Rise of a Star

[Old School Fan]

Stampede Wrestling @ Edmonton Gardens
May 13, 1969 - Edmonton, Alberta

 

Al Firth wrestled Charlie Fox to a time-limit draw.

Jack Pesek defeated Marcel Trudeau by pinfall.

Canadian Women's Championship

Jane O'Brien stepped in to challenge Renée Martel (C) for the title.  The match was back-and-forth for the first few minutes with each woman gaining short advantages until O'Brien threw Martel out of the ring and went on the offensive with roughhouse tactics.  The two battled in and out of the ring until O'Brien grabbed Martel's leg and slammed it on the ring post three times.  Again they battled outside of the ring until O'Brien tossed Martel back into the ring and, having worn Renée down, finished her with a powerslam and pinned her to win the Canadian Women's title.

NWA International Tag Team Championship (Calgary)

Bud & Ray Osborne (C) defeated Jack Krys & Clem St. Louis when Bud Osborne pinned Krys.

NWA North American Heavyweight Championship (Calgary)

Archie "Stomper" Gouldie battled Angelo "King Kong" Mosca to a no-contest in a match for the held-up title when both wrestlers were disqualified for excessive brawling.

 

[Old School Fan]

Stampede Wrestling @ Stampede Corral
May 16, 1969 - Calgary, Alberta

 

Don Serrano defeated Buck Jones by pinfall following a cross-bodyblock.

Ray Osborne defeated Jack Krys by pinfall.

Bud Osborne defeated Clem St. Louis by pinfall.

Joe Peruzovic* defeated Chuck McCracken by pinfall following a backbreaker.

Dave Ruhl battled Jack Pesek to a double-countout.

Canadian Women's Championship

Renée Martel defeated Jane O'Brien (C) by disqualification when O'Brien threw Martel over the top rope (O'Brien retains the title due to the DQ).

10-man $2,000 Battle Royal

Dave Ruhl won the match and the $2,000 prize when he last eliminated Jack Pesek (other participants included Don Serrano, Buck Jones, Ray Osborne, Bud Osborne, Jack Krys, Clem St. Louis, Joe Peruzovic and Chuck McCracken).

NWA North American Heavyweight Championship (Calgary)

Archie "Stomper" Gouldie defeated Angelo "King Kong" Mosca to win the held-up title when Gouldie blasted Mosca with a boot to the face to get the pinfall win.

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

* Joe Peruzovic is the real name of the wrestler best known as Nikolai Volkoff (AKA Bepo Mongol, Executioner III and Boris Breznikoff).

 

[The Blonde Bomber]

That North American Title is beautiful. Feel bad for Mexico their flag isn’t being represented. But then again how many luchadors are competing in Stampede. 🤷🏼‍♂️

[Old School Fan]

9 hours ago, The Blonde Bomber said:

That North American Title is beautiful. Feel bad for Mexico their flag isn’t being represented. But then again how many luchadors are competing in Stampede. 🤷🏼‍♂️

At this point, none to my knowledge IRL, at least until Konnan wrestled in Stampede early in his career in 1989.

[Old School Fan]

All-Star Wrestling @ Colisée de Québec
May 23, 1969 - Quebec City, Quebec
Attendance - 12,000+

 

Chin Lee defeated Lionel Robert by pinfall.

Tony Baillargeon defeated Jim Brown by pinfall following a top-rope dropkick.

Anthony Stark* defeated André Carpentier by pinfall.

Fidel Castillo** defeated Len Shelley by pinfall.

Guillotine Gordon*** defeated Eddie Auger by pinfall following a piledriver.

Canadian Women's Tag Team Championship

Barbara LaMarche & Claire Lepage defeated Margot Bouchard & Miss X (C) by disqualification when Bouchard used a foreign object to attack LaMarche as she had Miss X pinned following a cross-bodyblock (Bouchard & X retain their belts due to the DQ).

Canadian Women's Championship

Jane O'Brien defeated Renée Martel (C) to win the title**** when O'Brien pinned Renée following a powerslam.

Abdullah the Butcher defeated Dale Roberts by pinfall following a karate thrust to the throat.

Handicap match

The Mighty Igor defeated The Masks when Igor forced Mask I to submit to a full-Nelson.

ASW World Tag Team Championship - Two out of Three Falls*****

Marcel Martel & Ti-Blanc Richard (C) defeated Jos & Paul LeDuc, two falls to one, when Paul LeDuc submitted to Martel's figure-four leglock in the third fall.

ASW World Heavyweight Championship

Ivan Koloff defeated Johnny Rougeau (C) to win the title when Koloff nailed Rougeau with a top-rope kneedrop for the pinfall.

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

* Anthony Stark was a ring name used by Canadian wrestler Gil Hayes, best known for his runs in Stampede Wrestling and in Puerto Rico's World Wrestling Council.

