Tri-State Wrestling: Week of 6/30-7/6 1975
Here is our first look at Tri-State Wresting in 1975, covering the week beginning Monday, June 30th and ending Sunday, July 6th. If you're new to the blog, reading this post and this post will help you understand the SPOT rating and what it means.
Here's a look at the talent roster for the week along with their SPOT ratings. Babyfaces are in blue on the left-hand side, heels in orange on the right. They are listed in descending order and grouped into loose categories, so you can easily see who were the main eventers, mid-carders, preliminary wrestlers, etc.
Allen Klein and Gene Lewis finished up the previous week. I can't find any records of Klein's whereabouts after leaving here. Lewis (Gene Petit aka Cousin Luke among many other gimmicks) had only been here a couple of weeks, but left to go on a tour for New Japan. He would return later in the year.
Here's a look at the talent roster for the week along with their SPOT ratings. Babyfaces are in blue on the left-hand side, heels in orange on the right. They are listed in descending order and grouped into loose categories, so you can easily see who were the main eventers, mid-carders, preliminary wrestlers, etc.
Known shows for the week:
Monday - Monroe, LA & Tulsa, OK
Tuesday - Alexandria, LA & Shreveport, LA & Springfield, MO
Wednesday - Baton Rouge, LA & Fort Smith, AR & Jackson, MS
Thursday - Chalmette, LA & Greenville, MS & North Little Rock, AR
Friday - Lawton, OK
Saturday - Greenwood, MS
Sunday - Lake Charles, LA
Analysis/Notes:
The main eventers include both heavyweights and junior heavyweights. Junior heavyweights had always been featured prominently in the territory dating back to Leroy McGuirk's days as an active wrestler. The North American Heavyweight title was created in 1969, and over the years more and more heavyweights would be featured in the territory. In later years the light heavyweights would be phased down, but in 1975 both the "big guys" (Watts, Murdoch, Grizzly) and "little guys" (Hodge, Matsuda, Mantell) were capable of main eventing towns.
Aside from the full-time members of the roster listed above, Danny Miller, Pat O'Connor and The Spoiler (I'm assuming this was Don Jardine) appeared in the territory during the week. Miller left here in early June and went to Mid-Atlantic, but was still booked here sporadically through the end of July (perhaps to finish out storylines in towns that got the TV on a several week delay), including July 1st in Shreveport against Dick Murdoch. Former World Heavyweight champion O'Connor was booked against Murdoch on June 30th in Tulsa. Spoiler was in Mid-Atlantic for most of the year, but was booked here as a babyface on a handful of cards in Jackson, MS, including July 2nd in Jackson when he teamed with Watts to face Murdoch & Killer Karl Kox. I'm not 100% positive it was Jardine, but I've got no concrete evidence that it wasn't him (ie there are no times when he works Jackson where I have proof he worked for Mid-Atlantic the same night).
Female midget wrestlers Darling Dagmar, Diamond Lil, Honey Girl Paige, Marie LeVeau and Princess Little Dove finished up a three-week stint this week. They primarily wrestled in battle royals featuring all five wrestlers (with the top rope removed so they only had to be thrown over the second rope). They were generally in the mid-card somewhere; their SPOT ratings fall between Scandor Akbar and Jay Clayton in the chart above.
Who's who: Vic Muehler was also known as Vic Rossitani, Frank Goodish was better known as Bruiser Brody (I'm sure you already knew that but I'm a completist), Igor Putski was also known as Beppo Bonnett and Ricky Ferrara.
The only newcomer this week was Bill Dromo. This was Dromo's second stint here with the first one being way back in 1968. He had been in Georgia for the first several months of 1975 before coming here.
Allen Klein and Gene Lewis finished up the previous week. I can't find any records of Klein's whereabouts after leaving here. Lewis (Gene Petit aka Cousin Luke among many other gimmicks) had only been here a couple of weeks, but left to go on a tour for New Japan. He would return later in the year.
Frequent tag teams were:
Frank Goodish & Stan Hansen
Bob Sweetan & Ronnie Garvin
Danny Hodge & Jay Clayton
Frequent matches were:
Buck Robley vs Vic Muehler
Bob Sweetan vs Tom Jones
Bill Watts vs Dick Murdoch
Ken Mantell vs Ronnie Garvin
Buck Robley vs Danny Hodge
Bob Sweetan vs Roberto Soto
Danny Hodge & Jay Clayton vs Frank Goodish & Stan Hansen
In future weeks when I list the SPOT ratings, I will also list the ratings for each wrestler the previous week (and maybe even the previous two weeks) so we can track any significant movement up or down the cards for certain wrestlers.
