Rise of a Star

[Old School Fan]

8 hours ago, piperrulz said:

Good, realistic promo. They say promos are more realistic today. What a load of crap! Promos were so much better then because they made you believe. It's not like that today.

Perhaps the worst example of what fans get for promos today comes from WWE, thanks to Vince forcing his talent to use similar-sounding cookie cutter promos scripted for them by WWE Creative (or as I call it, WWE Non-creative) instead of letting them do their own promos - just one example of him and his controlling micromanagement style ruining the product (not that he cares, of course, because everything he's ever done in WWE since he bought the company, he's done strictly for his own amusement, at the expense of talent, staff, fans and the wrestling business alike).

8 hours ago, piperrulz said:

Michele won the Women's Title from Renee' thanks to foul tactics. Looking forward to Renee' winning it back in the re-match.

It'll be a while before that happens, though, as there are still some big happenings coming for Renée down the line as the year progresses...

[Old School Fan]

Stampede Wrestling @ Red Deer Arena*
March 24, 1970 - Red Deer, Alberta
Attendance - 2,833

 

Dan Kroffat & Mighty Ursus defeated Thunderbolt Cannon & Gordon Ivey when Ursus pinned Ivey following a gorilla press slam.

Bob Lueck & Stu Hart defeated Gil Hayes & Buck Jones when Lueck pinned Jones following a football tackle from a three-point stance.

Canadian Women's Tag Team Championship - Two Out of Three Falls

Renée Martel & Claire Lepage (C) defeated Shirley Hardman & Diane Syverson, two falls to one, when Hardman was disqualified in the third fall for throwing Martel over the top rope.

NWA International Tag Team Championship (Calgary) - Two Out of Three Falls

Bobby & Jerry Christy (C) defeated Wayne Coleman & Angelo "King Kong" Mosca, two falls to one, when Bobby Christy pinned Coleman in the third fall.

NWA North American Heavyweight Championship (Calgary)

Abdullah the Butcher (C) defeated Dave Ruhl by disqualification when Ruhl knocked the referee aside as the latter tried to get the wild match under control.

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

* The Red Deer Arena, which opened in 1952, was Red Deer's main arena for years and also served as Stampede's regular venue in that city until the promotion's demise in December 1989.  The Red Deer Arena, which seated 2,800 for hockey and could hold more with floor seating for wrestling and other events, was superseded by the ENMAX Centrium (now the Peavey Mart Centrium) as Red Deer's main sports venue in 1991 and was demolished in 2016 to make way for construction of the present Servus Arena on its site.

 

[Old School Fan]

American Wrestling Association @ Winnipeg Civic Auditorium
March 26, 1970 - Winnipeg, Manitoba
Attendance - 4,780

 

Orest Antonation & Bob Brunelle* defeated Wilf Caron & Bobby Jones when Brunelle forced Caron to submit to a rolling short armscissors.

Leroy Hirsch** defeated George Gadaski by pinfall.

Bulldog Bob Brown defeated Ivan Kalmikoff by pinfall following a superkick.

Lars Anderson defeated Red Bastien by pinfall following a clothesline.

Canadian Women's Tag Team Championship - Two Out of Three Falls

Renée Martel & Claire Lepage (C) defeated Shirley Hardman & Diane Syverson, two falls to one.

• First fall - Syverson pinned Lepage following an airplane spin.
• Second fall - Hardman and Syverson were disqualified for excessive double-teaming on Lepage.
• Third fall - Martel forced Hardman to submit to the Alligator Clutch.

The Mighty Igor defeated Gene Kiniski by disqualification when Kiniski sent Igor head-first into a corner post outside the ring.

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

* Bob Brunelle was an early ring name used by Yvon Robert Jr., the son of Quebec wrestling legend Yvon Robert.

** AKA Al Tomko.

[Captain Kremmen]

On 6/22/2023 at 2:47 AM, Old School Fan said:

Perhaps the worst example of what fans get for promos today comes from WWE, thanks to Vince forcing his talent to use similar-sounding cookie cutter promos scripted for them by WWE Creative (or as I call it, WWE Non-creative) instead of letting them do their own promos - just one example of him and his controlling micromanagement style ruining the product (not that he cares, of course, because everything he's ever done in WWE since he bought the company, he's done strictly for his own amusement, at the expense of talent, staff, fans and the wrestling business alike).

It'll be a while before that happens, though, as there are still some big happenings coming for Renée down the line as the year progresses...

It useed to be trained pro wrestlers were guys who happened to appear on TV. Today, they're 'sports entertainers'. As you said, all the promos are scripted and the guys can't truly be themselves. They're now just actors  performing in front of a live audience on weekly TV shows. There's also the lack of ring psychology and lack of selling. Guy gets blasted with a big move and then 10 seconds later he's fighting back like nothing happened. It doesn' bother me that in '80s the WWF came out and admitted this stuff was show business for business purposes. But, if you start treating it like a joke then your fans are going to pick up on that and treat it as a farce as well. Sadly, the days are long gone when fans went to the shows with the anticipation something was going to happen and they could suspend disbelief. Now, fans just go to a show. As Jim Cornette has said on his podcasts, the shows are like Disney On Ice now. Stephanie said they wanted to put smiles on fans' faces. The fans know it's all just a show and everybody's just there to have fun instead of fans wanting to see some guy get his ass kicked by someone the heel had wronged. Today is not the model this business was built on. Sometimes, the bad guys did win at the end of the evening.

