McGuirk Wrestling Territory: June 1976
Here's a look at the McGuirk wrestling territory in June 1976: Buck Robley turns babyface, the tournament to crown a new World Junior Heavyweight champ begins & more!
Here are the SPOT Ratings for the month.
Here are the SPOT Ratings for the month.
COMINGS AND GOINGS
Newcomers to the territory this month are babyface George Strickland and heel the Medic. Additionally, Dick Murdoch returned from “injury” (actually he was in Japan). Jack Curtis Jr is wrestling on a part-time basis (and likely helping promote the Mississippi towns with his in-laws the Culkins).
Strickland’s in-ring career, which began in the 1940s, had been winding down for several years. This brief run, which only lasted a few weeks, appears to be the end of it. The Medic at this time is believed to be Jim Starr. Jim had been teaming with Tom Andrews for Gulas as the Interns earlier in the year, then Tom went to Central States to work as the Super Intern. Tom and Jim would have a big run here the following year together as the Medics.
Upon Murdoch’s return, he was placed lower on the cards than usual, with the storyline being he was “still recovering” from the eye injury suffered at the hands of Killer Karl Kox, Bob Sweetan and Buck Robley.
The roster was pretty stable during the month, as there were no significant departures.
Other wrestlers not listed in the SPOT Ratings: Assassin #3, Dick the Bruiser, Jerry Usher, Jerry Green & John Brown, Randy Alls, Ricky Gibson, Terry Lathan and Tommy Tate.
Dick the Bruiser worked Chalmette on June 17th, defeating Bob Sweetan. I don’t have any other information on matches for that show, thus it isn’t included in the house show listings at the bottom of this post. Bruiser would make some more appearances in Chalmette to build up to a match against Abdullah the Butcher on the next big Superdome card in July.
Assassin #3 was one of Terry Funk’s bounty hunters. He wrestled Bill Watts on two shows, one in Shreveport and one the following week in Tulsa. Watts won both matches, with the Shreveport match lasting less than four minutes. I don’t know who this Assassin was other than it almost certainly wasn’t one of the well-known wrestlers who used the gimmick. It wouldn’t surprise me to learn it was just Jim Starr working under a different hood. Starr is not booked in any of the towns on the same nights as Assassin’s two appearances.
I have no idea who Green & Brown were (if they were anybody of note). They came in together and worked as a team in the lower half of the cards for a week and then disappeared. Randy Alls is a young Randy Rose. He had been working in Georgia but was booked on shows here for a week. Both Gibson and Lathan were working regularly in Gulf Coast but had a handful of bookings here in June.
CH-CH-CHANGES
Role Changes: Buck Robley turned babyface in June. The turn began in May when Robley, Killer Karl Kox and Ken Patera were fined for the attack on Dick Murdoch that injured him. In doing my research on the turn, it appears there was a televised match where Kox and Bob Sweetan teamed up against a babyface team (perhaps Ted DiBiase & Bob Griffin, but I’m not positive) and they went to a time limit draw. The babyfaces asked for five more minutes and Robley, who was managing Kox, agreed without consulting Kox or Bob. They again went the time limit, the babyfaces again asked for more time, and Robley again quickly agreed. Kox had enough of this and fired Robley. As was often the case with televised angles at the time, it took several weeks for the turn to air in all the towns. Looking at the chronological house show lineups at the bottom of this post, Robley can sometimes be seen working as a babyface in one town and then a heel the following night in a different town.
Title Changes: No title changes this month. Bill Watts is the North American champion while Bob Sweetan & Killer Karl Kox are the US Tag Team titlists. The NWA World Junior Heavyweight title is vacant, as previous champ Danny Hodge retired following his automobile accident in March. The promotion kicked off a tournament to crown a new champ, with the “tournament” actually being a series of elimination matches that took place in various towns. Bob Griffin faced Nelson Royal in the first of these elimination matches on June 21st in Tulsa.
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Here are the FEUD Scores for the month.
ANATOMY OF A FEUD
This month we'll look at the feud between Bill Watts and Ken Patera, looking at all of the known matches between them with results and stipulations noted where available.
Keep in mind that some newspapers didn't list details, so just because a match isn't specified as a title match we don't necessarily know for a fact that it was non-title and the same can apply for stipulation bouts. Also, "Wrestler A defeated Wrestler B" doesn't necessarily mean it was by pinfall or submission.
