Rise of a Star

[Old School Fan]

Well, thanks for all the predictions you've made up to this point. I'll get the results posted after this...

 

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

 

In the front lobby of the Winnipeg Arena, Renée Martel had been keeping busy from the moment the arena doors opened for the wrestling show that night one hour before bell time, greeting young fans who had arrived at the arena for the event with their parents or other relatives and bought the event programs, then autographing the programs and sometimes posing for pictures with some of the kids. Thanks to her radio and TV interviews from two days earlier to promote the card and her appearance there, she had quickly become an instant celebrity in Winnipeg, particularly among the region's French-speaking community.

 

As she was signing a program for one young girl, Renée felt a tap on her shoulder, then she turned and saw Don Leo Jonathan standing to her right. "You need a break?" he said to her. "I can take over from here."

 

"Sure, thanks Don, just let me do a couple more autographs," Renée replied. After finishing her autograph for the young girl and then signing two more programs, she then said to the other young fans gathered, "Sorry, kids, I have to go get ready for my match - but don't worry, I'll be by the snack bar after the match to sign more autographs." She then stepped away and started walking toward a door connecting to the hallway to the wrestlers' locker rooms, looking over her shoulder momentarily to watch as Don took over signing programs for the autograph-seeking fans gathered in the lobby.

 

After the arena security guard watching the door to the locker room area, who recognized Renée, let her through, she did not have far to go before she met her father Marcel, who was talking with Gene Kiniski, the NWA World Champion. "Well, I'm back," she said to the two men as she arrived. "Don just relieved me on autograph duty."

 

"Ah, so the fans have been keeping you busy, eh?" Marcel said.

 

"Oh, they did," Renée said with a small laugh. "I must've signed a couple of hundred autographs out in the lobby, but that's okay, they were all good kids out there."

 

"And it won't be the last time either," Gene jumped in. "That comes with being one of the good guys in wrestling."

 

"Or in my case, one of the good girls," Renée agreed.

 

"Your dad was telling me about you just before you came in," Gene then said to Renée. "This must be your first time you've wrestled in Winnipeg, right?"

 

"It is," Renée admitted, "and knowing what a hotbed for wrestling Winnipeg is, that's what has me more nervous about debuting here than in just about any other place I wrestled in the first time."

 

"Yeah, and I know why too," Gene said. "Your dad also told me about the interviews you did for radio and TV out here a couple of days ago. He said Alex Turk told him that thanks to your drawing the French-speakers in town to come here, we could have a sellout in here tonight."

 

"Oh, boy, now that'll be something," said Renée, astounded at the news she heard and now feeling a little more anxious.

 

"Well, that's the power of persuasion," Gene said. "Anyway, when you felt like you had butterflies in your stomach just before a match, how did you deal with it?"

 

Gene's question reminded Renée right then of what she had said to Julie Painchaud in the backstage area of the Paul Sauvé Arena in Montreal just before they went to the ring for their debut match. "It was something I said to a friend once - 'let your training take over and take it from there, and the nerves just disappear,'" she said.

 

"And there you go, you gave yourself your own advice," Gene said with a grin.

 

"I guess I did, didn't I?" Renée said with a giggle, right as she spotted Cora Combs coming from the women's locker room. "Thanks, Mr. Kiniski," she added as she walked off to go meet Cora.

 

"Not a problem - and call me Gene," Gene said in acknowledgement.

 

Cora smirked the moment Renée arrived, having seen her talk with Marcel and Gene. "So, chatting it up with the fellas, eh?" she remarked.

 

"They were talking about the crowd for tonight's show," Renée said. "They said it might sell out tonight."

 

"Well, hon, I heard 'bout the interviews y'all did for radio and TV here," Cora said. "They say you deserve a big part of the credit for talkin' up the card. I heard you were asked to talk a bit 'bout yourself too, but I guess you just did what Mr. Turk asked to draw the crowds."

 

"That's true," Renée said. "He wanted me to target the local French community here by doing interviews in French to draw them out."

