was Lloyd Rodriguez, an 18 year old youth, who defeated all comers in his first seven fights. The first five of them was a man billed as "from far off Japon (Sic)", Saita Kuroki. The crowd would ooh and ah at the size and the bulk of the former Sumo Wrestler, and then look at Rodriguez, who looked like a strong breeze would blow him off his feet, and much money was wagered on Kuroki to win. This just proves that it was stupid to bet on professional wrestling from the start. The match of the year was a tag team match (so called because you had to "tag" your partner in) between the swarthy Emilio Suarez (who actually fought in a style he said he learned in far off Mexico, called lucha libre) and his partner Oscar Collins, versus Kuroki (the crowd had given up on him beating Rodriguez, so they moved him to a tag team), and his partner, an English Lord (or at least the ninth son of 11 from a particularly nasty baron), Sir Anthony Henry. Southern Pro Wrestling had nearly tripled its fan base by the end of 1920

[SirFozzie]

1921: Rodriguez, now nicknamed the Orlando Hurricane, remained undefeated, winning 12 more matches and holding on to the Southern Pro Wrestling Championship. His constant rival was yet another big man, Francisco Appleseed, who fought him not less then seven times during the year! However, while Rodriguez was considered good, he did not win the Wrestler of the Year award. That honor, the first time it had been awarded, went to Fredrich "The Bear" Herzog. Nicknamed "The Bear", because Herzog used to wrestle bears as part of the Circus, Herzog was impressive, winning 11 out of his 12 matches, and holding both the trophy of the #1 contender and the Tag Championship with Jose Deal. The fans clamored for a match between the two to determine the true Heavyweight Champion of the World, but Don Loomis held off. He claimed that Herzog's tag championship needed to be defended to, but he wanted to see them fight, and anyone willing to put up a suitable purse for such a titanic struggle, would see the fight of a life time. Needless to say, no one wanted to PAY more then normal for a fight between the two best wrestlers in the world, so it didn't happen in 1921. There was also the bar owner at Stuckey's who said that one day, there would be enough wrestlers in the world to rank them all, 1 to 100. This was laughed down by patrons who said there would never be more then 100 wrestlers in the world.. after all, wrestling was a minor sport...

[SirFozzie]

1922: Fredrich Herzog would not fight Lloyd Rodriguez for the title of best wrestler in the world, this or any year, it would seem, as in March of this year, Rodriguez would fight Francisco Appleseed for the title one more time. When the fight was announced, it seemed that no one would bet on the outcome, no matter what the odds. No matter what the large man from the vineyard tried, the Orlando Hurricane had knocked him down time and time again, and no one expected this attempt to be any different. However, a young man, whose name has been lost to history accepted 50 to 1 odds on Appleseed to win. He wagered $100 of his money against $5,000 from the gamblers. Then he went to Rodriguez, and Loomis and explained that the fans were bored of seeing the Orlando Hurricane win. He convinced Loomis that it would be in the best interest "of the sport" if Appleseed at least won the title once. Rodriguez took more convincing, but eventually agreed to take the fall for 25% of the man's winnings. Come match night, the man watched from the Crowd, as Rodriguez battered the hefty youngster from pillar to post, time and time again. and finally went for a knockout blow, as the gamblers grinned and prepared to count their not-inconsiderable winnings.. Except this time, Appleseed ducked, lifted Rodriguez over his head, and slammed him so hard that the tavern floor buckled (the ring in the old days was a simple roped off area, with sawdust provideing cushioning). Appleseed then covered Rodriguez for a 1, 2, and 3.. and won the title of Heavyweight Wrestling Champion of the World. The disappointed Gamblers somehow afforded to pay the man his money. Later that night, they figured out the situation (the young man had bought Appleseed several drinks with his winnings, and the drunk Appleseed thanked the young man for making his dream come true.), and attempted to recover their money later that night by robbing the man. However, the man had already checked out, and took his fortune with them, and no one knew where he had went. When they asked Loomis where the man had gone, he shrugged and said "I dunno. The kid knew he was in trouble, so he booked it out of town, I guess." That phrase soon became a part of the carny lore that surrounded Professional Wrestling, the person who determined the matches result was called the booker, in honor of the man who had swindled a fortune out of the gamblers. Disappointed by not being the man to end Rodriguez's title reigm (or at least get a cut of the gate out of fighting him), Herzog, still the wrestler of the year, talked with some German friends, and they formed their own [i][b]Wringen[/i][/b] or wrestling league, called [b][i]Stolz von Deutschland[/b][/i], or Pride of Germany. He still wrestled for Loomis, but the wrestling world now had two federations.

