Los Mercenarios

Los Mercenarios or The merciless Mercenaries were masked men who worked mainly in Mexico, though they did see action in Arizona and California. Though many thought they were Mexican or Mexican American wrestlers behind the hoods, they were not. In fact beyond the masks they ere not always the same wrestlers.

Billy Anderson, Louie Spicolli  and Tim Patterson were the main three to do the routine, but Ricky Ataki and Stephen de Leon, as well as others also got in on the act when one of  the originals was busy elsewhere.

Los Mercenarios were seen in Arizona a few times when Steve Gator Wolf ran there and also in the Indian reservation areas up north when the same promoter booked the area.

De Leon  and Spicolli  are both dead. Patterson, Anderson and Ataki have all  retired. Unless someone else drags the gear out of moth balls, the routine has ended, but what a time this crew had and what heat they provoked from  the crowds!

Remembering Macho Man Today

A brief blog to pause and remember. It was three years ago today that the great Macho Man Randy Savage passed away from a fatal heart attack while driving.

Need anything else be said?

Quasimodo

Taken directly from the Victor Hugo novel, the Hunchback Of Notre Dame, this Quasimodo was a hump back who made the best out of his overall ugliness and wrestled.

Though he  only made it to Arizona a handful of  times while driving  between Texas and California, his uncanny appearance, as he hobbled about the ring before the matches started, ringing a large bell which often  found its  way into  the bout  later on and dressed in his weird court jester outfit, always brought rounds of laugher mixed with boos.

The hunchback character received a far bigger push in Texas than in other places in the USA, though eh also made it as far as Europe. He proved to be a big draw in England and France.

But one may add his name tot he list of many oddball creations who passed through Arizona.

The Medics

The Medics were a top draw throughout the 1960s in the USA and by the 1970s, adapted a manager by the name of Dr. Ken Ramey. As psychotic doctors dressed in white for "general practice" or easy matches and surgical green for "special operations" in the ring, they were perfect heels. People hated this masked pair with an utter passion.

Arizona was not  spared either as they did a brief stint in the area in the 1960s, feuding with Tito Montez and a variety of partners, including Jerry Miller, Pancho Pico and Luis Martinez.

The masked men proved to be masters of tag team wrestling, with distractions, double teaming and underhanded tactics galore. Finally, Tito was able to vanquish them. They returned to their southern home base, while new villains came into  the area to challenge the popular Tito.

Jimmy Valentine

No kin to Greg or Johnny Valentine for real, but Jimmy and Jerry Valentine were a big draw in the deep south in the 1970s. While Jerry stayed put, Jimmy did make a trip to Arizona and his run lasted over a year.

For the most part, he was a fan favorite, though his position on  the card varied from  week to week. At times he was in  an opener and at other times he was in  the main events. Some of the people he faced included Jay Dillon, Bobby Mayne, Chris Colt, Rudy Navarro, Jody Arnold, Ali Bey, Spike Jones  and Ron Dupree.

Then before leaving for God knows where, he made a heel turn, teaming up with Bobby Mayne  to turn on former friends Kurt Von Steiger, Tito Montez, Flama Roja and the like. The tag team was short lived. Mayne stayed in  Arizona and Valentine headed elsewhere.

So much for that.

The Daltons

Arizona had and has a load of cowboy types, good and bad alike. Cowboy Bob Ellis, The Outlaws, Cowboy Claw, Cowboy Bob Yuma, Tex Mc Kenzie, Billy The Kid and more. The Daltons, Jim and Jack (If you look close at Jack you can tell it is Don Fargo) also had a brief stint in Arizona.

While these two rulebreaking cowboys who looked like something from a Roy Rogers film, gained a lot of heat and were pushed heavy in their stay in the early 1960s, even getting a short run with the tag team belts, they did not stay long. They evidently wanted to escape the east for a winter and tried the desert landscape.

In truth, the Daltons were much bigger in the deep south, drawing  well  and again being pushed heavily in the Gulf Coast and Tennessee region. They eventually parted company.

Still, for a brief time,  these two crazed cowboys were a major draw in Arizona. A pity it did not last longer.

Steve Gator Wolf In Trouble

One time Arizona mainstay, Steve Gator Wolf, seen with the AWA, WWF and a host of indie outfits,including shows where he acted as his own promoter, is evidently in big trouble in Colorado, after being arrested for sex with a minor. Details are still sketchy, but this does not look good by any account. We will have to wait and see what happens.

Overdoing It A Bit

Isn't this overdoing it a bit? While most people knowing him loved the man and  others who did not, still respect his  acting and wrestling, long after his death, this one seller on ebay is really stretching things.

The guy is asking $1,300 for this signed photo of Mazurki. While the signature is real, there are other signed items left over by this  man, equally verified as legitimate, going for around $12.00 on the same page.