Tri-State Wrestling: June 1980
Here's a look at Tri-State Wrestling in June 1980: Brian Blair feuds with the Spoiler, Jerry Brown misses his shot at Harley Race, Hector Guerrero debuts & 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 Hector Guerrero and heels Scandor Akbar and the Spoiler.
Hector came in from Florida. While he made his pro debut in 1975 as a 20-year old, it doesn’t appear he was wrestling on a full-time basis until 1978.
The Spoiler (Don Jardine) had been here earlier in the year; he was spending time both in this area and in East Texas. In the case of Akbar, he was managing regularly and wrestling occasionally. With such a small crew it seems he was pushed into more wrestling this month.
Leaving the territory during the month were babyface Bill Ash and heel Jerry Brown. I can’t find any records for Bill Ash after leaving here until about a year later in California. Brown may have been injured; his next known whereabouts are in Southeastern in the fall, where he’s part of a masked tag team with Don Carson (Big C #1 and Big C #2).
Other wrestlers not listed in the SPOT Ratings: Andre the Giant, David Von Erich, Dory Funk Jr, Harley Race, JJ Dillon, Joe Stark, Kenny Milsap, Les Thornton, Roger Mason and Terry Garvin and midget wrestlers Billy the Kid and Lone Eagle.
Andre, Dory and Dillon were part of a loaded Sunday afternoon card in Tulsa on June 22nd. Andre & Dory teamed with Brian Blair to defeat the Spoiler, Scandor Akbar & Dillon in the main event. Both Andre and Dory were double-shotting; Dory also worked in San Antonio in the evening, while Andre worked in Dallas.
David Von Erich teamed with Blair for one show in Oklahoma City against Spoiler & Brown. Thornton came in for one defense of the NWA World Junior Heavyweight title against Koko Ware. NWA World Heavyweight champ Harley Race worked in Springfield, sandwiched in between working a WWWF TV taping and a couple of shows in East Texas. Jerry Brown was advertised as his opponent, but Steve Lawler subbed for Brown. This leads me to believe that Brown was injured. For one, he certainly wouldn’t miss a big match such as this without good reason. Add in the fact that he then doesn’t seem to show up anywhere until October and an injury (or some other significant personal issue) seems to be in play.
Billy the Kid and Lone Eagle came in for two weeks, working in singles matches against one another and in tag team bouts. For a point of reference, their SPOT Rating was a .70 while they were here.
CH-CH-CHANGES
Title Changes: Not only were there no title changes during the month, there weren’t even any titles! The tag team belts that had most recently been held by Tommy & Eddie Gilbert seem to have disappeared, and there is no singles title in the territory at this time.
Role Changes: As mentioned above, manager Scandor Akbar saw his fair share of in-ring action this month.
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Here are the FEUD Scores for the month.
ANATOMY OF A FEUD
This month we'll dissect the feud between Brian Blair and the Spoiler, 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.
June 9 Tulsa OK: Spoiler defeated Brian Blair by disqualification
June 14 Little Rock AR: Brian Blair vs Spoiler
June 16 Tulsa OK: Brian Blair defeated Spoiler by disqualification
June 17 Fort Smith AR: Brian Blair vs Spoiler
June 18 Springfield MO: Spoiler defeated Brian Blair
June 23 Joplin MO: Spoiler defeated Brian Blair by disqualification
June 24 Fort Smith AR: Brian Blair vs Spoiler with two referees
June 25 Springfield MO: Brian Blair defeated Spoiler in a match with two referees
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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.
