Rise of a Star

[Captain Kremmen]

Good kayfabe cover for the Ascott firing.

[Just here to look]

I did sorta lag behind on this diary for a time. I’ve not had as much time, and I’ve been looking at more diaries. Oh my god, this has been a great read. I have never really had much knowledge of wrestling in this era, and I had no idea of what Moolah was like. I was aware of the whole “spider lady” debacle, but little more. Simply put, I didn’t think she could commit ARSON and people just go “yeah, accurate”. 
 

The shows are interesting as well, I loved the Ascott story from beginning to end. You really do know how to write unlikeable characters! I definitely want to keep a closer eye on this diary from now on, because this read has been a great experience. Keep it up!

[Old School Fan]

On 4/27/2023 at 1:53 AM, Just here to look said:

I did sorta lag behind on this diary for a time. I’ve not had as much time, and I’ve been looking at more diaries. Oh my god, this has been a great read. I have never really had much knowledge of wrestling in this era, and I had no idea of what Moolah was like. I was aware of the whole “spider lady” debacle, but little more. Simply put, I didn’t think she could commit ARSON and people just go “yeah, accurate”. 
 

The shows are interesting as well, I loved the Ascott story from beginning to end. You really do know how to write unlikeable characters! I definitely want to keep a closer eye on this diary from now on, because this read has been a great experience. Keep it up!

Thanks for the vote of confidence, and I've got more coming up as Robin Ascott's involvement in this diary nears its conclusion...  🙂

[Old School Fan]

Now comes the next chapter, picking up from where the post-show events following the Independence Day Spectacular left off...

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

Back at the Holiday Inn in Anaheim, Renée Martel, Claire Lepage and France Gall were gathered in Renée and Claire's two-bed room to watch an afternoon matinee movie on one of the Los Angeles TV stations, an airing of the 1953 sci-fi classic The War of the Worlds.  The girls were caught up in the initial battle scene between the Marine forces and the Martian invaders when a knock came on the room door.

"Who'd be coming to see us in the middle of the movie," Claire wondered aloud, "especially during one of the best parts?"

"Could be Michèle coming for a visit," Renée said as she got up from her bed to see who was at the door, figuring it would be Michèle Richard.

Instead of Michèle, however, Renée got a surprise the moment she opened the door and saw who the visitor was.  "Papa?" she said, recognizing her father Marcel Martel the moment she saw him standing in the hallway.  "Papa, what're you doing in town?" she added as she went to hug him for a moment before inviting him into the girls' room.

"Mildred Burke contacted me through Johnny Rougeau and told me about you having problems with that Robin Ascott character," Marcel explained as he stepped inside.  "So I had Johnny contact Mike LeBell to arrange to have me appear in Los Angeles for him for a while to look out for you and I set up an injury angle with Guillotine Gordon up in Quebec City last month to allow me to make the move.  Mildred kept me informed about you through Mike and since Ascott was wrestling some dates for the LeBells in between his appearances for Mildred, that allowed me to keep an eye on him too.  The thing is, Ascott doesn't know I'm wrestling for the LeBells because I'm not appearing as myself there - Mildred told me that wrestling as myself would tip Ascott off and probably scare him off if he knew who I was, so she and Mike made some arrangements so Ascott was no wiser for it."

"Did Mildred tell you about what happened last Friday night at the Forum in Inglewood?" Renée asked, mentioning the Independence Day Spectacular.

"I was there thanks to Mildred, so I got to see you wrestle," Marcel continued, "but you didn't see me because I was up in one of the club seats there - and yes, I saw what happened when Ascott ran in and used that chair on you and Claire.  If I'd been closer to ringside, I'd have run right in and gone after Ascott for what he did to you and Claire, but then my cover would've been blown."

"Well, no matter - Ascott's gone from our group now," Renée said, telling her father about Robin's firing from the AGWA following the incident at the supercard and the subsequent match he was put in against Earlene Brown.

As Marcel was about to continue, another knock came on the girls' room door, so Renée started to get up to answer it again.  "No, wait," Marcel said as he looked at the door.  "It might be better if I answer it, just in case," he added as he got up to get the door, wanting to make sure his daughter stayed safe.  "After what Mildred told me about Ascott, as long as he's still around, it's better not to take any chances."

Marcel then opened the room door - and found Mildred standing at the door.  "Ah, Marcel - good, you're here," the AGWA owner said with a grin as she came into the room.  "I guess Renée was surprised when you came by."

"I sure was, Mildred," Renée said with a giggle.  "We've been getting caught up on what's new with us since he came in."

"Ah, good," Mildred said as she took a seat in a chair next to the room's window, which overlooked the hotel's swimming pool.  "But now I'll add to that because of some things I've been finding out in the last few days since the fire at my office and gym."