May 31 Tulsa OK: Bill Watts defeated Ken Patera in a North American title match
June 3 Chalmette LA: Bill Watts defeated Ken Patera
June 8 Alexandria LA: Bill Watts vs Ken Patera in a North American title (and bounty) match
June 14 Tulsa OK: Bill Watts vs Ken Patera in a submission match (NOTE: Ron Starr subbed for Watts)
June 15 Alexandria LA: Bill Watts vs Ken Patera in a North American title match
June 17 North Little Rock AR: Bill Watts vs Ken Patera in a North American title match
June 18 Lawton OK: Bill Watts vs Ken Patera in a North American title (and bounty) match
June 22 Alexandria LA: Bill Watts vs Ken Patera in a no disqualification North American title match
June 24 North Little Rock AR: Bill Watts vs Ken Patera in a North American title match
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Here is the calendar of known house shows.
HOUSE SHOW LINEUPS
(unless stated otherwise, these lineups are from my own personal research)
Stipulations listed when known; keep in mind that some matches not specified as title matches may have actually been title bouts and the same can apply for stipulation matches.
5/31/76 Monroe LA
One fall to a finish: Ron Starr vs Tom Jones
Grizzly Smith vs Randy Tyler
Bob Griffin vs Bobby Jaggers
Jack Curtis Jr vs Siegfried Stanke
Rick McGraw vs Silento Rodriguez
5/31/76 Tulsa OK
North American title: Bill Watts vs Ken Patera
No time limit: Bob Sweetan & Killer Karl Kox vs Nelson Royal & Ted DiBiase
Buck Robley vs Ted Heath
Gene Lewis vs Jay Clayton
6/1/76 Alexandria LA
Lights out: Grizzly Smith vs Ken Patera
No disqualification: Bob Griffin vs Ron Starr
Bobby Jaggers & Randy Tyler vs Jay Clayton & Tom Jones
Rick McGraw vs Silento Rodriguez
6/1/76 Shreveport LA
$5,000 bounty match: Assassin #3 vs Bill Watts
Buck Robley vs Killer Karl Kox
Bob Sweetan vs Nelson Royal
Siegfried Stanke vs Ted DiBiase
Gene Lewis vs Ted Heath
6/2/76 Baton Rouge LA
North American title: Bill Watts vs Bob Sweetan
Buck Robley vs Tom Jones
Ron Starr vs Ted Heath
Siegfried Stanke vs Silento Rodriguez
6/2/76 Vicksburg MS
Grudge match: Ken Patera vs Nelson Royal
Killer Karl Kox vs Ted DiBiase (Kox says he will win in 20 minutes or forfeit $750)
Bob Griffin & Jay Clayton vs Bobby Jaggers & Randy Tyler
Gene Lewis vs Rick McGraw
6/3/76 Chalmette LA (source: wrestlingdata.com)
Bill Watts vs Ken Patera
Ron Starr vs Tom Jones
Bob Griffin & Silento Rodriguez vs Bobby Jaggers & Randy Tyler
Siegfried Stanke vs Ted Heath
6/3/76 North Little Rock AR
Lights out: Killer Karl Kox vs Ted DiBiase
Buck Robley vs Nelson Royal
Bob Sweetan vs Jay Clayton
Gene Lewis vs Rick McGraw
6/4/76 Fort Smith AR
US Tag Team titles, no disqualification: Bill Watts & Jay Clayton vs Bob Sweetan & Killer Karl Kox
Buck Robley vs Ted DiBiase
Gene Lewis vs Nelson Royal
6/4/76 Lafayette LA
Lights out: Bob Griffin vs Ron Starr
Randy Tyler vs Tom Jones
Bobby Jaggers vs Ted Heath
Siegfried Stanke vs Silento Rodriguez
6/5/76 Greenwood MS
Ron Starr vs Tom Jones
Rick McGraw vs Ted Heath
Jerry Usher vs Silento Rodriguez
6/5/76 Loranger LA
Bobby Jaggers & Randy Tyler vs Grizzly Smith & Terry Lathan
Bob Griffin vs Siegfried Stanke
Plus two other bouts, likely singles matches involving participants from the tag bout
6/6/76 Houma LA
Bobby Jaggers & Randy Tyler vs Grizzly Smith & Tom Jones
Siegfried Stanke vs Ted Heath
George Strickland vs Ron Starr
