RON STARR: GOOD AT BEING ROTTEN - PART II - By Rock Rims

                                                                   About Face

     In 1980 while the Southern California wrestling territory still had some talented workers, the roster wasn’t anywhere near as deep as it once was and ticket sales and interest were becoming negatively affected.  Ron Starr along with John Tolos were the biggest heels at the time but they were sorely in need of a strong babyface to work with.  Chavo Guerrero had been the top babyface for years but he was wrestling less frequently in the territory as he was earning more money on his tours of Japan and was occasionally doing shows in other U.S. territories as well.

     Walter Johnson was given a push but both his promo skills and ring work were solely lacking.  While Al Madril, Tom Pritchard worked well in the ring and Chavo’s brother Mando was even better, they all lacked the charisma and presence that Chavo had.  He had left some awfully big shoes to fill.

     By this time, Ron Starr had begun teaming with Tolos and the decision was made to turn Ron into a “babyface”, a “good guy.”  While Ron preferred to wrestle as a heel, the fans responded well to his face turn and one of the most hated heels in the territory was then voted “The most popular wrestler” in the area by the fans as he now had begun to battle Tolos and his cronies.  And it was late in the year that Al Madril was receiving a beatdown in the Olympic Auditorium ring as Ron Starr stormed the ring and delivered standing dropkick after dropkick, including a missile dropkick off the top rope to even up the odds.  The fan response was tremendous as many were jumping up and down and screaming enthusiastically as their new hero was cleaning house of Tolos, the Assassin, and Prof. Ito.

     But while this type of fan reaction to Ron Starr was something new in L.A., it had been going on for nearly two years up North in Roy Shire’s Big Time Wrestling promotion and almost nearly as long in Don Owens’s Portland Wrestling territory.

Anything but “Rotten”

     It was late in 1978 that Ron Starr entered Roy Shire’s Northern California territory but as would be his habit, he was quick about making an impact.  In his first few months in the territory he would have 2 reigns as one half of the San Francisco version of the NWA World Tag Team champions, first with Dean Ho and then later winning the tag team titles on November 23, 1978 with partner Enrique Vera, who was a former National Champion and future UWA Heavyweight Champion in Mexico.

    Ron was soon positioned as one of the top babyfaces in the promotion engaging in both a singles and tag team feud with Buddy Rose and Ed Wiskowski who were managed by the hated Dr. Ken Ramey, who was excellent at drawing heat.  While Big Time Wrestling was undoubtedly at it’s strongest during the 60’s, this feud was definitely a bright spot in the late 70’s and featured 4 people who were all excellent when it came to cutting compelling promos.

     “Roy liked the way I did my promos” Ron says.  “He said ‘I like that you don’t yell and scream like so many other guys.’” And the feud was one that Ron enjoyed working and considering that things were changing for California Wrestling as a whole, it still did well and was even later extended to the Portland Wrestling territory as well.

     “I liked Buddy Rose and felt that he was a real good worker and good on the mic.  He was this fat, pudgy kid and sometimes he would ‘blow up’ on me a little bit in the ring but he would always drag out enough to do what he needed to do in the match.  He’d get winded but I’d just tell him ‘Just stay down for a minute and catch your breath’.  Yeah, he was a good guy to work with.”
 

     Ron began to be pushed more as a singles wrestler and won the Annual 18 man San Francisco Battle Royal in 1979 which included the likes of Superstar Billy Graham, Dory Funk Jr., and Harley Race, and was awarded a trophy as well as a $30,000 dollar check.  Later that night he would face Harley Race for the NWA World Heavyweight title.  Actually, Ron wasn’t the opponent that was originally slated to face the World Champion that evening in the Cow Palace.

     “Jimmy Snuka was originally scheduled to face Harley for the title but he missed his flight.  I then went up to Shire and said, ‘Hey Roy, I don’t want you to think I’m an asshole or anything, but since Snuka couldn’t make it, I’d like to be the one to wrestle Harley for the title.  I think we could have a good match.’ “

     “Roy thought about it for a second and said, ‘I think you’re right.  Alright, you’ll be in the match with Harley tonight.” Ron then went out and cut a promo to set up the match.  “I went out and got on the mic and said ‘I know that Jimmy’s not here and he was supposed to wrestle Harley for the title tonight, but since he’s not here…I’ll challenge Race for the title…that is if he’s man enough to accept the challenge!”

