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Showing posts from 2019

Tri-State Wrestling: Week of 12/31/79-1/6/80

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For the week ending January 6th, 1980: Jim Garvin and Oki Shikina meet in two loser leaves town matches, Siegfried Stanke debuts on the SPOT Ratings chart & more!

McGuirk Wrestling Territory: Week of 12/29/75-1/4/76

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For the week ending January 4th, 1976: Murdoch and Kox feud heating up while Hodge gets more shots at World Jr champ Matsuda, Slaughter and Pork Chop in a loser leaves town match in Fort Smith & more!

McGuirk Wrestling Territory: Week of 12/27/71-1/2/72

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For the week ending January 2nd, 1972: We begin our coverage of 1972 with a look at the talent roster and a rundown of the holiday week shows at the end of 1971 featuring Dusty Rhodes & more!

McGuirk Wrestling Territory: Week of 12/23-12/29 1968

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For the week ending December 29th, 1968: Sputnik Monroe becomes top heel, Ronnie Reed is about to start in a new territory and take on a new ring name, blindfold battle royals & more!

McGuirk Wrestling Territory: Week of 12/22-12/28 1975

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For the week ending December 28th, 1975: Murdoch and Matsuda return, a Lights out Arabian Death match between Hodge and Akbar, Slaughter moves to the upper mid-card & more!

Tri-State Wrestling: Week of 12/24-12/30 1979

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For the week ending December 30th, 1979: Jim Garvin takes on Oki Shikina in Texas Rules (aka Texas Death) matches, a future Nightmare debuts & more!

Mid-South Wrestling: Week of 12/20-12/26 1982

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For the week ending December 26th, 1982: Mr Olympia forced to leave town, the promotion takes a holiday break as we finish up our coverage of 1982 & more!

Mid-South Wrestling: Week of 12/24-12/30 1979

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For the week ending December 30th, 1979: JYD and the Freebirds move up the cards, DiBiase returns after a three-plus year absence, Mike George continues to hold on to N.A. strap & more!

Comparing SPOT Ratings to "Apter-mag" Ratings from December 1984

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I thought it would be interesting to take a look at the SPOT Rating that we calculate at Charting the Territories and compare them to the "Official Ratings" published in the so-called Apter mags.

McGuirk Wrestling Territory: Week of 12/16-12/22 1968

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For the week ending December 22nd, 1968: The unmasked Diablo gets unmasked again (twice, it seems), Sputnik moves up the SPOT Ratings to main-eventer status & more!

McGuirk Wrestling Territory: Week of 12/15-12/21 1975

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For the week ending December 21st, 1975: A future Sergeant battles with a Pork Chop in a mid-card feud, lumberjack matches abound in the latter part of the week & more!

Tri-State Wrestling: Week of 12/17-12/23 1979

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For the week ending December 23rd, 1979: Blair and Starr face off in a couple of stipulation matches, Akbar reduces his in-ring schedule to focus on managing & more!

Mid-South Wrestling: Week of 12/17-12/23 1979

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For the week ending December 23rd, 1979: No house shows this week due to the holidays so we take a detailed look at how Junkyard Dog's babyface turn played out on TV & more!

Mid-South Wrestling: Week of 12/13-12/19 1982

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For the week ending December 19th, 1982: Kamala jumps to the top of the SPOT ratings on the heel side, Freebirds return for big pre-holiday cards with Michael Hayes putting up his hair in Shreveport & more!

Deep Dive: Dusty Rhodes in 1971 in the McGuirk/Watts Territory (REVISED 7/5/2020)

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Here’s a “Deep Dive” where I take a look at Dusty Rhodes in 1971 when he worked for the McGuirk/Watts wrestling territory.

McGuirk Wrestling Territory: Week of 12/9-12/15 1968

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For the week ending December 15th, 1968: new tag champs Hodge & Parente grant Donovan & Reed several rematches, we learn the identity of El Diablo #1 (don't get too excited, it's very anti-climactic) & more!

McGuirk Wrestling Territory: Week of 12/8-12/14 1975

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For the week ending December 14th, 1975: Watts & Kox are top dogs, Brisco comes in for 2 World title defenses, Valentine returns & more!

Tri-State Wrestling: Week of 12/10-12/16 1979

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For the week ending December 16th, 1979: The future Butch Reed debuts (as Bruce Reed) in the territory & more!

Mid-South Wrestling: Week of 12/10-12/16 1979

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For the week ending December 16th, 1979: Junkyard Dog's final week as a heel, Mike George defends the North American title against 5 different opponents, Sweetan and Wrestling II face off in cage matches not once... not twice... but THRICE & more!

Mid-South Wrestling: Week of 12/6-12/12 1982

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For the week ending December 12th, 1982: Stagger Lee is the top dog (get it?) in the SPOT Ratings, DiBiase booked for double duty in Loranger & more!

McGuirk Wrestling Territory: Week of 12/2-12/8 1968

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For the week ending December 8th, 1968: Hodge and Parente challenge for tag belts while Hodge defends World Junior belt, Akbar vs Sputnik in a Texas death match & more!