"Yeah, I heard about that in the news after the show," Marcel said.  "What's the word on that?"

"I spoke with the captain of one of the fire brigades that fought the fire," Mildred said.  "After inspecting the office and gym, they determined that the cause of the fire was arson.  Whoever did it did a thorough job of it because the space is a write-off, they said it'll have to be demolished."

"That's what we were afraid of after we saw how bad the fire was," Claire pointed out.  "You had important papers and other things in the office though, didn't you?"

"Fortunately, all the papers I had in there were just copies," Mildred confirmed.  "All my important business papers - the originals - are kept at my home office, so nothing important was lost."

"Oh, good," a relieved Renée said.  "I'd hate to think what would've happened otherwise.  But, what about insurance?  Were you covered there?"

"Luckily, yes," Mildred confirmed.  "Since I first opened the school, I kept the place insured.  I spoke with the agency that handles the insurance on the school and they said they'd be able to cover most of the damage from the fire.  Now, though, I'm going to have to start hitting the real estate listings to look for a new location for the school."

"And the real trick's finding a suitable enough space to hold a training ring and the fitness equipment we'd need," Renée said.

"Well, I was talking with Mike LeBell earlier before I came here," Mildred said, "and he said he has an old wrestling ring he can give me to use for the school once I find a new space for it.  Oh, and while I was looking through my insurance papers when I checked through my files back at home, guess what I found out - remember back during the tournament in January, Renée?"

"Sure, if only because I didn't get to take part in it because of Ascott getting me removed from the tournament because of that document he produced claiming that the previous year's winners were ineligible to take part in the current year's tournament," Renée said.

"Exactly," Mildred said, "and if that were really the case, I'd have the original of that document proving it, except for one thing - I have no such record in my home office files because there was really no such rule disallowing previous years' tournament winners from taking part in the tournament again the following year.  I was so busy at the time ironing out some contracts with All Japan Women and working on some syndication contracts for the TV show that I didn't find out until recently that that 'rule' was a hoax and that document he had it on was forged, cooked up by Ascott to get you out of the tournament before you were able to wrestle in it."

Renée's mouth dropped open in shock at what she heard.  "Why, that dirty..." she started to say.  "So by doing what he did, he messed up the tournament plans!"

"That he did," Mildred agreed.  "The original plan was to have you and Michèle face off in a rematch of last year's tournament final, with Michèle planned to win that time as happened when she faced Ann Calvello.  When Ascott got you booted from the tournament, that meant things had to be changed up as far as who'd face who in the East Division in the later rounds and who'd face Michèle in the final."  On hearing that, Renée shook her head in disbelief.

"Now, take this for what it's worth, but I also found out an even more interesting piece of news about Ascott while I was talking with Mike," Mildred continued.  "It turns out before he came West to L.A., Ascott was working back East as a 'jobber to the stars' for Vince McMahon up in New York and got recommended to come over here last autumn to brush up his skills working for the LeBells and develop the Mod gimmick he's been working with, before he came around to my office last December and inquired about becoming a manager with the AGWA in addition to his wrestling gig with Mike and Gene.  I'd seen his matches on TV and he had a pretty entertaining gimmick, almost like a Mod version of Gorgeous George, so I worked it out with Mike to allow Ascott to split his time between me and the LeBells."

"So you said Ascott wrestled for Vince McMahon before coming here?" Renée said.

"That's right," Mildred confirmed.  "And guess who Mike told me had referred Ascott to him?  It was someone else who's a McMahon regular and spends most of her time competing there."

"'Her'?  You don't mean..." Renée said, quickly becoming suspicious the moment she heard Mildred say the gender of the wrestler who had sent Robin out to Los Angeles.

"Yep, I do," Mildred said with a nod.  "Mike said it was Fabulous Moolah who recommended him and sent him here."

Renée facepalmed herself upon hearing Moolah's name.  "That explains it all now," she said, now realizing the reason for her and her friends being targeted by Ascott.  "He took over as Moolah's spy and local contact after she hung Yvonne out to dry after she got exposed as her original spy - he must've been under Moolah's orders to sabotage me as often as he could to slow down my progress."

"That sums it up," Mildred said.  "After what I learned about him and after what he did to you, Claire and France over the last month, I've mailed out memos to the AWA, to Johnny Rougeau and a few other independents up in Canada and to all the NWA members, including the ones who book my girls, to tell them about Ascott and the things he's done.  I told them that if they want to book my girls for their shows, they can't have Ascott as part of their rosters."

"But he's still with the LeBells, though," Renée pointed out.  "Shouldn't we be worried about him still being around after you fired him, like France said last Friday?"

