Rise of a Star

[Old School Fan]

This entry brings back the secondary (and original) subject of this diary as it gets late into the year:

 

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December 1966

 

Over at Michèle Richard's apartment on a Saturday afternoon, she and Renée Martel were in the middle of watching a Bugs Bunny cartoon on TV while waiting for Sur le Matelas to begin, with both girls laughing at the trickster rabbit's antics. "Boy, you'd think that Daffy Duck would learn not to let Bugs trick him into getting his beak shot off by Elmer Fudd again and again, wouldn't you?" Michèle commented with a laugh while watching the cartoon.

 

"Well, that's just it - Daffy's really not as smart as he thinks he is," Renée replied in between laughter after seeing Daffy get his beak blasted by Elmer Fudd for the third time thanks to Bugs' sleight-of-tongue. "If he's stupid enough to get shot thanks to Elmer being stupid enough to fall for Bugs' tricks, that's on him."

 

"For sure," Michèle agreed. "Hey, I was just thinking - when you come back here later tonight with Julie and Claire to watch the Canadiens game against Chicago, you want to order some pizza for the game?"

 

"Sure, why not?" Renée said. "Wouldn't mind the pepperoni, mushroom and green pepper combo."

 

"Great, I'll go get a case of Pepsi to go with the pizza and we'll be all set for tonight," Michèle said, right as her phone started ringing.

 

"Hello?" Michèle said as she answered the phone upon reaching it. "Hi Johnny, what's up? I didn't expect you'd be calling me here on a Saturday," she added upon hearing Johnny Rougeau at the other end, then she listened for a moment. "Yep, Renée's here with me and we're watching TV right now, waiting for wrestling to come on. You wanna talk to her?" After a pause to listen again, she then said, "Really? Alright, I'll tell her and we'll be down right away. Okay, see you in a few."

 

"'We'll be down right away'? What's up?" Renée wondered aloud as Michèle went to turn off her TV set.

 

"Johnny wants us at the office right away," Michèle said before turning to get her winter coat and shoes at the coatrack by the front door. "He tried reaching you at your place first, then he tried here when no one answered there. Anyway, he wants you there specifically because it's something urgent. He told me what it was, but he said not to tell you right away so the surprise doesn't get spoiled."

 

"Surprise?" Renée said, her curiosity now piqued as she grabbed her own coat from the coatrack. "Well, now I gotta find out what it is."

 

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

 

A few minutes later, Renée and Michèle arrived at Johnny's office and stepped through the front door. "Ah, good, glad to see you both made it," the All-Star Wrestling owner greeted the two girls.

 

"So, what was the surprise Michèle said you had to tell me?" Renée asked.

 

"Well..." Johnny began as he gestured to one of the chairs in front of his desk, which was occupied by a guest. The guest turned around in the chair - and Renée let out a surprised gasp as she saw who it was.

 

"Ohmigosh, Mildred?" Renée exclaimed as she immediately recognized Mildred Burke, her mentor and co-trainer. "I didn't think you'd be coming up to Montreal."

 

"Just thought I'd surprise you," Mildred said as she got up from her chair and went to hug Renée. "So how's one of my prize students doing?" she asked during the hug.

 

"Between competing and the Christmas rush that's just getting started, I'm keeping busy," a delighted Renée said with a giggle. "Oh, I also want you to meet Michèle Richard, the friend of mine I've told you about in my letters."

 

"Hi, Mrs. Burke," Michèle said as she extended her right hand for a handshake with Mildred. "Renée's talked a lot about you over time and she's got a lot of praise for you."

 

"She's told me quite a bit about you and how good of a wrestler you are," Mildred said. "So you prefer to go by a ring name when you wrestle?"

 

"I do, I wrestle using Margot Bouchard as my ring name because I compete as a heel and I do it to avoid being publicly connected with my father because he wrestles as a face," Michèle explained regarding her father, Ti-Blanc Richard.

 

"Ah, I see," Mildred said with a nod. "So Johnny, I trust that Renée's been well looked-after, has she?"

 

"She has, despite that incident last year in Nova Scotia," Johnny pointed out. "Since then, I've made sure to have her back, as have her father and Michèle."

 

"Good," Mildred said. "Based on the experiences I had back when I was married to Billy Wolfe and after divorcing him, I want to be sure that the girls I train don't go through the same kind of trouble. She mentioned in one of her letters to me that you've been a strong backer of women's wrestling here and that the girls you train and have working for you get treated well, so I'm pleased to hear that."

 

"Thanks, Mildred, glad to hear it," Johnny said in response.

 

"Now, I want to get to the heart of why I've come to Montreal," Mildred then said. "I have plans for the new year that I want to include Renée in, around January, and I'd also like to invite along other wrestlers that she works with."

 

"Well, I have a total of six girls currently working for me, including Renée and Michèle," Johnny said. "I'm also training a new batch of girls right now to expand my women's division to give Renée and Michèle more opponents to work with since they're the cornerstones of that division. Whoever you want to book with Renée, I'll let them know."