** Fidel Castillo (using a Cuban revolutionary gimmick) was an early ring name used by Hurricane Castillo, who later gained his greatest fame in Puerto Rico and was the father of Hurricane Castillo Jr.

*** Guillotine Gordon later became best known during a late run in NWA Hollywood Wrestling and Jim Crockett Promotions in 1980 under the ring name Enforcer Luciano, using a gangster henchman gimmick inspired by the movie The Godfather.

**** This was a repeat of Jane O'Brien's Canadian Women's title win from Renée Martel in Edmonton on May 13; back in the territory days, it was sometimes common for title changes to be repeated in other cities for the benefit of TV audiences if the original title change occurred at a non-televised house show.

***** Marcel Martel and Ti-Blanc Richard won the World Tag Team title from Ivan Koloff and Abdullah the Butcher at an ASW house show at some point prior to this card.

Edited March 6, 2023 by Old School Fan
Replaced image

[Old School Fan]

All-Star Wrestling @ Paul Sauvé Arena
June 2, 1969 - Montreal, Quebec

 

Jos & Paul LeDuc defeated Carlos Colon & Dale Roberts when Jos LeDuc used a backbreaker on Roberts for the pinfall.

Julie Painchaud defeated Paula Kaye by pinfall following a suplex slam.

Anthony Stark defeated Pete Sanchez by pinfall.

André Carpentier & René Goulet defeated Mad Dog Vachon & Fidel Castillo when Goulet pinned Castillo.

Canadian Women's Championship

Jane O'Brien (C) defeated Renée Martel by countout when Renée was unable to get back in the ring to beat the referee's count after getting slammed on the arena floor by O'Brien.

ASW Canadian Heavyweight Championship

Guillotine Gordon defeated Marcel Martel (C) to win the title when Gordon pinned Martel following a piledriver.

ASW World Heavyweight Championship

Ivan Koloff (C) battled former partner Abdullah the Butcher to a double-countout as both wrestlers brawled around ringside and back toward the locker room area.

 

[Old School Fan]

American Girls' Wrestling Association @ Las Vegas Convention Center
June 6, 1969 - Las Vegas, Nevada
Attendance - 7,100 (sellout)

 

France Gall fought Panama Franco to a time-limit draw.

In a non-title bout, Julie Patrick defeated AGWA Shooting Star Champion Ashley Sinclair (with Sir Robin Ascott) by pinfall following a bodypress off the middle turnbuckle.

Georgia Hase & Margot Bouchard (with "The Queen" Mae Young") defeated Sally Vega & Valerie Blackard by pinfall when Hase pinned Blackard following a knee lift.

In a non-title bout, Renée Martel & Claire Lepage defeated NWA United States Women's Tag Team Champions Jane Sherill & Patty O'Hara when Martel made O'Hara submit to the Alligator Clutch while Lepage ran in to keep Sherill from interfering with Renée's submission hold.

AGWA Interstate Championship

Ann Casey (C) defeated Diane Syverson (with Mae Young) by disqualification when Shirley Hardman ran in and attacked Casey as she had Syverson pinned following an airplane spin.

NWA North American Women's Championship

Joan Weston (C) defeated Shirley Hardman (with Mae Young) by disqualification when Hardman threw Weston over the top rope.

 

[Old School Fan]

AGWA TV taping @ Anaheim Convention Center Arena
June 10, 1969 - Anaheim, California
Attendance - 7,238

Aired the weekend of June 14, 1969 on AGWA Women's Pro Wrestling:

Dark match

Colleen Murrell defeated Jen Scott by pinfall following a dropkick.

France Gall defeated Janet Russ by pinfall after flooring Russ with a cannonball off the ropes.

Margot Bouchard (with "The Queen" Mae Young") defeated Gwen Miller by pinfall following an elbow drop.

AGWA Television Championship

Valerie Blackard defeated Georgia Hase (C) (with Mae Young) to win the title in an upset when Blackard caught Hase in a small package for the pinfall as Hase attempted to bodyslam her opponent.

NWA United States Women's Tag Team Championship

Renée Martel & Claire Lepage defeated Jane Sherill & Patty O'Hara, two falls to one, to win the title in the TV main event when Martel caught Sherill from behind with a German suplex during the third fall and bridged up for the pin; prior to the pin, however, the Sisters of Love showed up at ringside and began arguing with Sherill and O'Hara, who had had the upper hand in the third fall at that point, when Sister Lavender suddenly decked Sherill from outside the ring with a punch, causing Sherill to stagger backward into Martel's suplex.  Post-match, Sherill and O'Hara bailed out to ringside and began brawling with the Sisters around the ring; to make clear that she and Martel did not appreciate the Sisters' interference either, Lepage came around the corner on the ring apron and threw herself at Sister Serenity with a flying bodypress to level the hippie girl, while Lavender, in the middle of duking it out with Sherill, was spun around and knocked to the floor with a right hook by Martel.

