Rise of a Star

[Old School Fan]

The plans that Mildred Burke had first announced to her roster back in early-June at that photo session at her training gym are finally revealed here via this press release she put out shortly after that session (and will be followed soon after by the revelation of the event poster):

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Since its establishment with the inaugural version of the Mildred Burke Invitational Tournament in January and February of 1967, the American Girls' Wrestling Association has strived to become the standard bearer of women's wrestling in North America, serving as both a promotion in its own right as well as a booking office for promotions that wish to book our wrestlers for their events.  The AGWA has served to help establish young stars and get their names out there among wrestling fans, and it also has given veteran competitors a place of their own to compete in.  In addition, thanks to our working agreement with All Japan Women's Pro Wrestling, top female talents from Japan have come over to the United States to test and establish themselves in the AGWA against the best we have to offer, and we also have wrestlers coming from as far off as Europe and Australia to compete and make their names here.

Also, since our 1967 launch, the AGWA has been establishing itself not only with live events, but since September of that year, has been coming into the living rooms of wrestling fans far and wide via our syndicated television program, AGWA Women's Pro Wrestling, to showcase the stars of the AGWA and to serve as a promotional vehicle for our live events wherever our show airs on local TV stations.  From just a handful of TV stations at the show's September 1967 debut, AGWA Women's Pro Wrestling has expanded its reach, via packaging with wrestling programs produced by many National Wrestling Alliance member promoters and the American Wrestling Association, to cities in many areas of the United States and in parts of Canada and Mexico, to create demand for the stars of the AGWA by the fans of various promotions.  Thanks to our TV show's efforts, AGWA stars have been making appearances, both at AGWA events and via individual booking of many of its stars by other promoters, throughout most of the United States and in Canada and have helped draw thousands of fans for each event they appear at, with some even traveling to Japan to appear for All Japan Women's events.  Even in the face of attempted acts of sabotage against us by a certain established rival female star whose name shall not be mentioned here, done with the intended purpose of trying to set us back and keep us down so this unnamed star can keep herself front and center and on top of women's wrestling, the AGWA has not only survived such acts, but has thrived and prospered.

Since our start, the Mildred Burke Invitational Tournament has served as the AGWA's signature event, held over the course of four weeks, with the first two rounds taking place over three weeks during January in our home base in Anaheim, followed by the semifinals and the championship final, along with a few special non-tournament matches, in Los Angeles in February, with that final night in each of the three editions of the tournament to date averaging over 16,000 fans in attendance.  But now, with that success, the AGWA will be looking to take our game to the next level with the introduction of a new supercard event, the Independence Day Spectacular.  As its name specifies, this event will be held on the Independence Day holiday on July 4th and will take place at the Forum in Inglewood, California, the home arena of the National Hockey League's Los Angeles Kings and the National Basketball Association's Los Angeles Lakers.  This event will also feature the top stars of women's wrestling from the United States, Canada, Japan and elsewhere, and it will be stacked from start to finish with championship matches, headlined by the returns of NWA North American Women's Champion Joan Weston and new AWA World Women's Champion Betty Niccoli in featured bouts, and will also feature a 10-woman battle royal to determine the holder of the newly-revived NWA World Women's Lightweight Championship, which was last held by Karen Kellogg in 1963 and which will be booked by the AGWA with NWA sanctioning for female wrestlers weighing 120 pounds or less.

With the launch of this new supercard event by the AGWA, we hope that you, the wrestling fans who have supported us from the beginning, will get behind this new event and come out to support and root on our stars as they put their wrestling skills and talents on display for your enjoyment.

Mildred Burke
President/CEO, American Girls' Wrestling Association

Edited April 5, 2023 by Old School Fan
Link added

[Old School Fan]

The poster for Mildred Burke's upcoming Independence Day Spectacular supercard on July 4 is now up:

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Now, here's the full match lineup for your predictions:  😎

AGWA Shooting Star Championship
Ashley Sinclair (C) vs. Vivian Vance

California Women's Championship (for vacant title)
Sylvia Hackney vs. Jane O'Brien

AGWA International Tag Team Championship
Aiko Kyo & Kyoko Okada (C) vs. Jane Sherill & Patty O'Hara

AGWA Television Championship
Valerie Blackard (C) vs. Baby Rocco

AGWA Interstate Championship
Ann Casey (C) vs. Tonette Kadrmas

AGWA International Championship
Yukiko Tomoe (C) vs. Mary Jane Mull

Battle Royal for the NWA World Women's Lightweight Championship (winner to be presented the championship belt by former champion Karen Kellogg)
France Gall * Lynn Congleton * Liz Hernandez * Barbara Jacobs * Colleen Murrell * Barbara O'Leary * Carmen Thompson * Gwen Miller * Terri Toledo * Rosalie Bardwell

NWA United States Women's Tag Team Championship - Two Out of Three Falls
Renée Martel & Claire Lepage (C) vs. The Sisters of Love

NWA United States Women's Championship
Judy Arnold (C) vs. Margot Bouchard

AWA World Women's Championship
Betty Niccoli (C) vs. Penny Banner

NWA North American Women's Championship
Joan Weston (C) vs. Georgia Hase

[The Blonde Bomber]

AGWA Shooting Star Championship
Ashley Sinclair (C) vs. Vivian Vance

California Women's Championship (for vacant title)
Sylvia Hackney vs. Jane O'Brien

AGWA International Tag Team Championship
Aiko Kyo & Kyoko Okada (C) vs. Jane Sherill & Patty O'Hara

AGWA Television Championship
Valerie Blackard (C) vs. Baby Rocco

AGWA Interstate Championship
Ann Casey (C) vs. Tonette Kadrmas

AGWA International Championship
Yukiko Tomoe (C) vs. Mary Jane Mull

Battle Royal for the NWA World Women's Lightweight Championship (winner to be presented the championship belt by former champion Karen Kellogg)
France Gall * Lynn Congleton * Liz Hernandez * Barbara Jacobs * Colleen Murrell * Barbara O'Leary * Carmen Thompson * Gwen Miller * Terri Toledo * Rosalie Bardwell

NWA United States Women's Tag Team Championship - Two Out of Three Falls
Renée Martel & Claire Lepage (C) vs. The Sisters of Love

NWA United States Women's Championship
Judy Arnold (C) vs. Margot Bouchard

AWA World Women's Championship
Betty Niccoli (C) vs. Penny Banner

NWA North American Women's Championship
Joan Weston (C) vs. Georgia Hase

[Captain Kremmen]

6 hours ago, Old School Fan said:

The poster for Mildred Burke's upcoming Independence Day Spectacular supercard on July 4 is now up:

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Now, here's the full match lineup for your predictions:  😎

AGWA Shooting Star Championship
Ashley Sinclair (C) vs. Vivian Vance

California Women's Championship (for vacant title)
Sylvia Hackney vs. Jane O'Brien

AGWA International Tag Team Championship
Aiko Kyo & Kyoko Okada (C) vs. Jane Sherill & Patty O'Hara

AGWA Television Championship
Valerie Blackard (C) vs. Baby Rocco

AGWA Interstate Championship
Ann Casey (C) vs. Tonette Kadrmas

AGWA International Championship
Yukiko Tomoe (C) vs. Mary Jane Mull

Battle Royal for the NWA World Women's Lightweight Championship (winner to be presented the championship belt by former champion Karen Kellogg)
France Gall * Lynn Congleton * Liz Hernandez * Barbara Jacobs * Colleen Murrell * Barbara O'Leary * Carmen Thompson * Gwen Miller * Terri Toledo * Rosalie Bardwell

NWA United States Women's Tag Team Championship - Two Out of Three Falls
Renée Martel & Claire Lepage (C) vs. The Sisters of Love

NWA United States Women's Championship
Judy Arnold (C) vs. Margot Bouchard

AWA World Women's Championship
Betty Niccoli (C) vs. Penny Banner

NWA North American Women's Championship
Joan Weston (C) vs. Georgia Hase

I just think it's gonna be a day for the champions . I did debate whether or not to go with Banner but decided on title retention by Niccoli.