 

"Good to hear," Mildred said. "The first thing I want to do, though, is have Renée and Michèle take part in a photo session I have booked for your training gym for Monday. I need some photos to use as reference material for a logo I'm having done for my new promotion down in the States and to use for getting wrestling belts made and I want to have them demonstrate some wrestling holds for the camera."

 

"That'd be great, but unfortunately, I also have a day job working at a department store when I'm not booked to wrestle and I'll be working that Monday, so I wouldn't be able to do a photo session," Michèle said.

 

"That's okay, I could talk to one of the other girls and get them to join me for the photo session," Renée then spoke up.

 

"Or, what I could do is hire a model from a modelling agency in town and have her come work with Renée," Mildred said. "When I explain to the agency what I need the model for, it shouldn't be any problem."

 

"Yeah, that'd be fine," Johnny said. "And Renée and Michèle, another reason I had you come over here is because you've been booked to appear in Winnipeg on the 13th. After he took over running Winnipeg with his AWA, Verne Gagne decided that based on the success Alex Turk had in featuring women's wrestling the last few months he was in business there, he wants to continue featuring the girls prominently on his shows there, so I'm sending you two along with Claire and Julie to Winnipeg for a tag team match on his card that night."

 

"I'd have to look up my work schedule, but I don't think I have to work on the 13th, so I can make that match," Michèle said.

 

"Sounds good to me too," Renée added with a grin. "The photo session, the Winnipeg event, what Mildred wants me for in January - all of that."

 

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

 

Two days later, Renée went to Johnny's training gym for the photo session Mildred had planned, several hours before she was to wrestle later that night. As it turned out, the model Mildred hired to work with Renée for the session, who came recommended by Michèle as she had done some catalogue work for Morgan's Department Store, had seen her wrestle on TV before and was eager to work with her, so the session went off without a hitch as a number of photos of Renée performing wrestling holds on her were shot by the photographer in the ring, which ropes had been taken down from their cornerposts to give the photographer a clear view of Renée and the model as they did the holds. After the session was done and the photos developed, Mildred picked the photo she liked best and put it to use for the logo she had designed (featuring an artist's rendition of Renée headlocking the model):

 

[Old School Fan]

The poster for the December 13 AWA event in Winnipeg is now up:

 

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Here's the full match lineup below, so make your predictions on the winners:

 

The Alaskan vs. George "Scrap Iron" Gadaski

 

Doug Gilbert* vs. Stan Mykietovitch**

 

Renée Martel & Claire Lepage vs. Margot Bouchard & Julie Painchaud

 

Jack Lanza vs. Killer Kowalski

 

AWA World Tag Team Championship

Dick the Bruiser & The Crusher © vs. "Pretty Boy" Larry Hennig & "Handsome" Harley Race

 

AWA World Heavyweight Championship - Two out of Three Falls

Mad Dog Vachon © vs. Reggie Parks

 

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

 

* Not the brother of "Hot Stuff" Eddie Gilbert, this Doug Gilbert (real name Doug Lindzy) was one-half of the "Mr. High & Mr. Low" tag team with Dick Steinborn in the 1960s, who also wrestled under a mask as the Professional.

 

** Real name of the wrestler best known in the 1970s and '80s as Moose Morowski, also known later in his career for competing with All-Star Wrestling in Vancouver.

[Herrbear]

The Alaskan vs. George "Scrap Iron" Gadaski

 

Doug Gilbert* vs. Stan Mykietovitch**

 

Renée Martel & Claire Lepage vs. Margot Bouchard & Julie Painchaud

 

Jack Lanza vs. Killer Kowalski

 

AWA World Tag Team Championship

Dick the Bruiser & The Crusher © vs. "Pretty Boy" Larry Hennig & "Handsome" Harley Race

 

AWA World Heavyweight Championship - Two out of Three Falls

Mad Dog Vachon © vs. Reggie Parks

[auto45]

The Alaskan vs. George "Scrap Iron" Gadaski

 

Doug Gilbert* vs. Stan Mykietovitch**

 

Renée Martel & Claire Lepage vs. Margot Bouchard & Julie Painchaud

 

Jack Lanza vs. Killer Kowalski

 

AWA World Tag Team Championship

Dick the Bruiser & The Crusher © vs. "Pretty Boy" Larry Hennig & "Handsome" Harley Race

 

AWA World Heavyweight Championship - Two out of Three Falls

Mad Dog Vachon © vs. Reggie Parks

[Old School Fan]

American Wrestling Association @ Winnipeg Arena

December 13, 1966 - Winnipeg, Manitoba

Attendance - 10,170

 

 

 

The Alaskan defeated George Gadaski by pinfall follwing a powerslam.

 

 

Doug Gilbert defeated Stan Mykietovitch by pinfall follwing a dropkick.