Aired the weekend of June 21, 1969 on AGWA Women's Pro Wrestling:

Dark match

Jan Vallow defeated Liz Connor by pinfall following a bodyslam and legdrop.

Judy Sowinski defeated Samantha Sheridan by pinfall following a kneedrop.

Diane Syverson (with Mae Young) defeated Sandra Hale by pinfall following an airplane spin.

Ann Calvello defeated Tonette Kadrmas by pinfall following a leg lariat.  Following the match, Dick Lane was joined for a ringside interview by new NWA United States Women's Tag Team Champions Renée Martel and Claire Lepage, who denounced the Sisters of Love's interference in their match with Jane Sherill and Patty O'Hara and told the Sisters that they would deal with them in due time; meanwhile, on account of the Sisters' meddling, Martel and Lepage offered a rematch for their title to Sherill and O'Hara for next week, calling it the right thing to do in the wake of that incident.

AGWA Interstate Tag Team Championship

The Sisters of Love (C) (with Sir Robin Ascott) defeated Carmen Thompson & Linda Moody when Sister Serenity pinned Thompson after the latter was felled by a double facebuster by Serenity and Sister Lavender.  Post-match, Jane Sherill and Patty O'Hara, both still infuriated over losing the NWA United States Women's Tag Team title due to the Sisters' interference, ran in and attacked Lavender and Serenity, leading to another brawl between the two teams that spilled out to ringside and went all the way back to the locker room area, with the fans rooting Sherill and O'Hara on against the hippie girls.

AGWA Interstate Championship

Ann Casey (C) defeated Shirley Hardman (with Mae Young) by disqualification in the TV main event when Diane Syverson ran in and attacked Casey as she had Hardman pinned following an airplane spin; Hardman and Syverson then double-teamed on Casey for a few moments until Ann Calvello ran in to even the sides and helped Casey chase the Queen's Court members out.

Post-taping dark match
NWA North American Women's Championship

Joan Weston (C) defeated Ashley Sinclair (with Sir Robin Ascott) when Weston used a shoulderbreaker on Sinclair to get the pin after fending off attempted interference by Ascott.

 

[Old School Fan]

While I'm working on an upcoming chapter (and dealing with a creative block at the same time), here's a video clip from All-Star Wrestling in Vancouver from 1983, featuring one of the early matches of the future "Ravishing" Rick Rude (apologies for the video quality):

 

[Old School Fan]

After a couple of weeks of figuring out what to write up for this next chapter, it's finally ready to post, as we see what happens the day after the above TV taping:

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

The day after the AGWA TV taping in Anaheim, several of the promotion's roster were at Mildred Burke's training gym for a photo shoot for promotional photos for each of the girls who were there.  Two of the wrestlers, Renée Martel and Claire Lepage, were posing together with their NWA United States Women's Tag Team title belts after each had posed for solo pictures.

"Alright, nice job, girls," the photographer snapping the photos said to Renée and Claire after he was done.  "I think we'll get some great shots out of this session when they get developed.  Okay, who's next?"

"Hey, that was a pretty good photo session," Claire remarked to Renée as they walked over to another part of the studio.  "I'd like to see how the photos turn out once we get them."

"Yeah, it's enjoyable to do, even though it's part of our job as wrestlers," Renée agreed.

"So what did France think of doing her session with the camera?" Claire wondered regarding France Gall, who had also come along for the photo shoot.

"Well, since she came originally from the European wrestling scene, she explained that photos of wrestlers weren't sold at the wrestling shows in Europe, so this kind of thing's new to her," Renée said.  "I told her that besides being taken to send around to promoters to get their attention - which she already knew of - the photos are also taken to sell to fans at wrestling events in North America for the wrestlers to autograph if the fans so wish."

"I bet that must've been a surprise to her," Claire said with a slight giggle.

"No different than getting autographs from actors, musicians, athletes or other famous celebrities," Renée said.  "But I enjoy giving autographs to fans who ask, it's a pleasure for me."

"Of course, 'cause you're a people person," Claire pointed out.  "You get along great with pretty much everyone you meet."

"Well, just about everyone - except for Fabulous Moolah, as I found out the hard way," Renée said, drawing a slight giggle from Claire.  Just then, something caught Renée's attention and she looked over to see France talking with someone nearby.

"Wait a minute, isn't that Robin Ascott talking with France over there?" said Claire, who also looked over and recognized the flamboyant heel manager.

"That's him alright," Renée confirmed.  "But I don't know why he'd be talking with her though, and I don't think France would understand half of what he's saying."

Renée and Claire continued to watch as France continued talking with Robin, taking notice as the conversation began to get more spirited and France's voice began to rise while Robin appeared to do some gesturing.  At one point, France suddenly slapped at Robin's hand, knocking something out of it to the floor and causing him to move quickly to retrieve the item; a moment later, he grabbed at France's left wrist and put a grip on it while he started pointing a finger at her.

"Uh-oh, I think we better move on this," Renée said to Claire as they started toward the scene.