McGuirk Wrestling Territory: Week of 12/1-12/7 1975

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For the week ending December 7th, 1975: Bill Watts and Killer Karl Kox feud over the North American title, The Hollywood Blondes (Roberts & Brown) move up to main event status & more!

Tri-State Wrestling: Week of 12/3-12/9 1979

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For the week ending December 9th, 1979: junior heavyweights Brian Blair and Ron Starr feuding, a Texas feud comes to Oklahoma City & more!

Mid-South Wrestling: Week of 12/3-12/9 1979

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For the week ending December 9th, 1979: Ernie Ladd starts a run as a regular, Sweetan feuding with Watts and Mr Wrestling II (who is also feuding with Mike George) & more!

Mid-South Wrestling: Week of 11/29-12/5 1982

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For the week ending December 5th, 1982: Stagger Lee with an almost perfect SPOT rating as his feud with Kamala heats up, Buddy Landell returns & more!

McGuirk Wrestling Territory: Week of 11/25-12/1 1968

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For the week ending December 1st, 1968: Jack Donovan returns from injury, Chief Big Heart debuts, Danny Hodge feuding with Ronnie Reed & more!

McGuirk Wrestling Territory: Week of 11/24-11/30 1975

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For the week ending November 30th, 1975: Sweetan feuds with Killer Karl Kox, Hodge still chasing Matsuda & more!

Tri-State Wrestling: Week of 11/26-12/2 1979

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For the week ending December 2nd, 1979: the debut of a young rookie who would later become a "Doctor" & more!

Mid-South Wrestling: Week of 11/26-12/2 1979

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For the week ending December 2nd, 1979: Murdoch pops in for a few shows, Freebirds & JYD move up the SPOT ratings chart & more!

Mid-South Wrestling: Week of 11/22-11/28 1982

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For the week ending November 28th, 1982: big Thanksgiving weekend includes a huge card at the Superdome, Kamala moves up to main events & more!

How to read the FEUD score charts on Charting the Territories

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In the final week of November 2019, we introduced a second statistical metric into our analysis of wrestling in the territorial era. It's an attempt to measure feuds, ie when two wrestlers (or teams) wrestle against one another frequently over a short period of time. We have named this statistic Frequent Encounters Using Data, or FEUD for short (see what we did there?) The FEUD score is a positive integer; the higher the number, the more "intense" the feud is at the time. Due to many factors (listed at the bottom of this post), it's hard to say what a "good" number is; as a loose rule of thumb, a FEUD score of 25 and above is a good indicator that the match in question was indeed a "feud". Many of the matches listed in the FEUD charts aren't actually "feuds"; they are merely matches that happened frequently at the time. The higher the FEUD score for a given match relative to other matches over the same time period, the bigger the fe

McGuirk Wrestling Territory: Week of 11/18-11/24 1968

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For the week ending November 24th, 1968: Hodge returns from injury, mid-card heels jockey for position and try to move up the cards & more!

McGuirk Wrestling Territory: Week of 11/17-11/23 1975

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For the week ending November 23rd, 1975: Watts moves back up into the main events with Murdoch in Japan, the Hollywood Blondes move up the cards & more!

Tri-State Wrestling: Week of 11/19-11/25 1979

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For the week ending November 25th, 1979: top babyfaces Jim Garvin and Brian Blair fend off challenges from Akbar and his heel stable & more!

Mid-South Wrestling: Week of 11/19-11/25 1979

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For the week ending November 25th, 1979: two youngsters named Michael and Terry make their debuts, a look at some absolutely LOADED Thanksgiving weekend lineups & more!

Mid-South Wrestling: Week of 11/15-11/21 1982

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For the week ending November 21st, 1982: JYD morphs into Stagger Lee, Gino Hernandez comes in as a semi-regular, Matt Borne moves up the cards & more!

How to read the SPOT rating charts on Charting the Territories

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One of the most important features of my research into pro wrestling in the territorial era is the development of the SPOT rating. SPOT is an acronym for Statistical Position Over Time, and it measures a wrestler's average spot on the cards over a fixed period of time as a number between 0 and 1. The highest possible rating is a 1.00; this would mean that a wrestler was booked in the main event of every card they were booked on during that fixed time period. Here is a sample SPOT rating chart. In this column, I will go into a little more detail about how it's calculated and how it should be read. Much like other statistics, the period of time used to calculate a SPOT rating can be different. In baseball, you generally see a player's batting average listed for the current season to date. But sometimes they give you their batting average for the last week, or month, or for a three year period or even their entire career. The most frequent usage of the SPOT rating o

Tri-State Wrestling: Week of 11/11-11/17 1968

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Our coverage of 1968 continues with a look at the week ending November 17th: the heels get their hands raised more often than usual, the Blue Demons are unmasked, a rookie named Robley pops up in Louisiana & more!

Tri-State Wrestling: Week of 11/10-11/16 1975

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Our coverage of 1975 continues with a look at the week ending November 16th: Jack Brisco comes to town, Hiro Matsuda suffers a surprising loss but a technicality allows him to keep the Junior Heavyweight title, Murdoch heads to Japan, a match between two future legends in Fort Smith & more!

