WWC #6 Page #2
Actually there is a hot issue if Ricky was or wasn't related to Pierre (Frenchy Martin) in real life. The Martels were Pierre, Ricky, Michel (Pierre's real life brother, who died in Puerto Rico on June 30, 1978) and Daniel (wrestler Danny Babitch). There was fifth member, who was billed as a cousin and went by the name of Jean Martel. No idea who he was, other that he was from TN. Well, in the 70's, the Martels were NATT six times, being Daniel and Michel three times NATT. Pierre was World Tag Team (from now on, WTT) champion with Huracan Castillo one time. Their gimmick was the loaded boot, which caused a lot of pain on Invader after the death of Michel, as they played the angle that Invader caused Michel's death after a heartpunch and this one was a great and hot feud between 1978 and 1980, when Martel finally turned babyface (he was married to a Puerto Rican woman).
4-The Samoans, Afa and Sika, where also a huge success. Although they came in 1977, they were well remembered for most of that era fans as a wild team, who once, on an TV interview, took a raw chicken and made it into pieces with their mouths. They were WTT and NATT, winning the titles the same day, becoming double champions, on October 29, 1977, defeating the most famous Puerto Rican tag team of the era, Carlos Colón and Jose Rivera, known as the Dynamic Team.
5-Kendo Kimura and Hiro Sasaki were a famous team. The were WTT and their gimmick was to throw salt to their opponents faces. One of the most famous matches were against the Invaders (1 & 2, Jose Huertas Gonzalez and Roberto Soto, who defeated them for the title) because the Invaders used a special mask, with eyes protectors, so the salt couldn't blind them as they had been several times that the Japanese team used that weapon. They came here in 1978.
6-Pretty Boy Larry Sharpe and Dynamite Jack Evans were another hot team.
They came to WWC in late 1977 and spent part of 1978 with WWC. Sharpe returned years later. They were billed as the Hollywood Blondes on their arrival and were NATT twice. Evans was billed as a Puerto Rican that had changed his name (not sure is that was true or just a lie). He always did his interviews in English until one day, being mad because the interviewer, Rickin Sanchez, was always saying he was Puerto Rican, yelled to him in very clear Spanish to do what he had to do and to forget his 'roots' because the fans were not interested in his life but in his wrestling manners.7-Ah! in every territory, there were cowboys. Don't forget the cowboys! Frankie Lane and Dirty Dutch Mantel were a hot team in 1979 when they held the NATT three times in 1979. Their gimmick was to put on stake $1,000 in $1 coins to the team who beat them on TV. Finally, Carlos Colon and Jose Rivera defeated them, but they attacked Colón with the coin sack and left him in a blood bath.
8-Dory and Terry Funk came to WWC in 1979, about the time WWC joined the NWA banner. They defeated Invaders 1 & 2 for the WTT twice and held them from 1979 to 1982. Everybody knows about the Funks. There has been others heels tag team champions in WWC who basically were unknown names. There were teams by the names Scorpions, Spoilers, Medics, who were at a time NATT though I know just one of the identities that of Spoiler 2 being Harold Young, a wrestler from CT.
Other team who were NATT champions were Bruce Swayze & Jim Dalton, Bull Gregory & Ali Baba and Higo Hamaguchi & Gordon Nelson. I would like to ask the readers if they know something about any members of those teams mentioned on the last two paragraphs, write to me to give me details about them.
NEXT MONTH:
I will be speaking of the best babyfaces tag teams of the 70's, as the local babyfaces did a few interesting teams.