 

"And you succeeded, so that's a big part of it," Cora said. "But anyway, how're you holdin' up? You manage to get past what happened last year over in Truro?"

 

Renée paused a moment to breathe in and sigh before answering. "It still crosses my mind from time to time, but I don't dwell on it," she said. "I'm even taking self-defence classes back at home now so such an event doesn't happen to me again."

 

"Good, you're doin' the right thing, hon," Cora said, patting Renée on her left arm. "That's the way to go, not letting that creep have any power over you."

 

"And it also helps that he's in jail right now, last I heard," Renée revealed.

 

"Better still," Cora said with a nod when she heard that bit of news. "But enough about that, let's start going over our match. We wanna be ready to knock the crowd dead when we get out there."

 

"Yeah, good idea," Renée agreed as she and Cora began discussing what they would do for their match.

[Old School Fan]

Alex Turk Promotions @ Winnipeg Arena

May 7, 1966 - Winnipeg, Manitoba

Attendance - 11,000+ *

 

 

Roy McClarty defeated Sandor Kovacs by pinfall.

 

Marcel Martel defeated Pancho Lopez by pinfall following a clothesline.

 

Renée Martel defeated Cora Combs by pinfall with a schoolgirl rollup pin. During that match, crowd reactions were the loudest of the night thanks to the crowd's Francophone segment, which reportedly made up about two-fifths of the total attendance thanks to being drawn to the event by Renée's French-language media interviews, were very vocal in their support of her and treated her like one of their own.

 

Don Leo Jonathan defeated Mighty Ursus by pinfall following a spinning full Nelson slam.

 

NWA International Tag Team Championship (Winnipeg)

John Tolos & Tony Borne defeated Pat Barrett & Tim Geohagen © to win the title when Tolos pinned Geohagen.

 

NWA World Heavyweight Championship - Two out of Three Falls

Whipper Billy Watson defeated Gene Kiniski © when Kiniski was disqualified in the third fall after each wrestler had won a fall.

• First fall - Kiniski scored the pin after delivering a shoulderbreaker to Watson.
• Second fall - Watson evened the match by pinning Kiniski with a crucifix cradle.
• Third fall - Watson won when Kiniski was disqualified for whipping him into the referee after reversing Watson's whip to the ropes. Due to the NWA bylaw disallowing title changes on a disqualification, Kiniski retained his title.

 

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

Prediction results:

Herrbear - 5/6

Hitman74 - 5/6

Theheel - 4/6

 

All-time prediction results:

Herrbear - 16/21

Theheel - 7/10

Hitman74 - 5/6

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

* In its original pre-NHL configuration, the Winnipeg Arena held 9500 seats for hockey games and could hold over 11,000 (including standing room) for wrestling events. The seating capacity was expanded to 10,100 when the World Hockey Association's Winnipeg Jets (now the NHL's Arizona Coyotes) became the primary tenant in 1972, then expanded further to 15,393 when the Jets joined the NHL in 1979.

Edited January 17 by Old School Fan

[Old School Fan]

NWA All-Star Wrestling @ Exhibition Gardens

May 9, 1966 - Vancouver, British Columbia

 

 

Roy McClarty wrestled Eric Froelich to a time-limit draw.

 

Marcel Martel went to a time-limit draw with Pancho Lopez.

 

Barbara LaMarche & Renée Martel defeated Bette Boucher & Toni Rose when Rose submitted to Renée's Alligator Clutch.

 

Don Leo Jonathan defeated Mighty Ursus by pinfall following a Mormon Swing.

 

NWA Canadian Tag Team Championship

John Tolos & Tony Borne defeated Pat Barrett & Tim Geohagen © to win the title when Borne pinned Geohagen.

 

Edited January 17 by Old School Fan

[kinnikuniverse]

Wait, hold on...the winnipeg and vancouver show literally had the exact same matches as co-main and main events? And tolos and borne's title switch didn't count in winnipeg? I'm so confused...