Tri-State Wrestling: Week of 11/12-11/18 1979

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Our coverage of Tri-State in 1979 continues with a look at the week ending November 18th : Haystack feuds with Blair, Garvin feuds with Shikina, Ron Starr may or may not have turned heel, Sugar Bear heads to Texas & more!

Mid-South Wrestling: Week of 11/12-11/18 1979

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Our coverage of Mid-South in 1979 continues with a look at the week ending November 18th: the tag team titles change hands, Watts in bunkhouse matches against Mosca, Stan Hansen returns, it's the beginning of the end for the JYD-Cook feud & more!

Mid-South Wrestling: Week of 11/8-11/14 1982

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Our coverage of 1982 continues with a look at the week ending November 14th: JYD "finishes up" here, The Grappler probably loses his mask in several towns, newcomers include a former Olympian and a future Enforcer & more!

Tri-State Wrestling: Week of 11/6-11/12 1961

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Our coverage of 1961 continues with a look at the week ending November 12th: McGuirk pulls out of (most of) Louisiana, The Great Antonio returns and is featured in several battle royals, a note about our coverage of 1961 going forward & more!

Tri-State Wrestling: Week of 11/4-11/10 1968

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Our coverage of 1968 continues with a look at the week ending November 10th: Danny Hodge returns, I namedrop George Wallace, looking at how several finishes set up rematches a week later with added stipulations, Big John gets a little buddy & more!

Tri-State Wrestling: Week of 11/3-11/9 1975

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Our coverage of 1975 continues with a look at the week ending November 9th: Andre competes in some battle royals with varying stipulations, Murdoch tries to find a partner to battle Kox & Robley, Sonny King does a SPOT rating flip-flop with Pork Chop & more!

Tri-State Wrestling: Week of 11/5-11/11 1979

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Our coverage of Tri-State in 1979 continues with a look at the week ending November 11th : the tag team titles appear to have changed hands in Tulsa, Haystack is back (but as a heel) & more!

Mid-South Wrestling: Week of 11/5-11/11 1979

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Our coverage of Mid-South in 1979 continues with a look at the week ending November 11th: Mike George is scheduled to defend the North American title against Dick Murdoch but instead faces Bill Watts and the newspaper says Watts wins the title but I don't think he really did & more!

Mid-South Wrestling: Week of 11/1-11/7 1982

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Our coverage of 1982 continues with a look at the week ending November 7th: JYD faces Kamala in Baton Rouge in what may be their first-ever match against one another, Brad Armstrong comes in for the week, someone may have lost their mask in Shreveport & more!

Tri-State Wrestling: Week of 10/30-11/5 1961

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Our coverage of 1961 continues with a look at the week ending November 5th: Danny Hodge works the "B" towns, don't be the first person eliminated in a battle royal this week, why Mighty Bolo may have left the territory & more!

Tri-State Wrestling: Week of 10/28-11/3 1968

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Our coverage of 1968 continues with a look at the week ending November 3rd: Sonny the Wrestling Bear works against various heels, a feud between "Gorgeous" and "Handsome", Sputnik lands in Lafayette & more!

Tri-State Wrestling: Week of 10/27-11/2 1975

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Our coverage of 1975 continues with a look at the week ending November 2nd: Killer Karl Kox wins the North American title, Andre the Giant comes in and has to put his money where his _weight_ is, the territory gets a little bit blond-er & more!

Tri-State Wrestling: Week of 10/29-11/4 1979

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Our coverage of Tri-State in 1979 continues with a look at the week ending November 4th : Jim Garvin tries out three different partners, wrestlers who were going back and forth between here and Texas stop coming back, Ron Starr comes in as a regular & more!

Mid-South Wrestling: Week of 10/29-11/4 1979

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Our coverage of Mid-South in 1979 continues with a look at the week ending November 4th: former football players do battle and have their backgrounds slightly embellished, Robley & Wrestling II battle George & Sweetan on multiple fronts, Ivan Koloff visits for a short run & more!

Mid-South Wrestling: Week of 10/25-10/31 1982

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Our coverage of 1982 continues with a look at the week ending October 31st: a MAJOR angle is run at this week's TV tapings in Shreveport, a look at how Watts altered the house show schedule to turn the limitations of TV distribution into an asset & more!

Tri-State Wrestling: Week of 10/23-10/29 1961

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Our coverage of 1961 continues with a look at the week ending October 29th: Sputnik gets two title shots plus has a big loser leaves town cage match, in case an alligator wasn't enough we also have a bear this week, Torbellino Blanco gets some main events & more!

Tri-State Wrestling: Week of 10/21-10/27 1968

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Our coverage of 1968 continues with a look at the week ending October 27th: Karl Von Stroheim is locked in a cage (...despite all his rage...), bears apparently can't wrestle in Missouri, are Treach Phillips and El Diablo #2 the same person?? & more!

Tri-State Wrestling: Week of 10/20-10/26 1975

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Our coverage of 1975 continues with a look at the week ending October 26th: World champ vs World champ in Tulsa, the territory apparently isn't big enough for two Killers, what the heck is a "combat bout" & more!