     Snuka had been in the territory for a few months by that time and had been engaging in a feud with the United States Champion Buddy Rose over the title belt.  Although he was popular, the Cow Palace fans in attendance cheered enthusiastically when it was announced that Starr would in fact be substituting for Snuka and facing Race for the World Heavyweight title.  “They just ‘popped’ when they heard that.”

     Robert Counts who grew up within walking distance of the Cow Palace and was a regular for years at the wrestling events, was there that night at well and remembers his reaction to the announcement.  “I was thrilled!  Though Snuka was popular and impressive, Ron was a step higher in most minds.  Starr was the technical wrestler that I always felt could out wrestle most, and out maneuver the rest.  The ‘dumb wrestler’ is the one who interferes with the twenty count at 18, and instead of attacking, would argue with the ref.  I was a fan who wanted the story to make sense, and Starr was ‘real’, as far as that’s possible to be in wrestling.  Snuka could hit Race with a crowbar and get rolled up in a small package by Race.  That wouldn’t happen to Starr.”

    Starr’s match with Race would be the first 1 hour Broadway (draw) that he was ever involved with.  Always priding himself on never “blowing up” or running out of gas, the match with the Wrestling Legend was a new experience for Ron.

        “I thought I was going to drop dead before it was over!  You talk about someone who could run you ragged…Harley Race could do it.  I was really nervous, worried that I might make a mistake or mess things up because I was in there with Harley Race, even though I had years of experience.  But Harley, he just took me by the hand and led me through it.”

     Roy Shire had definitely taken notice of what Starr could bring to the table, and as it turned out, he was not alone.

     “Buddy had gone up to work for Don Owens in Portland and Roy Shire then asked me ‘What do you think about working in Portland?’  I told him ‘I’ll go wherever you want me to go.’  My first time wrestling there I heard that Roy was talking with Don Owen while watching my match with Buddy Rose and Roy said ‘Now that’s what I call wrestling!’  I liked working there and we taped at the Portland Sports Arena, which was an old skating rink and Don Owen was always pretty good about the payoffs.  The first night I was there I heard some of the other guys griping about the payoffs but I told them ‘I don’t know what you guys are complaining about, because I’ve been to a lot of different territories and I’ll tell you, just from tonight, this is the one with the best payoffs yet.’”

     Tagging with Adrian Adonis, Ron continued the feud with Buddy Rose and Ed Wiskowski as it had worked so well in Shire’s territory and in April of ’79 they defeated Rose and Wiskowski for the Pacific Northwest Tag Team titles.  Ron was beginning a collection of titles as the month before, he had defeated Piper at the San Francisco Cow Palace for the U.S. Heavyweight title.  That feud was also extended to Owens’s territory and even featured a memorable angle where Starr came to the rescue of Women’s wrestling legend Vickie Williams.  Apparently Piper felt that all women should stay in the kitchen and tossed Vickie around before Ron intervened. 

     Like several of the wrestlers in the area, Ron split time during 1979 between Portland and San Francisco, driving back and forth to shows.  In Northern California he also picked up another rival in Bob Sweetan as they competed over the U.S. heavyweight title.  Another veteran that Ron would face is Ernie Ladd, whom he wrestled on the annual San Francisco Battle Royal card on January 26, 1980.  After a brief stop in the Leroy McGuirk’s Tri-State area, Ron soon wound up in L.A. where he split time between there and Roy Shire’s territory for much of the remaining year. 

     Roy Shire had been burnt out on the wrestling business for a few years by that point and by his own admission was running out of finishes and creative ideas.  The strongest years for his promotion had been during his first 24 months of operation and since then there had been a gradual decline in attendance at the shows.  Even when Patterson and Stevens were on top during the late 60’s and early 70’s there were fewer and fewer sellouts at the Cow Palace and 8,000-9,000 attendance numbers became more and more the norm, and by the time the late 70’s rolled around, it was more like 5.000-7.000.  While there were occasional spikes in attendance, they were rare and more often than not came on the nights of the annual battle royals.

