McGuirk Wrestling Territory: Week of 12/16-12/22 1968
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!
Here's a look at the talent roster along with SPOT ratings and FEUD scores for the week. The crew that worked central and southern Louisiana is covered separately towards the bottom of this post.
Other wrestlers advertised for shows this week but not listed in the ratings:
Blue Demon #1, Chuck Bowman, George Curtis, Manuel Perez, Pepe Perez and Red McKim
There were no changes to the roster this week. The lower FEUD Scores for the top feuds is due to a reduced schedule around Christmas & New Years. Keep in mind that these are based on a rolling five-week time period and that FEUD Scores are a cumulative number, so less shows generally equals lower scores.
Despite being unmasked in Joplin last week and revealed to be Tony Moreno, El Diablo #1 continues wrestling with the mask all this week (though not in Joplin). In Monroe and Oklahoma City, he again faced Scandor Akbar with similar stipulations as in Joplin: Akbar's hair versus Diablo's mask (though in Joplin Akbar had put up his beard). Akbar won both bouts this week. According to a newspaper article the next day in Monroe, however, Diablo "dashed to his dressing room before the 1,000 fans could get a look". In the following weeks it appears that he works one or two shows per week as El Diablo #1 (presumably in towns he wasn't unmasked in) and one or two as Tony Moreno.
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Here's a look at the talent roster along with SPOT ratings and FEUD scores for the week. The crew that worked central and southern Louisiana is covered separately towards the bottom of this post.
Other wrestlers advertised for shows this week but not listed in the ratings:
Blue Demon #1, Chuck Bowman, George Curtis, Manuel Perez, Pepe Perez and Red McKim
There were no changes to the roster this week. The lower FEUD Scores for the top feuds is due to a reduced schedule around Christmas & New Years. Keep in mind that these are based on a rolling five-week time period and that FEUD Scores are a cumulative number, so less shows generally equals lower scores.
Despite being unmasked in Joplin last week and revealed to be Tony Moreno, El Diablo #1 continues wrestling with the mask all this week (though not in Joplin). In Monroe and Oklahoma City, he again faced Scandor Akbar with similar stipulations as in Joplin: Akbar's hair versus Diablo's mask (though in Joplin Akbar had put up his beard). Akbar won both bouts this week. According to a newspaper article the next day in Monroe, however, Diablo "dashed to his dressing room before the 1,000 fans could get a look". In the following weeks it appears that he works one or two shows per week as El Diablo #1 (presumably in towns he wasn't unmasked in) and one or two as Tony Moreno.
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Known house shows for the week:
Monday - Shreveport, LA
-World Junior Heavyweight title: Danny Hodge vs Ronnie Reed
-Chief Big Heart & Kit Fox vs Jerry Miller & Jim Osborn
-Blue Demon #1 vs Pedro Valdez
-El Diablo #1 vs Pepe Perez
-Chuck Bowman vs Manuel Perez
Monday - Tulsa, OK
-Gorgeous George Jr & Red McKim vs Karl Von Stroheim & Treach Phillips
-Jack Donovan vs Lorenzo Parente
-Scandor Akbar vs Sputnik Monroe
-Gerald Brisco vs Jerry London
-Matti Suzuki vs Tom Bradley
-plus a battle royal with all participants wearing blindfolds
Tuesday - Little Rock, AR
-Ten round boxing match: Danny Hodge vs Ronnie Reed
-Jack Donovan vs Lorenzo Parente
-Jerry London & Matti Suzuki vs Karl Von Stroheim & Treach Phillips
-plus 1 other bout, likely a singles bout involving two of the participants in the tag match
Tuesday - Monroe, LA
-Hair vs Mask: El Diablo #1 vs Scandor Akbar
-Chief Big Heart & Kit Fox vs Jerry Miller & Jim Osborn
-Gerald Brisco vs Sputnik Monroe
-Bob Griffin vs Pedro Valdez
Wednesday - Fort Smith, AR
-Chief Big Heart & Kit Fox & Scandor Akbar vs Karl Von Stroheim & Sputnik Monroe & Treach Phillips
-Jerry London vs Pedro Valdez
-Prelims: Von Stroheim vs Fox and Akbar vs Phillips
Wednesday - Greenville, MS
-George Curtis & Gerald Brisco vs Jerry Miller & Jim Osborn
-plus 2 other bouts, likely singles matches involving the wrestlers in the tag bout
Wednesday - Springfield, MO
-US Tag Team titles, Mrs Donovan locked in a cage at ringside: Danny Hodge & Lorenzo Parente vs Jack Donovan & Ronnie Reed
-Matti Suzuki vs Tom Bradley
-Parente vs Reed
Thursday - Longview, TX
-Texas Death match: Karl Von Stroheim vs Scandor Akbar
-Chief Big Heart vs Sputnik Monroe
-El Diablo #1 vs Gerald Brisco
Thursday - Wichita Falls, TX
-US Tag Team titles, Mrs Donovan locked in a cage at ringside: Danny Hodge & Lorenzo Parente vs Jack Donovan & Ronnie Reed
-Gorgeous George Jr vs Jim Osborn
-Bob Griffin vs Treach Phillips
Friday - Oklahoma City, OK
Ten round boxing match: Gorgeous George Jr vs Sputnik Monroe
Hair vs Mask: El Diablo #1 vs Scandor Akbar
Chief Big Heart & Kit Fox vs Karl Von Stroheim & Treach Phillips
Jerry Miller vs Pedro Valdez
Bob Griffin vs Jim Osborn
Saturday - Joplin, MO
-US Tag Team titles: Danny Hodge & Lorenzo Parente vs Karl Von Stroheim & Treach Phillips
-Jim Osborn vs Matti Suzuki
-Jerry London vs Jerry Miller
Sunday - Shreveport, LA
-Karl Von Stroheim & Treach Phillips vs Lorenzo Parente & Scandor Akbar
-Chief Big Heart vs Sputnik Monroe
-Jim Osborn vs Matti Suzuki
-El Diablo #1 vs Pedro Valdez
-plus a battle royal with all participants wearing blindfolds
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For central and southern Louisiana, here are the SPOT ratings and FEUD scores for the week.