 

 

Renée Martel & Claire Lepage defeated Margot Bouchard & Julie Painchaud when Renée caught Painchaud in a small package for the pinfall. During the match, Lepage was kept isolated from her corner for much of the match due to being double-teamed and prevented from tagging out by Bouchard and Painchaud, who inflicted much punishment on Lepage while keeping the referee distracted until Bouchard missed an elbow drop when Lepage rolled out of the way, enabling her to make the hot tag to Renée, who came in and cleaned house against the heel tandem, soon leading to a brawl between the two teams before Renée scored the pin while Lepage blocked Bouchard from interfering with the pin attempt.

 

 

Jack Lanza defeated Killer Kowalski by disqualification when Kowalski threw Lanza over the top rope.

 

 

AWA World Tag Team Championship

Dick the Bruiser & The Crusher © defeated Larry Hennig & Harley Race when Crusher pinned Race following a Bolo Punch.

 

 

AWA World Heavyweight Championship - Two out of Three Falls

Mad Dog Vachon © defeated Reggie Parks, two falls to one.

• First fall - Vachon pinned Parks following a piledriver.
  
• Second fall - Parks evened the match when Vachon was disqualified for sending him head-first into a ringpost outside the ring, cutting Parks' forehead open.
  
• Third fall - Vachon won when Parks, his vision hampered due to the blood flow from his forehead cut, was disqualified for accidentally clotheslining the referee.
  

 

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

 

auto45 - 5/6

Herrbear - 3/6

Sco_xY2Jx - 2/6

 

All-time prediction results:

 

Herrbear - 30/42

Hitman74 - 10/12

Theheel - 7/10

auto45 - 5/6

Sco_xY2Jx - 2/6

 

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[Old School Fan]

During December, Mildred Burke issued a press release making a big announcement about upcoming plans:

 

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Ever since the advent of professional wrestling, women have had a part in the sport as participants wherever and whenever they were able to. It has not been an easy road for women in wrestling, however, due to most not being given the same chances as their male counterparts due to the belief that women were too "fragile" or "delicate" to make it as wrestlers. Even after women were finally given the chance to prove themselves as professional wrestlers, they had a long, hard road ahead of them with roadblocks to impede their progress, including the banning of women's wrestling in some cities and states. As a wrestler myself, while I had a great deal of success in the ring, I also had my share of problems outside of the ring, all of which has been well-documented - both the ups, including my 18-year reign as World Women's Champion and popularizing women's wrestling in Japan, and the downs, including my struggles with my ex-husband Billy Wolfe - over the years.

 

But now, coming into changing times in this current decade (starting with the lifting of the bans on women's wrestling in many areas of the United States and Canada, thanks to the efforts of many female wrestlers and some sympathetic promoters to lobby athletic commissions and politicians on the local and regional levels), the opportunity now presents itself for women to not only compete on equal footing with men in the sport of professional wrestling as was possible prior to the 1950s, but to have the spotlight shine on them with a wrestling promotion of their own. On that basis, it is with great pleasure that I announce the formation of a new women's wrestling promotion, the American Girls' Wrestling Association.

 

The AGWA will launch a regular schedule beginning in January 1967 with its inaugural event, the first night of the Mildred Burke Invitational Tournament, which will take place over four nights between January 12 and February 2 at the new Anaheim Convention Center Arena in Anaheim, California. This event will be a 16-woman single elimination tournament whose winner will not only get the honor of being awarded the Mildred Burke Invitational Trophy, but will also receive a championship belt as she is crowned as the inaugural AGWA United States Champion. In addition, non-tournament matches will also take place over the course of the tournament, including appearances by NWA North American Women's Champion Joan Weston and AWA World Women's Champion Kay Noble as they defend their respective titles.

 

As well as holding its own events, the AGWA will also serve as a booking office for female wrestlers to appear with any promotion that chooses to book its wrestlers, who will come primarily from the United States (with some also coming from Canada, and we also hope to bring some girls over from Japan to compete here). Deals have been made that will see the AGWA book wrestlers with the American Wrestling Association, various NWA promoters and some non-NWA promoters (including Worldwide Wrestling Associates in Los Angeles, Big Time Wrestling in San Francisco and All-Star Wrestling in Montreal, Canada) who serve as the dominant promoters in their territories.

 

With the launch of the AGWA, this marks the beginning of a new era for women's wrestling and for professional wrestling in general. It is my hope that you, the wrestling fan, will be pleased by what we present.

 

Mildred Burke

President/CEO, American Girls' Wrestling Association*

 

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* IRL, the American Girls' Wrestling Association was a brand used for the original championships promoted by All Japan Women's Pro Wrestling prior to the resurrection of the World Women's Wrestling Association World Championship in 1970. ITTL, the AGWA will, as noted above, operate as a wrestling promotion in the United States, both with its own championships and with championships booked from the NWA and the AWA thanks to working agreements with those organizations.

