Welcome to another installment of Maple Leaf Wrestling here at Kayfabe Memories. I still have some research to do on part II of TV, so I thought we would take a look at some of the champions that made an impact on the Toronto scene. 

Bruno Sammartino was already an established star here by the time he returned with the WWWF Title in February 1964. In the early 60's Bruno would rack up victories over the top heels of the day including Bulldog Brower, Johnny Valentine and Sweet Daddy Siki, team with Whipper Watson and Gene Kiniski, and carry the U.S. belt and a share of the International Tag Titles. In 1962 he beat NWA champion Buddy Rogers after Rogers was counted out due to injury but Bruno would not accept the title. In 1963 he would face new NWA champion Lou Thesz before winning the WWWF Title in May of that year in NYC. 

His first title defense would be against The Great Kudo-a previous thorn in the popular champion's side, and would end in less than two minutes. Sammartino would begin a string of defenses including wins over Bulldog Brower, Professor Hiro, and The Beast. Local wrestlers including Waldo Von Erich and Johnny Powers would also get extended programs with Bruno in their own backyard. Waldo and Bruno had many classic battles through the years including a marathon bout at MSG in New York . He was familiar with all of these opponents from his previous years spent here, and maintained a good relationship with Frank Tunney right up to his last appearance as champion in 1976.  

After his loss to The Sheik in 1969 (in what was billed as a non-title bout) Bruno would be absent from the Toronto scene until 1976 when he returned to face his old nemesis Von Erich. He would headline four consecutive cards before exiting again for the last time before returning with the WWF in 1987.  

Superstar Graham would make four appearances in defense of his WWWF Title but it would be a non-appearance that is still a topic of bitterness among the fans to this day. Grahams absence on the October 1977 card (was supposed to be a title defense against former champ Stan Stasiak) resulted in the announcement that Stasiak would battle Waldo Von Erich for the WWWF Title.

Stasiak won the match and appeared to the fans to have won the title even though he never beat the champion. On the next card Stasiak would "lose" the title back to the still reigning champ. Of course there was no change, just a bit of a local mess that left the fans feeling shortchanged.  

The Superstar -when he was here- would not disappoint, playing the narcissistic heel and enraging the fans with his swagger. Graham would not be accompanied by the man who "guided" him to the world title- The Grand Wizard who had previously held court at MLG as Abdullah Farouk, manager to The Sheik. In an outdoor show in 1977 (Exhibition Stadium, Toronto), Graham would defeat Chief Jay Strongbow as part of a big card that also saw NWA Champion Harley Race defeat (in his last appearance for Tunney) The Sheik.   

After losing the belt to Bob Backlund in February 1978, Graham would get a chance to regain the title on three consecutive cards the summer of 1978. Backlund would earn the respect of the fans by beating his larger opponent in a steel cage in August to seal the feud and mark the last appearance of Superstar Graham in Maple Leaf Wrestling. 

Bob Backlund "The All American Boy" is how he was billed, sometimes posed with the Stars and Stripes and wearing the belt that had every giant in the Northeast chasing him trying to end his reign. 

Backlund would make more frequent appearances than his predecessors against a vast variety of opponents. In addition to his WWWF area feuds (Pat Patterson, Buddy Rose), Backlund would also face the stars of both the AWA and the NWA as a result of Tunney's involvement with all three major groups. Some interesting matches would entail against opponents such as Ric Flair, The Destroyer (Beyer), and the history making title unification bout versus AWA Champion Nick Bockwinkel. 

The fans were very much behind Backlund and he fit in with the style here, always giving a good match and being receptive to the fans before and after the bouts. And not to be greedy but a Backlund-Race match would have been nice also (happened in New York 1980) as both these champions were well received here.  

The young champ would also team up with Dino Bravo for a short time and the two complimented each other very well. In fact it may have led to Tunney's decision to make Bravo the inaugural Canadian Champion to represent the territory (if Backlund could take New York ....) and go back to running a circuit around Toronto and more importantly, having a babyface champion.   More...