COVER ART FOR "WHEN IT WAS BIG TIME" IS REVEALED!!!

    The cover art for  When It Was Big Time: A 100 Year History of Northern California Pro Wrestling was recently completed, bringing the highly anticipated 350-page book project one step closer to release. More rare photos have also been recently contributed, bringing the number of photos contained to over 230, some of which have never been published! This includes a newly added 12-page photo gallery, but photos, ads and images of Northern California wrestling arena programs are spread throughout the book, greatly enhancing the epic story of one of pro wrestling's most exciting territories!
     At this point, release of this book is expected within the first half of November 2016, just in time for Christmas. More details on the books contents as well as a specific release date and ordering information will be released in the coming weeks. Please continue to tune if for those updates.

THE GENIUS GETS A PARTNER- By Rock Rims

 

     “You look like shit.  Do you ever work out?”  Not exactly the kind of greeting an incoming wrestler hopes to hear from his new boss but it was exactly what Pat Patterson got from Roy Shire when he arrived in Northern California in 1965.  By this time Ray Stevens had already established himself as the “Golden Goose”, the top heel of the “Big Time Wrestling” promotion in Northern California.  He could always provide a reason for the fans to lay down their hard earned money in hopes of finally seeing him go down in defeat.

   And now a 24 year old  Patterson who had been wrestling for about 7 years including the last few years in Don Owen’s Pacific Northwest territory, and had in the span of 2 months had lost a hair match, his Pacific Northwest heavyweight title, and a “Loser Leave Town” match, had  come to town looking to gain something.  Only at first, he didn’t get what he was looking for. 

    Before working his first show Patterson had written Shire, requesting to be paired up with Ray Stevens, saying that many in-the-know in Portland felt that with their similar styles, they’d make a great pairing.  Patterson would later say that Shire didn’t give him the response that he’d been hoping for, and besides the critique regarding physique Patterson would also recall:  “He said, ‘The boys don’t make the decisions here, I make the decisions.’  Roy Shire was very hard to work for.”

     As it turned out, Stevens had just left to work an extended tour of Australia just before Pat had arrived, so initially Pat was working in some singles as well as being paired with Dan Manoukian in a tag team.  Manoukian had previously been ½ of the World tag team champions with Stevens before losing it in a “Phantom change” to Billy Red Lyons and the Destroyer on March 1985.  3 months after Pat’s arrival, Roy relented, telling Patterson to dye his hair as the new tag team of Patterson and Stevens was to be known as “The Blond Bombers.”   Longtime wrestling fan Robert Counts lived near the Cow Palace and remembers “In a promo Patterson had dark hair and was bragging about what he was going to do to Stevens and the next week his hair was blond and he was teaming up with Stevens.”  The team didn’t waste any time in making an impact as they quickly won the A.W.A. (not Verne Gagne’s group) World Tag Team titles on April 17, 1965 from Billy Red Lyons and The Destroyer and would hold the titles for an astounding 623 straight days.

   It was a dynamite combination and a match made in heaven as the “Blonde Bombers” were exciting to watch, whether you were rooting for them or against them.  They were masters of their craft who were willing to sell for their opponents and take big bumps, and they combined these assets with great ring psychology and promos that would both insult and incite the local fans, putting butts in seats time and time again.  The compelling, logical, and realistic storylines that promoter Roy Shire devised in combination with the realism with which Patterson and Stevens performed in the ring just sucked the fans in and still brings smiles to their faces decades later.

   “They got heat.  They got natural heat.  They could work with anybody,” said Red Bastien.  And they worked with quite a few tag teams during that first run as the tag champs including Kinji Shibuya and Mitsu Arakawa, as well as against old Stevens’s foe Pepper Gomez and numerous different partners he would pair with.  Their ability to draw didn’t confine them to Northern California either as they would occasionally go on the road to defend their tag titles in such places as Hawaii, Phoenix, and the Pacific Northwest.

   The working arrangement between Pacific Northwest promoter Don Owen and Northern California promoter Roy Shire not only allowed for Patterson and Stevens to defend their World tag team titles but also allowed Pat to challenge Gene Kiniski for the NWA World Heavyweight title in Portland, Oregon on December 2, 1966.  Indeed, it was a safe bet that Shire no loner felt that Pat looked like “shit”.  Also during that December tour of the Pacific Northwest Pat would regain the Pacific Northwest Heavyweight title by beating Tony Borne.  It was the belt he had lost shortly before leaving Portland 2 years before.  It didn’t last long of course as Pat would drop the belt back to Borne 9 days later on December 18^th, and the Blonde Bombers were soon back in San Francisco.

   Not long after the arrived back in Northern California Ray and Pat would lose their belts to two very tough customers in the team of Cyclone Negro and the Mongolian Stomper at the San Francisco Cow Palace on New Year Eve.  Negro and the Stomper were merely keeping the belts warm for them however as they made short work of them in the rematch 3 weeks later at the Cow Palace’s first show of the New Year on January 21, 1967, winning 2 out of the 3 falls in less than 16 minutes.

   Their second reign as champs didn’t last nearly as long as the first one however as  the all time best draw in San Francisco, Ray Stevens was needed back in singles. He would recapture the U.S. Heavyweight title from Bill Watts in March and at the next Cow Palace show on April the 8^th, The Bombers dropped the tag belts to the popular team of Pedro Morales and Pepper Gomez.  Ray and Pat would still team together on occasion but Roy Shire may also have felt that the team was getting a bit stale in the eyes of the fans and Pat was wrestling more singles as well.

   For most of 1968 Pat Patterson was doing tours in Australia and Japan as well as having a run for several months in Amarillo where he suddenly had become a "Lord".  He would return to Northern California in 1969 only to find that his old partner Stevens had a change of heart and was now wrestling as a “good guy.”  It was quite the shock for Patterson as wrestling fan and announcer Joe Sousa recalls: “When Pat came back he wanted to resume teaming with Stevens but he couldn’t believe what he was hearing about Ray and said, ‘I don’t know what’s got into the guy and why he’s acting like a sissy!  I’m going to have to knock some sense into the guy!”