[Old School Fan]

Renée Martel Career Record - 1966 (67 documented matches)

 

NWA All-Star Wrestling - Promoters Rod Fenton & Cliff Parker:

04/26 Victoria, BC - w/. Barbara LaMarche, vs. Bette Boucher & Toni Rose

04/28 New Westminster, BC - beat Bette Boucher

05/02 Vancouver, BC - w/. Barbara LaMarche, beat Bette Boucher & Toni Rose by DQ

05/03 Chilliwack, BC - w/. Barbara LaMarche, beat Bette Boucher & Toni Rose

 

Alex Turk Promotions - Promoter Alex Turk:

05/07 Winnipeg, MB - beat Cora Combs

 

NWA All-Star Wrestling:

05/09 Vancouver, BC - w/. Barbara LaMarche, beat Bette Boucher & Toni Rose

05/14 Prince George, BC - w/. Barbara LaMarche, beat Bette Boucher & Toni Rose

05/16 Vancouver, BC - drew Bette Boucher

05/17 Chilliwack, BC - lost to Bette Boucher

 

Alex Turk Promotions:

05/28 Winnipeg, MB - beat Bette Boucher

 

Stampede Wrestling - Promoter Stu Hart:

05/31 Edmonton, AB - w/. Judy Arnold, lost to Georgia Hase & Margot Bouchard

06/01 Saskatoon, SK - w/. Judy Arnold, lost to Georgia Hase & Margot Bouchard

06/02 Regina, SK - w/. Judy Arnold, lost to Georgia Hase & Margot Bouchard

06/03 Calgary, AB - w/. Judy Arnold, lost to Georgia Hase & Margot Bouchard

06/07 Edmonton, AB - w/. Judy Arnold, beat Georgia Hase & Margot Bouchard

06/08 Saskatoon, SK - w/. Judy Arnold, beat Georgia Hase & Margot Bouchard

06/09 Regina, SK - w/. Judy Arnold, beat Georgia Hase & Margot Bouchard

06/10 Calgary, AB - w/. Judy Arnold, beat Georgia Hase & Margot Bouchard

06/13 Lethbridge, AB - w/. Judy Arnold, beat Georgia Hase & Margot Bouchard

06/14 Edmonton, AB - w/. Dave Ruhl, beat Sweet Daddy Siki & Margot Bouchard (mixed tag)

 

Alex Turk Promotions:

06/18 Winnipeg, MB - beat Julie Painchaud

 

All-Star Wrestling/Les As de la Lutte:

06/20 Montreal, QC - w/. Barbara LaMarche, beat Margot Bouchard & Julie Painchaud

06/21 Quebec City, QC - w/. Barbara LaMarche, beat Margot Bouchard & Julie Painchaud

06/27 Montreal, QC - lost to Mary Jane Mull

06/28 Quebec City, QC - lost to Mary Jane Mull

07/04 Montreal, QC - w/. Chief White Eagle, beat Ron Garvin & Mary Jane Mull

07/05 Quebec City, QC - w/. Chief White Eagle, beat Ron Garvin & Mary Jane Mull

07/07 Chicoutimi, QC - w/. Claire Lepage, drew Margot Bouchard & Marianne Duchesne (TV taping)

 

Maple Leaf Wrestling - Promoter Frank Tunney:

07/10 Toronto, ON - w/. Julie Patrick, beat Judy Sowinski & Margot Bouchard

 

All-Star Wrestling/Les As de la Lutte:

07/11 Montreal, QC - w/. Claire Lepage, beat Margot Bouchard & Marianne Duchesne

07/12 Quebec City, QC - w/. Claire Lepage, beat Margot Bouchard & Marianne Duchesne

 

Alex Turk Promotions:

07/16 Winnipeg, MB - beat Mary Jane Mull

 

All-Star Wrestling/Les As de la Lutte:

07/18 Montreal, QC - beat Mary Jane Mull

07/19 Quebec City, QC - beat Mary Jane Mull

07/25 Montreal, QC - beat Marianne Duchesne

07/26 Quebec City, QC - beat Marianne Duchesne

07/27 Chicoutimi, QC - beat Marianne Duchesne (TV taping)

07/29 Montreal, QC - drew Julie Painchaud

08/02 Quebec City, QC - drew Julie Painchaud

 

Alex Turk Promotions:

08/06 Winnipeg, MB - lost to Margot Bouchard

 

All-Star Wrestling/Les As de la Lutte:

08/08 Montreal, QC - lost to Margot Bouchard

08/09 Quebec City, QC - lost to Margot Bouchard

 

Maple Leaf Wrestling:

08/10 Hamilton, ON - w/. Judy Arnold, beat Georgia Hase & Margot Bouchard

08/11 Oshawa, ON - w/. Judy Arnold, vs. Georgia Hase & Margot Bouchard

 

NWA All-Star Wrestling:

08/13 Nanaimo, BC - beat Margot Bouchard by DQ

08/15 Vancouver, BC - lost to Margot Bouchard by countout

08/16 Victoria, BC - lost to Margot Bouchard

08/19 New Westminster, BC - lost to Margot Bouchard

08/22 Vancouver, BC - w/. Judy Arnold, beat Georgia Hase & Margot Bouchard

08/23 Chilliwack, BC - w/. Judy Arnold, no contest vs. Georgia Hase & Margot Bouchard

08/29 New Westminster, BC - w/. Judy Arnold, no contest vs. Georgia Hase & Margot Bouchard

