Where Wrestling's Regional History Lives!
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Where Wrestling's Regional History Lives! |
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- Mike Norris This month I want to look at the two
premier tag teams that competed in the Gulf Coast territory during the
70s. The California Hippies, Mike Boyette & Mickey Doyle; and Rip
Tyler & Eddie Sullivan. The Hippies: Mike Boyette – Mike Boyette (Mike Bowyer) was originally
from San Diego, California. During a stint in the U.S. Navy, he took up
judo and won many competitions. He was so good that he was in line for a
spot on the 1968 U.S. Olympic team. Unfortunately, he suffered a broken
leg during a practice session and did not make the team. Shortly after,
he made his debut as a professional wrestler. He made several
appearances in Los Angeles and San Francisco before moving to the
southeastern part of the U.S. He wrestled around Memphis for awhile
before moving down to the Gulf Coast promotion of promoter Lee Fields. Initially a “heel” wrestler,
Boyette’s mere appearance upset the conservative fans. Wearing wild
long hair and beard, along with tie-died tights and beaded vests, he
proudly called himself “The California Hippie”.
Fans hated him and his wild tactics. He relied mainly on judo
throws and elbow smashes to wear his opponents down for his finisher, a
version of the Camel Clutch that he called the “Hippie Hold”. It was Boyette’s judo background that
turned him into a “baby-face”. A tag team called the “Japanese
Rising Suns”, consisting of the Great Ota & Mr. Koma, had entered
the area wearing the United States Tag Team Championship. They bragged
about their prowess in judo and karate as well as their superiority over
American wrestlers. This upset Mike Boyette. During a TV match, Boyette
helped fan favorite Ken Lucas against the Japanese wrestlers. Lucas and
his partner Johnny West (Kevin Sullivan) had been embroiled in a feud
with the Rising Suns and had won and lost the U.S. tag titles to the
team. West had been hurt, and Ota and Koma attacked Lucas on TV. Mike
Boyette came to his rescue and instantly became a fan favorite. Lucas
and Boyette teamed to challenge the Japanese bad men for the titles.
However, Boyette could not get along with Lucas and it cost them the
matches. Boyette was an outsider from the fan favorites and found it
hard to find anyone to team with him. He tried working with Frank
Dalton, who had also recently become a baby-face after years as a heel.
This team could not get along either. Boyette continued his search for a
tag team partner to help him win the titles from the Japanese team.
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