BTW, I love the old school layout you did for the card.

I wish prime seats were still 4 bucks.

[Captain Kremmen]

We need more Moolah misbehavior! 🙂

[Old School Fan]

While this is not the actual Independence Day Spectacular card, the card presented below is serving (along with a couple of chapters that will follow it) as a setup for the eventual card and to allow for more time for predictions to be made on the big Fourth of July card:

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American Girls' Wrestling Association @ University Arena
June 26, 1969 - Albuquerque, New Mexico
Attendance - 13,960

 

France Gall used a cannonball off the ropes to pin and defeat Casey Andrews.

Baby Rocco (with "The Queen" Mae Young) defeated Sylvia Hackney by pinfall following a big splash.

Tonette Kadrmas defeated Gwen Miller by pinfall following an overhead suplex.

AGWA Television Championship

Valerie Blackard (C) defeated Sister Serenity (with Sir Robin Ascott) by disqualification when Ascott ran into the ring and threw powder in Blackard's face as the champion had Serenity caught in an abdominal stretch.

AGWA Interstate Championship

Ann Casey (C) and Margot Bouchard (with Mae Young) were both counted out while brawling outside of the ring.

NWA United States Women's Tag Team Championship - Two out of Three Falls

Renée Martel & Claire Lepage (C) defeated Shirley Hardman & Diane Syverson (with Mae Young), two falls to one, when Martel pinned Hardman following a flying forearm smash off the ropes in the third fall after each team had scored a fall.

NWA United States Women's Championship

Judy Arnold (C) defeated Sister Lavender (who, strangely, did not have Sir Robin Ascott in her corner as Ascott conspicuously no-showed this match) by disqualification when Sister Serenity ran in and attacked Arnold as she had Lavender caught in the spinning toehold; the Sisters of Love then double-teamed on Arnold for a few moments before they were chased out of the ring by Renée Martel and Claire Lepage for the save for the champion.

 

[Captain Kremmen]

It just hit me!

Vivian Vance???!!!

Does Fred know what she's moonlighting as???

IRL, she apparently hating working with William Frawley as her husband because she thought the pairing was unrealistic.

 

Edited April 14, 2023 by piperrulz

[Old School Fan]

On 4/14/2023 at 2:47 PM, piperrulz said:

It just hit me!

Vivian Vance???!!!

Does Fred know what she's moonlighting as???

 

If only that were the case, since William Frawley (the actor who played Fred) died in 1966, three years before the then-current happenings here ITTL...  🙃

[Old School Fan]

While I'm putting the finishing touches on another chapter to be posted in the buildup to the AGWA Independence Day Spectacular, here's a bit of battle royal action from up Stampede way:

Edited April 16, 2023 by Old School Fan

[Old School Fan]

Behind the scenes on the night of that AGWA card in Albuquerque (which also explains why Sir Robin Ascott was not present at ringside for the main event that night)...

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In the locker room area at Albuquerque's University Arena (nicknamed "The Pit" by students at the University of New Mexico, where the arena was located), Claire Lepage, Shirley Hardman and Diane Syverson were going over their upcoming tag team match and the spots they were to do as part of the match.  "So what do you think we should end the second fall on, do we do a DQ finish for that?" Diane suggested.

"Sure, why not?" Shirley agreed.  "It's worked in our matches before.  Claire, how do you think we should do the DQ finish for the fall?"

"Hmm, I guess we can do the throw over the top rope finish with me getting tossed," Claire said.  "I'm just glad we have the protective mats out around ringside now to cushion the falls we take so we don't have to land on hard arena floors."

"Just what Mildred figured needed doing after one girl hurt her back taking an awkward fall to the arena floor back in April," Shirley recalled.

"Hey, shouldn't Renée be here with us to talk about the match?" Diane then asked, inquiring about Renée Martel, the bout's fourth participant.

"Uh, I think last I saw Renée, she was out looking for France," Yolanda Roacho, the wrestler who went by the ring name Baby Rocco, replied while bringing up France Gall.

"France went to go jump in the shower a few minutes ago," Claire explained.  "She ought to be done by now, but I'll go see what's keeping Renée..."

Just as Claire got up to go look for Renée, she and the others with her heard a scream come from down the hallway, prompting everyone to go see where the scream came from.  When Claire, Shirley, Diane and Yolanda got to a junction in the hallway, they saw Robin Ascott close by in another hallway, grabbing Renée and putting her right arm behind her in a hammerlock as he pinned her to a wall.  "Hey, pendejo!" Yolanda yelled at Robin in Spanish. "¡Déjala ir o te van a patear el!"

"This is none of your business, just like your friend here had no business meddling in affairs that don't concern her," Robin snobbishly declared while he continued to pin Renée to the hallway wall.  When Yolanda, Claire and the others started toward him, Robin increased the force of the hammerlock on Renée, causing her to cry out in pain.  "Don't even think about it," he declared to the girls.  "Take another step and she gets her shoulder separated - now back off and go about what..."

Robin did not get to finish what he was saying, as a quick-thinking Renée took action when she had the chance as she drove the heel of her right foot into the instep of Robin's right foot, causing him to let go of the hammerlock as he yelped in pain.  Acting fast against Robin, Renée then delivered a kick to his groin to double him over, then putting the self-defence training she had learned over the past few years to use, she used a judo throw on him to take him down, then threw a kick to his upper back between the shoulder blades.  Realizing what he was up against, Robin scrambled for cover as he got up and ran past the girls, then down the hallway toward an exit as he chose to flee the arena, with Shirley and Diane taking off after him in pursuit to see where he was going.

Claire then went up to Renée to check on her.  "You okay, Renée?" she asked her friend out of concern.

"I will be," Renée replied as she shook out her right arm to relieve the numbness it was experiencing after the hammerlock.

"So what happened to bring that on?" Yolanda then asked.

"Hold on a second," Renée said as she went to knock on a nearby door.  "Ce n’est pas grave, France, il est parti - vous pouvez sortir," she called in French, followed a moment later by France coming out from a locker room.

"Vous êtes sûr qu’il est parti?" France said, seeming unsure.

"Il est, je me suis débarrassé de lui," Renée confirmed, assuring France she had gotten rid of Robin.

Moments later, Shirley and Diane returned to the scene.  "Ascott's gone," Shirley reported.  "He tucked tail and took off in his car just as we got to the parking area out back.  I don't think he'll be back tonight."

"Good, good riddance," Renée said with a nod.  "I'm also glad he and his girls don't stay at the same hotel as we do."

"So like I was saying, what happened that brought on what that jerk did?" Yolanda asked again.

Renée then translated Yolanda's question to France, who then explained what happened to Renée, who in turn translated to the other girls.  "France had come out from the shower when she saw Ascott standing in the hallway," she began.  "He came to her and tried to proposition her to join his stable again, and she told him no again, but he wouldn't take no for an answer, even after she told him several times.  He tried to force the issue when he pinned her to the wall and threatened to pull off the towel she had around her unless she changed her mind and joined his stable - that was around the point when I came along and saw him trying to manhandle France, so I went up and told him to let her go and back off or I'd tell Mildred and Mae what he'd been doing, and that's when he grabbed me and pinned me to the wall with the hammerlock."