The only things I like in wrestling today:

Brock Lesnar

The Bloodline (Have to admit I saw the end of SD last week and liked The Bloodline segment.)

AJ Styles

THE END

Looking forward to see how you use Renee' moving forward. Lots of twists and turns in front of and behind the camera, I bet. 🙂

 

P.S. - Did you ever see that promo segment where Randy Orton forgot his line and had to asked Sheamus what the line was and Sheamus repeated it back to him verbatim and then Orton said it on-mic?

Edited June 23, 2023 by piperrulz

[Old School Fan]

12 hours ago, piperrulz said:

Looking forward to see how you use Renee' moving forward. Lots of twists and turns in front of and behind the camera, I bet. 🙂

After an upcoming event post, I've got a behind-the-scenes chapter to post that'll detail what's next for Renée (which I think might also get the attention of @kinnikuniverse, as this is expected [without spoiling anything] to tie in to something he's been expecting to see happen with Renée for a while).  😎

[Old School Fan]

All-Star Wrestling @ Paul Sauvé Arena
April 6, 1970 - Montreal, Quebec

 

The Kelly Twins defeated The Green Hornets when Mike Kelly pinned Green Hornet I.

Tony Baillargeon defeated Chin Lee by pinfall following a flying dropkick.

Canadian Women's Tag Team Championship - Two Out of Three Falls

Renée Martel & Claire Lepage (C) defeated Marianne Duchesne & Annette Dupuis, two falls to one.

⦁    First fall - Duchesne pinned Lepage following a leg lariat.
⦁    Second fall - Martel pinned Duchesne following a flying forearm smash off the ropes.
⦁    Third fall - Lepage forced Dupuis to submit to a figure-four leglock.

Canadian Women's Championship

Michèle Richard (C) defeated Kathy O'Brien by pinfall following a spinebuster slam.

Michel "Le Justice" Dubois, Fidel Castillo & Chris Tolos (with Eddie Creatchman) defeated Jacques Rougeau, Gino Brito & Jos LeDuc when LeDuc was disqualified for slugging the referee as the latter tried to break up a brawl between LeDuc and Dubois.

 

[Captain Kremmen]

OSF,

I'm in withdrawal! I need some behind-the-scenes action! 🙃 Especially where it involves Moolah.

[Old School Fan]

On 6/26/2023 at 3:12 AM, piperrulz said:

OSF,

I'm in withdrawal! I need some behind-the-scenes action! 🙃 Especially where it involves Moolah.

Ask and ye shall receive (in fact, it's the very next post)...  😁

[Old School Fan]

April 1970

Back in Montreal, Renée Martel returned home to her apartment complex* from a grocery shopping trip, taking advantage of the opportunity to enjoy a few days off from the wrestling ring.  What she was not enjoying very much, however, was having to take four heavy bags of groceries from the back seat of her car and carry all four bags with her in her arms all the way back to her apartment in one trip; realizing this, she made sure to keep her key ring, which contained the key to the apartment building's main entry and her apartment key, in her right hand as she made her way to the main entrance.  As she was halfway up the path leading to the stairs to the main entrance, however, she ended up dropping her keys on the path by accident, followed by one of her grocery bags slipping out of her grasp and falling onto the path.

Aww, damn it!  Why me, and why now?  a displeased Renée thought to herself as she looked down and saw the spilled grocery bag.  I hope that wasn't the bag with the eggs in it!

As Renée attempted to bend down to get the spilled bag and her keys, help soon came for her when Claire Lepage, her downstairs neighbor, came outside to meet her.  "Hey Renée, I saw you getting your groceries from your car from outside my living room window and I figured you might need some help," Claire said as she helped her friend gather up the groceries that had spilled from the bag and put them back in before picking the bag and Renée's keys up, then handing the keys back to her.  "Need a hand?"

"I could sure use one right now," a relieved Renée said as she let Claire take another one of her grocery bags to lighten the load as they made their way to the main entrance and let themselves inside, then headed up to Renée's apartment.  "Thanks for the help, Claire, you're a sweetheart."

"Glad to do what I can to help," a pleased Claire replied as Renée unlocked the front door to her apartment and the girls went in with the groceries, stopping in the kitchen.

"It's sure good to be back home and spend the next few days off to rest and relax and not think too much about wrestling," Renée said as she put the two bags she was carrying down on the kitchen counter and started putting their contents away, starting with putting a carton of milk away in the fridge.

"I hear that," Claire agreed as she helped Renée remove grocery items from their bags to put away.  "That series with Shirley Hardman and Diane Syverson in Stampede was a tough one for sure."

"With them, when isn't it?" Renée remarked with a smirk.  "But I don't blame them, they go out of their way to put on the best matches they can and make them look competitive, much like everyone else on Mildred Burke's roster does - and much different from facing Fabulous Moolah's girls when we get in the ring with them."