"Don't worry about that, Renée," Marcel reassured his daughter.  "Mildred and Mike have a plan to deal with him and they have me involved in it for Wednesday night's TV show at the Olympic Auditorium..."

[Old School Fan]

Remember this NWA Hollywood event from back in June that featured the appearance of mysterious masked wrestler the Avenger?  This also ties in to the events of the previous chapter...

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

NWA Hollywood Wrestling @ Olympic Auditorium
July 9, 1969 - Los Angeles, California
Attendance - 4,785

Broadcast live via Wrestling at the Olympic, the Wednesday night wrestling program on KTLA:

 

Armand Hussein battled Mike Riker to a time-limit draw.

Black Gordman & Bull Ramos defeated El Mexicano & Francisco Flores when Ramos pinned Mexicano.

The Avenger had the fans solidly behind him as he gave Sir Robin Ascott, who fans who saw his antics against Renée Martel and Claire Lepage at the AGWA's Independence Day Spectacular last week wanted to see get his just deserts, a solid thrashing near the end of their match before the masked man used a scissored armbar to force Ascott to quickly submit, giving Avenger the win.  Following the match, Avenger got back to his feet, grabbed Ascott and backed him into a corner, then took off his mask, revealing his identity as Marcel Martel, then began getting in Ascott's face as he made threats to the flamboyant rulebreaker while pinning him against the turnbuckles, leading Ascott to escape the ring and flee to the locker room area to avoid Martel's wrath.  Following the match, Martel was joined by Wrestling at the Olympic host Dick Lane in the interview area for an interview:

 

DICK LANE:  Well, Marcel Martel, this is a real surprise seeing you here under the guise of the Avenger.

MARCEL MARTEL:  That's true, Mr. Lane, but I had my reason for doing so and why I wanted this Robin Ascott character in the ring.  I found out that Ascott was causing problems for my daughter, Renée Martel, over where she's wrestling right now, as well as for her friends, and I was at that women's wrestling show last Friday in Inglewood when I saw what he did to Renée during her match.  Now I don't care who or what you think you are, Ascott, but you better understand this - you know what happens when someone gets between a mother bear and her cubs, or someone messes with a papa wolf's offspring?  You're that unlucky someone, Ascott, and you're lucky you didn't get beat up worse than you were for what you did!  

LANE:  And I'm sure he found that out the hard way after you unmasked and confronted him.

MARTEL:  He'll learn that lesson if he knows what's good for him.  Only a dirty coward would do to a woman what you did to Renée, Ascott, so here's some free advice for you - stay away from her and don't even think of putting your hands on her or even crossing paths with her again, or I'll find you and you'll live to regret that day!*

LANE:  Doing exactly what any father would do for his kids in times of trouble.

MARTEL:  Exactly right, Mr. Lane.

LANE:  Alright, thanks for joining us here, Marcel.  We'll be right back with tonight's main event after these messages!

 

Mil Mascaras & Alfonso Dantes defeated The Preacher & Art Mahalik when Mascaras pinned Mahalik following a flying bodypress.

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

* Thanks to the beating he got from the Avenger/Marcel Martel in that match, followed by the unmasked Marcel's threats against him post-match, Ascott showed himself as the dirty coward he was accused of being and fled the area that night, never to set foot or show his face in the Los Angeles territory or in the AGWA again, thereby dealing a blow to another one of Fabulous Moolah's schemes against Renée.

Edited December 8, 2023 by Old School Fan

[Captain Kremmen]

Good to see Ashat get his comeuppance! In those days, the locker room policeman was the last guy you wanted to be in the ring with if you legit did something wrong.

Is it just me, or did Ascott look a little like a young Mick Jagger?

[Lord Byron]

He actually looks like Z-Man from the 1970 movie Beyond The Valley of the Dolls; hope Ascott doesn't follow Z-Man's ending...

[Old School Fan]

3 hours ago, Lord Byron said:

He actually looks like Z-Man from the 1970 movie Beyond The Valley of the Dolls; hope Ascott doesn't follow Z-Man's ending...

Right on the money - that's who I based Ascott on in large part.  😎

[Old School Fan]

After hearing about the success of Johnny Rougeau's women's supercard in Montreal last November and subsequently picking up AGWA Women's Pro Wrestling to package with his own syndicated Big Time Wrestling TV show (carried on several TV stations in Michigan and Ohio), The Sheik, co-owner and top star of NWA member Big Time Wrestling in Detroit, had wanted for some time to book some of Mildred Burke's wrestlers to tour on his shows, and finally got the chance recently when Mildred, after the Sir Robin Ascott situation was dealt with, sent Sheik some of her girls to do a week-long tour in his territory, starting with the event below:

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

Big Time Wrestling @ Cincinnati Gardens
July 12, 1969 - Cincinnati, Ohio

 

Gordon Nelson defeated Jack Armstrong by submission via grapevine hold.

