Rise of a Star

[Old School Fan]

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

February 2*, 1967 - Anaheim, California

Attendance - 3,946

 

 

 

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

 

 

Mildred Burke Invitational Tournament, West Division - Quarterfinals

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

 

 

Mildred Burke Invitational Tournament, West Division - Quarterfinals

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

 

 

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

 

 

Mildred Burke Invitational Tournament, East Division - Quarterfinals

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

 

 

Mildred Burke Invitational Tournament, East Division - Quarterfinals

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

 

 

AWA World Women's Championship

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

 

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

 

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

 

Lord Byron - 5/7

Herrbear - 4/7

 

All-time prediction results:

 

Herrbear - 43/61

Hitman74 - 10/12

Theheel - 7/10

Dalton - 6/6

Lord Byron - 5/7

auto45 - 5/6

Sco_xY2Jx - 2/6

 

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

Edited April 26, 2023 by Old School Fan
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[Captain Kremmen]

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.

 

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

 

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

 

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

 

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

 

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

 

Ole Anderson said corporate America was destroying wrestling. I'm mainly inclined to agree with him. If you've never read his book do yourself a favor and grab a copy of it. Worth the read; especially the part where Vince introduced Ole to his wife Linda.

 

It just seems so sanitized today for public consumption. The 'realistic' feel is long gone.

 

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

 

Vince did indeed become Walt Disney. On a podcast I heard he wanted blood in a match at 'Mania (Lesnar-Reigns?) but that Nick Khan nixed the idea because of the corporate a-holes they had to pander to.

 

There...I'm off my soapbox now. We can still watch the classics.

[Old School Fan]

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

 

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

 

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

 

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

 

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

 

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

 

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

 

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

 

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

 

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

[Old School Fan]

February 1967

 

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

 

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

 

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

 

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

 

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

 

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

 

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

 

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

 

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

 

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

 

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

 

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

 

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

 

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

 

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

 

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

 

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

 

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

 

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

 

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

 

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

 

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

 

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

 

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

 

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

 

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

 

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

 

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

 

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

[Old School Fan]

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

 

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Women's Classic Tournament @ Boston Garden

February 8, 1967 - Boston, Massachussetts

Attendance - 13,700

 

 

 

Women's Classic Tournament - Quarterfinals

Ella Waldek defeated Joyce Grable by pinfall following a kneedrop.

 

 

Women's Classic Tournament - Quarterfinals

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

 

 

Women's Classic Tournament - Quarterfinals

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

 

 

Women's Classic Tournament - Quarterfinals

Ann Casey defeated Barbara Owens by pinfall following a dropkick.

 

 

WWWF United States Tag Team Championship

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

 

 

Women's Classic Tournament - Semifinals

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

 

 

Women's Classic Tournament - Semifinals

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

 

 

WWWF World Heavyweight Championship

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

 

 

Women's Classic Tournament - Final

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

 

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

 

* AKA Mighty Ursus.

[Lord Byron]

Here's some advice for Moolah and Burke: avoid the cities of Newark and Detroit in July and August of 1967, because there will be...trouble in both cities, to put it mildly (Google the Newark and Detroit riots)...

 

Can't wait to see what's next in this diary, and I hope Moolah fails or things don't go as planned for her...

[Old School Fan]

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

 

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Worldwide Wrestling Associates @ Olympic Auditorium

February 8, 1967 - Los Angeles, California

 

 

 

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

 

 

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

 

 

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

 

 

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

 

 

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

 

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

 

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

 

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

 

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

[Old School Fan]

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

 

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

 

 

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

 

It's prediction time once again:

 

Battle Royal for the AGWA Television Championship

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

 

Claire Lepage vs. Panama Franco

 

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

 

Penny Banner vs. Georgia Hase

 

NWA North American Women's Championship

Joan Weston © vs. Battle Royal winner

 

Plus - who will win the Mildred Burke Invitational Tournament?

 

Judy Arnold • Mae Young • Renée Martel • Ann Calvello

 

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

 

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

[Herrbear]

Battle Royal for the AGWA Television Championship

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

 

Claire Lepage vs. Panama Franco

 

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

 

Penny Banner vs. Georgia Hase

 

NWA North American Women's Championship

Joan Weston © vs. Battle Royal winner

 

Plus - who will win the Mildred Burke Invitational Tournament?

 

Judy Arnold • Mae Young • Renée Martel • Ann Calvello

[Lord Byron]

My picks: Margot Bouchard, Claire Lepage, Mae Weston/Sally Vega/Kathy Starr, Georgia Hase, Joan Weston ©, and Renee Martel will win the Mildred Burke Invitational Tournament...

