Tri-State Wrestling 1966 - Upper Mid-Card

Here's a closer look at the upper mid-carders for Tri-State in 1966.

Tor Kamata - Tor came here in May from Central States for his first and only run in the territory. Portraying the stereotypical Japanese heel, he had several "judo jacket" matches against karate expert Battleship Johnson around the horn in July. He left at the end of September and returned to Central States.

Krusher Kowalski - Kowalski, aka Stan Kowalski among numerous other gimmicks, came here for the first time in April. A pro since the early 1950s, wrestlingdata.com doesn't have any results for him for the first few months of the year or for all of 1965. He left at the end of May and had a brief stay in Amarillo before going to the AWA. Kowalski would return here in 1973. He first started using the Krusher Kowalski name a few years after Walter 'Wladek' Kowalski started using the Killer Kowalski name.

Lorenzo Parente - After a few months here in 1960, Parente returned in October 1965. In late April he went to East Texas for about a month then returned here for a few shots. His name shows up later in the year on shows in Illinois and Utah. He would return here several times over the next decade.

Jack Brisco - Jack made his pro debut the previous May in this territory. He may have had a booking or two out of the Amarillo office in December as Tiger Brisco. Jack left to work for Gulas in mid-January, and two months later went to Amarillo before coming back here in early May. In the brief period between the Gulas and Amarillo runs, he was booked here at least once. Jack is a good example of someone who had their SPOT rating change significantly over the course of the year. When he left the territory in January his SPOT rating would have placed him at the lower end of the Mid-Card grouping. Upon returning, he was moved up the cards gradually before wrestling in numerous main events over the summer, including at least 20 matches against Danny Hodge over an 11 week period. We'll take a look at shorter-term SPOT ratings in a future blog post.

Don Kent - "Bulldog" Don Kent had been here previously on a few occasions dating back to 1959. Most recently he had been here in 1965, leaving at the end of November to go to Arizona. He returned here in mid-April, staying for over four months before going to Mid-Atlantic. He was advertised for one show in Oklahoma City in February but did not appear.

Mike Clancy - "Irish" Mike had numerous stints here dating back to 1953. This run started the previous August when he came in after wrestling for Gulas. He stayed through February 1967 and then retired from the ring, opening a pizza place in Tulsa and later working for the Tulsa County Sheriff's Office.