[Old School Fan]

Wait, hold on...the winnipeg and vancouver show literally had the exact same matches as co-main and main events? And tolos and borne's title switch didn't count in winnipeg? I'm so confused...

 

Actually, the championships were different (the Canadian Tag Team title in Vancouver was not used in Winnipeg, just as Winnipeg's International Tag straps were not used in Vancouver). Hope that helps.

[Old School Fan]

NWA All-Star Wrestling @ Prince George Coliseum

May 14, 1966 - Prince George, British Columbia

 

 

Tim Geohagen wrestled Eric Froelich to a time-limit draw.

 

Barbara LaMarche & Renée Martel defeated Bette Boucher & Toni Rose when LaMarche pinned Boucher with a crucifix pin while Renée ran in and dropkicked Rose to keep her from interfering with the pinfall.

 

Pat Barrett defeated Mighty Ursus by pinfall following a cross-bodyblock.

 

Don Leo Jonathan battled John Tolos to a time-limit draw (Marcel Martel was the guest referee for the match).

 

 

Edited January 17 by Old School Fan
Manually reformatted to include pictures due to inexplicable improper auto-reformatting

[Old School Fan]

Thanks to the success of the May 7 Alex Turk wrestling card at the Winnipeg Arena (in which Renée Martel played a significant part with her media interviews to attract fans from Winnipeg's Francophone community), Renée was asked to return for another event at the same arena on May 28. The poster for that wrestling card is now up:

 

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

 

 

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

 

Here's the full match lineup below, so come one, come all and place your bets:

 

Dutch Savage vs. Roy McClarty

 

Paul Jones vs. Red McNulty*

 

Renée Martel vs. Bette Boucher

 

Don Leo Jonathan vs. Eric Froelich

 

NWA International Tag Team Championship (Winnipeg)

John Tolos & Tony Borne © vs. Pat Barrett & Tim Geohagen

 

NWA British Empire Heavyweight Championship

Whipper Billy Watson © vs. Mighty Ursus

 

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

 

* Red McNulty is none other than Ivan Koloff, who was using an Irish rogue gimmick at the time.

Edited September 8, 2022 by Old School Fan
Manually reformatted to include picture due to inexplicable improper auto-reformatting

[Herrbear]

Dutch Savage vs. Roy McClarty

 

Paul Jones vs. Red McNulty*

 

Renée Martel vs. Bette Boucher

 

Don Leo Jonathan vs. Eric Froelich

 

NWA International Tag Team Championship (Winnipeg)

John Tolos & Tony Borne © vs. Pat Barrett & Tim Geohagen

 

NWA British Empire Heavyweight Championship

Whipper Billy Watson © vs. Mighty Ursus

[Hitman74]

Dutch Savage vs. Roy McClarty

 

Paul Jones vs. Red McNulty*

 

Renée Martel vs. Bette Boucher

 

Don Leo Jonathan vs. Eric Froelich

 

NWA International Tag Team Championship (Winnipeg)

John Tolos & Tony Borne © vs. Pat Barrett & Tim Geohagen

 

NWA British Empire Heavyweight Championship

Whipper Billy Watson © vs. Mighty Ursus

[Old School Fan]

Alex Turk Promotions @ Winnipeg Arena

May 28, 1966 - Winnipeg, Manitoba

Attendance - 9,078

 

 

 

Dutch Savage defeated Roy McClarty by pinfall following a running piledriver.

 

Paul Jones defeated Red McNulty by submission with the Indian Deathlock.

 

Renée Martel defeated Bette Boucher by submission with the Alligator Clutch.

 

Don Leo Jonathan defeated Eric Froelich by pinfall when Froelich fell victim to Jonathan's Mormon Swing.

 

NWA International Tag Team Championship (Winnipeg)

John Tolos & Tony Borne © battled Pat Barrett & Tim Geohagen to a no-contest in a rematch from the May 7 bout when both teams were disqualified due to all four wrestlers brawling in the ring at once.