The Stomper* defeated Prince Pullins by submission via the sleeperhold.

Dan Miller and Cowboy Frankie Laine went to a time-limit draw.

Dr. Jerry Graham defeated Ben Justice by pinfall following a swinging neckbreaker.

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

Renée Martel & Claire Lepage (C) defeated The Sisters of Love, two falls to one, when Martel forced a submission from Sister Serenity with the Alligator Clutch in the third fall.

Wild Bull Curry & Ernie Ladd defeated Bobo Brazil & The Mighty Igor when Ladd pinned Igor following a boot to the head.

NWA United States Heavyweight Championship (Detroit)

The Sheik (C) battled Fred Curry to a double-countout.

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

* AKA Guy Mitchell/Mr. X/one of the other Assassins/Jerry Valiant.

 

[Old School Fan]

Big Time Wrestling @ Cobo Arena
July 19, 1969 - Detroit, Michigan

 

Paul Diamond defeated Mike Loren by pinfall.

Dewey Robertson defeated Pedro Godoy by submission with a figure-four leglock.

Harley Race defeated Prince Pullins by pinfall following a fisherman suplex.

Ben Justice defeated Gordon Nelson by submission with a sleeperhold.

Whipper Billy Watson, The Mighty Igor & Marcel Martel defeated Ernie Ladd, Wild Bull Curry & The Stomper when Igor forced Stomper to submit to a bearhug.

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

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

⦁    First fall - Sister Lavender pinned Lepage following a double facebuster delivered by Lavender and Sister Serenity.
⦁    Second fall - Martel pinned Serenity following a belly-to-belly suplex.
⦁    Third fall - Lavender was disqualified for throwing Lepage over the top rope.

Bobo Brazil & Fred Curry defeated The Hell's Angels (Ron & Paul Dupree) when Brazil pinned Paul Dupree* following a headbutt.

NWA United States Heavyweight Championship (Detroit)

The Sheik (C) battled Danny Hodge to a no-contest when both wrestlers were disqualified for excessive brawling.

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

* AKA Chris Colt.

[smartman]

Not sure it's a good idea to teach Ascott's friends how to blade someone by sending them to The Sheik. Glad that clown got his comeuppance. And we've already got the story written for the 3rd year's tournament so those two rivals can prove who the better wrestler is once and for...the month.

[Old School Fan]

AGWA TV taping @ Anaheim Convention Center Arena
July 22, 1969 - Anaheim, California
Attendance - 6,878

Aired the weekend of July 26, 1969 on AGWA Women's Pro Wrestling:

Dark match

Gwen Miller defeated Jessie Willard by pinfall following a cross-bodyblock.

Terri Grayson defeated Panama Franco by pinfall with a sunset flip.  Following the match, Mildred Burke appeared at ringside with Dick Lane and announced that a tournament to fill the vacant AGWA Interstate Tag Team Championship would be starting tonight with a first-round match, with more first-round bouts to take place next week.

Kim Blanchard (with Tonette Kadrmas) defeated Colleen Murrell by pinfall by grabbing a handful of tights for illegal leverage (not seen by the referee) to aid her schoolgirl pin of Murrell.  In a post-match interview with Dick Lane, Kadrmas, with Blanchard, Ashley Sinclair and the Sisters of Love joining her, declared that although Sir Robin Ascott was no longer part of the AGWA roster, the Dynasty which he founded would continue, adding that in addition to her own Interstate Championship and Sinclair's Shooting Star title, Blanchard and the Sisters would also claim championship gold in due time and make the Dynasty the dominant stable in the AGWA.

AGWA Interstate Tag Team title tournament - First round

Sally Vega & Lita Marez kicked off the tournament by battling Georgia Hase & Margot Bouchard (with "The Queen" Mae Young) to a time-limit draw; as a result of the draw, both teams were eliminated and the Sisters of Love, who drew a first-round bye in the tournament due to their status as former champions, automatically advanced to the final at the next TV taping on August 5*.

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

In a TV main event rematch from the Independence Day Spectacular, Renée Martel & Claire Lepage (C) defeated The Sisters of Love in two straight falls.

• First fall - Lepage pinned Sister Serenity following a flying clothesline off the second turnbuckle.
• Second fall - The Sisters of Love were disqualified when Tonette Kadrmas and Ashley Sinclair ran in and attacked Martel as she had Sister Lavender caught in the Alligator Clutch; a four-on-two attack by Kadrmas, Sinclair and the Sisters against the champions then ensued until Jane Sherill and Patty O'Hara ran in to even the odds and help Martel and Lepage run the Dynasty off.