Plus one other bout, likely a singles match involving participants from the tag bout
6/7/76 El Dorado AR
Bobby Jaggers & Randy Tyler vs Grizzly Smith & Tom Jones
Siegfried Stanke vs Ted Heath
Gene Lewis vs Jay Clayton
6/7/76 Tulsa OK
$5,000 bounty match: Assassin #3 vs Bill Watts
Special challenge match: Buck Robley vs Killer Karl Kox
Bob Sweetan vs Nelson Royal
Ken Patera vs Ted DiBiase
Bob Griffin vs Ron Starr
Rick McGraw vs Silento Rodriguez
6/8/76 Alexandria LA
North American title: Bill Watts vs Ken Patera
Bobby Jaggers & Randy Tyler vs Jay Clayton & Ted DiBiase
Silento Rodriguez vs Ted Heath
Bob Griffin vs Gene Lewis
6/8/76 Shreveport LA
US Tag Team titles: Bob Sweetan & Killer Karl Kox vs Buck Robley & Nelson Royal
Grizzly Smith vs Siegfried Stanke
Ron Starr vs Tom Jones
Randy Alls vs Rick McGraw
6/9/76 Baton Rouge LA
Ron Starr vs Tom Jones
Bob Griffin & George Strickland vs Bobby Jaggers & Randy Tyler
Gene Lewis vs Jay Clayton
Bob Griffin vs Bobby Jaggers
6/9/76 Jackson MS
Grizzly Smith vs Ken Patera
Bob Sweetan & Killer Karl Kox vs Nelson Royal & Ted DiBiase
Buck Robley vs Rick McGraw
Siegfried Stanke vs Ted Heath
Randy Alls vs Silento Rodriguez
6/10/76 North Little Rock AR
Killer Karl Kox vs Nelson Royal
Buck Robley vs Ted DiBiase
Siegfried Stanke vs Ted Heath
Randy Alls vs Rick McGraw
6/11/76 DeKalb TX
Buck Robley vs Killer Karl Kox
Siegfried Stanke vs Ted DiBiase
Nelson Royal vs Randy Alls
Rick McGraw vs Ted Heath
6/11/76 Lafayette LA
Lights out, loser leaves town: Bob Sweetan vs Grizzly Smith
Ron Starr vs Tom Jones
Bob Griffin & Silento Rodriguez vs Bobby Jaggers & Randy Tyler
Gene Lewis vs Jay Clayton
6/12/76 Greenwood MS
Grudge match: Ron Starr vs Tom Jones
Bob Sweetan vs Ted DiBiase
Bob Griffin vs Randy Alls
6/12/76 Loranger LA
Two referees: Bobby Jaggers & Randy Tyler vs Grizzly Smith & Terry Lathan
Rick McGraw vs Siegfried Stanke
Gene Lewis vs Jay Clayton
Plus one other bout, likely a singles match involving participants from the tag bout
6/13/76 Houma LA
Elimination match: Bobby Jaggers & Randy Tyler & Siegfried Stanke vs Grizzly Smith & Rick McGraw & Tom Jones
Gene Lewis vs George Strickland
Plus two other bouts, likely singles matches involving participants from the six-man
6/13/76 Monroe LA
No disqualification: Ron Starr vs Tom Jones
Bob Sweetan vs Buck Robley
Ken Patera vs Ted DiBiase
Bob Griffin vs Medic
Silento Rodriguez vs Ted Heath
6/14/76 Tulsa OK
US Tag Team titles, no disqualification: Bob Sweetan & Killer Karl Kox vs Buck Robley & Nelson Royal
Submission match: Bill Watts vs Ken Patera
Dick Murdoch vs Ron Starr
Medic vs Tom Jones
Bob Griffin vs Ted Heath
6/15/76 Alexandria LA
North American title: Bill Watts vs Ken Patera
Bobby Jaggers vs Jay Clayton
Randy Tyler vs Ted DiBiase
Gene Lewis vs Ricky Gibson
Rick McGraw vs Silento Rodriguez
6/15/76 Shreveport LA
Lights out: Buck Robley vs Killer Karl Kox
Lumberjack atch: Grizzly Smith vs Siegfried Stanke
Nelson Royal vs Ron Starr
Bob Sweetan vs Tom Jones
Dick Murdoch vs Medic
Bob Griffin vs Ted Heath
6/16/76 Baton Rouge LA
One fall to a finish: Ron Starr vs Tom Jones
Siegfried Stanke vs Ted DiBiase
Jay Clayton vs Medic
Bob Griffin vs Ted Heath
6/16/76 Jackson MS
Lumberjack match: Grizzly Smith vs Ken Patera
Buck Robley vs Killer Karl Kox
Bob Sweetan vs Nelson Royal
Bobby Jaggers & Randy Tyler vs Rick McGraw & Silento Rodriguez