     Shire would close shop in early ’81 and Ron Starr would work then work a bit for Antone Leone’s Western States Alliance promotion which was running shows in some of Shire’s former towns.  Ed Moretti worked as a referee for Roy Shire and later as a wrestler before Shire’s promotion closed.  Like many, he had great respect for Ron Starr and even faced him in the ring and had this to say about him on WrestlingClassics.com:  “Bobby Eugene Nutt (Rotten Ron Starr) is/was one of the best workers I have ever seen, a really nice guy, a good booker…”  With a great track record as a worker, Ron would soon be off to new territories, reprising some old roles and finding himself in new ones.

 

Next time: We’ll visit some of the other places Ron’s career takes him, we’ll also travel back to the beginning, and we’ll hear the good advice Ron gave Hulk Hogan.

RON STARR: GOOD AT BEING ROTTEN - PT. 1 - By Rock Rims

     I was 11 years old and I was pissed. We were so close and yet so far.  We were that close to victory and yet again it was snatched from our grasp at the last second.   And yet when I say “we” that is not to say that I was an actual combatant in the contest.  And yet like the thousands of others in 1980 Southern California who witnessed Ron Starr narrowly escape defeat in the wrestling ring, we felt as if we had lost as well. 

     And that’s what a good “heel” does in pro wrestling.  He collaborates with his opponent to suck you in, to be emotionally invested in the match and its outcome, to make you feel as if your hero’s defeats and victories are your own.  And the heel tactics that he employed were often subtle.  He didn’t yell or scream as heels so often do, rather he was matter of fact and very articulate in his promos.  I think what got to me and others as well, was that it often seemed as if he didn’t have to cheat.  He just seemed very competent in the ring, with an air of great confidence, and with him being a heel or bad guy, it just made me want to see him lose all the more.  If I was able to articulate it back then, I’d say his being so damn good is what pissed me off the most.  He got heat from being a heel that could actually wrestle and back up everything that he said.

     Ron Starr began that run in Southern California in the early part of the year after recently working in Leroy McGuirk’s Tri-State area promotion, and shortly before that in Don Owens’s Pacific Northwest territory as well Roy Shire’s Northern California wrestling territory.  As a matter of fact he would still make trips up to Shire’s neck of the woods to wrestle shows while he was making his mark in Southern California.  And as was typical for Ron Starr when he entered a territory, making his mark didn’t take him long to do.

     “I’ve wrestled in Africa, Puerto Rico, Guatemala, Canada, Japan, and all over the United States.  The West Coast was one of the places that I really loved wrestling in.  Los Angeles, San Francisco, Oregon…I had good times there” Ron recently told me.

     Initially he wrestled in promoter Mike LeBelle’s territory under a mask as “Spoiler II,”, and it was under this mask that he would make waves in the area, utilizing his dreaded claw hold that he administered with a gloved hand.  Within a few months even our perennial champion Chavo Guerrero fell victim to his claw hold, losing a televised matched before eventually losing the America’s Heavyweight title as well on April 18, 1980.

     The Spoiler II would eventually unmask to reveal himself as Starr and would not only draw the ire of wrestling fans by wrestling in single matches, but soon would enlist partners and join the tag team ranks as well.  Only his first tag team partner, the Hood, with whom he won the Los Angles version of the NWA World Tag Team titles, wasn’t exactly a new acquaintance. 

     Johnny Mantell, who wrestled in Los Angeles under a mask as the Hood, had been a friend and ring opponent of Ron’s in both Northern California and Oregon, having spent many miles on the road with Starr.  Mantell credits Ron with really teaching him much during his formative years in the wrestling business and the chemistry and genuine friendship really became evident.  In Los Angeles many people found it difficult to think of one without thinking of the other and for the longest time some even thought Ron Starr (and in some cases Roddy Piper) was the man wrestling as “The Hood”.

     In fact Los Angeles wrestling legend John Tolos considered them so indistinguishable from one another, that was one reason he nicknamed them “Donny and Danny…The Dildo brothers.”  Of course it was also the jokes that they so often played on people that also contributed to that nickname.

   “We had so much fun, but we really played some terrible jokes at times, although none of it was mean spirited.  Ring announcer Jimmy Lennon was the sweetest guy and one time Johnny told him ‘Hey, did you hear that Ron’s brother is a talented pianist and recently played his first concert? He’s really proud.’”

