Cowboy Bob Yuma

The Pacific Northwest was considered part of the Wild West at one time, so it might not have been totally illogical for one Frank Vaughn to enter the wrestling world as Cowboy Bob Yuma. Under the training of Tito Montez, he was brought downward to Arizona and there he remained for most of his career.

One of Yuma's earliest feuds in the 1970s was with Jimmy Kent, after this Nashville-based  attacked him with a chain in his fist on a television taping and bloodied him horribly. This led to a series of matches between the two of them, with Kent coming out ahead. It was them Tito Montez entered the fray and a feud of his own, where he eventually banished Kent after beating him in a cage bout.

Another villain was waiting on the wings to feud with Yuma,. Enter Hercules Stevenson, a muscular Canadian with a superiority streak a mile wide and the goods to back it up.

Yuma and Hercules met in countless battles, with one or both bleeding from the encounter. The feud spanned over a decade and ended with Stevenson calling it quits in 1988.

Other people Yuma faced on a continual basis included The Viking, Jody Arnold, The Golden Eagle, Maniac Mike Gordon and John Ringer. For a brief time, Yuma held the Arizona State title he won form Arnold in Tucson, but lost back to him in short order. Years later, he and Arnold would make amends and with the latter deciding to wrestle as a fan favorite, would form a popular tag team. Yuma also teamed for a time with David Rose to challenge The Lumberjacks,. More than once, the Western States Tag Team title changed hands between these two teams. As with other cowboys in the wrestling realm, he used a bulldog headlock to finish off his opponents.

After retirement, Yuma re-instated and re-organized the annual Arizona Old Timer Reunions that were created in 1995, but fizzled in 1999. Through the 2000's, he was the one who started the event once again and usually held the annual festivities at his home.

A lingering respiratory ailment eventually took Yuma's life.

I was told the remains were cremated and scattered along the Oregon Coast. A fitting end for this wrestler who left his green and tree-covered homeland to find success in the cactus-covered desert.