Aired the weekend of August 2, 1969 on AGWA Women's Pro Wrestling:

Dark match

Julie Patrick defeated Janet Russ by pinfall following a dropkick off the second turnbuckle.

Jan Vallow defeated Jane Travis by pinfall following a bodyslam and legdrop.

AGWA Interstate Tag Team title tournament - First round

Shirley Hardman & Diane Syverson (with Mae Young) defeated Texas Red & Sylvia Hackney when Hardman pinned Red with a fisherman suplex.

NWA World Women's Lightweight Championship

France Gall (C) defeated Kim Blanchard (with Tonette Kadrmas), wrestling a second time in tonight's taping session, by disqualification when Kadrmas ran in and attacked Gall as she had a cross armbar applied on Blanchard; Ashley Sinclair soon joined in for a three-on-one by the Dynasty against Gall until Jane Sherill and Patty O'Hara ran in for the save for Gall, leading immediately to the following match.

AGWA Interstate Tag Team title tournament - First round

Jane Sherill & Patty O'Hara defeated Dynasty members Tonette Kadrmas & Ashley Sinclair when O'Hara pinned Sinclair following a clothesline to the back of the head.

AGWA Television Championship

Baby Rocco (C) (with Mae Young) battled Ann Casey to a double-countout in the TV main event when both wrestlers ignored the referee's count while brawling around ringside after the action spilled out to the arena floor.

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

Judy Arnold (C) fought Mary Jane Mull to a time-limit draw.

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

* At the August 5 TV taping in Anaheim, Jane Sherill and Patty O'Hara would defeat Shirley Hardman and Diane Syverson in the lone semifinal match (due to the Sisters of Love advancing to the final as described above), then defeated the Sisters in the final to win the vacant AGWA Interstate Tag Team Championship; this is being noted here as Renée Martel, Claire Lepage and France Gall are going on the road to defend their respective titles following this recent taping session.

Edited May 4, 2023 by Old School Fan
Info added

[Old School Fan]

All-Star Wrestling @ Paul Sauvé Arena
August 4, 1969 - Montreal, Quebec

 

Dominic DeNucci defeated Tony Angelo by pinfall following an airplane spin.

Carlos Colon defeated Don Serrano by pinfall following a running powerslam.

NWA World Women's Lightweight Championship

France Gall (C) defeated Kim Blanchard by submission with a cross armbar.

Hans Schmidt & Ivan Koloff battled The Mongols (Geeto & Bepo) to a no-contest when both teams were disqualified for excessive brawling.

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

Renée Martel & Claire Lepage (C) defeated Jane O'Brien & Margot Bouchard, two falls to one.

⦁    First fall - Bouchard pinned Lepage following a spinebuster slam.
⦁    Second fall - Bouchard was disqualified for throwing Lepage over the top rope.
⦁    Third fall - Martel pinned O'Brien following a belly-to-belly suplex.

Jacques & Johnny Rougeau & Ti-Blanc Richard defeated Abdullah the Butcher, Fidel Castillo & Eddie Creatchman when Jacques pinned Castillo following a knockout punch.

 

[Old School Fan]

NWA All-Star Wrestling @ Exhibition Gardens
August 11, 1969 - Vancouver, British Columbia
Attendance - 3,103

 

Fred Barron & Eric Froelich defeated Bad Boy Shields & Jack Bence when Froelich pinned Bence following a dropkick.

Bulldog Bob Brown defeated Johnny Kostas by pinfall following an exploder suplex.

Canadian Women's Championship

Renée Martel defeated Jane O'Brien (C) by submission with the Alligator Clutch to regain the title*.

Gene Kiniski defeated Earl Maynard by pinfall following a backbreaker.

NWA Pacific Coast Heavyweight Championship (Vancouver)

John Tolos (C) defeated Dutch Savage by pinfall following a kneedrop off the second turnbuckle.

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

* This match was recorded for airing back in Montreal on All-Star Wrestling's TV programs Sur le Matelas and Superstars of the Mat on the following week.

Edited May 5, 2023 by Old School Fan
Info added

[Captain Kremmen]

Is my man Fred coming back?

[Old School Fan]

All-Star Wrestling @ Paul Sauvé Arena
August 25, 1969 - Montreal, Quebec

 

Dominic DeNucci defeated Gerard Dugas by pinfall following an airplane spin.

Gino Brito defeated Anthony Stark by submission with a figure-four leglock.

NWA World Women's Lightweight Championship

France Gall (C) defeated Liz Hernandez* by pinfall following a flying bodypress off the second turnbuckle.

Canadian Women's Championship

Renée Martel (C) defeated Black Widow** by submission with the Alligator Clutch.

The Mongols battled Jos & Paul LeDuc to a double-countout.