Tri-State Wrestling: Week of 10/22-10/28 1979

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Our coverage of Tri-State in 1979 continues with a look at the week ending October 28th : I do a little detective work to find out what happened to Shaft (see what I did there?), top babyfaces play musical chairs against Shikina & Sugar Bear, some interesting background info on Herb Calvert & more!

Mid-South Wrestling: Week of 10/22-10/28 1979

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Our coverage of Mid-South in 1979 continues with a look at the week ending October 28th: Mike George pulls double duty and defends multiple titles, Watts battles Mosca in a couple of stipulation bouts, Eric Embry & a (future) fantastic newcomer work the prelims & more!

Mid-South Wrestling: Week of 10/18-10/24 1982

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Our coverage of 1982 continues with a look at the week ending October 24th: a couple of interesting outside names challenge for the tag team titles and a REALLY interesting outside name tries to collect the bounty on Robley, what happened to the Mongolian Stomper? & more!

Tri-State Wrestling: Week of 10/16-10/22 1961

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Our coverage of 1961 continues with a look at the week ending October 22nd: Sputnik-Clancy feud comes to a head, Great Bolo wins and loses the World's Junior Heavyweight title in the span of a few seconds, some Louisiana attendance notes & more!

Tri-State Wrestling: Week of 10/14-10/20 1968

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Our coverage of 1968 continues with a look at the week ending October 20th: several cards changed due to the injuries to Hodge and Donovan, a rare mid-card feud takes place between Bob Griffin and Jim Osborn, Frank Dalton returns to Louisiana but so does a BEAR & more!

Tri-State Wrestling: Week of 10/13-10/19 1975

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Our coverage of 1975 continues with a look at the week ending October 19th: Murdoch and Kox main event around the horn, Watts faces a couple of outsiders, Bill Dromo's push is cooled off & more!

Tri-State Wrestling: Week of 10/15-10/21 1979

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Our coverage of Tri-State in 1979 continues with a look at the week ending October 21st : a few more newcomers to the roster, looking at the towns they run through the remainder of the year, lots of babyfaces appear in main events & more!

Mid-South Wrestling: Week of 10/15-10/21 1979

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Our coverage of Mid-South in 1979 continues with a look at the week ending October 21st: Mike George and Mr Wrestling II face off in several stipulation & title bouts, Watts continues to bring in big names on the weekends, he also brings in a couple of (very) small names this week & more!

Mid-South Wrestling: Week of 10/11-10/17 1982

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Our coverage of 1982 continues with a look at the week ending October 17th: DiBiase continues to lead the pack, Kamala starts full-time, masked wrestlers unite, Ted Allen makes an appearance and brings a young trainee named Marty & more!

Tri-State Wrestling: Week of 10/9-10/15 1961

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Our coverage of 1961 continues with a look at the week ending October 15th: Texas death matches between Sputnik and Clancy, attendance notes from Shreveport, where's Waldo? (well, he's here) & more!

Tri-State Wrestling: Week of 10/7-10/13 1968

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Our coverage of 1968 continues with a look at the week ending October 13th: Hodge & Donovan stabbed by a fan in Oklahoma City, I am _thisclose_ to giving up on trying to figure out who the Blue Demons were, Pepe Perez moves up the cards in Louisiana & more!

Tri-State Wrestling: Week of 10/6-10/12 1975

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Our coverage of 1975 continues with a look at the week ending October 12th: a step-by-step look at how the beginning of Murdoch's babyface run played out, Bill Watts returns, notes on the weekly schedule for a couple of Louisiana towns, Matsuda defends the World's Junior Heavyweight title against various babyfaces & more!

Tri-State Wrestling: Week of 10/8-10/14 1979

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Our coverage of Tri-State in 1979 continues with a look at the week ending October 14th: McGuirk goes back to a couple of his former towns in Missouri, several new faces come in as the roster slowly fills up & more!

Mid-South Wrestling: Week of 10/8-10/14 1979

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Our coverage of Mid-South in 1979 continues with a look at the week ending October 14th: more information on Dizzy Golden and Mark Totten, a look into the logistics of running three shows in one day, tag teams and six-mans top most of the cards & more!

Mid-South Wrestling: Week of 10/4-10/10 1982

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Our coverage of 1982 continues with a look at the week ending October 10th: DiBiase scores the highest possible SPOT rating, Duggan becomes a main-eventer, Akbar throws everything but the kitchen sink at Buck Robley & more!

Tri-State Wrestling: Week of 10/2-10/8 1961

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Our coverage of 1961 continues with a look at the week ending October 8th: Sputnik Monroe & Mike Clancy feud in several towns, a wrestling animal comes to the area (and it's not a bear!), Danny Hodge takes on a protege of his in a rare matchup in Tulsa & more!

Tri-State Wrestling: Week of 9/30-10/06 1968

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Our coverage of 1968 continues with a look at the week ending October 6th: a crack in the case of "who were the Blue Demons" that goes against conventional wisdom, Jack Donovan does well in tag team title matches but not so well in singles title bouts, & more!