While Yolanda cursed in Spanish, Claire shook her head in disbelief over what happened while covering her eyes.  "Well, we gotta tell Mae for sure now," Shirley said of the incident.  "Too bad Mildred's not here right now on account of her being in Japan on business, she'd nip this in the bud real quick."

Just then, Renée bowed over while holding her head in her hands.  Noticing this, Claire went up to her and asked as she rubbed her friend's back, "Renée, you sure you're okay?"

Renée paused a moment to take a breath before looking back to Claire.  "Sorry, what happened just brought on a flashback," she said, thinking back to the 1965 incident in Truro, Nova Scotia.  "I just need a moment."

"Don't worry, we'll tell Mae what happened when she and Michèle get back here from their match," Diane said of Mae Young, who was acting as road agent and the group's "mother hen" in Mildred's absence, and Michèle Richard, who Renée had told about Robin's unsavory doings following the incident at Mildred's gym during the photo shoot.  "After all this, something's gotta be done about Ascott - how's he managed to fly under Mildred's radar with what he's been doing all this time he's been managing here?"

"I don't know, but between this and the photo shoot, I'm getting to trust him less and less - and even when we first met him when he started working here in January, there was just...something about him that just didn't sit right with me," Renée said, "especially during the times he targeted me in some angles during the times I came down to wrestle for Mildred."

"There's also the way I noticed he seems to have a hold on the girls he manages - Ashley and the Sisters of Love - and how they willingly do his bidding," Shirley pointed out, "almost like he's like some kind of Svengali."

"I've seen that too when I've been here, and that's another thing that bugs me about him," Renée said.  "Then there's something else about him that I can't pin down, but it's really nagging at me..."

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Not long after fleeing from the University Arena, Robin stopped his car at a phone booth close by, then went inside the booth.  Taking out a roll of dimes he had on him, he contacted an operator first to direct a long-distance call, then deposited a few of those dimes to make the call.

"Hello there, it's Robin," the flamboyant heel manager greeted the party at the other end once the call was connected.  "Right now, not so fine - I got into a scrape with that Martel girl when she caught me trying to proposition that French girl, France Gall, to join my stable.  I would've made Martel pay for putting her nose where it didn't belong, but several of her friends came and saw me and that's when Martel attacked me," he added, conveniently leaving out that he had been the aggressor in the incident back at the arena and that Renée had simply been defending herself and France.

"Yes, I know what you told me," Robin continued as he listened to the other end.  "I've made sure to keep you appraised about her ever since you arranged to send me out here - but now she's started to get suspicious ever since that photo session at Burke's gym where Burke announced her big Fourth of July event, where I first tried propositioning Gall to join me."  After listening to the response at the other end, he then said, developing a sly look as Renée and the earlier conflict with her crossed his mind, "Yes, I'm ready to do the next part of the plan, at Burke's event on the 4th..."

Edited April 16, 2023 by Old School Fan
Crucial info connected to the card added

[Lord Byron]

My picks:  Ashley Sinclair (c), Sylvia Hackney, Aiko Kyo and Kyoko Okada (c), Valerie Blackard (c), Ann Casey (c), Mary Jane Mull, Barbara O'Leary, Renee Martel and Claire LePage, Judy Arnold (c), Betty Niccoli, and Georgia Hase...

I got a feeling that Robin's plans are going to backfire on him...

Edited April 17, 2023 by Lord Byron

[Old School Fan]

8 hours ago, Lord Byron said:

I got a feeling that Robin's plans are going to backfire on him...

And we'll see how that goes in the upcoming post...  🤔

[Old School Fan]

Independence Day Spectacular @ The Forum
July 4, 1969 - Inglewood, California
Attendance - 18,200 (The Forum; sellout)

25,000+ (various movie theatres via closed-circuit television in the Greater Los Angeles, Bakersfield, Central Coast, Inland Empire, San Francisco Bay, San Diego and Las Vegas Valley areas)

43,200+ total

AGWA Shooting Star Championship

Ashley Sinclair (C) and her manager Sir Robin Ascott paraded around the ring in customary arrogant style as they taunted the fans prior to Sinclair's title defence against fan favorite Vivian Vance, making her return to the AGWA to avenge Sinclair's underhanded means of capturing the Shooting Star title back in February.  When the opening bell sounded, Vance ran at Sinclair and showed no mercy as she attacked the champion.  At one point Sinclair could not move her left arm due to Vance targeting and battering it.  Sinclair later snared Vance in an abdominal stretch twice (aided by illegally grabbing the top rope), but Vance broke the hold both times, the second time coming when she hiptossed Sinclair after the referee caught the champion holding onto the top rope and forced her to let go.  Finally Sinclair put her feet on the middle rope for illegal leverage while pinning Vance, with Ascott assisting by keeping Sinclair's feet on the rope, and vanquished Vance to retain her title.  Vance did not take kindly to the controversial loss as she attacked Sinclair again and threw her out of the ring before telling the referee what happened, but the ref told her that he cannot call what he does not see as he did not see Sinclair put her feet on the ropes for the pin, while Sinclair, who had the Shooting Star belt with her again, gloated about yet another ill-gotten win as she and Ascott went back up the aisle to the locker room area.

California Women's Championship

Canadian Women's Champion Jane O'Brien, on break from her current tour through Canada for this special appearance, battled Sylvia Hackney in an exciting bout for the California title that had been vacated when previous titleholder Betty Niccoli won the AWA World Women's title from Kay Noble recently.  At the beginning, Hackney seemed in control as she put her scientific wrestling skills to work against O'Brien.  After a few mintues, however, O'Brien rallied, tapping into her brawling ability and infamous rulebreaking maneuvers.  Finally, O'Brien's brutality proved too much for Hackney, who got pinned following a powerslam as O'Brien became the new California Women's Champion, adding to her trophy case.

AGWA International Tag Team Championship

Aiko Kyo & Kyoko Okada (C) put their belts on the line against Jane Sherill & Patty O'Hara in a hard-hitting and evenly-fought contest that saw both teams give their all, with the champions determined to keep their title and Sherill and O'Hara just as determined to win the belts.  The match was even up until late in the bout, when O'Hara attempted a flying clothesline off the second turnbuckle on Kyo but overshot and accidentally clipped the referee, knocking both him and Kyo down.  Taking advantage, the Sisters of Love continued their feud with Sherill and O'Hara as they ran out to the ring and attacked O'Hara as she had Kyo pinned, then they split off as Sister Lavender went to attack Okada while Sister Serenity jumped Sherill.  With both teams laid out by the rulebreaking hippie girls, Lavender then flipped the half-conscious O'Hara off of Kyo, then delivered a stomp to Kyo's chest before flipping her on top of O'Hara, then the Sisters escaped the ring moments before the ref came too and counted the pin attempt, resulting in Kyo and Okada retaining their belts - but when when Kyo and Okada found out about the Sisters' involvement in the match outcome, they refused to accept the win and went to confront Lavender and Serenity on their actions.  When Sherill and O'Hara came to, the infuriated duo, blaming the Sisters for their loss, went out to ringside and charged at the Sisters, brawling with them back up the aisle to the locker room area.

AGWA Television Championship

Baby Rocco (with "The Queen" Mae Young) forced Valerie Blackard (C) to fight from behind for much of the match as Rocco used her bulk and her strength to overwhelm the champion.  Blackard attempted a comeback against her larger challenger, but Rocco quickly retaliated by catching Blackard with a series of forearms and elbowsmashes.  After Rocco had enough fun, she bounced Blackard off the ropes and caught her with a bodyslam, then bounced off the ropes herself and delivered a big splash, which gave Rocco the three-count and the victory in the match, getting her the TV title and bringing championship gold back into the Queen's Court.