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

"J’ai dit coupez-le!  Laisse-moi partir, tu me fais mal!" France snapped in French at Robin as she struggled to free her wrist from his grip while she pounded on his right arm with her free hand, prompting him to grab her other wrist as well.

"Uh-uh-uh, naughty, naughty," Robin taunted France as he resisted her attempt to struggle free from his tight grip on her wrists.  "You're going to find out the hard way that it's not nice to say no to me the way you did, little lady..."  Before he could finish, however, he heard the sound of someone clearing her throat, and he turned to find Renée and Claire standing near them, with Renée crossing her arms while Claire had her hands on her hips as she glared at him.

"Ahhh, may we help you?" Renée said to Robin as she attempted to defuse the situation.

"Excuse me, but I don't see how this is any business of yours, seeing as this is between her and I alone," Robin retorted snobbishly in the same effete-sounding voice he used when in his Sir Robin Ascott character, not looking impressed over being interrupted.

"Well, you made it our business the moment you saw fit to get rough with a friend of ours," Renée replied a little more sternly while pointing at Robin, "so you need to back off and let her go."

"And if I should choose not to?" Robin shot back.  "I hardly think you're in any position to do something about it."

"But I am," another voice replied, as Robin turned his head to look and saw Mae Young, who was also taking part in the photo shoot and who was now standing with Renée and Claire.  "Let her go, Ascott, or it'll be me and you, out in the alley behind the gym, capisce?"

Robin scoffed at Mae's warning, but he appeared to get the message as he finally let go of France. "Whatever," he said derisively as he walked away with a smirk.

"Ça va, France?" Renée asked her friend as France rubbed her wrists, one at a time.  "Il ne vous a pas fait mal aux poignets, n’est-ce pas?"

"Ils le seront, dès que j’aurai récupéré la circulation en eux," France replied.  Turning to Mae, she then switched to English as she said in gratitude, "Thank you, Mae, for...your help."

"No worries, kid, just doin' what needed doin'," Mae said with a nod and a grin.

"You think maybe we should talk to Mildred about this?" Renée then said to Mae regarding the incident.

"Don't worry, if he gets out of line again, I'll deal with him," Mae said.  "He ain't gonna put his hands on another girl like he did if I have anything to say about it."

After Mae walked away, Renée then asked France, "So, what happened that brought all this on?"

"I didn't understand everything he was saying, so I just nodded and pretended to follow along," France said regarding Robin.  "But from what I could understand, it sounded like he was trying to make a proposition of some kind toward me, trying to convince me to join his stable and claiming he could make a star out of me if I joined him."

"But that wasn't what set you off, was it?" Claire said.

"No," France confirmed.  "I told him no, that I wasn't interested, but he persisted, trying to get me to change my mind.   He even offered me something he took from his coat pocket and said it was a 'bonus' for joining up with him.  When I saw what it was, I was firm in refusing, but he still insisted on pushing it on me and he wouldn't take no for an answer, so that's when I slapped it out of his hand."

"And whatever it was, he was quick to move and grab it so no one else could see what it was before he went and grabbed you and tried to threaten you," Renée then said.  "What was it?"

"It was a small plastic bag, containing something white - it looked like some kind of white powder," France revealed.  On hearing this, Renée and Claire exchanged looks, realizing what France was saying.

"If it's what I'm thinking it is..." Claire started to say as her suspicions were raised.

"Yeah, same here," Renée agreed, suspecting that Robin was trying to push drugs on France as an incentive to get her to join his Ascott Dynasty stable.  "I think Mildred and Mae need to know about this."

Right at that point, Mildred came into the gym from her office, carrying a clipboard with her.  "Okay girls, let's all gather around by the ring," she called to all that were present.  As everyone on hand for the photo shoot got together, Mildred then addressed them, "Alright, how's the shoot going for you?"  When the girls answered affirmatively, she continued, "Good, glad to hear how it's going.  Now, besides the shoot itself, the other reason I arranged the session is because I've got an announcement to make regarding plans I have for the Fourth of July*..."

As Mildred continued speaking, Renée, Claire and France, while they were listening to her, each took a moment to glance over at Robin, who was standing off from the main group to the side, and they each noticed that the manager was not so much looking toward Mildred as she spoke, but was fixated on the three girls while looking sideways at them.  Renée and France, in particular, were getting an uneasy feeling about Robin as they noticed he was smirking at them...

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

* What Mildred's Fourth of July plans are will be announced in a future post, after a few more cards and another chapter get posted.

[Captain Kremmen]

Good to see this back.

Did you burn out on writing for a few weeks? We've all been there.

[Old School Fan]

American Girls' Wrestling Association @ Orange Pavilion
June 12, 1969 - San Bernardino, California
Attendance - 5,210

 

Colleen Murrell defeated Kim Blanchard by pinfall following a dropkick.

Tonette Kadrmas used an overhead suplex to defeat Gwen Miller by pinfall.