"I noticed that too when Barbara and I faced Moolah and Toni Rose at the Forum back in January," Claire noted while taking two boxes of cereal out of another grocery bag.  "We pretty much had to carry the match against them because for someone who claims to be the top female wrestler in the world and who trains the wrestlers she employs, Moolah doesn't seem like all that good a trainer."

"Very true," Renée agreed.  "Joyce Fowler even told me so about Moolah, and she'd know because she was a Moolah trainee herself.  Joyce said because Moolah's not all that good a wrestler to begin with, she hardly did any of the training at her facility herself and Joyce basically had to train herself how to wrestle while she was at Moolah's camp because Moolah was unwilling to allow anyone she had trained to be a better wrestler than her.  I asked Penny Banner about Moolah and the training expertise she claimed another time and she backed up what Joyce said regarding Moolah's supposed 'training skills'.  Joyce admitted that after she left Moolah to join Mildred's roster and train with her, her skills really started to improve."

"Good, she deserves that," Claire said of Joyce.  "Getting that training from Mildred paid off for her too when she got a run with the TV title down in Los Angeles."

"It sure did," Renée said as she took the last of the items she bought on her supermarket run, a few personal items such as shampoo, soap, a tube of toothpaste and a new toothbrush, into her bathroom.  Returning from the bathroom a moment later, she then asked Claire, "So, what're you planning on doing tonight?"

"Probably nothing but relax and watch a bit of TV, maybe whip up some pasta for dinner," Claire said.  "I've been busy today cleaning up my living room downstairs, vacuuming and all that.  I was cleaning the front windows in the living room when I saw you pull up in your car with your groceries and I saw it looked like you were going to have trouble carrying those four big bags with you in one trip, so that's when I went out to help."

"Yeah, a TV night sounds good too, but I don't really feel much like cooking tonight," Renée admitted.  "Hey, instead of cooking, we could go out for burgers instead - how's that sound?"

As Claire was about to answer, Renée's phone began ringing.  "Uh, hold that thought," Renée said as she walked over and answered the phone after the second ring, "Hello?  Ah, hi Johnny.  Yeah, I just got back from grocery shopping a few minutes ago.  Claire's with me now, she helped bring my groceries in."

Claire, realizing Johnny Rougeau was on the phone, joined Renée by the phone as the latter continued talking.  "Ah, okay...  We were planning to go out for dinner anyway, but we can stop at your office on the way," Renée said.  "Okay, see you in a few minutes."

"What does Johnny want to see us for?" Claire wondered as Renée hung up her phone.

"Well, you know Johnny by now," Renée said.  "If he wants to see us at his office but doesn't say why, it always means it's a surprise.  He also called Julie and Michèle a few minutes before he called me and they'll be meeting us there too.  All he told me is it's something big and he wants us there."

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

A few minutes later, Renée and Claire arrived at Johnny's training gym, where Julie Painchaud was already waiting for them.  "Hey Julie, Johnny told me he called you to come by," Renée said.

"I just wonder if he called me to put the boots back on," Julie said.  "I haven't done so since I retired from the ring last August to start working backstage handling first aid for Johnny's events."

"I guess we'll find out as soon as Michèle gets here," Claire added.

"I thought that's why my ears were itching," a voice said jokingly from not far off, prompting Renée, Claire and Julie to turn their heads as they saw Michèle Richard arrive.  "So Johnny called you all too, huh?"

"He did, he said he had some big news for us and he wanted us here to tell us in person," Renée admitted.

"Ah, good, you're all here," Johnny then said as he stepped out from his office.  "Come on in, I've got that news to tell you."  The girls then ventured into the office - at which point Renée gasped as she saw a familiar visitor sitting in one of the visitors' chairs.

"Mildred, hi!" a surprised Renée exclaimed as she recognized Mildred Burke, who got up from her chair and greeted her protégée with a hug as Renée walked over to her.  "Good to see you again."

"Same here, Renée, as well as your friends," Mildred said before similarly greeting Michèle and Claire.  "But I don't believe I've met you before," she then added as she came up to Julie.

"Julie Painchaud, I'm another friend of Renée's," Julie said with a grin as she introduced herself with a handshake.

"Hello, Julie, good to meet you," Mildred said as she accepted the redhaired girl's handshake.

"So Mildred, what brought you back to Montreal?" Renée asked.

"I wanted to come up personally to discuss business with Johnny," Mildred replied, "including about the upcoming edition of my tournament."

"Yeah, I've been wondering about that, why the tournament hadn't happened this year around its usual time," Michèle then said.

"Well, this year I wanted to move it to May and time its final night to happen on the day after Memorial Day in the US," Mildred explained.  "I'm setting it up that way because I have something big planned for the tournament this year."

"And just like the previous tournaments, Mildred wants to get some of the All-Star women's roster to head to Los Angeles for the tournament," Johnny added.  "She asked about Barbara because of her wrestling as part of the tournament two years ago, but I told her about Barbara being out of action since February because of her elbow injury against Fabulous Moolah, so she asked who else she could get besides the three of you - Renée, Michèle and Claire - and that's when I thought of Julie."

"Ah-hah, I was right," Julie then said to Johnny.  "You did ask me to put my boots back on and wrestle again."