 

NWA British Empire Heavyweight Championship - Two out of Three Falls

Whipper Billy Watson © defeated Mighty Ursus to retain his title, two falls to one.

• First fall - Watson pinned Ursus with a crucifix cradle.
• Second fall - Ursus evened the match by pinning Watson following a running powerslam.
• Third fall - Watson won when he subdued Ursus with the sleeperhold for the submission.

 

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

 

Prediction results:

 

Herrbear - 5/6

Hitman74 - 5/6

 

All-time prediction results:

 

Herrbear - 21/27

Hitman74 - 10/12

Theheel - 7/10

 

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

 

 

Edited January 17 by Old School Fan
Manually reformatted to include pictures due to inexplicable improper auto-reformatting

[Theheel]

Bummer 5 minutes late

[Old School Fan]

Bummer 5 minutes late

 

Oops, sorry 'bout that. Next time I'll leave a couple of days of space between calling for predictions and posting results.

[Theheel]

Oops, sorry 'bout that. Next time I'll leave a couple of days of space between calling for predictions and posting results.

 

No worries I was just busy today. Really enjoying your story. I was reading it at the start then was off the boards during the holidays. Now have gone back and caught up. Very creative weaving all the different characters from other areas. Really like seeing Roller Derby and Georgia mentioned. Her antics in Roller Derby were priceless

[Old School Fan]

Wildcat Wrestling* @ Edmonton Gardens

May 31, 1966 - Edmonton, Alberta

 

 

Sweet Daddy Siki defeated Roberto Gonzales by submission with a sleeperhold.

 

Georgia Hase & Margot Bouchard defeated Judy Arnold & Renée Martel when Bouchard pinned Martel by using the ropes for illegal leverage.

 

Marcel Martel defeated Bob Sweetan by pinfall following a clothesline.

 

Dave Ruhl defeated Firpo Zbyszko by submission with a full Nelson.

 

Stu Hart battled The Beast (Yvon Cormier) to a time-limit draw.

 

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

 

* Wildcat Wrestling was the name Stampede Wrestling went by from 1965 to 1967.

Edited January 17 by Old School Fan
Manually reformatted to include pictures due to inexplicable improper auto-reformatting

[Old School Fan]

No worries I was just busy today. Really enjoying your story. I was reading it at the start then was off the boards during the holidays. Now have gone back and caught up. Very creative weaving all the different characters from other areas. Really like seeing Roller Derby and Georgia mentioned. Her antics in Roller Derby were priceless

 

Wait'll you see what's coming in the next chapter as the diary returns to Calgary...

[Ippon]

Really enjoyed getting caught up on this! Love seeing an era I don’t know much if anything about and little tidbits you put in really add to it.

[Old School Fan]

June 1966

 

 

Back at the Hart house in Calgary, Renée and Marcel Martel were with Stu and Helen Hart and that couple's youngest son, 13-month-old Owen, in the family's living room following supper, talking about Renée's first tour through the Calgary territory. "It must've been quite an adventure to travel through Alberta and Saskatchewan with your dad even before you started wrestling, Renée," Helen said as she had Owen on her lap, "and now that you're a wrestler yourself, I bet those trips take on a whole new meaning."

 

"They do," Renée admitted. "And as I start getting more known, I've had some folks recognize me on the street or while I'm out shopping and they come to me to ask for an autograph. It's been alright so far, so I don't mind."

 

"That's true, but would you want it to get to the point where your popularity as a wrestler gets almost to the level of Elvis or the Beatles?" Stu asked rhetorically and half-jokingly.

 

Renée started laughing when she heard Stu's comment. "Oh, now that would be a bit much," she said, "but it doesn't get much press beyond the wrestling TV shows and the results in the sports pages though, so I don't think I have to worry about that too much." Looking over at Owen, she then said, "If you need a break, Helen, I can take Owen off your hands for you."

 

"Sure, Renée, if you don't mind," Helen said as she handed little Owen over to Renée.

