Rise of a Star

[Old School Fan]

Before heading over to Japan to start her tour with All Japan Women's Pro Wrestling, Renée Martel made her Hawaiian debut with a brief tour through the 50th State with several other members of the AGWA roster...

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

50th State Big Time Wrestling @ Honolulu International Center
September 23, 1970 - Honolulu, Hawaii
Attendance - 8,640

Matches from this event were taped for airing on 50th State Wrestling, the wrestling program on Honolulu CBS affiliate KGMB.

 

The Destroyer defeated Jack Armstrong by submission with a figure-four leglock.

Two Out of Three Falls

Mary Jane Mull & Marie Vagnone defeated Jane O'Brien & Patty Stevens, two falls to one.

⦁    First fall - Stevens pinned Vagnone following a powerslam.
⦁    Second fall - Vagnone evened the match by pinning Stevens following a cross-bodyblock.
⦁    Third fall - Mull scored the winning pinfall by pinning O'Brien following a German suplex.

Ripper Collins & "Handsome" Johnny Barend defeated Hahn Lee & Mac MacFarland when Barend pinned Lee.

Billy Robinson defeated Abdullah the Butcher by disqualification when Abdullah attacked the referee.

WWWA World Championship

Renée Martel (C) defeated Paula Steele by disqualification when Jane O'Brien and Patty Stevens ran in and attacked Martel as she tied up Steele in the Alligator Clutch; Mary Jane Mull and Marie Vagnone came in moments later to even the sides and help Renée run the heels off.

NWA Hawaii Heavyweight Championship

Sam Steamboat (C) defeated Kinji Shibuya by disqualification when Shibuya was caught throwing salt in Steamboat's eyes.

NWA World Heavyweight Championship - Two Out of Three Falls

Dory Funk Jr. (C) went to a time-limit draw with Pedro Morales after each wrestler had won one fall.

 

[Captain Kremmen]

That would have been a good main event for that time period. Very technical. I don't think most fans would have the patience to sit through it today because of how drastically the styles have changed.

Destroyer must have had his nose broken judging by the pic.

Hope Moolah did not put a bomb on Renee's plane bound for Tokyo. 😮

[sonny912]

52 minutes ago, piperrulz said:

That would have been a good main event for that time period. Very technical. I don't think most fans would have the patience to sit through it today because of how drastically the styles have changed.

Destroyer must have had his nose broken judging by the pic.

Hope Moolah did not put a bomb on Renee's plane bound for Tokyo. 😮

You kidding? I'd be shocked it she didn't. (Sure that would mean this dynasty would come to a screeching halt but still.)

[Old School Fan]

18 hours ago, piperrulz said:

That would have been a good main event for that time period. Very technical. I don't think most fans would have the patience to sit through it today because of how drastically the styles have changed.

That and, in some cases, shorter attention spans.  🤔

18 hours ago, piperrulz said:

Destroyer must have had his nose broken judging by the pic.

Seems likely.  Staged or no, pro wrestling has always had its rough-and-tumble element and broken noses sometimes happened (and still do, as Chris Jericho and Ruby Soho, among others, experienced in recent times IRL).

[Old School Fan]

Renée Martel finally makes her long-awaited Japanese debut as she joins several other AGWA stars (including Mary Jane Mull, a previous AJW tour participant) on a tour of All Japan Women's Pro Wrestling.  In addition to the event posts, there'll also be a behind-the-scenes post to happen before an upcoming Tokyo event.  With that in mind...

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

All Japan Women's Pro Wrestling @ Shinjo Station
September 27, 1970 - Kawasaki, Japan

 

Chiyo Obata defeated Jane O'Brien by pinfall.

AGWA International Tag Team Championship - Two Out of Three Falls

Mary Jane Mull & Marie Vagnone defeated Aiko Kyo & Miyoko Hoshino (C) to win the title, two falls to one.

⦁    First fall - Hoshino pinned Vagnone.
⦁    Second fall - Vagnone pinned Kyo following a cross-bodyblock.
⦁    Third fall - Mull pinned Hoshino following a German suplex for the win.

WWWA World Championship - Two Out of Three Falls

Renée Martel* (C) defeated Jumbo Miyamoto, two falls to one.

