McGuirk Wrestling Territory: Week of 1/5/76-1/11/76
For the week ending January 11th, 1976: Haystack Calhoun sets up shop in the territory for a few weeks, the vacated US Tag Team titles become un-vacated & more!
Here's a look at the talent roster along with SPOT ratings and FEUD scores for the week.
Other wrestlers advertised for shows this week but not listed in the SPOT ratings: Bob Sweetan and Jack Curtis Jr. In the case of Curtis, he shifts to a part-time schedule in the territory around this time. I am not too well-versed in the Culkin family tree, but I believe that Curtis Jr. is the nephew of George Culkin, which I think makes him Gil Culkin's cousin. But I could be wrong. Sweetan is booked against Buck Robley in Jackson this week, though he's primarily working for Gulf Coast at this time.
After a few weeks off (though he worked at least once in Georgia), Bill Watts returns to the house shows this week. Other newcomers are Haystack Calhoun, Alex Perez, Calypso Joe and The Invader. Perez came in from Amarillo. I am unsure of Calypso Joe's identity or other names he may have used. After a few months here, he shows up in some ads for Gulf Coast but is gone pretty quickly and then seems to disappear. One of the Gulf Coast ads identifies him as African-American, but that's literally the only piece of info I have on him. Same goes for The Invader; one newspaper article lists him as a "300 pounder", but that's all the info I have. It's not Jose Gonzalez, who was in Portland working as Manny Cruz at this time. It also can't be Roberto Soto (who worked as an Invader in Puerto Rico) as he's in Mid-Atlantic in January along with his brother Manuel.
Regarding Haystack Calhoun, I have him listed in the SPOT Ratings because he comes in for a solid three weeks. The general rule of thumb is someone has to work at least a couple of shows per week for at least a couple of weeks to be considered a "full-timer". While Haystack is obviously more of a special attraction, I did include him because of the length of his stay. Haystack was advertised in battle royals in Fort Smith, Greenville, Monroe and Loranger this week. He also worked as a special referee in Tulsa and Shreveport. My inclusion of "Haystack Calhoun in a battle royal" in the FEUD Scores is based on the fact that when he's advertised for battle royals, it is very clear from the ads that he is positioned as a draw and his being in the battle royal IS the draw. The battle royals generally included all the wrestlers booked on the card, but Haystack is not in another match, he's only featured in the royal. Keep in mind that while I call it a "FEUD Score", it is merely a measure of the matches that occur most frequently; they are not necessarily all "feuds".
Besides Jack Curtis Jr., also removed from the SPOT Ratings this week were Jay Clayton and Denny Alberts. Clayton goes to Georgia and Alberts goes to Big Time (Detroit).
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Here's a look at the talent roster along with SPOT ratings and FEUD scores for the week.
Other wrestlers advertised for shows this week but not listed in the SPOT ratings: Bob Sweetan and Jack Curtis Jr. In the case of Curtis, he shifts to a part-time schedule in the territory around this time. I am not too well-versed in the Culkin family tree, but I believe that Curtis Jr. is the nephew of George Culkin, which I think makes him Gil Culkin's cousin. But I could be wrong. Sweetan is booked against Buck Robley in Jackson this week, though he's primarily working for Gulf Coast at this time.
After a few weeks off (though he worked at least once in Georgia), Bill Watts returns to the house shows this week. Other newcomers are Haystack Calhoun, Alex Perez, Calypso Joe and The Invader. Perez came in from Amarillo. I am unsure of Calypso Joe's identity or other names he may have used. After a few months here, he shows up in some ads for Gulf Coast but is gone pretty quickly and then seems to disappear. One of the Gulf Coast ads identifies him as African-American, but that's literally the only piece of info I have on him. Same goes for The Invader; one newspaper article lists him as a "300 pounder", but that's all the info I have. It's not Jose Gonzalez, who was in Portland working as Manny Cruz at this time. It also can't be Roberto Soto (who worked as an Invader in Puerto Rico) as he's in Mid-Atlantic in January along with his brother Manuel.
Regarding Haystack Calhoun, I have him listed in the SPOT Ratings because he comes in for a solid three weeks. The general rule of thumb is someone has to work at least a couple of shows per week for at least a couple of weeks to be considered a "full-timer". While Haystack is obviously more of a special attraction, I did include him because of the length of his stay. Haystack was advertised in battle royals in Fort Smith, Greenville, Monroe and Loranger this week. He also worked as a special referee in Tulsa and Shreveport. My inclusion of "Haystack Calhoun in a battle royal" in the FEUD Scores is based on the fact that when he's advertised for battle royals, it is very clear from the ads that he is positioned as a draw and his being in the battle royal IS the draw. The battle royals generally included all the wrestlers booked on the card, but Haystack is not in another match, he's only featured in the royal. Keep in mind that while I call it a "FEUD Score", it is merely a measure of the matches that occur most frequently; they are not necessarily all "feuds".
Besides Jack Curtis Jr., also removed from the SPOT Ratings this week were Jay Clayton and Denny Alberts. Clayton goes to Georgia and Alberts goes to Big Time (Detroit).