 

"Okay, Owen, let's take you to play with your toys," Renée said as she scooped Owen up and brought him over to where his toys were, located beside Stu's chair. As she went back to sit with Helen on the sofa, however, Renée got a little surprise when she saw Owen get up and toddle back over to where she was sitting, babbling happily as he reached her.

 

"Looks like you got a new fan already, dear," Marcel, who was sitting in another chair near Stu's chair, said with a laugh as he watched the scene.

 

Just then, Renée got a gleam in her eye as an idea dawned on her. "Wait, let me try that again," she said as she picked Owen up again and brought him back to his toys on the floor. When she went to sit back down on the sofa, she saw Owen get up and toddle back to her again with a smile on his face, causing another round of laughter in the living room. "I must admit, Renée, I think Owen likes you," an amused Helen said.

 

"Well, the feeling's mutual," Renée said with a laugh as she picked Owen up and sat him on her lap. Turning to Stu, she then asked him, "Stu, since I finished training with you, have you had any other girls come to you to ask about getting trained by you?"

 

"I did have a few ask me," Stu replied, "but I remembered your advice and recommended that they go down to Los Angeles to get training from Mildred Burke. Mildred called me later on and thanked me for sending some business her way - and by the way, Renée, she sends her regards for making that suggestion to me. On the other hand, Fabulous Moolah hasn't been too happy with me since I stopped sending potential trainees her way."

 

"Just helping Mildred out by doing that - and I'm also doing the trainees a favor by sending them to Mildred instead of to Moolah," Renée said. "Last year around Christmastime, I got an invite from New York to go and wrestle for Vince McMahon, but to do that, I'd have to go to Moolah's training camp and learn to wrestle her way because she supplies him with her trainees."

 

"And what happened with that?" Helen asked.

 

"I said 'no way' to that - why would I want to downgrade by training with Moolah when I already got the best training there is from Stu, from Mildred and from Papa?" Renée said. "So I tore up the invitation and threw it in the garbage. I knew I was throwing away a potential big payday by doing that, but it's about the integrity, not about the money."

 

"And that's the important thing, how you feel about it," Marcel said to Renée. "It's like I once read, how do you profit when you gain all that but you sell your soul to do it?"

 

"And that's what would've happened if I'd gone with Moolah," Renée said, just before she turned to look at Owen and smile as he grabbed her index finger in his little fist and giggled.

 

A moment later, Michèle Richard, who had accompanied the Martels to the Hart house as part of her first trek out West, came into the living room carrying a board game box, followed by four other Hart kids - Dean, Ellie, Georgia and Bret. "Hey Renée, the kids want to play a game of Monopoly and they want me and you to join them," Michèle said. "You want in?"

 

"Uh, you sure you want to do that?" Stu cut in. "Those games of Monopoly can get pretty heated when it's the kids playing."

 

"C'mon, Renée, come and join us," eight-year-old Bret then said. "We'll even let you be the car piece."

 

"Well... How can I say no to an offer like that?" Renée said with a giggle as she handed Owen back to Helen and got up to join Michèle and the kids at the dining room table to set the game up.

Edited September 8, 2022 by Old School Fan
Manually reformatted to include picture due to inexplicable improper auto-reformatting

[Old School Fan]

Wildcat Wrestling @ Edmonton Gardens

June 7, 1966 - Edmonton, Alberta

 

 

 

Judy Arnold & Renée Martel defeated Georgia Hase & Margot Bouchard when Arnold pinned Hase with a backslide pin while Martel and Bouchard brawled around the ringside area.

 

Battle Royal

The Beast won an eight-man battle royal in which match pairings and order of the matches would be determined by elimination order in the battle royal (the first two wrestlers eliminated would be matched up, etc.).

 

Dave Ruhl defeated Bob Sweetan by submission with a full Nelson.

 

Marcel Martel defeated Roberto Gonzales by submission via the figure-four leglock.

 

Sweet Daddy Siki defeated Firpo Zbyszko by pinfall following a knockout punch.