Judy Sowinski defeated France Gall by pinfall following a kneedrop.

AGWA Television Championship

Valerie Blackard (C) defeated Margot Bouchard (with "The Queen" Mae Young) by disqualification when Bouchard threw Blackard over the top rope.

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.

• First fall - Hardman pinned Lepage following an elbow drop.
• Second fall - Martel pinned Syverson following a flying forearm smash off the ropes.
• Third fall - Hardman and Syverson were disqualified when Young ran in and attacked Lepage as she had Syverson tied up in a figure-four leglock while Martel and Hardman brawled around ringside.

 

Edited March 23, 2023 by Old School Fan

[Old School Fan]

American Girls' Wrestling Association @ Sam Lynn Ballpark
June 13, 1969 - Bakersfield, California
Attendance - 6,730

 

Colleen Murrell defeated Casey Andrews by pinfall following a dropkick.

Tonette Kadrmas defeated France Gall by pinfall following an overhead suplex.

Japanese star Aiko Kyo, on excursion from All Japan Women's Pro Wrestling, made her American debut as she battled Judy Sowinski to a time-limit draw.

Two Out of Three Falls

Renée Martel, Claire Lepage & Valerie Blackard defeated Margot Bouchard, Shirley Hardman & Diane Syverson (with "The Queen" Mae Young), two falls to one.

• First fall - Hardman pinned Blackard following an elbow drop.
• Second fall - Bouchard was disqualified for throwing Lepage over the top rope.
• Third fall - Martel picked up the win for her team when she forced Syverson to submit to the Alligator Clutch while the other members of both teams brawled outside the ring; prior to the ending, Young was ejected from the match and ordered back to the locker room area by the referee when she was caught tripping Martel from outside the ring.

AGWA Interstate Championship

Ann Casey (C) defeated Georgia Hase (with Margot Bouchard, subbing for Mae Young, whose earlier ejection from ringside also extended to this match) by disqualification when Bouchard ran in and attacked Casey as she had Hase pinned following an airplane spin; Young then ran out to join Bouchard and a recovered Hase for a three-on-one on Casey post-match before Renée Martel and Claire Lepage ran in to even the sides and help Casey chase out the Queen's Court.

 

[kinnikuniverse]

I really hope Renée does a tour of japan eventually. Would be interesting to see her discover the culture and how stiff the japanese wrestlers are over there.

[Old School Fan]

14 hours ago, kinnikuniverse said:

I really hope Renée does a tour of japan eventually. Would be interesting to see her discover the culture and how stiff the japanese wrestlers are over there.

Well, we'll see what happens as this diary eventually moves into 1970 and the start of a new decade...  🙂

[Old School Fan]

American Girls' Wrestling Association @ San Diego International Sports Center
June 14, 1969 - San Diego, California
Attendance - 14,230

 

France Gall battled Panama Franco to a time-limit draw.

Judy Sowinski defeated Colleen Murrell by pinfall following a kneedrop.

Aiko Kyo defeated Tonette Kadrmas by pinfall following a flying bodypress.

AGWA Television Championship

Valerie Blackard (C) defeated Georgia Hase (with "The Queen" Mae Young) by disqualification when Hase was caught striking Blackard with a foreign object passed to her by Young.

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.

• First fall - Hardman pinned Lepage following a fisherman suplex.
• Second fall - Syverson was disqualified for throwing Lepage over the top rope.
• Third fall - Martel pinned Syverson following a flying forearm smash off the ropes.

NWA United States Women's Championship

Judy Arnold (C) defeated Margot Bouchard (with Mae Young) by disqualification when Young ran in and attacked Arnold as she had Bouchard caught in a spinning toehold.

 

 

[Old School Fan]

American Girls' Wrestling Association @ Arizona Veterans Memorial Coliseum
June 17, 1969 - Phoenix, Arizona
Attendance - 12,720

 

Baby Rocco (with "The Queen" Mae Young") squashed France Gall, who was overwhelmed by Rocco's size despite giving a spirited effort, when Rocco pinned her following a big splash; post-match, Rocco, at Young's urging, continued to beat on Gall and threatened to deliver a second big splash, but she was prevented when Renée Martel and Claire Lepage (the latter of whom had a beef against Rocco for injuring her and costing her the United States Tag Team title last October) ran in and chased Rocco out.

Jan Vallow defeated Texas Red by pinfall following a bodyslam and legdrop.

In a non-title bout, Aiko Kyo defeated AGWA Shooting Star Champion Ashley Sinclair by pinfall following a flying bodypress; conspicuous by his absence was Sinclair's manager Sir Robin Ascott, who was off wrestling some events with NWA Hollywood Wrestling.

AGWA Television Championship

Valerie Blackard (C) defeated Tonette Kadrmas by disqualification when Kadrmas used a piledriver on Blackard.

