The Wasp

The Wasp was a rulebreaking masked man who came unto the Arizona scene in the early 1960s and though he may have been originally intended to be a job guy who would lose to big stars, he gained so much heat he was given an actual push by the varied Arizona bookers.

The Wasp made appearances in all the big and small Arizona towns, including Phoenix, Tucson, Casa Grande, Flagstaff, Yuma, Globe, Douglas, Prescott and Benson.

He was handily defeated by Lou Thesz during a big match with him,. but everyone lost to Thesz. In other cases, this human insect frequently  came out on top.

One of his biggest victories over a major star was a win in Yuma over Lou Plummer.

The Wasp also had a run with the Arizona State title, which isn't bad for a man originally designed to perform on the undercard.

Eventually, things came to an end when The Wasp was unmasked to be Dave Ruhl, who had wrestled under this name beforehand in the 1950s in the very same area,

There is also a great deal that may be said about Dave Ruhl without the mask, but that will be a subject for another time and blog.