     Lennon then approached Ron with a smile to offer his sincere congratulations.  A horrified Ron Starr then responded, “How could you say that?!  Is this a cruel joke?!  Don’t you know that my brother just lost his fingers in a car accident?!”

     “Lennon had tears in his eyes as he apologized over and over again.  I kind of felt a little bad about that one as he was such a nice guy.”  One rib that Ron definitely doesn’t apologize for and recalls with a very hearty laugh is the one he played on Roddy Piper when he, Piper and Tim Brooks were sharing an apartment when working the Portland territory in 1979.

     “This girl showed up at the arena and had given me a Doberman pinscher puppy which I then took home to the apartment.  Roddy was a great guy but he had the most sensitive stomach and would easily get nauseated.  So I went into the kitchen and mixed up some mayonnaise, mustard, horseradish and little strips of meat and placed in on a newspaper.  I then went and placed the newspaper under my bed.  Then at one point when we were all in the living room I gave Brooks the ‘high sign’, as if to say, ‘watch this.’”

     Ron continues “I said ‘Hey Roddy can you do me a favor? ‘  He said ‘sure’.  I then said ‘Go into my room and reach under my bed.  I have a .22 gun that I want to clean.’  So Roddy goes into my bed and reaches under the bed and all of a sudden we hear retching ‘Bleh…Bleh…’ he thought the dog had thrown up and thinking that he had it on his hand, he threw up to!”

And in the meantime as we get back to Los Angeles…

     …Ron was still enjoying his successful run as a heel in 1980, feuding with mainstay Chavo Guerrero as well as continuing to wrestle in tag matches.  Ron had a good amateur background having wrestled in high school and college, and along with his professionalism and lessons learned as a pro, he had developed a great reputation as someone who could have a good match with most opponents.

     Add to that his great ability to draw heat; it wasn’t much of a surprise that when World Wrestling Federation Champion Bob Backlund came to town, Ron was the man tabbed to face him for the title.  It was also a card that would feature a young Hulk Hogan appearing in Los Angeles for the first time, years before Hulkamania was running wild.  And while Ron lost his bid to defeat Backlund for the title, things could’ve been worse.  For while Ron wrestled for the World title that night, his partner the Hood got stuck wrestling “Smokey the wrestling bear.”

     I also asked Ron about his memories of working with another visiting wrestler, someone whom is a legend in the business but about whom opponents have differing view on what it’s like to work with him.

     “Mil Mascaras was a good wrestler and I liked working with him and I knew how to get heat.  The very same day our match was announced, the Olympic sold out.”  Years later Ron would face Mascaras in the ring again in Puerto Rico, where Mil teamed up with the Invaders in a 6 man tag match against Ron and the Funk brothers.  But it was after a wrestling card in Houston, Texas that Ron would have an encounter with Mil that was more impressionable.

     “I was wrestling on the same card that Mascaras was but earlier in the night.  Later on in a bar a guy came up to me and said ‘You really had a great match tonight Ron.  I always enjoy your matches.’”

     Ron was dumbfounded as to whom the man was and the fact that he spoke to Ron as if he knew him.  “I soon realized that it was Mil Mascaras!  I had never seen him without his mask because he even showered with it on.  I was surprised at what a good looking guy he was!  He liked me and even gave my number to a promoter in Guatemala who later gave me some work.”

     And in 1980 Bob Backlund wasn’t the only man to hold a WWF title that Ron would challenge for and Mil Mascaras wasn’t the only international wrestler who would show respect to Ron Starr.

To some he was known as “Champ”

     While he never made the big money that today’s WWE wrestling superstars earn, he still got to travel throughout the country during his wrestling career as well as to other parts of the world. 

          “I miss the places I got to go, like Puerto Rico and Japan…People save all of their lives hoping to go there.”  And not only did he get to travel outside of the Continental U.S., he had the respect of the people he wrestled in front of and against in those other lands.  Ron made several trips to wrestle in Japan, and it was and still is a place where they have the utmost respect for actual wrestling ability.  And on several occasions he challenged Tatsumi “Dragon” Fujinami for the WWF Jr. Heavyweight title.  While many fans today may not be aware of whom Ron Starr was, there are still plenty who do and respect and admired his work and ability, as did many of his opponents. 