  Patterson didn’t have to wait long as the two would begin facing each other in the ring at the end of February in a heated feud that would continue for over 2 years.  Whether it was in singles matches or tag matches, matches for the U.S. title or for the World Tag Team titles, non-title matches or Death matches, it was a rivalry that kept fans gravitated throughout Northern California, Reno, Nevada, and even Hawaii.  It involved two master psychologists and workers in the ring, and it captivated the imaginations of those who witnessed their battles.

   “I was extremely lucky to have seen both of their careers in the Bay area from start to finish and it would do extreme injustice to pick one over the other” say Les Puskas, a lifelong wrestling fan who deals in Northern California wrestling memorabilia.  “They were both naturals.  Together they had chemistry like no other.  They were simply artists in action and against each other it was like 2 dancers at the top of their routine.  Patterson was lucky enough to be able to learn things from Stevens but Stevens was also lucky enough to learn from Patterson.  Honestly, I do not know if I would have been so obsessed with the sport had it not been for both of them.”

   Whether they worked as partners or as opponents, the two had a great mutual respect for each other and as Pat would later say regarding working with Stevens, “In the ring, he was a master, no question about it.  I learned a lot from him.  And I learned a lot from Roy Shire.”  

   Superstar Billy Graham had come in from Los Angeles in October of 1970 and had been paired with Patterson so that he could learn from a master worker and psychologist.  He also took part in the Patterson/Stevens feud and learned from them both, referring to his time in San Francisco as earning his degree in “mark psychology.”  He had the utmost respect for the work of his tag partner Patterson and expressed some of those sentiments in his autobiography “Tangled Ropes”.

     “He was a flawless heel, vicious, and aggressive, and did everything with precise timing.  To this day, there’s never been anybody who can throw better mounted punches from the ropes.  When his head ran into the ring post, it recoiled, with hair flying backward, like it was about to pop off.” 

 

   Eventually the feud would come to an end as Ray would head to the Midwest to work for Verne Gagne’s AWA, although he’d return a few times to resume the feud.  In the end he and Pat would kiss and make up before Pat would eventually join him in the AWA.  But before that happened, Patterson would enjoy the “single life” as he held the U.S. Heavyweight title a half dozen times in Roy Shire’s territory, and was involved in memorable feuds with Rocky Johnson, “Moondog” Lonnie Mayne, Mr. Fuji, and “The Great Mephisto” Frankie Caine.  It was that feud with Caine that made Rod Higashino a lifelong fan of both Pat Patterson and classic pro wrestling.

   “(Patterson) was part of the defining moment for me becoming a full blown wrestling fan.  As a little kid I remember being at my neighbor’s house while they were watching 'Big Time Wrestling' and they explained to me who were the ‘good guys’ and the ‘bad guys’”.  Rod became frustrated as he saw top heel and current U.S. champ “The Great Mephisto” win week after week with his “loaded” boot.

   “He never did lose, but one week on TV Patterson attacked him, body slammed him on the ‘hard, concrete floor’, as announcer Hank Renner would always call it, and jumped off the ring apron with a ‘Bombs Away’ to Mephisto’s throat.  As I sat there mesmerized, Patterson began unlacing Mephisto’s ‘loaded’ boot and eventually took off with it!  Mephisto came out complaining that one of his legs was shorter than the other and without his special boot he would lose his equilibrium.  Patterson came out saying that his leg had been a little sore lately and if his leg hurt before a match with Mephisto, he would wear the boot.  That was it- I was hooked!  That was the angle that got me watching each and every week and made Patterson my 'all time favorite'”.

   While they made a great team and Patterson had learned much from Ray Stevens, he would continue to develop and perfect his craft and identity on his own.  In 1977 he would be involved in the “Masked Fuji” fiasco before having his final run in the early part of the years as the U.S. champ, after winning a tournament.  He would defend that belt in Northern California, wrestle a couple of shots in both L.A. and New York, and then finish out the year in Florida.  After over a dozen years working for Roy Shire, much longer than he expected, Pat Patterson would find himself in Verne Gagne’s AWA.

   His appeal was so vast, his talent so immensely appreciated by fans and promoters alike, that after a year and a half, he would find himself splitting time between Gagne’s AWA and Vince McMahon Sr.’s WWF.  On June 19, 1979 he would beat Ted DiBiase for the WWF North American Heavyweight title, which would soon morph into the WWF Intercontinental title, while simultaneously holding the AWA World tag team titles with Ray Stevens.  While they would lose the belts 9 days after Patterson’s North American title win, he would continue as a singles champion in the WWF and was a top challenger for Bob Backlund’s WWF Heavyweight title.  He was even awarded the NWA America’s title after a fictitious match in Hawaii before defending and losing the title against Chavo Guerrero in Los Angeles on November 16^th.  Such was his credibility as a champion.

   For the next few years he would split time between the WWF and the AWA.  Pat Patterson was such a hot commodity that the promoters were willing to share, and to an extent that was very rare, especially considering that the WWF was on the cusp of it’s nationwide expansion.  Before their expansion however, the AWA was doing some expanding itself and would begin running shows in Patterson’s old stomping grounds, as Roy Shire’s Northern California promotion was getting ready to fold.

   On January 15, 1981, Pat would team up with old partner Stevens to beat Adrian Adonis and Jesse Ventura on a wrestling card that Verne Gagne held at the Oakland Coliseum.  The man who had settled down in San Francisco would return one more time for Roy Shire however, as he would participate in and win the 1981 San Francisco Battle Royal on January 24, 1981.  He would also beat NWA World Champion Harley Race by count out on what was to be Roy Shire’s last wrestling card.