5/26/80 Tulsa OK
Chain match: Brian Blair vs Jerry Brown
Don Bass & Steve Lawler vs Koko Ware & Tommy Gilbert
King Parsons vs Roger Mason
Bill Ash vs Haru Sonoda
El Mongol vs Joe Stark
5/27/80 Fort Smith AR
Chain match: Brian Blair vs Jerry Brown
Don Bass & Roger Mason vs King Parsons & Koko Ware
Haru Sonoda vs Tommy Gilbert
El Mongol vs Joe Stark
5/28/80 Springfield MO
Jerry Brown vs Tommy Gilbert
Brian Blair vs Steve Lawler
Don Bass & Roger Mason vs King Parsons & Koko Ware
Haru Sonoda vs Joe Stark
5/30/80 Oklahoma City OK (source: oklafan.com)
Brian Blair & David Von Erich vs Jerry Brown & Spoiler
Steve Lawler vs Tommy Gilbert
Haru Sonoda vs Koko Ware
Don Bass vs King Parsons
El Mongol vs Joe Stark
5/31/80 Joplin MO
Brian Blair & Tommy Gilbert vs Jerry Brown & Steve Lawler
Don Bass vs King Parsons
Joe Stark vs Koko Ware
El Mongol vs Haru Sonoda
Plus a battle royal
6/2/80 Tulsa OK
NWA World Junior Heavyweight title: Koko Ware vs Les Thornton
Jerry Brown vs Tommy Gilbert
Billy the Kid & Haru Sonoda vs King Parsons & Lone Eagle
Brian Blair vs Don Bass
El Mongol vs Steve Lawler
6/3/80 Fort Smith AR
Jerry Brown & Steve Lawler vs King Parsons & Koko Ware
Billy the Kid vs Lone Eagle
Brian Blair vs El Mongol
Don Bass vs Tommy Gilbert
6/4/80 Springfield MO
Steve Lawler vs Tommy Gilbert
Chain match: Brian Blair vs Jerry Brown
Billy the Kid vs Lone Eagle
El Mongol vs King Parsons
Kenny Milsap vs Terry Garvin
6/7/80 Lebanon MO (source: wrestlingdata.com)
Brian Blair & Tommy Gilbert vs Jerry Brown & Steve Lawler
Haru Sonoda vs Koko Ware
El Mongol vs King Parsons
6/9/80 Tulsa OK
Brian Blair vs Spoiler
Six round boxing match: Billy the Kid vs Lone Eagle
El Mongol & Koko Ware & Tommy Gilbert vs Haru Sonoda & Jerry Brown & Steve Lawler
Don Bass vs King Parsons
Haru Sonoda vs Koko Ware
6/10/80 Fort Smith AR
Brian Blair & King Parsons & Koko Ware vs Jerry Brown & Scandor Akbar & Steve Lawler
Billy the Kid & Haru Sonoda vs Lone Eagle & Tommy Gilbert
Don Bass vs El Mongol
Billy the Kid vs Lone Eagle
6/11/80 Springfield MO
Brian Blair & King Parsons & Tommy Gilbert vs Jerry Brown & Scandor Akbar & Steve Lawler
Billy the Kid & Haru Sonoda vs Koko Ware & Lone Eagle
Don Bass vs El Mongol
Billy the Kid vs Lone Eagle
6/14/80 Little Rock AR
Brian Blair vs Spoiler
Six round boxing match: Billy the Kid vs Lone Eagle
Jerry Brown & Steve Lawler vs Koko Ware & Tommy Gilbert
Plus three other bouts and a battle royal
6/16/80 Tulsa OK
Brian Blair vs Spoiler
King Parsons & Koko Ware vs Scandor Akbar & Steve Lawler
Haru Sonoda vs Tommy Gilbert
El Mongol vs Joe Stark
Koko Ware vs Steve Lawler
6/17/80 Fort Smith AR
Brian Blair vs Spoiler
Jerry Brown & Steve Lawler vs Koko Ware & Tommy Gilbert
El Mongol vs King Parsons
Don Bass vs Joe Stark
6/18/80 Springfield MO
NWA World Heavyweight title: Harley Race vs Jerry Brown
Brian Blair vs Spoiler
Haru Sonoda & Steve Lawler vs Koko Ware & Tommy Gilbert
El Mongol vs Joe Stark
Don Bass vs King Parsons
6/22/80 Tulsa OK
Andre the Giant & Brian Blair & Dory Funk Jr vs JJ Dillon & Scandor Akbar & Spoiler
Koko Ware vs Steve Lawler
Don Bass vs Tommy Gilbert
El Mongol vs Haru Sonoda
Plus a battle royal
6/23/80 Joplin MO
Brian Blair vs Spoiler
Koko Ware & Tommy Gilbert vs Scandor Akbar & Steve Lawler
El Mongol vs King Parsons
Haru Sonoda vs Hector Guerrero
6/24/80 Fort Smith AR
Two referees: Brian Blair vs Spoiler
Five minutes with no referee: Scandor Akbar vs Tommy Gilbert
El Mongol & Scandor Akbar & Steve Lawler vs King Parsons & Koko Ware & Tommy Gilbert
Haru Sonoda vs Hector Guerrero
6/25/80 Springfield MO
Two referees: Brian Blair vs Spoiler
Koko Ware & Tommy Gilbert vs Scandor Akbar & Steve Lawler
Don Bass vs King Parsons
Haru Sonoda vs Hector Guerrero