 

The Beast defeated Johal Singh by pinfall with a powerslam.

 

 

Edited January 17 by Old School Fan
Manually reformatted to include pictures due to inexplicable improper auto-reformatting

[Old School Fan]

Wildcat Wrestling @ Edmonton Gardens

June 14, 1966 - Edmonton, Alberta

 

 

 

Judy Arnold defeated Georgia Hase when Hase was counted out after beating a retreat to the locker rooms.

 

Bob Sweetan defeated Roberto Gonzales by pinfall following a piledriver.

 

Marcel Martel defeated The Beast when Beast was disqualified for throwing Martel over the top rope.

 

Mixed tag team match - Two out of Three Falls

Dave Ruhl & Renée Martel defeated Sweet Daddy Siki & Margot Bouchard, two falls to one.

• First fall - Bouchard pinned Renée with a schoolgirl rollup with the aid of illegal leverage via a handful of Renée's tights.
• Second fall - Renée evened the match by forcing Bouchard to submit to the Alligator Clutch.
• Third fall - Ruhl pinned Siki following a powerslam.

 

 

Edited January 17 by Old School Fan
Manually reformatted to include pictures due to inexplicable improper auto-reformatting

[Old School Fan]

While I continue working on the next chapter (which will move back to Winnipeg), here's a couple of YouTube clips of one of the participants from the previous Winnipeg card:

 

(steel cage match from St. Petersburg, Florida, April 1973)

 

Paul Jones (as the masked Mr. Florida) interviewed by Gordon Solie (from CWF TV, 1980)

[Old School Fan]

 

In a dining booth near a lunch counter at a Woolworth's store* in downtown Winnipeg, Marcel and Renée Martel were joined by Julie Painchaud and Paul Jones for lunch as they talked about the upcoming wrestling card and other things while waiting for their lunch orders. As this was Julie's first trip out West and she had not yet wrestled in Winnipeg, she was not a recognizable name there at that point and thus had no problem enjoying her meal undisturbed; but because of her celebrity status in the city due to her wrestling and media appearances, Renée had to disguise herself to avoid having her lunch interrupted by covering her hair with a kerchief.

 

The four wrestlers had not chosen the best time or place to go for lunch, however, as Paul indicated when a lunch counter waitress brought the group their menus. "Does it always get this crazy in here?" Paul asked the waitress in his Texas drawl, pointing out a nearby commotion going on in the store involving a large number of women.

 

"Nope, just during the one-day sale specials," the waitress replied. "It's mostly the bargain-hungry housewives jumping over each other to try and get the sale items they want."

 

"Figures," Paul remarked before turning to Renée, Marcel and Julie. "I made the mistake of eating at a Woolworth's in Houston during a one-day sale one time and it was just nuts. It was all I could do to get out of that store in one piece afterward."

 

"Well, I'm glad at least that I was able to get the new dress I wanted before it got too hectic in here," Renée said.

 

"Same with my new sneakers," Julie agreed. "I've been needing to get new shoes for a while anyway. They'll be handy for my curriculum when I get back to school in September."

 

"So, you go to school when you ain't wrestling?" Paul asked.

 

"I do," Julie answered. "I'm only wrestling part-time because I'm studying to become a nurse in Montreal. I only wrestle during summer vacation and on other holidays when nursing school's not in session, mainly to earn money to cover my tuition and other expenses."

 

"And Julie's come in handy at some of our events back in Montreal thanks to her first aid training," Marcel pointed out.

 

"Well, next time I get a bump, bruise or cut when I'm in the ring, I'll know who to turn to," Paul joked.

 

As the group continued deciding what to get for lunch, however, their conversation was interrupted when, during the commotion being raised by the bargain hunters in the store, a figure quickly dashed by and suddenly grabbed the shopping bag by Renée's feet before dashing off. "Hey, my bag!" Renée snapped as she saw the culprit, who appeared to be female, run off with the bag. "My dress is in there!"