     .  “I did my first tour of Japan in 1976, when I was working out of the Tampa office.  They kind of used us as foreigners as jobbers but they always let us get our stuff in.  Fujinami was a guy I liked working with and he always called me 'Champ'.  The first time I wrestled him I was kind of nervous and I was wary, as I didn't want him to shoot in on my leg.  They work tighter over there.  He was light as a feather but still a tough son of a bitch.  He knew what he was doing in the ring.”

     And without a doubt, so did Ron Starr.

Next time: There’s a change for Ron in Los Angeles, Roy Shire displays his confidence, memories of Buddy Rose, and Harley comes to town!

 

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.

THE SUPERMAN OF WRESTLING - By Rock Rims

      It was hot and it was itchy and there was no way I was getting rid of it.  Thankfully, it didn’t require a trip to the free clinic. 

America's Heavyweight Champ

     I was living in East Los Angeles, it was October 31, 1971, and on this Halloween, the highlight for my 3 year old self wasn’t a big bag of candy, it was the fact that I was wearing a lucha libre wrestling mask for my costume.  And it wasn’t just any wrestling mask; it was a replica of the kind that Mil Mascaras wore.  Unlike the following Halloween, where my parents dressed me up as The Devil (complete with a long pitchfork) and dropped me off at a conservative Church function, this Halloween was memorable in a way that wouldn’t require later therapy.

    Halloween has always been a favorite holiday for me and this time was no exception.  The mask seemed to transform me in a way that few other costumes have since, and in addition to the fact that it made me feel empowered, almost like a superhero, I loved the positive attention I received from other trick or treaters.

     It probably wasn’t surprising that I’d feel that way, for the Luchadores of Mexico seemed to be more than just wrestlers.  They did in fact project the image of being true to life superheroes.  For along with the masks they would often wear colorful robes or ring jackets and often capes as well.  And in the case of Mil Mascaras, he was often portrayed as a Superhero type in the movies he starred in, whether he was fighting gangsters, Mummies, or other Supernatural creatures.

     I wonder if he felt the same way when he’d don one of his many colorful masks?  For while Aaron Rodriguez would distinguish himself as an amateur athlete, both as a competitive bodybuilder and as a National level Judo competitor in Mexico, it was as Mil Mascaras that he would reach legendary, perhaps even heroic status.  And while on that Halloween he had only been wrestling in the U.S. for 3 1/2 years, he had certainly already become a hero of mine.

      Initially wrestling under the name Ricardo Duran, Rodriguez would soon adopt the identity of “Mil Mascaras” the Man of a Thousand Masks, debuting in Guadalajara, Mexico in July of 1965.  Larger than many of  his fellow Mexican wrestlers, he competed as a Light Heavyweight and won his first EMLL Mexican National Light Heavyweight title in Mexico City on June 12, 1967 from El Espanto, who had in turn won the title from Lucha Legend El Santo.  Mascaras would win the title yet a second time from El Nazi on October 15, 1967 before eventually vacating the title on March 22, 1968 as he set his sights on wrestling in the United States.

    And I was only one of many who would be grateful that Mascaras always had great ambition.  For when Mil Mascaras arrived in Mike LeBelle’s Southern California territory in the Spring of 1968, he brought with him an exciting repertoire of high flying lucha moves and wrestling holds and counters.  His charismatic presence and wrestling skills combined with his colorful wrestling attire (which included beautiful capes, ring jackets, and an incredible selection of masks) to help him make an immediate impact and attract a huge following.  He was truly a ground breaker, as he would experience success that other masked luchadores, including the Legendary El Santo and Blue Demon, hadn't experienced in the United States. Wrestling in singles matches as well as teaming up with former WWA World Champion Pedro Morales in tag matches, it would only be mere weeks before Mascaras defeated Buddy Austin 2 falls to 1 in a tournament final at the Los Angeles Olympic Auditorium for the vacant America’s Heavyweight Championship (L.A. area) on June 6, 1968.

     Mascaras would hold the title for 3 months before losing it to El Mongol and leaving the area before returning to L.A. in the early part of 1969.  He quickly resumed his winning ways and regained the title by defeating the Sheik on April 25,1969.  By this time the WWA World Title had been retired for 5 months and the America’s title was now the most prestigious title in the area which was now affiliated with the NWA.  Over the next couple of years he would feud with such wrestling greats as Freddie Blassie, John Tolos, The Sheik, and Black Gordman over the America’s title and Mascaras would hold the belt a total of 5 times.  And in addition to those bouts for the area’s top single’s title, he would also wrestle Dory Funk Jr. to a draw and would also wrestle to a draw with “The Destroyer” Dick Beyer, beginning a friendly yet competitive rivalry.