Gene Lewis vs Ricky Gibson
6/17/76 North Little Rock AR
North American title: Bill Watts vs Ken Patera
Ron Starr vs Tom Jones
Bobby Jaggers & Randy Tyler vs Nelson Royal & Ted DiBiase
Ricky Gibson vs Ted Heath
6/18/76 Lafayette LA
Bob Sweetan vs Buck Robley
Bob Griffin vs Randy Tyler
Bobby Jaggers vs Jay Clayton
Siegfried Stanke vs Silento Rodriguez
Medic vs Rick McGraw
6/18/76 Lawton OK
North American title, $5,000 bounty match: Bill Watts vs Ken Patera
Killer Karl Kox vs Ted DiBiase
Ron Starr vs Tom Jones
Ricky Gibson vs Ted Heath
6/19/76 Greenwood MS
Battle royal featuring Grizzly Smith
Bob Sweetan vs Jack Curtis Jr
Gene Lewis vs Rick McGraw
Medic vs Tommy Tate
6/19/76 Loranger LA
Bob Griffin & Jay Clayton vs Bobby Jaggers & Randy Tyler
Siegfried Stanke vs Silento Rodriguez
Plus one other bout, likely a singles match involving participants from the tag bout
6/20/76 Houma LA
No disqualification, one fall to a finish: Bobby Jaggers & Randy Tyler vs Jay Clayton & mystery partner
Grizzly Smith vs Siegfried Stanke
Bob Sweetan vs Tommy Tate
6/21/76 Monroe LA
Two referees: Ron Starr vs Tom Jones
Bobby Jaggers & Randy Tyler vs Jay Clayton & Ted DiBiase
George Strickland vs Siegfried Stanke
Gene Lewis vs Silento Rodriguez
6/21/76 Tulsa OK
Lights out match: Buck Robley vs Killer Karl Kox
Dick Murdoch vs Ken Patera
NWA World Junior Heavyweight title tournament: Bob Griffin vs Nelson Royal
Bob Sweetan vs Ted Heath
Jerry Green & John Brown vs Rick McGraw & Ricky Gibson
6/22/76 Alexandria LA
North American title, no disqualification: Bill Watts vs Ken Patera
Bobby Jaggers & Randy Tyler & Siegfried Stanke vs Jay Clayton & Ted DiBiase & Tom Jones
Gene Lewis vs Grizzly Smith
Medic vs Silento Rodriguez
6/22/76 Shreveport LA
Lights out: Buck Robley vs Killer Karl Kox
Nelson Royal vs Siegfried Stanke
Bob Sweetan vs Dick Murdoch
Jerry Green & John Brown vs Rick McGraw & Ricky Gibson
Bob Griffin vs Ted Heath
6/23/76 Baton Rouge LA
Bob Griffin & Tom Jones vs Ron Starr & Siegfried Stanke
Gene Lewis vs Jay Clayton
Rick McGraw vs Silento Rodriguez
Plus one other bout, likely a singles match involving participants from the tag bout
6/23/76 Jackson MS
US Tag Team titles: Bob Sweetan & Killer Karl Kox vs Buck Robley & Nelson Royal
Bear hug vs full nelson: Grizzly Smith vs Ken Patera
Bobby Jaggers & Randy Tyler vs Dick Murdoch & Ted DiBiase
Ricky Gibson vs Ted Heath
6/24/76 Chalmette LA (source: wrestlingdata.com)
Bob Sweetan & Killer Karl Kox vs Buck Robley & Nelson Royal
Grizzly Smith vs Siegfried Stanke
Dick Murdoch vs Jerry Green & John Brown
Bob Griffin vs Jay Clayton
Medic vs Rick McGraw
6/24/76 North Little Rock AR
North American title: Bill Watts vs Ken Patera
One fall winner take all: Ron Starr vs Tom Jones
Randy Tyler vs Ted DiBiase
Bobby Jaggers vs Ted Heath
Gene Lewis vs Ricky Gibson
6/26/76 Greenwood MS
No disqualification: Bob Sweetan vs Ted DiBiase
Gene Lewis vs Tom Jones
Bob Griffin & Rick McGraw vs Jerry Green & John Brown
6/26/76 Loranger LA
Grizzly Smith vs Siegfried Stanke
Bobby Jaggers & Randy Tyler vs Silento Rodriguez & Ted Heath
George Strickland vs Ron Starr
Plus one other bout, likely a singles match involving participants from the tag bout
6/27/76 Houma LA
Bob Sweetan & Siegfried Stanke vs Grizzly Smith & Ted DiBiase
Randy Tyler vs Silento Rodriguez
Bobby Jaggers vs George Strickland