In a battle of heel teams, Hans Schmidt & Ivan Koloff defeated Abdullah the Butcher & Fidel Castillo when Koloff pinned Castillo following a kneedrop off the second turnbuckle, less than 30 seconds before the 11 PM curfew would have ended the match.

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

* IRL, Liz Hernandez (one of the participants of the NWA World Women's Lightweight title battle royal at the Independence Day Spectacular ITTL) was a roller derby skater, who competed primarily with the Los Angeles Thunderbirds during her career, which spanned from 1956 until a career-ending injury in 1970; ITTL, she was a Mildred Burke trainee and AGWA competitor.

** Black Widow, a masked female wrestler, was created for this diary.

Edited May 6, 2023 by Old School Fan
Info added

[Old School Fan]

For this next card, Renée Martel got to main event in her hometown of Drummondville as she and Claire Lepage made another defence of their NWA United States Women's Tag Team title (and prior to the start of the card, Renée got to sign autographs for her hometown fans at the venue where the card was held):

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

All-Star Wrestling @ Centre Civique de Drummondville*
August 29, 1969 - Drummondville, Quebec

 

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

Hans Schmidt defeated Gino Brito by pinfall following a backbreaker.

ASW Canadian Heavyweight Championship

Ti-Blanc Richard (C) defeated Ivan Koloff by disqualification when Hans Schmidt ran in and attacked Richard as he had Koloff caught in a bearhug; Gino Brito ran in to even the sides and helped Richard run the foreign heels off.

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

Renée Martel & Claire Lepage (C) defeated Miss X & Black Widow, two falls to one.

• First fall - Miss X pinned Lepage following a shoulderbreaker.
• Second fall - Lepage pinned Black Widow following a flying bodypress.
• Third fall - Hometown heroine Martel forced Miss X to submit to the Alligator Clutch.

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

* The Centre Civique de Drummondville, which originally opened under that name in 1963, was later renamed to its current name of the Centre Marcel-Dionne in honor of Drummondville native and National Hockey League legend Marcel Dionne.

 

[kinnikuniverse]

Funny that the show is at Drummondville, for my uncle's amateur baseball club is playing right now in the Marcel Dionne open, which is one of the oldest and more prestigious active tournaments in the quebec amateur ball scene. How old is it? My grandpa used to play in that same tournament when he was a player, even playing agaisnt Dionne himself as well as other hockey players like Guy Lapointe.

 

Yes, because back in the day, since most hockey players didn't have the huge salaries of today, they played ball in the summer instead of golf.

 

Anyways, i hope Renée does a tour of japan in the near future so we can see her discover this womderful country.

Edited May 7, 2023 by kinnikuniverse

[Old School Fan]

22 hours ago, kinnikuniverse said:

Anyways, i hope Renée does a tour of japan in the near future so we can see her discover this womderful country.

It's going to happen eventually (in fact, without spoiling anything, I'm setting up such a tour to happen as the diary goes into 1970), so stay tuned...  😎

Edited May 8, 2023 by Old School Fan

[Old School Fan]

September 1969

Shortly after their arrival in Halifax, Renée Martel and Barbara LaMarche arrived at the office of Eastern Sports Association owner/promoter and former wrestler Al Zinck, who had been a competitor in the old Provincial Sports Association prior to its closure in 1965.  "Welcome to town, girls - or in your case, Renée, I should say welcome back," Al said as he let the girls into his office and showed them to visitor chairs in front of his desk.

"Glad to be back, it's definitely been a while," said Renée, who had not been back to wrestle in the Maritimes since her last tour there with the PSA in 1965, though she felt it was for the best in order to put the events of the Truro incident from that year behind her.

"Alright, I've got the match lineup for the upcoming card at the Forum for tomorrow night if you'd like to check it out," Al said as he handed Renée a sheet of paper with the lineup written down for her and Barbara to read.

"Hey, I see you've got Bobo Brazil, Archie Gouldie, the Beast and Rocky Johnson all listed here," Renée noted as she and Barbara looked over the lineup.  "I've wrestled on other cards elsewhere with them before, so I know them all."  As the girls continued reading, though, Renée noticed that there were two names crossed off of the lineup in what was originally scheduled to be a women's tag team match.  "What's with the names crossed off on the sheet, though?" she wondered.

"Ah, that," Al said.  "After I booked you two to come here, I originally booked Toni Rose and Patti Neilson through Fabulous Moolah's secretary to come here as well to match against the two of you in tag team matches around the circuit, but after Moolah contacted me herself later on to confirm who her girls would be facing and she found out who it was, she pulled Rose and Neilson's booking here and decided to book them elsewhere.  I guarantee after that, that's the last time I'll book girl wrestlers from Moolah."

