See Me In 2012

There is a chance I might be back in Arizona in late 2012 for a brief stay. It is not confirmed, but possible. I have wanted to make a return to Pheonix for a while now, but have constantly been sidetracked.

In the meantime I am still managing regularly in Ohio at age 53 for MCW. They have info at http://www.mcwpro.com.  Here I manage under my real name.

On other places I will be doing my better known Time Traveler role. This includes a new promotion set to start in the summer in the Cambridge (Ohio) area. I also intend on some Cleveland area shows.

 

Possible spot shows come summer and fall in Pennsylvania, North Carolina,  Tennessee, Iowa,  Michigan, Indiana and Wisconsin as well.  This, however, remains to be seen as in Indy wrestling things seldom pan out as planned.

Dr. Thom Parks

Dr. Thom Parks was born Tim Hicks in Virginia and it is his real Hicks name he has gone back to using as he has left wrestling except for contact with wrestlers at his church or old time reunions. He has instead been devoting time to political and religious issues, as well as book publishing.

Hicks became involved with wrestling by publishing a news sheet, then started work as a photograph and finally, adapting to the new Parks name, became a referee and occasional wrestler.

In the early 1990s, he moved to Arizona, where he saw action as a photographer. He was eventually roped into some referee work by RC Preston and other promoters for shows in the Phoenix area.

In the late 1990s, he became a manager, again under the Thom Parks name and generated a great deal of heat  from the crowd during his brief run.

Hicks/Parks  also founded the popular Arizona Wrestling Legends web site and was involved with the Arizona Old Timer Reunions along with the late Cowboy Bob Yuma.

Tor Johnson

Tor Johnson would best be known for his role as the lumbering lab assistant in Bride Of The Monster and as the police inspector turned into a  zombie in Plan 9 From Outer Space. In truth, he had parts in a number of films  prior r meeting Ed Wood and remained active after these two projects.

Johnson also did in fact wrestle, as implied in the Tim Burton film, Ed Wood, where another wrestler of similar style and look, George Steele, played him,

Johnson wrestled for several years as The Super Swedish Angel, as a mainstay in the California circuit.

Like many working the Hollywood, Los Angeles, San Diego offices, he also made an occasional trip into Arizona, though not with the consistency of others such as Mike Mazurki, Billy Varga and Warren  Bockwinkel from the same era.

Long after retirement form the ring and film, Johnson made the fan fest circuits, though he grew back his hair which he had shaved off beforehand and on occasion spouted a beard.

There is a fine bio, death notice and burial information for him at the page, http://www.findagrave.com

Outside the ring, Johnson was involved in a number of social and charitable functions,. He was a prominent member of the Masons and his ground level grave marker carries the  square and compass of the fraternity.

Mike Mazurki

Born in Austria-Hungary in 1907, Mike Mazurki never fully did lose his accent when he learned English, which helped rather than hindered him int he long run.

He excelled perhaps more as an actor than a wrestler, finding parts in a host of television shows as well as films. His movie roles included Bullwhip Griffin, Challenge To be Free, Night & The City (a murky wrestling film set in London) , Cheyenne Autumn, Donavan's Reef, Damnation Alley and Some Like It Hot. .

In the wrestling world, Mazurki excelled as well, though he was over with the people due to his height more than a super-muscular  frame.

As a wrestler Mazurki traveled the USA, but California remained a home base for him and a focal point for grappling for most of his career.

Mazurki did make varied trips into Arizona and had some main events at the Phoenix Madison Square Garden.

Mazurki died in 1990, but was indirectly involved with wrestling in the last years of his life as he and a group of retirees formed The Cauliflower Alley Club that exists to this date. The group went from a small weekly luncheon to an international organization of boxers and wrestlers, with a multitude of activities.

He rests at the Forest Lawn Cemetery in Glendale, California.

Jon Marshall

Jon Marshall never was out west as far as I know, but knew of Arizona wrestling via my video tapes and from talking with me.

He never wrestled or managed, but worked as a popular internet writer. Some of his interviews are on you tube and his past reviews may be seen for the Ohio based MCW at http://www.mcwpro.com

In any case he passed away last week after a lengthy illness.

He will be missed.

Book Review: Bond Villains

Bond Villains by Alistair Dougall has little to do with Arizona wrestling on the surface, thoguh it covers the bulk of the heels who have appeared in James Bond movies over the decades.

There is a big profile on Harold Sakata as Odd Job in Goldfinger.

In this movie he is a dangerous Japanese hit man with a derby with a razor sharp brim.

In truth,  Sakata was a Hawaiian.

Aside from this film, Sakata played Moto, a villain in the wrestling ring, who made varied appearances in California and Arizona.

For not just a fan of Bond films, but wrestling fans as well who might have otherwise missed it, this book might be worth checking into.

A load of other Bond villains are also dealt with aside form Odd Job. Renard, May Day. Dr. No, Blofeld, Baron Samedi and the others are all to be found.

Ron Newstrome

His real name was Ron Newsom, but he went as Ron Newstrome from the start of his Arizona career until he end, due to a spelling error in the programs billing him as such when he made his Phoenix debut.

No one seems sure where he worked before Arizona, but he did have hear and know the ropes when he started in Pheonix in 1981. A heavyset,   middle aged man with a bald head, he had seen better days, to be sure, but he tried his best.

Sometimes he went as heel and soemtimes a fan favorite, depending on where he was needed and who he was matched with. Usually on the openers, he did not have many extended feuds when in the Phoenix/Tucson area, though he did have a set of main events with Jody Arnold where he. like everyone else, failed to take his US Title from him.

Others he wrestled included Golden Henderson, The Lumberjacks, Tony Hernandez, Ed Blair, The New York Assassin, Tony Hernandez, Farmer Jones, Danny Snyder,  Pedro El Grande, Cowboy Bob Yuma, Billy Anderson, John Ringer, Sneaky Red Smith, Mr Murder, Eddie Sullivan, Super Argo, The Viking, The Golden Eagle, Colorado Kid and Mike Gordon.

Newstrome took a major knee injury while wrestling The Detroit Mauler in Phoenix, which sidelined him for months,. A comeback was not successful and by 1986 he was out of the game.