      Patterson, who at one time helped Shire with booking his territory, had developed into one of the greatest minds in wrestling.  This would not only benefit his career, but would contribute greatly to Pro Wrestling entertainment as he would go on to be a key figure behind the scenes in the WWE for many years, helping greatly to develop compelling angles and finishes. 

   On May 27, 2013 The WWE was in Calgary, Alberta, Canada for a taping of their flagship television show “RAW” and what was to be “The Bret Hart Appreciation Night”.  Many current and former prominent Canadian wrestlers were on hand to pay tribute to the worthy 5 time former WWE Champion and pro wrestling legend.  Foremost among them was Pat Patterson, who referred to Bret as “The greatest Canadian of all time.”  While perhaps no one would argue that Hart was deserving of the tribute and recognition, some might contend that Pat himself was in fact the greatest Canadian, or at the very least, “The Greatest Canadian Wrestler of all time.”

   Nearly 50 years before (I bet that just made some people feel old) “The Genius” Ray Stevens, received a new partner, a man who would become a genius in his own right, to the delight of all who would watch him. - RR

 

 

Special thanks to Rod Higashino, Robert Counts, Joe Sousa, and Les Puskas for sharing their memories of Ray Stevens and Pat Patterson.

 

Les Puskas deals in Classic California Wrestling pictures, programs, and magazines which you can view at Wrestlederbysport.com/ or on Ebay under his seller i.d. of "LPBingo".

 

Sources:

Wrestlingtitles.com

"Pro Wrestling Hall of Fame: The Tag Teams" by Greg Oliver and Steven Johnson

GONE, BUT NOT FORGOTTEN By Rock Rims

   Growing up in the East Los Angeles and El Monte areas of Southern California with approximately 50% of my family members being gang affiliated, I had already seen some pretty crazy stuff by the time I was 10 years old.  But what I was watching on the television screen on a particular Saturday afternoon in 1978 really blew my mind.  Moondog Mayne, the current America’s Heavyweight Wrestling Champion was being interviewed by Jeff Walton at the Olympic Auditorium about an upcoming match and… and he was eating glass. 

   This went far beyond the things I saw some of my less developed schoolmates ingest and I was really concerned because one of my favorite wrestlers in the Los Angeles area at the time was “El Halcon” and he was to be Moodog’s next opponent.  One by one, opponents had been falling in defeat to the wild Moondog and not just preliminary guys either.  Established and capable veterans like Black Gordman, Chavo Guerrero, and Hector Guerrero had fallen at the feet of the America’s champion.  And as time went on, the urgency of getting rid of this madman increased, and his opponents began to challenge him in “Mexican Death matches” and “Loser Leave Town” matches.  Each time, I hoped Moondog’s opponent would prevail, but it was not to be.

    El Halcon was a former National heavyweight wrestling champion in Mexico and when entered the area I felt he was a great wrestler and would be the one to rid L.A. of the Moondog.  But after watching the glass eating incident I seriously began to question his chances against this crazy man.  As soon as that episode of wrestling ended I ran out to find my friend Michael, my partner in crime, who at that moment was also looking to find me, so we could both talk about what we had seen.  And no doubt many people of all ages did the same thing after watching a Moondog Mayne interview.  He was just that fascinating.

   Little did I know that during that same time period, Lonnie Mayne was also taking trips up North to the San Francisco area, only there, he was wrestling as a “good guy”!  Before the days of the internet and the widespread availability of cable, Lonnie was able to wear “two hats” so to speak, and with his tremendous talent was able to work as both a villain and a hero in 2 different territories within the same state!  Not only that, but he simultaneously held 2 major title belts, the America’s title in Southern California and the United States title belt in San Francisco, a belt which he captured by defeating Don Muraco.

   Soon he would up the ante in Southern California as he joined forces with Rowdy Roddy Piper who had been the top heel in the territory for 2 years at that point.  And when it came to stirring up trouble, causing headaches for the wrestlers who were fan favorites, and increasing ticket sales for the arena events, the two proved to be a formidable pair.  It would’ve probably left me in a near catatonic state however if I was aware at the time, that while they were partners in crime in Los Angeles, the Moondog and Piper were bitter enemies in San Francisco.

   The Spanish International Network which broadcast the Spanish language editions of the televised wrestling programs from the Olympic Auditorium had a strong satellite feed.  As a result people in other parts of the country, including the Bay area in Northern California,  were able to watch Moondog and Piper team up to wreak havoc in L.A. while at the same time they were engaged in a an intense feud in San Francisco.

“I was a little confused at the time when I saw that” says San Francisco resident and wrestling fan Fred Lazarus, “because the matches they had at the Cow Palace were great, and come next Wednesday, they’d be teaming together in Los Angeles!”

Photo Courtesy of Jim Fitzpatrick

   While the program between Lonnie and Piper would only span 3 matches from late June to late July of 1978, it was a very memorable one, for both its intensity and for the attention grabbing interviews that were part of the promotion for those matches in which they traded the U.S. Heavyweight title.  Each week, they would try to one up one another, and those promos were so captivating and entertaining that they almost overshadowed the great matches that they had. 

   Lonnie was tremendously impressed with Piper and Lonnie’s younger brother Shawn recalls Lonnie try to arrange for Shawn to meet him at one of the wrestling cards, saying, “I want you to meet this guy.  He’s great, and he’s going places in this business!”  Lonnie had an eye for talent and his statement was an understatement if there ever was one, and it was also an example of how Lonnie really rooted for the success of his peers.  If he saw someone had talent and was a hard worker, Lonnie would encourage that person and hope that they’d make their mark in the wrestling business.  That’s a quality not always seen in a competitive business where too many are often concerned that someone else will steal their “spot”.  As Shawn Mayne told me, “I’ve never come across anyone in the business or ever heard of anyone who had a bad thing to say about Lonnie.”