08/30 Victoria, BC - w/. Judy Arnold, beat Georgia Hase & Margot Bouchard

09/02 New Westminster, BC - w/. Judy Arnold, beat Georgia Hase & Margot Bouchard

 

Alex Turk Promotions:

09/03 Winnipeg, MB - w/. Judy Arnold, beat Georgia Hase & Margot Bouchard

 

NWA All-Star Wrestling:

09/05 Vancouver, BC - w/. Don Leo Jonathan, beat Dutch Savage & Margot Bouchard (mixed tag)

09/06 Chilliwack, BC - w/. Judy Arnold, beat Georgia Hase & Margot Bouchard

09/09 New Westminster, BC - w/. Paul Jones, beat Alexander the Great & Margot Bouchard (mixed tag)

 

All-Star Wrestling/Les As de la Lutte:

09/14 Quebec City, QC - beat Margot Bouchard by DQ

09/19 Montreal, QC - beat Margot Bouchard by DQ

09/28 Quebec City, QC - lost to Georgia Hase

10/03 Montreal, QC - lost to Georgia Hase

10/10 Montreal, QC - beat Judy Sowinski by DQ

10/17 Montreal, QC - w/. Judy Arnold, beat Georgia Hase & Margot Bouchard

10/31 Montreal, QC - lost to Judy Grable

11/16 Quebec City, QC - drew Judy Grable

11/21 Montreal, QC - drew Judy Grable

11/22 Chicoutimi, QC - beat Judy Grable (TV taping)

11/23 Quebec City, QC - beat Judy Grable

11/28 Montreal, QC - beat Judy Grable

12/05 Montreal, QC - beat Marianne Duchesne

 

American Wrestling Association - Promoter Verne Gagne:

12/13 Winnipeg, MB - w/. Claire Lepage, beat Margot Bouchard & Julie Painchaud

 

All-Star Wrestling/Les As de la Lutte:

12/19 Montreal, QC - beat Miss X

12/21 Quebec City, QC - beat Miss X

[Dalton]

I just spent the last couple hours reading from the very beginning and catching up.

 

This is definitely a unique time period, location, and focus character. I am a big fan! I don't know much about the Canadian scene but I obviously know the stories of the more popular wrestlers you've used. I like Renee and Mildred, and I'm glad I caught up now just as the AGWA is launching. Other than a couple posts that made me rather uncomfortable reading, I have enjoyed everything about this.

[Old School Fan]

January 1967

 

The year 1967 was a pivotal year for events in society. During that year, Canada launched a year-long celebration of the centennial of Canadian Confederation, the peak of which was the Expo 67 World's Fair in Montreal, which was ultimately attended by nearly 55 million visitors between April and October. Astronauts Gus Grissom, Ed White and Roger Chaffee were all tragically killed when a fire broke out in their Apollo 1 spacecraft during a launch pad test. The United States, the USSR and the United Kingdom signed a treaty prohibiting weapons of mass destruction from space, and NASA launched the Lunar Orbiter 3 to photograph the moon's surface to survey potential landing sites for the Surveyor and Apollo lunar missions. Tensions between two Communist dictatorships, the USSR and China, began forming, while civil war broke out in Cambodia between Cambodian monarchy loyalists and the Communist Khmer Rouge guerilla faction, Communist terrorist Che Guevara was captured and executed in Bolivia, and student unrest against the Vietnam War continued and grew with demonstrations in New York City, San Francisco, Washington, DC and other American cities. The Monterey Pop Festival was held over three days in Monterey, California, while Pink Floyd released its debut album The Piper at the Gates of Dawn, the Doors' self-titled debut album was released, Elvis Presley married Priscilla Beaulieu in Las Vegas, soul singer Otis Redding was killed in a plane crash in Wisconsin, and the Beatles recorded "All You Need Is Love", which they contributed (via a pre-recorded performance) to the worldwide satellite telecast Our World. A color revival of the police procedural series Dragnet debuted on NBC and The Fugitive aired its final episode on ABC, drawing 78 million viewers in what was one of the largest audiences for a TV episode in the history of American television at the time, while British cult TV series The Prisoner, ironically, had its world TV premiere in Canada on September 5, more than three weeks before its British premiere, and Gilligan's Island, initially renewed for a fourth season, was cancelled by CBS in favor of keeping long-running Western Gunsmoke, which was originally planned for cancellation, on its schedule. Aside from Expo 67, another notable event that year was the "Summer of Love" and the related advent of the hippie era and its accompanying counterculture.