Tri-State Wrestling: Week of 9/29-10/5 1975

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Our coverage of 1975 continues with a look at the week ending October 5th: DiBiase works as a babyface around the horn, two Funks and a Crippler are advertised, the first last (not a typo) brass knuckles title match & more!

Tri-State Wrestling: Week of 10/1-10/7 1979

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Our coverage of Tri-State in 1979 continues with a look at the week ending October 7th: a couple of names from the past return here, the odd couple of Shikina & Sugar Bear continue to rule the roost & more!

Mid-South Wrestling: Week of 10/1-10/7 1979

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Our coverage of Mid-South in 1979 continues with a look at the week ending October 7th: bunkhouse matches, Dusty and Ernie Ladd make cameos, using some detective work to try and prove who Dizzy Golden is & more!

Mid-South Wrestling: Week of 9/27-10/3 1982

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Our coverage of 1982 continues with a look at the week ending October 3rd: a loser leaves town tag team match could spell trouble for Akbar's stable, but he seems to have a (Ugandan) ace up his sleeve, masked wrestlers begin to feud with one another & more!

Tri-State Wrestling: Week of 9/25-10/1 1961

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Our coverage of 1961 continues with a look at the week ending October 1st: Sputnik moves into the upper orbit of the cards, two newcomers bring some international flavor, who the heck is Rough House Grogan & more!

Tri-State Wrestling: Week of 9/23-9/29 1968

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Our coverage of 1968 continues with a look at the week ending September 29th: six-person mixed tags, Hodge puts his title on the line, Los Diablos put their masks on the line, Akbar returns, listing the local promoters in Louisiana (including the wife of a wrestling legend) & more!

Tri-State Wrestling: Week of 9/22-9/28 1975

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Our coverage of 1975 continues with a look at the week ending September 28th: Jack Brisco gets a hero's homecoming in Tulsa, it's (not quite) hammer time for one newcomer, is Kox _really_ just an upper midcarder & more!

Tri-State Wrestling: Week of 9/24-9/30 1979

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Our coverage of Tri-State in 1979 continues with a look at the week ending September 30th: our first look at SPOT ratings, a who's who of the roster for the new(ish) territory, how Brian Blair may have paid for his honeymoon & more!

Mid-South Wrestling: Week of 9/24-9/30 1979

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Our coverage of Mid-South in 1979 continues with a look at the week ending September 30th: a new Monday night tradition begins, Mike George is a champ champ ... champ & more!

Mid-South Wrestling: Week of 9/20-9/26 1982

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Our coverage of 1982 continues with a look at the week ending September 26th: taped fist matches, a Freebird attempts to collect a bounty, the Mississippi state title changes hands, The Grappler finds a new friend & more!

Tri-State Wrestling: Week of 9/18-9/24 1961

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Our coverage of 1961 continues with a look at the week ending September 24th: Donnie Fargo competes in several loser leaves town matches, McGuirk runs Jackson MS for the first time, a couple of Hillbillies leave and are replaced by a 6'10" 300+ pounder named "Tiny" & more!

Tri-State Wrestling: Week of 9/16-9/22 1968

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Our coverage of 1968 continues with a look at the week ending September 22nd: judo jacket matches, disputed tag team title matches, an East Texas title match, a newcomer in Louisiana is Big and may also be Bad & more!

Tri-State Wrestling: Week of 9/15-9/21 1975

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Our coverage of 1975 continues with a look at the week ending September 21st: Robley ups the bounty on Dick Murdoch, Watts takes a back seat, Pork Chop gets a big opportunity, a glimpse into what the future holds for young Ted DiBiase & more!

Mid-South & Tri-State Wrestling: Week of 9/17-9/23 1979

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Our coverage of 1979 continues with a look at the week ending September 23rd: North American champ Mike George faces Mr. Wrestling II multiple times, Dick Murdoch makes a cameo appearance, JYD & Ayala move up the cards, two Watts wrestlers work for McGuirk (!!) & more!

Mid-South Wrestling: Week of 9/13-9/19 1982

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Our coverage of 1982 continues with a look at the week ending September 19th: DiBiase continues to face all comers, a couple of guest appearances in OKC, the son of a former World champ comes in & more!

Tri-State Wrestling: Week of 9/11-9/17 1961

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Our coverage of 1961 continues with a look at the week ending September 17th: all the top tag teams do battle in various towns, Sputnik Monroe stumbles a bit in his quest to become a top contender to Danny Hodge, Great Antonio performs a unique feat of strength in New Orleans & more!

Tri-State Wrestling: Week of 9/9-9/15 1968

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Our coverage of 1968 continues with a look at the week ending September 15th: two different teams continue to claim the US tag titles, using some "detective work" to try and identify three newcomers this week & more!

Tri-State Wrestling: Week of 9/8-9/14 1975

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Our coverage of 1975 continues with a look at the week ending September 14th: the Murdoch-Robley feud heats up, some unique stipulation matches in the smaller Mississippi towns, tracking comings & goings of wrestlers in and out of the territory & more!