"I don't blame you," Renée said.  "I've had my own dealings with Moolah, both directly and indirectly, and they've never turned out well, so I'm glad I'm not a part of her camp," she added, thinking about the run-ins she had against Moolah's original Los Angeles contact/spy Yvonne, her clashes with Yvonne's replacement Sir Robin Ascott and the matches she had in Quebec against Moolah herself.  "So with those two gone, what do you plan to do?"

"Well, it's a bit late to get any other girls from your boss Johnny Rougeau for this week's circuit round, and the only times I'd book anyone from Mildred Burke would be at either the start or the end of the wrestling season here because of the expense of having to fly them directly here from Los Angeles, unless they were already appearing for Johnny in Montreal," Al explained.  "I only have you two here now, so we'll have to figure out something."

"Hey, maybe you won't need to get anyone else right now," Barbara then spoke up.  "What if you matched me up against Renée in singles matches here?"

"Hmm, sounds like you've got an idea there," an intrigued Al said.  "But the fans here in Halifax and around the Maritimes already know you both as babyfaces from seeing you on last December's girl wrestler TV special that Johnny put on."

"I've got an idea on how we could set such a match up to do around the circuit*," Barbara suggested.  "See how this sounds to you and Renée..."

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

* What that idea is will be explained in the next few event posts.

[Old School Fan]

Eastern Sports Association @ Halifax Forum
September 2, 1969 - Halifax, Nova Scotia

 

Rocky Johnson wrestled Cowboy Kirk to a time-limit draw.

Handicap match

Bobo Brazil defeated Mike Rolenski & Mr. X when Brazil pinned Rolenski following a headbutt.

In a non-title match, Barbara LaMarche wrestled Canadian Women's Champion Renée Martel to a time-limit draw in a scientific exhibition after it was announced that the originally scheduled women's tag team match, which would have pitted Martel and LaMarche against Toni Rose and Patti Neilson, had been scrubbed due to Rose and Neilson no-showing the card.*

Two Out of Three Falls

The Beast & Rudy Kay defeated Fred Sweetan & Pretty Boy Russell, two falls to one, when Beast forced Russell to submit to the bearhug in the third fall.

NWA North American Heavyweight Championship (Maritimes)**

Archie "Stomper" Gouldie (C) battled Lord Athol Layton to a double-countout.

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

* This is the first match in the ESA angle being planned between Renée Martel and Barbara LaMarche.

** The belt used to represent Stampede Wrestling's North American Heavyweight Championship was also used to represent the North American title in the Maritimes (both IRL and ITTL), as Stampede North American Champion Archie "Stomper" Gouldie had brought that belt with him when he went to wrestle in the ESA during Stampede's annual summer hiatus following Stampede Week in Calgary.

Edited May 12, 2023 by Old School Fan
Replaced Rudy Kay image with better quality image

[Lord Byron]

I suspect if Andy Kaufman goes up against, say, Renee Martel in TTL, he's going to get more than he bargained for, methinks...

Good diary, BTW...

[Old School Fan]

International Wrestling* TV taping @ CJCH-TV studios**
September 3, 1969 - Halifax, Nova Scotia

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

 

In a non-title match, Barbara LaMarche scored an upset win over Canadian Women's Champion Renée Martel when, as Martel hoisted LaMarche up for a bodyslam, LaMarche caught the champion and rolled her up into a small package to get the three-count, just seconds before the 10-minute TV time limit was to expire.  Following the match, International Wrestling host/announcer Clary Flemming arrived at ringside to conduct an interview with the match participants:

CLARY FLEMMING:  Alright, Barbara LaMarche, you had yourself quite a match today against Renée Martel and you came away the victor in the ring.

BARBARA LaMARCHE:  Merci beaucoup, Mr. Flemming, it was quite a match, but it wasn't the match that was supposed to take place here today.  Renée and I were supposed to team up here today against another team, Toni Rose and Patti Neilsen, but they never showed up for the match, so the promoter, Al Zinck, did what he could to make sure there was a women's match here today by putting me and Renée against each other.  I had no problem with that and neither did Renée, so we went in that ring behind us and put on the kind of match we thought the fans deserve - and they deserve nothing less than the best.  (Some applause and cheering from the studio audience)

FLEMMING:  And the fans agree with you on that, Barbara.

LaMARCHE:  (As Renée Martel joins her and Flemming at ringside) That's great.  Now, since I got the win in that match, there's something that I want to ask...  (Turning to Renée)  Renée, we've been friends, allies and tag team partners since you first started wrestling over four years ago, and we've been through thick and thin in the business together.  Now today, we gave all the fans here a great match...  (Turning to the fans behind the ring)  You all think so?  (The fans respond with some cheering)  You want to see more of that?  (The fans cheer again)  There you go, the fans know what they want.  So what do you think, Renée - should they get more?