"So then, you're retired now?" Mildred then asked Julie.

"I am, since last August," Julie explained.  "I graduated from nursing school a few months before then and after a last run in the ring, I decided to take a job with Johnny to work backstage at his shows as a first-aid technician while I wait for nursing work to become available at one of the hospitals here in Montreal."

"I see," Mildred said.  "Have you ever had any experience with wrestling in the United States?"

"I did wrestle some matches with the AWA over in the Midwest and in Winnipeg," Julie said.  "For my American appearances, I used the ring name Julie Payne because I figured not many American fans might be able to pronounce my own last name properly unless they live near Quebec and they hear how it sounds."

"But with Barbara out for the time being and with France Gall back in Europe on an extended tour with her lightweight title, that leaves me in a bit of a pinch for name talent to send down to Los Angeles," Johnny pointed out to Julie.  "I wouldn't be asking otherwise if it weren't for that.  So what do you say, Julie - would you be willing to give the ring another try?"

"It'd be great having you back with us as a competitor again," Renée reasoned.  "And you'd be helping us out in a big way."

Julie thought about it a moment before answering.  "Well, I'd have to get back in practice...  But it looks like Julie Payne rides again," she said with a little giggle as the other girls congratulated her on agreeing to come out of retirement to join them for their latest AGWA tour.

"Excellent, thanks, Julie," a pleased Mildred said.  "Now then, getting down to business about this year's tournament - besides moving it to May, I have another big plan for the tournament..."

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

* The photo at the top of the post, intended to represent the apartment complex in Montreal which Renée and Claire live in (the setting of the first part of the post) at this point ITTL, is actually a random photo from the Internet.

[Old School Fan]

Starting with the event below, Renée Martel and her friends head down to go on their latest tour of the AGWA, in anticipation of the upcoming Mildred Burke Invitational Tournament...

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

American Girls' Wrestling Association @ Orange Pavilion
April 17*, 1970 - San Bernardino, California
Attendance - 5,280

 

Julie Payne (making her AGWA debut) defeated Panama Franco by pinfall following a suplex slam.

Patty Stevens** defeated Gwen Miller by pinfall following a powerslam.

Michèle Richard (with "The Queen" Mae Young) defeated Marie Vagnone by pinfall following a spinebuster slam.

AGWA Interstate Tag Team Championship - Two Out of Three Falls

Renée Martel & Claire Lepage defeated The Sisters of Love*** (C) (with Tonette Kadrmas), one fall to none.

⦁    First fall - Lepage pinned Sister Serenity following a flying bodypress.
⦁    Second fall - The 30-minute time limit expired as Martel had Sister Lavender tied up in the Alligator Clutch; as a result, although the Sisters lost the match, they retained their title because Martel and Lepage did not get the required second fall to win the title.

NWA United States Women's Championship

Judy Arnold (C) defeated Tonette Kadrmas by disqualification when the Sisters of Love ran in and attacked Arnold as she had Kadrmas tied up in the spinning toehold; a three-on-one against Arnold by the Dynasty then ensued until Renée Martel and Claire Lepage ran in to even the sides and helped Arnold chase the heel faction out.

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

* Michèle Richard turned 24 on the day of this card, as she had been born on this date in 1946.

** Patty Stevens was an early ring name used by Peggy Patterson (AKA The Beast in the Ladies Professional Wrestling Association IRL).

*** The Sisters of Love defeated Jane Sherill & Patty O'Hara to regain the title on February 10, 1970 in Anaheim, California.

[sonny912]

4 hours ago, Old School Fan said:

Starting with the event below, Renée Martel and her friends head down to go on their latest tour of the AGWA, in anticipation of the upcoming Mildred Burke Invitational Tournament...

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

American Girls' Wrestling Association @ Orange Pavilion
April 17*, 1970 - San Bernardino, California
Attendance - 5,280

 

Julie Payne (making her AGWA debut) defeated Panama Franco by pinfall following a suplex slam.

Patty Stevens** defeated Gwen Miller by pinfall following a powerslam.

Michèle Richard (with "The Queen" Mae Young) defeated Marie Vagnone by pinfall following a spinebuster slam.

AGWA Interstate Tag Team Championship - Two Out of Three Falls

Renée Martel & Claire Lepage defeated The Sisters of Love*** (C) (with Tonette Kadrmas), one fall to none.

⦁    First fall - Lepage pinned Sister Serenity following a flying bodypress.
⦁    Second fall - The 30-minute time limit expired as Martel had Sister Lavender tied up in the Alligator Clutch; as a result, although the Sisters lost the match, they retained their title because Martel and Lepage did not get the required second fall to win the title.

NWA United States Women's Championship

Judy Arnold (C) defeated Tonette Kadrmas by disqualification when the Sisters of Love ran in and attacked Arnold as she had Kadrmas tied up in the spinning toehold; a three-on-one against Arnold by the Dynasty then ensued until Renée Martel and Claire Lepage ran in to even the sides and helped Arnold chase the heel faction out.

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

* Michèle Richard turned 24 on the day of this card, as she had been born on this date in 1946.

** Patty Stevens was an early ring name used by Peggy Patterson (AKA The Beast in the Ladies Professional Wrestling Association IRL).