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

Renée Martel & Claire Lepage (C) defeated Georgia Hase & Margot Bouchard (with Mae Young), two falls to one.

• First fall - Bouchard pinned Lepage following a spinebuster slam.
• Second fall - Martel pinned Hase following a flying forearm smash off the ropes.
• Third fall - Hase and Bouchard were disqualified when Baby Rocco ran in and attacked Lepage as she had Hase tied up in a figure-four leglock; after Bouchard prevented Martel from making the save by cutting her off and throwing her over the top rope post-match, the Queen's Court continued their attack on Lepage until Judy Arnold and Aiko Kyo ran in to make the save.

NWA United States Women's Championship

Judy Arnold (C) defeated Judy Sowinski in a hard-fought contest when Sowinski submitted to Arnold's spinning toehold.  Post-match, Mae Young came out to ringside and started making threats against Arnold, who fired back against the veteran manager/wrestler, whose presence served as a distraction to allow Georgia Hase and Margot Bouchard to cut through the crowd and jump Arnold from behind, leading to another three-on-one attack by the Queen's Court until Renée Martel, Claire Lepage and Aiko Kyo ran in to chase the heel stable out and make the save for Arnold.

 

[Old School Fan]

American Girls' Wrestling Association @ Salt Palace*
June 20, 1969 - Salt Lake City, Utah
Attendance - 11,500 (sellout)

 

Jan Vallow was given a bit of a scare by France Gall when the latter put Vallow on the defensive with some technical and acrobatic moves during the match, but Vallow was still too much for her smaller opponent as Gall got pinned following a bodyslam and legdrop.

Baby Rocco (with "The Queen" Mae Young") pulled off another squash as she defeated Texas Red by pinfall following a big splash.

Kyoko Okada flew over to join fellow countrywoman and AGWA International Tag Team Championship partner Aiko Kyo to battle Lucille Dupree & Mary Jane Mull (the first International Tag Team Champions when that title, in conjunction with the AGWA, was established in All Japan Women's Pro Wrestling in 1968) to a time-limit draw.

AGWA Television Championship

Valerie Blackard (C) defeated Margot Bouchard (with Mae Young) by disqualification when Bouchard refused to stop choking Blackard against the ropes.

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 Hardman and Syverson were disqualified in the third fall when Margot Bouchard ran in and attacked Martel while she had Hardman caught in the Alligator Clutch.

NWA United States Women's Championship

Judy Arnold (C) defeated Ashley Sinclair by countout when Sinclair, rather than risk getting caught in Arnold's spinning toehold, bailed late in the match and took a walk back to the locker room area.

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

* The Salt Palace, which opened in July 1969 IRL (and would be followed by the University of Utah's Special Events Center that November), opened a few months earlier ITTL for storyline purposes, succeeding the smaller Utah State Fairgrounds Coliseum for AGWA events in Salt Lake City; it initially seated 10,725 for basketball games and could hold more for wrestling events.

[Old School Fan]

Meanwhile, on the same night as the AGWA Salt Lake City show...

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

NWA Hollywood Wrestling @ Olympic Auditorium
June 20, 1969 - Los Angeles, California

 

 Alfonso Dantés battled Mike Riker to a time-limit draw.

The Preacher fought Lord Albert Landsdow to a time-limit draw.

Seiji Sakaguchi used an Argentine backbreaker to pin and defeat The Mask.

Oregon Lumberjack* fought Black Gordman to a double-countout as both wrestlers brawled outside the ring.

Bobo Brazil & The Avenger** defeated Chris Markoff & Sir Robin Ascott when Avenger used a figure-four leglock to force Ascott to submit.

NWA Americas Heavyweight Championship - Two Out of Three Falls

Mil Mascaras (C) defeated Bull Ramos, two falls to one, when Mascaras used a top-rope flying bodypress to floor Ramos for the pin in the third fall.

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

* The Oregon Lumberjack pictured above is not the real-life Oregon Lumberjack who competed in NWA Hollywood Wrestling between 1969 and 1980; that Oregon Lumberjack was a masked identity used by wrestler Al Romero, who was the brother of Ricky Romero and the uncle of second-generation wrestlers Jay, Mark and Chris Youngblood.  The wrestler depicted above as the Oregon Lumberjack ITTL was a real-life wrestler on the Arizona independent scene between 1977 and the early 1990s; I used his image here as I felt it better suited for the ITTL version of that character.

** How the Avenger, a mysterious masked babyface character ITTL, fits into this diary will be revealed at some point.

 

Edited March 28, 2023 by Old School Fan

[Old School Fan]

This latest chapter, while a bit on the short side, details what happened shortly after Mildred Burke's conference with her roster during the photo session at her gym to detail her plans for the Fourth of July...

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

Fabulous Moolah was looking through files at her desk in her home office when her desk phone began ringing.  After letting it ring twice, she picked up the phone's handset and answered, "Hello, Girl Wrestling Enterprises*...  Ah, howdy, darlin', how y'all doin'?  Doin' fine myself, thanks.  So, what's new out your way?"