[Old School Fan]

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

 

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

 

The Ring Wrestling

January 1967

 

WOMEN

 

1 - Penny Banner

2 - Cora Combs

3 - Rita Cortez

4 - Jessica Rogers

5 - Joan Weston (NWA North American Champion)

6 - Mae Young

7 - Judy Grable

8 - Ann Calvello

9 - Ethel Johnson

10 - Kathy O'Brien

11 - Fabulous Moolah (NWA World Champion)

12 - Maria DeLeon

13 - Judy Arnold

14 - Barbara Galento

15 - Sylvia Torres

16 - Kay Noble (AWA World Champion)

17 - Sherrie Lee

18 - Georgia Hase

19 - Margot Bouchard

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

[Old School Fan]

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

 

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

 

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

 

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

 

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

 

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

 

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

 

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

 

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

 

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

 

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

 

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

 

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

 

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

 

So how does this grab you, Mildred?

 

Moolah

 

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

 

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

 

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

 

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

 

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

 

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

 

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

 

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

 

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

 

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

 

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

 

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

 

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

 

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

 

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

[Old School Fan]

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

February 16, 1967 - Los Angeles, California

Attendance - 15,790

 

 

 

12-woman Battle Royal for the AGWA Television Championship

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

 

 

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

 

 

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

 

 

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

 

 

Mildred Burke Invitational Tournament, West Division - Semifinals

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

 

 

Mildred Burke Invitational Tournament, East Division - Semifinals

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

 

 

NWA North American Women's Championship

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

 

 

Mildred Burke Invitational Tournament - Final

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

 

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

 

 

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

 

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

 

Herrbear - 4/6

Lord Byron - 3/6

 

All-time prediction results:

 

Herrbear - 47/67

Hitman74 - 10/12

Lord Byron - 8/13

Theheel - 7/10

Dalton - 6/6

auto45 - 5/6

Sco_xY2Jx - 2/6

 

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

[Old School Fan]

Several days after the Mildred Burke Invitational Tournament concluded, at a WWWF event in Washington, DC, Fabulous Moolah, while waiting for her upcoming match backstage in the locker room area, was reading through an express-mailed letter sent to her from her Los Angeles contact and did not look happy about what she had read. She then took a look at the accompanying article clipping from the Los Angeles Times - and as soon as she finished reading it, her face twisted up into a mask of fury and she flew into a rage.

 

"What the hell is this?! How could this happen?!" Moolah yelled about what she read before she began cursing, then she threw down the letter, kicked over a chair and a wastebasket and stormed down the backstage hallway while continuing to rant.

 

A moment later, Bruno Sammartino, who was scheduled to wrestle in the main event that night, came out from his locker room, wondering about what he had heard from inside, then he looked down and noticed the kicked-over chair and wastebasket. As he went to pick the items up, he noticed the letter to Moolah and the newspaper article, then picked them both up and read them. Bruno noticed that the letter talked about the Mildred Burke tournament in Los Angeles, then he read the article which went into detail about the tournament's final night, the matches that took place that night and the announced attendance number (which had drawn over 2,000 more fans that night than Moolah's tournament had drawn), at which he then noticed mention of Renée Martel and how far she got in the tournament, finishing as runner-up to Judy Arnold in their scientific match, giving positive reviews to Renée's performance as well as to the other wrestlers and the event in general.

 

Bruno, who had come to like Renée during the times he met her in Montreal and considered her a friend, chuckled to himself when he connected what he read in the letter and article to Moolah's diva-like tantrum. "Serves you right, Moolah," Bruno then said with regards to Moolah setting up her own tournament in direct competition with Mildred's tournament; having wrestled in Boston on the same card Moolah's tournament was held at, he came to realize that Moolah had simply set up her tournament as a self-serving means of keeping the attention of fans and the press on herself and ultimately made it all about herself (especially with the way she bragged to the press following the event), while Mildred's tournament did the opposite in that it showcased the talent she had trained or was associated with and put the spotlight on them where it belonged.

[Captain Kremmen]

On the lighter side...

 

From Wikipedia (Penny Banner):

 

Banner went on five dates with Elvis Presley between 1956 and late 1958. He also frequently saw her wrestle in Memphis. Their last date was one week before he left to join the army, and they never saw each other again.

[Old School Fan]

The latest issue of the All-Star Wrestling arena program (now with an updated top front header, with the logos of Canada's Centennial celebration [top left] and Expo 67 [top right]) covers how Renée Martel, Margot Bouchard and Claire Lepage all fared at the Mildred Burke Invitational Tournament during their foray to Los Angeles for their American debuts:

 

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

 

 

And continued on Page Two...

 

[Old School Fan]

All-Star Wrestling @ Paul Sauvé Arena

February 27, 1967 - Montreal, Quebec

 

 

 

Maurice Lapointe defeated Eddie Auger by pinfall.