*** The Sisters of Love defeated Jane Sherill & Patty O'Hara to regain the title on February 10, 1970 in Anaheim, California.

I thought the sisters of love were managed by that guy that worked for Moolah? You know the guy who got fired for hitting some of the girls with chairs during a match.

[Old School Fan]

1 minute ago, sonny912 said:

I thought the sisters of love were managed by that guy that worked for Moolah? You know the guy who got fired for hitting some of the girls with chairs during a match.

Sir Robin Ascott was that guy, but Tonette Kadrmas stepped in and replaced him as the Sisters' manager (and as the leader of the Dynasty) not long after he got fired.  🙂

[Captain Kremmen]

I smell a rat... 😗

Something tells me something bad is going to happen in a shoot fashion either before or during the tournament.

P.S. - Maybe you can have Renee' sing the National Anthem at the house shows! 😁

[Old School Fan]

American Girls' Wrestling Association @ San Diego Sports Arena
April 18, 1970 - San Diego, California
Attendance - 14,350

 

Julie Payne fought Irma Acevedo to a time-limit draw.

Patty Stevens defeated Marie Vagnone by pinfall following a powerslam.

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

Bonnie Watson* defeated Terry Majors by pinfall with a rollup into a bridge pin.

Two Out of Three Falls

In a non-title bout, Renée Martel & Claire Lepage defeated NWA United States Women's Tag Team Champions Georgia Hase & Judy Sowinski (with Mae Young), two falls to one.

⦁    First fall - Sowinski pinned Lepage following an airplane spin.
⦁    Second fall - Martel pinned Hase following a belly-to-belly suplex.
⦁    Third fall - Lepage pinned Sowinski following a flying bodypress.

AGWA Interstate Championship

Tonette Kadrmas (C) defeated Sally Vega by pinfall with a schoolgirl rollup (aided with a handful of Vega's tights for illegal leverage).

NWA United States Women's Championship

Judy Arnold (C) defeated Ashley Sinclair (with Tonette Kadrmas) by disqualification when Kadrmas ran in and attacked Arnold as she had Sinclair caught in a sleeperhold; Arnold got double-teamed by Kadrmas and Sinclair for a few moments post-match, but soon got help as Sally Vega ran in to even the odds as the babyface duo battled back and cleared the Dynasty members out of the ring.

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

* Bonnie Watson, the NWA Southern Women's Champion in Florida at this point, was brought over to the AGWA to participate in the upcoming Mildred Burke Invitational Tournament.

[Captain Kremmen]

13 hours ago, Old School Fan said:

American Girls' Wrestling Association @ San Diego Sports Arena
April 18, 1970 - San Diego, California
Attendance - 14,350

 

Julie Payne fought Irma Acevedo to a time-limit draw.

Patty Stevens defeated Marie Vagnone by pinfall following a powerslam.

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

Bonnie Watson* defeated Terry Majors by pinfall with a rollup into a bridge pin.

Two Out of Three Falls

In a non-title bout, Renée Martel & Claire Lepage defeated NWA United States Women's Tag Team Champions Georgia Hase & Judy Sowinski (with Mae Young), two falls to one.

⦁    First fall - Sowinski pinned Lepage following an airplane spin.
⦁    Second fall - Martel pinned Hase following a belly-to-belly suplex.
⦁    Third fall - Lepage pinned Sowinski following a flying bodypress.

AGWA Interstate Championship

Tonette Kadrmas (C) defeated Sally Vega by pinfall with a schoolgirl rollup (aided with a handful of Vega's tights for illegal leverage).

NWA United States Women's Championship

Judy Arnold (C) defeated Ashley Sinclair (with Tonette Kadrmas) by disqualification when Kadrmas ran in and attacked Arnold as she had Sinclair caught in a sleeperhold; Arnold got double-teamed by Kadrmas and Sinclair for a few moments post-match, but soon got help as Sally Vega ran in to even the odds as the babyface duo battled back and cleared the Dynasty members out of the ring.

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

* Bonnie Watson, the NWA Southern Women's Champion in Florida at this point, was brought over to the AGWA to participate in the upcoming Mildred Burke Invitational Tournament.

I miss time-limit draws.

[Old School Fan]

In a recent article in the Los Angeles Times...

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

Championship gold at stake in girls' grappling tourney

For fans of women's professional wrestling, the annual Mildred Burke Invitational Tournament, presented by its namesake Mildred Burke's American Girls' Wrestling Association group, presents the opportunity for sixteen of the best female wrestlers in the sport to battle their way to the top and show who, at the end of the tournament, will stand supreme.

This year, however, the fourth edition of the prestigious tournament will be offering higher stakes.  Instead of being offered a championship match as a reward as in past tournaments, this year's tourney winner will be crowned a champion.  Burke, a former National Wrestling Alliance World Women's Wrestling Champion and later a holder of the World Women's Wrestling Association World Championship who held that title until her retirement from the wrestling ring in 1956, has announced that she will be reviving the latter championship and will present it to the winner of her upcoming tournament.