AGWA Interstate Championship

Heelish Tonette Kadrmas went up against fan favorite Ann Casey with Casey's title on the line.  The match was back-and-forth for the first few minutes with each woman gaining short advantages until Kadrmas threw Casey out of the ring.  The two battled in and out of the ring until Kadrmas grabbed Casey's leg and slammed it on the ring post three times.  Again the two combatants battled outside of the ring until Kadrmas somehow freed herself and pushed Casey shoulder-first into the post.  Kadrmas threw Casey back into the ring and followed her in and Casey, injured from Kadrmas' onslaught, was finished off as the challenger leaped off the second turnbuckle with a kneedrop and scored a shocking upset as she pinned Casey to win the match and become the new Interstate Champion.  The surprises did not end there, however, as moments after Kadrmas was handed the Interstate belt, Sir Robin Ascott strolled out to the ring to the fans' loud boos, then stepped through the ropes and demanded the arena microphone before congratulating Kadrmas on her victory and introducing her as the newest member of his Dynasty stable, setting off a fresh wave of boos from the fans.

AGWA International Championship

Yukiko Tomoe (C), making her return to the United States and to the AGWA after her previous stint last year, defended her title against Mary Jane Mull.  Tomoe was ready for Mull's challenge as she countered each move her veteran American opponent applied and reversed every maneuver.  After about 15 minutes of tough battling, Mull took Tomoe out of the ring.  Mull attempted a piledriver (which would have gotten her disqualified under AGWA rules had she connected with it) but Tomoe flipped the challenger over her back.  By this point the referee's count reached 16 and, as Yukiko tried to get back into the ring, Mull made a last attempt, seized Tomoe's leg and held her out for the count of 20.  Both women were counted out, though Tomoe retained her title.

10-woman Battle Royal for the NWA World Women's Lightweight Championship

France Gall overcame the odds as she last eliminated Kim Blanchard (a substitute for Barbara O'Leary, who had been forced out of action last week due to injury at a house show) to win a battle royal and capture the vacant NWA World Women's Lightweight Championship (which had been dormant since its last holder, Karen Kellogg, retired in 1964); like Ashley Sinclair did when she won the Shooting Star title, the heelish Blanchard skated through to the end of the match by stalling and avoiding contact with other wrestlers as much as possible, but France, having seen the outcome of the other match, determined not to let Blanchard snag an unfairly-earned win as she backdropped Blanchard over the top rope after ducking an attempted clothesline to get the win and the first championship of her career (other participants in the match, in order of elimination, were Carmen Thompson, Rosalie Bardwell, Terri Toledo, Barbara Jacobs, Lynn Congleton, Liz Hernandez, Colleen Murrell and Gwen Miller).

Following the match, Karen Kellogg, who had been sitting at the timekeeper's table to watch the match after she had been introduced to the fans prior to the participants' introductions, came into the ring, presented the NWA World Women's Lightweight title belt to Gall and raised her right arm in victory as the fans cheered, but Blanchard, showing herself as a sore loser, came back into the ring and clotheslined Gall from behind, then started stomping Gall after she fell to the mat.  Kellogg took exception to Blanchard's actions and berated her for ruining the victory celebration, prompting Blanchard to slap Kellogg's face and then attack her as well, but Kellogg fought back and got Blanchard backpedaling when suddenly, Sinclair showed up and Pearl Harbored Kellogg from behind, then helped Blanchard double-team and overwhelm Kellogg before doing the same to Gall, leaving both women laid out on the mat; the reason for Sinclair's presence soon became evident when Sir Robin Ascott arrogantly strolled down to the ring, climbed through the ropes and demanded the arena microphone, then condescendingly belittled Kellogg as a "has-been" and France as a "wannabe" before he took the title belt, which had been dropped to the mat during the melee, and handed it to Blanchard (even though she was not the rightful titleholder), then announced her as his newest addition to the Ascott Dynasty as the fans booed loudly.

NWA United States Women's Tag Team Championship - Two Out of Three Falls

Renée Martel & Claire Lepage (C) defeated The Sisters of Love (with Sir Robin Ascott), two falls to one.

⦁    First fall - Sister Lavender pinned Lepage after she fell victim to a double-facebreaker by Lavender and Sister Serenity (which was prefaced by Ascott getting involved when he tripped Lepage from outside the ring as she was about to rebound off the ropes).
⦁    Second fall - Martel pinned Serenity following a flying forearm smash off the ropes to even the contest.
⦁    Third fall - The Sisters were disqualified when, as Martel had a sleeperhold locked on Lavender while Lepage fought with Serenity around ringside, Ascott grabbed a folding chair, then came into the ring and laced into Renée with a particularly stiff chair shot to her back, causing her to fall to the canvas; when Lepage saw what happened and tried to run in, Ascott intercepted her by driving the top edge of the chair into her midsection, then whacked her across the back with the chair as well as she doubled over, then also struck the referee with the chair when he tried to take it from Ascott.  Many of the fans who witnessed what happened reacted negatively as they began booing loudly and began making derogatory chants at Ascott while a number of fans closer to the ring began throwing assorted garbage (including crumpled-up popcorn bags and drink cups) toward the ring at the flamboyant heel manager, who gloated about his attack on the champions while the hippie girls continued assaulting Martel and Lepage - but their antics soon came to a screeching halt when Jane Sherill, Patty O'Hara, Aiko Kyo and Kyoko Okada ran in and attacked the Sisters, turning the fans' boos to cheers as Sherill, O'Hara and the Japanese stars chased Lavender and Serenity off for the save for Martel and Lepage while Ascott bailed out to ringside.

Almost immediately afterward, Mildred Burke herself came out to the ring and got the arena mic, then told Ascott to get in the ring, where Burke berated him, telling him point-blank, "Who do you think you are, Ascott?!  How dare you attack women the way you just did without justification - and how dare you use a weapon to do so!  Much as I don't condone fans throwing garbage at the ring to show displeasure at rulebreaking actions by villainous wrestlers or managers, this time they were justified in being ticked off when you saw fit to use a chair as a weapon against two women who not only did absolutely nothing to deserve it, but could have been injured by your actions!  There's two words I can use to describe someone like you who'd resort to hitting a woman unprovoked - gutless coward!"  As the capacity crowd cheered Burke on in her righteous anger while Ascott, not surprisingly, dismissively scoffed at her tirade, she continued, "Now, because of your actions here tonight, you and your Sisters of Love are going to get dealt with as you should be.  For starters, Ascott, I'm fining you $1,000 and your Sisters of Love are hereby stripped of the AGWA Interstate Tag Team title, effective immediately!"  The cheers from the crowd got even louder in reaction while Ascott and the Sisters, also not surprisingly, did not take the news from Burke well.

As the crowd noise died down, Burke then continued, "But that's not all I got in mind for you, Ascott - because you seem to get your jollies from knocking women around and you act so tough with them, and since I know you also work as a wrestler outside of managing, I'll give you the chance to try to prove just how tough you think you really are by putting you in a match, right here, right now!"  While the fans cheered again, Ascott mockingly feigned fear before wondering who he would be matched up against, at which Burke replied, "Okay, Ascott, if you really want to know, I'll tell you - but as the old saying goes, be careful what you wish for..." before she pointed toward the aisle - and moments later, Ascott got the shock of his life when none other than Earlene Brown, who had been present backstage at the Forum but had not been scheduled to wrestle that night, passed through the curtain and marched toward the ring, pointing at Ascott while the fans went ballistic with cheers.