NOTE: This is the final week we will be covering this "subsidiary" territory. For most of the calendar year, this territory featured a small regular crew supplemented with talent coming down from the main McGuirk for circuit for a couple of weeks at a time. With Bob Griffin heading back up to the main circuit, it appears that stops completely. These Louisiana towns continue to run as their own small territory (likely being run by Billy Golden with help from Oni Wiki Wiki). After a couple of years, McGuirk starts sending his talent again and shortly thereafter the towns are fully absorbed into the main territory.
Other wrestlers advertised for shows this week but not listed in the ratings: Jim Traxler, Oni Wiki Wiki and Pierre DeGlane.
As mentioned above, Bob Griffin returned to the main McGuirk circuit, while Chuck Bowman and Big John also left. I believe John is the same wrestler more commonly known as Big Bad John, real name William Goodman. His next known whereabouts appear to be in March 1970 when he shows up in Detroit & Cleveland.
With Big John leaving, Little John reverts back to his previous "persona", Frank Dalton, this week. Since the promotion acknowledged that they were the same person (it was said that Dalton originally changed his name to Little John to reflect a new attitude and wrestling style), I have combined the SPOT Ratings for both personas into one.
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Known house shows for the week:
Tuesday - Baton Rouge, LA
-Louisiana Heavyweight title: Little John vs Pepe Perez
-Blue Demon #1 & Blue Demon #2 vs Manuel Perez & Pierre DeGlane
-Bobby Howell vs Oni Wiki Wiki
Wednesday - Alexandria, LA
-Mask vs Mask: One of the Blue Demons vs one of the Perez brothers (both of whom will be wearing masks as a carryover from last week)
-Frank Dalton vs Oni Wiki Wiki
-Plus a one-fall prelim, possibly the other Blue Demon vs the other Perez brother
Thursday - Loranger, LA
-Blue Demon #1 & Blue Demon #2 vs Manuel Perez & Pepe Perez
-Frank Dalton vs Oni Wiki Wiki
-plus 1 other bout, likely a singles match involving participants from the tag bout
Friday - Lafayette, LA
-Blue Demon #1 & Blue Demon #2 vs Manuel Perez & Pepe Perez
-Frank Dalton vs Oni Wiki Wiki
-Bobby Howell vs Jim Traxler
-plus 1 other bout, likely a singles match involving participants from the tag bout
Monday - Shreveport, LA
-World Junior Heavyweight title: Danny Hodge vs Ronnie Reed
-Chief Big Heart & Kit Fox vs Jerry Miller & Jim Osborn
-Blue Demon #1 vs Pedro Valdez
-El Diablo #1 vs Pepe Perez
-Chuck Bowman vs Manuel Perez
Monday - Tulsa, OK
-Gorgeous George Jr & Red McKim vs Karl Von Stroheim & Treach Phillips
-Jack Donovan vs Lorenzo Parente
-Scandor Akbar vs Sputnik Monroe
-Gerald Brisco vs Jerry London
-Matti Suzuki vs Tom Bradley
-plus a battle royal with all participants wearing blindfolds
Tuesday - Little Rock, AR
-Ten round boxing match: Danny Hodge vs Ronnie Reed
-Jack Donovan vs Lorenzo Parente
-Jerry London & Matti Suzuki vs Karl Von Stroheim & Treach Phillips
-plus 1 other bout, likely a singles bout involving two of the participants in the tag match
Tuesday - Monroe, LA
-Hair vs Mask: El Diablo #1 vs Scandor Akbar
-Chief Big Heart & Kit Fox vs Jerry Miller & Jim Osborn
-Gerald Brisco vs Sputnik Monroe
-Bob Griffin vs Pedro Valdez
Wednesday - Fort Smith, AR
-Chief Big Heart & Kit Fox & Scandor Akbar vs Karl Von Stroheim & Sputnik Monroe & Treach Phillips
-Jerry London vs Pedro Valdez
-Prelims: Von Stroheim vs Fox and Akbar vs Phillips
Wednesday - Greenville, MS
-George Curtis & Gerald Brisco vs Jerry Miller & Jim Osborn
-plus 2 other bouts, likely singles matches involving the wrestlers in the tag bout