"This is a moment that's been coming ever since I first launched the AGWA back in late-1966," Burke, the owner, president and CEO of the AGWA, said during the announcement of the revival of the WWWA Championship.  "During my championship years, I did what I could to elevate the World Women's title, as well as women's wrestling in general, in the eyes of wrestling fans around the world, and the fans responded by packing arenas wherever women's matches were held, especially when they were the headline bouts on wrestling cards.  The women that I trained for the sport, I wanted them to go out and put on the best matches that they could, and when they did, the fans always responded well and wanted more.

"With the rise of my 'esteemed' rival and former student The Fabulous Moolah after I retired, women's wrestling has correspondingly been relegated to sideshow status with herself as the featured attraction above all others," Burke continued.  "But with the formation of the AGWA, Moolah's dominance of the sport is slowly being chipped away as the fans see that there is an alternative for those who follow the women's side of the sport.  The Invitational Tournament that takes place each year testifies to the rise of that alternative choice as it spotlights the cream of the crop in women's competition - and this year, the revived WWWA Championship will go to the one who emerges on top from the field of sixteen, as the new champion will travel around the country, as well as into Canada and Japan, to defend her title and be an ambassador for women's wrestling as the sport deserves."

Among those invited to take part in the tournament include tough Jane O'Brien, the California Women's Champion; Bonnie Watson, the Southern Women's titleholder; Tonette Kadrmas, the AGWA's Interstate Champion; Ann Casey, the former Interstate Champion; Mary Jane Mull, a former World Women's Tag Team Champion; Ashley Sinclair, a brash and arrogant young villainess and the AGWA's current two-time Shooting Star Champion; Jane Sherill and Patty O'Hara, both former United States Women's Tag Team Champions; Canadian stars Renee Martel and Claire Lepage; and up-and-coming stars Irma Acevedo, Marie Vagnone and Patty Stevens, all recent graduates of Burke's wrestling school.

The opening matches in the tournament to crown the new WWWA Champion will take place on May 5 and stretch out over four weeks, concluding with the semifinals and championship final on May 26.  The opening round and the quarterfinals will take place in Anaheim at its Convention Center Arena, while the semifinals and final, as in previous years, will go in Los Angeles.

[Captain Kremmen]

Looks like Mildred has put together a good show.

I still think something is going to happen that's completely unexpected.

[Old School Fan]

AGWA TV taping @ Anaheim Convention Center Arena
April 21, 1970 - Anaheim, California
Attendance - 6,520

Aired the weekend of April 25, 1970 on AGWA Women's Pro Wrestling:

Dark match

Terry Majors defeated Jane Travis by pinfall following a cross-bodyblock.

Colleen Murrell defeated Addie Trent by pinfall following a Boomerang (playing on Murrell's Australian origins, a springboard elbowsmash off the ropes).

Kim Blanchard (with Tonette Kadrmas) defeated Gwen Miller by pinfall with a schoolgirl rollup, aided by grabbing a handful of tights for illegal leverage (not seen by the referee).  Following the match, Kadrmas and Blanchard joined Dick Lane for a ringside interview, where the Dynasty members demanded that Blanchard get a title match against NWA World Women's Lightweight Champion France Gall; when Lane pointed out that Gall is currently on tour in Europe with her title, Blanchard replied that she didn't care, that she would wait to get that title shot at the first opportunity when Gall returned to the United States.

Jane Sherill & Patty O'Hara defeated Casey Andrews & Lorna Dale when O'Hara pinned Andrews following a clothesline to the back of the head.

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

In the TV main event (joined in progress during the second fall), Georgia Hase & Judy Sowinski (C) (with "The Queen" Mae Young) defeated Sally Vega & Lita Marez, two falls to one.

⦁    First fall - Hase pinned Vega following a knee lift.
⦁    Second fall - Marez forced Hase to submit to the Boston crab.
⦁    Third fall - Marez was disqualified when she lost her temper and decked the referee as he tried to break up a brawl between her and Sowinski.

Aired the weekend of May 2, 1970 on AGWA Women's Pro Wrestling:

Dark match

Patty Stevens defeated Samantha Sheridan by pinfall following a powerslam.

Julie Payne defeated Yolanda Ruiz by pinfall with a suplex slam.  Following the match, Mildred Burke appeared at ringside with Dick Lane to announce the upcoming Mildred Burke Invitational Tournament to fill the recently-revived World Women's Wrestling Association World Championship, which would start with first-round bouts on May 5.

Renée Martel & Claire Lepage defeated Irma Acevedo & Panama Franco when Lepage pinned Acevedo following a flying bodypress while Martel ran in to keep Franco from interfering with the pin attempt.

AGWA Shooting Star Championship

Ashley Sinclair (C) (with Tonette Kadrmas) defeated Terri Grayson when Sinclair put her feet on the middle rope for illegal leverage while going for a pin on Grayson.

In a non-title match, Ann Casey & Bonnie Watson defeated AGWA Interstate Tag Team Champions The Sisters of Love (with Tonette Kadrmas) when Casey pinned Sister Serenity following an airplane spin.

NWA United States Women's Championship

Judy Arnold (C) defeated Michèle Richard (with Mae Young) by disqualification in the TV main event when Diane Syverson ran in and attacked Arnold while she had Richard tied up in the spinning toehold. Post-match, Syverson and Richard went on the attack against Arnold until Joan Weston ran in for the save and fought the Queen's Court members off.