Intergender match

The moment Earlene Brown stepped into the ring, Sir Robin Ascott bailed out and refused to lock up against the ex-Olympic athlete while standing on the apron outside the ring and taunting Brown, but she was having none of it as she ran over while Ascott started arguing with some ringside fans, pulled him into the ring over the top rope and started pummeling him briefly before Ascott scrambled out of the ring again to regroup.  As Brown yelled at the hesitant Ascott, who was being counted out by the referee, to get back in the ring while she had her back facing the aisle, the Sisters of Love came running down the aisle, grabbed both of Brown' s ankles and tripped her to the mat (not seen by the ref), enabling the opportunistic Ascott to rush back in and attack the downed Brown with kicks and punches.  Ascott soon started getting cocky and he grandstanded to both the audience and to Brown, arrogantly shuffling around, taunting Brown and getting occasional kicks in against her while staying out of her reach to keep her from getting to him.  Ascott then charged at Brown and knocked her out of the ring, where Sister Lavender and Sister Serenity, now joined by fellow Ascott Dynasty members Ashley Sinclair and Kim Blanchard, started quadruple-teaming on Brown while Ascott kept the referee distracted, before the Ascott Dynasty threw Brown back into the ring, where she was again attacked by Ascott in between his showboating and taunts to both Brown and the hostile fans.

Moments after the Ascott Dynasty threw Brown back into the ring, however, the tide took a turn as Jane Sherill, Patty O'Hara, Vivian Vance and France Gall ran out to ringside and went on the attack against the Dynasty as a brawl broke loose between the two sides while the fans went wild at the arrival of the cavalry (with Sherill and O'Hara targeting the Sisters, Vance going after Sinclair and Gall attacking Blanchard), while Ascott, distracted by the ensuing melee going on outside the ring, got yanked down to the mat by Brown, who started hammering Ascott across the back with forearm shots, then got up and picked Ascott up by his hair and then, as the crowd rooted her on, she whipped him to the ropes and clotheslined him back down to the mat, but as she was about to pick him back up again, Ascott delivered a gut punch to Brown that doubled her over.  During the ensuing chaos as the Ascott Dynasty and their foes battled back to the locker rooms, Renée Martel and Claire Lepage came running down to ringside and began berating Ascott for his earlier chair attack on them; Ascott then lunged at the girls and took a swing at Renée, who dodged the attempted hit, but when Ascott pointed at Renée and threatened her, she retaliated by delivering a hard slap to his face, catching him by surprise and distracting him long enough for a recovered Brown to grab Ascott from behind, spin him around and take him down with a spinebuster slam, then she got back up, rebounded off the ropes and delivered a big splash against Ascott and hooked his left leg as the referee made the three-count for the pin and awarded the match to Brown, getting the fans on their feet with cheers as they were happy to see Brown put the flamboyant Ascott Dynasty leader in his place.  Brown was not done yet, however, as she invited Martel and Lepage into the ring while picking the half-out-of-it Ascott up off the mat and told them what they should do (to which the girls readily agreed), then she whipped Ascott to the ropes and Renée and Claire, looking to avenge the earlier attack on them by Ascott, caught him on the rebound with a double superkick that sent him to the mat again, followed by a second big splash on Ascott by Brown as the fans cheered again at the babyface trio teaching a painful lesson to the arrogant manager.*

NWA United States Women's Championship

After an intermission to clean up the thrown trash in and around the ring (along with an advisory from the ring announcer to the fans to refrain from throwing garbage at the ring in the future), Judy Arnold (C) squared off against Margot Bouchard (with Mae Young) in a violent match.  Bouchard attacked Arnold brutally, but Judy retaliated and ran her out of the ring.  Bouchard finally grabbed the advantage, got Arnold down and tried the figure-four on her, but failed.  When Arnold finally retook the advantage and got Bouchard down for the spinning toehold, Georgia Hase ran in to attack Judy, who won by disqualification.  Hase and Bouchard, under Young's direction, savagely attacked Arnold, but Joan Weston came to the rescue and chased the heels out.

AWA World Women's Championship

The semi-main event between new AWA World Women's Champion Betty Niccoli and Penny Banner degenerated into a total brawl later in the bout.  Banner lost her temper at Niccoli's illegal tactics, as time and again, Niccoli tried to turn clean maneuvers into dirty tricks.  But Banner would not let Niccoli try to win by cheating as Banner fought back like a wild woman.  Still, Niccoli's experience with heelish tactics enabled her to knock Banner out of the ring, where the veteran challenger was counted out, enabling Niccoli to retain her title.

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

Joan Weston (C) defeated Georgia Hase (with Mae Young) in the main event, two falls to one.

⦁    First fall - Hase got the pinfall after knocking Weston to the mat with a kneelift after an evenly fought first few minutes.
⦁    Second fall - Weston evened things up by using the shoulderbreaker on Hase to score the pinfall.
⦁    Third fall - Hase retook the advantage at one point as she caught Weston in a figure-four leglock to try to force a submission, but the champion held her ground and eventually made it to the ropes to force a break of the hold; however, as she got to her feet, Weston appeared to be favoring her left knee while holding onto the ropes for support, which Hase took advantage of as she targeted Weston's knee with attacks per Young's instructions to try to take the champion down as she tore into her with a relentless fury.  Weston appeared overwhelmed by the onslaught, but then the champion rebounded and started an attack of her own.  In a series of clotheslines, forearm smashes, and even a bodyslam, Weston took back control of the contest.  Eventually, Weston caught Hase in a sleeperhold, but after just a few moments, Margot Bouchard ran in and blasted Weston from behind with a forearm smash, leading the referee to call for the bell and award the match to the champion via disqualification.  Baby Rocco joined the fray moments later to assist her Queen's Court stablemates in a three-on-one attack on Weston, once again targeting the champion's sore knee at Young's direction, until Judy Arnold, Renée Martel, Claire Lepage and Earlene Brown ran in and chased the heel trio off for the save.  Because of the attack on her left knee by the Queen's Court, Weston had to be helped back to the locker room area by Brown and Martel.

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

Prediction results: (Thanks to all who made their predictions for this card; the match between Earlene Brown and Sir Robin Ascott does not count toward the predictions as it was included as a bonus match)

@piperrulz - 7/11

@The Blonde Bomber - 6/11

@Lord Byron - 5/11

All-time prediction results:

Herrbear - 78/107

The Blonde Bomber - 71/88

Lord Byron - 57/86

Hitman74 - 10/12

piperrulz - 7/11

Theheel - 7/10

Dalton - 6/6

auto45 - 5/6

Sco_xY2Jx - 2/6

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

* What happens in the aftermath of this event will be revealed in an upcoming post.

 

[Captain Kremmen]

7 of 11 predictions...

I didn't do too bad my first time out!

Also, William Frawley was brought back to life by Oral Roberts so he was around in '69! 😶

[Old School Fan]

The immediate aftermath backstage following the end of the Renée Martel/Claire Lepage vs. the Sisters of Love match at the Independence Day Spectacular...

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

In the staging area connecting to the hallway to the locker rooms at the Forum, Mildred Burke was talking with Judy Arnold and Michèle Richard, going over their upcoming NWA United States Women's title match, when the three women heard a commotion on the other side of the curtain separating the staging area from the aisle to the ring; moments later, they saw Renée Martel and Claire Lepage, both being escorted by Jane Sherill and Patty O'Hara, come through the curtain, followed by Aiko Kyo and Kyoko Okada, with Renée complaining about her upper back stinging while Claire was crying in pain as she held her abdomen.

"Renée, Claire, what happened?" a concerned Mildred said as she, along with Judy, Michèle and Earlene Brown, came up to the girls.

"Robin Ascott happened," Patty pointed out, then Renée and Claire each told what had happened during their match against the Sisters of Love, when Robin ran into the ring with the folding chair he brought with him and had legitimately laid into both girls with stiff chair shots (including the jab into Claire's abdomen with the top edge of the chair), in what appeared to be an intentional attempt by the Sisters' manager to injure them.