 

In sports, the inaugural Super Bowl was held as NFL Champions the Green Bay Packers defeated AFL Champions the Kansas City Chiefs. The American Basketball Association began operations as a rival major league to the NBA, while the Philadelphia 76ers captured the NBA Championship by defeating the San Francisco (now Golden State) Warriors. The Toronto Maple Leafs defeated the Montreal Canadiens to win what would be the Leafs' last Stanley Cup to date, which also served as the official end to the NHL's Original Six era as the six new NHL expansion teams - the Los Angeles Kings, the Oakland Seals (now defunct), the Minnesota North Stars (now the Dallas Stars), the St. Louis Blues, the Pittsburgh Penguins and the Philadelphia Flyers - began play in the 1967-68 NHL season that fall. The St. Louis Cardinals won the World Series by defeating the Boston Red Sox, while the Kansas City Athletics moved West to Oakland for the 1968 Major League Baseball season. Muhammad Ali was stripped of his World Heavyweight Boxing Championship and banned from boxing for his refusal to be drafted into the US Army, keeping him out of boxing for more than three years.

 

In wrestling, Gene Kiniski celebrated his first year as NWA World Heavyweight Champion in January, while Bruno Sammartino celebrated four years as WWWF World Heavyweight Champion that May, and Verne Gagne regained the AWA World Heavyweight title by defeating Mad Dog Vachon in February. Calgary-based Wildcat Wrestling was renamed as Stampede Wrestling by owner/promoter Stu Hart. Former World Heavyweight Boxing Champion-turned-wrestler Primo Carnera died of liver disease and diabetes complications on June 29 at age 60 in his hometown of Sequals, Italy, while three-time World Heavyweight Champion Stanislaus Zbyszko died of a heart attack on September 23 at age 88 in St. Joseph, Missouri.

 

Meanwhile, early into the new year, Renée Martel was getting set to make her American debut as a wrestler as she prepared to start with appearances in her mentor Mildred Burke's new women's promotion. As part of that preparation, she had changed her look slightly due to her growing her hair a little more, as she abandoned the flip style and went with a new platinum blonde look...

 

 

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On the morning of the opening night of the Mildred Burke Invitational Tournament, just before lunch, Renée, Michèle Richard and Claire Lepage, who had all been booked to appear for the event by Mildred, were being shown by her around the main seating area inside the Anaheim Convention Center Arena*, where the wrestling ring and the surrounding floor level seating were being set up in the basketball court area. "So, girls, what do you think?" Mildred asked. "Not bad for a brand spanking-new arena, is it?"

 

"It looks good," Renée admitted. "It's bigger than many of the places I've wrestled in, but not as big as the Montreal Forum or Maple Leaf Gardens in Toronto. It's more in the mid-size range, this arena."

 

"But it's a start," Mildred said. "Okay, let's get started on tonight's show rundown," she added as she checked over a piece of paper on the clipboard she was carrying. "Michèle, you'll be facing Kathy Starr tonight in the first round of the tournament as part of the West Division bracket."

 

"Sounds good to me," Michèle said.

 

Mildred continued going over the clipboard. "Renée, you don't start in the tournament until next week when I have you facing Barbara Baker in the East Division bracket, but you'll be wrestling tonight in a non-tourney match - I have you and Claire booked against Shirley Hardman** and Diane Syverson*** in a tag match," she said.

 

"Good way to get warmed up for the tournament," Renée said. "Who else do you have lined up for the events?"

 

"I think I can answer that," a voice said behind Renée, who also felt a tap on her shoulder as the voice spoke. Renée turned around to see who got her attention - and saw a familiar face from her trainee days nearly three years earlier.

 

"Ann? Long time, no see!" Renée exclaimed as she recognized Ann Calvello, the guest trainer from one of Renée's training sessions with Mildred back in 1964.

 

"The one and only," the tanned blonde declared with a grin as Renée went to give her a hug. "So how've you been since we last saw each other?"

 

"Still improving," Renée said. "The stuff you taught me the day you guested at Mildred's gym stuck with me ever since."

 

"Good, glad to know you paid attention and stuck with it," Ann said.

 

"Anyway, I brought a couple of friends with me from Montreal you should meet," Renée said as she introduced Ann to Michèle and Claire.

 

"Hey, Michèle, Claire, nice to meet friends of Renée's," Ann said as she shook hands with raven-haired Michèle and blonde Claire.

 

"Yeah, same here," Michèle said during the handshake. "Renée's told us a bit about you."

 

"Nothing unflattering, I hope," Ann said jokingly, eliciting laughter among the group.

 

"So how're you involved with the tournament?" Claire then asked.

 

"Tonight, I got Joan Weston for her North American Women's title in the main event as one of the non-tournament matches," Ann said. "Then next week, I start in the tournament by facing Patty O'Hara in the first round."

 

"And about Ann's match tonight, I originally wanted to get Fabulous Moolah to come face her, but Moolah declined," Mildred pointed out. "She claimed she was already booked for a match back East for tonight."

 

"I call BS on that," Ann then said. "Moolah's just making excuses because she still won't face me after I showed her up a few times a few years ago."

 

"I wouldn't worry about that," Renée said. "We can succeed with this tournament on our own merits, with or without Moolah. We don't need her to be successful."

 

"See, I knew there was something I liked about the kid from the get-go," Ann said with a grin as she patted Renée on her shoulder, drawing more laughter from Renée, Mildred and the other women. "So, how's ordering in for lunch sound while we talk more about the card?"