Mid-South & Tri-State Wrestling: Week of 9/10-9/16 1979

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Our coverage of 1979 continues with a look at the week ending September 16th: Watts battles King Kong, a feud from Houston is imported into the territory, McGuirk runs his first "solo" show & more!

Mid-South Wrestling: Week of 9/6-9/12 1982

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Our coverage of 1982 continues with a look at the week ending September 12th: JYD takes some time off, a look at the current titleholders in the territory, the Grappler returns, Robley wants Akbar & more!

Tri-State Wrestling: Week of 9/4-9/10 1961

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Our coverage of 1961 continues with a look at the week ending September 10th: two newcomers this week: 1) one of the most prolific talkers in wrestling history, 2) perhaps the least prolific talker in wrestling history, Hodge defends against a Fargo & more!

Tri-State Wrestling: Week of 9/2-9/8 1968

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Our coverage of 1968 continues with a look at the week ending September 8th: tracking the two main event tag team feuds, wrestling bear still in town, who took the place of Jack Dalton & Kenny Mack in Louisiana & more!

Tri-State Wrestling: Week of 9/1-9/7 1975

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Our coverage of 1975 continues with a look at the week ending September 7th: Dick Murdoch turns babyface, a newcomer with ties to a famous neurosurgeon / accused murderer / inventor of the mandible claw & more!

Mid-South & Tri-State Wrestling: Week of 9/3-9/9 1979

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Our coverage of 1979 continues with a look at the week ending September 9th: what is believed to be the first "Mid-South" show, three new faces work Tulsa (and only Tulsa), Watts makes the towns, Mike George juggles the title belts & more!

Mid-South Wrestling: Week of 8/30-9/5 1982

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Our coverage of 1982 continues with a look at the week ending September 5th: some interesting insight into how much travel some of these guys had to endure, JYD squares off with DiBiase four more times, Assassin & Ellering leave & more!

Tri-State Wrestling: Week of 8/28-9/3 1961

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Our coverage of 1961 continues with a look at the week ending September 3rd: the Louisiana towns are shufflin', two newcomers are Scufflin', a Bruiser leaves to (maybe) become a Ripper & more!

Tri-State Wrestling: Week of 8/26-9/1 1968

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Our coverage of 1968 continues with a look at the week ending September 1st: Louisiana circuit wrestlers Jack Dalton (aka Don Fargo) & Kenny Mack arrested "in conjunction with alleged torture initiation by a motorcycle gang which calls itself the Pagans" & more!

Tri-State Wrestling: Week of 8/25-8/31 1975

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Our coverage of 1975 continues with a look at the week ending August 31st: NWA World champ Jack Brisco passes through, Dick Murdoch might need to find some new friends, three new faces come in from Memphis & more.

Mid-South & Tri-State Wrestling: Week of 8/27-9/2 1979

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We begin our look at the year 1979 with the week ending September 2nd: the week before "the week that changed everything"

Mid-South Wrestling: Week of 8/23-8/29 1982

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Our coverage of 1982 continues with a look at the week ending August 29th: DiBiase and JYD still the hot feud, the Mississippi state title changes hands ... in Louisiana, Horner & Anthony gain experience & more!

Tri-State Wrestling: Week of 8/21-8/27 1961

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Our coverage of 1961 continues with a look at the week ending August 27th: the Fargos headline one crew while the Bolos headline the other, what exactly is a Russian roulette style battle royal, how does one get a perfect 1.00 SPOT rating & more.

Tri-State Wrestling: Week of 8/19-8/25 1968

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Our coverage of 1968 continues with a look at the week ending August 25th: the tag tam titles are held up (in most towns), Hodge & Parente square off with Yokouchi & Ito in a couple of stipulation matches, Danny Little Bear teams with an actual bear & more.

Tri-State Wrestling: Week of 8/18-8/24 1975

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Our coverage of 1975 continues with a look at the week ending August 24th: we run through main events and other important matches from the 11 shows we have data for this week, look at four newcomers to the territory & more.

Mid-South Wrestling: Week of 8/16-8/22 1982

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Our coverage of 1982 continues with a look at the week ending August 22nd: DiBiase takes on all comers, who came in from Southwest to try and collect a bounty on JYD?, Tim Horner and Tony Anthony debut & more!

Tri-State Wrestling: Week of 8/14-8/20 1961

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Our coverage of 1961 continues with a look at the week ending August 20th: 6'5" 450 pound The Great Antonio is NOT the largest man in town, the promotion runs a stacked outdoor show at a larger venue in OKC, Hodge squares off against Donnie Fargo a few times & more.

Tri-State Wrestling: Week of 8/12-8/18 1968

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Our coverage of 1968 continues with a look at the week ending August 18th: long before intergender matches were all the rage we've got an intergender/interspecies/handicap match in Oklahoma City, the tag team titles kinda sorta maybe change hands on TV & more.

Tri-State Wrestling: Week of 8/11-8/17 1975

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Our coverage of 1975 continues with a look at the week ending August 17th: Watts-Murdoch & Grizzly-Dromo feuds heat up, the tag team titles (probably) change hands, Jerry Miller must leave town ... twice, preliminary wrestler Ronnie Paul tragically passes away & more.