⦁    First fall - Martel pinned Miyamoto following a flying forearm smash off the ropes.
⦁    Second fall - Miyamoto pinned Martel following an overhead suplex.
⦁    Third fall - Martel forced a submission from Miyamoto with the Alligator Clutch.

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

* While most foreign wrestlers on tour in Japanese promotions (including in All Japan Women) were noted for working heel when wrestling against native stars in Japan, Renée Martel, surprisingly, did not work heel (including the use of foreign heel stereotypes) against her opponents, instead choosing to take more of a "tweener" approach by sticking to her scientific style, but doing so in a more rugged fashion to fit in to the hard-hitting joshi style of wrestling in AJW.

Edited October 3, 2023 by Old School Fan
Added Miyoko Hoshino image capped from YouTube

[Old School Fan]

All Japan Women's Pro Wrestling @ Omiya Skate Center*
October 5, 1970 - Saitama, Japan

 

Miyoko Hoshino defeated Jane O'Brien by pinfall.

AGWA International Tag Team Championship - Two Out of Three Falls

Mary Jane Mull & Marie Vagnone (C) defeated Aiko Kyo & Jumbo Miyamoto, two falls to one.

⦁    First fall - Vagnone pinned Kyo following a cross-bodyblock.
⦁    Second fall - Miyamoto pinned Vagnone following an overhead suplex.
⦁    Third fall - Mull pinned Kyo with a fisherman suplex.

WWWA World Championship - Two Out of Three Falls

Renée Martel (C) defeated Chiyo Obata, two falls to one.

⦁    First fall - Martel pinned Obata following a flying clotheline off the ropes.
⦁    Second fall - Obata pinned Martel following a fireman's carry slam.
⦁    Third fall - Martel got the submission from Obata with a figure-four leglock.

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

* The Omiya Skate Center in Saitama (which was also a venue for events held by the Japanese Wrestling Association, International Wrestling Enterprise, All Japan and New Japan) was the location for this event ITTL; IRL, the AJW event that took place on this date did not have its location or venue documented.

[Old School Fan]

All Japan Women's Pro Wrestling @ Yokohama Cultural Gymnasium
October 13, 1970 - Yokohama, Japan
Attendance - 7,400

 

Miyuki Yanagi battled Jane O'Brien to a double-countout.

AGWA International Tag Team Championship - Two Out of Three Falls

Aiko Kyo & Jumbo Miyamoto defeated Mary Jane Mull & Marie Vagnone (C) to win the title, two falls to one.

⦁    First fall - Vagnone pinned Miyamoto following a cross-bodyblock.
⦁    Second fall - Kyo pinned Vagnone following an overhead suplex.
⦁    Third fall - Kyo pinned Mull with an exploder suplex.

WWWA World Championship - Two Out of Three Falls

Renée Martel (C) defeated Miyoko Hoshino, two falls to one.

⦁    First fall - Martel pinned Hoshino following a belly-to-belly suplex.
⦁    Second fall - Hoshino pinned Martel.
⦁    Third fall - Martel forced Hoshino's submission with the Alligator Clutch.

[smartman]

Interesting that you're not booking the famous "Japanese star wins the title, battles stars for a week or three, then loses title back to foreign star, and said title changes are never referenced again unless Ric Flair needs some extra title reigns." system.

[Captain Kremmen]

On 10/2/2023 at 12:56 PM, Old School Fan said:

That and, in some cases, shorter attention spans.  🤔

Seems likely.  Staged or no, pro wrestling has always had its rough-and-tumble element and broken noses sometimes happened (and still do, as Chris Jericho and Ruby Soho, among others, experienced in recent times IRL).

IMO, one of the problems with wrestling today is everything is too fast-paced, too many high spots. I long for the return of selling and pacing in a match but it's just what we grew up with.

I know it can happen. But his nose looks really out of joint in that pic.

This has nothing to do with here... but I loathe the Young Bucks. Just thought I'd drop that in for no particular reason.

On 10/1/2023 at 6:45 PM, sonny912 said:

You kidding? I'd be shocked it she didn't. (Sure that would mean this dynasty would come to a screeching halt but still.)

OSF could find another female singer to fill the bill in place of the late Renee's Martel!