 

 

Renée Martel & Claire Lepage defeated Kay Noble & Margot Bouchard when Bouchard was disqualified for throwing Lepage over the top rope.

 

 

Larry Moquin defeated Terry Garvin by pinfall with a cross-bodyblock.

 

 

Jacques Rougeau defeated Ron Garvin by pinfall following a knockout punch.

 

 

Édouard Carpentier & Johnny Rougeau defeated Mad Dog Vachon & Sweet Daddy Siki when Rougeau used the sleeperhold to subdue Siki.

 

Edited April 26, 2023 by Old School Fan
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[Old School Fan]

NWA All-Star Wrestling @ Seattle Center Coliseum

March 4, 1967 - Seattle, Washington

 

 

 

Eric Froelich defeated Jack Bence by pinfall following a headscissor takedown.

 

 

Rocky Johnson defeated Sandy Barr by submission with the Boston crab.

 

 

Roy McClarty defeated Thunderbolt Peters* by pinfall with a crucifix cradle.

 

 

Don McClarty battled Jim Starr to a time-limit draw.

 

 

Danny Reilly** defeated George Cannon by disqualification when Cannon pulled the referee in the way of an attempted clothesline by Reilly.

 

 

Don Leo Jonathan battled Soldat Gorky to a double countout.

 

 

Renée Martel & Claire Lepage defeated Kay Noble & Margot Bouchard when Bouchard was disqualified for refusing to break a chokehold on Lepage on the ropes.

 

 

NWA World Tag Team Championship (Vancouver)

Dutch Savage & Don Jardine © defeated John & Chris Tolos when Jardine used the clawhold to force Chris Tolos to submit while Savage ran in to keep John Tolos from interfering.

 

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

 

* Early ring name used by Thunderbolt Patterson.

 

** IRL, Danny Reilly was a roller derby skater, active between the early 1960s and his retirement in 1981; he died of cancer in 2001. ITTL, due to roller derby never being created, he became a professional wrestler. He is notable to some of today's roller derby fans for bearing a resemblance to comedian/actor/game show host Drew Carey.

Edited April 26, 2023 by Old School Fan
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[Old School Fan]

NWA All-Star Wrestling @ Exhibition Gardens

March 6, 1967 - Vancouver, British Columbia

Attendance - 2,285

 

 

 

Don McClarty defeated Jack Bence by pinfall.

 

 

Danny Reilly defeated Sandy Barr by pinfall following a powerslam.

 

 

Margot Bouchard defeated Claire Lepage by pinfall following an elbow drop.

 

 

In a non-title match, AWA World Women's Champion Kay Noble wrestled Renée Martel to a time-limit draw.

 

 

Chris Tolos battled Don Jardine to a no-contest when both were disqualified for excessive brawling.

 

 

Rocky Johnson defeated John Tolos by disqualification when Chris Tolos ran in and attacked Johnson as he had John Tolos trapped in the Boston crab. Post-match, the Tolos brothers continued their attack on Johnson until Danny Reilly ran in for the save and helped Johnson run the heel tandem off.

 

Edited April 26, 2023 by Old School Fan

[Old School Fan]

While I get working on a new chapter, here's a YouTube highlight reel video on one of the wrestlers mentioned in the above two NWA All-Star cards and the previous arena program from Montreal's All-Star Wrestling ITTL (seen in his real-life roller derby days):

 

(includes interview starting at about 7:57)

[Captain Kremmen]

This still going?

[Old School Fan]

This still going?

 

It still is, I just had to give my computer a rest for a few days due to computer trouble.

[Old School Fan]

Sorry about not being around the last little while (due to reasons mentioned in my above post), but I'm back now.

 

So, to get back in the groove...

 

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

 

March 1967

 

Back in Montreal, while having a few days off from the ring, Renée Martel and Claire Lepage were having lunch at a coffee shop close to Johnny Rougeau's office and were reminiscing about the Mildred Burke Invitational Tournament. "I'll tell you, the hardest match I had to wrestle while we were down in Los Angeles was when I had to face Jan Vallow on the third night of the tournament," Claire pointed out after swallowing a bite from the cheeseburger she was eating. "She wrestles pretty stiff in the ring, kind of like a stiffer version of Michèle."

 

"I know, but that's something you should be used to by now, based on your experience with wrestling Michèle," Renée said as she speared a forkful of garden salad.

 

"Even if Jan lays into her hits like Johnny Valentine would if he were a woman?" Claire said.

 

"Hmm, something like that, I guess," Renée said with a small laugh, having some familiarity with Johnny Valentine as he had been a past opponent of her father's in Montreal and other territories.

 

"Hey, I just remembered," Claire spoke up a moment later. "Over at the training gym earlier, I heard some talk from Johnny about him making plans to stage a wrestling event at Expo 67 after it starts in April. Did you hear about that?"