Michèle, who was listening to what happened out in the ring moments earlier, became enraged over Robin's attempt to deliberately injure her friends in the match.  "Is he still out there?" she demanded to know.  "I'm gonna kick his ass when I get out there!"  She then started toward the curtain, but Earlene stopped her and held her back.

"Don't do it, Michèle," Earlene tried to dissuade her from going out to the ring to take justice into her own hands.  "You're supposed to be one of the bad girls, remember?"

"I don't care if it turns me babyface, Ascott's gonna be spitting teeth when I get done with him after what he did to Renée and Claire!" an angry Michèle, who was known for being protective of her friends (particularly Renée, especially after she became a target of the Fabulous Moolah for her refusal to join Moolah's camp), snapped.

"No, hold on, I got a better idea," Mildred then said to try to defuse the situation in the staging area.  "I'm going to head out there and deal with Ascott, he needs to learn he can't do what he did out there."  She then turned to Jane and Patty and said, "Patty, get the first aid attendant to come look at Renée and Claire."  Turning to Earlene next, she added, "Earlene, I need you to stand by here and watch for me to give the signal when I'm out in the ring."

"You got it, Mildred," Earlene said with a nod as the AGWA owner turned around and stepped through the curtain.  Once on her way down the aisle, Mildred realized she was stepping into a proverbial lions' den as she saw that the crowd inside the Forum had become hostile over Robin's earlier actions as some of the fans near ringside were throwing trash at the ring while Robin, who was still playing to the crowd and inviting their anger with his gloating and taunts, was still in there, and a fan riot situation could develop with some of the fans attempting to take matters into their own hands unless she did something to defuse the crowd.

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

* What happened after the Earlene Brown-Sir Robin Ascott match that Mildred just went to set up (described in the earlier event post) follows in the next post.

 

[Captain Kremmen]

Mr. Ascott needs to replace the 'cott' part of his name with 'hole'. 🙃

[Old School Fan]

On 4/18/2023 at 3:56 PM, piperrulz said:

Mr. Ascott needs to replace the 'cott' part of his name with 'hole'. 🙃

After his behavior over the course of his AGWA run (especially over the last month), I'd say that sounds about right - but stay tuned... 

[Old School Fan]

And now, comes the aftermath of the Earlene Brown-Sir Robin Ascott match (and if you paid attention to the ending of the chapter that took place during the Albuquerque card, a hint got dropped as to who Ascott is connected to at this point in the diary - but now, it gets revealed here):

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

Moments after the end of his match against Earlene Brown, Robin Ascott, left gasping for breath as a result of the two big splashes he sustained from Earlene, staggered up the aisle toward the staging area as he was greeted with a mix of boos, catcalls and some laughter from the fans, who derided him for getting beaten by a woman wrestler and pelted him with more verbal abuse.  He thought he would be glad to make it through the curtain to the staging area so he would not have to deal with the hostile fans...

But the moment Robin got on the other side of the curtain, Michèle Richard, who had just finished putting on her black leather jacket in preparation to head out to the ring for her match with Judy Arnold, saw him coming, walked up to him and gave him a hard slap to his face in response to what he had done earlier to Renée Martel and Claire Lepage. "Bâtard!" she snapped in French at the heel manager after the slap.  "Vous sert bien pour ce que vous avez fait!"

After Michèle stepped through the curtain to head down the aisle, Robin looked like he was about to follow her through to go after her, but Earlene stepped in front of him to cut him off. "Don't even think about it," the ex-Olympian warned him while pointing a finger at him.  "And I know y'all don't wanna throw down with me again."  After that, he then looked over at Judy, who was adjusting her NWA United States Women's title belt as she was getting ready to go to the ring.  "Don't look at me to help, you brought it all on yourself," Judy scoffed at him, making clear that she also knew about what he had done earlier.

After that, Robin walked a few steps in search of a chair or a bench to sit down on and catch his breath when Mildred Burke saw him and walked up to him.  "I hope you learned your lesson after what happened out there," the former World Women's Champion said sternly to him while pointing at him.  "Not only is that for what you did to Renée and Claire earlier, it's also for what you tried to do to France Gall at the photo shoot at my gym last month and for what you tried doing to France and to Renée in Albuquerque last week - that's right, I found out just after I got back from Japan because the other girls told me about what you've been doing.  When you pull stunts like those and you violate the other wrestlers' trust, you're not one of us and you're not welcome in this locker room.  Now get your things and get out, you're done here."

In the wake of the dressing-down and the pink slip he got from Mildred, Robin continued walking down the aisle and was greeted with a variety of glares and dirty looks from most of the other wrestlers booked for that night's show - including even Tonette Kadrmas, who he had introduced as one of his new Ascott Dynasty members only a short while ago, but who now shot a brief glare at him before she spat at his feet in contempt, then turned his back on him and walked away.  The only ones to show any sympathy to Robin following the earlier receipt he got in the ring from the babyfaces for his unsavory behavior were the Sisters of Love, who came up to check on him.

"Is there, like, anything you need us to do, Robin?" Sister Lavender, the blonde member of the hippie tag team, asked her manager.

"Let's just get our stuff and cut out," Robin replied with a sigh as he looked to the Sisters, then toward an exit at the end of the hallway.  "There's some things I have that need doing now."

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

Not long after driving away from the Forum in his car, Robin, who had the Sisters of Love accompanying him, found a phone booth close by and stopped by it.  "Stay here, I got a phone call to make," he said to Lavender and Sister Serenity before he got out of the car and went inside the booth, then took out a dime to deposit and dialed a number.  After listening to the dial tone sound twice, the other end answered.

"Yeah, this is 'Mod Man' calling," Robin replied to the party at the other end.  "Did you get the money that was wired to you?  Good, and you still have the address I gave you?  Good.  It's time - make it happen*."

After finishing the call, Robin returned to his car and drove back to the hotel where he, the Sisters and Ashley Sinclair were staying, separately from the main AGWA roster who were staying at the Holiday Inn in Anaheim.  After sending the Sisters inside, he then stopped at a phone booth in the hotel lobby to make another call, this time long-distance.  When the long-distance operator answered, he replied, "Yes, put me through to Columbia, South Carolina..."

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

Back at home in Columbia to rest up after another trip around WWWF country, Fabulous Moolah was relaxing in front of her living room TV set watching The Tonight Show when the phone beside her recliner began ringing.  As she was expecting the call, she let it ring twice before picking up the handset to answer, "Hello?"

"Hi Moolah, it's Robin," Robin replied at the other end.

"Ah, howdy darlin', glad you called," Moolah said.  "I take it y'all got some good news to report?"

"I do," Robin said.  "I just flipped the switch a few minutes ago on the plan we worked out*.  It'll be a little while before Mildred Burke finds out about it, but find out she will soon enough."

"Good, good," Moolah replied, pleased to hear what she was told.  "I knew sendin' y'all over from New York would pay dividends.  And what about Renée Martel?"

"I went and dealt with her and her partner during their match at the Forum, but it ended up costing me - big time," Robin explained, starting to sound slightly bitter.  "Burke put me in a match against one of her bigger-sized wrestlers as punishment - which I lost - then she fired me afterward for attacking Martel and her friend."

"Well, them's the breaks, darlin'," Moolah said casually.  "But at least y'all still got your gig with Mike LeBell, right?"

"For now, maybe - but who knows for how long, especially if LeBell was watching the closed-circuit broadcast of the show?" Robin pointed out.

"Well, you just cross that bridge when y'all get to it," Moolah said before hanging up the phone and returning to the TV, after which she muttered a derogatory remark about Robin while smirking and shaking her head.