   Meanwhile, back in Los Angeles, Lonnie had lost the America’s Heavyweight title but was seeking to gain it back from Hector Guerrero and Mil Mascaras had come to town to face Lonnie in a Mexican Death match.  While I was happy to hear that my hero Mil Mascaras had defeated the Moondog in that July 28^th match at the Olympic, the Moondog was still in Southern California, and 2 weeks later on August 11^th, he regained the America’s title from Hector Guerrero.  And up in San Francisco, he was preparing to meet his next challenge for the U.S. title on August 19, with Buddy Rose as his opponent.  However it wasn’t to be.

Saying Good bye

 

   As a 10 year old during that summer of ’78, I often found myself occupied with distractions, trying to make the most of my time off from school, plus spending some of my weekends at the homes of relatives for family get-togethers.  Most of my relatives weren’t fans of professional wrestling so occasionally I’d miss the televised wrestling programs while socializing.  During the 3^rd week of August, I approached my friend Michael, asking him to update me on Moondog Mayne’s next challenger.  What he said next floored me.

   “He’s dead.”  I couldn’t believe what I had heard.  “What?!” I asked.  “He’s dead” he repeated.  “They said on television that he got hit by a car after a wrestling match.”  That isn’t exactly what happened of course, but the result was unfortunately the same.  Lonnie “Moondog” Mayne was no longer with us.  It was a very odd feeling for me, for as much as I had wanted to see him defeated in a “loser leaves town” match, I felt a little empty.  It was hard for me to reconcile those feelings, as I saw him as a despised heel, someone whom I wanted one of my heroes to rid the area of, but nonetheless, the feelings were real.  I was saddened and I greatly missed him.  Such was the man’s appeal, whether he wrestled as a “face” or a “heel.”

   On August 13, 1978, Lonnie had appeared at the San Bernardino Arena for his scheduled match with Chavo Guerrero.  The promoter of that night’s card Jeff Walton recalled seeing Lonnie drinking a little brandy in the locker room before his match.  Lonnie explained that it was to help with his cold, because despite being sick, Lonnie still showed up for his booking.

   After the matches were over Chavo Guerrero recalled seeing Lonnie standing outside of his car, double over.  “He was puking” Chavo would say, and when he asked if he was alright, Lonnie replied that he was.  A short time later, while driving on the Riverside Freeway, Lonnie Mayne’s car crossed the meridian and since the freeway was still undergoing construction, there were no concrete barriers and his car collided with an oncoming car, killing both himself and the other driver.  He was 4 weeks shy of his 34^th birthday.  When the news of the accident and Lonnie’s death was heard, wrestling fans across the country were stunned.

Courtesy of "The Nito Gomez Collection"

   The news was broadcast on the August 19^th airing of the “Big Time Wrestling” television program in Northern California.  That evening, the main event was changed as Buddy Rose and Dean Ho would now compete for the U.S. title that Lonnie held at the time of his death.  Fans at the Cow Palace who had not heard the news yet were shocked upon hearing of Lonnie’s death, and some even cried as they rang a 10 bell salute in honor of his memory.

   “It shocked the hell out of a lot of us” recalls Nito Gomez, who was at the Cow Palace that night.  “It was dead quiet in the Cow Palace and I had never like that before.  To this day it is hard for me to believe, as it was the first death that I had to deal with as a wrestling fan.”  Wrestling commentator Joe Sousa was also there that night and adds: “The silence was so loud, if that makes any sense.  I cried big time.”  And Ken Faria who grew up as a fan of the Roy Shire promotion remembers: “I was shocked!  I guess I was 14 or 15 at the time and in a way it was a lot like when Brody died, the two of them both being as tough as nails, but in the end, just as frail as the rest of us.  Hell, Lonnie ate nails, how could he die?!”

   On Kayfabememories.com, Buddy Rose would later write, “I was supposed to be his next title match in the Cow Palace for the United States title.  I was looking forward to working with a man who helped me early in my career in Texas.  He also told me just before I left for Portland, to stay at the Bomber Motel when I get there, because that’s where all the ‘boys’ stay until they find a house.  He was a great worker, and a master of psychology, when it came to working the fans.  I have nothing but kind things to say about the man, and his career.  He is, and will always be missed.”

   In Portland they held a Memorial service honoring his memory during the wrestling card that was held on August 24^th at the Lane County Fairgrounds Auditorium in Eugene, Oregon.  Fans said a tearful good bye not to “Moondog” but to their “Pied Piper”, the man they simply knew as Lonnie.

   And in Los Angeles they held a tournament for the America’s title that was now vacant, and they would soon have a new title belt, as the one that Lonnie wore would pass to his young son.  In an article in the Press-Courier, Bob Kubik who was referred to as the assistant promotions man for the Olympic Auditorium was quoted as saying in regards to Lonnie, “It will take an awful lot to replace him.”  In truth, while they may have been able to find a substitute for his matches, there would never be anyone who could replace Lonnie Mayne.

   Immediately there was speculation as to what caused the accident.  Lonnie was known to have a problem with alcohol abuse and some people felt that may have been the cause, while a smaller minority actually proposed that it might’ve been a suicide.  Admittedly when I became older I too wondered if alcohol was to blame.  While many may overlook the faults of celebrities or those they admire, I was never prone to being influenced by someone’s fame or how I personally felt about them.

   Chavo Guerrero, who had wrestled Lonnie that night, stated that Lonnie wasn’t inebriated.  “He wasn’t drunk”, he would say, “I saw it.”

   Shawn Mayne recalled, “I talked with both Chavo and Hector Guerrero afterwards and Hector told me, ‘Shawn, I’m going to tell you the truth.  Lonnie hadn’t been drinking for weeks.’”.  If anyone would know, it would be Hector as he had been working a program with Lonnie in Los Angeles and had the opportunity to see Lonnie on a regular basis.