     Also during that same 2 years Mil Mascaras would be a co-holder of the America’s Tag Team titles, winning it twice with tag partner Alfonso Dantes and a third time with Ray Mendoza from tag team legends Black Gordman and the Great Goliath.  He also rounded out his collection of titles in the area by being a part of the America’s 6 man tag team champions on 3 occasions. 

      Dubbed “The Superman of Wrestling” by LeBelle territory publicist Jeff Walton, Mascaras would capture the hearts and minds of the Los Angeles wrestling fans and would soon capture the attention of wrestling promoters and fans worldwide.  Mascaras continued his International exposure by wrestling and winning his first match in Japan against Kantaro Hoshino on February 19, 1971.  He immediately established himself as an attraction in Japan and went on to tour the country numerous times over the next few decades. While creating a legacy for himself in the Land of the Rising Sun, he also paved the way for other Mexican wrestling stars to regularly tour the country, something that contributed to an ongoing talent exchange that would help evolve the International wrestling scene. While he faced the top Japanese stars like Antonio Inoki, Giant Baba, Jumbo Tsuruta, and Tiger Mask II in single or tag matches, and even challenged NWA World Champion Harley Race in 1980, his most memorable matches in Japan were the ones he had against fellow masked legend “The Destroyer.”

    Picking up right where they left on in L.A., their encounters never failed to captivate the Japanese audience or those who still discover those classic matches on video nearly 40 years later.  The 2 top International masked wrestlers in history put on displays of technical mat wrestling that were memorable not only for fans, but to the participants themselves. 
 

     “He was the best competitor that I ever wrestled,” Beyer said when the Cauliflower Alley Club honored Mascaras in 2006.  “He never gave you anything ‘it’s true’, but I didn’t give him anything either.  You talk about a shoot or half-shoot, and that’s the kind of match that it was.” (1)

      Mil Mascaras was in such demand that he would travel constantly around the world to wrestle, commanding top money as he was a great box office draw.  While he ventured there less frequently, he never neglected his home country of Mexico and one of his returns there included a match with Lou Thesz on July 26, 1975 for the UWA Heavyweight title that resulted in a draw.

     1975 would also see Mascaras winning the IWA heavyweight title, a title that he would successfully defend against such standouts as Ernie Ladd and former WWWF Heavyweight Champion Ivan Koloff. While in the U.S. he was most popular on the West Coast and in the Southwest, thanks to the sharing of wrestling film among promoters as well as the extensive coverage that Mascaras received in the wrestling magazines, other parts of the U.S. clamored to see the masked star as well. 

    On December 18, 1972, New York’s Madison Square Garden would lift its ban on masked wrestlers allowing Mil Mascaras to make his MSG debut against the Spoiler, whom he defeated with his signature flying bodypress in a little less than 8 minutes. The WWWF and MSG would both play host to Mascaras on several other occasions, including two occasions where Mascaras challenged Superstar Billy Graham for the WWWF Title in what were exciting matches in December of 1977.

    With all of his travel, being constantly on the move to fulfill his many wrestling bookings around the world, we saw less and less of Mascaras in Southern California.  But he would still manage to find his way out to our area a couple of times a year. Those were always highly anticipated events, especially among those fans, who like me, were of Latino Heritage.

     He was the Latino that I could look up to at the time.  In the 70’s most of the Latinos who appeared on television were portrayed as uneducated, often in roles of gardeners and maids and with success just outside of their reach.  And up to that point in real life, the only Latino that the young males in our family looked up to was our Uncle Jessie.  He was muscular and strong and was a good street fighter.  As young kids, we found that appealing and admirable.  It wouldn’t be long however, that I correctly realized that my Uncle Jessie also happened to be a chronic Dumbass who couldn’t keep himself out of jail. 

     Mascaras on the other hand, carried himself with dignity, was almost Regal in his manner (some would say arrogant), was successful at what he did, appeared on television, was strong and muscular, and (in his movies at least) drove kick-ass cars and got hot chicks!  And I didn’t recall ever seeing him being led away in handcuffs.