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Known house show lineups for the week:
Monday - Tulsa, OK
-Special referee Haystack Calhoun: Dick Murdoch vs Killer Karl Kox
-Buddy Roberts & Jerry Brown vs Greg Valentine & Ted DiBiase
-Bob Griffin vs Waldo Von Erich
-Bob Slaughter vs Sonny King
-Invader vs Pork Chop Cash
-Alex Perez vs Calypso Joe
Tuesday - Alexandria, LA
-Bob Griffin & Greg Valentine vs Buddy Roberts & Jerry Brown
-Bill Watts vs Waldo Von Erich
-Pork Chop Cash vs Sonny Rogers
-Igor Putski vs Mike Pappas
Tuesday - Shreveport, LA
-Special referee Haystack Calhoun: Dick Murdoch vs Killer Karl Kox
-Bob Slaughter vs Sonny King
-Buck Robley vs Calypso Joe
-Invader vs Jack Curtis Jr
-Alex Perez vs Ted DiBiase
Wednesday - Fort Smith, AR
-Haystack Calhoun in a battle royal
-Bob Slaughter vs Sonny King
-Alex Perez vs Danny Hodge
-Sonny Rogers vs Ted DiBiase
-Igor Putski vs Invader
Wednesday - Jackson, MS
-Dick Murdoch vs Killer Karl Kox
-Bill Watts & Greg Valentine vs Buddy Roberts & Jerry Brown
-Bob Griffin vs Waldo Von Erich
-Bob Sweetan vs Buck Robley
-Jack Curtis Jr vs Pork Chop Cash
*the tag team match is billed as the finals of a tournament for the US Tag Team titles, which were vacated by previous champs Dick Murdoch & Killer Karl Kox when they split up; title histories online indicate the match and titles were won by Watts & Valentine here
Thursday - Greenville, MS
-Haystack Calhoun in a battle royal
-Buck Robley vs Sonny King
-Pork Chop Cash vs Waldo Von Erich
-Bob Slaughter vs Ted DiBiase
Friday - Lafayette, LA
-No disqualification: Dick Murdoch vs Killer Karl Kox
-Buck Robley vs Ted DiBiase
-Bob Slaughter vs Pork Chop Cash
-Alex Perez vs Bob Griffin
Friday - Monroe, LA
-Haystack Calhoun in a battle royal
-Sonny King vs Waldo Von Erich
-Buddy Roberts & Jerry Brown vs Greg Valentine & Grizzly Smith
-Igor Putski vs Invader
-Calypso Joe vs Sonny Rogers
Saturday - Greenwood, MS
-Sonny King vs Waldo Von Erich
-Buddy Roberts & Jerry Brown vs Greg Valentine & Ted DiBiase
-Alex Perez vs Mike Pappas
Saturday - Loranger, LA
-Haystack Calhoun in a battle royal
-No disqualification: Bob Slaughter vs Grizzly Smith
-Bob Griffin vs Buck Robley
-Igor Putski vs Invader
-Calypso Joe vs Sonny Rogers
Monday - Tulsa, OK
-Special referee Haystack Calhoun: Dick Murdoch vs Killer Karl Kox
-Buddy Roberts & Jerry Brown vs Greg Valentine & Ted DiBiase
-Bob Griffin vs Waldo Von Erich
-Bob Slaughter vs Sonny King
-Invader vs Pork Chop Cash
-Alex Perez vs Calypso Joe
Tuesday - Alexandria, LA
-Bob Griffin & Greg Valentine vs Buddy Roberts & Jerry Brown
-Bill Watts vs Waldo Von Erich
-Pork Chop Cash vs Sonny Rogers
-Igor Putski vs Mike Pappas
Tuesday - Shreveport, LA
-Special referee Haystack Calhoun: Dick Murdoch vs Killer Karl Kox
-Bob Slaughter vs Sonny King
-Buck Robley vs Calypso Joe
-Invader vs Jack Curtis Jr
-Alex Perez vs Ted DiBiase
Wednesday - Fort Smith, AR
-Haystack Calhoun in a battle royal
-Bob Slaughter vs Sonny King
-Alex Perez vs Danny Hodge
-Sonny Rogers vs Ted DiBiase
-Igor Putski vs Invader
Wednesday - Jackson, MS
-Dick Murdoch vs Killer Karl Kox
-Bill Watts & Greg Valentine vs Buddy Roberts & Jerry Brown
-Bob Griffin vs Waldo Von Erich
-Bob Sweetan vs Buck Robley
-Jack Curtis Jr vs Pork Chop Cash
*the tag team match is billed as the finals of a tournament for the US Tag Team titles, which were vacated by previous champs Dick Murdoch & Killer Karl Kox when they split up; title histories online indicate the match and titles were won by Watts & Valentine here
Thursday - Greenville, MS
-Haystack Calhoun in a battle royal
-Buck Robley vs Sonny King
-Pork Chop Cash vs Waldo Von Erich
-Bob Slaughter vs Ted DiBiase
Friday - Lafayette, LA
-No disqualification: Dick Murdoch vs Killer Karl Kox
-Buck Robley vs Ted DiBiase
-Bob Slaughter vs Pork Chop Cash
-Alex Perez vs Bob Griffin
Friday - Monroe, LA
-Haystack Calhoun in a battle royal
-Sonny King vs Waldo Von Erich
-Buddy Roberts & Jerry Brown vs Greg Valentine & Grizzly Smith
-Igor Putski vs Invader
-Calypso Joe vs Sonny Rogers
Saturday - Greenwood, MS
-Sonny King vs Waldo Von Erich
-Buddy Roberts & Jerry Brown vs Greg Valentine & Ted DiBiase
-Alex Perez vs Mike Pappas
Saturday - Loranger, LA
-Haystack Calhoun in a battle royal
-No disqualification: Bob Slaughter vs Grizzly Smith
-Bob Griffin vs Buck Robley
-Igor Putski vs Invader
-Calypso Joe vs Sonny Rogers