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

* Exactly what it is Ascott and Moolah have plotted will be revealed in an upcoming chapter; but after this reveal, we now know for sure that Ascott turned out to be Moolah's current Los Angeles contact/spy.

[Captain Kremmen]

Moolah's wickedness on display!

She's just a user of her people.

Can't wait to see where this goes!

Burke did the right thing firing Robin Ashat! 🙂

I don't know if this is true, but I once read Moolah would make some of her girls sleep with her to get a push. 😝

[Lord Byron]

Oh, I wouldn't be surprised if Moolah did that.  I doubt Renee in TTL is going to be surprised when Moolah's evil is revealed if she's still around to see it...

We're, in-story, just a few days away from man landing on the moon--makes me wish they could shoot Ascott (or Asshole, as I like to call him) and Moolah to the moon with no return trip...

Edited April 21, 2023 by Lord Byron

[Old School Fan]

On 4/20/2023 at 4:01 AM, piperrulz said:

Moolah's wickedness on display!

She's just a user of her people.

Can't wait to see where this goes!

Burke did the right thing firing Robin Ashat! 🙂

I don't know if this is true, but I once read Moolah would make some of her girls sleep with her to get a push. 😝

 

On 4/20/2023 at 6:38 PM, Lord Byron said:

Oh, I wouldn't be surprised if Moolah did that.  I doubt Renee in TTL is going to be surprised when Moolah's evil is revealed if she's still around to see it...

We're, in-story, just a few days away from man landing on the moon--makes me wish they could shoot Ascott (or Asshole, as I like to call him) and Moolah to the moon with no return trip...

Wait 'til you see what's coming up shortly... 

[Old School Fan]

Now as promised, comes the followup to the previous chapter...

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

In the Forum's backstage area shortly after the end of the Independence Day Spectacular, Mildred Burke, after finishing counting up her company's cut of the income from the supercard at the Forum (after deductions for rental of the venue and payment of arena security and the ring crew), was paying the talent for their night's work.  "Here you go, Renée," she said to Renée Martel as she paid her.  "Your back's not bothering you from that chair hit anymore, is it?"

"Luckily, no," Renée replied regarding the attack on her by Robin Ascott during her match.  "The hot water from my shower afterward helped relieve it, but what I didn't like in the first place was that Ascott really laid into that hit with the chair - there wasn't even a chair hit planned for the match to begin with, so I wasn't expecting it."

"I hear that," Claire Lepage agreed as she next got paid.  "I'm lucky I wasn't hurt worse when he drove the top end of that chair into my stomach - at the very least, it knocked the wind out of me for a minute or two.  I really felt it when he cracked me across the back with the chair while I was doubled over, though."

"Well, you don't have to worry about him pulling such stunts anymore, including what he did in Albuquerque when he tried getting inappropriate with France and then what he tried to do to Renée when she stood up for her," Mildred said.  "He's gone from here - he left after I fired him just after he got back from the match I made for him against Earlene, while you were both being checked by the first aid attendant."

Renée and Claire both breathed sighs of relief.  "Good, we're both glad for that," Renée admitted, "and so are everyone else here, I bet."

"You'd be right," Michèle Richard said as she stepped up to get paid next.  "Ascott's lucky that slap in the face was all he got from me."

France Gall, who was standing with Renée, Claire and Michèle, then whispered something in Renée's ear while Michèle spoke. "France told me she's a bit worried because she thinks Ascott might come back here to cause trouble for us to get back at us for his being fired," Renée said, translating for what France told her in French.

"I wouldn't worry too much about that," Mildred attempted to reassure Renée and the other girls as she gave France her pay. "I spread word to arena security about him, so he wouldn't dare act foolishly by trying to return here after he got fired."

As Mildred resumed paying each of her wrestlers (as well as advising them that there would be bonuses coming on Monday for each of them with the additional income coming in from each of the movie theatres in California and Nevada that showed the closed-circuit broadcast of the event), two uniformed Inglewood police officers arrived on the scene.  "Excuse me, Mildred Burke?" one of the officers inquired.

"Yes, that's me," Mildred replied as she saw the policemen.

"Good, I'm glad I found you - I was dispatched here by my precinct because the Los Angeles Police contacted us earlier about something going on in Encino," the first officer reported.

"Wait, what about Encino?" Mildred wondered aloud, as her wrestling school and training gym were located in that Los Angeles neighborhood.

"They reported that the LAFD is fighting a fire in that area at an address matching the address of your wrestling school," the second officer said.  "LAPD units are at the scene to control traffic and crowds while the firemen are fighting the fire."

Right then, Tonette Kadrmas came running down the hall, carrying a transistor radio with her, to where Mildred, the other wrestlers and the two policemen were.  "Hey Mildred, I just got news over the radio," Tonette reported as she ran down the hallway.  "There's a fire going on out in Encino, out around..."  When she saw the officers talking with Mildred, she quickly figured it out.  "Oh, that's what you guys are talking about, huh?" she then said with an embarrassed smirk.

"It is, Tonette," Mildred said.  "Are they still talking about it on the radio now?"

"Just a sec," Tonette said as she turned up the volume on her radio, which was broadcasting a live report of the fire on one of the Los Angeles stations, so everyone present could hear it.

"Shouldn't we get over there to see what's going on with the fire?" Claire asked.

"I wouldn't generally recommend it, but it is Mrs. Burke's business," the first officer said.  "If you need to get out there, we can escort you."

Mildred only needed a moment's thought before making her decision.  "Okay, let's do it," she said.

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

About twenty minutes later, Mildred, accompanied by Renée, Claire and France in her car and escorted by the Inglewood police car, arrived in Encino and soon got to the street where her wrestling school was located - and as reported on the radio, firefighters and fire trucks were at the scene to fight the fire that had engulfed the school building, while police were also on hand to control traffic and gathered crowds to allow the fire crews to do their job.  Mae Young also followed along in her own car, with Michèle, Georgia Hase and Yolanda Roacho riding along with her, but to avoid breaching kayfabe, they had to stay on the other side of the street from where Mildred had parked her car and watch as Mildred, Renée, Claire and France, accompanied by the two Inglewood policemen, met an LAPD officer, apparently the officer in charge of crowd control at the scene of the fire; after a moment of conferring, the LAPD officer had one of his men escort Mildred and her girls through the small crowd on the sidewalk to allow them a better view of what was going on.

As Mildred and the girls watched the firefighters tackle the fire at Mildred's wrestling school building, Renée wondered aloud, "How could something like this happen?"

"I don't know, but to happen on the night of our show?" Mildred replied.  "That's what's making me wonder..."

Unknown to Mildred and her roster at that point, Robin and Fabulous Moolah had colluded beforehand, via phone and written communications, to throw a wrench into the Independence Day Spectacular in another way besides having Robin shoot-attack Renée during the tag team match, by Moolah putting him in touch with someone she knew, who in turn got in touch with a professional arsonist who had set the fire shortly after his contact had been contacted by Robin via pay phone after he left the Forum.

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

Four days after the fire that destroyed Mildred's wrestling school, shortly before she was to get back on the road again, Moolah got an overnighted letter in the mail at home.  After opening the envelope at her home office's desk, she found a short note from Robin accompanying an article clipping from the Los Angeles Times, detailing the fire at Mildred's school.

Moolah, who had planned the arson attack on the school as a "Take that!" to Mildred and her girls as well as to distract from the success of the AGWA's Fourth of July supercard, grinned an evil grin when she read the article.  "Well, Mildred, now you're gonna realize that it don't pay to mess with Moolah," she remarked with satisfaction at the success of her latest scheme against her former mentor.*

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

* What happens in the wake of this development will be detailed in an upcoming chapter and a couple of event posts (one from the AGWA and one from NWA Hollywood).

