Tri-State Wrestling 1966 - Mid-Card
Here's some info on the mid-card wrestlers for Tri-State in 1966.
Al Galento - Galento's primary role here was as manager of Battleship Johnson. As you can see above, he did not wrestle on a regular basis, having just a few matches per month. He also was booked as a special referee on several occasions and served as a fill-in a few times for wrestlers who were booked on cards but did not appear. Galento had debuted as a pro in the mid-1940s, but his days as a full-timer were over by this point in time. His last run here had been in 1961.
Jerry Kozak - Jerry and brother Nick are probably best known for their tenure in Amarillo, which eventually saw Jerry promoting towns and having an ownership stake in the territory. When he left here at the beginning of March he went to Central States, staying there for four months before returning at the end of June.
George Harris - Harris, sometimes billed as "Baby Blimp", had a few runs here dating back to 1960, and came back in April from Florida, staying a few months and then going to Georgia. He was billed as "Two Ton" Harris in some territories.
Bob Orton - Orton's positioning here in the mid-card is surprising to me. He was coming off of significant runs in Florida, Georgia and Mid-Atlantic (among other places) the previous couple of years, and I expected him to be placed higher on the cards here. Taking a closer look, he did work higher up in the latter half of his run. There's also a gap in September where it looks like he didn't wrestle at all. I wonder if an injury occurred shortly into his run here, derailing a planned push and forcing them to start over with him when he got back in the ring in October. This is all speculation of course, but his placement just seems out of place.
Rocky Montero - Montero came here in August from Gulf Coast for his first and only run in the territory. According to wrestlingdata.com, his most frequent career opponent was Pedro Morales, with most of those matches taking place in 1968 in Southern California and 1975 in Northern California.
Great Bolo - Al Lovelock started wrestling in 1939. In the early 50s, he started using the masked Great Bolo gimmick. By 1966, his true identity was well-known in the territory, and he was often advertised as Al "Bolo" Lovelock. He wrestled both as a babyface and a heel here at this time; not as in he wrestled on one side for a period of time and then turned, he was a babyface some nights and a heel others. There is no discernible pattern looking at dates or even by towns.
Mighty Bolo - Over the years, numerous wrestlers used the Mighty Bolo gimmick. On August 24th in Fort Smith, this version of Mighty Bolo was unmasked and identified as Tom Bradley, who also wrestled under his own name here at the same time (he is listed separately in the Lower Card category). Looking at the bookings for both gimmicks, there is never a day where both Bradley and Mighty are booked, so Tom would work as himself some nights and as Mighty Bolo other nights. As for the one booking in January, Bradley was wrestling in East Texas at the time so it almost certainly wasn't him.
Ramon Torres - Torres came here in March from East Texas, staying through the end of May and then going to Gulf Coast. He would next come here in 1969.
Red McKim - McKim wrestled on a part-time basis in the territory for many years. His day job was with the Tulsa Fire Department, and he wrestled on his off time. In August he does have some bookings in Georgia and Florida (likely a vacation with paid bookings to help with the finances).
Chuck Karbo - Karbo was in the territory often for much of his career, which spanned about 8 years beginning in 1964. He left in May and went to Central States for a month, then returned here and stayed through mid-October, at which point he went to Arizona.
Argentina Zuma - Zuma, also known as Amazing Zuma, had several runs here dating back to the mid-1950s. He was here from July 1965 through February, going to East Texas for a few months before returning in July. He stayed through the end of August and then went to Florida.
Nikita Mulkovich - Mulkovich was here for a few months in late 1965, with his last booking being in early January before going to Arizona. He then went to Southern California for a few months before returning here in September.
Kurt Steiger - Best known as Kurt Von Steiger, it appears the "Von" wasn't added until 1967. This run started in December 1965 and he stayed through mid-April, at which point he went to Amarillo. He would spend much of the rest of his career on the west coast, though it appears he came back here in 1973 for about a week.
Gorgeous George, Jr. - George Jr came here in November after a brief run in Central States as "Fighting Marine" Dick Marshall. While he was a heel when he first arrived here, he turned babyface early the following year and was a fixture in that role for most of the next few years in the territory.