Plus! He could do a multi-post of Moolah's murder trail! 😁

[Captain Kremmen]

Where's the backstage stuff that made this so fun to read???

[Old School Fan]

18 minutes ago, piperrulz said:

Where's the backstage stuff that made this so fun to read???

Still working on it, it's just been a bit of a struggle figuring what to write - but it's getting there.  😎

[Captain Kremmen]

I think all diary/BTB writers hit a wall once in a while.

 

[Old School Fan]

On 9/13/2023 at 1:56 PM, kinnikuniverse said:

Yessir! Can't wait to see Renée discover this country, man. Just going around the hot spots, trying to find her way in tokyo and also interacting with Jumbo Miyamoto and Aiko Kyo! She'll be in for a big wake up call when she'll step into the rign and see just how stiff and crazy those joshis are!

That, and, who knows, maybe at a convenience store, she'll stumble upon an edition of Shonen Magazine to read Ashita no Joe or catch Astro Boy or the original Kamen Rider on TV!

Check out the behind-the-scenes post that's coming up next...  😁

[Old School Fan]

As promised...

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

During their tour through All Japan Women's Pro Wrestling, the AGWA girls taking part in the tour (Renée Martel, Mary Jane Mull, Marie Vagnone and Jane O'Brien) got the opportunity to stay at hotels selected for them by the AJW management with help from Mildred Burke, who accompanied the girls on the tour and was herself a veteran of such tours via her escorting of the ladies who took part in them.  For their next-to-last tour stop in Tokyo, which was to be the tour's main stop, the girls were accommodated at the Hotel New Otani in the city; Renée, one of the tour newcomers, would share a standard room with two twin beds at the hotel with Mary Jane, also an AJW tour veteran, while Marie and Jane would share another similar room.

Not long after arriving at the hotel and unlocking the door to the room they had been booked to, Renée and Mary Jane stepped inside the room to check it out.  "Wow, great looking room here," Renée remarked as she looked around.  "Made up nice with twin beds and everything, and it even has TV."

"Well, it's the same hotel I stayed at with Lucille Dupree when we first came here as part of our first Japanese tour two years ago," Mary Jane pointed out.  "Oh, and if you're thinking of watching TV, you might have a hard time following along with what's being said unless you've already picked up on some of the words in your English-to-Japanese dictionary."

"Yeah, that's true," Renée admitted as she went over to the TV set on top of the room's dresser, "but it can't hurt to see what's on anyway."  She then turned on the set and started surfing through the channels, starting with the NHK channels on 1 and 2, followed by Nippon TV on 4, TBS on 6, then Fuji TV on 8 - where she spotted something familiar the moment she landed on that channel, an anime series she recognized as having seen before.

"Ah, something caught your eye, didn't it?" Mary Jane then quipped when Renée paused on channel 8.

"I knew this show looked familiar as soon as I saw it," Renée replied about the cartoon she was watching.  "I was told about this by the liaison the Matsunagas* assigned to us.  Here in Japan, it's called by its original name, Mighty Atom - but when I was younger and living in the States with my family when my dad was wrestling down in L.A., I remember watching this in English by the name it was called there, Astro Boy."

No sooner did Renée finish her explanation than a knock came at her and Mary Jane's room door.  Mary Jane, who was closer to the door, went to answer it and found Mildred at the door, with Marie and Jane accompanying her.  "Oh good, I'm glad to see you two have settled in," Mildred said as she and the other two girls came into the room.

"Yeah, I was just discovering the wonders of Japanese TV when you came knocking," Renée said with a giggle when she got up to turn the TV set off, figuring that Mildred, Marie and Jane had arrived for a meeting.

"Well, that'll have to wait for a bit," Mildred said as she gathered the girls together.  "To start, let's go over what you can do here while you're staying at the hotel, starting with the restaurants here."

"Yeah, I heard this place has some pretty good eats here," Jane indicated.  "It's got Western-style restaurants, Japanese, French, Chinese, international-style, steak houses, bars, coffee shops..."