 

[Lord Byron]

Oh, this could backfire on you, Moolah, and I hope it does...

Waiting for more, of course...

[Captain Kremmen]

Torched Mildred's school!

I hope Dick Tracy sends Heepo Calorie to arrest Moolah and put her in jail like in those old Dick Tracy cartoons!

Edited April 24, 2023 by piperrulz

[Old School Fan]

AGWA TV taping @ Anaheim Convention Center Arena
July 8, 1969 - Anaheim, California
Attendance - 7,440

Aired the weekend of July 12, 1969 on AGWA Women's Pro Wrestling:

Dark match

Colleen Murrell defeated Jen Scott by pinfall following a dropkick.

Judy Sowinski came close to being upset by newcomer Terri Grayson* (making her first appearance on AGWA TV), who made a strong showing for herself but still came up short when Sowinski put her down for the three-count following a kneedrop.  Following the match, Dick Lane was joined at ringside by Mildred Burke for an interview:

DICK LANE:  I'm joined here now by the President and CEO of the American Girls' Wrestling Association and the former World Women's Wrestling Champion, Mildred Burke - thanks for stopping in, Mildred.

MILDRED BURKE:  My pleasure, Dick, glad to be here.

LANE:  Now it's my understanding that you've got some pieces of news to report for us following the Independence Day Spectacular last week.

BURKE:  That's right, Dick - and the first piece is that Sir Robin Ascott, one of the managers here in the AGWA, is no longer part of this company as of last Friday.  He was fired from the AGWA following the Independence Day Spectacular after he attacked the NWA United States Tag Team Champions, Renée Martel and Claire Lepage, with a chair during their title bout against his team, the Sisters of Love at that event.  There's no place in this company, in women's wrestling or in civilized society for the kind of behavior Ascott displayed in that match, so as of now, he's gone from here and he'll never set foot in an AGWA event again.  (The fans start cheering at hearing that news)

LANE:  And I'd wager that that point got driven home when you forced him to set foot in the ring against Earlene Brown after his antics.

BURKE:  And you'd be right.  Ascott, the self-styled "Count of Carnaby Street" or whatever else he wanted to call himself, thought he could be a "tough guy" against women when the opportunities presented themselves, but when he was given the chance to prove just how tough he thought he was, he ended up writing a cheque his backside couldn't cash when he went in against Earlene and she made him pay the price for it.  On top of that, his Sisters of Love also paid a price for his actions when they were stripped of the Interstate Tag Team title following that match, and those belts will be put up for grabs in a tournament coming up in the next few weeks.  (The fans cheer again)

LANE:  Now I imagine there'll be quite a few teams here that'll be happy to hear that news.

BURKE:  That's right, and all they need to do to get in the tournament is sign up for it - and even though their manager Ascott's actions last week were responsible for them being stripped of the title, the Sisters of Love will have a chance to enter the tournament as well if they so choose.  Now, the other piece of news I have also stems from an event that happened at the Independence Day Spectacular last Friday - because of the attack by Ashley Sinclair and Kim Blanchard against France Gall and Karen Kellogg following the battle royal for the NWA World Women's Lightweight title at that event, I'm giving Gall and Kellogg a chance to settle the score against Sinclair and Blanchard in a tag team match to take place on next week's episode.  Now let me make this clear - Blanchard, if you wanted to show yourself as a sore loser after getting eliminated last by Gall in the battle royal after you tried taking the easy route to the title by avoiding contact with the other wrestlers for most of the match, and Sinclair, if you wanted to stick your nose where it had no business being, it's only fair that you face consequences for your actions, so putting you in a match next week against Gall and Kellogg is just the ticket.  (More cheers from the fans)

LANE:  Now that's pretty big news, hearing that Karen Kellogg will be stepping back in the ring again for this bout.

BURKE:  That's right, Dick, Karen's coming out of retirement for this match, her first since 1964.  She said she wasn't going to let what Sinclair and Blanchard did last Friday go unanswered, and France said she wasn't going to let Blanchard ruin her celebration of her title win, so the match got made and they'll be looking to get satisfaction against Sinclair and Blanchard.

LANE:  Alright, thanks for the updates, Mildred.  We'll be right back with more action after a word from our sponsors!

Handicap match

Earlene Brown defeated Elise Dorsett & Lorna Dale when Brown pinned Dorsett following a big splash.

Georgia Hase (with "The Queen" Mae Young) defeated Liz Connor by pinfall following a knee lift.

AGWA Interstate Championship

In a TV main event rematch from the Independence Day Spectacular, Ann Casey defeated Tonette Kadrmas (C) by disqualification when Ashley Sinclair and Kim Blanchard ran in and attacked Casey during her pin attempt on Kadrmas after executing the airplane spin on the champion.

Aired the weekend of July 19, 1969 on AGWA Women's Pro Wrestling:

Dark match

Texas Red defeated Addie Trent by pinfall following a clothesline.

Irma Acevedo defeated Gwen Miller by submission with a headscissors.

Margot Bouchard (with Mae Young) defeated Laurie Reid* by pinfall following a spinebuster slam.

In a non-title match, NWA United States Women's Tag Team Champions Renée Martel & Claire Lepage defeated Casey Andrews & Yolanda Ruiz when Lepage forced Ruiz to submit with the figure-four leglock.

Former NWA World Women's Lightweight Champion Karen Kellogg came back from retirement for this tag team match as she teamed with current titleholder France Gall to battle Ashley Sinclair & Kim Blanchard in a bout signed following the events of the World Women's Lightweight title battle royal at the Independence Day Spectacular.  Sinclair and Blanchard were immediately made aware of the quality of their opposition, as Gall and Kellogg were dominant from the beginning.  After several minutes of action, Sinclair and Blanchard, even though they no longer had Sir Robin Ascott in their corner due to his recent firing from the AGWA, showed no sign of that impacting them as they began to resort to illegal tactics and blatant double-teaming.  Gall got tossed out of the ring to ringside by Blanchard, who then joined Sinclair to double-bodyslam Gall onto the arena floor.  Gall used her entire reserve of strength to return to the ring to tag in a fired-up Kellogg, who took on both heels.  Kellogg had Sinclair covered for a possible pin, but Blanchard entered the ring illegally and broke it up.  Suddenly, all four women were in the ring at once to fight it out, and in the chaos, Kellogg caught a stunned Sinclair with a flying bodypress off the top turnbuckle for the three-count and the victory.  Post-match, as Kellogg and Gall got their arms raised in victory, Tonette Kadrmas ran in and blasted Kellogg from behind and went on the attack against her while Blanchard and a recovered Sinclair double-teamed on Gall until Ann Casey ran in to even the sides and helped the blonde fan favorites chase Kadrmas, Sinclair and Blanchard out of the ring.

AGWA Television Championship

Baby Rocco (C) (with Mae Young) retained her title in a TV main event rematch from the Independence Day Spectacular against former champion Valerie Blackard when Blackard was counted out after she got big-splashed on the arena floor by Rocco, who made it back into the ring before the referee's 20-count.  Rocco was not done, however, as she went back out after Blackard and threw her back into the ring, then continued to abuse her until Earlene Brown ran out to the ring and chased Rocco away for the save.

Post-taping dark match
NWA United States Women's Championship

Judy Arnold (C) defeated Shirley Hardman (with Mae Young) by disqualification when Georgia Hase and Margot Bouchard ran in and attacked Arnold as she had the spinning toehold applied on Hardman, but Renée Martel and Claire Lepage ran in for the save and helped Arnold run the Queen's Court off.

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* These wrestlers were created for this diary.