Saturday, June 29, 2013

Death Of Matt Borne

Details are sketchy  now, but the death of wrestler Matt Borne has been confirmed. He was only in his 50s.

Aside from wrestling as Matt Borne, for  better or worse was likewise famous as the original Doink The Clown in the WWF, a routine that spawned many imitators.


Thursday, June 27, 2013

The Juarez Bullring

Long before the building of the   Plaza Monumental that was torn down, a simpler  bullring existed in Juarez, across from El Paso, Texas, called the Balderas that still stands to this date. Far from an elaborate structure, this circular stadium attracted fans from both sides of the border for a number of years and still does.

The main purpose of the arena was of course for bullfighting,. Many top Mexicans tars appeared there, including Pepe Luis Vazquez, Luis Procuna, Gregorio Garcia, Leopoldo Ramos, Lorenzo Garza, Eduardo Liceaga, David Liceaga, Carlos Arruza, Manuel Capetillo, Fermin Rivera, Eduardo Solorzano and El Soldado were some of them. 

The arena also housed outdoor wrestling and boxing cards. aside from the regional stars in these fields, various people from Arizona and Texas also came down.

Vincent Lopez, who was a regular in Arizona in the 1940s, but usually on the undercard, became a top draw in this Mexican city. While he usually lost in Phoenix and Tucson , he tended to win big in Juarez.

Paavo Katonan, a longtime wrestling attraction in the California/Arizona , also made brief appearances in Juarez within this bullring.








Hans Schnabel

Hans Schnabel, also spelled Hans Sabel and Hans Shabel in some areas was an interesting villain, as he did the arrogant German routine BEFORE World War 2. As early as the late 1930s he was doing this in the Ohio/West Virginia area, before heading westward.

In Arizona, he was seen at intervals in the 1940s, both on his own as a single and as a tag team partner with a "brother" named Fritz.  During the war, it was a wonder he escaped from arenas alive.

Brother Fritz, by the way, was the journeyman wrestler, Frank Jares.

Awesome in appearance, he often wore a long, flowing cape and looked like something from a Universal vampire film.

In the ring, he was recognized as a savage brawler, again long before fights spilling unto the arena floor and up the aisle were commonplace.

In many regards, he was a true pioneer among the heels.

A photo of him and brief notations about his career appear in the Wrestling in Akron book out by Arcadia. Though he appeared around the USA, he was especially pushed in the Midwest.

Long before Arizona had the Von Steiger, Karl Von Brock, Fritz Von Goering or Sergeant Shultz, they had this man, spreading chaos throughout the arenas of Phoenix, Tucson, Yuma and more.


Death Of Hector Garza

Mexican star, Hector Garza, passed away a few weeks ago after a lengthy illness.

Though a major star in Mexico, he was also seen but not heavily pushed in WCW when the promotion started booking a host of luchadores from Mexico.


Wednesday, June 26, 2013

Henry Pulusso's Death Confirmed

The death of talented Hispanic wrestler Henry Pulusso (also spelled Puluso and Piluso as in programs, in Az they could not seem to get it right) has been finally confirmed by his oldest daughter at this page.  Sadly, he died in 2006 without the bulk of the wrestling world being made aware of it, due to complications from  diabetes.

He was a major star in Mexico at one time, famous for his feud with El Santo.

In Arizona Henry had many wild feuds with Cowboy Bob Ellis, Tito Montez, Ray Gordon, Phil Melby, Al Madril, Eddie Lopez and Armon Hussein.

Among his varied tag team partners around the USA and Mexico were
Francisco Flores, John Shane and Chuck Karbo, as well as a very green newcomer called Bobby Mayne, who alter became famous as Bobby Jaggers.

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Thursday, June 20, 2013

Book Jerry Brisco

Gerald "Jerry" Brisco is available for lectures, training seminars, sports fests,  card shows,  autograph fests and more. Info at http://www.geraldbrisco.com or http://www.callachamp.com

Monday, June 10, 2013

Wrestling In Akron Book Now Ready

Wrestling in Akron is now ready from publishers at http://www.arcadiapublishing.com or may be ordered at any book store chain if not stocked. Amazon also offers the book at a discount from the original $21.99 price at several dollars lower for the moment anyway or around $15.00 and may be worth looking into.

The book includes photos of many wrestlers who worked Arizona as well and notes a brief trade agreement with Paavo in the west and Walter Moore, though it did not last long. Moore was sent Monte Ladue and Rod Fenton and Ohio was just not used to those two lunatics or their way of doing things.

Some 200 photos in all, including many rare shots and those never before published.

Images of some of the people who worked both Ohio and Arizona within include Mike Gordon, Sheik, Funk, Fred Curry, Kurt Von Hess, Louie Spicolli, Billy Anderson, Mae Weston, Mildred Burke, Roy Shire, Legs Levin, Lou Thesz, Chris Colt, Ron Dupree, Chris Kole, Ben Justice, Killer Brooks, Navajo Warrior, Rainbow, Jerry Graham, Red Bastein, Hans Shabel (also spelled Schnable and Shabel, who knows....), Don Arnold, Luis Martinez, Chris Markoff, Kevin Sullivan, Killer Brooks, Brian Pillman, Gold Dust, The Smoking Guns, Primo Carnera, Irish McGee, Paavo Katonan, Billy Watson, Mil Mascaras, The Mummy, The Swedish Angel and more.





Death Of Buck Robley

Buck Robley passed away recently following a long illness.

Bets known for his work in Texas in the 1970s, Robley also made it to Phoenix on varied occasions.

In Phoenix,  he might best be remembered for a 2/3 fall main event with Jerry Kozak at the Immaculate Heart Gym. Kozak, however, ended up the victor.

Robley was an unusual and colorful villain who used a sleeper as a finishing move.