RENÉE MARTEL:  I agree, that's what we're here for, to wrestle some great matches, the kind the fans want to see.  (More cheers from the fans)

LaMARCHE:  And to make this match even better, I have an idea - your Canadian Women's title belt.  Would you put it on the line next week?

MARTEL:  Well, you know me, Barbara, I don't turn down any challenges to my belt - any girl wrestler that wants a shot at my title, they'll get it because unlike a certain women's champion I can think of who picks and chooses who she faces and only defends her belt against whoever she feels like defending against, I'll defend my belt against any girl wrestler seeking a shot.  I made a promise to be a fighting champion when I first won this belt over a year ago and I've kept that promise ever since, so Barbara, you want a shot at my belt, you got it - and let's make that match next Tuesday night at the Forum in Halifax.  Sound good?  (The fans cheer as Renée extends her hand to Barbara)

LaMARCHE:  (Accepting Renée's gesture as they shake hands and the fans cheer louder)  Sounds good to me!

FLEMMING:  Well there you have it, fans, a title bout between the Canadian Women's Champion Renée Martel and Barbara LaMarche, for this Tuesday night at the Halifax Forum!  Al Zinck, our promoter, just has to make it official, but this promises to be a solid match between two popular scientific girl wrestling stars.  We'll be back with more action after these messages and a word about upcoming International Wrestling events in your town!

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

* International Wrestling was the Eastern Sports Association's TV program, taped on Wednesday mornings at the studios of Halifax CTV affiliate CJCH-TV for airing on Saturday evenings in Halifax and in regional syndication around the Canadian Maritimes.

** The photo of the CJCH-TV studios shown above, at 2885 Robie Street in Halifax, shows the studio building as it looked as of 2018; it would have looked different back when this TV taping was held in 1969.

[Old School Fan]

Eastern Sports Association @ Halifax Forum
September 9, 1969 - Halifax, Nova Scotia

 

Cowboy Kirk battled Mike Rolenski to a time-limit draw.

Rudy Kay defeated Pretty Boy Russell by pinfall.

The Beast battled Fred Sweetan to a no-contest when both wrestlers were disqualified for excessive brawling.

Canadian Women's Championship

Barbara LaMarche defeated Renée Martel (C) in an upset to win the title, but the ending was not without controversy as LaMarche reversed a rollup by Martel and got the pinfall by grabbing a handful of Renée's tights for illegal leverage.  Renée protested the outcome of the match in vain to the referee as he handed the title belt to LaMarche, who then gloated about the win to Renée, appearing to signal a heel turn for LaMarche in the ESA.

NWA International Tag Team Championship (Maritimes)*

Rocky Johnson & Bobby Kay** defeated Jos & Paul LeDuc (C) by disqualification when Paul LeDuc threw the referee aside as the latter tried to stop Jos from pounding on Kay in the corner (the LeDucs retained their title due to the DQ).

NWA North American Heavyweight Championship (Maritimes) - No Disqualification match

Archie "Stomper" Gouldie (C) narrowly defeated Lord Athol Layton by pinfall following a stomp to the head after the two wrestlers wore each other down battling all over the ring, and even occasionally out to ringside.

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

* The Maritimes version of the NWA International Tag Team Championship, defended in the ESA, was represented by a trophy instead of title belts; no image of that trophy could be found online.

** Bobby Kay (real name Romeo Cormier) was the youngest member of New Brunswick's Cormier wrestling family (alongside Leo Burke, Rudy Kay and the Beast).

 

[Old School Fan]

Eastern Sports Association @ Halifax Forum
September 16, 1969 - Halifax, Nova Scotia

 

Bobby Kay went to a time-limit draw with Mike Rolenski.

Handicap match

The Beast defeated Fred Sweetan and Pretty Boy Russell when Beast forced Russell to submit to a bearhug.

Canadian Women's Championship

Renée Martel defeated Barbara LaMarche (C) to regain the title she had lost last week in controversial fashion following LaMarche's heel turn when she pinned LaMarche following a belly-to-belly suplex.

NWA International Tag Team Championship (Maritimes)

Rocky Johnson & Rudy Kay defeated Jos & Paul LeDuc (C) by disqualification when Jos LeDuc threw Johnson over the top rope (the LeDucs retained their title due to the DQ); the LeDucs continued double-teaming on Kay post-match until the Beast ran out for the save as he, joined by Johnson (who had come back into the ring moments after Beast's arrival), ran the champions off.

NWA North American Heavyweight Championship (Maritimes)

Archie "Stomper" Gouldie (C) defeated Bobo Brazil by pinfall, but the title was held up following the match by ESA promoter Al Zinck due to Gouldie's use of a foreign object during the match to get the pinfall; a rematch for the held-up title will be scheduled for a future date.