Mid-South Wrestling: Week of 8/9-8/15 1982

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Our coverage of 1982 continues with a look at the week ending August 15th: JYD & DiBiase still the top feud, Dick Murdoch returns & more!

Tri-State Wrestling: Week of 8/7-8/13 1961

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Our coverage of 1961 continues with a look at the week ending August 13, 1961. For new readers,  this post  and  this post  will help you understand the SPOT rating and what it means. Here's a look at the talent roster along with their SPOT ratings for the week. The first number to the right of each wrestler's name is their SPOT rating for this week and the second number is their rating for the previous week. Babyfaces are in blue on the left-hand side, heels in orange on the right. They are listed in descending order; wrestlers at the top were mostly in main events while wrestlers at the bottom were mostly in preliminary matches. I have data for the following house shows this week: Monday - Shreveport, LA & Tulsa, OK Tuesday - Little Rock, AR & Monroe, LA Wednesday - Baton Rouge, LA & Fort Smith, AR Thursday - New Orleans, LA Friday - Oklahoma City, OK Saturday - Ada, OK Analysis/Notes: The babyface side was bolstered with two new faces

Tri-State Wrestling: Week of 8/5-8/11 1968

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Our coverage of 1968 continues with a look at the week ending August 11, 1968. For new readers,  this post  and  this post  will help you understand the SPOT rating and what it means. Here's a look at the talent roster along with their SPOT ratings for the week. The crew that worked central and southern Louisiana is covered separately towards the bottom of this post. The first number to the right of each wrestler's name is their SPOT rating for this week and the second number is their rating for the previous week. Babyfaces are in blue on the left-hand side, heels in orange on the right. They are listed in descending order; wrestlers at the top were mostly in main events while wrestlers at the bottom were mostly in preliminary matches. I have data for the following house shows this week: Monday - Shreveport, LA & Tulsa, OK Tuesday - Little Rock, AR & Monroe, LA Wednesday - Fort Smith, AR & Springfield, MO Thursday - Longview, TX & Wichita Fal

Tri-State Wrestling: Week of 8/4-8/10 1975

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Our coverage of 1975 continues with a look at the week ending August 10, 1975. For new readers,  this post  and  this post  will help you understand the SPOT rating and what it means. Here's a look at the talent roster along with their SPOT ratings for the week. The first number to the right of each wrestler's name is their SPOT rating for this week and the second number is their rating for the previous week. Babyfaces are in blue on the left-hand side, heels in orange on the right. They are listed in descending order; wrestlers at the top were mostly in main events while wrestlers at the bottom were mostly in preliminary matches. I have data for the following house shows this week: Monday - Monroe, LA & Tulsa, OK Tuesday - Alexandria, LA & Shreveport, LA Wednesday - Baton Rouge, LA & Fort Smith, AR & Jackson, MS Thursday - Chalmette, LA & Greenville, MS & North Little Rock, AR Saturday - Greenwood, MS Data/Analysis: The big news this we

Mid-South Wrestling: Week of 8/2-8/8 1982

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Our coverage of 1982 continues with a look at the week ending August 8, 1982. For new readers,  this post  and  this post  will help you understand the SPOT rating and what it means. Here's a look at the talent roster along with their SPOT ratings for the week. The first number to the right of each wrestler's name is their SPOT rating for this week and the second number is their rating for the previous week. Babyfaces are in blue on the left-hand side, heels in orange on the right. They are listed in descending order; wrestlers at the top were mostly in main events while wrestlers at the bottom were mostly in preliminary matches. I have data for the following house shows this week: Monday - Monroe, LA Tuesday - Baton Rouge, LA Friday - Lafayette, LA Saturday - Alexandria, LA Sunday - Baton Rouge, LA Data/Analysis: The only change in the roster this week was the departure of Steve Williams. Steve had spent most of the summer on the road and then returned to the

Tri-State Wrestling: Week of 7/31-8/6 1961

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Our coverage of 1961 continues with a look at the week ending August 6, 1961. For new readers,  this post  and  this post  will help you understand the SPOT rating and what it means. Here's a look at the talent roster along with their SPOT ratings for the week. The first number to the right of each wrestler's name is their SPOT rating for this week and the second number is their rating for the previous week. Babyfaces are in blue on the left-hand side, heels in orange on the right. They are listed in descending order; wrestlers at the top were mostly in main events while wrestlers at the bottom were mostly in preliminary matches. I have data for the following house shows this week: Monday - Shreveport, LA & Tulsa, OK Tuesday - Little Rock, AR & Monroe, LA Wednesday - Baton Rouge, LA & Fort Smith, AR & Springfield, MO Thursday - New Orleans, LA & Wichita Falls, TX Friday - Oklahoma City, OK Analysis/Notes: There were no changes to th