   Some may ask, “what about the fact that Jeff Walton witnessed Lonnie drinking in the locker room that night?”  Anyone who knew Lonnie knew that when he was drinking liquor he was drinking Southern Comfort.  What Lonnie had been drinking that night was brandy, which some people do feel helps with a cold.  With Lonnie’s reputation as a drinker it wouldn’t have been unusual for Lonnie to be seen drinking before a match as people like the late Matt Borne often said that was his habit.  However if Lonnie had stopped drinking in the weeks before that night, it would’ve been unusual for him to be seen drinking and that may be why he felt the need to explain his drinking brandy that night.  Why would Lonnie feel a need to explain why he was drinking, unless people had recently become accustomed to seeing him not drinking?  As Shawn Mayne says, “Lonnie never felt a reason to explain anything he did.”

   Some have felt that Lonnie’s vomiting and disorientation that night may have been due to a previously sustained undiagnosed concussion.  Those symptoms would certainly be consistent with that.  When the doctor who performed the autopsy spoke with Shawn Mayne, he said that Lonnie had low levels of alcohol in his system which I feel could be explained by the brandy earlier in the evening and as Shawn says, “From his years of drinking.”  The Doctor also said that Lonnie had sustained some type of head injury (likely ring related) prior to the accident and may have in fact slipped into a coma before the crash. 

   And in regard to the speculation that it was suicide, for one thing, the taking of another person’s life in an auto accident wouldn’t have been in Lonnie’s character.  And for another, Lonnie had too much to live for.  Many people aren’t aware that Lonnie was in the process of making huge changes in his life.

   He had understood that his years of drinking and his life on the road as a professional wrestler had affected his personal life and he was looking to turn things around.  Shawn Mayne told me: “About a week before he passed away, Lonnie was back home and I can remember it like it was yesterday.  We were sitting on the front porch with my Mom and Dad and Lonnie said that he was going to quit the business.  He was going to finish up in California, do one more tour of Japan, and that he was going to finish up by Christmas and come home.  He also said that he was going to go to rehab. ”

   Lonnie had been separated from his wife, and his good friend Harry Fujiwara AKA “Mr. Fuji” would later recall talking to Lonnie’s widow Diana after his death.  “She said that she loved him but she couldn’t handle the drinking.”  Fujiwara had also talked to Lonnie the day of Lonnie’s death, a conversation that included Lonnie’s revealing that he planned to go to rehab for his alcohol abuse and he was going to try and reconcile with his wife.  “We’re the best of friends” he told Fujiwara, “Let’s keep in touch.”  Those are not the words and not the plans of a man who was looking to exit the world any time soon.

   Regardless of what’s been shared here, there will always be those who will speculate or have their own ideas of what happened that night.  The only thing that can be said with certainty is that on that August 13^th night, people tragically lost their lives and an empty space was left in the lives of those who knew and loved them.  While for years many wrestling fans have probably wondered what other exploits Lonnie may have had in the wrestling ring, it’s obvious now that Lonnie hadn’t planned for many more.  Yet, even the ones he had already had at that point have given us much we fondly remember and discuss so many years later. 

   The true potential that had yet to be realized was his future development as a person and his potential future with his friends and loved ones.  For while the fans lost a performer they admired greatly, his family lost a father, a husband, a son, a sibling, a part of them.

   Someone once said, “That as long as a person is remembered, they are never truly dead.”  Regardless of our personal beliefs regarding the possibilities of an afterlife, the spirit of Lonnie Mayne lives on in his son Lonnie Nathan, whom Shawn says is like his father in so many ways, and it lives on as long as we remember and discuss him.  Even 35 years later, whenever we watch video of Lonnie’s matches and interviews or replay our memories of him or share them with others, it quickly becomes evident that there is still and “excitement in the air.” -RR      

 

My very special thanks to Shawn Mayne for sharing some of his thoughts regarding his late brother, and thanks also to Nito Gomez, Fred Lazarus, Ken Faria, and Joe Sousa for sharing their memories of Lonnie.

 

I’d also like to than Jim Fitzpatrick of “Fine Art America”, a very talented photographer and artist for sharing his great photo of Lonnie.  I'd also like to thank Nito Gomez, another talented artist, for sharing his Cow Palace wrestling program from the “Nito Gomez Collection”.

 

 

Sources:

Conversation with Shawn K. Mayne

Wrestlingdata.com

Pro Wrestling Hall of Fame: The Heels – By Greg Oliver and Steven Johnson

Pro Wrestling Hall of Fame: The Tag Teams – By Greg Oliver and Steven Johnson

Mr. Fuji Shoot Interview – RF Video

“Wrestling fans in mourning” By Rich Romine; Press-Courier, August 19, 1978

Eugene Register-Guard, August 24, 1978

CHANGING OF THE GUARD: THE RISE OF ROY SHIRE - By Rock Rims

 

     It wasn’t any one thing that led to the decline of Joe Malcewicz as a wrestling promoter in Northern California, nor was it any one thing that led to the rise of Roy Shire as the new kingpin of that same area.

     Malcewicz had seen lots of things change in the wrestling business during his 30 years as a promoter but not much seemed to change about him.  While he had once carried the nickname “The Utica Cat”, Malcewicz was now often referred to as “Waffle Ears” which was an accurate description of his heavily cauliflowered ears but may have also been symbolic of the fact that Joe was as old school as it got.   While business wasn’t exactly in the toilet, it wasn’t what it once was and in Roy Shire’s mind, not what it could potentially be.

     While Malcewicz had run a show at the Cow Palace on March 22, 1955 that drew a crowd of 12,253 with Lou Thesz defending his NWA World title against Leo Nomellini, that was the exception.  His shows were regularly run at smaller venues on a weekly basis in San Francisco with crowds now running anywhere from 1500 to 3,000 each show.  While he sometimes brought in outside talent, he typically ran with the same old group of guys, few of which were notable, and the product had become somewhat stale.  It seemed that only the diehard fans were sticking around.