   So in between his visits to L.A.  I would enjoy the weekly wrestling television broadcasts from the Olympic Auditorium, always enjoying what I witnessed, but always hoping to hear of Mascaras’ next visit.  And when my Stepfather’s supply of the magazines that he kept under his mattress would run low, I always knew that I could go to the hall closet and pull out his “Ring” Boxing magazines and the few Pro Wrestling magazines that he had.  I would enjoy reading about the wrestlers that I was both familiar and unfamiliar with, and also hunt for anything that I could find on Mascaras.

    With such titles as “Mil Mascaras: ‘The Time had come to tell all’ ; What he looks like without his mask”  and "What I look for in a Woman: By Mil Mascaras",  I would be captivated by the words of fiction that were written as well as the pictures of my masked hero.

      And as could be expected, when Mascaras did visit Southern California, the box office ticket sales would dramatically increase wherever he appeared.  The air would be filled with excitement and anticipation, with many fans wearing replica masks as they cheered “The Superman of Wrestling” as he challenged the area’s top heel.

     However, while I was thrilled to watch his matches on television, sadly, I never got to see Mil Mascaras wrestle in person before the LeBelle Wrestling territory closed at the end of 1982 or before the Olympic Auditorium ceased hosting wrestling matches regardless of which promotion was running them.

     I saw less and less of Mascaras over the years, although he appeared on occasion on the undercards of the occasional U.S. promotion televised program.  In the early 80’s at the age of 16, I purchased tickets for a WWF event at the L.A. Sports Arena, mere months before the angles that led up to the very first Wrestlemania were to begin.  With front row seats, The Sports Arena event would be a spectacular and memorable event for my cousin and I, with “Mr. T” in the audience being taunted by the wrestlers, “Dr. D” David Shultz slapping a fan around not long before he did it to John Stossel, and Hulk Hogan would successful defend his World Title against Big John Studd.  But the main attraction that lured me there, causing me to take 3 or 4 buses to get to the venue, was Mil Mascaras participating in a 6 man tag match with the Samoans against WWF Tag Champs Adrian Adonis and Dick Murdoch, along with manager Lou Albano.  Although Mascaras was in a tag match and would probably spend less than 10 minutes in the ring, it was a thrill to see him in person for the first time!

     Nearly 20 years later, long after I thought the opportunity had passed me by, I had the opportunity to meet Mil Mascaras in person in the Spring of 2004.  I didn’t quite know what to expect, as in the interim, with the advent of the internet, the demise of kayfabe, and my progress from a kid into a mature adult, I had heard different things regarding Mascaras and I wondered if the experience might taint my memories of him. 

     In spite of some of the things that I had heard, he was humble, gracious, friendly, and with a perpetual smile, seemed genuinely honored to hear that he had provided so many with such great memories.  It was a dream come true to meet him and perhaps more importantly, he allowed my fond memories of him to remain intact, and sealed his legend in my eyes.  I would also witness him wrestle in a match a couple of months later, and being just shy of his 62^nd birthday, he looked incredibly fit!

     While famed Southern California venues like the Olympic Auditorium are no longer playing host to wrestling or to Mil Mascaras, his accomplishments in the wrestling world have not ceased.  In 2009 he was inducted into the NWA Hall of fame and in July of 2011 he participated in a match to commemorate the 40^th anniversary of his debut in Japan.  The following year he would be inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame in April of 2013.  2 months later, just 1 month shy of his 70^th birthday, Mil Mascaras would defeat rising star Samuray Del Sol.  And just one month before the time of this writing, Mil Mascaras won a match in Japan on April 11, 2013.

     Mil Mascaras… The Man of a Thousand Masks, a Thousand holds, and countless more memorable wrestling moments. - RR

You can view a 1973 match between Mil Mascaras and the Destroyer on my Youtube channel by clicking this link: http://youtu.be/W5pN1r7DxaQ

Mil Mascaras in 6 man tag action at the Los Angeles Olympic Auditorium: http://youtu.be/-Uodva7IuS0

(1) Race & Hennig go over at Cauliflower Alley Club Banquet- By Greg Oliver - Slam! Wrestling - June 11, 2006  http://slam.canoe.ca/Slam/Wrestling/2006/06/11/1625969.html