Moolah paused to listen as the person at the other end of the line, her current Los Angeles contact, filled her in on the latest happenings the contact, who had been recruited by Moolah and assigned to spy on the AGWA at some point after the retirement of her previous spy Yvonne, had observed with the promotion.  "Wait a min--no way!  Are y'all serious?" she said in disbelief upon hearing that Renée Martel had once again won a championship there shortly after her return to the AGWA.  Cursing silently at her luck as she heard a reply at the other end, she then continued, "Well, we're gonna have to figure out some way to make sure that Martel girl don't try to benefit from that success."  She then paused again to listen to the other end before speaking up.  "No, don't try to shoot on her in matches or get legitimately physical against her, she's probably still hinky about such attacks after the last girl I had did them against her an' got caught the second time she did an attack on her.  Oh, she ratted me out after she got found out about bein' connected to me, so I had to cut her loose."

After another pause to listen to the reply, Moolah resumed.  "No, don't go after Martel's friends to get to her either, even that'll be too obvious - last thing I need is to have to do damage control with the wrestling press to publicly distance myself from anything that happens to Martel like I did last year, I'm already in Dutch enough with the NWA as it is over that.  No, you've done just fine with what you've done since January whenever she's been down in L.A., so don't fix what ain't broke."  She then listened to something else her contact reported.  "Really? Is that so? The Fourth of July, huh?" she said, learning about the announcement Mildred Burke had made to her wrestlers during the photo session at her training gym.  "Hmm, well...  Alright, here's what y'all can do when the time comes..."

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

Meanwhile, Toni Rose, the other of Moolah's lieutenants, was in the middle of fixing a sandwich for lunch in Moolah's kitchen and was just putting away the sandwich ingredients in the fridge before she took her lunch with her as she headed to Moolah's office.  "Hey Lillian, do you need..." Toni started to say as she came to the office's doorway, only to stop herself when she noticed her boss was still on the phone.

"...okay, good, that'll ensure it hits Burke and her girls where it counts and set 'em back big time," Moolah said to her contact.  "Alright, make sure an' contact me when it's time.  Okay, talk to y'all later, darlin'."  After she hung up the phone, she then turned to find Toni standing in the doorway.  "Oh, hey darlin', I didn't know y'all were standin' in the doorway," she said.

"I was about to ask if you wanted me to call the other girls in for lunch," Toni said.  "Was that important business on the phone?"

"Well, yeah, you could say that," Moolah replied with a sly grin before turning back to her desk, though what she did not tell Toni was what insidious plan she had for the night of Mildred's big July 4th plan, or what role her contact would have in it.

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

* The name of Fabulous Moolah's training school and booking office for her roster of wrestlers, both IRL and ITTL.

Edited March 31, 2023 by Old School Fan

[Captain Kremmen]

You've really captured Moolah as the conniving bitch she was. 😀

[Old School Fan]

2 hours ago, piperrulz said:

You've really captured Moolah as the conniving bitch she was. 😀

And we'll see just how conniving Moolah 😈 can get as this diary progresses...

[Old School Fan]

Back in Montreal, the latest edition of the All-Star Wrestling arena program details Renée Martel's recent success down South (which was what gave Moolah fits when she found out about it in the previous chapter's phone call from her Los Angeles contact)...

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

And on Page Two...

[Old School Fan]

And back in Montreal...

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

All-Star Wrestling @ Paul Sauvé Arena
June 23, 1969 - Montreal, Quebec

 

 Anthony Stark defeated Tony Baillargeon by disqualification when Baillargeon was caught with a foreign object he had taken off of Stark, who had been discreetly using the weapon on Baillargeon during the match.

Eddie Auger defeated Don Serrano by pinfall following a shoulderblock.

Jos & Paul LeDuc defeated The Green Hornets when Paul LeDuc pinned Green Hornet II.

Canadian Women's Championship

Jane O'Brien (C) fought Barbara LaMarche to a no-contest as both wrestlers were disqualified for excessive brawling.

ASW Canadian Heavyweight Championship

Ti-Blanc Richard defeated Guillotine Gordon (C) to win the title when Richard forced Gordon's submission with a bearhug.

ASW World Tag Team Championship - Two Out of Three Falls

Mad Dog & Butcher Vachon (C) battled Jacques & Johnny Rougeau to a curfew draw when the 11 PM curfew ended the match during the third fall after each team had scored a fall.

 

[Old School Fan]

AGWA TV taping @ Anaheim Convention Center Arena
June 24, 1969 - Anaheim, California
Attendance - 7,195

Aired the weekend of June 28, 1969 on AGWA Women's Pro Wrestling:

Dark match

 Lita Marez defeated Lorna Dale by pinfall following a Fisherman suplex.

France Gall defeated Kim Blanchard by pinfall following a cannonball off the ropes.