     In spite of this, Roy Shire was still in need of a crew to run in opposition to Malcewicz.  Not long before he rode into town Roy Shire took part in what is now considered a classic group photo.  It was a team photo of sorts which included Roy and several of his fellow wrestlers with whom he had worked in Indianapolis.  Taken in 1960, this photo would include several of the workers that Roy would recruit to work in his new San Francisco promotion.  They would comprise the first ingredient for what would become Roy’s recipe for success.  It was the ingredient of fresh faces that Malcewicz was sorely lacking in his promotion.

     Among those pictured in that classic photo and who would later work for Shire’s promotion were Kinji Shibuya, Pepper Gomez, Wilbur Snyder, Guy Brunetti, Mitsu Arakawa, Joe Brunetti, Cowboy Bob Ellis, and Ray Stevens.

A Young Ray Stevens

     Also, this initial use of outside talent would foreshadow the exchange of talent he would eventually engage in with promoters from other regions.  This is something that would contribute to fresh faces for fans in his territory, keeping the product fresh and increasing ticket sales.  And if the wrestler was someone of note whom some of the fans may have read about in the wrestling magazines, Roy would often use the incoming talent to get over his regular talent in one fashion or another.

     While he may have not been overly ambitious or forward thinking in the running of his territory, Malcewicz still wasn’t going to go down without some kind of fight.  I suppose it was kind of like the guy who’s been with the same woman for a while and doesn’t give his relationship the same type of attention and energy he once did.  However when competition surfaces and a new guy shows interest in his lady, he’s prepared to put up some kind of fight.  For while his interest may no longer be what it once was, it’s still HIS woman.

     For assistance in dealing with this new invader, Joe turned to bringing in visiting wrestlers to boost attendance, some of whom had worked for him before.  And one of the individuals he turned to had wrestled some shows for him at the Dreamland Auditorium in 1937.  And while he was no longer wrestling, this person could offer more potential help to Joe now than when he was sporting the wrestling tights.

     While Jules Strongbow enjoyed a successful career in the ring, he made an even larger impact when he retired and turned to promoting.  He had been booking matches at the Hollywood Legion Stadium in Southern California and was one of the faces of “Wrestling from Hollywood Legion Stadium”, the television show that would broadcast some of the matches from that venue.  In 1958 he joined forces with the husband and wife team of Cal and Eileen Eaton who were promoting boxing and wrestling at the Olympic Auditorium.  Strongbow would begin booking the wrestling shows at the Olympic in addition to the shows he was running out of Hollywood Legion Stadium.

     Jules was considered to be a genius promoter, and some of his roster made up some of the visiting talents on Malcewicz’s wrestling cards in 1961.  Some of the names appearing on those cards included Lord James Blears, Art Neilson, Vic Christy, Shag Thomas, Dick Hutton, and household names like Lou Thesz, Mr. Moto, and Freddie Blassie.  What would the results be for Joe?  Would his attendance increase?  Would Shire’s promotion bomb miserably and quickly fade away?

     The show that Joe ran on January 10, 1961 with the in-ring talent that Strongbow lent had an attendance of 4, 108.  While it was higher than average it was hardly spectacular and thereafter he would only top that mark on one occasion, with the other shows running an attendance between 1, 300 and 3, 200.  It would only be 10 days after this show that Shire would fire his first volley and would add the second ingredient to what would be his recipe for success.

The Idiot Box

 

       On November 11, 1947, in what Entertainment Weekly magazine would later name as one of the top 100 “Greatest Moments in Television”, many of the then 1,000,000 households that had television tuned in to watch Gorgeous George on the first televised wrestling broadcast.

     It seemed to be a marriage made in heaven as wrestling was cheap programming for television stations and in turn, television was a great way to promote wrestling events.  In particular, wrestling promotions in New York, Los Angeles, and Chicago used the medium to make household names out of pro wrestlers like Gorgeous George, Lou Thesz, Argentina Rocca, Verne Gagne, Buddy Rogers, Freddie Blassie, Mr. Moto, and others.

     Jules Strongbow was certainly aware of this, as in the Los Angeles market, not only was he the host of his own televised wrestling show, but the Olympic Auditorium was broadcasting a weekly show too.  Also at one time other Southern California venues in Long Beach and Ocean Park had their own televised broadcasts as well.  Roy Shire was also well aware of the power of television.

      When Roy Shire was wrestling he was called “The Professor” and his character was presented as an individual of superior intelligence. And in real life Shire was both intelligent and astute enough to recognize the value of television in promoting a wrestling product and live events.  While I once knew an older gentleman whose wife referred to their television set as “that idiot box”, Shire knew different.

     Shire acquired television time and on January 20^th, 1961, his “National All-Star Wrestling” television show debuted on the Bay area KTVU Television channel 2 on a Friday night.  Roy acquired tapes from the “Big Time Wrestling” promotion in Indianapolis and over the next 6 weeks Roy would expose fans to his wrestling product, familiarizing them with the wrestlers that he would be bringing in to his promotion.

     Finally, on March 4, 1961, the day of reckoning had arrived. Roy Shire’s “Big Time Wrestling” promotion would be running its first show at the San Francisco Cow Palace. Malcewicz, who had been promoting wrestling shows in the city without opposition for the last 30 years had just run a show a few days earlier in the city on February 28^th, drawing a crowd of 2,892.  How would Shire fare with his new venture?  Would it end up being a “one shot” house show for his imported talent?

     Roy was taking no chances and stacked his first wrestling card at the Cow Palace, bringing in the up and coming Bruno Sammartino, booking a match between Argentina Rocca and Don Leo Jonathan, pitting Bill Melby against Mitsu Arakawa, and Verne Gagne vs. Angelo Savoldi.  And the main event featured Cowboy Bob Ellis against the man who would be his headlining heel for years to come, his former tag partner Ray Stevens.

     And the results? A wrestling event that has a special place in history and is still spoken of with reverence to this day; and an attendance of 16,553, with a standing room only count of 1,500 people.  3 days later Joe Malcewicz would run his next card in the city, drawing a crowd of 2,841 to see Dick Hutton take on Lou Thesz.