"As far as food goes, you'll have to stick to the Chinese restaurant, the coffee shops or room service for your meals here because they're less expensive than the other places," Mildred said, "unless you're willing to fork out 5,000 yen** or more each for dinner, which is at least what you'd be paying for full-course dinners at the steak houses - and the French place is even more, you'd be looking at between 7,000 and 10,000 yen*** each for dinner there."

"What's that all worth in American money?" Jane then asked.

"I checked with the Matsunagas when I asked about restaurant prices here - they said somewhere between about $20 and $28 American each, just for the French place," Mildred explained.

"Yikes," Renée remarked on hearing the expensive dinner prices for the hotel's French restaurant.  "I think we'll stick with the coffee shops then."

"Good call," Mildred said.  "With them, you'll only have to pay between at least 500 and 700 yen**** for your meals, depending on what you want."

"That's alright with us," Marie then said as she got up to look out the room's window toward the hustle and bustle outside the hotel grounds, "but I sure wouldn't mind getting out to do some clothes shopping and maybe take in a nightclub while we're here."

"Shopping for clothes and souvenirs is fine, so long as you don't go overboard and turn it into a shopping spree that depletes your funds," Mildred pointed out.  "As for nightclubs, they're out for you - quite a few of them here in Tokyo are controlled by the Yakuza, and that's something you want to stay away from."

"The Yakuza?" asked a puzzled Marie, who had not heard of that term.

"They're Japan's equivalent to Mafia groups back in the States," Mary Jane clarified.

"Count me out from nightclubs then," Renée joined in.  "And I wouldn't mind souvenir shopping myself, but I think I'd be happier touring around the hotel's Japanese garden outside."

"Sure, no harm in that," Mildred said.  "But getting down to business now, when we meet with the Matsunagas tomorrow at the Metropolitan Gym before the card later that night, we'll go over the match between Renée and Aiko Kyo for the WWWA title and what'll be planned for it."

"Will Aiko be at the meeting?" Renée then asked.

"Yep, she will be, so will the rest of the Matsunagas' girls," Mildred said.

"Ah, good," Renée said.  "After what she, Kyoko Okada, Jane Sherill and Patty O'Hara did for me and Claire Lepage after they saved us from being attacked by Robin Ascott last year, I figure I owe it to Aiko for that, so when we meet at the meeting, I've got an idea to propose for our match..."

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* The Matsunaga brothers (Takashi, Kenji, Kunimatsu and Toshikuni) were the owners of All Japan Women during its operations between 1968 and 2005.

** When adjusted for inflation, 5,000 yen (or approximately $14 in US funds) in 1970 is equal to 16,975 yen ($114 US) in 2023.

*** 7,000 to 10,000 yen (approximately $20 to $28 US) in 1970 = 23,764 to 33,947 yen ($159 to $227 US) in 2023.

**** 500 to 700 yen (approximately between $1.50 and $2 US) in 1970 = 1,697 to 2,376 yen ($11.36 to $15.92 US) in 2023.

Edited October 9, 2023 by Old School Fan
Info added

[kinnikuniverse]

Ooof, those prices...people would kill nowadays to eat at a good restaurant for only $20 lol

Edited October 9, 2023 by kinnikuniverse

[Old School Fan]

All Japan Women's Pro Wrestling @ Tokyo Metropolitan Gymnasium
October 15, 1970 - Tokyo, Japan
Attendance - 9,200

 

Yukiko Tomoe defeated Jane O'Brien by pinfall following a fisherman suplex.

AGWA International Tag Team Championship - Two Out of Three Falls

Aiko Kyo & Jumbo Miyamoto (C) defeated Mary Jane Mull & Marie Vagnone, two falls to one, when Miyamoto pinned Vagnone in the third fall following an overhead suplex.

WWWA World Championship - Two Out of Three Falls

Aiko Kyo, wrestling a second time that night, defeated Renée Martel (C) to win the title, two falls to one.