[SirFozzie]

(Out of Character) The funny thing is that the same month that Rodriguez lost the title to Appleseed, Pride of Germany opened, and Herzog took it over. it made perfect sense. World Notes Southern Pro Wrestling has gained to Small Popularity. Until the 50's or 60's, I don't see any fed being any more then Small or Regional, just because there's no TV. SPW Champions SPW Championship Francisco Appleseed (9 defenses) SPW National Tag Championship Frederich Herzog and Jose Deal (3 Defenses) SPW Top Contender's Title Jose Deal (No defenses, defeated Frederich Herzog) Pride Of Germany Champions PoG Championship Timoleon Lagos (8 Defenses) PoG Intercontinental Dace Morel (7 Defenses) PoG International Tag Champions Neil Garner and Friederich Herzog (2 defenses)

[SirFozzie]

1923: USA (Southern Pro Wrestling) Francisco Appleseed has officially broken the record (ok, there was only one person to hold it before him) of # of title defenses, as he holds the title with 12 straight wins, and now has defended the title 21 times. They now sell out Stuckey's monthly, (300 fans per show). Herzog and Deal only defend the tag championship once this year, because Deal spends most of the year defending his Top Contender's Trophy (8 times)

[SirFozzie]

Germany: Pride Of Germany go up to small this year William Berg, a high flying Finnish wrestler, defeats Timoleon Lagos (Herzog recreating the Rodriguez/Kuroki legend in germany) for the PoG Championship, and holds it the rest of the year. Adrik Jennik, "The Bolshievik From Bakul", a russian hard-hitting wrestler won the PoG intercontinental championship. Tag Team: Herzog and Garner hold the belts again, (so Herzog owns the tag belt on both sides of the Atlantic)

[SirFozzie]

Rest of the World: The first official Lucha Libre federation in the world "Viva La Lucha!" forms in Northern Mexico, in August, 1923. Frederico Morales wins the first VLL championship one month later, Oscar "El Gringo" Vessey wins the Nationwide title, and the team of Pascual Carmona and SPW Wrestler Emilio Suarez hold the tag title. Meanwhile, the first Luchador con Mascara (Luchador with a mask) debuts, as El Barbaro Numero Dos (Barbarian #2) joins the federation. The national Lucha Libre Federation resist calls for El Barbaro to remove his mask to prove he's not a criminal. It's rumored that El Barbaro #2 was originally from Texas, but this is later disproven, and the kids loved the Barbarian mask that El Barbaro wrestled wearing.

[SirFozzie]

1924: USA: (SPW) Lloyd Rodriguez wins back the title from Francisco Appleseed, and defends it 11 times. however, that shouldn't count for much.. all 11 defenses were against Appleseed. 0_o Saita Kuroki gets a reward for being a JTTS for years and wins the Top Contender Title in December, almost four years after his first title reign Herzog and Deal make two more defenses of the Tag titles. That's now 3 years and five months they've had the belts, folks. They have grown quickly however, they finally moved out of Stuckeys, due to the tavern running out of room, and hold their fights in a small ampitheater called the Sweat Box, and sell that place out (1,000 strong) by the end of the yeat. Still Small rated, though. Germany (Pride of Germany) Berg holds the PoG championship for the full year (16 defenses) The intercontinental title becomes a hot potato at the end of the year, as Gerald Strong, Darrien Lyberopulos, and Ronnie Whitworth all win the title, only to lose it the next month Herzog and Garner now are up to 13 defenses (You think Herzog apparently has decided that the tag titles are his forever?) They sell out Bremen Hall (300) regularly, and will hopefully move up to a larger building soon. Mexico (VLL) Viva La Lucha are still stuck at small, and not much title change, Emilion Suarez picks up the national title from Vessey while staying as part of the tag champions. Rest of the World Two new promotions form at the end of the year, as [b]Championnat du Québec luttant[/b] (Quebec Championship Wrestling) forms in September, and we have our first nation with two federations, as Fight Night Promotions buys out a bankrupt boxing rfederation's ring, and forms the first Northern US federation, based out of New York City. They officially form on 1/1/25

[Richyg]

As its 1925 soon, will you do a run down on the list of promotions by importance and give an indication of their assets?

[SirFozzie]

I'll do one at the end of 1925, which is.. checks watch. Now! Happy New Year, welcome 1926 :)

[i effin rule]

This the greatest thing in the world, EVER. I'm really enjoying this.

