Tri-State Wrestling 1967 - Main Eventers
Here is some brief biographical information for the wrestlers I consider to be Main Eventers in the territory during 1967. Not too detailed, just a little who's who, what territory guys came here from, where they went after they left, etc.
The Medics - As mentioned when I looked at 1966, this version of the Medics was Chuck Conley & John Higgins. They were finishing up their run in the territory and were only here for a few weeks in the beginning of the year. They lost mask vs mask matches in January to the Assassins in Shreveport, Springfield, Wichita Falls and Joplin. Conley would come back later in the year but was positioned as a mid-card babyface, and I'm counting that run as a separate entity. Higgins wrestled as John Higgins on a few shows in January in towns which he and Conley had previously been unmasked in December; like with Conley's bookings, I'm not counting those here.
Danny Hodge - Hodge toured Japan in January and had a several week run in the AWA in the spring, but aside from that was here for pretty much the entire year.
The Assassins - The Assassins (Tom Renesto & Jody Hamilton) started their second run as a team here in November of 1966 and stayed just about a year. They left in November and went to All-Star in Vancouver. This was Renesto's last stint here, while Hamilton wouldn't return until 1977.
Tiny Smith & Big Boy Brown - The Kentuckians returned together at the end of January and teamed up for about two months. In April, Brown worked a few shots for All-Star in Nebraska and then both went to Mid-Atlantic at the end of the month. They returned in September and again worked as a team for a couple of months. Brown left at the end of November and went to the AWA, while Smith stayed for another month before going to Georgia. Neither returned here until 1970.
Chati Yokouchi & Togo Shikuma - These two came in together in early April, managed by Nikita Mulkovich. It appears this was both men's first appearances in the U.S. Yokouchi had been wrestling in Europe for the previous few years. In mid-October, Shikuma left the territory. Newspaper articles said at the time that he was severely injured in a match against Hodge & Scandor Akbar and would be out for several months, but I'm not sure if this was an angle or legit. Wrestlingdata.com lists his next appearances in Germany the following year under the name Kiyomigawa. After Shikuma left, Chuck Karbo took his place as Yokouchi's tag team partner.
Haystack Calhoun - Calhoun was typically used as a special attraction, coming to a territory for no more than a couple of weeks and then moving on to the next one, but sometimes stayed longer. He hadn't worked here since very early in his career ten years prior, but came in January and stayed for a little over a month. He then went to Florida for a brief run, followed by an extended stint in Mid-Atlantic before returning here in June. He again stayed for a little over a month before going to Hawaii for a couple of weeks and then back to Mid-Atlantic. He wouldn't return here until 1976.
Billy Garrett & Dick Dunn - Garrett & Dunn were billed as The Red Raiders. Coming here from Georgia, they started in early January as a masked duo, but in early February they voluntarily unmasked before a match in Longview, Texas. They wrestled without the masks in all appearances in the territory after that. They left in early May, with Dunn going to Gulf Coast and Garrett working a couple of shots for Gulas before going to Mid-Atlantic. They would both return here in 1969, Dunn as himself and Garrett as one-half of yet another incarnation of the Medics with Jim Starr.
The Great Bolo - As in 1966, Bolo wrestled both as a heel and a babyface with no rhyme or reason. Even in the same town he'd flip back and forth from one show to the next. He was a semi-regular, working a couple of shows per week through February, mostly in the B towns. This appears to be the end of his run as a pro, though he would return for a handful of appearances in 1969.
El Diablo #2 -After several weeks of a masked wrestler named El Diablo working his way up the cards, Diablo #2 shows up in mid-November. Diablo #2 appears to have been Treach Phillips; an ad for a show in late 1968 in Longview TX refers to him as a "former Diablo". In addition, Phillips wrestled two matches here as himself the week before Diablo #2 shows up, and those are his only bookings here under that name at this time.
The Medics - As mentioned when I looked at 1966, this version of the Medics was Chuck Conley & John Higgins. They were finishing up their run in the territory and were only here for a few weeks in the beginning of the year. They lost mask vs mask matches in January to the Assassins in Shreveport, Springfield, Wichita Falls and Joplin. Conley would come back later in the year but was positioned as a mid-card babyface, and I'm counting that run as a separate entity. Higgins wrestled as John Higgins on a few shows in January in towns which he and Conley had previously been unmasked in December; like with Conley's bookings, I'm not counting those here.
Danny Hodge - Hodge toured Japan in January and had a several week run in the AWA in the spring, but aside from that was here for pretty much the entire year.
The Assassins - The Assassins (Tom Renesto & Jody Hamilton) started their second run as a team here in November of 1966 and stayed just about a year. They left in November and went to All-Star in Vancouver. This was Renesto's last stint here, while Hamilton wouldn't return until 1977.
Tiny Smith & Big Boy Brown - The Kentuckians returned together at the end of January and teamed up for about two months. In April, Brown worked a few shots for All-Star in Nebraska and then both went to Mid-Atlantic at the end of the month. They returned in September and again worked as a team for a couple of months. Brown left at the end of November and went to the AWA, while Smith stayed for another month before going to Georgia. Neither returned here until 1970.
Chati Yokouchi & Togo Shikuma - These two came in together in early April, managed by Nikita Mulkovich. It appears this was both men's first appearances in the U.S. Yokouchi had been wrestling in Europe for the previous few years. In mid-October, Shikuma left the territory. Newspaper articles said at the time that he was severely injured in a match against Hodge & Scandor Akbar and would be out for several months, but I'm not sure if this was an angle or legit. Wrestlingdata.com lists his next appearances in Germany the following year under the name Kiyomigawa. After Shikuma left, Chuck Karbo took his place as Yokouchi's tag team partner.
Haystack Calhoun - Calhoun was typically used as a special attraction, coming to a territory for no more than a couple of weeks and then moving on to the next one, but sometimes stayed longer. He hadn't worked here since very early in his career ten years prior, but came in January and stayed for a little over a month. He then went to Florida for a brief run, followed by an extended stint in Mid-Atlantic before returning here in June. He again stayed for a little over a month before going to Hawaii for a couple of weeks and then back to Mid-Atlantic. He wouldn't return here until 1976.
Billy Garrett & Dick Dunn - Garrett & Dunn were billed as The Red Raiders. Coming here from Georgia, they started in early January as a masked duo, but in early February they voluntarily unmasked before a match in Longview, Texas. They wrestled without the masks in all appearances in the territory after that. They left in early May, with Dunn going to Gulf Coast and Garrett working a couple of shots for Gulas before going to Mid-Atlantic. They would both return here in 1969, Dunn as himself and Garrett as one-half of yet another incarnation of the Medics with Jim Starr.
The Great Bolo - As in 1966, Bolo wrestled both as a heel and a babyface with no rhyme or reason. Even in the same town he'd flip back and forth from one show to the next. He was a semi-regular, working a couple of shows per week through February, mostly in the B towns. This appears to be the end of his run as a pro, though he would return for a handful of appearances in 1969.
El Diablo #2 -After several weeks of a masked wrestler named El Diablo working his way up the cards, Diablo #2 shows up in mid-November. Diablo #2 appears to have been Treach Phillips; an ad for a show in late 1968 in Longview TX refers to him as a "former Diablo". In addition, Phillips wrestled two matches here as himself the week before Diablo #2 shows up, and those are his only bookings here under that name at this time.