 

"Sounds good to us," Mildred said as she and the other ladies started toward the arena office where Mildred was set up to co-ordinate the card.

 

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

 

* IRL, the Anaheim Convention Center and its arena did not open until July 1967, but ITTL, it opened one year earlier in July 1966, thus enabling its use at this point in this diary.

 

** IRL, Shirley Hardman was a roller derby skater, active from about the early-1960s until her death on August 1, 1973 due to accidental drowning. ITTL, she became a wrestler under the training of Mildred Burke and is signed with Mildred's AGWA.

 

*** IRL, Diane Syverson is a retired roller derby skater, active from about 1965 into the 1980s. ITTL, she also became a wrestler and is a part of the AGWA.

[Lord Byron]

The Toronto Maple Leafs defeated the Montreal Canadiens to win what would be the Leafs' last Stanley Cup to date, which also served as the official end to the NHL's Original Six era as the six new NHL expansion teams - the Los Angeles Kings, the Oakland Seals (now defunct), the Minnesota North Stars (now the Dallas Stars), the St. Louis Blues, the Pittsburgh Penguins and the Philadelphia Flyers - began play in the 1967-68 NHL season that fall.

 

Ah, yes, or, as a book I read once, The Worst of Sports, called it, the beginning of the NHL's overexpansion/hyperdilution strategy...

 

Like that you're showcasing RW events in this diary, as it helps with background detail...

 

As for Ali, say what you will about his stance, but at least he stood up, said that he wasn't going to Vietnam and why, and was willing to take the consequences that came his way as a result...

[Old School Fan]

Here's the tournament bracket for the upcoming Mildred Burke Invitational Tournament, starting January 12:

 

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

 

 

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

 

Time now for the predictions:

 

Mildred Burke Invitational Tournament

First round - West Division bracket

 

Judy Arnold vs. Jan Vallow

Kathy Starr vs. Margot Bouchard

Hatfield Hattie vs. Mae Young*

Lita Marez vs. Panama Franco

 

Non-tournament matches:

 

Renée Martel & Claire Lepage vs. Shirley Hardman & Diane Syverson

 

NWA North American Women's Championship

Joan Weston © vs. Ann Calvello

 

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

 

* Yep, the same Mae Young who later appeared with Fabulous Moolah in the WWF/WWE in a comedic capacity during the Attitude Era; back in the 1960s both IRL and ITTL, Young was still part of the Mildred Burke camp and still competing - and an NWA United States Women's title reign was still ahead for her...

[Dalton]

Mildred Burke Invitational Tournament

First round - West Division bracket

 

Judy Arnold vs. Jan Vallow

Kathy Starr vs. Margot Bouchard

Hatfield Hattie vs. Mae Young*

Lita Marez vs. Panama Franco

 

Non-tournament matches:

Renée Martel & Claire Lepage vs. Shirley Hardman & Diane Syverson

 

NWA North American Women's Championship

Joan Weston © vs. Ann Calvello

[Herrbear]

Mildred Burke Invitational Tournament

First round - West Division bracket

 

Judy Arnold vs. Jan Vallow

Kathy Starr vs. Margot Bouchard

Hatfield Hattie vs. Mae Young*

Lita Marez vs. Panama Franco

 

Non-tournament matches:

 

Renée Martel & Claire Lepage vs. Shirley Hardman & Diane Syverson

 

NWA North American Women's Championship

Joan Weston © vs. Ann Calvello

[Old School Fan]

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

January 12, 1967 - Anaheim, California

Attendance - 5,790

 

 

 

Mildred Burke Invitational Tournament, West Division - First Round

Judy Arnold defeated Jan Vallow* by pinfall follwing a cross-bodyblock.

 

 

Mildred Burke Invitational Tournament, West Division - First Round

Margot Bouchard defeated Kathy Starr by pinfall follwing an elbow drop.

 

 

Renée Martel & Claire Lepage defeated Shirley Hardman & Diane Syverson when Hardman was disqualified for throwing Martel over the top rope. Hardman and Syverson then double-teamed on Lepage post-match, but Martel recovered and rushed back into the ring to even the sides as she and Lepage rallied to run the heels off.

 

 

Mildred Burke Invitational Tournament, West Division - First Round

Mae Young defeated Hatfield Hattie** by pinfall with a schoolgirl rollup.

 

 

Mildred Burke Invitational Tournament, West Division - First Round

Lita Marez defeated Panama Franco by pinfall with a Sunset Flip.

 

 

NWA North American Women's Championship - Two out of Three Falls

Joan Weston © defeated Ann Calvello to retain her title, two falls to one.

• First fall - Calvello pinned Weston following a leg lariat.
  
• Second fall - Calvello was disqualified for using a piledriver (an illegal move in the AGWA) on Weston.
  
• Third fall - Weston won when she snared Calvello in a small package for the pinfall.
  

Post-match, Calvello went on the attack against Weston in revenge for losing the match but was chased out by Judy Arnold.