[SirFozzie]

These next posts will be the post 1925 break down. There will be one post per federation. With the vital stats for each USA (South) (SPW) Lloyd Rodriguez has defended his SPW Championship (the owner, Floyd Loomis has avoided calls to proclaim Rodriguez the WORLD Champion or even Champion of America) 12 times and is now a 23 time defending champion. Herzog and Deal did not defend their tag championship at all this year (Which just goes to show you that no one cared about tag wrestling a long time ago) Kenneth Smash, a top rated young light heavyweight, who originally got his start up north in Fight Night Productions won the Top Contender's Trophy and has four defenses. SPW Breakdown: Runs Shows: Monthly Prestige: E- Money In Bank: $857,000 (Approx) Size: Small Ranking: 2nd Usual Home: "The Sweat Box" 1,000 capacity (Sells Out), has run 1 card in The Arkansas Coliseum (2,000, sold out) Last Five Show Ratings (newest one first): D, D, D-, D-, E+

[SirFozzie]

USA (North) Fight Night Promotions (FNP) Unlike SPW, they run weekly shows, but only run shows from May to November (as their owner, Joe "Southern Joe" Boone apparently can't stand the Northeast winters and spends them in Florida. There's a lot of cross over between SPW and FNP as you'll see shortly. Title holders: Kenneth Smash had defended the FNP Triple Crown title 26 times after winning the title at its inception, but lost it to, you guessed it, the Orlando Hurricane himself, Lloyd Rodriguez in November of 1925. Glenn Reed, who had never been able to get a shot with SPW, is their Intercontinental Champion. He won the title from his good friend, and original title holder Nathaniel Punk in a match neither man wanted, but the owner insisted. Reed and Punk hold the tag team titles, and have made seven defenses of the belt. FNP Breakdown: Runs Shows: Weekly (From May to November, with one "Special Show" a month) Prestige: F- Money In Bank: $180,000 (Approximately) Size: Small Ranking: 1st Usual Home: The Weston Gymnasium (300 Capacity, Sells out) Last Five Ratings: D-, D-, D, D-, D-

[SirFozzie]

Europe: Stolz von Deutschland (Pride of Germany) The 2 time holder of the PoG Championship is Timoleon Lagos, who won the title back from William Berg in January of 1925, and has held on to it ever since. Ronnie Whitworth is now a dual champion, holding the European Intercontinental Championship throughout 1925, and is at 9 defenses of the title. The booker, Frederich Herzog finally gave up a title, and he and his partner Neil Garner lost the belts to Whitworth and Tim Dahl in the middle of the year, and Dahl and Whitworth have held on to the belts ever since. PoG Breakdown: Runs Shows: Monthly Prestige: F+ Money In Bank: $380,000 (Approximately) Size: Small Ranking: 3rd Usual Home: Up Until July, Bremen Hall (300), Sold out, After July, Lubuskie Arena (1,000, Sold Out) Last Five Ratings: D-, D, D, E+, D-

[SirFozzie]

Mexico: Viva La Lucha (VLL) El Barbaro II, beloved of children and oldsters alike (kids have begged their mothers to make them a mask just like El Barbaro to play in the strets), has finally won the title, causing an all day celebration in El Barbaro's adopted home town, when the news was hear via radio, defeating Frederico Morales for the title at the federation's November show. The secondary singles title and tag titles intermix, yet again, as Emillio Suarez (the head booker for VLL) holds the Nationwide title as well as the tag title with his partner, Pascual Carmona. VLL Breakdown Runs Shows: Monthly Prestige: F+ Money In Bank: $170,000 (Approximately) Size: Small Ranking: 4th Usual Home: El Bar Del Juarez (300, sells Out) Last Five Ratings: E+, E+, E, E, E

[SirFozzie]

Canada: Championnat du Québec Luttant (Quebec Championship Wrestling) Nathan Punk has held the Canadian Fed's main title, the QCW World Heavyweight Championship starting in October of 1924, and has made 14 defenses of it through 1925. This has called some ill will with some of the other feds, as there is a tactit agreement between everyone else not to call THEIR titles the World Champion, but the Quebecois federation has resisted the urge to back down. Three men have held the title of the Top Contender in QCW as Brent Peck (1924-August 1925), Oscar Collins (August-October), and Lloyd Diaz (October-Now) all held the belt. QCW currently has no tag team belt. QCW Breakdown Runs Shows: Monthly Prestige: F- Money In Bank: $4,000 (Approximately) Size: Local Ranking: 5th (last) Usual Home:Windsor Arena Hall (300, has not sold building out yet) Last Five Ratings: D, E+, E+, E, E

[SirFozzie]

Wrestler of the Year Awards: 1921 Freidrich Herzog 1922 Freidrich Herzog (2) 1923 Jose Deal 1924 Freidrich Herzog (3) 1925 Carl Barnes Young Wrestller of the Year 1921 Michael St Hubbins 1922 Jose Deal 1923 Nathaniel Punk 1924 Jose Deal (2) 1925 Jose Deal (3) Veteran Wrestler of the Year 1921 No Results 1922 Saita Kuroki 1923 Saita Kuroki (2) 1924 Saita Kuroki (3) 1925 Saita Kuroki (4) Promotion of the Year SPW All six years (1920-1925, inclusive) Most Improved Promotion 1921 SPW 1922 SPW (2) 1923 PoG 1924 PoG (2) 1925 FNP