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

Joan Weston (C) defeated Diane Syverson (with Mae Young) by pinfall following a shoulderbreaker.

 

[Captain Kremmen]

10 hours ago, Old School Fan said:

AGWA TV taping @ Anaheim Convention Center Arena
April 21, 1970 - Anaheim, California
Attendance - 6,520

Aired the weekend of April 25, 1970 on AGWA Women's Pro Wrestling:

Dark match

Terry Majors defeated Jane Travis by pinfall following a cross-bodyblock.

Colleen Murrell defeated Addie Trent by pinfall following a Boomerang (playing on Murrell's Australian origins, a springboard elbowsmash off the ropes).

Kim Blanchard (with Tonette Kadrmas) defeated Gwen Miller by pinfall with a schoolgirl rollup, aided by grabbing a handful of tights for illegal leverage (not seen by the referee).  Following the match, Kadrmas and Blanchard joined Dick Lane for a ringside interview, where the Dynasty members demanded that Blanchard get a title match against NWA World Women's Lightweight Champion France Gall; when Lane pointed out that Gall is currently on tour in Europe with her title, Blanchard replied that she didn't care, that she would wait to get that title shot at the first opportunity when Gall returned to the United States.

Jane Sherill & Patty O'Hara defeated Casey Andrews & Lorna Dale when O'Hara pinned Andrews following a clothesline to the back of the head.

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

In the TV main event (joined in progress during the second fall), Georgia Hase & Judy Sowinski (C) (with "The Queen" Mae Young) defeated Sally Vega & Lita Marez, two falls to one.

⦁    First fall - Hase pinned Vega following a knee lift.
⦁    Second fall - Marez forced Hase to submit to the Boston crab.
⦁    Third fall - Marez was disqualified when she lost her temper and decked the referee as he tried to break up a brawl between her and Sowinski.

Aired the weekend of May 2, 1970 on AGWA Women's Pro Wrestling:

Dark match

Patty Stevens defeated Samantha Sheridan by pinfall following a powerslam.

Julie Payne defeated Yolanda Ruiz by pinfall with a suplex slam.  Following the match, Mildred Burke appeared at ringside with Dick Lane to announce the upcoming Mildred Burke Invitational Tournament to fill the recently-revived World Women's Wrestling Association World Championship, which would start with first-round bouts on May 5.

Renée Martel & Claire Lepage defeated Irma Acevedo & Panama Franco when Lepage pinned Acevedo following a flying bodypress while Martel ran in to keep Franco from interfering with the pin attempt.

AGWA Shooting Star Championship

Ashley Sinclair (C) (with Tonette Kadrmas) defeated Terri Grayson when Sinclair put her feet on the middle rope for illegal leverage while going for a pin on Grayson.

In a non-title match, Ann Casey & Bonnie Watson defeated AGWA Interstate Tag Team Champions The Sisters of Love (with Tonette Kadrmas) when Casey pinned Sister Serenity following an airplane spin.

NWA United States Women's Championship

Judy Arnold (C) defeated Michèle Richard (with Mae Young) by disqualification in the TV main event when Diane Syverson ran in and attacked Arnold while she had Richard tied up in the spinning toehold. Post-match, Syverson and Richard went on the attack against Arnold until Joan Weston ran in for the save and fought the Queen's Court members off.

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

Joan Weston (C) defeated Diane Syverson (with Mae Young) by pinfall following a shoulderbreaker.

 

WOULD YOU PLEASE STAY OUT OF MY ARENA?! 🙃

[Lord Byron]

Wonder if you have shows scheduled in California for February of 1971, because, depending on where they are, they might have to be moved due to a certain earthquake that occurs in the Los Angeles area...

Edited July 3, 2023 by Lord Byron

[Old School Fan]

Following the April 21 TV tapings, some of the AGWA crew, thanks to popular demand and some negotiating between Mildred Burke and Jack Adkisson (AKA Fritz Von Erich), made their first live appearances in Texas as part of several joint cards with Adkisson's Big Time Wrestling circuit prior to the start of the Mildred Burke Invitational Tournament...

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

American Girls' Wrestling Association/Big Time Wrestling @ Sam Houston Coliseum
April 24, 1970 - Houston, Texas
Attendance - 11,000+

Matches from this event were taped for airing on Houston Wrestling, the wrestling program on Houston independent TV station KHTV (now KIAH) which was hosted and produced by Paul Boesch, that city's promoter.

 

Julie Payne fought Patty Stevens to a double-countout.

Michèle Richard (with "The Queen" Mae Young) defeated Bonnie Watson by pinfall following a spinebuster slam.

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

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

⦁    First fall - Hase pinned Lepage following a knee lift.
⦁    Second fall - Martel pinned Sowinski following a flying forearm smash off the ropes.
⦁    Third fall - Sowinski was disqualified for throwing Martel over the top rope (Hase & Sowinski retain their belts due to the DQ).