 

"We'll see about that!" said Julie, who also saw the shopping bag thief dash away, as she jumped from her seat in the booth and took off in pursuit of her while Renée, Marcel and Paul watched.

 

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

 

Some time after lunch, Renée and the rest of the group left the Woolworth's store to head back to their hotel. "Hey Julie, thanks again for getting my shopping bag back for me," said Renée, who had the bag and the dress in it back with her thanks to Julie catching the thief, who turned out to be a teenage shoplifter who had also been carrying several unpaid-for smaller items in a jacket she was wearing (thanks to using the sales rush as her cover and distraction from her thievery), and turning her over to store security to hold for the police, thanks in part to the shoplifter/thief being slowed by the rush of sales day bargain hunters.

 

"Not a problem, Renée," Julie replied. "I'm sure that thief won't forget my tackling her to the floor and exposing her as a shoplifter either when the stuff she had in her coat spilled out."

 

"And that's another lesson to be learned - never keep your belongings where they'll be in easy reach of a thief," Marcel said.

 

"Don't worry, Papa, I'll remember that," Renée replied with an embarrassed grin.

 

"And there's something else y'all can make a claim to now," Paul joined in.

 

"What's that?" Renée wondered.

 

"You survived a Woolworth's sales day," Paul joked again, making the rest of the group laugh as they arrived at Marcel's rental car parked nearby.

 

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

 

* I couldn't find a photo of a Winnipeg location of Woolworth's online, so I just uploaded a general photo of a Woolworth's store to place the setting of this chapter.

Edited September 8, 2022 by Old School Fan
Manually reformatted to include picture due to inexplicable improper auto-reformatting

[Old School Fan]

Alex Turk Promotions @ Winnipeg Civic Auditorium

June 18, 1966 - Winnipeg, Manitoba

 

 

Dutch Savage defeated Tim Geohagen by pinfall following a kneedrop.

 

Renée Martel defeated Julie Painchaud by submission with the Alligator Clutch.

 

Haystacks Calhoun defeated Mighty Ursus by pinfall when Calhoun nailed Ursus with a big splash.

 

NWA International Tag Team Championship (Winnipeg)

Marcel Martel & Paul Jones defeated John Tolos & Tony Borne © when Tolos and Borne were disqualified for excessive double-teaming against Jones and for Borne shoving the referee aside; post-match, Jones rallied and, with aid from Martel, ran Tolos and Borne out of the ring (Tolos & Borne retain their belts due to the DQ).

 

$2,000 10-man Battle Royal

Haystacks Calhoun won the match and the $2,000 prize when he simultaneously eliminated John Tolos and Tony Borne (also taking part were Dutch Savage, Tim Geohagen, Mighty Ursus, Paul Jones, Roy McClarty, Marcel Martel and Eric Froelich).

 

Edited January 17 by Old School Fan

[Old School Fan]

One of the first arena programs/newsletters released by All-Star Wrestling after its return from its hiatus that June featured some big news in its main headline (particularly for some board members here who happen to be fans of Fred Blassie), as seen below:

 

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

 

Edited September 8, 2022 by Old School Fan
Manually reformatted to include picture due to inexplicable improper auto-reformatting

[Old School Fan]

While I'm working on the next chapter of this diary, here are some YouTube clips featuring the spotlighted wrestler profiled in the above arena program:

 

(from Los Angeles, 1970)

 

(from 1985)

 

(from 1962)

[The Blonde Bomber]

I enjoy that you’re doing an old school diary. I love seeing wrestling from this period. Focusing on Renne while saying the basic results for the other matches and gives a general view of what’s going on within in the company is a unique path to take in a diary. The article you made about a Blassie & Martel was also awesome! I by gawd love those types of articles. Got a few St. Louis wrestling programs that I love to read. The wrestling was treated seriously and made sense. I assume you use photoshop to make those posters, as someone who’s never used photoshop before but always wanted to make posters like that any recommendations for which photoshop to get or getting started using it?