[SirFozzie]

[QUOTE=i effin rule;442113]This the greatest thing in the world, EVER. I'm really enjoying this.[/QUOTE] Thansk for coming up with the idea (Well, I suggested it back in the days of 07, but you actually did it) :D

[SirFozzie]

1926 In Ranking Order FNP Becomes Regional in 1926 (D- in Tri State) Title Changes:Kenneth Smash defeats Lloyd Rodriguez for the title (2nd Reign, 11/1926) SPW Becomes Regional in 1926 (E+ in South East) Lloyd Rodriguez has now defended his SPW Title THIRTY FIVE TIMES in a row. Not only has he won three titles (the SPW title twice and the FNP title once, he's made 79 defenses of those three titles. And he's only 24! Can Rodriguez be the first Hall of Immortals entry? PoG Still is small. Title Changes: The Grand Old Man, Freiderich Herzog regains title gold, winning the Intercontinental championship from Ronnie Whitworth, but it's only a transitional championshp, after three defenses he loses it to Tim Dahl (Whitworth's tag team partner) VLL is Small (E- in Northern Mexico) Title Changes: Berardo Fuentes is now the Nationwide Champion. El Barbaro is still the champion of the federation. (and was the subject of a book,[b] El Barbaro, Luchador Campeones Mascara [/b] "The Barbarian, Champion Masked Wrestler") QCW is Small Michael St.Hubbins wins the World Heavyweight Championship, while Paul Psycho (a man barred from six towns in Quebec alone!) wins the Top Contender championship Two new feds open near the end of the year. Queensland Wrestling opens Australia to the legends of the squared circle, and KINKI PURO, the first Japanese Federation, opens up in Japan

[SirFozzie]

1927 (again in ranking order) [b]Fight Night Productions[/b] Trying to get to Cult, they've started running shows in Mid-Atlantic (E-), to go with their D rating in Tri State. Kenneth Smash now has 30 defenses of the FNP Triple Crown (C+ Prestige of the Belt) [b]Southern Pro Wrestling[/b] They'll have a while to go to get to Cult, D- in the South East, and F+ in Great Lakes, Mid-Atlantic. However, they may be putting a better product on then FNP, FNP just packs more shows in to their tours due to the Weekly cards during their tour. They've finally broken through the D+ barrier, with six C- shows during 1927 Lloyd Rodriguez finally gave up the SPW belt in January 1927, back to Francisco Appleseed, who was a transitional champ (4 defenses) to Carl Barnes. The 38 year old former Leatherneck (Pro football player back in the days where the players only wore a leather skullcap), has defended the belt 6 times [b]Championship Wrestling of Buffalo[/b] Formed by SPW alumni Sir Anthony Henry in June, and booked by Saita Kuroki (after KINKI PURO died during 1927 due to finances), they have ridden the coat tails of FNP to their curent ranking. Nathaniel Punk owns the CWB Heavyweight Championship, which is currently the most prestigious belt in the world (B- Prestige). They are this ranking only due to the fact that the Tri-State area is so important (they are small), but should grow to regional in the next year. [b]Pride of Germany[/b] No change in any of the title holders, and no growth, but they're putting on decent shows (all D level shows). I'm begining to think that Frederich is a bit of a penny pincher here, as they haven't made any moves to expand. [b]Quebec Championship Wrestling[/b] Jose Deal has taken over the World Heavyweight Championship, and Ben Perry won the Top Contender title. They just nudged regional rating as they hit E+ in Ontario in the final month of the year. [b]Viva La Lucha[/b] Ricardo Navarro defeated El Barbaro II in November for the VLL championship, and actually apologized for defeating [b][i]El gran campeón[/b][/i] (The Great Champion). However, El Barbaro is still the most popular Mexican Luchador around. [b]Queensland Wrestling[/b] They just got out of Local at the end of the year, but it's slow and steady, especially because they have to build their own stars. [b]KINKI PURO[/b] Died in March 1927, as they could not find sufficient funding to continue. Japan is a barren wasteland currently.

[i effin rule]

Wow, I'm really surprised to see KINKI go down. I think it was in the late 40's or early 50's before any of the promotions in my game closed.

[SirFozzie]

They only started with $1,000, so they needed to be profitable right away or die.

[SirFozzie]

[QUOTE=SirFozzie;442491]They only started with $1,000, so they needed to be profitable right away or die.[/QUOTE] still going on this, btw, have a year write up to be done, but unfortunately real life got in the way

[i effin rule]

The real world always comes first, as well it should. I'm glad you're still doing this though, I'm enjoying it.