Tri-State Wrestling: Week of 7/29-8/4 1968

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Our coverage of 1968 continues with a look at the week ending August 4, 1968. For new readers,  this post  and  this post  will help you understand the SPOT rating and what it means. Here's a look at the talent roster along with their SPOT ratings for the week. The crew that worked central and southern Louisiana is covered separately towards the bottom of this post. The first number to the right of each wrestler's name is their SPOT rating for this week and the second number is their rating for the previous week. Babyfaces are in blue on the left-hand side, heels in orange on the right. They are listed in descending order; wrestlers at the top were mostly in main events while wrestlers at the bottom were mostly in preliminary matches. I have data for the following house shows this week: Monday - Shreveport, LA & Tulsa, OK Tuesday - Little Rock, AR & Monroe, LA Wednesday - Fort Smith, AR & Springfield, MO Thursday - Longview, TX & Wichita Fall

Tri-State Wrestling: Week of 7/28-8/3 1975

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Our coverage of 1975 continues with a look at the week ending August 3, 1975. For new readers,  this post  and  this post  will help you understand the SPOT rating and what it means. Here's a look at the talent roster along with their SPOT ratings for the week. The first number to the right of each wrestler's name is their SPOT rating for this week and the second number is their rating for the previous week. Babyfaces are in blue on the left-hand side, heels in orange on the right. They are listed in descending order; wrestlers at the top were mostly in main events while wrestlers at the bottom were mostly in preliminary matches. I have data for the following house shows this week: Monday - Monroe, LA & Tulsa, OK Tuesday - Alexandria, LA & Shreveport, LA Wednesday - Baton Rouge, LA & Fort Smith, AR & Jackson, MS Thursday - Greenville, MS & New Orleans, LA & North Little Rock, AR Friday - Lake Charles, LA Saturday - Greenwood, MS & Wic

Mid-South Wrestling: Week of 7/26-8/1 1982

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Our coverage of 1982 continues with a look at the week ending August 1, 1982. For new readers,  this post  and  this post  will help you understand the SPOT rating and what it means. Here's a look at the talent roster along with their SPOT ratings for the week. The first number to the right of each wrestler's name is their SPOT rating for this week and the second number is their rating for the previous week. Babyfaces are in blue on the left-hand side, heels in orange on the right. They are listed in descending order; wrestlers at the top were mostly in main events while wrestlers at the bottom were mostly in preliminary matches. I have data for the following house shows this week: Tuesday - Baton Rouge, LA Thursday - Pine Bluff, AR Friday - Shreveport, LA Sunday - New Orleans, LA The New Orleans info comes from The Clawmaster's Archives Data/Analysis: With the big Summer Spectacular cards ending the previous week, several wrestlers ended their stays here a

Tri-State Wrestling: Week of 7/24-7/30 1961

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Our coverage of 1961 continues with a look at the week ending July 30, 1961. For new readers,  this post  and  this post  will help you understand the SPOT rating and what it means. Here's a look at the talent roster along with their SPOT ratings for the week. The first number to the right of each wrestler's name is their SPOT rating for this week and the second number is their rating for the previous week. Babyfaces are in blue on the left-hand side, heels in orange on the right. They are listed in descending order; wrestlers at the top were mostly in main events while wrestlers at the bottom were mostly in preliminary matches. I have data for the following house shows this week: Monday - Shreveport, LA & Tulsa, OK Tuesday - Little Rock, AR & Monroe, LA Wednesday - Baton Rouge, LA & Fort Smith, AR & Springfield, MO Thursday - New Orleans, LA & Wichita Falls, TX Friday - Oklahoma City, OK The Tulsa info comes from  oklafan.com Analy

Tri-State Wrestling: Week of 7/22-7/28 1968

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Our coverage of 1968 continues with a look at the week ending July 28, 1968. For new readers,  this post  and  this post  will help you understand the SPOT rating and what it means. Here's a look at the talent roster along with their SPOT ratings for the week. The crew that worked central and southern Louisiana is listed separately in the second chart. The first number to the right of each wrestler's name is their SPOT rating for this week and the second number is their rating for the previous week. Babyfaces are in blue on the left-hand side, heels in orange on the right. They are listed in descending order; wrestlers at the top were mostly in main events while wrestlers at the bottom were mostly in preliminary matches. I have data for the following house shows this week: Monday - Shreveport, LA & Tulsa, OK Tuesday - Little Rock, AR & Monroe, LA Wednesday - Fort Smith, AR & Springfield, MO Thursday - Longview, TX & Wichita Falls, TX Fri

Tri-State Wrestling: Week of 7/21-7/27 1975

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Our coverage of 1975 continues with a look at the week ending July 27, 1975. For new readers,  this post  and  this post  will help you understand the SPOT rating and what it means. Here's a look at the talent roster along with their SPOT ratings for the week. The first number to the right of each wrestler's name is their SPOT rating for this week and the second number is their rating for the previous week. Babyfaces are in blue on the left-hand side, heels in orange on the right. They are listed in descending order; wrestlers at the top were mostly in main events while wrestlers at the bottom were mostly in preliminary matches. I have data for the following house shows this week: Monday - Monroe, LA & Tulsa, OK Tuesday - Alexandria, LA & Shreveport, LA Wednesday - Baton Rouge, LA & Fort Smith, AR & Kosciusko, MS Thursday - Greenville, MS & North Little Rock, AR Saturday - Greenwood, MS Analysis/Notes: The biggest changes in this week's