⦁    First fall - Martel took an early advantage and captured the fall with a suplex and spinning toehold.
⦁    Second fall - Kyo took the fall with a chop to Martel's chest, following that up by whipping Renée into the corner and finishing her off with an abdominal stretch for the submission.
⦁    Third fall - In the deciding fall, Kyo started by concentrating her attack on Martel’s arms.  Martel reversed one of Kyo’s armbars and twisted her challenger's arm around for about five minutes. The battle soon escalated as the two combatants exchanged chops and kicks, demonstrating the hard-hitting action typical of joshi puroresu.  At the 35:40 mark, Renée attempted the spinning toehold again, but Kyo retaliated with a small package to get the pinfall and capture the WWWA title.  As Kyo was handed the WWWA belt by the referee post-match to fan applause, Renée, in a show of sportsmanship, went to Kyo, shook her hand and congratulated her on the win, then raised her arm in victory while Kyo held up the title belt as the fans showed their approval.

 

Edited October 10, 2023 by Old School Fan
Minor spelling

[kinnikuniverse]

That main event sounded like a great match...though i gotta say, i bet the stupid retire at 25 policy that AJW had at the time made it even harder to have a deep roster for thebpromotion in its early days...what were they thinking, man?

[Old School Fan]

On 10/10/2023 at 8:18 AM, kinnikuniverse said:

That main event sounded like a great match...though i gotta say, i bet the stupid retire at 25 policy that AJW had at the time made it even harder to have a deep roster for thebpromotion in its early days...what were they thinking, man?

Of course, AJW eventually got rid of that "Retire at 25" rule in the 1990s in the face of competition from Japan Women's Pro-Wrestling and later established groups (which allowed its competitors to retire when they wished to instead of being aged out by decree in their primes), but that didn't help AJW much from 1997 onward...

Edited October 11, 2023 by Old School Fan
Minor spelling

[The Blonde Bomber]

Kyo running the game in AJW working twice and winning two straps.

[The Blonde Bomber]

Also, how does the NWA feel about AGWA being a member but retaining their own title they label the World Title?

[Old School Fan]

13 minutes ago, The Blonde Bomber said:

Kyo running the game in AJW working twice and winning two straps.

Yep, pretty much - but an upcoming behind-the-scenes post will explain why.  🙂

13 minutes ago, The Blonde Bomber said:

Also, how does the NWA feel about AGWA being a member but retaining their own title they label the World Title?

ITTL, I'd guess that Mildred explained to the NWA Board of Directors (specifically, Sam Muchnick) that the WWWA title would be going to AJW (which was never an NWA member) from the beginning, but the AGWA was looking to re-establish the title first with that plan in mind by putting the belt on Renée and having her tour with it for a while before sending her to Japan on tour.  IRL, Marie Vagnone had defended the WWWA belt in Stampede Wrestling first shortly after she was awarded the belt (even though Stampede was an NWA member at that point) before she went to Japan with the belt to drop it to Aiko Kyo, so there's some precedent there.

[kinnikuniverse]

7 hours ago, Old School Fan said:

ITTL, I'd guess that Mildred explained to the NWA Board of Directors (specifically, Sam Muchnick) that the WWWA title would be going to AJW (which was never an NWA member) from the beginning, but the AGWA was looking to re-establish the title first with that plan in mind by putting the belt on Renée and having her tour with it for a while before sending her to Japan on tour.  IRL, Marie Vagnone had defended the WWWA belt in Stampede Wrestling first shortly after she was awarded the belt (even though Stampede was an NWA member at that point) before she went to Japan with the belt to drop it to Aiko Kyo, so there's some precedent there.

Heh, that's funny, i came to the same conclusion in my alternate WWWA stuff on chatGPT. With the WWWA having the NWA World Women's and Tag Titles, they simply gave the WWWA singles and Tag belts to All Japan women, using the NWA titles as their main belts. 

Now, i dunno what would happen going to the 90s onward with the nuch weaker NWA, if the WWWA would keep the NWA Women's belts or maybe get back the WWWA titles when All Japan women goes under in 2005...