    Okay, it could’ve been a fluke right?  Maybe some saw Roy’s inaugural card as something of a novelty, especially since he brought in some famous names for a “one shot”.

     Perhaps that’s what Malcewicz was thinking too as Roy’s next show on March 30, 1961 “only” brought in 7,921 spectators, less than half of his inaugural show.   However Roy was still drawing about as many people to the Cow Palace show that he was running every three weeks as Joe was drawing to the 4 weekly shows combined that he was running at alternating venues.  And while the attendance numbers for Roy’s shows would begin to climb again, the same couldn’t be said for Joe’s.

 

The Genius

    

     Once while watching a classic episode of “The Three Stooges”, I laughed when after finding a “magic” lamp, “Larry” requested a wish from the “genius” of the lamp.  With the characters never being known for their intelligence (I mean they’re “Stooges,” right?) I figured that Larry in his ignorance thought he was correctly referring to the “genie” as “genius”.  But for some reason, I was curious about what he said, wondering if what I initially perceived to be an error of ignorance on his part wasn’t in fact an error at all.  I knew that “genie” was probably an English corruption of the word “jiin” which in Arabic meant “spirit”, a spirit who granted wishes, created.  And I soon found that two of the definitions of “genius”, were “creator”, and “someone or something that has influence over people”.  And when it came to creativity in a wrestling performance and exerting influence over the emotional involvement of the fans, Ray “The Crippler” Stevens epitomized the word “genius”.

     Historically, I think it’s safe to say that almost every wresting promotion has only been as good as its top heel.  Roy understood this well as he had previously formed a successful tag team partnership in the Midwest with his “brother” Ray Shire, who was in actuality Ray Stevens, who had begun wrestling professionally at the young age of 15.  And it would be Stevens who was to become the headlining heel of Roy’s “Big Time Wrestling” promotion and was introduced to Northern Californian wrestling fans as the “United States Heavyweight Wrestling Champion.”

     Beginning with that first Cow Palace Show that he main evented  defending his title against Cowboy Bob Ellis, Stevens would continue to be “Gold” for Roy Shire, having 11 titles reigns as the U.S. Champion. In addition he would also be a multiple time holder of the San Francisco version of the World tag team titles.

     Years later in an interview, wrestling’s “Living Legend” Bruno Sammartino said, “Ray Stevens was a great, great talent…I truly thought that Ray Stevens was just super, super great.  He was tremendous in the ring.  I will tell you this…everybody has their opinions about who is great and what have you.  I don’t see anybody around that I have seen that was better than Ray Stevens.” (1) Great praise indeed, especially when you consider that Sammartino isn’t known to throw praise in just anybody’s direction.

     And the praise and respect that Stevens earned from those in the industry and fans alike was well justified.  Employing great psychology in and out of the ring and drawing tremendous “heat” on the mic, Stevens drove the fans to clamor for live event tickets in hopes that a wrestling fan favorite would finally defeat him.  And with the way that Steven took bumps in the ring and really put over his opponent (while still managing to hold onto his title) the fans felt that at any given live event his opponent could wrest the title from him.

     And they all wanted to be there to see that.  And Stevens and Shire would continue to dangle that carrot as well as give the fans a great night of entertainment resulting in Stevens selling out the Cow Palace 10 times that he headlined and drawing 10,000 plus on more than 50 other occasions.  And that was in addition to selling out shows at the other towns in Shire’s territory which included such places as Oakland, Richmond, San Jose, Fresno, Watsonville, Sacramento, Stockton, Pleasanton, Santa Rosa, and Modesto.

     Knowing that when it came to wrestling angles, that delayed gratification for the fans equaled greater ticket sales, Roy Shire took his time in letting the storylines develop and play out.  “The problem is figuring out what can I do that the fans will buy…that will get another rematch.  Say your heel is the champion, wrestling a babyface.  Last fall.  Your champion goes into his finishing hold and slams the baby face into the ring post.  He blades himself, gets some heat.  Take the 20-count then comes back to beat the heel, your champion.  Thing is, in my territory, the ref is allowed to stop a fight on cuts.  He had stopped the fight.  Everybody thinks the baby face has won, but here comes the ref to announce he stopped the bout because the baby face was cut too badly to continue.  Almost have a riot.  The thing to do in this case is to bring them back for a rematch, bill it: ‘No stopping for blood.’” (2)

     Roy was meticulous in his plans and in the details, having a reputation for being controlling, hard to work for and often very abrasive.  However Shire also had a well deserved reputation for being a master at ring psychology and knowing how to book compelling angles. 

Roy Returns The Favor

 

     And it was those talents along with Ray Stevens, the perfect ring performer to help execute his plans that played a big part in Roy continuing to outdraw Joe Malcewicz.  And this occurred even with Southern Californian promoter Jules Strongbow helping out Joe.  Roy may have had this in mind when Johnny Doyle came knocking.

     Johnny Doyle was once the NWA representative in Southern California, and until 1954, he was also the premier booking agent in the area and represented many of the top wrestlers in the territory.  He was also part of a pro wrestling syndicate which included among others, Cal and Eileen Eaton, who promoted boxing and pro wrestling out of the Los Angeles Olympic Auditorium.

     After a falling out with the Eatons in 1954, he left the area with the intentions of heading east, only to return in 1955 in a failed attempt to compete against the Eatons with his own Southern Californian wrestling promotion.  In 1957 he renewed his war with the Eatons, launching allegations that led to the Eatons being investigated for being part of a monopoly of the Southern California Wrestling scene.

     Years later the bad blood would remain and in late 1961, along with a couple of partners, he would launch another competing promotion in Southern California.  One of those partners was Bill Welsh, who had formerly been the commentator for Jules Strongbow’s television program broadcasting from Hollywood Legion Stadium.  Welsh also happened to be the original commentator for Roy Shire’s “National All-Star Wrestling” television program in the Bay area.