Wednesday - Springfield, MO
-US Tag Team titles, Mrs Donovan locked in a cage at ringside: Danny Hodge & Lorenzo Parente vs Jack Donovan & Ronnie Reed
-Matti Suzuki vs Tom Bradley
-Parente vs Reed
Thursday - Longview, TX
-Texas Death match: Karl Von Stroheim vs Scandor Akbar
-Chief Big Heart vs Sputnik Monroe
-El Diablo #1 vs Gerald Brisco
Thursday - Wichita Falls, TX
-US Tag Team titles, Mrs Donovan locked in a cage at ringside: Danny Hodge & Lorenzo Parente vs Jack Donovan & Ronnie Reed
-Gorgeous George Jr vs Jim Osborn
-Bob Griffin vs Treach Phillips
Friday - Oklahoma City, OK
Ten round boxing match: Gorgeous George Jr vs Sputnik Monroe
Hair vs Mask: El Diablo #1 vs Scandor Akbar
Chief Big Heart & Kit Fox vs Karl Von Stroheim & Treach Phillips
Jerry Miller vs Pedro Valdez
Bob Griffin vs Jim Osborn
Saturday - Joplin, MO
-US Tag Team titles: Danny Hodge & Lorenzo Parente vs Karl Von Stroheim & Treach Phillips
-Jim Osborn vs Matti Suzuki
-Jerry London vs Jerry Miller
Sunday - Shreveport, LA
-Karl Von Stroheim & Treach Phillips vs Lorenzo Parente & Scandor Akbar
-Chief Big Heart vs Sputnik Monroe
-Jim Osborn vs Matti Suzuki
-El Diablo #1 vs Pedro Valdez
-plus a battle royal with all participants wearing blindfolds
-----
For central and southern Louisiana, here are the SPOT ratings and FEUD scores for the week.
NOTE: This is the final week we will be covering this "subsidiary" territory. For most of the calendar year, this territory featured a small regular crew supplemented with talent coming down from the main McGuirk for circuit for a couple of weeks at a time. With Bob Griffin heading back up to the main circuit, it appears that stops completely. These Louisiana towns continue to run as their own small territory (likely being run by Billy Golden with help from Oni Wiki Wiki). After a couple of years, McGuirk starts sending his talent again and shortly thereafter the towns are fully absorbed into the main territory.
Other wrestlers advertised for shows this week but not listed in the ratings: Jim Traxler, Oni Wiki Wiki and Pierre DeGlane.
As mentioned above, Bob Griffin returned to the main McGuirk circuit, while Chuck Bowman and Big John also left. I believe John is the same wrestler more commonly known as Big Bad John, real name William Goodman. His next known whereabouts appear to be in March 1970 when he shows up in Detroit & Cleveland.
With Big John leaving, Little John reverts back to his previous "persona", Frank Dalton, this week. Since the promotion acknowledged that they were the same person (it was said that Dalton originally changed his name to Little John to reflect a new attitude and wrestling style), I have combined the SPOT Ratings for both personas into one.
-----
Known house shows for the week:
Tuesday - Baton Rouge, LA
-Louisiana Heavyweight title: Little John vs Pepe Perez
-Blue Demon #1 & Blue Demon #2 vs Manuel Perez & Pierre DeGlane
-Bobby Howell vs Oni Wiki Wiki
Wednesday - Alexandria, LA
-Mask vs Mask: One of the Blue Demons vs one of the Perez brothers (both of whom will be wearing masks as a carryover from last week)
-Frank Dalton vs Oni Wiki Wiki
-Plus a one-fall prelim, possibly the other Blue Demon vs the other Perez brother
Thursday - Loranger, LA
-Blue Demon #1 & Blue Demon #2 vs Manuel Perez & Pepe Perez
-Frank Dalton vs Oni Wiki Wiki
-plus 1 other bout, likely a singles match involving participants from the tag bout
Friday - Lafayette, LA
-Blue Demon #1 & Blue Demon #2 vs Manuel Perez & Pepe Perez
-Frank Dalton vs Oni Wiki Wiki
-Bobby Howell vs Jim Traxler
-plus 1 other bout, likely a singles match involving participants from the tag bout