 

"That's news to me," Renée admitted. "If Johnny mentioned it, he was in his office then and I wasn't with him."

 

"If it's true, that'd be great," Claire said. "Holding a wrestling show at Expo 67 would be a great way to give All-Star Wrestling some much-needed exposure and publicity to visitors to the fair from outside Canada. If Johnny holds a women's match as part of that show, that's even better."

 

"Yeah, that's right," Renée agreed. "When we get back to the gym after lunch, I'll ask Johnny about that and see what he says."

 

As Renée and Claire continued with their lunch, two young blonde women, who had come into the coffee shop a moment earlier for lunch themselves, recognized Renée at her booth and walked over to her and Claire. "Hi, Renée Martel?" one of the girls, whose short blonde hair was styled in a pixie cut with long bangs, spoke up first. "You remember us?"

 

"Umm, no, not really," Renée said as she looked at the two girls, unsure who they were as one of the girls asked about remembering them.

 

"We had some classes together in Grade 11* at the Saint-Louis School back in 1965," the short-haired blonde girl explained. "You'd just moved to Montreal at mid-year of the school year and enrolled at Saint-Louis in January."

 

Upon mention of the school where she spent her last year of high school* upon returning to Montreal with her family from Calgary in late-December 1964, Renée had an epiphany. "Okay, now I remember - Rosalie and Sabrina, right?" she said to the two girls.

 

"That's right," Rosalie, the short-haired blonde girl, said with a grin.

 

"Well, how've you two been since I saw you last?" Renée asked.

 

"We've kept busy since graduation," Sabrina, who had longer blonde hair past her shoulders and also had long bangs, replied. "Working here and there, mostly."

 

"Ever since we graduated, we've been following your wrestling career," Rosalie said. "Mostly from seeing you when you wrestled on TV, but sometimes Sabrina and I would catch the matches at the Paul Sauvé Arena when you're in town."

 

"Ah, nice," Renée remarked. "Well, I'm going to be on the card at Paul Sauvé this coming Monday, so are you going to be there then?"

 

"We sure will," Sabrina said. "But that's not the only reason we wanted to see you when we spotted you here."

 

"Okay, what else?" a curious Renée asked.

 

"Sabrina and I were both talking about getting into wrestling ourselves and we wanted to get training for it," Rosalie said. "We figured you're the best person we could talk to about that."

 

Renée only needed a moment to think about it. "I'm heading over to Johnny Rougeau's office and gym after lunch, so you two could come along with me and Claire then," she said. "He's started training more girls to wrestle recently, so I'll talk to him. While you're here, how about joining us for lunch and we'll talk more about it?"

 

"Oh, thanks, that sounds great," a pleased Rosalie said as she and Sabrina joined Renée and Claire in their booth.

 

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

 

* Under Quebec's education system (which differs from other such systems in North America), high school ends at Grade 11 as there is no Grade 12 in Quebec high schools.

[Old School Fan]

Moving ahead a few months...

 

American Wrestling Association @ Davenport Municipal Stadium

June 5, 1967 - Davenport, Iowa

 

 

 

Judy Arnold & Renée Martel defeated Georgia Hase & Margot Bouchard when Renée got the submission from Hase with the Alligator Clutch while Arnold ran in to stop Bouchard from interfering before the latter two began brawling around ringside.

 

 

Jack Lanza defeated The Big K* by pinfall following a lariat clothesline.

 

 

AWA World Tag Team Championship

Larry Hennig & Harley Race © defeated René Goulet & Earl Maynard when Race pinned Goulet following a piledriver.

 

 

Texas Death Match

Johnny Powers defeated The Crusher in a brutal and bloody contest when Crusher could not answer the referee's ten-count after being pinned by Powers.

 

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

 

* Masked identity used by wrestler Stan Kowalski.

[Old School Fan]

Back in Montreal that same night...

 

All-Star Wrestling @ Paul Sauvé Arena

June 5, 1967 - Montreal, Quebec

 

 

NOTE: While other matches are understood to have taken place on this card, only the three matches below are known to have been documented.

 

Claire Lepage defeated Miss X by disqualification when a second masked wrestler ran in and attacked Lepage as she had Miss X tied up in a single-leg Boston crab. Post-match, the two masked women double-teamed on Lepage until Julie Painchaud made a surprise appearance as she ran out from the locker room area and helped Lepage clear out the masked heels, signalling a babyface turn for Painchaud.

 

 

ASW Canadian Heavyweight Championship

Baron Von Raschke defeated Marcel Martel to become the first ASW Canadian Heavyweight Champion when Von Raschke used the clawhold on Martel for the submission.

 

 

ASW World Heavyweight Championship

Johnny Rougeau defeated Mad Dog Vachon © to win the title when Rougeau subdued Vachon with the sleeperhold.