 

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

 

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

 

Dalton - 6/6

Herrbear - 5/6

 

All-time prediction results:

 

Herrbear - 35/48

Hitman74 - 10/12

Theheel - 7/10

Dalton - 6/6

auto45 - 5/6

Sco_xY2Jx - 2/6

 

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

 

 

 

* Roller derby skater IRL.

 

** Early ring name used by Jane Sherill.

[Old School Fan]

The updated tournament bracket for Night Two of the Mildred Burke Invitational Tournament on January 19:

 

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

 

 

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

 

It's prediction time again, so place your bets:

 

Mildred Burke Invitational Tournament

First round - East Division bracket

 

Mae Weston vs. Sherri Lee

Claire Lepage* vs. Ann Calvello

Renée Martel vs. Barbara Baker

Sally Vega** vs. Georgia Hase

 

Non-tournament matches:

 

Kathy Starr & Lita Marez vs. Mae Young & Margot Bouchard

 

AWA World Women's Championship

Kay Noble © vs. Judy Arnold

 

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

 

* Claire Lepage replaces Patty O'Hara, who was forced to withdraw from the tournament due to injury while training.

 

** IRL, Sally Vega is a retired roller derby skater, active during the 1960s and 1970s. ITTL, she became a wrestler under the training of Mildred Burke and is a part of the AGWA.

[Herrbear]

Mildred Burke Invitational Tournament

First round - East Division bracket

 

Mae Weston vs. Sherri Lee

Claire Lepage* vs. Ann Calvello

Renée Martel vs. Barbara Baker

Sally Vega** vs. Georgia Hase

 

Non-tournament matches:

 

Kathy Starr & Lita Marez vs. Mae Young & Margot Bouchard

 

AWA World Women's Championship

Kay Noble © vs. Judy Arnold

[Old School Fan]

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

January 19, 1967 - Anaheim, California

Attendance - 6,430

 

 

 

Mildred Burke Invitational Tournament, East Division - First Round

Mae Weston defeated Sherri Lee by pinfall follwing a shoulderbreaker.

 

 

Mildred Burke Invitational Tournament, East Division - First Round

Ann Calvello defeated Claire Lepage (subbing for the injured Patty O'Hara) by pinfall follwing a fisherman suplex.

 

 

Mae Young & Margot Bouchard defeated Kathy Starr & Lita Marez when Young pinned Starr following an elbow drop.

 

 

Mildred Burke Invitational Tournament, East Division - First Round

Georgia Hase defeated Sally Vega by pinfall following a knee lift.

 

 

Mildred Burke Invitational Tournament, East Division - First Round

Renée Martel defeated Barbara Baker by submission via the Alligator Clutch.

 

 

AWA World Women's Championship - Two out of Three Falls

Judy Arnold defeated Kay Noble ©, two falls to one.

• First fall - Noble pinned Arnold following a sunset flip.
• Second fall - Arnold evened the match by pinning Noble following a dropkick.
• Third fall - Noble was disqualified when Ann Calvello ran in and attacked Arnold as she had Noble caught in the spinning toe hold; post-match, Calvello continued assaulting Arnold until Renée Martel ran in for the save and chased Calvello out (Noble retains her title due to the DQ).

 

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

 

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

 

Herrbear - 4/6

 

All-time prediction results:

 

Herrbear - 39/54

Hitman74 - 10/12

Theheel - 7/10

Dalton - 6/6

auto45 - 5/6

Sco_xY2Jx - 2/6

 

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

 

 

Edited April 26, 2023 by Old School Fan
Replaced image

[Old School Fan]

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...

[Herrbear]

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

[Old School Fan]

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.

[Lord Byron]

Why am I not shocked that Moolah is trying something like this shit? (I'm calling it that because that's what it is...) This is going to be interesting, but it could backfire on Moolah (and it couldn't happen to a nicer woman, too)...

 

And my guess as to who Moolah called--June Byers (or someone close to her).

 

(On a side note, Moolah alleged in her autobiography that Byers slept with Mildred Burke's husband to get better bookings.)

 

BTW, here are my predictions (first-time predictor, BTW):

 

West Division Bracket semifinal winners: Judy Arnold and Mae Young

East Division Bracket semifinal winners: Mae Weston and Renée Martel

 

Non-tournament match picks:

Jan Vallow

Sally Vega and Hatfield Hattie

 

AWA World Women's Championship pick:

Kay Noble ©

[Lord Byron]

I just spent the last couple hours reading from the very beginning and catching up.

 

This is definitely a unique time period, location, and focus character. I am a big fan! I don't know much about the Canadian scene but I obviously know the stories of the more popular wrestlers you've used. I like Renee and Mildred, and I'm glad I caught up now just as the AGWA is launching. Other than a couple posts that made me rather uncomfortable reading, I have enjoyed everything about this.

 

Hey, sometimes uncomfortable things have to be talked about, considering the era this is set in (have you ever watched Mad Men? Some of the things on that show make this diary look G-rated).

[Old School Fan]

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.

[Captain Kremmen]

*** 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.[/i][/b]

 

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.

[Old School Fan]

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.