     What does all this have to do with Roy Shire?  Just as Shire did when first launching his “Big Time Wrestling” promotion, Doyle needed a crew to work his shows.  Perhaps he wanted to return the favor for Strongbow aiding Malcewicz with booking, or maybe he was looking to expand his interests into Southern California; whatever his reasons, Roy certainly lent Doyle a helping hand.

     Doyle was able to acquire television time on KTLA in order to promote his upcoming Oct. 7^th show at the new Los Angeles Sports Arena, which had a larger audience capacity than the Olympic Auditorium where the Eaton/Strongbow combo ran their shows.  He ran 4 weekly television shows featuring Shire’s talent, and on the big day, his Sports Arena card was headlined by Ray Stevens vs. Ray Stern and Dick the Bruiser vs. Cowboy Bob Ellis.  Doyle and Shire weren’t taking any chances however and determined to blow the competition out of the water, they stacked the card deep.  As if those headliners weren’t enough, how about Killer Kowalski, Red Bastien, Wilbur Snyder, and Don Leo Jonathan?  How about Roy Shire himself donning the tights once again to take on Pepper Gomez?  However, Strongbow booked the Olympic Auditorium the night before with Freddie Blassie vs. Ricki Starr being on top.  What were the results of this head to head competition?

     In a card that would’ve easily sold out the Cow Palace, the Doyle/Shire booked card only attracted 4,000 fans.  Earlier in the year when Freddie Blassie and Ricki Starr had been involved in main events for Joe Malcewicz, those cards only drew around 3,000 fans each.  On October 6, 1961 at the Olympic Auditorium, that main even helped to attract a standing room only crowd of 12,138 when a sell out for the Olympic was 10,400.  Later in the month Doyle and Shire would try again, drawing 3,500 fans to the Sports Arena on October 28^th, with a main event of Ray Stevens vs. Bobo Brazil.  The night before, Freddie Blassie beat Antonino Rocca by disqualification in front of an Olympic Auditorium crowd of 10,660.  The War was over and Roy headed back home, where his War up North would soon come to an end.

 

So Long Joe

 

    There’s something that I have to point out that’s very important.   In between those 2 L.A. Sports Arena shows, Roy had managed to run a show at the Cow Palace with his crew on October 21, 1961.  That show had an attendance of 12,000.  When the brief L.A. war was over, the first card that Roy held at the Cow Palace on November 11^th also drew 12,000.  So why was Roy’s crew only able to draw a total of 7,500 between two shows at the Los Angeles Sports Arena?  For the same reason that Malcewicz was never able to draw more than those same numbers utilizing Strongbow’s crew.  Television.

     Or to be more precise, the lack of television exposure.  It wasn’t nearly so much about the talent on the cards as it was about the familiarity with and exposure to them that was necessary on the part of the fans.  Malcewicz didn’t utilize television while Roy did.   Even if Malcewicz had been the master booker that Shire was, it wouldn’t have mattered because hardly anyone would’ve been aware of it.  And while both Shire and Strongbow were unbelievably talented at what they did, Jules had the hands down edge in Los Angeles due to television.  Los Angeles had at least 2 television programs running at that time, while the 4 weeks of television that the Doyle/Shire group had was hardly enough to gain an emotional investment from the fans for their product.  And while the Bay area fans might have been tired of Joe's product and welcoming to "the New Kid in town", The L.A. fans hadn't come close to tiring of what they'd been witnessing at the Olympic Auditorium.

     Up North, 1961 drew to a close and “Big Time Wrestling” was continuing to thrive.  Ray Stevens was still drawing both the rage and the interest of the fans (not to mention their money), Roy Shire was increasing his dexterity as a puppeteer, manipulating all the right strings, and World tag team champions Mitsu Arakawa and Kinji Shibuya were wreaking havoc in the tag team division.  1962 opened with a bang for “Big Time Wrestling” as their 1^st Cow Palace Show on January 13^th drew an incredible crowd of 17,061.  Apparently the fire Marshalls had good seats for the show.

     17 days later, only 2,500 fans showed up to witness Ricki Starr defeat Mr. Moto, in what would be the last show that Joe Malcewicz would every promote.  On April 20, 1962, in his early 60’s, Joe Malcewicz would pass away.

     Contrary to speculation, Roy Shire did not run Joe Malcewicz out of business.  Bucking the system, Shire had ignored Malcewicz’ status as an NWA member and invaded Northern California with the backing of the AWA (from the Midwest, but not the one Verne Gagne ran), bucket loads of ideas and ambition, and a wrestling crew that would include one of the greatest workers of all time.

     You can’t stop progress, and perhaps realizing this, it may be the reason why the other promoters of the NWA did not send help to Malcewicz to fight off Renegade Roy.  Perhaps they knew that Joe’s old way of doing things had to move over and perhaps Joe may have known this too.  If he did, he may have been simply too old to change.  And perhaps, he was too tired too. 

     No, Roy didn’t run Joe out of business.  Joe ran out of ideas, out of ambition, and perhaps out of energy.  And in the end, Joe simply ran out of time.  – RR

 

Next time:  Every great villain deserves a great hero and things heat up as one is produced; and the “genius” gets a partner!

 

(1) Bruno Sammartino interview with Bob Ryder – June 1997

(2) Confessions of a Pro Wrestling Booker by Richard Hoffer, Times Staff Writer 1984

Doug McLeer provided some great pics of his Roy Shire memorabilia and I extend my thanks and appreciation for that;

Thanks to Tim Hornbaker of Legacyofwrestling.com for his in-depth research and match results which were of great help in piecing this puzzle together; As well as the folks at WrestlingClassics.com and Kayfabe memories, including “The Claw master” and Steve Yohe, for the hard work they put into coming up with match results; and the folks at prowrestling-titles.com for their comprehensive list of title changes.