All-Star Wrestling #5 Page #2

 Ole Olson a graduate of the All Star wrestling school joined the promo and was a big hit with the fans. An Everett Washington native, Olsen was well put together and his hard work in the gym paid off as he became one of All Star’s brightest young wrestlers over the next couple of years. Ole wrestled often in tag teams with Randy Rich and the two young men wowed the fans with their blend of power and finesse.

Balancing the scale of good vs. evil was a 6’9” 315lbs Abbotsford B.C. native Wojo. Another graduate of the All Star School Wojo was dubbed the B.C. Hulk. Early on Wojo showed he was worthy of top billing on battling Big John Baker in early 1984. After turning back that gargantuan challenge Wojo set his sights on Moose Morrowski. Morrowski had berated Wojo and his family on TV and the two brought some major heat to Wojo’s hometown of Abbotsford B.C. April of 1984. In interviews Wojo told the fans he was patterning himself after some of wrestling’s other big men such as Andre the Giant. While not quite Andre’s size, Wojo at 6’9 and well over 300 pounds, battled in handicap matches similar to Andre’s and was hoping to challenge the larger wrestlers of the era such as Bruiser Brody, Hulk Hogan and even Andre in the ring. He would first have to get thru the wily B.C. veteran’s like Morrowski and Tomko in order to make a name for himself and both of these men gave him fits all summer. 

One of the funniest angles of the promo in 1984 was one involving promoter Al Tomko. Tomko was courting J.R. Foley, who reportedly paid $30,000 in fines for Tomko, and who was also going to knight Sir Al Tomko. Tomko showed up on TV with a bowler hat and minus his army fatigues, J.R. came out to the ring and center stage knighted Al Tomko renaming him Sir Alicous Tomko. The ceremony short and sweet was held in the center of the ring and was basically J.R. tapping a sword on Sir Al’s two shoulders and declaring him a knight. Tomko having got what he was after preceded to dump Foley and attack him from behind. J.R.’s son Athol Foley tried to make the save but was beaten down by Sir Alicious. Tomko demanded to be called Sir by Ed Karl and the fans even after the Foley’s departure from All Star. Tomko put the heavyweight title on himself by beating Moondog Morretti April 16/84. Tomko complained the NWA was out to get him making him wrestle in stretcher matches with Moondog Morretti. He would go on to face stiff challenges from the Warrior and the B.C. Hulk in the months to come, Wojo managed to win the title from Tomko in his hometown of Abbottsford on May 16/84. 

Snake Williams who was left without a partner when the Foley’s left town started his own stable called the Warlords. The Warlords consisted of Mr. Renegade Biker and Easy Rider, two big, strong and very capable wrestlers who were new to the promo. The Warlord’s feuded viciously with Moondog Morretti and Star Rider over the Canadian tag titles. Williams eventually chased his old partner the Star Rider out of the territory. Veteran Rocky Dellesara replaced Star Rider and battled Snake Williams in a taped fist match. The Warlord’s managed to keep the upper hand in most of their battles and earned the top heel spot in the organization.

Igor Volkoff another veteran wrestler was still finishing off opponents with the figure four. In 1984 he introduced his new tag team partner Wonder Boy. The masked wrestler was a highflying acrobatic wrestler and the two complimented each other well. Wonder Boy was a bit of a mystery with no real information on where he came from and he didn’t speak much during interviews preferring to let Igor do the talking. Volkoff had another good year winning the B.C. TV title with a win over Easy Rider. Volkoff pinned Easy Rider after a second rope knee drop ala Ivan Koloff and claimed the massive trophy and title of B.C. TV champion. Of interesting note was the referee for that match was Rick Davis son of Al Tomko. Davis would go on to be a top All Star wrestler with a big push from father Al. In 1984 he wrestled matches with Vern Siebert and in tag matches with Oly Olson. 

The Warrior, no not Jim Hellwig, was another popular fan favorite. The White Plains native took on all comers and had a vicious feud with Al Tomko later into the year. The Warrior battled Tomko in ‘strap matches and cage matches” all over British Columbia. Gaining valuable experience on the B.C. circuit, wrestling almost nightly, the Warrior started to use the classic finisher the bow and arrow to end his matches in style. It was also in the spring of 1984 that All Star apparently ditched the NWA for the UWA promotion. On TV interviews Tomko talked about wrestling for the UWA world title. Tomko even alluded to the fact of beating NWA champion Harley Race a few weeks earlier while commentating a taped match of Harley vs. Gary Young. Young was a rising young star who had trained early in All Star.

Mr. Pro Buck Ramstead returned without the mask and with a new attitude. Pro wrestled with a lot more vigor and started using the piledriver and high vertical suplexes to finish opponents off. Bob Steele was also back as a referee and had a familiar old attitude. Steele was accused by the fans for favoring the heels. Another All Star returnee was the jukebox Bruiser Costa. Costa came back in September and teamed with Vern Siebert. Fans began to call him Pac Man and Costa of course did not appreciate the morons comments he said B.C. stood for Bruiser Costa not British Columbia. Costa was followed into B.C. by his old nemesis Sonny Myers. Myers dropped the masked Mexican bit and showed up in the fall of 1984 as the “Heart Throb of Rock n Roll”. Myers soon became the target for British Columbia’s newest rocker Rockin Robby Royce. Royce in from Hawaii quickly targeted Myers as the focal point for his fury. In a match with Jonathon Sayers vs. Myers, Myers had Sayers in a sleeper when Royce attacked him and busted him open. Royce was quite a site with his punk rock style, blue hair and leather outfit. He looked like a cross between Adrian Street and the Road Warriors.

Another masked wrestler this time a heel would come to the territory named the Scorpion. The Scorpion got on the wrong side of the fans right away when he pile drove Randy Rich onto the concrete floor on television. Rich had to be helped to the dressing room by his tag partner Oly Olsen. The fans let the 230lb Scorpion know this was a very unpopular move. The Scorpion wrestled a very European style and was obviously a veteran of the ring wars.

Some other faces in the promotion were new referee Jimmy Bass. Scott Rogers wrestled here in from Calgary. Bad Boy Burch, a fair sized wrestler at 250 lbs, was supposedly banned from Portland and claimed he came in to win some easy titles in All Star. Jonathon Sayers was another product of Washington at 238lbs and hailing from Seattle. Mack Truck was billed as a friend of Wojo’s from B.C. and a third year pro.

While All Star Wrestling was still being seen nationally by TV audiences, something all Canadian Indies today must envy, the promotion was starting to take a turn for the worst. Leaving the NWA and the lack of outside talent Tomko’s corner cutting was starting to affect the promising company.

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1985 Reviewed    

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