Edited October 12, 2023 by kinnikuniverse

[Old School Fan]

Shortly after the end of their tour of All Japan Women's Pro Wrestling, Mildred Burke and her group of AGWA girls flew back to the United States, stopping first in Honolulu for a transfer before moving on to Los Angeles.  For Renée Martel, her first trip to Japan to wrestle had been an adventure, allowing her to check out the sights around the country as she took snapshots with the camera she had brought with her for the trip for photo souvenirs, including some group shots of herself with fellow tour participants Mary Jane Mull, Marie Vagnone and Jane O'Brien.  During the AGWA contingent's meeting with AJW owners the Matsunaga brothers and their wrestlers in Tokyo shortly before the event at the Metropolitan Gymnasium later that night, Renée had discussed dropping the WWWA World championship she had held to Aiko Kyo (which she had no problem with doing), remembering what Aiko had done for her the previous year in joining several other wrestlers to save her and Claire Lepage from the shoot attack on them by Robin Ascott at the Independence Day Spectacular supercard; prior to their match that night, Renée and Aiko, speaking to each other through an interpreter, went over the match, with Renée stating that she wanted to make the match look as good as she felt it should be, at which Aiko had agreed.

Upon their flight's arrival at Los Angeles International Airport, Renée and the rest of the AGWA crew disembarked at one of the terminals when Renée got an unexpected surprise as she was met at the passenger arrivals area by Claire and France Gall, who had been waiting for her to arrive.  "Claire, France - oh, it's good to see you two," Renée said to the two girls as she went to them for a group hug.  "I wasn't expecting to see you here, though - what're you doing here in L.A.?"

"You didn't hear?  We were booked by Mildred to come to L.A. for the AGWA TV tapings on October 27 and November 10," Claire said.

"Mildred, I didn't know you'd be bringing Claire and France over here," a surprised Renée then said as she turned to her mentor.

"Well, I wanted to make a surprise of it," Mildred said as she, Renée and the other girls started for the baggage claim area.  "I booked them to come here as part of plans Johnny Rougeau has for the near future back in Montreal.  Michèle came over as well and she'll meet us at the Holiday Inn back in Anaheim."

"Ah, nice," Renée remarked at the news that Michèle Richard had also been booked to do another AGWA tour.  "I got a lot to tell her about Japan when we get to the hotel."

"And you've got enough time to do it," Mildred said.  "You've got a few days of rest before the TV taping next Tuesday, so make the most of it."

"I sure will," Renée said with a grin before Mildred went off to talk to Mary Jane and the other girls.

"So, bring any souvenirs back with you from Japan?" a curious Claire then asked as Renée turned back to her and France.

"In fact, I did - got plenty of photos I took over there that we can look at when we get to the hotel," Renée said.  "Meanwhile, look what I bought in Tokyo," she added as she dug into her coat pocket and took out a small object to show Claire and France.

"Oh, wow - what is that?" France wondered as she looked at the object, a cartoon figurine.

"It's the title character from a TV cartoon in Japan, Astro Boy," Renée explained.  "I also saw it on TV in English when I was living here with my family when my father was wrestling here."

"Hey, I think I remember it now," France said as she had another look at the Astro Boy figurine and was reminded about that show the moment she saw the figurine.  "I saw some episodes of that show in French on TV back in Paris a few years ago before I started wrestling."

"I never saw that show myself, but it must've been pretty popular to air in other places outside Japan," Claire said, at which Renée and France agreed.  As the girls continued waiting for Renée's luggage to arrive on one of the baggage carousels, Claire then asked, "So, with the next few days off before we do TV, what do you think we should do for fun?"

"I'd say Disneyland, but we've already been there a lot on our trips to Anaheim," France said.  "Maybe something different?"

"Hmmm...  Maybe the Universal Studios tour?" Renée suggested.  "Maybe if we're lucky, we might get to see a movie or TV star or two during the tour..."

[Captain Kremmen]

9 hours ago, Old School Fan said:

Shortly after the end of their tour of All Japan Women's Pro Wrestling, Mildred Burke and her group of AGWA girls flew back to the United States, stopping first in Honolulu for a transfer before moving on to Los Angeles.  For Renée Martel, her first trip to Japan to wrestle had been an adventure, allowing her to check out the sights around the country as she took snapshots with the camera she had brought with her for the trip for photo souvenirs, including some group shots of herself with fellow tour participants Mary Jane Mull, Marie Vagnone and Jane O'Brien.  During the AGWA contingent's meeting with AJW owners the Matsunaga brothers and their wrestlers in Tokyo shortly before the event at the Metropolitan Gymnasium later that night, Renée had discussed dropping the WWWA World championship she had held to Aiko Kyo (which she had no problem with doing), remembering what Aiko had done for her the previous year in joining several other wrestlers to save her and Claire Lepage from the shoot attack on them by Robin Ascott at the Independence Day Spectacular supercard; prior to their match that night, Renée and Aiko, speaking to each other through an interpreter, went over the match, with Renée stating that she wanted to make the match look as good as she felt it should be, at which Aiko had agreed.