Prior to the match taking place, Martel and Lepage appeared in a pre-recorded TV interview with Paul Boesch, where the Canadian tandem vowed to get back the belts that Hase and Sowinski had stolen from them via chicanery in Indianapolis last September, also warning Young against interfering in the match on her clients' behalf.  Following that interview, Young, Hase and Sowinski were interviewed by Boesch as the champions laughed off Martel and Lepage's warnings and vowed that they would retain their title by any means necessary.

NWA United States Women's Championship

Judy Arnold (C) defeated Baby Rocco (with Mae Young) by disqualification when Georgia Hase and Judy Sowinski ran in and attacked Arnold as she had Rocco caught in a sleeperhold;  Arnold got triple-teamed by Rocco, Hase and Sowinski at Young's direction for about a minute post-match, but the Queen's Court's antics quickly came to a halt when Renée Martel and Claire Lepage ran in to help Arnold battle back and chase the heels off.

Two Out of Three Falls

In a non-title bout, Fritz & Waldo Von Erich defeated NWA American Tag Team Champions Killer Karl Kox & The Great Malenko in two straight falls when Fritz forced Malenko to submit to the Iron Claw in the second fall.

NWA Texas Heavyweight Championship - Two Out of Three Falls

Wahoo McDaniel defeated Johnny Valentine (C), two falls to one, when Valentine was counted out in the third fall (Valentine retains his title due to the countout).

 

Edited July 4, 2023 by Old School Fan
Corrected event date

[Old School Fan]

American Girls' Wrestling Association/Big Time Wrestling @ Tarrant County Convention Center*
April 27, 1970 - Fort Worth, Texas
Attendance - 15,000+

Matches from this event were taped for airing on Main Event Wrestling (renamed Saturday Night Wrestling in 1974, then called Championship Sports from 1982 until its end in 1990), the wrestling program on Dallas/Fort Worth independent station KTVT (now a CBS O&O station as part of Paramount Global) which was hosted by Dan Coates.

 

Bonnie Watson fought Patty Stevens to a time-limit draw.

Michèle Richard (with "The Queen" Mae Young) defeated Julie Payne by pinfall in a close contest following a spinebuster slam.

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

Renée Martel & Claire Lepage defeated Georgia Hase & Judy Sowinski (C) (with Mae Young) in two straight falls.

⦁    First fall - Lepage pinned Sowinski following a flying bodypress.
⦁    Second fall - Hase and Sowinski were disqualified when Michèle Richard ran in and attacked Martel as she had Hase trapped in the Alligator Clutch (Hase & Sowinski retained their belts due to the DQ).

NWA United States Women's Championship

Baby Rocco (with Mae Young) defeated Judy Arnold (C) by countout when Arnold was unable to get back into the ring in time after Rocco big-splashed the champion on the ringside floor (Arnold retained her title due to the countout); post-match, Rocco went back out to ringside, grabbed Arnold and threw her back into the ring, where Rocco and Young continued abusing the weary and battered Arnold until Renée Martel, Claire Lepage, Julie Payne and Bonnie Watson ran in to chase away the heels and make the save for Arnold, who was then helped back to the locker room area by the babyfaces.

Mil Mascaras and Killer Kowalski fought to a double countout when they ignored the referee's count while brawling around ringside.

NWA American Tag Team Championship - Two Out of Three Falls

Fritz & Waldo Von Erich defeated Killer Karl Kox & The Great Malenko (C), two falls to one, when Kox was disqualified in the third fall after getting caught slugging Fritz with a foreign object (Kox & Malenko retain their belts due to the DQ).

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

* The Tarrant County Convention Center, which opened on September 30, 1968 and was later renamed the Fort Worth Convention Center in 1997 (as seen in the venue photo above), was a regular venue for major cards (specifically, the Star Wars supercards) for Fritz Von Erich's Big Time Wrestling/World Class Championship Wrestling beginning in 1982 IRL; ITTL, Big Time held its first Forth Worth supercard at the TCCC with its joint event with the AGWA on the date at the top of the post.

 

Edited July 9, 2023 by Old School Fan
Correction

[Old School Fan]

At last, here's the tournament bracket for the upcoming Mildred Burke Invitational Tournament IV, starting May 5:

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

And now, the prediction lineup:  😎

 

Mildred Burke Invitational Tournament IV

First Round - West Division bracket

Claire Lepage vs. Irma Acevedo

Jane Sherill vs. Ashley Sinclair

Marie Vagnone vs. Jane O'Brien

Renée Martel vs. Patty Stevens

 

Non-tournament matches:

Sally Vega vs. Michèle Richard

NWA United States Women's Tag Team Championship

Georgia Hase & Judy Sowinski (C) vs. Ann Casey & Bonnie Watson

 

[smartman]

Claire vs Renee match 2 in the semis should be great. The East is a little more wide open with several options.

[Captain Kremmen]

Mildred Burke Invitational Tournament IV

First Round - West Division bracket

Claire Lepage vs. Irma Acevedo

Jane Sherill vs. Ashley Sinclair

Marie Vagnone vs. Jane O'Brien

Renée Martel vs. Patty Stevens

 

Non-tournament matches:

Sally Vega vs. Michèle Richard

NWA United States Women's Tag Team Championship

Georgia Hase & Judy Sowinski (C) vs. Ann Casey & Bonnie Watson