Judy Sowinski defeated Jane Travis by pinfall following a kneedrop.

In a non-title match, AGWA International Tag Team Champions Aiko Kyo & Kyoko Okada defeated Casey Andrews & Janet Russ when Kyo pinned Russ following a flying bodypress.

AGWA Interstate Tag Team Championship

The Sisters of Love (C) (with Sir Robin Ascott) defeated Julie Patrick & Sylvia Hackney when Hackney was pinned by Sister Lavender following a double-facebuster by Lavender and Sister Serenity.

Following the match, Ascott came into the ring, bringing what appeared to be a pole with him, revealing it as a flagpole as he unfurled the American flag on the flagpole and handed it to the Sisters; Ascott then pointed to the Stars and Stripes while gesturing at the fans, then dug into his coat and produced a cigarette lighter, which he then ignited as he indicated his intention to burn the flag, which set the fans off with a round of boos and derogatory chants directed at Ascott and the Sisters - but before Ascott could follow through on his intentions, the Ascott Dynasty members' antics were quickly put to an end when Jane Sherill and Patty O'Hara ran out to the ring and chased Ascott and the Sisters out, causing the flagpole to get dropped to the mat in the process.  O'Hara then picked up the flagpole as she and Sherill hurled threats at the retreating Ascott and the Sisters, then Sherill grabbed the arena microphone and called to the heels, "Hey, hippie chicks - if you're gonna burn this flag, don't even think of doing it around us!  Too many people have died trying to protect this flag and what it stands for!", which, along with O'Hara's waving of the flag, drew thunderous cheers and "USA! USA!" chants from the fans in attendance.

AGWA Interstate Championship

Ann Casey (C) defeated Mary Jane Mull by disqualification in the TV main event when Tonette Kadrmas ran in and attacked Casey as she was about to go for the pin on Mull following an airplane spin.

Aired the weekend of July 5, 1969 on AGWA Women's Pro Wrestling:

Dark match

Irma Acevedo defeated Samantha Sheridan by submission with a headscissors.

Handicap match

Baby Rocco (with "The Queen" Mae Young) defeated Carrie Lloyd & Dixie Grant by pinfall when Rocco big-splashed each girl, then pinned them both simultaneously.

Vivian Vance defeated Elise Dorsett by pinfall following an overhead suplex.  Post-match, Dick Lane joined Vance at ringside for an interview, where Vance acknowledged the fans in attendance and announced that she had returned to the AGWA for another shot at Ashley Sinclair and her Shooting Star Championship, calling her a "closet champion" for not only how Sinclair initially won the title, but by cheating to win her matches, ducking top contenders to the title and, when she had to defend her belt, getting herself intentionally counted out or disqualified to save her title.

In a non-title match, AGWA Shooting Star Champion Ashley Sinclair defeated Serena Harris by pinfall when Sinclair grabbed a handful of Harris' tights for illegal leverage while using a schoolgirl rollup; conspicuous by his absence was Sinclair's manager Sir Robin Ascott, who chose to lay low following his earlier attempted flag-burning stunt.  Sinclair continued to assault Harris post-match but was chased out of the ring moments later by Vivian Vance, who then demanded a title match against Sinclair.

AGWA Television Championship

Valerie Blackard (C) defeated Tonette Kadrmas by disqualification when Kadrmas reversed a whip to the ropes by Blackard and whipped the champion into the referee; Kadrmas continued beating on Blackard post-match until Ann Casey ran out to the ring for the save and chased Kadrmas out.  In a post-match interview with Dick Lane, Casey denounced Kadrmas for her earlier attack on her and for her continuing to take advantage of Blackard after their match, then called on Mildred Burke to set up a match between the two of them for a future event.

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

In a TV main event rematch from the previous TV taping session two weeks earlier, Renée Martel & Claire Lepage (C) battled former champions Jane Sherill & Patty O'Hara to a no-contest when, after each team had won a fall, the Sisters of Love and Ashley Sinclair, accompanied by Ascott Dynasty manager Sir Robin Ascott, ran out and attacked both teams under Ascott's direction during the third fall, with Sinclair attacking Martel while Sister Lavender went after Lepage and Sister Serenity attacked Sherill, but the champions and the ex-champs soon regrouped and united to battle back and run the Ascott Dynasty out of the ring to the fans' delight.  Ascott and his girls, as they backed their way up the aisle back to the locker room area, traded threats with Martel, Lepage, Sherill and O'Hara as the taping ended.

Post-taping dark match
AGWA International Tag Team Championship - Two Out of Three Falls

Aiko Kyo & Kyoko Okada (C) wrestled a second time that night after the TV cameras were turned off as they battled Georgia Hase & Margot Bouchard (with Mae Young) to a time-limit draw.

• First fall - Hase pinned Okada following a knee lift.
• Second fall - Kyo pinned Bouchard following a flying bodypress.
• Third fall - the 30-minute time limit expired during the fall.