Upon their flight's arrival at Los Angeles International Airport, Renée and the rest of the AGWA crew disembarked at one of the terminals when Renée got an unexpected surprise as she was met at the passenger arrivals area by Claire and France Gall, who had been waiting for her to arrive.  "Claire, France - oh, it's good to see you two," Renée said to the two girls as she went to them for a group hug.  "I wasn't expecting to see you here, though - what're you doing here in L.A.?"

"You didn't hear?  We were booked by Mildred to come to L.A. for the AGWA TV tapings on October 27 and November 10," Claire said.

"Mildred, I didn't know you'd be bringing Claire and France over here," a surprised Renée then said as she turned to her mentor.

"Well, I wanted to make a surprise of it," Mildred said as she, Renée and the other girls started for the baggage claim area.  "I booked them to come here as part of plans Johnny Rougeau has for the near future back in Montreal.  Michèle came over as well and she'll meet us at the Holiday Inn back in Anaheim."

"Ah, nice," Renée remarked at the news that Michèle Richard had also been booked to do another AGWA tour.  "I got a lot to tell her about Japan when we get to the hotel."

"And you've got enough time to do it," Mildred said.  "You've got a few days of rest before the TV taping next Tuesday, so make the most of it."

"I sure will," Renée said with a grin before Mildred went off to talk to Mary Jane and the other girls.

"So, bring any souvenirs back with you from Japan?" a curious Claire then asked as Renée turned back to her and France.

"In fact, I did - got plenty of photos I took over there that we can look at when we get to the hotel," Renée said.  "Meanwhile, look what I bought in Tokyo," she added as she dug into her coat pocket and took out a small object to show Claire and France.

"Oh, wow - what is that?" France wondered as she looked at the object, a cartoon figurine.

"It's the title character from a TV cartoon in Japan, Astro Boy," Renée explained.  "I also saw it on TV in English when I was living here with my family when my father was wrestling here."

"Hey, I think I remember it now," France said as she had another look at the Astro Boy figurine and was reminded about that show the moment she saw the figurine.  "I saw some episodes of that show in French on TV back in Paris a few years ago before I started wrestling."

"I never saw that show myself, but it must've been pretty popular to air in other places outside Japan," Claire said, at which Renée and France agreed.  As the girls continued waiting for Renée's luggage to arrive on one of the baggage carousels, Claire then asked, "So, with the next few days off before we do TV, what do you think we should do for fun?"

"I'd say Disneyland, but we've already been there a lot on our trips to Anaheim," France said.  "Maybe something different?"

"Hmmm...  Maybe the Universal Studios tour?" Renée suggested.  "Maybe if we're lucky, we might get to see a movie or TV star or two during the tour..."

Gotta love a pic of LAX from the late '60s/early 70s. SoCal was a wonderful place from the '70s-'90s. You couldn't pay me to live there now.

I thought Renee' was gonna do a Backlund and drop the strap at the start of the tour and win it back at the end of the tour and the result would never be acknowledged in the States.

Awww...

She did not bring back a Shogun Warrior action figure. 😪

Does anybody here remember a kids' show from Japan called Ultra Man? (Now I'm really dating myself!)

[kinnikuniverse]

47 minutes ago, piperrulz said:

Gotta love a pic of LAX from the late '60s/early 70s. SoCal was a wonderful place from the '70s-'90s. You couldn't pay me to live there now.

I thought Renee' was gonna do a Backlund and drop the strap at the start of the tour and win it back at the end of the tour and the result would never be acknowledged in the States.

Awww...

She did not bring back a Shogun Warrior action figure. 😪

Does anybody here remember a kids' show from Japan called Ultra Man? (Now I'm really dating myself!)

BRUH, THAT'S MAZINGER Z!! (which did not exist in 1970)

Also, yeah, maybe she cpuld've caught a glimpse pf ultraman, since it was around in 1970.